Category: January

Tunnel Vision

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

I’ve had it.  Have you?

I think it happens to all of us at times – especially when our emotions are running high.  That’s when I see only what I want to see.  I notice only what I’m expecting, not what is actually happening.  When my perception clouds the facts, I can go down a path of thinking that is not right, it is not helpful, and it is not true.

If I don’t realize what I’m doing, I can go to a dangerous place which creates havoc in my life.

So I can relate with Hagar as I read her story in Genesis.  Abraham banished her and their son, Ishmael, out into the desert with food and a container of water.  Because she was focused on this one container of water, she felt that all hope was gone when it was empty.

She prepared to die.

She forgot all about reaching out to the Creator of all Things – who created water.  His angel had spoken to her and guided her before but Hagar was in the tunnel – not looking for any way out except for death.

God heard Ishmael’s cries.  “Then God opened her (Hagar’s) eyes and she saw a well full of water.”  Genesis 21:19.

What?  Was the well there all along and she just wasn’t seeing it?  Was she so lost in despair and discouragement that she didn’t even look around?  Or did God create the well for her?

We don’t know – either way, God provided for her.

And he provides for me constantly.  I need to remember that because, like Hagar, there are situations where I get tunnel vision.  When I’m lost in my incorrect thinking, I need to remember to reach out to the One who has all the answers.

Please open my eyes, Abba Father.

I Am One of Abraham’s Stars

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

Tonight, let’s all go outside and look up at the stars.

Most of the stars we will see are the same stars Abram (God changes his name to Abraham later) saw when God took him outside and told him to ‘count the stars’.

Then God said to Abram, “So shall your offspring be.” Genesis 15:5.

As we read the Old Testament, it appears like these stars represent the Israelites who became the Jewish nation.  In Galatians, Paul clarifies for us the identity of Abraham’s children.  “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7.

I am a child of Abraham!

I am represented by one of those stars in the sky on that night over 2,000 years ago when Abram looked up…..

and believed.

Are you one of Abraham’s stars?

Thank you, Abba Father, for your faithfulness to Abraham and your faithfulness to me.

The Unknowns

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

It has been hard in the past to make decisions about next steps when I don’t know how it’s all going to work out.  There have been times in my life when the ‘unknowns’ created anxiety and fear.

I love reading about Abram’s (soon to be Abraham) decision-making in Genesis.  First, God tells Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”  Genesis 12:1. 

No forwarding address on that one.  Just go.  I’ll tell you when to stop.

And the Bible tells us in verse 4, “So Abram went.” Wow! Abram is a good role-model here for how much he trusted God.

This is my 15th year of reading the entire Bible and it is comforting to realize how much my faith and trust in God has grown as I’ve read and applied God’s word to my life. I experienced something  similar to Abram’s 5 years ago when God told me to move from Phoenix to Denver.  What?  I had been living in Phoenix for over 40 years and had never once thought about moving to Denver even though my daughter and her family were now living there. 

I prayed about it overnight and knew that I needed to do what God was asking me to do.  I have learned from experience that the only way I can expect God’s blessings in my life is to be obedient.

Then I shared what God was saying with my husband who prayed about it and the next day he said, “We need to go.”  He has also learned the importance of obedience. 

We heard and we went.

We put our house in Phoenix up for sale and I heard God telling me not to buy a house in Denver until we actually moved.  So we moved while our house was under contract and arrived in Denver on March 17, 2020 – just as everything was shutting down because of the pandemic. 

We know you’ve got this, Father God.

We were ‘homeless’, living in an AirBnb, during the weeks of being sheltered in.  The first house we looked at in Denver was the right size and the right price and the right place and God said ‘yes’ so we bought it – getting a good deal on it since a lot of people were backing away from buying houses because of the uncertainty.

We knew you had something good waiting for us, Father.

These last 5 years, I have continually seen God’s hand on our lives.  There have been many situations – one after another – where I know God moved us to Denver ‘for such a time as this’.  He had a purpose for bringing us to this new city and he had blessings lined up if we would obey.

I have discovered that it’s not so hard anymore making decisions when I don’t know how it’s all going to work out.  God knows and I trust him.  I don’t experience the anxiety or fear I used to have because I know God is in control and he is working it all out for my good.  I just need to listen and do what he says.

Thank you for taking away my fear of the unknowns, Abba Father.

My Ticket to Ride

On By Judy GlasserIn January2 Comments

How close can I get to God? That’s a great goal, isn’t it?

I’d like to get as close as Enoch.  Enoch was Adam’s great, great, great, great grandson and we read in Genesis that he walked in close fellowship with God.  “Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years.  Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”  Genesis 5:23-24.

Enoch never died.  God just took him home.  I don’t have any control over it, but that’s the way I’d really like to go.  Elijah was the only other person that we know of who God took up to heaven before he died.  Elijah rode a fiery chariot up to heaven.

How cool is that?  How many bonus points does it take to get a ride like that?

God has a huge sense of humor so he knows I’m just kidding.  I was once told that it’s ok to joke around with God and that makes sense to me.  He is always watching us so we might as well make him laugh once in awhile – or a lot.

I wonder how many more people have ‘disappeared’ or gotten a chariot ride up to heaven?  It’s a safe bet that we don’t know about them all.  I prefer the chariot ride because it’s more visible so the people I am leaving behind won’t have to wonder where I went when I disappear.

It is obvious that both Enoch and Elijah had a very close relationship with God.  That must be the ticket.  So I’m going to work on my relationship with God knowing he has already determined my last day and what my trip into heaven is going to look like.

But it never hurts to ask, right?

If it’s what you want, Father, please put me on the chariot list.

Two People = One

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

Dating is fun. Being engaged is exciting. Weddings are a great big party that celebrates love and commitment.

Marriage is tough.  Good…..but tough.  Worth it…..but not easy.

I’ve been married to the same man for over 43 years.  I know how tough marriage is.  And he knows how tough marriage  is.  In order to stay married, we have had to work through it all.  And stuff just keeps coming at us. With God’s help, our marriage survived the most difficult thing that can happen to parents – the loss of a child.

Every year, as I begin reading through the Bible again, I pause when I read Genesis 3:20, “Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.”

Adam named his wife Eve after they had both lived in the Garden of Eden with God for who knows how long.  This was after they had eaten the apple and sinned.

Up to this point, they were both called Adam.  Together, they completed the person of Adam.

man+woman = one.

How much would our perspective of marriage change if we sincerely considered ourselves – man and wife – to be one person?  It wouldn’t be, “I’m done dealing with his problems.” or “I’m tired of her behavior – I’m out of here”.

It would be more like when we say “my leg always likes to cramp up” or “my neck is often stiff and its driving me crazy”.  When our leg cramps up, we rub it and stretch it.  When our necks are stiff, we massage them and warm them up.  When a physical part of us is having a problem, we work with the issue, figure out how to help it and get help if we need it.  Sometimes we can replace the part like a knee or a hip but I have several friends who still have pain and issues with those new parts. We can’t replace our whole body so we have to positively deal with the issues.

VERY different than the ‘throw away’ attitude that many people in our culture have towards marriage today, isn’t it?

Sometimes married people joke about their ‘better half’.  How would our marriages be different if we acted like we believed that?

Please help us honor you with our marriages, Abba Father.

In the Beginning…..

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

A new page is turned.

New possibilities have opened up.

What’s going to happen?  I don’t know.

For some reason, many of us say that we don’t like change.  But then we usually like new beginnings.  When we make choices that cause our lives to change and we can call it a ‘new beginning’, we’re ok with it?  But we don’t like change?

Yes, we are strange and wonderful creatures.  And I am one of the strange and wonderful creatures who likes change.

Change is good.

I was taught to like change through my over 34 years of working for corporate Jack in the Box.  We were constantly moving and adjusting and changing.  If I didn’t like a specific change, I didn’t have to wait too long for it to change again.  As long as my strategic brain could see us improving – hitting goals and moving forward – I liked it.

This has really helped me keep up with our electronic age where things change so quickly and so often.  I have a goal to stay current on technology.  I don’t have to be at the cutting edge but I plan to stay in the middle somewhere, not behind.

One of the things I love about God is – he doesn’t change.

“In the beginning, God….”(Genesis 1:1)in-the-beginning-genesis

He was here before the beginning and he will be here after the world as we know it ends.

He has promised – it’s a fact.

In our crazy lives filled with unknowns, God wants to be known by you and by me. He gives us his Word.  He gives us his Spirit.  He gives us a spiritual family.

He wants us to know him and he guides us towards himself as we read, listen and respond to his Word.

I am excited to discover the new opportunities God is going to bring my way in 2025. As I start reading through the Bible again for the 15th year in a row, I am confident that God has new things to teach me and he also wants to highlight other truths that I need to be reminded of.

You are invited to take the journey with me and read the entire Daily Chronological Bible this year.  There are already about 20 of us on this journey together.  I guarantee that God will move in your life in a big way as he honors your commitment to know him and hear him better in 2024.

So, with anticipation and confidence that God has important things to teach me this year, I start again –

In the Beginning, God…..

Thank you for new beginnings, Abba Father.

Looking for Guidance

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave 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 time they stopped, they set up the tabernacle right away because God wanted his presence known first and foremost.

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 your life be like if you had that clear guidance from God for each day?  What would it feel like to know for sure you were on the path God had designed for you, confident of God’s presence beside you each step of the way?

Great news!  This is all available to you and to me.  God’s guidance through his Word is available for us each day.  It’s much easier to feel his presence when we’re reading his Word, letting it soak into our hearts and minds.

“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….

he wants you to check with him on a decision you are making to ensure that’s its going to be the best for you…

he wants me to look to him for help when I’m trying to choose what words to say in a conversation about a difficult subject….

and he wants to be our leader on this journey towards the truth.

I know I need to keep moving forward, growing in my faith and trusting in God.  And I’m confident that I’ll stay on the right path when my eyes are focused on him.

I’m watching and I see your light, Abba Father.

What’s in Your Hand?

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

Sometimes I don’t feel like I have the right skills or experience or knowledge to do what God is asking me to do.  That’s how Moses felt when God told him to go back to Egypt to free his people from slavery.

“What if they do not believe me or listen to me..?”  Exodus 4:1.   I can hear the worry and concern in Moses’ voice, can’t you?

And then God asked Moses to look at what he already had in his hand and use that to do what God was asking him to do.  Moses was holding his staff in his hand.  As the story of the Exodus unfolds we will read of Moses regularly using his staff in order to do what God is asking him to do.

Applying this to my life, I need to consider what I already have and figure out how to use it to serve God.  What is God asking me to do and what has he already given me in order to accomplish it?  I have a car.  I have a house with chairs.  I have leadership and writing skills.  If I turn off the TV and lay down my phone, I also have time.

When God asked me to start writing this blog, I was already writing a different blog.  So I had everything in my hands to do what he wanted me to do except for time.   I had to take a couple of things out of my already packed schedule to fit in the new blog but God blessed my efforts.  Here I am, 13 years later, still reading through the entire Bible every year and sharing the journey with you in this blog.

I have learned that it’s important to remember when God tells me he wants me to do something that I’m not doing it alone.  God with his supernatural power is working with me – making the impossible possible.  When I focus on what I can do, God takes care of the rest.

The questions God has for you and I today are – what is he asking us to do and what can we use that is already in our hands to do it.

Please open our eyes, Abba Father.

What’s My Next Step?

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

So many decisions…

sometimes its hard to figure out my next steps.

A lot of options.

burning-bush

Why can’t I get a burning bush like God gave Moses?  It was big.  It was dramatic. Moses couldn’t miss it.  If I got one of those, it would be so much easier to listen and follow, right?

In my life, God gives me what I would call burning plants.  They are a lot smaller than a bush and much less impressive but when I’m reading God’s word, praying and listening, God will set fire to the next small plant – lighting the way to my next decision – and then my next.

Here’s how it works – I’m regularly reading God’s word and listening to how he wants me to apply it to my life.  I pray – expecting God to move and answer but keeping my mind open knowing that God can answer in a way that’s much different from how I think he will answer.

I watch.

And he lines up my circumstances, one step at a time.

He will also add confirmations along the way.  Godly people around me will say something that reinforces the direction indicated by a recent burning plant.  And it’s not unusual for my pastor on Sunday to say something that confirms my next decision.

When God knows I am watching and listening, he can work through all of these things to make my next step clear to me.

I have found that I don’t need a big, dramatic burning bush if I’m paying attention.  My small burning plants work just fine.

Thank you for your guidance, Abba Father.

When Bad Things Happen….

On By Judy GlasserIn January4 Comments

to good people.

It’s hard to understand.

I sometimes ask ‘why’?  Do you ask ‘why’?

Then I read about Joseph’s trials in Genesis and the answer is pretty clear.  A long list of bad things happened to Joseph and God brought something good from them all.  Joseph’s faith and wisdom grew as he trusted God with through each trial.

I don’t believe that God caused all of these negative things to happen to Joseph.  I don’t believe God causes all the struggles that happen to you and me.  Some of them happen because we live in a broken world where we all sin, we all make bad choices.  We pay the consequences for our sins as well as other people’s sins.  And Satan is working relentlessly to entice people to sin.  He is creating a lot of our trials.  I don’t understand why some people get mad at God when bad things happen – they should get mad at Satan who is doing the dirty work.

Yes, God is in total control so he could stop all sinning and consequences from happening.  But he has gifted us with free will so we can choose to love and obey him.  Unfortunately, sometimes, our choice is to sin.  Other people choose to sin.  There are consequences for those bad choices. When we, as believers, get to where we’re going (heaven) we will no longer sin and there will be no more negative consequences.

you-intended-to-harm-me

Here on earth – where God is with all believers like he was with Joseph – he can use these consequences so that something good comes from them.

This truth makes the account of Joseph’s life very important to me.

His brothers sold him into slavery but – wait.

Then he’s put in charge of the top Egyptian official’s house.

The official’s wife lied to get Joseph in trouble and Joseph is thrown in jail.

But – wait.  God was with him and he was put in charge of the prison.  Joseph helped the Butler and Baker get out of prison – good news for the Butler because he got his old job back, bad news for the Baker who was killed.  The Butler promised to help Joseph get out of jail but he forgot. Two years (2 years!) later, Pharaoh had a dream and the Butler remembered Joseph who was called out of prison to interpret it.

Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph 2d in command, right under himself.  From that position, Joseph was responsible for saving the lives of a whole nation.  A serious famine was coming and God spoke a warning through Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream.

God was with Joseph through all of the bad things that happened to him, making sure that he ended up exactly where he needed to be in order to fulfill his destiny.

Joseph also saved the lives of his brothers who had sold him into slavery.  This indicates the level of maturity and faith Joseph had acquired through his trials.  Joseph told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ” Genesis 50:20.  Joseph could never have predicted the part he was going to play in the huge famine that was coming.  God knew. And he was with Joseph every step of the way.

Joseph’s story encourages me as I watch God bring good out of the tragic death of my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer killed in the line of duty.  And God has been with me every day as I learn to live with the grief and pain of losing a child.

And he wants to walk through your trials with you, too, – if you will let him.  He wants to bring good out of the trials you go through – if you let him.

Thank you, Abba Father.