Category: September

So Many Mysteries

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

I read the entire Bible every year but I will never understand it all.  You will never understand it all.

How do we live our lives with these mysteries?

For me, one of the keys to having peace and contentment is realizing that there are aspects of God’s complex creation and plan that I will never understand.  There are “things too wonderful for me to know” Job 42: 3.

You figured it out thousands of years ago, Job!

Remembering and focusing on the truth God gives us in his Word that is very clear and have been etched into my soul by the Holy Spirit helps me be okay about the mysteries that are beyond the ability of my 3 pound brain to comprehend.

Here are some of the bedrock truths that I review in my mind when I start to worry or doubt or question –

God is good, all the time. My circumstances don’t change any of these facts.

God is all-powerful – nothing is impossible for him.

God is a perfect Father who loves me with a perfect love.  He is always walking beside me.

God is working all things out for my good.  He wants the best for me.

God’s timing is perfect.

Being confident of these truths, I know the best response to whatever happens to me is to trust God.  I can ask ‘Why?’ and God is patient with me, but there is wisdom in making trust my first response, not questions.

I have discovered that my life stays more closely aligned with God when I automatically and genuinely trust him with everything – because there is so much that I will never understand.

I trust you, Abba Father.

I See His Work

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

What do you do in a thunderstorm? Check out the clouds? Watch the wind rip through the trees? Count the seconds between the flash of the lightening and the roll of thunder?

Every summer, I spend some time staying by Lake Okoboji in Iowa which is near where I grew up. It’s a beautiful lake surrounded by lots of vacation homes, condos and hotels. Every year I go, there’s at least one rain storm and it always reminds me of one of my favorite things about this part of the country. It’s farmland as far as you can see but there is no irrigation here – God himself waters this land. I remember several times as a kid when the farmers needed more rain. So we had a prayer meeting. And when we had a prayer meeting for rain, the large church I grew up in was full – wall to wall people, standing room only. Everyone around my hometown knew who watered their crops and our town’s economy depended on those crops.

As I read God’s Word in the book of Job I am remembering what it felt like sitting in my cabin by the lake, listening to it rain and thunderstorm, saying ‘wow’ when the thunder clapped very loudly right over us and watching the bright show of lightening cracking across the lake.

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;

he does great things beyond our understanding.

He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’

and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour”.

So that everyone he has made may know his work,

he stops all people from their labor.

The animals take cover;

They remain in their dens.

The tempest come out from it’s chamber,

the cold from the driving winds.

The breath of God produces ice,

and broad waters become frozen.

He loads the clouds with moisture;

he scatters his lightening through them.

At his direction they swirl around

over the face of the earth

to do whatever he commands them.” Job 37: 5-12.

God definitely gets the attention of everyone around the lake when it storms. It was impossible to ignore his work.

Do you know the benefits that God has packed into a rainstorm like that?

  • the obvious one is the rainfall – growing the crops and providing grass to feed the animals.
  • rainstorms are natural air-conditioners – cooling the air and the land.
  • lightening provides nitrogen which fertilizes the soil and provides protein for the animals.
  • rainstorms remove pollution in the air, cleaning it.

I may not understand a lot of things God does, but when I feel the rain, hear the thunder and see the lightening, I know that God is providing for us and taking care of us.

Thank you, Abba Father.

It Has Been Decided

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

These last 8 1/2 years have been the most difficult and painful time of my life.  My son, David Glasser, was a Phoenix Police officer who was killed in the line of duty on May 18, 2016.  My world blew up on that day.

dave-and-grandma-at-northwestern

One of the ways God has comforted me is through this truth – ” A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.” Job 14:5.

God has already decided which day will be the last day of your life here on earth and mine.

Knowing this helped me let go of my mother when she passed away 21 years ago.  We had a very close relationship and she was my role-model for how a Christian woman lives her life faithful to God – all the way to her last breath here on earth.  I realized, if God wanted her in heaven with him, then that’s what I wanted for her.

davey-and-grandma-rolls

Nineteen years ago I found myself in ICU with twelve blood clots in my lungs – a life-threatening situation.  God told me clearly that I wasn’t going to die from that and I didn’t – even though 5 doctors told me the blood clots should have killed me.

It just wasn’t my day.

I know that God has reasons for picking May 18 as Davey’s final day here on earth. I may never understand those reasons but I trust God.   And, since God wants him in heaven, that’s what I want for him.

Knowing that this date was determined before Davey was born helps me avoid needless regrets…like –

  • I wish he hadn’t gone on that call.davey-and-mom
    • It wouldn’t have mattered.  This was his day.
  • I wish he hadn’t gone to work that day.
    • It would have happened no matter what he was doing.
  • I wish he hadn’t been a police officer.
    • He was born to be a police officer and he died honorably, serving his community and doing what he loved to do.  He wouldn’t have wanted to live or die any other way.

It was decided.  There is no ‘wishing’ something else had happened.  God decreed the number of Davey’s days here on earth and then he took Davey home.

Now, standing a foundation of God’s love and strength and grace, I know I have been left on this earth for a purpose.  God has a plan.  I am committed to following where he leads….until the day arrives that is already decided for me.

Meanwhile, through the tears, I am focusing on loving God and loving people.

A bigger chunk of my heart is now in heaven with you, Abba Father.

This Explains It All

On By Judy GlasserIn September2 Comments

Why is there so much evil in the world?

Why are our families being torn apart?

Why is there so much anger and hatred in our country?

Why are addictions the plague of our century?

Why are innocent children being abused and killed?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Satan takes the credit for all of this in the first chapter of Job.  He tells God that he just got back from “roaming the earth, going back and forth on it.” (vs 7 )

And Satan leaves a wide path of destruction wherever he goes.  That’s what we’re seeing – the work of Satan.  He has convinced a whole lot of people to ignore the truth, forget about being kind and forgiving, and just focus on yourself – that’s all that matters.

Satan smiles whenever we believe the lies swirling all around us in our culture.  He loves it when we consult Google instead of God when deciding what’s right and wrong, good or bad.

He enjoys watching us wreck our relationships and our marriages with our selfishness.  He encourages us to be impatient, impulsive and immature.

Wow!  He is really getting a kick out of the lack of respect for authority that is growing in our country.  It’s a win-win for him because everyone else loses.

Satan smiles when he can do anything to distract us from our relationship with God.  He’ll even bring good things into our lives if they will lure us away from God.

Satan is roaming……

today…..

everyday…..

going back and forth……

back and forth.

Please use us to overcome evil with good,  Abba Father.

My Special Possession – The Story Continues

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

Do you have a special possession?

If someone asked me that, I would have to think awhile because I’m not very attached to “things”.   I’d probably say the ring that my mother left to me when she went home to heaven is special to me. It became invaluable to me after she was gone.

My own wedding ring is also important to me. It symbolizes over 43 years of love and commitment between my husband and I. Every five years we changed or added to my ring so when I look at it, I see the history of us building a marriage that has lasted through many storms. After our son who was a Phoenix Police Officer was killed in the line of duty, I added some blue sapphires onto my wedding ring in honor and remembrance of a great son and the awesome man he grew up to be. Precious.

My eyes were opened to my real answer to that question several years ago as I was reading what God says in Ezekiel 44, ” I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel: I will be their possession.” God was all they needed.  God took care of them and he didn’t want them to be distracted by other possessions.

Wow!  This applies to me!  God takes care of me and provides for me.  He doesn’t want me to be distracted by possessions. My relationship with God is my most prized possession.  I can’t imagine life without him.  There is nothing I own –  my mother’s ring and my ring included – that gives me the love, joy and strength that God gives me.  Nothing else gives me the forgiveness and freedom that only comes from God.

Yes, God is my special possession.  My relationship with him is so much more precious and perfect than anything I could ever buy or own.

Many of you read this blog several years ago when I initially wrote it. It amazes me to look back and see how God was preparing me through his Word for something that was going to happen.

Three years ago my wedding ring was stolen. One of the stones on the ring was loose so the jeweler sent the ring in to fix the stone before I lost it. The ring disappeared on the way.

I lost the whole ring. Gone. Over 40 years of building this ring with my husband stolen from me. Over 40 years of never taking the ring off except at night because I didn’t want to lose it. I had one spot and one spot only I put it if it wasn’t on my finger. I never put it in my pocket, I never put it by the sink. I knew the easiest way to lose it was to take it off so I didn’t, I just cleaned it regularly.

I would have been devastated when I got the call that it was stolen if I had not already worked through this truth about my most special possession. God reminded me that he was still walking beside me and would never leave me. His love and care and grace can never be stolen away like my ring was.

The jeweler replaced my ring with a very nice ring that looks just like my original one.

The story doesn’t end there. Last year my ring disappeared. I woke up one morning and it wasn’t where it was supposed to be! It wasn’t in the one place where I always put it at night. I really had no where else to look so I looked everywhere – 3 or 4 times. I was sad but I had already decided it wasn’t my most precious possession. I had a feeling it was somewhere – it wasn’t gone. So every time I thought about it, I would ask God to bring it back to me. I knew he knew exactly where it was.

Four months later, my ring showed up in one of the places where I had looked 3 or 4 times. I don’t know where it was for 4 months and I don’t know how it got into the place I found it because it wasn’t there before. I’ll probably never know. But I know WHO brought it back to me and I am forever grateful.

Now my ring not only symbolizes 43 years of marriage to me, it also symbolizes a whole lifetime of God’s faithfulness. My ring reminds me every day that my relationship with God is my most precious possession

and that relationship can never be taken away from me.

We’re Not Alone

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

I don’t know how I missed it.  Maybe it was never included in the children’s version of this story.

It’s a well-known Biblical account. Three men refused to worship the evil king’s golden idol so the king threw them into a blazing furnace.  The furnace was so hot that it killed the soldiers who got close enough to throw the men in.

Here’s a detail of the story that I missed until I started reading the entire Chronological Bible each year. The king looked into the furnace and saw 4 men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed.

4 men – not 3.

“Look!  I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”  Daniel 3: 25.  The king called the 4th person an angel.  I believe it was Jesus, sent by God to protect Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  They walked through the blazing fire together.

The fire didn’t stop when the three men were thrown in. The king didn’t change his mind at the last minute. An army of angels didn’t swoop down from heaven to save the day.

God had a hundred ways he could have saved these 3 men.  He chose to send a personal rescuer into the fire with them.  Jesus walked with them – just like he walks with us when we are in the middle of the fires in our lives.

Our fires can look like failure….

grief……

disease……

disappointment….

betrayal…..

the list goes on.

My biggest personal fire was when my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer, was killed in the line of duty on May 18, 2016.  All of my expectations of what the rest of my life looked like were destroyed on that day.  The flames of that fire are still burning up pieces of my life, leaving mountains of painful ash behind.

But Jesus was there.   And he is here as I continue to walk on this very tough road piled high with grief and loss.

I have discovered that, as I remain faithful in the fire, God is using this time to grow my trust, grow my perseverance and grow my faith.

My loss and pain will not go away this side of heaven but God has given me peace and a purpose.  I’m thankful for the opportunities he gives me to share what I am learning about God’s faithfulness as he walks with me daily,

in the middle of the fire.

Thank you, Abba Father. 

Really Alive!

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

A valley of bones.

Millions of bones.

When God breathed into them – “they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.” Ezekiel 37:10.

Wow!! Growing up in church, I always thought this vision of Ezekiel should be preached around Halloween because a valley full of dry bones suddenly connecting and standing up is weird as well as a little scary.

How time changes things! Now I love this visual because it’s exactly what happened when I turned over my whole heart to God.  His breath went deep into my soul and – for the first time – I was truly alive.  I have an eternal purpose.  I have been re-created into one of the soldiers in his army – wearing his armor and working next to my spiritual brothers and sisters to share the Good News and push back evil.  Each day, I read and study God’s word – getting to know him better and listening as he speaks truth into my life.

Are you looking for purpose? Are you looking for guidance? Are you looking for hope?

God gives me hope.  Not the ‘I wish’ kind of hope.  This hope is cemented into my heart by the promises of God.  I know who is in control and I know he is working everything out for my good.  I know where I’m going when I leave this earth.  I know who wins in the end.

God’s redeeming love has turned my dry bones into something good and useful.  His breath moves in my heart and soul – bringing new life each day.

There are no dry bones here.

What’s the condition of your bones?  Would you like to experience a new breath of God’s spirit in your soul?

Turn to him and ask, he’s waiting for you.

Showers of Blessing

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

The old hymns bring back great memories for me.

I was raised in a conservative Christian family who were members of a conservative Christian church in the Midwest.  I don’t remember knowing anyone in my little home town who didn’t go to church regularly.

My father was a talented musician who owned and operated a car body repair shop for most of his life.  He had a beautiful, deep baritone voice.  My mother had a nice alto voice and harmonized well.  My youngest brother had a great tenor voice.  Unfortunately, I also sing alto so my family quartet was missing a soprano but there were many good sopranos in our church congregation.  So listening to my family sing the old hymns in church every Sunday morning was a treat – definitely my favorite part of the service.

Those great old hymns reverberated off the walls as my church family sang them with energy and confidence.  And my family contributed a beautiful part of it.

Awesome memories!

My little town also had ‘Hymn Sings’ at the town ballpark during the summer.  We would fill up the bleachers with people from all different churches while the organizers set up microphones and amplifiers on a stage over the pitcher’s mound.  They hauled in an organ (no drums or guitars here) and handed out song sheets.  People would yell out favorites and we would fill the summer sky with praises to God for 2 hours or more.

I would sing harmony with my mom – no music, we sang these same songs in church so often that we had the harmony part memorized.  I realized many years ago that I don’t know the melody of some of the old hymns – just the harmony.  But I know the words by memory and I also have the second and third verses of many of them etched in my brain.

As I now read Ezekiel 34, these great memories come rolling through my head as God says through Ezekiel, “I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.” vs 26.

One of the many blessings God has given me is a long family legacy of faith and trust in God which creates beautiful memories like these.

Thank you for your blessings, Abba Father.

What Makes Him Happy?

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

Being ‘good enough’ is not my goal.  Getting my act together is not my goal.  Checking all the boxes – keeping busy with ‘God’ stuff – is not my goal.

The historical account of Jesus’ baptism tells me what pleases God, what makes him happy.

I do.

If you have put your faith in Jesus, then you do, too.

When I trusted in Jesus and was redeemed by his sacrifice on the cross, I was adopted by God and became one of his precious daughters.  ‘Joint heirs with Jesus’ – as an old hymn describes it.  What Jesus did for me makes me ‘good enough’.

While reading about Jesus’ baptism, I realize a very important fact. Jesus hadn’t started his ministry yet.  He hadn’t DONE anything huge for God.  “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17.

Let’s take a moment to let that soak in, my brothers and sisters.  Jesus was God’s son and God was pleased with him – before his ministry began.  Before Jesus did any miracles.  Before he did any teaching. During this spectacular moment when all three parts of our Triune God met on earth, the only thing our Father God wanted to say was how much he loved his son, Jesus.

Accepting salvation through Jesus makes you and I children of God and, as with his son, Jesus, God is pleased with us. It’s not what anything we do, it’s all about who we are.

Feel his smile shining down on you.

Feel his unconditional love.

Feel his forgiveness for any guilt that is weighing heavy on your shoulders.

Feel his peace flow over you in a supernatural way.

Feel his strength flow through you as he walks right beside you each day.

Let his joy fill your heart today.

Don’t DO anything.  Just feel the pleasure he has as he looks at you.  He sees himself in you.  We are all created in his image, yet each one of us reflects different aspects of him – making us all uniquely his.

I am important to God.  He has made me special.

You are very important to him.  He has made you special.

And he is pleased.

Thank you, Abba Father.

More Problems, More Darkness

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

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

When the issue confronting me is big

and confusing

and scary

and heart-breaking.

When I am threatened on all sides by more problems, more sadness, more darkness.

What am I supposed to do?

please-strengthen-my-hands

When Nehemiah found himself in this type of situation, he turned to God and prayed “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 want your strong hands to be folded in prayer before him, admitting your dependence on him and remaining faithful while he works all things out for your good.

Either way,  God’s got this.

Please strengthen my hands, Abba Father.