Category: October

It was loud!

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

When the wall around their city was finally finished, the people of Jerusalem rejoiced because ‘God had given them great joy.” Nehemiah 12:43.

Everyone celebrated!  All the men, all the women and all of the children were happy and they showed it.  We read in the Bible that the sound of Jerusalem’s celebration could be heard far away.

That’s really loud!!  They were so filled with joy that they couldn’t keep quiet.

And this is not unusual in the Bible – God’s people celebrated a lot!  They had joy!  They worshipped God!  They were loud!  When thousands of angels filled the heavens, singing for joy and praising God, they were very loud!

So where do we sometimes get the idea that our weekly church family celebrations and worship should be quiet?  There is certainly a time and place for reverence and meditation when we get together.

But there are also many reasons for joy and excitement and celebration as we worship together and are blessed.  Our traditions should enhance our worship, not restrain it.

Thousands of years ago, God’s people showed us how to express our joy, celebrate and worship God.

And it was loud!

Please give us joy, Abba Father!

I’ve Got Your Back!

On By Judy GlasserIn October2 Comments

When we want to accomplish something big, it takes a team.  One person can only do what one person can get done.

But when a group of people join energy and brainpower to tackle a goal together, unexplainable synergy happens and their efforts are multiplied.  Success rolls in when a team of people are engaged, committed to working together and helping each other achieve a goal.

And when God’s involved – there is a supernatural factor that is truly astounding to witness.  Projects turn out much better than planned.  Blessings pile up.  We see our faith growing as, together, we experience the power of God in our lives.

Has this happened to you?

I’ve experienced this many times and its exciting every time it happens.

As a result, I love reading the historical account of Nehemiah leading the Israelites in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.  The Jews were being attacked regularly by their enemies who didn’t want them to complete the wall.  They were very discouraged.

Nehemiah refused to stop building.  He knew that he had been sent back to Jerusalem to lead this project so he couldn’t stop.  He organized the men into teams – half of them did the work while the other half watched the worker’s backs with spears, shields, bows and armor.  They protected their brothers with everything they had.

Working together,

protecting each other,

they accomplished the goal together.

They could not have done it without each other.

Our Spiritual family is like this.  We need each other.  Each one of us needs to use our spiritual gifts in order to build each other up and fulfill our purpose of reaching others for Christ.

We watch each other’s backs – loving and forgiving each other in supernatural ways.

And we love those who don’t know Jesus yet…blue-blob-ive-got-your-back

while our Spiritual family supports us and cheers us on.

We can do this, because He first loved us…

and He has our backs.

Thank you, Abba Father.

It’s Impossible!

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

When  the path right in front of us looks like its straight up hill.

When the issues confronting us are big

and confusing

and heart-breaking.

When we are threatened on all sides by more problems, more sadness, more darkness.

please-strengthen-my-handsThe answer is to turn to God and pray Nehemiah’s prayer, “Now strengthen my hands.”(6:9)

Nehemiah had groups of powerful people plotting against him as he led the Jews in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.  His enemies were trying to frighten the Jews so their hands would become too weak to continue to work on the wall.  But God answered Nehemiah’s prayers and the wall was eventually finished.

Is there something in your life that looks like its impossible to accomplish?  Impossible to fix?

Give it to God.  Ask him to strengthen your hands and then trust that he is answering.  He may use you like he did Nehemiah to actually orchestrate the answer.  Or  he may have a very different plan which he has already put into place where your role is to pray and wait and trust.

Either way,  God’s got this.

Please strengthen my hands, Abba Father.

 

The Time is Now

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

“For such a time as this”.  God challenges me with these words as I read the story of Esther in the Bible.

Now.  This next step.  Today.

Esther’s story is a very good example to me of how God orchestrates opportunities and invites me to be a part of what he is already doing.  Queen Esther faced the possibility of being killed if she stood up for her people, the Jews.  Mordecai, her uncle, told her, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (vs 4:14)  So Esther asked all of the Jews to pray and fast with her for three days before going to the king.  God gave her the wisdom and courage to risk her life and save her people.

For such a time as this.

I would be missing an important point if I thought this is the only opportunity God ever gave Esther.  There were many more, this is just the one he told us about because it’s a significant example of how he worked to complete his will through her.

And how he works to complete his will through me.

And through you.

Today.

For such a time as this.

Today I will be given opportunities to partner with God in what he is accomplishing in this world.  He has made it clear to me that this blog is one of my assignments.  So I continue reading the Bible every year, listening to him and sharing with you what he says.  And I’ll do that until he tells me to stop.

Recently, God has started sharing with me insights into how he is pursuing some of the people in my life who haven’t chosen to accept his free gift of salvation yet.  It’s very interesting to watch him work.  I know he’s opening my eyes so I am more aware of my role and better prepared to plant a seed of God’s truth when the ‘time’ comes.

There is a reason I’m still breathing today.

There’s a reason you’re still breathing.

For such a time as this.

Open our eyes, Abba Father.

Telling My Story

On By Judy GlasserIn October2 Comments

I have so much to be thankful for!  God is good and he loves me with a never-ending love.  God tells me in Psalm 107 that I need to tell my story.  And you need to tell your story.

“Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story.” We all have a unique story to share.

Some of us have wandered, looking for a place to belong. We were hungry for love, starving for a purpose. When we cried out to God, he drew us closer to himself – to the place where we belong. He gave us a purpose to get up every morning.

Let us tell our story, giving thanks to God for he is good.

Others of us lived in darkness, bound by chains of rebellion, stumbling through life with no help in sight. But we cried out to the LORD and he brought us out of the utter darkness, breaking all of our chains.

Let us tell our story, giving thanks to God for he is good.

Some of us made very foolish decisions and were suffering through the consequences of those to the point of thinking that death might be an option.  But, instead, we turned to God for help and he healed us, rescuing us from the living death we found ourselves in.

Let us tell our story, giving thanks to God for he is good.

Others of us have experienced violent storms in our lives as huge waves of pain and grief washed over us. When our courage and strength were gone, we finally cried out to the LORD and he “stilled the storm with a whisper”, calmed the waves and guiding us home to him.

Let us tell our story, giving thanks to God for he is good.

My story is that I have known Jesus as my Savior my entire life but I decided to wander in my young adulthood – trying out all the ‘fun’ things the world had to offer. It seemed great at first but gradually my life because very empty and filled with darkness. So I called out to God who made it very clear to me that he had never left me. When I turned back to him, I found him waiting for me with open arms.

God has been gradually drawing me closer to him as I daily travel this Journey towards the Truth. I have left the emptiness and darkness behind, finding meaning and light as I put God first in my life. 

I will continue to tell my story for the rest of my life, giving thanks to God for he is good.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Carefully Consider

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

My priorities are important to God.  When he tells me, “love me first”, he means it.  If I miss that, I can expect consequences.

God explains this to me in Haggai when his people had their priorities messed up. “Give careful thought to your ways.  You have planted much but harvest little.   You eat but never have enough.  You drink, but never have your fill.  You put on clothes but are not warm.  You earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

God’s people were selfishly putting their own work in front of finishing God’s temple and they were paying the consequences.

Painful consequences.

I don’t want these words to describe my life so I need to carefully consider my priorities.  I need to choose God first and prioritize his purposes and his plans.  That’s the only way I’m going avoid harvesting little or feeling like I never have enough.

When I can change my self-centered thinking to God-centered thinking, it’s not hard to stay in line with his priorities.  I know he loves me with a perfect love.  He wants the best for me and nothing is impossible for him.

After careful consideration, I choose God.  I choose his priorities.

Amen, let it be so, Abba Father.

Do You Feel It?

On By Judy GlasserIn October2 Comments

What does it feel like when God ‘moves’ my heart?

When I understand something I never knew before as I read his Word, I can feel God moving my heart.  When I have an idea or motivation I have never felt before as I read his Word, I know God is moving my heart.  When I see a situation more clearly today as I read his Word, I realize God is moving my heart and giving me insights I never had before.

All of these and more describe experiences I have had as God moves my heart to more closely align with his.

While reading the story of the people of Israel  in the book of Ezra as they prepare to end their exile and go back to resettle Israel, the words, “everyone whose heart God had moved” jump out at me.

God had chosen those who he wanted to go back to rebuild his temple in Jerusalem.  And they knew it.

They felt it.

And they obeyed.

It wasn’t going to be an easy task but they had been picked by God to do something big for him.  So they went.

Because they were listening and watching, they knew when God moved their hearts.  That’s what it takes to hear God and be a part of what he’s doing in our world.

God has a purpose for me today.

He has a purpose for you today.

Please move our hearts, Abba Father.

The Way to Peace

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

Where is peace?

The way to peace is illusive.  It’s hard to find.  If you find it, it’s hard to keep.  One text, one thought, one facial expression and – poof!- it’s gone.

I’ve found that it’s easier to feel peaceful in the mountains or at the beach – closer to God’s creation.  Many of us flock to those places on vacation…….looking to have a good time and, possibly, a few moments of peace and calm.

Jesus wept for Jerusalem in Luke 19 while saying, “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace.  But now it is too late, the peace is hidden from your eyes.”

The Good News for us is that peace is not hidden from our eyes.  Jesus is the way.  Jesus can give us the internal peace that nothing else – including the mountains and the beach – can give.

When we look to Jesus for peace, we will find it.

Thank you, Jesus.

It Breaks Through

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

So much noise.

Too much information.

Bombarded by distractions……

and then God’s voice breaks through.

Clear.

Strong…..

making more sense than all the chaos around me.

One of my favorite images of God comes from the story that Jesus tells us in John about the Good Shepherd.  “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them on.”  “The sheep recognize his voice.”

I recognized his voice.  How?

It’s simple but not easy.  After reading the entire Bible eight times, I know when God is speaking to me because he is speaking his words – the words I have read over and over.  I recognize his truth because I have seriously studied the Bible for over 30 years.  I’m not a pastor or a theologian.  I’m just an average person who really wants to hear God and know the truth.

I have been asked, ” how do you know it’s God and not just your own voice telling you what you want to hear?”  When what I hear lines up with what I’ve read and studied in God’s word, I have no doubt that it’s his voice.

Important point – messages from God will be consistent with more than just one verse in the Bible.  The only way to really know it is from God is that it lines up with what God says about this topic over the entire Bible.

One verse can steer me in the wrong direction.

One or two verses taken out of context can tell us lies – nothing close to what God really said.

Be very careful with the ‘life verse’ concept.  The only way that works is if you understand what God says regarding the topics in that verse through the entire Bible.  Otherwise, it can be a shortcut that takes you down a dark path – a path where you hear what you want to hear because you are not recognizing his voice.

The closer I get to God, the easier it is to hear his voice.

Thank you for speaking so clearly, Abba Father.

My Fears

On By Judy GlasserIn October2 Comments

What am I afraid of?

What are you afraid of?

This world can be a very scary place with evil lurking around every corner.  The worst can happen in an instant –

I’ve been there.

So it seems logical that you and I would be afraid……. until we read what Jesus says to us in Matthew 8, “Why are you afraid?  You have so little faith.”

Wow!  Jesus directly correlates the fact that I am afraid to how much faith I have.

God is telling me that my fears mean I’m not trusting him.

I know this is true for me.  When I am worried, I am not trusting God.  The amount of my fear is a clear indication of the lack of my faith because I know God is in control.  He has a plan and purpose.  There is nothing that happens to me that has not gone through his hands.

So what am I afraid of?

My worst fear – that something bad would happen to one of my children – has already come true for both of them.  My daughter got cancer and my son was a police officer who was killed in the line of duty three years ago.

What a huge waste of time and effort fear is!  It didn’t change anything that has happened to me.

God has used these experiences to teach me many things.  One of them is to lay my worries and fears at God’s feet and leave them there.  He is the only one who can do anything about them.

It’s a fact that he loves me and wants the best for me.  He is faithful to walk beside me when bad things happen, helping me to grow my faith and trust in him.

Fear comes from a lack of faith.

Thank you for your faithfulness, Abba Father.