Tag: Bible

Want a Challenge?

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting Class2 Comments

It has come to my attention (I love how God does this) that I need to get back into memorizing scripture.

For many years, I was very committed to memorizing God’s word and etching it onto my heart.  I loved it because I suddenly started to hear God talking to me much more often and a lot more clearly.

He stills does this today. When I need to hear his voice and I don’t have a Bible close at hand, he reminds me of a scripture that I have memorized. He talks to me like this all of the time.

And it’s obviously time for me to get more of His word written on my heart.

Would you like to join me?

Several years ago I decided I wanted to memorize James 1 but I didn’t get very far.  I love this portion of scripture because it starts with “Consider it pure joy” .  God talks to us in this passage about how to be more wise and how to deal with trials.  He also tells us that every good and perfect gift is from him, the Father of the Heavenly Lights.

My life could use some more of his heavenly light – how about yours?  Would you like to hear God speak to you more often?  More clearly?  Writing his words on your heart is a tried and true method of improving your communications with God.

Let’s start small.  This is a marathon, not a sprint.

One verse a week.

I’m not planning on posting these to Facebook so, if you want to take this ‘sword fighting class’ with me, make sure you sign up as a follower of my blog so you receive the emails.

There’s no time like the present – here we go!

James is actually a letter so it begins with greetings and salutations.  We’ll start with the good stuff – verse  2.

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers (and sisters), whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.James 1-2

Note: As I memorize these, I add words such as “and sisters” above.  God told me it’s ok :). He is also speaking to women and adding these words helps make it more personal for me.  Your choice.

Say this verse 3 or 4 times a day and you’ll have it written on your heart by next week.

Then we’ll add the next one.

God’s direction on how to become more wise is coming up!

Built on the Rock

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

This is the season when many of you are storm-proofing your houses.  Preparing for winter.  I grew up in Northwest Iowa so I know all about winter.  In Iowa, we also had to storm-proof our cars with better lubricants, snow tires and radiator heaters that we could plug-in every night.

Now that I live in Phoenix, we don’t need to do any storm-proofing except for making sure our air conditioners are in top shape before summer begins.

Jesus tells us that a wise person storm-proofs their life by building it on the Rock.  And Jesus is that Rock.October 27 2014 Built on the Rock

So when the rains of disappointment, grief and sadness pour down, our house will stand.

When the streams of hurt and lies and pain rise, our house will stand.

And when the winds of anger, hate and confusion beat upon our house, it does not fall.   Because its foundation is built upon the Rock.

Jesus says that a foolish person will build their house on sand and their house will crash down when the storm comes.  He says we are this foolish person if we hear his words and don’t put them into practice.

The storm is coming – it may already be blowing into your life – is your foundation ready?

Jesus tells us exactly what to do to storm-proof our lives.  We need to listen to him and obey.

Today is the day.  There is no better time than right now.

Dear Father, please guide us in building our lives upon the Rock.

Full of Light

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Our minds are marvelous, intricate things, created by God for our use and for his glory.

What are we feeding into our minds?October 26 2014 full of light

Because whatever we feed, will grow.

God tells us in Matthew 6 that our eyes are a lamp to our bodies.  If our eyes are healthy, our whole body will be healthy.

But, if our eyes are unhealthy, our whole body will be full of darkness.

Filled with darkness.

Do you ever feel like that?

Have you thought about what you’re feeding into your mind?

It’s hard to avoid the darkness that presses in from our culture all around us.

For some reason, God has developed in me a heightened sensitivity to the darkness around me and a clear awareness of the work that Satan and his team is doing.  As a result, I avoid most shows on TV, most movies and a lot of books.  Any music other than Christian music usually  has some lyrics that turns off the light and brings on the darkness.

We can be careful about what we feed our minds with when its our choice but we obviously can’t avoid it all as we live our lives in this world, but not of it.  God calls us to turn on the light and push back the darkness in our world as much as we can.

In order to do that, we need to be filled with his truth.  Filled with his love.  Filled with his light.

Please fill us with your light, dear Father.

 

A Healing Place

On By Judy GlasserIn October2 Comments

 

Jesus went to a pool called Bethesda and healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years.  When the water of this pool stirred, the first person in the pool was healed.  This crippled man had no one to help him get into the water first, so he had waited…..and waited….and waited – for years.fDSC_0489

It may not be obvious on the outside, but we all have places in our hearts and minds where we need healing.  We need Jesus to touch those places and make us whole.  It may be an attitude, a lie we have believed all of our lives or a way that we think about a certain subject that needs to be healed.

I had the privilege of travelling to Israel this year and I saw the pool at Bethesda. (pictures).  There was something extremely calming and peaceful about this place.  And I knew I would be coming here in my mind for the rest of the my life when I needed healing from Jesus.

Jesus recently gave me a whole new perspective on food and what I should be eating through God’s Word to me in the Bible.  How I looked at food as it relates to what I believe about God has been incorrect my entire adult life and now I’m on the path of getting that part of my life lined up with what God wants for me.fDSC_0490

My mind has been renewed in this area.  I’ve been healed.  But I waited a long time.

Let’s not wait.  Let’s go to Jesus today and ask him for healing in our lives where we’re not in line with God’s Word.

Let’s go to the pool together.  I will help you get in. 🙂

Thank you, dear Father, for your Word to us.  We lift  up the confused, broken, rebellious parts of our hearts and minds where we need healing.  The places where we need to know the Truth.  As the Holy Spirit moves the waters of our spirit today, we step into the pool knowing it is your will to heal us.  We know that your desire for us is to continue to grow in becoming more and more like Jesus.

We commit to doing our part – reading your word, listening and obeying.  Obeying when it’s hard.  Obeying when we really, really don’t feel like it.  We will bow our knees, declare you Lord in this place in our lives, and we will obey.

For your glory, dear Father!

In the redeeming name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Blessed….

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.gdtDSC_0632

Poor in spirit – when we’ve tried everything else to make us happy, to make us whole, and we’re still empty – wondering if this is all there is. ( I’ve been there.)  So we turn to God and we find in him everything we’ve been looking for and more.  We are so very blessed!

Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.gdtDSC_0626

We mourn when we come to the realization of just how sinful we are.  We become aware of how we rebel against God’s direction to us every day and our soul grieves.  It’s a very bad feeling to really understand the truth about the sin within ourselves.  We have sin so deeply rooted within us that it takes a miracle to change it.

That miracle is Jesus, our redeemer!gdtDSC_0628

We are blessed when we face the truth about our sin which grows our desire for true transformation.

Jesus went up to a mountainside to teach the crowds about the blessings available for those who believe in him and obey.  When I visited Israel earlier this year, I felt the blessings of God flowing over me when we visited the Mount of Beatitudes.  It’s very beautiful and overlooks the Sea of Galilee.

Thank you for your abundant blessings, dear Father!

Knowing…but not Believing

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

Satan and his team always knew exactly who Jesus was when they saw him.  They recognized Jesus right away and call him the Holy One of God when other people around Jesus were still asking him if he was Elijah or a great prophet.  The people in Nazareth tried to kill Jesus because he told them he was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesies about a Messiah.October 24 2014 knowing but not believing

But Satan and his spirits never had any doubts about who Jesus was.

They knew… but they never believed in him.

We can do this, too.  We can know all about God in our heads but never accept his free gift of grace in our hearts.

My experience is that most non-believers I’ve talked with believe there is a God.  And they don’t have a problem with God…..until something bad happens and he becomes an easy target for their hurt and ager.

Just knowing God doesn’t make anyone a believer.  Just like saying a prayer doesn’t make us a believer, either.  There needs to be a change in our minds – a change in our hearts.  It may not be visible on the outside but God can see the condition of our heart.  He knows.

And just believing doesn’t make us a follower.  Following is an action.  To be a follower, our actions and behaviors and priorities need to be changing.  Yes, going to church and tithing are on the list….but not at the top.

Loving God with all of our hearts, minds and souls stands alone as our top priority.  With loving others is a close second.

Loving God and loving others.  These are the indicators of a true, growing follower of Christ.

So…….how are we doing?

The Great News!

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

It’s all in John 3:16.  We should have this verse ready whenever we’re talking with someone who doesn’t believe because this verse includes all of the important parts of the Good News.

It’s an easy verse to memorize because the words reverberate around in our minds….

bouncing back and forth as we consider this astounding truth…..

God so loved us….October 23 2014 b The good news

so much….

God so love the world!  All of us….

even the unlovable….

and that’s very good because sometimes we are very unlovable.

He gave his Son…

for us……

he gave his Son for the unlovables…..

how much love does that take?

A perfect love……

an unconditional love….

a love we can’t find anywhere else…..

even though we look everywhere….

or hit bottom trying to do it all ourselves….

until we finally we open up our eyes and realize that God is what we’re looking for.

Whoever believes….

that’s me…

I believe….

I’m willing to stake my life on this truth.

My eternal life.

And whoever believes will not perish……

we were on the road to destruction…

we were going to hell for our rebellion…..

we all rebel, some more obvious than others, but it’s there…..

whenever we do something we want instead of what God wants…..

or whenever we don’t do something God wants……

even our thoughts count…..

so we deserved eternal separation from our Holy Father God.

But God intervened and sent Jesus to save the world!

And now believers are reconciled to God for eternity!

Our eternal life with our loving, gracious and perfect God has already started!

And the Best is Yet to Be!

This is the Very Best News anyone could hear!

Thank you for the truth of John 3:16, dear Father!

 

Pointing To Jesus

On By Judy GlasserIn October3 Comments

Oct 23 2014 a pointing to JesusIt’s all about Jesus.

Most of us are involved in Small Group Bible Studies or Discipleship groups or Spiritual Mentoring relationships.  Many of us are leading those groups so we have extra responsibilities and accountabilities for the other people who are involved.

God has made it very clear in his word to us that it’s our responsibility is to point people to Jesus.

It’s not about us, it’s not about how much we like the people in our group, it’s not about who is the best leader of the group.  It’s all about Jesus.

John the Baptist knew this.  In John 1 we read that he and 2 of his disciples saw Jesus passing by and John the Baptist said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” And then John’s disciples decided to go and follow Jesus.

One of these men was Andrew who would become one of Jesus’ inner group of Twelve disciples.  Andrew went to find his brother, Simon Peter, who would become the Rock upon whom Jesus would build his church.  The BIG church – for the whole world.

We can see God’s plan beginning to take shape – because John the Baptist pointed others to Jesus, not to himself.

Later, we will hear that John the Baptist says that Jesus must become more and John himself much become less.

Isn’t that what we’re all called to do?

We love you, dear Jesus!

The Light Shines in the Darkness

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

Jesus is the Light of the World!

He truly is the answer to all of our questions.October 18 2014 Light of the World

He is the salve for all of our hurts.

He is the peace for all of our worries.

And he is the patience for everything that frustrates us.

He is our strength when we are weary.

Our haven for every storm.

Our Rock whenever a crisis blows through our life.

He is our joy when we have forgotten how to smile.

He loves us when we are most unlovable.

He is truth when the world hurls it’s clouds of lies at us.

He is bread for every hunger we have.

He is water when we are parched and dry.

He is the Way when we are lost and confused.

He is our best friend when we don’t feel like we have any friends at all.

He is our comfort as tears roll down our face and our heart is breaking.

He is our redeemer so we can be changed from the inside out.

He is our Savior – because of him we will not suffer eternal separation from our Perfect and Holy God.

His name is Jesus!

There is no other name!

God Never Changes

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

We’re doing great on our Journey towards the Truth!

It’s the middle of October and, chronologically, we move 400 years forward into the New Testament.

We have been reading and meditating on the Old Testament for 10 months.  So many new insights!  New thoughts!  New direction!

Now is a good time to look back and evaluate our journey.  Are we closer to God now than we were in January?  Have we opened up our hearts to his transforming power in new areas?  Are we different now?  More Christ-like?  Are we letting God change us as we soak in his truth?

Thank you, dear Father, for the Old Testament.  We have learned so much about you!  We see your relationship with the Jews and we recognize that you are the same God now that you were then.  You never change.  So we know you better every time we read and study the Old Testament.  We would be missing out on all of the things we’ve learned this last 10 months if we didn’t study the Old Testament.  We look forward to reading the New Testament – the account of your son’s time here on earth and what his disciples did after he went to heaven.

Thank you for the free gift of salvation you have given us through the sacrifice made by your son, Jesus.  We ask that you open up our eyes to the new truths you have ready for us in the New Testament.

In the redeeming name of Jesus we pray, Amen.