Category: February

Living in the Light

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Secret Arts.

Those are the words used in Exodus 7 to explain how the Pharaoh’s magicians did the same ‘tricks’ as God did through Moses.

Do you know who the power is behind these ‘secret arts’?  Satan.  And he doesn’t like the fact that I’m pointing him out today.  He loves to lurk in the shadows, creating havoc while speaking lies into our minds.

The battle of good versus evil has raged across our planet ever since the Garden of Eden.  Most of the activity is in the spiritual realm.  This altercation between Satan and God is unusual because it was very visible on earth.

It started when Aaron, Moses’ brother, threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and it became a snake.  With Satan’s help, Pharaoh’s magicians did the same thing with their staffs.

But here’s a twist – Aaron’s snake swallowed up the other snakes.  In the writing world, we would call this foreshadowing – this is how the whole battle is going to go.  God is all-powerful, Satan is not.

Even after his snakes are eaten right in front of him, Pharaoh remained stubborn and unmoved.  No surprise there – that’s who he was.

Next, God changed the Nile into blood. (Yuck!)  But then Pharaoh’s magicians did the same thing – again with Satan’s help.

Of course, Pharaoh’s heart remained hard and stubborn.

So God sent a plague of frogs which covered the ground as well as the insides of their houses.  Once again, Satan helped Pharaoh’s magicians do the same thing.

Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal to let the Israelites go continued, so God sent a plague of gnats.  But – get this.  Pharaoh’s magicians were unable to produce gnats.

What happened, Satan?  Run out of steam?

Or did the Creator of the Universe get tired of playing your games and shut you down?

Suddenly, Satan no longer replies but we read the deadly result of his continued whispers into Pharaoh’s ear.  Pharaoh’s heart becomes more and more stubborn so God ups his response with the next plague of flies.

Do you notice?  Now the plagues start to only affect the Egyptians, not God’s people.  The 9th plague of darkness is truly amazing to me.  The land was in total darkness – they couldn’t see their hands in front of their faces – except God’s people.  The light still shone down on the people of Israel.

I feel that is true today.  Our world can be such a dark and confusing place – full of disappointment and heartbreak.  Only God brings true light into the darkness.

We can fool ourselves into thinking that money or recognition or a relationship with the right person brings light.  But all of those will eventually feel empty – ‘is this all there is?’ – without God.

Have we figured this out yet?  Our lives will be ‘plagued’ by darkness until we put God in the center.

Thank you for being the Light of the World, Jesus.

Hardened Hearts = Plagues

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

“Let my people go.” God told Moses to say these words to Pharaoh several times throughout the book of Exodus.  But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he did not listen to God.  As a result, Pharaoh’s people experienced multiple plagues which built up to the painful and tragic deaths of all of their firstborn sons.  “Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well.  There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt – worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.” Exodus 11:5 & 6.

Looking at our culture, I can see a lot of hard hearts that are turned away from God.  I can see several modern-day plagues as well.

The Plague of Broken Families – the divorce rate just keeps rising and now large numbers of kids are being raised by single parents.  Many of these parents are trying their hardest but how much better it would be if they had a loving partner to share the responsibilities so that their kids could experience all of the blessings of growing up in an unbroken family.

The Plague of ‘It’s All OK’ – it’s all ok as long as you don’t get caught.  Integrity is a lost value in our culture – we lost it at the same time we lost a correct sense of right and wrong.  Morality is a scary word to use these days.

The Plague of Emptiness – people are working harder and longer to pay off a mountain of debt that just keeps growing as they buy things they think will make them happy.  After buying the next thing and the initial happiness wears off, they start to look for the next thing that will make them happy, never really addressing the God-sized emptiness in their soul.  It’s not surprising that the list of things we can legally use to try to fill this hole is growing.

The Plague of Fear – I have been truly amazed this last two years by the level of constant fear I see in some people’s lives.  Yes, a worldwide pandemic can be a scary thing but God is in control.  He is good and perfect. He wants the best for those who have put their faith in him and he is working all things out for our good.  Yes, be careful.  Yes, be wise.  But those who trust in God don’t need to be afraid.

The answer to saving our families, bringing back the value of integrity, being whole and not living in fear is God.  The answer has always been God and will always be God.

Please soften our hearts towards you, Abba Father.

The Things I Didn’t Do

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

I don’t always take the opportunity to share my story about what God has done in my life with a friend.

I don’t always help others like God asks me to do – sometimes I’m too focused on my own to-do list.

I don’t always give God all the credit when his blessings are so evident in my life.

These are all things I should be doing but I don’t always do.

God calls these ‘sins of omission’ in his Word. “They must make restitution for what they failed to do in regard to the holy things.” Leviticus 5:16.

This verse is talking about the laws God gave the Israelites about how to take care of the Tent of Meeting and the various offerings they were supposed to make.  We no longer have all those laws – 

but you and I still have sins of omission.  These are things that God wanted us to do but we didn’t do.  Things God wanted us to say but we didn’t say.

We get lazy.  We are afraid of what people will think.  We get distracted.

We fill up our calendars with all kinds of things and there is no more room for God.  We don’t spend any time reading his word, talking with him, worshipping him.

Sins of omission.

When I put my faith in Jesus who paid the price for all of my sin for all time on the cross, I no longer needed to make the restitution that this verse speaks about.  This Journey Toward the Truth is about letting God transform my heart and mind so I gradually become more like Christ.  Out of gratitude for what God has done in my life, I want to avoid both types of sins – what I do that is wrong and what I should do but don’t do.

I have found, as I grow closer to God, I hear his voice more clearly and doing what he wants me to do has become easier.   As I listen with my heart and mind open to the Holy Spirit, I’m getting better at saying what he wants me to say and doing what he wants me to do.

As a result, regrets for what I don’t do are few and my joys for keeping in step with God each day are many.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Little by Little

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

One step at a time.

It can be difficult to trust God’s direction with my next step when I have no idea how this is going to work out.

It’s tough to persevere through each struggle, not losing sight of my Father God.

“Little by little”.  Moses uses these words as he is speaking to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land.  “The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little.” Exodus 23:30.

Moses also said, “You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once or the wild animals will multiply around you.”  Exodus 23:29

God did not give the Israelites victory over all of their adversaries all at once because the wild animals would have taken over the empty land.

I would love it if God would just take my trials and problems away – all of them – all at once.  Take them all away, Father!

But God doesn’t do that.  Little by little, step by step, he leads me through the struggles.  He draws me closer as together we move through the confusing and dark times.  God does not eliminate all of my issues because then I would be very tempted to count on myself and not on him.  I need to remain dependent on him or wild animals (bad choices and wrong thinking) will multiply around me.

I have found that it takes a lot of trust to move forward when I don’t know what’s ahead.  I have had to learn to take one step at a time understanding that I’m not in control but my loving Father is.  He is working all things out for my good and, little by little, I have come to a point that I am 100% confident of that.  No questions.  No doubts.

I don’t ask him any more to take away all of my problems.  Now I ask him to please walk closely beside me as I go through them.  Each day I do my part by taking a step forward keeping my eyes focused on my Father God.

He does everything else.

Thank you, Abba Father.

The Transformation Continues…..

On By Judy GlasserIn February2 Comments

Reading.  Studying.  Listening.  Memorizing.

God has been seriously re-shaping my heart since I became a committed believer about 30 years ago.  When I was young, I had a close relationship with Jesus but it got lost in a season of rebellion and confusion about the truth in my young adulthood.  Six years of wandering and trying out all the things the world offers taught me how empty my life was without God.  I discovered that all the ‘fun’ and partying and working extra hard for ‘stuff’ was meaningless and a dead end.

So I re-committed my whole heart to God over 30 years ago and I’ve been on this Journey Towards the Truth ever since.

God tells us in Deuteronomy 10:16, “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.”  Looking back, I see all kinds of evidence that God has been working on my heart, circumcising the parts that needed to change –

  • He cut out the rebellious part of my heart.  This is amazing to me because I’ve always had a strong rebellious part to my personality.  Now, no matter what happens, my heart submits to God’s will.  He knows best.
  • God cut out the stubborn part of my heart.  I translate “stiff-necked” as being stubborn and God has softened my heart towards everything that is about him and comes from him.
  • God cut out any parts of my heart that were unbelieving.  I don’t have to understand it all to believe.  If God says it, it’s true.  God has taught my eyes to look beyond what is in front of me.
  • God has changed the part of my heart that wants to control things around me.  I know who is in total control and it’s not me.  I have learned to trust God with everything and I’m 100% confident that he is working all things out for my good.
  • My heart was shattered into a million broken, mangled pieces when my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer was killed in the line of duty.  I can feel God molding a new heart inside of me out of the debris.  This heart is centered on God and has a strong focus on my forever home.

Circumcising my heart sounds painful but it has actually set me free from the lies and worries that the world around us tries to impose on us.

And the transformation continues…..

Thank you, Abba Father.

There’s No Question

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

What should I do first?

I can’t do everything so what should I make sure I do?  I know that setting the right priorities is my life is extremely important so I don’t miss doing the most important thing.

But what is the most important thing?

After reading God’s word, it’s clear to me – no question – that the main thing I was created to do has been the main thing since the beginning of time.  Over 3500 years ago, Moses told his people to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  Deuteronomy 6:5.

The main thing.

When I get this right, I put God in a position in my life where he makes me whole, gives me a purpose for each day and helps me with everything else.

That’s my reality.  When I seriously started putting God first, he helped me be a better mother, a better wife, a better employee, a better boss, a better friend…..a better person.

I know, it sounds like loving God with our whole self means more stuff to do – seriously studying the Bible, faithfully participating in worship, serving God with my spiritual family, developing a solid prayer life and regularly meeting with others to grow my faith and be encouraged.  When  I decided to obey and put God first in my life I didn’t need any more things to do.  God challenged me to get my priorities straight at a time when I was a young wife and a mother of two little kids who travelled regularly for work.  My calendar was over-stuffed!  It’s a good thing I’ve never been very excited about watching TV because I had no time to watch anything – for years.

I found out that this was the perfect time for me to put God first because, as I watched, he supernaturally worked it all out.  Very quickly, I felt less stretched, less stressed and more joyful.  God took away my worries and the heavy weight of my responsibilities which often kept me awake at night and gave me peace and purpose – he filled a hole in my life that I wasn’t even aware I had.

I had been a Christian my whole life but I had never let God have first place in my life. Putting God first made all of the rest easier – and more fun!

If you’ve made this commitment, you know what I mean.  If you’ve never done this, you want to go for it.  Try it.  It’s worth it.

It’s true – I still struggle sometimes and get my priorities mixed up.  But now I know where to go for peace and restoration.  My Abba Father is always waiting, ready to help.

Putting God first in our lives is not a suggestion from God, it is a command.  Like all of his commands, we are blessed when we obey.

May we be found faithful, Abba Father.

 

I Can’t

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

I can’t – it’s too hard.

I can’t – it’s too much.

I can’t – I don’t know how.

I can find a lot of reasons why I think I can’t do something that’s going to be difficult.  But I have learned if God wants it done there is no “I can’t”.  “I can’t” just doesn’t apply when the Creator of the Universe wants to do something through me.

Have you learned that yet?

The Israelites obviously hadn’t figured that out yet when the spies came back from the Promised Land and said, “We can’t attack those people, they are stronger than we are.” Numbers 13:31.   They didn’t get it.  God had said he was going to give them the land, he was going to give them victory.  “We can’t” was true but God could.  And he promised that he would.

Joshua and Caleb got it.  Caleb said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”  Numbers 13:30

Yeah, Caleb!  He was so right!  Yes, they could certainly do it because God had promised and he always keeps his promises.

It’s not about us having enough strength or enough money or enough time.  God enables us to do the things he wants us to do.  Do you believe that?

So I have to ask myself – are there any “I can’ts” in my life that I need to change to “I can’s” because God wants to do it through me?

What about you?  Any “I can’ts” where you need to trust God and step out in faith because “God can”?

Thank you for being our God of the Impossible, Abba Father.

 

The Donkey Talks!

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Oh, wow!  Balaam’s donkey talked!

This was one of my kid’s favorite Bible stories when they were younger.  We had a book with great pictures and simple Bible stories which my children loved to have us read to them every night.

A talking Donkey doesn’t take a lot of imagination when you’re a kid.  And kids have no problem believing that the donkey was the smart one in this story.  Balaam didn’t see or wouldn’t see…but the donkey saw the angel blocking his path right away.  Kids know how distracted adults are so they’re not surprised that Balaam was clueless.

Those of us with pets often find ourselves talking to them, right?  Most of us have probably wished at some point that our pets could talk back.

I’ve never had an animal start talking to me but I’ve had unusual things happen that have opened my eyes to what God was doing around me and what he was trying to tell me.  Many of us call these ‘coincidences’ but I don’t believe in coincidences.  I call them ‘God-incidences’.  This is when God lines up the things going on around me with what I’m thinking and what I’m reading in his Word so he can tell me or show me something he wants me to know.  Not a coincidence.  It’s God moving and speaking.

Through the years, I’ve accumulated quite a bit of experience seeing God interact with my daily life in order to guide me or wake me up to what he’s doing.   So I’m not expecting my dog, Bella, to look at me and start talking any time soon.

But it could happen.

Please keep my eyes and heart open to you, Abba Father.

Never Too Short

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

There are times when I am tired and discouraged and other days when I am sad and feel a little lost.   I also have hours of impatience and frustration.

When is God going to do something about this issue that is going on in my life?  When is he going to take care of this struggle?

How can God possibly work this out for my good?  I just don’t see how he’s going to do that.   Maybe it’s not going to happen.

Then God responds to me like he did to Moses thousands of years ago, ” Is the LORD’S arm too short?” Numbers 11:23.

I just have to smile.  This really sets me back in my place.  Because – of course, God’s arm is not too short.  He is the Creator of the Universe, the Great I AM.  He sees and knows everything.  Nothing is impossible for him.

When God said this to Moses, Moses was doubting that God could provide meat for all of the Israelites for a month.  The people had started grumbling about eating manna everyday and God responded by saying, “Tomorrow you will eat meat.”

As the leader of these complainers, Moses thought he had to ‘help God’ by figuring out how to get this done.  But he just didn’t see a way to make this happen.   It was impossible!

Yes, it was impossible for human hands.  But there are no limits for God.  His arm is never too short – it reaches across universes that we don’t even know about yet.

So we should not be surprised that the Israelites ate meat – they ate meat until they were sick of it.

God’s arm is not too short but sometimes our faith can be too small.  My faith can be too limited.

Do I really believe that God’s arm is never too short?

Do I really trust him?

Please grow our faith, Abba Father.

Keep Watching…..

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Every morning,

looking….

What’s in store for me today?  Do I move?  Do I stay?

I’m imagining what it was like for the Israelites as they began their journey through the desert.  When the Cloud of Guidance covered the tabernacle, they stayed.  When the cloud lifted above the tent, the estimated 2.4 million Israelites packed up and moved on.

There were times they stayed in the same place for months and other times when they were moving again the next morning.

Every morning, they would look to the tabernacle to determine their direction for that day.  Everybody could see it – not just the priests and the leaders.  God made this visible to everybody – he wanted all of them to be able to see that he was the one leading them.

What would our lives be like if we had that clear guidance from God for each day?

Great news!  We can!

I know I can  look to God and his Word for guidance each day just like the Israelites did.  “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105.

He wants me to look to him before I stay or go….

before I agree to something….

when I’m trying to choose what words to say in a conversation about a difficult subject….

as I take steps forward on my journey towards the truth.  I know I need to keep moving forward and growing in my faith.

And I know I’ll stay on the right path when my eyes are focused on God.

I see your light, Abba Father.