Is this Possible in My Life?

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

That was my first question when I started to seriously consider Jesus’ first and greatest command to us – Love the Lord your God will all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your mind.  The 2nd commandment is to love others as we love ourselves.

The first commandment sounded so overwhelming that I decided to start there and worry about the 2nd one later.  I’m glad I seriously tackled the first one on its own because I found that, with every baby step I took towards loving God with everything I have, a truly supernatural thing started to happen. Nov 11 2103

God helped me with all of the rest.

I wanted to be a better wife and God helped me do that when I put him first.

I wanted to be a better mother – God also helped me do that.

I wanted to be a better employee at work and God helped me with that as well.

I wanted to be a better friend and neighbor – God helped me with that and gradually my obedience to command #2 was also improving without having to work at it. 

These are all areas of my life where I was working very hard to improve yet  feeling frustrated because of so little progress.

All of them improved and got easier with every step of faith I took closer to God.

That’s why God wants us to put him first.  He wants to help us with all of the rest.  And then he wants to take it to the next level by blessing us with the things we didn’t even have on the list!

In my experience, we only have to open our lives up to the power of the Holy Spirit and he helps us grow our obedience with both commands.

It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it!

Thank you, dear Father!

It Works!

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Why am I surprised?

November 3 2013Jesus gives us timeless instructions on how to deal with personal conflict in Matthew 18 –

Go to this person and talk with them privately – just the 2 of you. 

Two thousand years later, this first step still resolves a majority of the conflicts I experience.

Jesus actually says to ‘point out their faults’ and, in my life, I translate that to mean that I need to explain my perspective of the conflict using ‘I’ statements, avoiding ‘You’ statements and NEVER saying anything like ‘We all think’ or ‘Mary and Tom agree with me’. 

NEVER include anything about what other people have said about this situation.  Repeating what other people think about a conflict is like throwing a gallon of gas onto the fire.  It always creates defensiveness and starts an argument. 

So Jesus tells us to go privately to the person we are having a conflict with and explain our perspective.

If that doesn’t work, the next step is to get 2 or 3 people to go with us to talk with the person.  I have found it best if these people are either respected, neutral people or mature people who could be considered on ‘their side’.  Bringing a bunch of my friends along is not going to accomplish anything.  Going into these sessions with an open mind is as important as not needing to ‘win’ anything.  It’s actually better if the conflict is resolved with no one ‘winning’.  It puts the relationship back on even ground.

The 3rd step Jesus mentions is specifically in regard to church membership if this is a conflict within the church body. 

I have been in the business of managing processes and leading people for over 30 years and these are the best conflict resolution steps that I’ve ever found.

It shouldn’t surprise me that they came from Jesus over 2000 years ago.

Thank you, dear Jesus!

God Trumps Tradition

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Traditions.  We can have a lot of them – especially in church.

They can bring comfort and familiarity.  They can provide structure and bring back great memories.

Nov 1 2013They can also bring rigidity that refuses to change and grow.  They can create an attitude of mindless observation and boredom because we’ve done this a million times before.

Jesus confronts the teachers of the Law in Mark 7 with the fact that they had started making their own rules and traditions more important than God’s command.

Do we ever do that?

One of the most important messages to us in the New Testament is that Jesus changed EVERYTHING!

He turned the religious traditions of his day inside out and upside down.

Why?

Because doing God’s will was more important to him than observing the religious traditions of his time.

Jesus started a revolution over 2000 years ago by being radically sold out to God.  In his life, obedience to God  was more important than following traditions and the current acceptable cultural norms.

THIS should be our tradition.

Thank you, dear Jesus, for coming to earth to save us and to show us how to live.

A Call to Action

On By Judy GlasserIn November1 Comment

Jesus is travelling through towns and villages in Matthew 9 teaching in the synagogues and healing the sick.   He has compassion on the people because they are so harassed and helpless.

He tells his disciples that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

And he tells his disciples what he wants them to do about this issue.October 31 2013

What would you expect him to say?  He has just pointed out a huge opportunity to bring needy people into the Kingdom of God.

The next step is to ?

I would have expected Jesus to say Go!  Go do something about this. But that’s not what he said. 

He told his disciples to pray. 

Pray to the Lord of Harvest to send out workers.

Pray!  Not Go.

Pray.

That’s his direction to us today – about the harvest, about everything.  Pray.  Ask our Father God to prepare things in advance for us. 

Then we go.

In your name, Dear Father.

 

Please Leave

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

It can be scary when God starts doing something new.

It’s strange.  It’s different.October 30 2013

It takes us out of our comfort zone.

We have a choice – we can embrace it and move deeper into God’s will for us.

Or we can be afraid of this new thing and miss the opportunity to know God better.

In Matthew 8, Jesus releases a man from possession by a legion (a lot) of demons.  People from all over the countryside come to see what happened.  When they see this man who was a lunatic for so many years dressed and acting normal, they were afraid.

So they asked Jesus to leave.

They missed it!  They were in the presence of the King of the Universe and they asked him to go away.

This was too different.

It was too new.

It made them uncomfortable.

So Jesus left.

Of course he did.  He wants to be wanted.  When we choose him, he will come into our hearts and minds to help free us from our own demons.  And, if we give him more and more room in our lives every day, his influence on our life grows and it all starts making sense.  The journey begins to have an eternal purpose that makes it all worth it.

If we’re too afraid, we’ll miss the ‘more’ that God has for us.

Dear Father, please chase away our fears.

When…..

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

is God going to tell me what to do? 

How often do we hear this question coming out of the mouths of Christ-followers?

The fact is – God has already told us what to do.   In his word.  And its specific.

The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew is full of directions for everything.  Jesus tells us how to handle eating, what we wear, giving, praying, our treasures, our worries, our relationships, lies, grace, our enemies and our faith.

What else do we need to know?

At the end of the sermon, Jesus says, ” Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ but do not do as I say?”

Jesus is asking us that same question today.  He has told us what he wants us to know and do – are we doing it?  He’s not our Lord is we’re aren’t growing in our obedience to him.  We’ll never be 100% obedient this side of heaven BUT – do we have a daily desire to become more Christ-like?  Do we have daily disciplines in our lives that open up our minds and hearts to God’s transforming power? 

If our answer is yes, then we can call Jesus ‘Lord’.

You are the Light….

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

of the world, ” Jesus tells us in Matthew 5.

Our light should give light to everyone in our house.  It should shine out to the point that those who see it are impressed with our God.

So how bright is our light shining today?October 26 2013

It’s good to take an objective look at our faith journey at least once a year to make sure we’re still growing.  God has called us to shine His light right where we live so that others may be drawn to him.  And our goal should be to shine brighter and brighter every year until God brings us home to heaven.

To grow, we need to find more time and more ways to place our mind, body and spirit into God’s presence so he can transform us.  Worship, serving, prayer and Bible study with others and by ourselves are great ways for us to continue to grow into the people God created us to be.

Too often I see older Christians who have become discontent and crabby.  They don’t like what the pastor says or does.  They are extremely quick to point out anything and everything that’s wrong with their church and with their family.

I think God calls us to grow more Christ-like as we grow older, not more crabby.   As we walk this path of faith, we are supposed to be learning more patience and more compassion and more contentment and more wisdom so we can become an increasing blessing to the people around us and our church family.

That’s my goal – to become more Christ-like, not more crabby.

What’s yours?

If You Believed

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

The Jewish leaders are persecuting Jesus in  book of John chapter 5 because they think he is breaking the laws that God gave to Moses.

Jesus responds to them, telling them that he is just doing what his Father does and  his Father is the same God that gave the laws to Moses,  Then he says that, if they really believed in Moses, they would believe in jesus.  Because Moses wrote about Jesus.

The Jewish leaders still refused to believe.Oct 25 2013

Their minds were closed and their hearts were hard.  The Messiah they were waiting for stood before them but they wouldn’t believe.

It appears like the only things they truly believed in were themselves and their rules and their status.

Such a sad thing.  They were committed whole-heartedly to the wrong things.

It is my hope and prayer that many of these Jewish leaders came to believe and trust in Jesus before it was too late for them.  I like to think that Nicodemus and his buddies were part of the 3000 who believed when Peter preached at Pentecost.

It would be such a tragedy for them to have known it all in their heads but then miss it with their hearts.

Dear Father, please help us keep our minds and hearts open to you.

I Am Well Pleased

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

These  were the words of God coming out of the heavens during Jesus’ baptism.

This is one of my favorite moments in the New Testament because Jesus hadn’t started his ministry yet.  He hadn’t DONE anything yet to earn God’s favor.October 22 2

He just ‘was’.

He was God’s son and God was pleased with him.

Just like God is pleased with me because I am his daughter.  Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, he made it possible for you and me to become children of God just like he was.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, God adopts us as his own – his precious child – in whom he is well pleased.

It’s true……..and its a miracle!

Thanks you, dear Father!

Prepare the Way!

On By Judy GlasserIn October1 Comment

The voice of one calling in the wilderness.  Prepare the way for the Lord!

John the Baptist spoke truth into people’s lives and helped prepare their hearts and minds for the time when they would meet their Savior.

Whose voice is calling out now?  Who is speaking to the wilderness of lonely, broken and lost people all around us?

Who is preparing the way so that the Spirit of God can touch these people with the truth?

This is supposed to us …….our voice.October 22 c2013

God has called us to be his witnesses on our block, in our neighborhood, in our city and where ever we go.

He has lavished his love upon us so that it can overflow to everyone around us.

He has given us the opportunity to hear and believe the truth and it’s not just for us.  We need to share it.

He has washed us clean with his mercy and grace.  We know it, we feel it.  Now we need to share it.

Let every valley be raised up and filled with His Light!

And our mountains of problems and issues leveled out by God’s hands.

Our crooked and confused paths made straight.

The love of God will smooth the rough road ahead of us.

And ALL people will see and understand God’s Salvation!

Amen!