Category: March

What It’s Not About

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

He hadn’t started his ministry.
He hadn’t healed anyone, he hadn’t done any miracles.
He hadn’t DONE anything yet…..except be who he was.
He was Jesus….God’s son.

And God opened up the heavens at Jesus’ baptism so he could tell everyone that this was  his dearly loved son who brought him great joy.  Without doing anything.

This story became one of my favorites when I realized that Jesus hadn’t done anything to ‘deserve’ God’s love at this point. He just was.
And God was pleased with him.
It’s important for us to remember this whenever we get stuck in the mental trap of trying to be ‘good enough’ for God. We will never be good enough on our own – only through Jesus.  We can get so weighed down with guilt and busyness and obligation that we miss the point.

The point is having a close relationship with God.  Jesus, as our Savior, makes us good enough. We please God because we believe and we are his children.

That’s what it’s all about.
Dear Father, we thank you for saving us. In gratitude for all you’ve done, we give our hearts and lives back to you.

Count me In!

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

In Number 26, Moses is recording the names of the warriors.

If Moses was counting warriors today, I would want to be counted in – wouldn’t you?  Are we warriors for God? Do we go to battle for God?

In Romans 12:21 we are told to overcome evil with good. This implies action. Paul doesn’t tell us to ignore evil or accept evil or tolerate evil.

We are told to overcome it – to act against it – with good. To become warriors for what is right and good and true. To put on the full armor of God and enter battle, not giving up until our day is ended.

So what does that mean for us? Have we figured it out and are we doing it?

Dear Father, we want to be counted as your warriors. Please help us figure out our part of the battle of overcoming evil with good and then give us the courage to be obedient to your call – each day and every hour until we see you again.

The Donkey Talks!

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Oh, wow!  Balaam’s Donkey!

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 hear.

A talking Donkey doesn’t take alot of imagination when you’re a kid.  I think most kids are just waiting for animals to talk – it’s going to happen…..you just have to believe!

And kids have no problem believing that the donkey was the smart one.  Balaam didn’t see or wouldn’t see…but the donkey saw the angel right away.  Kids know how distracted adults are so they’re not surprise Balaam is so slow at catching up to the donkey.

Wouldn’t it be great for God to use animals to get our attention today?  I could see my grandpuppies running up with a message for me from God.  Scout would say something like “Hey, Mimi, God has been trying to get your attention but it hasn’t been working.” in his little Jack Russell voice.  And then Heisman’s deep Rottweiler voice would rumble in with “Yah, we have a message for ya’.  I would definitely pay attention AND I’d tell you all about it later 🙂

Dear Father, we know you have things to tell us so we’re paying attention.  It would be fun to have a conversation with a donkey, but please help us be more available and open to you so that you don’t have to do anything that radical to get our attention.

Dishonesty

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

I was slapped in the face with a truck load of dishonesty last week. Unbelievable. Surprising. Unwanted.
Reading Proverbs 11: 5-6 felt like balm to my burned soul. God’s words explain how the godly want to be honest while the wicked fall flat under their heavy load of sin.
Meditating on this turned my anger at the dishonest mess into compassion for people who are so lost under the weight of all of their sin. They are trying to carry it all by themselves and this makes them bitter and angry and untrustworthy.
Meanwhile, I have a Savior who has forgiven all of my sin already and loves me enough to die for me. His spirit lives inside of me giving me hope and peace and love enough to see the darkness that my ‘enemies’ are entrapped in.
Dear Father, I pray for all of the people around us who are still lost in the darkness of sin and who are so loaded down that they do bad things to others. Please help them find your light and your love.

Where is the Real Danger?

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

We lock our doors, we turn on our lights and our security systems, and we put our most precious things in safety deposit boxes and safes.
But are they really our most precious things?
A friend of mine told me about her child’s 1st Grade teacher who is a Christian and one of the lessons she teaches her class is to guard their hearts. She tells them to be careful what they let into their minds and hearts because it becomes part of them. Their heart guides them and it will take them to bad places if they have let bad things into their hearts.
God tells us to do the same as adults – be careful about what we let into our minds because these things becomes our thoughts, our thoughts become our attitude and our attitude becomes our behavior.  Bad behavior starts way back with our thoughts. Where do we let our thoughts wander?
We read in Psalm 55 that the city walls are patrolled 24/7 against invaders but the real danger is the wickedness within the city.
The real danger is the wickedness we let grow in our hearts and minds.
Dear Father, we ask you to create in us a clean heart so that we may love you better.

Why are they afraid?

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Joshua and Caleb are standing in front of the whole community of Israel in Numbers 14 and they are telling them not to be afraid and not to rebel against God.

They were part of a group who went to spy on the Promised Land.  All of the other spies came back talking about how great the Promised Land was but they said no one should go there.  The people were big….they were giants!  They started putting a plan together to go back to Egypt.

They wanted to go back while God was asking them to trust him and go forward.

Does this sound like us?  Do we ever just want to go back to where we were?  Back to what we know and where we thought we were comfortable?  Have you ever gone back and realized your memories have shifted from reality and the reality of going back isn’t so great?  I have.  It’s never as good the 2d time.

I’ve learned that there’s really only one direction to go – and that’s forward, trusting God for the next step because we know that he has a purpose for us and plans that will be to our benefit.

I Recognize My Rebellion

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

David is such an interesting person to study in the Bible!  He loves God and he truly wants to be a man of God.  But he strays and he sins and he does some pretty horrible things.

He always returns to God after he strays.  Psalm 51 is a great example of a repentant heart.  I love that David starts out asking God to have mercy on him ‘because of your unfailing love, because of your great compassion.”

David gets it – God’s mercy comes from love and it can’t be earned.  None of us can ever do anything to earn it.  David did a lot of good things in his life but he knows God’s mercy is his because of God’s love.  It’s a free gift.

We can often have a very hard time really accepting God’s grace.  We think we have to earn it.  So we get lost in busyness of serving God or even in the obligations of serving God.  We forget to just recognize our rebellion and call out to God asking for his mercy and compassion.  Just like David did.

Dear Father, we thank you for your free gift of grace.  We ask you to help us live in that grace every day,

Wherever

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

In Numbers 9 wer’e told that the cloud covered the Tabernacle and, when the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people would break camp and follow it.  When the cloud settled, the Israelites would set up camp and they stayed there until the cloud moved.

What an awesome level of obedience!  Sometimes we get hung up on stories of the Isrealites whining and we don’t think about the huge job it was to break camp for this very large group of people with their goats and cows and babies and all of their stuff.  They would move and keep on moving until the cloud settled.

I always read the Old Testament taking into consideration that these people didn’t have the Holy Spirit living inside of them like we do.  In those days the Spirit came upon people like Moses and David and the prophets but did not dwell inside of each believer like it does now.  So they had a lot more ‘excuse’ to whine than we do.

Dear Father, we thank you for the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, guiding us to your truth.  We ask you to grow our obedience to the level where we watch you and follow you like the Israelites did so many times.

We Know It

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

‘I wish I knew God’s will for my life’ – I used to say that pretty regularly.

Until I realized that I know about 98% of what God wants me to do with my life.  I don’t always know my next step and I definitely don’t know what’s going to happen next week.  But I know what Jesus has told all of us in Mark 12 – that we are to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.  We also need to love our neighbor like we love ourselves.

There is it – God’s will for my life.  As I’ve gradually grown in my ability to put God first in my life, I have begun to understand that through this relationship he makes everything else work.  If something is not going right in my life, it’s a symptom of my need to draw closer to God.  Because when I’m hanging close with God, I feel grounded and strong and the waves of ‘real life’ crash all around me but I’m steady.

And it’s this close relationship with God that enables me to love others like I should.  When I’m well-connected to him, he can love others through me.  When I’m having ‘people around me’ problems, it’s also a a symptom of my need to draw closer to God.

Through a close relationship God can guide me in my next step.  He also takes away the fear or worry about the unknown of what’s going to happen next week. 

So today, God asks me to do the part of his will that he has already told me to do – to love him with all I have and to love others.  I will trust him with the rest.

Let it Rain!

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Today we read in Leviticus that God promises to send the rains if his people will obey him.
It’s hard to understand what a huge thing that is until you are in a position where you need rain and only God is going to be able to give it to you. I grew up in a rural part of Iowa where the economy of our small town depended on the farming. If the farmers did well, the town was doing well. When the farmer’s crops didn’t do well, nobody did well.
The part of Iowa that I’m from usually received just the right amount of rain for the corn and soybeans that were growing. There was no irrigation available. So, when the rain didn’t come, the only one we had to rely on was God.
I have lots of memories of praying for rain. When the issue was critical, the churches in my small town would have prayer services at night praying for rain. This was serious business. The churches would be packed – standing room only sometimes. And we would spend hours praying for rain. Our dependence on God was crystal clear.   We called out to him in our time of need and I don’t remember an instance where he didn’t respond with rain.
Living in the city, it’s a lot harder to feel that dependence on God. We know everything we have comes from God but it FEELS like everything comes from our paychecks and the grocery store. I think it takes more discipline for us to keep aware of how dependent we are on God.
Another very good reason for us to be committed to reading his Word this year!