Tag: Bible

Sword Fighting Class- Preserve Sound Judgement

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting ClassLeave a comment

It’s amazing to see what God can do when we review his scripture day after day.  He writes it on our hearts.  And he talks to us through it….constantly…..guiding our days through these words:

“My child, do not forget my teachings but keep my commands in your heart for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you, bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the site of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.Proverbs 2 -13-3-11

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruit of all your crops. Then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine. My child, do not despise the Lords discipline and do no resent his rebuke because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father, the daughter he delights in.

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, who gains understanding. For she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies, nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all of her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her – those who lay hold of her will be blessed.Proverbs 3 to verse 25

By wisdom, the Lord laid the earth’s foundations. By understanding, he set the heavens in place. And by his knowledge, the deeps are divided and the clouds drop their dew.

Great job!  God is so awesome!  Here are our next verses:

“My child, preserve sound judgement and discernment, do not let them out of your sight. For they will be life to you, an ornament to grace your neck. “

Dear Father, we desire sound judgement based on your truth.  We want to be able to discern what is from you and what is a lie.  We ask you to remove anything in our minds that is not true and replace it with your words.  We want your words to guide us, your truth to be obvious in our lives – so obvious that it’s an ornament that graces our neck.

We pray these things knowing that we will receive them because they are in your will for  us.  Thank you, Father.  In the awesome name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

 

A Weapon Of Satan

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

Sometimes we are weighed down by guilt.

Guilt about things we have done.

More guilt about things we should have done but didn’t.Dec 4 2015 eagerness to do the right thing

This dark, depressing pressure of guilt should remind us that guilt is a weapon of Satan.  He uses it to keep us focused on our sins, tied to the past – held back from the joy that comes from grace of God.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us that Godly sorrow comes when the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins.

Godly sorrow brings repentance and leaves no regrets.

Godly sorrow brings an earnestness and eagerness to get right with God.

It brings indignation that we have strayed – that’s not who we are anymore.

It brings alarm because we realize we’re doing things we don’t want to do and we’re anxious to change.  We’re longing to get back on the right path.

We evaluate the choices and decisions that brought us to this place so that we don’t make them again.

We are ready to make things right.  We want to make amends.  We have a strong desire to do the right thing.

The darkness and depression of guilt is not Godly sorrow.

When we are convicted of our sin, God wants us to move forward.

He wants us to eagerly repent and get back on the straight path.

Godly sorrow helps us turn toward the light and find our joy once again.

Because we repent.

We change.

And we are reconciled.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Grow Up!

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

That’s the challenge.

To become mature in our faith.

To know God.

To understand his word to us and to apply it to our lives.

To discern the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives as he reveals truth to us.  As he convicts us of our sin and points out things we need to let him change in us.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 that, when he became a man, he stopped talking like a child, thinking like a child and reasoning like a child.

How about us?

Have we made the decision to grow up?Dec 2 2015 grow up

To put away childish behavior and become an adult in our faith?

Have we stopped making excuses for not putting God first in our lives – his first and greatest commandment?

Just like Paul, we’ll never fully know God this side of heaven.

But we are fully known by him.

He sees any of the childish behavior left in us.

He hears all of the excuses.

The rationalizations.

He sees all of the time we waste on foolish things.

He knows our heart…our motivations.

And he loves us anyway.

He desires a personal, daily relationship with us anyway.

Now that’s REAL love!

Thank you, Abba Father!

Check it Out

On By Judy GlasserIn November2 Comments

The amount of lies we are told increased exponentially when the web became a major information source.  People quote things they read or heard from the web or TV like it is fact.November 27 2015 check it out

Without checking anything out, they believe this junk which causes incorrect, uninformed thinking which causes bad decisions.  Very bad decisions.  A lot of bad decisions.

Discernment is more important today than it ever has been.  We have to evaluate information before we believe it.  We need to consider the source and not emotionally connect to the sensationalism that initially catches our attention.

Let’s face it, it’s easier just to accept the stuff we hear when we agree with it and reject the things we don’t agree with.

We get lazy.

As a result, we end up believing a bunch of lies.

In Acts 10, we read that the Bereans were regarded as noble because they eagerly received Paul’s Good News and then examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.  As a result of this examination, many of them believed.

Their belief was based on understanding and evaluation.  They were wise in their discernment of the truth.

They checked it out before they believed.

What a great example for us to follow!

Please open our eyes, Abba Father.

Sword Fighting Class – The Foundations

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting ClassLeave a comment

We are having an amazing journey through Proverbs 3 as we memorize God’s word together.  God’s truth reverberates through our minds as we repeat these words over and over and over:Proverbs 2 -13-3-11

“My child, do not forget my teachings but keep my commands in your heart for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you, bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the site of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruit of all your crops. Then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine. My child, do not despise the Lords discipline and do no resent his rebuke because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father, the daughter he delights in.Proverbs 3 to verse 25

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, who gains understanding. For she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies, nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all of her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her – those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

Awesome!  Here are the next 3 verses – they go well together:

“By wisdom, the Lord laid the earth’s foundations. By understanding, he set the heavens in place. And by his knowledge, the deeps are divided and the clouds drop their dew. ”

The words wisdom, understanding and knowledge are repeated over and over in Proverbs.  They are the basic foundation of knowing and living the truth – and it all comes from God.

These verses tell us how God used these basics to create the world we live in.   I was stuck on these sentences for a couple of weeks because, every time I got to this part, the sun was coming up as I drove into work.

And I would get lost in thinking about the majesty of God.

The omnipotence of God.

The glory of God.

The faithfulness of God …..as the sun rises again today and everyday.

I love the poetic picture of the clouds dropping their dew.

Thank you, awesome Father, for your creation!  I praise you for your faithfulness!

A Lot of Seeds

On By Judy GlasserIn November4 Comments

It’s why we’re still here.  Why God hasn’t taken us home yet.  We’re here to plant seeds of God’s truth where ever we go each day.  With each person we talk with.

Any chance we get.November 22 2015 Lots of seeds

As we read about the exciting, exponential growth of the number of Christ-followers in Acts, what we’re seeing is the seeds that Jesus planted starting to sprout.

Lots of seeds.

Jesus had committed 3 years of his life to planting seeds of grace and truth and love.

And the stories had spread.

The seeds were watered by God.

And now, we start reading about the results.

In Acts 6, we read that a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.  The religious community was also turning toward the light.  These were the same people who yelled, “Crucify him.”

But the Truth had changed them.  The Holy Spirit had opened their eyes.

And the seeds sprouted.

As believers, we are commissioned to plant seeds in our sphere of influence.  Today and everyday.

Lots of seeds.

Please help us obey, Abba Father.

The Gift

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

We have the gift.

Before Jesus left this earth to go to heaven, he told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the gift that his Father had promised.

And we have it.November 20 2015 the gift

The gift of the Holy Spirit living within us –

  • opening our eyes to grace and truth in God’s word.
  • convicting us of sin so we can repent and turn away from it.
  • leading us in the paths God has planned for us.
  • helping us really know God.

And the Holy Spirit won’t leave us.

But we can avoid listening to him.

We can tune out his influence in our lives.

We can let our own voice and the voices of others drown him out.

These are all crooked paths leading to darkness.

OR

We can stop listening to all of the lies and negativity around us as we focus on the truth and love we read in God’s word.  When we’re listening, the Holy Spirit will lead us to the knowledge of God and will guide us in each step we take.

We can choose to honestly repent – plugging into the power of the Holy Spirit living within us to help us change.  To help us become more like Jesus.

We can step out of our comfort zones and let God use us for his purposes and for his glory.

We can let the Holy Spirit transform every part of our lives – starting with our thoughts.

These are all great choices that lead us into the light of Jesus.  Onto the path of the obedient and faithful.

We have to make these choices every day.

What are you choosing today?

I choose you, Lord.

 

 

Today in Paradise

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Do believers go right to heaven or do we ‘sleep’ until Judgement day?

Jesus clears up this debate in one simple sentence to the thief on the cross.

“Today you will be with me in Paradise.”November 18 2015 Today in Paradise

Today.

There is no waiting.

We step out of this world right into the next.

Home.

With our Father in Heaven forever.

Whatever ends our life on earth is the same thing that begins our life in our eternal home.

God’s perspective of death on earth for a believer is so different from ours.  When our purpose on earth is fulfilled, he gets to bring us out of this world which includes pain and sadness and brokenness into his home of peace and love and completeness.

He gets to bring his child home.

Forever.

Amen!  Hallelujah!

Thanksgiving Prayer, 1 Corinthians

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Thank you, Father, for the truth you have given us through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.Thanksgiving 2015

We are grateful for your son, Christ Jesus, who brought your grace into this world for each one of us when we believe.

We ask that you enrich our words and inhabit our thoughts with your wisdom.  Confirm your truth in our lives every day, dear Father.

We are grateful for the gift of your spirit living within us as we eagerly wait for Jesus’ return.  Please keep us firmly rooted in you, dear Father – all the way to the end of our purpose here on earth.

Thank you for your faithfulness to us, dear God.  Thank you for the personal relationship we have with you.

We are blessed!

Amen!  Hallelujah!

Sword Fighting Class – Life!

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting ClassLeave a comment

We are memorizing Proverbs 3 together.  So many great promises from God!

“My child, do not forget my teachings but keep my commands in your heart for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you, bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the site of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.Proverbs 2 -13-3-11

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruit of all your crops. Then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine. My child, do not despise the Lords discipline and do no resent his rebuke because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father, the daughter he delights in.

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, who gains understanding. For she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies, nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all of her paths are peace. “Proverbs 3 to verse 25

Great job!  Here is the next verse:

“She is a tree of life to those who embrace her – those who lay hold of her will be blessed.”

Embracing wisdom = life.

Embracing wisdom = blessings.

And we know where wisdom comes from.  Our Father God.

When we seek him, call out for insight, cry aloud for understanding, search for it as for hidden treasure – God gives us wisdom.

As we take hold of wisdom by memorizing God’s word, we are being blessed.

Thank you, Abba Father.