Category: June

Open My Eyes

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

We can be so blind!

Blinded by the immediate.

Blinded by what everyone else thinks.June 10 2015 Open my eyes

Blinded by what we want or what we think is right.

Blinded by our routines or traditions.

Blinded by worry.

Blinded by trying to control everything and everyone around us.

Sometimes we’re so blind!

Unable to open our eyes…

open our minds….

open our hearts….

To the truth….

to a new reality…

to uncomfortable yet very real feelings.

We need God’s help to heal our blindness.

Sometimes we can be just like Elisha’s servant in 2 Kings 6 who was afraid of the huge enemy army which surrounded the city they were in.  Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so he may see.”

And when the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, he looked up and saw the hills around Elisha full of horses and chariots of fire.

God’s army.

Elisha was not worried – he knew the truth.  God had his back and there was no cause for alarm.

Elisha’s eyes were already opened to the omnipotence and faithfulness of his Father God.

He knew the truth.

Please open our eyes, Dear Father.

 

No Turning Back

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

He was committed.

He didn’t give himself an ‘out’.June 5 2015 no turning back

There was no turning back.

Elisha was plowing in his family’s field when Elijah threw his cloak around him, calling him to become a prophet of God.

Elisha burned the plow he was using to cook the meat for his going away party.

He didn’t know where he was going.

Or what was going to happen.

But he was leaving and he didn’t need the plow anymore.

Elisha was making a total committment to God.

Whatever.

However.

No going back.

How many of us have made this total, no exceptions, faith committment to follow God – wherever that takes us?

 

 

He Never Sleeps

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

June 4 b he never sleepsGod is never tired, he is never impatient, he is never distracted, he is never busy.

We are made in his image – little glimpses of him show up in each of us.

But he is not like us.

This fact brings me a lot of peace and confidence.

I desire to be more like Jesus.

I am eternally grateful that he is not like me.  He has none of my weaknesses or failings.

Sometimes God tell us about his emotions in the Bible – anger, sadness, and joy.  All of his emotions are perfect – for the right reason.  They are not like our emotions which can often be centered on ourselves.

When Elijah mocked the priests of Baal in 1 Kings, he was trying to point out the godlessness of their gods.   When Baal didn’t respond to their requests,  Elijah suggested that they shout louder in case Baal is sleeping or busy.  This kicked the Baal prophets into a frenzy of shouting louder and slashing themselves with  swords and spears.  They often did this trying to get a response from Baal.

I grimace when I imagine this scene of four hundred and fifty bleeding prophets of Baal – crying out to a wooden statue which was made by a man.  Hoping for some answers.

How futile!

How wrong!

How lost?

When we look at the world which immediately surrounds each of us, we can say the same thing –

How futile!

How wrong!

How lost!

Jesus came to bring his light of truth, grace and salvation to everyone who would believe.

He lives within each believer and he has commissioned each of us to be his light in our part of this dark and broken world.

Dear Father, Please help us shine your light brightly right where we live, work and play.

Perseverance

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Perseverance is a repeating theme in God’s word to us.  In 1 Kings, we read about Elijah bringing the son of a widow back to life.  Elijah stretched out on the boy 3 times, crying out to the Lord  to let this boy’s life return to him.June 4 2015 Persevering

Elijah didn’t do this just once and, when nothing happened, shrug his shoulders and say it must not be God’s will.

He didn’t do it just twice, hoping maybe the 2d time something would happen.

He did this 3 times.

And I really wonder how many times Elijah would have kept doing this?  Calling out to God!  Crying aloud!

How many of us stop asking God for something if he doesn’t answer the first time?  Or the second time?  How many of us persevere in asking again and again?  5 times?  50 times?.

Would Elijah have kept doing this until God answered?

I believe God always answers our prayers and requests.  It’s not always a ‘yes’ like it was for Elijah in this situation.  Sometimes its a ‘no’ or a ‘wait’.

As Elijah persevered, God answered.  I believe God would have shown Elijah his answer even if it was a ‘no’ or a ‘wait’.  Something would have happened that told Elijah God’s answer.  Elijah wasn’t giving up.  He wasn’t stopping.  He believed God was going to answer and Elijah was going to keep calling out until he got a clear response from God.

God teaches us over and over in his word that he honors perseverance.

Please help us grow our perseverance and faith, Abba Father.

Our High Places…….

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

the places in our minds and hearts that we keep for ourselves.

Our behaviors that aren’t right but we accept them – that’s just how we are.June 3 2014 our high places

Our thoughts that are negative, mean and selfish – but we keep going back there.

Our actions that are not in line with God’s directions to us…….but we’re ok with them.  Or we just ignore them.  They aren’t THAT bad.

These are our high places.

We keep them separate from our relationship with God.  We don’t let his redeeming power into these places.  They are ours.

When Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings cleaned up the evil in Judah, he kept some high places which were places for idol worship.  He didn’t remove them and we read that the people still had not set their hearts on God.  They hadn’t fully committed.  They kept the high places which separated them from fully experiencing the love and blessing and protection of God.

What are our high places?

What is holding us back from being fully, totally committed to God?

This last year has been eye-opening for me.  I would have said I was full committed to God before but, since I’ve started seriously memorizing his word, I’m discovering a whole new level of interaction with God.  His words roll around in my head all day long.  I find knew meaning and understanding as I memorize each verse that I never got from just reading it – even though I’ve read it over and over.  God is expanding my insight and wisdom as he writes  over the lies and misunderstandings in my brain with his truth – a truly supernatural process.

We read good news in 2 Chronicles that Judah prospered and Jehoshaphat’s faith grew.  He became devoted to the Lord and finally removed all of the high places from Judah.

There is no better time than today – right now – to open up our high places to our Father of Grace and become fully committed to God.

Please help us grow and become completely devoted to you, Abba Father.

Help to the Powerless

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Do you ever feel powerless?

Are situations and problems stacking up on all sides of you?

With no let-up in site?JUne 2 2015 help the powerless

Do we ever feel powerless against the wide array of issues that are building up, covering the light, leaving us in darkness?

In 2 Chronicles, King Asa knew what to do when he found himself in this position.  He called out to his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty.  Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you.”

You know how God replied – he struck down the vast army that had taken up battle positions against Judah.

And God will do the same thing for us when we call out in faith for his help.

He will answer.

He will rescue us.

Maybe not exactly how we think he will answer, but we can trust him.  He has promised us that his plan is for us to prosper.  He often defines that differently than we do but he as our best interests in mind.

He is our help when we feel powerless.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Call It What It Is

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Today, as we read chapter 5, Isaiah looks us in the eye and says:

‘Trouble is coming to you who play with sin, acting like it’s not sin.

You’re deceiving yourselves.June 23 2014 Too Comfortable

You say that you don’t know what God, the Holy One of Israel, wants from you.”

(If Isaiah was in my livingroom right now, he would point at the Bible on my lap and tell me that I know 98% of what God wants me to know.  I just need to do it and God will tell me the rest as I go).

Isaiah says, ” You’re going to regret it whenever you call evil good.” ( we have a name for this – rationalization.)

“You will have trouble every time you say that darkness is light, every time you say that something bitter is actually sweet.

And you will regret every time you think you are wise and clever when the truth is – you’re not.”

Please help us stop the rationalizations, dear Father.

 

Too Comfortable

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Are we too comfortable?

Too set into our religious routines? June 21 2014 Call it like it is

Too focused on our own schedules?  Our own happiness?

Too content in ‘living the good life’?

God appointed Amos who was a  just a shepherd to warn powerful and successful King Jeroboam about these very things.

Israel’s worship was meaningless to them and so it was meaningless to God.

They were enjoying their life of excess while the weak and poor that lived around them continued to be oppressed.

They were focused on themselves.  They just didn’t care about others.

God warned Israel that he would take it all away if they didn’t turn back to him.

Complacency, pride and empty worship did not please God.

Today would be a good day to consider our own lives.  Do any of these things describe us?  Have we started down a path toward any of these behaviors?

Please open our eyes, dear God. 

 

 

If You Were Wise

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

We are in one of my favorite sections of the Chronological Bible.  This is where June 17 2014 if they listened.some of the prophets seem much more relevant to me because this Bible has them speaking God’s word directly to the kings who were actually ruling at the time.

Hosea spoke to 5 kings from both Judah and Israel.  Hosea tells them God offers them acceptance and forgiveness if they will repent and be faithful.

Hosea tells the priests they have been rejected by God because they have led the people into idolatry.  When Israel’s repentance only lasts a short time, Hosea points out their deceitfulness.

Hosea predicts captivity for Israel when they experience the wrath of God and their kingdom is destroyed.  The book of Hosea ends with a promise of forgiveness from God if they will turn back to him.

Hosea says to them (my version): “If you were wise, you would have figured this out.  You would understand that God is right and you should be following his directions for you.”

But they didn’t listen.  Instead, rebellious Israel continued down their path of destruction which took them into captivity and slavery.

What about us – you and me?

What path are we are on today?

How well are we listening?

Is it time for us to turn back to God?

Are we following God’s directions for us?

Dear Father, Please give us wisdom.

 

He Brings Peace

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

It happens over and over and over – when people get their relationship right with God, they find peace.June 13 2014 he brings peace

When Jehoiada took over control of the Kingdom of Judah for the child-king Joash, he once got rid of Baal worship by smashing the altars and idols, and killing all of the priests.  Jehoiada also reorganized the responsibilities of the temple according to David’s original directions.  They were to present the burnt offering with rejoicing and singing.

The gatekeepers also made sure no was that was unclean entered the temple area.  The good thing about the gatekeepers needing to discern whether someone was ‘clean’ or not was it gave them a way to tell how serious someone was about their faith.  The directions they had to follow to stay ‘clean’ enough to go to the temple were extensive.   So someone would have to be very intentional about staying ‘clean’.  The negative side of this would be like what happened in the story of the Good Samaritan.  In that instance, the religious people passed by a person in need because it would have made them ‘unclean’.  The right thing to do would have been to get ‘dirty’ and help the person in need.  Being legalistic about God’s directions can sometimes make us blind to the real message God has for us in his word.

Jehoiada was very aware of what God wanted as he protected the child-king and pointed the people of Judah towards God.  When a king who was following God was seated on the throne, the city was calm and the people found peace.

We can experience this same peace when we place God on the throne of our lives.  Even when the circumstances of our lives are not great, God is with us, and, when we let him take control, he can give us peace.

Thank you, dear God.