Category: November

If You Love Me……

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

keep my commands.Nov 14 2014 If you love me

God rocked my world through this verse in John over 25 years ago.

I always said I loved Jesus.  I had loved Jesus my entire life.

But was I keeping his commands?

Jesus wasn’t talking to me about all of the laws in the Old Testament or the 10 commandments.  He was pointing out his first and greatest command – to love God with all of my heart, mind, soul and strength.  And the second great command – to love others as I love myself.

I wasn’t doing great at putting God first in my life at that time.  Two active kids, a husband, a career that involved significant travel, a house, 2 cars, family, friends, going to church where I was a member of the choir – my calendar was stretched to a superhuman level already.  I didn’t see any slot where I could fit in more time with God.

But the Holy Spirit was persistent, convicting me BIG TIME that I needed to stop just saying I loved Jesus and start showing it by obeying his first and greatest command.

So I gave up some things, lowered my expectations of other things (like how clean my house was) and re-prioritized.  I got serious about Bible study – both on my own and with a small group – and started to put God first in my life.  One baby step at a time.

And a miracle happened!  Everything started to go better, run smoother, be more fun!  I realized that God wanted me to put him first so he could help me with everything else!  He wanted to help me be a better wife, a better mother ( he gets the credit for my 2 intelligent, mature and responsible grown children), a better employee, a better everything!

He put the pieces of my life together so that they made a great picture.   Before, the pieces just seemed to pile on top of each other – making me crazy……making me feel empty……making me unhappy.  God made sense of it and brought real joy back into my life.

Loving him first made me whole.

The a whole me was much better prepared to deal positively with the rest of my life – as long as I kept God at the center.

Six words changed it all!

Amazing!

I love you, dear Father!

How Far Are You….

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

from the kingdom of God?

In Mark 10, Jesus tells a man that he answered a question wisely when the man said that we need to love God first, with all of our soul, mind and strength.  Jesus said that the man was ‘not far from the kingdom of God.”Nov 11 2014 2 How Far are you

How far away from the kingdom of God are we?

Are we right in the middle of God’s kingdom – loving him with all of our soul, mind and strength?

Or are we picking a corner of God’s kingdom to hang out in – not ready to give him everything we’ve got?

Do we go to church each week but don’t make time to serve anywhere?

Do we read our Bible but not participate in any small group Bible Studies or classes at church?

What about the opposite?  Are we at church all of the time but we don’t make time to spend with God alone – just us two?

Do we tithe at church but are not willing to give anything above that when we’re asked to bring in toys for the community service project at Christmas?

Do we read God’s word but then forget it as we get on with the rest of our day?

Do we let the Truth of God soak into our souls and open up our hearts to the transforming power of the omnipotent King of the Universe?

Where are we in his kingdom?

Come to the Banquet

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Our Father God has prepared a lavish banquet.  His tables are piled high with the very best he has to offer –

* love.Nov 11 2014 1 Come to the Banquet

* grace.

* purpose for our lives.

* joy.

* peace.

* contentment.

* blessing for our families and friends.

*forgiveness.

* wholeness.

*hope.

* provisions for all of our needs.

Everything is ready.  We just need to go to the banquet and accept all of God’s blessings.

Many of us have accepted God’s invitation, have felt his grace, his acceptance and his love.

But sometimes we have problems staying at the banquet – we wander outside to the patio and start to worry and fret, instead of sitting at his table filled with trust that he’s got this.

We wander upstairs to plan and plot and try to control our world instead of relaxing in God’s presence, knowing he’s in charge.

Or we concentrate on the dessert table when we really need to be diving into the meat God has for us in his Word.

We may get distracted by wanting to know all of the ingredients of every dish when God’s desire is that we “Be still …… and know I am God.”

We might leave the party early because we are so busy, our calendars are over-flowing.  We only penciled in one hour for God.  So we miss the fun, we miss the deep relationship we could have had with God if we took the time.  If we made Him our priority.

It’s possible to go to the banquet and accept salvation but miss most of the blessings God has for us here on earth.

Dear Father, Please help us to stay at the banquet, bowed and blessed at your feet.  Today.  And everyday.

I want to be…

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

like the Samaritan Leper.

He came back to Jesus after Jesus healed him.  He came back praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.

He was one of ten lepers that Jesus healed in Luke 17 as he travelled to Jerusalem.

Jesus healed them all.

This man was the only one that came back to say thank you.

Jesus had redeemed the leper’s life from pain and death.  And the leper came back to show his gratitude for what Jesus had done for him.

Jesus did the same thing for you and me.  He redeemed our lives from pain, death and eternal separation from the only source of good things in this universe – our Father God.

For the rest of our lives here on this planet, let our first response be gratitude to God.

Dear Jesus, We are very grateful for all of the things you are and for what you have done for us.  Help us live lives full of gratitude, counting the blessings we have received from you each day.  Thank you.  In your redeeming name we pray, Amen.

We Know His Voice

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Nov 5 2014 We know his voice 1We can follow Jesus, our Great Shepherd.  We can know what he is telling us –

when we know his voice.

And we know his voice by reading his word to us.  We know what he is saying to us when we don’t have a Bible in front of us because we have read his words before.  We’ve read it many times.   We’ve heard this before.  We’ve prayed about it many times.

We know his voice.

And we listen to his voice.

We let Jesus change us…..Nov 5 we know his voice 3. jpg

transform us…

renew our minds so that we think thoughts that are more like his.

We let Jesus change our hearts so that, more and more, we love the things that he loves.

Baby step by baby step we are becoming more like Jesus.

And it becomes easier to hear him with every step.

Because we’re closer.

Let’s keep moving closer.

Thank you, dear Jesus, for being our personal shepherd.  We love hearing your voice! 

The Best Exchange

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

It sounds daunting.  Nov 3 2014 the exchange

It sounds challenging.

It sounds like it’s too hard, too much.

We must deny ourselves….

– summit our will.

– decide to do what God wants instead of what we want.

It’s not natural.

Not normal.

It’s normal for us to look out for #1.

It’s natural for us to be self-centered and Captains of our own Universe.

But Jesus came and turned our universe upside down – inside out.

He tells us to deny our sovereignty over our space and submit to him in order to save our lives.

By denying ourselves and letting God reign as King of our Universe, we gain it all!

All of the important stuff.

The stuff that counts.

Forget the big houses, new cars, and money……that’s just stuff.

We’re talking about the most important things like ….

purpose for your life…

and peace…

and love….

And how about joy?

How much joy do you have in your life?

Everything good comes down from the Father of Heavenly Lights. (This is one of my favorite verses from James 1 that we’re eventually going to memorize in our Sword Fighting Class)

So we exchange our frustrating, disappointing, heart-breaking attempts to control of our life for God’s control of our life and he makes his dreams for us come true.

I love that exchange!

Don’t you?

Thank you, dear Father.

Who is in Control?

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Jesus could walk on the water because he created the water – he could make it do anything he wanted.gdtDSC_0611

Jesus could feed five thousand people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish because he created bread and fish.  He could make them do anything he wanted.

Both of these things are impossible for us because we are not God.

Sometimes we try to act like God – we try very hard to control the world around us.  This sin goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.  That’s what Eve wanted – she wanted to be like God.

But we aren’t God.gdtDSC_0647

So all of our efforts to control the world just cause anger, frustration and disappointment for us.

The lesson God has for us – if we choose to learn it – is that God is the only one in control.  When we truly let him take control of our lives, we find the peace and contentment that God wants us to have.

I was able to visit Israel earlier this year and spent an afternoon on the Sea of Galilee (pictures).  We saw the place where Jesus fed the 5000.  We spent several hours in the middle of the sea, imagining the figure of Jesus walking out on the water towards us and watching our ship captain show us how the disciples fished with a net.gdtDSC_0642

We are so blessed to have the Word of God available to us 24/7.  We know the historical accounts of Jesus’ life here on earth and we have his role-model for how we should live our lives.

Jesus created all of this – he knows how it should work.  Jesus reminds us through his word today to take courage and don’t be afraid.  We just need to give up trying to control everything and trust him.

God’s got this!

Thank you, dear Father!

Why Are You So Afraid?

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Jesus asked his disciples this question in the midst of a furious storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.gdtDSC_0639

I was in a boat on the Sea of Galilee earlier this year when the wind began to pick up – blowing through the boat. (pictures)  But it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon – nothing like the storm the disciples experienced.  They were in the eye of a storm with the waves breaking over the boat, ready to swamp it.

And Jesus was sleeping.

In a panic, the disciples woke up Jesus.

With one comment, Jesus calmed the storm.  And then he asked them why they were so afraid.  Where was their faith?

Jesus asks us this same question today when we are afraid…….gdtDSC_0656

afraid of what’s going to happen to us…..

afraid of what’s going to happen to those we love…..

afraid of all of the things we can’t control.

Jesus asks us, “Where is your faith?”

Because everything is under his control.  The winds and the waves on the Sea of Galilee were under his control.  Anything that will ever happen to us is also under his control.

And we know he wants the best for us – he told us that in Jeremiah.

So we can have faith and not be fearful as we go through the storms.  We can pray when the winds and waves pick up and start to swamp us.  We can stand firm on our Rock, knowing that he is control.

He is always in control.  So what are we afraid of?  Where is our faith?

Please grow our faith, dear Father.

Built on the Rock

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

This is the season when many of you are storm-proofing your houses.  Preparing for winter.  I grew up in Northwest Iowa so I know all about winter.  In Iowa, we also had to storm-proof our cars with better lubricants, snow tires and radiator heaters that we could plug-in every night.

Now that I live in Phoenix, we don’t need to do any storm-proofing except for making sure our air conditioners are in top shape before summer begins.

Jesus tells us that a wise person storm-proofs their life by building it on the Rock.  And Jesus is that Rock.October 27 2014 Built on the Rock

So when the rains of disappointment, grief and sadness pour down, our house will stand.

When the streams of hurt and lies and pain rise, our house will stand.

And when the winds of anger, hate and confusion beat upon our house, it does not fall.   Because its foundation is built upon the Rock.

Jesus says that a foolish person will build their house on sand and their house will crash down when the storm comes.  He says we are this foolish person if we hear his words and don’t put them into practice.

The storm is coming – it may already be blowing into your life – is your foundation ready?

Jesus tells us exactly what to do to storm-proof our lives.  We need to listen to him and obey.

Today is the day.  There is no better time than right now.

Dear Father, please guide us in building our lives upon the Rock.

Full of Light

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Our minds are marvelous, intricate things, created by God for our use and for his glory.

What are we feeding into our minds?October 26 2014 full of light

Because whatever we feed, will grow.

God tells us in Matthew 6 that our eyes are a lamp to our bodies.  If our eyes are healthy, our whole body will be healthy.

But, if our eyes are unhealthy, our whole body will be full of darkness.

Filled with darkness.

Do you ever feel like that?

Have you thought about what you’re feeding into your mind?

It’s hard to avoid the darkness that presses in from our culture all around us.

For some reason, God has developed in me a heightened sensitivity to the darkness around me and a clear awareness of the work that Satan and his team is doing.  As a result, I avoid most shows on TV, most movies and a lot of books.  Any music other than Christian music usually  has some lyrics that turns off the light and brings on the darkness.

We can be careful about what we feed our minds with when its our choice but we obviously can’t avoid it all as we live our lives in this world, but not of it.  God calls us to turn on the light and push back the darkness in our world as much as we can.

In order to do that, we need to be filled with his truth.  Filled with his love.  Filled with his light.

Please fill us with your light, dear Father.