Tag: Bible

Tossed by the Wind

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

August 27 2014 Tossed by the windKing Zedekiah went to Jeremiah several times to find out what God wanted him to do.  The King even promised to protect Jeremiah with an oath which included, ” As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath.”

King Zedekiah knew about God and he obviously believed God had power.  He searched for God’s direction.  But then he still didn’t do what God told him to do.

James described a double-minded man in the beginning of his letter in the New Testament.  This man is like a wave, blown and tossed about by the wind.

This man sounds just like King Zedekiah.  Yes, there were big waves of conflict and deportation and death crashing around Zedekiah.  He responded to this by constantly checking in with Jeremiah to see what God was saying.

But then he went off and just did his own thing anyway.

Does this sound familiar?  Do we check in with God on Sundays and then go do our own thing the rest of the week?  Do we ever have serious thoughts of obeying what we hear from God?  Letting God change us?  Transform us?

Do we take significant action in order to get our faith solidly anchored on God, our Rock, so we’re not longer influenced and moved by the waves of our culture and the circumstances around us?

God promised to help us become single-minded people who know the truth.  All we have to do is ask.  We need to seek him with all of our hearts, souls and strength.  And we will find him.  Because he is always there.

Thank you, dear Father.

Frightening Words

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

“The time as come for me to act.  I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent.  You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions.”August 21 2014 Amazing grace

These words send a shiver down my spine.  God spoke them to the people of Jerusalem as the Babylonians attacked and the siege which would send the Israelites into captivity began.

I am SO grateful to be living in the time of God’s grace.  Jesus’ sacrifice now covers all of our sin, shortcomings and failures.

When God looks at us now, he sees us as his children and he lavishes his love on us.

We don’t have to pay for our sins like the Israelites did because Jesus died for our sins- once and for all.  By his wounds, we have been healed.

So the right response for us is to live in a perpetual state of gratitude for what God has done.  We all have circumstances and situations in our lives which aren’t perfect but our redeemed identify in Christ is secure.  Our future is already decided.

The end of our story goes like this,

“And they lived happily ever after in heaven.”

Amen!

Hallelujah! 

 

Standing in the Gap

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

Ezekiel had a lot of bad news for Judah.  The only good news he had was that God would extend his grace to them if they would turn back to God. If they would stop rebelling.  But they didn’t listen.ugust 20 2014 standing in the gap

In Ezekiel 22, God tells Judah that he looked for someone to stand before him in the gap on behalf of Judah.  He didn’t want to destroy them.  He searched for someone who was faithful but he found no one.

We read a similar message from God in Abraham’s time when Abraham negotiated with God over the number of righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah as he tried to save Lot.  We also heard this during Noah’s time on earth.  God looked over all of the people on the earth and found one righteous man – Noah.

When God looks at our broken and rebellious country today, does he see us standing in the gap?  Does he see our lights shining brightly where we work?  Does he see our servanthood setting the example in our churches and our neighborhoods?

Are we a conduit of God’s love to the people around us?

If so, well done, good and faithful servant.

If not, why not?

 

I Changed My Mind

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

King Zedekiah ordered his people to free all of their Hebrew slaves.  There were strict limitations defined in the Law of Moses which required the release of the Hebrew slaves after 7 years.

So the people let all of their Hebrews slaves go free and they went to the temple to renew their covenant with God.  They promised.

And then they changed their minds.August 14 2014 I changed my mind

They enslaved the Hebrews again causing God’s anger to burn.  As a result of their disobedience, God told them he would give them over to their enemies and that their towns would be abandoned….a wasteland.

They made a promise but then they changed their minds pretty quickly, didn’t they?  It sounds like they were barely back from the big ‘renewing our promise to God’ ceremony at the temple when they decided to break it.

Do you think it got a little difficult for them?  They lost all of their Hebrew slaves – who was going to do all of the work?

Do it themselves?

I don’t think so.

They had made a huge commitment to God without really thinking it through.  It looks like one of those ‘everybody is doing it’ scenarios which is followed by a ‘what have we done?’ reality.

Do we ever do this?  Make big promises or commitments to God only to change our mind when it gets real and it gets tough?

God promises that he will be there for us when it gets real and it gets tough.  He is our strength when we are weak.  We just need to ask.  We need to trust.

Nothing is impossible with God.

Thank you, dear Father.

Finding God

On By Judy GlasserIn August2 Comments

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.” God says to us in Jeremiah 29.

He tells us we need to call on him.August 11 2013 Finding God

We need to come to him.

And we need to pray to him.

Then we will find him.

Thank you, dear Father.

This verse comes immediately after a favorite verse of ours, “For I know the plans I have for you, ” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

God wants to do all of that for us.

And how does he do that?

He speaks to us, he guides us, he changes us, when we call on him.

When we come to him.

When we talk with him.

We have to do our part and then God has a free reign in our lives to prosper us and to give us a future.

Thank you, dear Father!

When the Wicked are Winning

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

I don’t understand it.August 10 2014 Wicked are Winning

When bad things happen to good people.

When it looks like the wicked are winning.

We read about the Great Deportation in 2 Kings.  Nebuchadnezzar took all of the people of Jerusalem to Babylon.

Into captivity.

God’s chosen people.

Satan had to think he was winning at this point.

Nebuchadnezzar stripped the Temple of the Lord of all of its treasures and put all of it in the temple of Babylon.   The treasures Solomon had dedicated to God were now being used to honor and worship a wicked, pagan god.

Now Satan really had to think he was winning.

We know there were faithful believers in this crowd of Jews that went to Babylon – we just read about Daniel and his friends.  We can safely assume these believers were praying and repenting all of the way.

But God’s plan had been put in motion a long time before this actually happened.  We just read through many of the prophecies that predicted that this was going to happen.  It was the consequence for Israel’s habit of repenting and then rebelling again.  Over and over, generation after generation.

When it looks like the wicked are winning, the only thing I understand for sure is that God’s ways are not our ways.  His thoughts are not our thoughts.

And my faith stands firm  on God’s promises to us –

he loves us,

he wants the best for us,

and he is working it all out for our good.

God’s got this!

Hallelujah!  Amen!

 

Learn the Lesson

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

“Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?” declares the Lord in Jeremiah 25.

Learn a lesson.August 7 2014 Learn the Lesson

How good are we at learning lessons?

Learning involves changing.  Changing our thought process which changes our attitudes which changes our behavior.

Changing.

Some of us are scared of changing – not sure the change is going to be a good one.

Some of us are too stubborn to change – we think we’re just fine the way we are.

Some of us are too lazy to change – it takes an effort.

And there are plenty of other reasons and excuses we use to justify not changing.

God tells us over and over and OVER in his word that he wants to change us, renew our minds, transform us, cleanse our hearts.  He wants us to learn the lessons he is giving us…..and that requires changing.

In order to do that, we have to obey him.  Today, tomorrow, every day until we die.

We have to submit our will to his.

God is asking us today, “Will you not learn a lesson?”

Yes, dear Father.

Follow with Care

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

King Josiah brought about wide-spread religious reforms in Judah which included cleaning out the temples of anything related to idols or pagan worship.  While doing this, they found the Book of the Law of the Lord which had been given to Moses.  The king ordered that it be read to all of the people and then they all renewed their covenant with the one True God.August 2 2014 Follow with care

King Josiah brought all of the priests together and slaughtered them.  The priests had been given a holy position of authority and responsibility and they had led the people astray with it.  They not only told the people that idol worship was good, they led the worship and participated in all of the pagan rituals.

They led.

And the people followed.

The lesson for us is that we need to be very careful about who we are following.  And where they are taking us.Aug 2 2014 2 same one

I regularly hear of church families which have wandered down paths that have taken them far away from God’s truth.  With their pastor and church leaders leading the way.

We each need to know God’s Word well enough to be able to discern if our leaders start to veer off.  When we know the truth well, it’s much easier to tell what is false.

There are numerous issues in the Bible which are not totally clear so these are not the issues that should cause us alarm.  There are various  ‘theories’ and ‘positions’ regarding these unclear items.  Many of us choose a certain type of church because their view on an issue matches our view.

The denomination of churches which I was brought up in and joined when I moved to Phoenix doesn’t believe in the Rapture.  So I never heard of it before I became an adult and the Left Behind series came out.  The Bible isn’t clear so, selfishly, I’d like the Rapture to happen before the Tribulation so that I’m out of here. (If I went to seminary, I would say that I’m ”Pre-Trib”)   If none of that happens, I’m still on the original plan of dying before I get to heaven.

We can choose to believe what we want to believe about many of these issues – they don’t change our salvation.  If it was super-important, God would have made it super-clear.  Like John 3:16.  Salvation.  Clear.  John 14:6. One Way.  Clear.

Our pastors and church leaders have been given holy positions of authority and responsibility to lead and care for Jesus’ flock.

We have also been given a holy position with responsibility – to follow with care.

Help us know the truth, dear Father.

Our Confidence

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

We are blessed when we put our trust in the Lord.July 31 2014 Our Confidence

When we are confident in our relationship with him, we are like a tree he has planted right by the water.  Our faith grows like strong roots- stretching far out into the stream.

Then we don’t have to worry when the ‘heat’ comes – problems, discouragement, heartbreak.  We are always fed by God’s stream of water so our faith remains alive and strong.

We don’t have to worry about the drought – illnesses, loss of employment, broken relationships – because we are permanently attached to a constant source of Living Water.  As a result of this connection, we consistently bear fruit in our lives.

Jeremiah draws this picture for us in his 17th chapter and it’s just like the picture given us in Psalm 1.  Why does God keep giving us this image on how to be blessed?  Why is he etching these words so deeply onto our hearts?

HHmmmm.

Are we getting the message yet?

Thank you, dear Father!

The Challenge

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

“You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.” says Jeremiah as he talks to God.

He was talking about the people of Judah……July 29 2014 The Challenge

but could he be talking about us, too?

Do we talk about God while keeping our hearts safely out of his reach?

Do we read God’s Word without letting any of it soak in and change us?

Have we experienced God touching our spirit and renewing our mind recently?  Today?  This week? This month?  This year?

Are we stuck on giving God lip service when he desires to transform our lives?

What will it take for us to

open up our hearts…

take that next step…

stop talking about God and let him into our lives do something miraculous?

Today is the day, dear Father.