Category: February

Bigger…

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

and stronger.

As the Israelites prepare to enter the Promised Land, Moses tells them that God is going to “drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you.”

The Israelites were going to be fighting against enemies with huge armies of men who had built tall walls around their cities.  And God was going to give them victory.  He was headed into battle with them – there was nothing to fear.

God is saying this same thing to me today –

and to you.

You and I have some big battles coming our way.  If we aren’t in the middle of them now, we probably don’t have long to wait.  That’s just how it is on this broken planet.

God promises us that he will go with us and guide us through.  In some situations we will see a clear victory and other times it’s what we learn and how we grow through the battle that makes us a winner.

Because God, our Father, has already won the war.  Jesus defeated sin and death for us.

As a believer, I know how this story ends for me.

Happily Ever After.

Thank you, Abba Father.

I Have to Believe

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

I have to trust.

Otherwise I’ll act like the Israelites as they wandered around in the desert.  Whining. Stubborn.  Forgetting all the things God had already done for them.  Showing no gratitude for how God was currently leading them and providing for them.

I don’t want to be like them.

It’s a fact that I have even less excuse for this kind of bad behavior than they did because, as a believer living under the New Covenant, I have the Spirit of God living in me.  They didn’t have the Holy Spirit.

Yes, I have the Holy Spirit, but if I don’t trust in the love and grace of God, I will be just like them.  If I don’t let God lead me and fight my battles for me, I will cut myself off from his blessings just like they did.

If I forget how faithful God has been to me all of my life, I will become a bitter grumbler just like them.

I’m not going to do that.  I choose to believe, trust and put my faith in the One True God, Creator of the Universe.

What do you choose?

I love you, Abba Father.

 

A Cloud of Guidance

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

A Cloud of Guidance.

I would like one.  Wouldn’t you?

As the Israelites start moving across the desert, we read more in the book of Numbers about the Cloud of God which initially covered the tabernacle.  Now the cloud begins to guide the Israelites – step by step – on their journey.

When the cloud lifted from the tabernacle, approximately 2.5 million Israelites would break camp and follow.  When the cloud settled back down on a spot, they would all stop, put up the tabernacle and then set up camp in their assigned places around it.  We read that sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days before moving on and other days the cloud stayed only from evening to the next morning.  Whether the cloud remained over the tabernacle for 2 days or a year, the Israelites stayed until it lifted.  Then they packed up and moved on.

At night the cloud became a pillar of fire.  Of course it did!  That way the Israelites could see it in the dark and know they were exactly where they were supposed to be.

Wow!  There are alot of situations in my life where I would love to have such clear guidance!

On second thought, as a believer, I know I have the Spirit of God living in me – my own cloud!

I just need to tune in and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s moving and prompting.  The easiest way for me to do this is to spend time reading and thinking about what God is telling me every day through his Word.   Sometimes I’m supposed to move and other times I’m supposed to be still, focused on my relationship with him.

It’s amazing how clearly he speaks when I’m listening carefully and consistently.

Thank you for giving me my own Cloud of Guidance, Abba Father.

It’s Done

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Complete.

All the weaving, measuring and hammering was done.  Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and put up the curtain to the entrance.

Finished.

“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”

Awesome!

There are times during the praise part of worshipping God with my spiritual family when I visualize a cloud billowing into the room.  As I watch, the glory of the LORD fills the space around me.  God’s word tells us that he ‘inhabits’ the praise of his people.

God is always near but there are two places in my life where he feels most near to me –

  • the first place is right now with my Bible open in my lap and my ears and heart open to what he wants to say to me.
  • the second is when I’m joining with God’s people in praising him.  This is especially true for me when a praise song includes pivotal truths that have been game-changers in my life.  This last Sunday we lifted our praise up to our ‘Good, Good Father’ while tears streamed down my face.  A cloud of God’s grace and love filled the room and my heart.  God is good, he loves me and always wants the best for me even when I can’t see it.  These are all facts that have gotten me through the last 3 1/2 painful years since my son was killed.

And the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Thank you, Abba Father.

 

The Light Wins

On By Judy GlasserIn February2 Comments

Secret Arts.

Those are the words my Bible uses when explaining how the Pharoah’s magicians did the same ‘tricks’ as God did through Moses.

It’s interesting to replace ‘secret arts’ with the name of who was really behind the magician’s powers – Satan.  It’s always a battle of good versus evil and most of those battles are fought in the spiritual realm.  This one was very visible on earth.

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

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, Pharoah remained stubborn and unmoved.  That’s just who he was.

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

Of course, Pharoah’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 Pharoah’s magicians do the same thing.

Pharoah’s stubborn refusal to let the Israelites go continued, so God sent a plague of gnats.  But – get this.  The 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 Pharoah’s ear.  Pharoah’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.

 

Let Me Know You

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Reveal yourself to me, Father.

Open my eyes,  open my ears,

soften my heart towards the things you love.

I join with Moses today and ask, “Let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor.”

My soul longs for understanding, Father.  Renew my mind so it focuses on your truth only.  Transform my thinking so the lies of the Evil one have no power in my life.

Teach my feet to follow in your ways.  Train my hands to reach out to the world that you love, God.

Like Moses, I want to enjoy your favor, Father God.  Guide me so I may live under your umbrella of blessing all my days here on earth.

I trust you with my life – you created me and you know me.  I look forward to that day you have already determined when you will take my hand and guide me home to be with you.

Such a glorious day!

I love you, Abba Father.

There is Light

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Look around – do you see the darkness?  Evil lurks.  Hate grows.  Sin is encouraged.  Violence moves closer.

It’s dark.

But God’s people live in the light because God is light.  The presence of God’s Spirit in my soul brings light.

I love the visual picture I get in my mind as I read Exodus 10:21-29.  The LORD made a plague of darkness cover the entire land of Egypt because Pharoah would not let the Israelites leave.  It was so dark that the Egyptians could not move because they could not see their next step.

“But there was light as usual where the people of Israel lived.”  Can you see it?  Light shining on the people of God while everywhere around them was pitch black.

That’s our whole world today.  God’s light of love and grace and forgiveness shines down on us – his children – while the rest of our world lives in darkness.   God still loves the rest of our world – that’s why he sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins so every one has the opportunity to believe and be saved  That’s why God asks us to share our stories, our “God experiences” with those who are living in darkness – so they can put their faith in Christ and be saved.

Because we are followers of Christ, God shines his light into my life and into yours.

I feel it.  Do you?

If you don’t feel his light, the best answer I know is to get closer to him.  And then closer.  And even more close.  You’ll start to feel it.

If you”re like me and feel God’s light in your life today and every day, please join me in praising and thanking him –

You are an awesome father, God.  Thank you for shining your light into our lives and saving us from the darkness.  We love you!

He is Amused

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

When we don’t stand our ground,

we give in, and

we go along with the crowd.

Satan watches and he is amused.

He knows our weaknesses.  He and his team figure out the easiest way to entice us to rebel and disobey God.  And, when we give into temptations, Satan smiles.

I see Satan working all through the historical account of the Israelites waiting at the bottom of the mountain when Moses left them to go to the top to speak to God.  The Israelites became impatient with how long Moses was gone (does that sound like you and me?) so they asked Aaron to “make us some gods who can lead us”.

They asked Aaron – who was supposed to be leading the people with Moses.   Aaron – whom God was intending to anoint as head of his holy priesthood.  Aaron – who crumbled immediately to peer pressure and made a golden calf for the people to worship.

Can you visualize the big smile on Satan’s face as he watched all of this go down?

When Moses came back down the mountain, Aaron made the bad situation worse by lying to Moses by saying that he simply threw the gold the people gave him in the fire and ‘out came the calf”.

Read this next sentence which is in the Bible with me: ” Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.”

The Israelite’s main enemy – and our’s – is Satan.  He whispers half-truths into our ears – things that are just believable enough to get us to rationalize away the lies.  He confuses us as he twists the truth.  One of his biggest and most effective strategies is to distract us – anything to get our focus off of God.  He’ll even use good things to fill up our calendars, preventing us from spending time with God.  He wants us to spend out time and energy on anything that is not our relationship with God.  Even ministry can be used to lure us from God if it keeps us too busy to grow our relationship with him.

And Satan is amused every time this strategy works.

I don’t know about you, but this makes me mad.  It makes me mad when I read how the Israelites gave into Satan’s ploys.  And it really makes me mad when I realize that I am listening to Satan’s lies when he whispers them in my ears.

It makes me mad and I am determined to tell him to “take a hike” next time he tries it.  Out loud – so he can hear it.

He will not be amused.

Please help me close my ears to the lies of Satan, Abba Father.

 

Bringing Order out of Chaos

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Too much to do.

New things getting added to the list every hour.

It’s hard to focus.

I’m drowning!

 

Ever felt that way?  I used to feel that way pretty regularly – until I learned an important lesson about my Father God.  He is a God of order.  When I invite God into my chaos, he provides clear priorities and organization.

I love the historical account of Moses with his father-in-law, Jethro, in Exodus 18.   Jethro saw that Moses had large numbers of people coming to him all day every day to settle their disputes.  It was a great opportunity for Moses to teach them about God and direct them in the way God would want them to go.  The problem was that a crowd of people stood around Moses each day, waiting a long time to get help with their issues.  Moses was becoming tired and overwhelmed.

I know that feeling, Moses!

Seeing this, Jethro sat Moses down to share some of his experience and wisdom with him.  He told Moses there was a better way to do this.  We would say today that the process Moses was using was not ‘sustainable’.  Moses was going to ‘burn out’ doing this all by himself.

Any of that sound familiar?

Jethro suggested that Moses pick some honest, capable men who feared God and ask them to take care of the smaller, more common issues.  Then these men could bring the more major cases to Moses.  So smart!  This way the men handling the smaller disputes would hear what Moses had to say about the more major concerns and they could gradually learn how to handle these more difficult issues.

Jethro also showed great wisdom when he told Moses to consult with God to make sure this is what God wanted him to do.  Super smart!  Whenever we get Godly counsel from someone, we should still ask God for confirmation.  The people we are talking to are just people and they have their own perspectives and bias’.   God will give us confirmation if the advice we are hearing fits into his plan.

Moses asked and God confirmed, so Moses did what Jethro suggested.

Jethro and Moses were creating the process that we know today as our judicial system.  And it reveals to us that our God is a God of organization and structure.  He is not messy or forgetful.  He is not lazy or late.

God brings order to my thinking when I am confused.  He clarifies my priorities when I am overwhelmed.  He helps me focus on what he is asking me to do rather than all the other ‘good’ things I could do.  He shines a bright light on what is best, helping me make decisions and making it easier to say ‘no’ when something would distract me from the path he wants me to take.

Do you need God to create order in your life?  If so, ask him and be ready to obey.

Thank you for bringing order out of my chaos, Abba Father.

Too Discouraged

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Problems pile up and then pile even higher.

Situations become worse, not better.

Broken relationships get even more painful.  It’s easy for you and I to get discouraged when we focus on the mountain of issues in front of us.

This is where the Israelites were when Pharoah made their hard work of making bricks even more difficult by not giving them the straw they needed to make the bricks.  Now they had to find the straw and they were expected to make just as many bricks as before.  What?!  Their situation was bad before but now it was really terrible!

I have had times in my life when I felt like that.  Have you?  I have found myself in situations that were hard to deal with and then something happened to make it even worse.  I’ll never forget getting a phone call that my mother was in the hospital just three months after my father passed away.  What was happening?!  I was only 21 years old, just lost my dad and now my mom was sick?   My world was going crazy!

The good news is that my mother had successful gall bladder surgery and lived 28 more years.

The bad news for the Israelites is that they got so discouraged with their current situation that they stopped listening to God.  That’s the opposite of what they should have done.

My discouraging experiences have taught me that turning to God and focusing on him is the answer.  There is a purpose for the dark times in my life.  God is always working things out for my good – even when I can’t see any good.  It can be very messy and confusing even when I’m right in middle of God’s plan.

I just need to keep listening and obeying.

Please open my ears, Abba Father.