Tag: Bible

Look UP!

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

He is omnipotent.

He is the creator of all things.

He is the only uncreated One.

He is more glorious than our eyes can envision.July 18 b 2015 look up 1

He is perfect.

In Isaiah 55, God tells us “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”

For some people, the fact that they can’t totally understand God stops them from taking the next step into a relationship with him.  But I’m glad I can’t understand everything about God.  We only have 3.5 pound brains.  If we could understand everything about God, he wouldn’t be God.

The fact that we discuss and we wonder and we debate and we change our minds about God is reassuring to me.  Because he is bigger than anything we can imagine.

He is unfathomable.

And that makes him Holy, Holy, Holy God!

God tells us ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’

Look up!

Where does the sky stop?

Our God is a huge, fantastic God who has chosen, for some reason, to have a personal relationship with us…

with me….

with you.

God tells us, “My word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”July 18 2 2015 look up

Do you  feel it?

As we read and meditate on God’s word, the power of the Holy Spirit grows within us.  He interprets these words for us so we can better understand God.  As we come to know God better, we can hear him and follow him more closely.  As we diligently read and memorize and cherish God’s word to us, more of God’s wisdom becomes etched upon our hearts, renewing our minds and fulfilling the purpose God had went he said them.

So look up!  A huge and holy God is reaching out his hand full of love and grace and truth.

Thank you, Abba Father, for how incomprehensible you are!  We don’t need to understand everything about you because you are God, we are not.  We believe that your son, Jesus, paid the price for our sins so that, when we accept his grace, we are saved from being separated from you forever by our sin and rebellion.  Now we are in an eternal relationship with you which has already started and will continue on after we leave this earth.  We love you!  In the redeeming name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

A New Thing….

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

It springs up!

Don’t you see it?July 14 2015 a new thing

I like doing new things.

Going new places.

New experiences.

New thoughts.

One of the zillion things I love about our God is he is always doing something new.

Isaiah tells us in his 43rd chapter to forget the former things.  Don’t dwell on the past.

I find it interesting this comes right after he reminds us how God divided the mighty Red Sea so the Israelites could escape slavery.   Then God ‘extinguished’ the Egyptian army by releasing the waters over them.

Now Isaiah tells us not to dwell on the past but to look forward to the new things God is doing.

It’s good for us to remember God’s faithfulness in the past but we shouldn’t stay there.  God is here today.  And he’s doing something new.

He is making a way in the wilderness.

Does our current culture ever feel like a wilderness to you?

When you’re out in the world, away from your church family and your Christian friends, do you ever feel like you’re in a wasteland?  A place devoid of truth?  Lacking light?  Kind of gray?

I do.

But wait!

God says he is doing a new thing!

He is making a way for us in the wilderness.

He is providing living water for our souls.

And streams of refreshment and purpose for his chosen people –  Us!

We praise you, dear Father!

You are our living water!

Thank you for the new people, the new thoughts, and new opportunities you bring into our lives each day!

We love you!

Sword Fighting Class – Saved by Wisdom

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting ClassLeave a comment

We are memorizing Proverbs 2 together!  Good job!

‘My child, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and you will find the knowledge of God.Proverbs 2 1st page - this one

For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless.  He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.  Then you will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path.  For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.  Discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you.’

Yeah, God!  And we’re adding the next verse:

‘Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse.”

Wisdom will save us from those whose words are perverse.

I looked up the definition of perverse and was surprised to read that a couple of the definitions are being resistant to discipline or guidance.  Another one is being stubborn or contrary.

Wow!  I was wondering why God had me memorizing verses about wicked men and now I know.  Sometimes I need to be saved from myself!

What about you?

Thank you, dear Father, for the wisdom you are writing on tablet of our hearts as we memorize your word.  Open our eyes to our own behavior when we are stubborn and resistant to discipline.

Audio file of Proverbs 2:

 

Blessed

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

You are an everlasting God!

We praise you!  You created the earth and everything on it.

We know you don’t get tired, dear Father.

We know that we can never understand everything about you.July 12 2015 hope in the Lord

We know that you give us strength when we are weary.

We feel your power moving inside of us when we are weak.

Sometimes, we get worn out and we stumble and then we fall.

But our faith in you, Lord, gives us the ability to look forward to tomorrow – it’s going to be good because you are already there.

You give us the power to dream big dreams because everything is possible with you.

You give us the self-discipline to obey you even when it doesn’t make sense because we know you always want the best for us.

Blessed by you, we will run this race of faith with perseverence, not getting tired, never giving up.

Blessed by you, we will take our next step of faith and then the next one and then the next, into the future you have prepared for us.

Blessed by you.

Thank you, Abba Father.

This is the Way

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

We will not weep any longer.July 9 2015 this is the way

When we cry out to God for help, he answers us.  He has given us the freedom of making our own choices which means he has to stand back and watch when we make bad ones – choices that can have long-term negative consequences for us.

Other times, God creates adverse situations in our lives in order to discipline us and teach us.

Both of these situations cause problems and challenges in our lives.

When we’re knee-deep in trouble, the smart thing to do is to call out to God.  BEFORE we get neck-deep.

He will open our eyes to the truth and to the lesson he is trying to teach us.

Isaiah tells us in Chapter 30 that we will hear a voice behind us, saying. “This is the way, walk in it.”

If we choose to obey these directions, God will shower his blessing on us.  When it seems like there is only darkness around us, God’s light will break through to heal us and make us whole.  He will direct our next step and then our next one, until we get to the place that right for us – where he wants us to be.

Please help us obey, Abba Father.

 

He Lets Us

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

On our own,  we sometimes decide to do something that we want to do but it’s not a very smart thing to do.

– and He lets us.July 8 2015 he lets us

Without consulting God, we can decide to go a direction that is going to take us to a place we don’t want to be.

–  and He lets us.

We can convince ourselves we need that expensive toy or this new car or that bigger house so we buy it even though we can’t afford it – without checking with God.

– And He lets us.

He also lets us deal with the consequences of making these poor choices.  We don’t like that part.  We might even ask God why he is letting this bad thing happen to us.  How did he let us get into this mess?  In reality, we got ourselves into this mess.

God gives us the freedom to make our own choices – knowing that we won’t always make the right ones.  He know that he could help us make the right choices –  if we would just ask.  We have the option of avoiding these nasty consequences.

We are free.

It’s our choice.

Please help us be wise with our choices, Abba Father.

Sword Fighting Class – More Discretion and Understanding

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting ClassLeave a comment

“My child, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and you will find the knowledge of God.Proverbs 2 1st page - this one

For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless.  He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.  Then you will understnad what is right and just and fair – every good path.  For wisdom will enter your heart and understanding will be pleasant to your soul.”

Yeah, God!  We’re adding verse 11 this week:

‘Discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you.’

Discretion means to be careful and thoughtful about our speech and actions in order to avoid causing offense, to keep something confidential or avoid embarrassment.

Could any of us benefit from more discretion?  I know I could.

And I love all of God’s promises in this passage about giving us more understanding.  Understanding will help us make better decisions and help us determine the best way to act.

Discretion and understanding will protect us from ourselves – bad choices and words that should not be said.

Please give us discretion and understanding, Abba Father.

Audio file below of Proverbs 2

God’s Math

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

God has a supernatural math when it comes to our generosity with our money and time in supporting the work of his kingdom.

His math is not like our math where 1+1=2.July 4b 2015 God's math

God’s math makes 1+1=100.  Or 1000.  Or 1,000,000 if he wants it to be.

God’s blessing + our giving = everybody wins.

When we give to God, we don’t have less.  We have more.  Don’t ask me to explain it – it’s just the truth.  I’ve experienced it many times.  We truly cannot out give God.

God’s math has been true for thousands of years.  After the Israelites started  to bring their contributions to the Temple of the Lord, they found that they had plenty to eat with plenty to spare.  God multiplied their generosity by giving them back more – a lot more.  When Hezekiah saw the large piles of leftover contributions, he built storerooms for all of it.  The Levites were put in charge of distributing the gifts in other towns.

See how God’s math works?  Their generosity just kept multiplying and spreading.

God does the same thing today.  If you don’t know that for a fact, test him.

Thank you, Abba Father.

He Gives Unity

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

“The hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind.”July 4 he gives unity 2015

Unity comes from God.

When we are all well-connected to God, we can hear his directions for us.  He gives us insight and understanding.

When we are not well-connected, our own desires often cause disunity.  When we put what we want in front of  Jesus’ desire for us to be ‘one’, we can create dissension.  We can become stubborn – the Bible often describes people like this as hard-hearted.   When we are focused on ourselves rather than submitting to God, we can become the problem, not the solution.

One way we often show disunity is by being critical of our spiritual leaders.  God calls us to encourage and support the leaders he has put in place.  He gives us the wisdom we need to do this when we are well-connected with him.

When we are feeling critical and dissatisfied with our church leadership, it indicates that we need to spend more time in prayer and meditation on God’s word.

Because God gives unity.

Thank you, Abba Father.

A Shoot

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

A shoot from the lineage of Jesse came to earth to save it and fulfill the plans of his Father.

God’s spirit rested on him, giving him wisdom,

understanding,

wise counsel,

might,

knowledge

and respect for the Lord.

His name is Jesus.

And his life reflected a perfect understanding and respect for God.

He does not judge by what is on the outside – he knows our hearts.  He does not make decisions based on what he hears – he knows the truth – God’s truth.

When he judges, he does it perfectly.

When he came to earth from heaven to live, he struck the earth with his words – exposing sin and forever changing what we know about love and compassion and submitting to God.

Jesus did the right things everyday.

His faithful obedience to God was evident in every aspect of his life.

Jesus is God’s revelation of himself so we might know him.

And want to be more like him.

Amen, let it be so, Abba Father.