Tag: Bible

Sound the Trumpet!

On By Judy GlasserIn February1 Comment

‘When you go into battle, sound the trumpets.  Then the Lord will rescue you from your enemies.’
Feb 7 2014

The Israelite’s journey was just beginning.  They had their laws, they were numbered and their duties were assigned.  The Tabernacle was assembled and was ready to be taken down and reassembled whenever God directed.

The Promised Land was ahead of them but it was already occupied.  There were many battles to be fought.

We are also on a journey.  Our destination is not in sight – but we know where we’re going.

Between here and there, we will fight many battles.  And God reminds us in Numbers 10 to sound our trumpets so he will come fight our enemy with us.  The big difference for us is that we have the Spirit of God living inside of us so our cry for help doesn’t need to be a loud trumpet blast.  It can be a quietly whispered prayer – our Father God hears them all.

AND he comes to help us fight.  He comes to our rescue.

Thank you, dear God.

Am I on the Right Path?

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

How fun!  My niece, Ali, is reading through the Bible with us this year and I asked her if she wanted to be a guest blogger.  We live a couple of thousand miles away from each other but we’ve been able to share this journey through the Bible last year and this year.  At a time that I was pretty discouraged about my whole blogging experience, God used Ali to encourage me.  (He does that just when I need it.)

 It has been awesome to see the incredible ‘magic’ God has been able to do in Ali’s life as she has been seriously opening her mind and heart to His word.

Today we read about Balaam’s donkey and here are Ali’s thoughts on this part of God’s word to us:

“Today, as I read about Balaam’s Donkey, I see that when we seem to be going in the right direction, there just might be a path to which we SHOULD REALLY be going. There are things that keep us from seeing this path, such as fear, in this case – being made a fool, or that ever so daunting thought of FAILURE!  But as stubborn as we may be to see the path that God really wants us to go, he is as adamant about getting us back on track with patience.”

And I say Amen to that! If we are sensitive to God’s leading, he will definitely tell us when we are on the wrong path.   I had the experience one time of God saying just those exact words to me, “You are on the wrong path.”  After a lot of praying and meditating on his word, I realized my priorities were all messed up and they needed to change.  Not an easy thing to do but very worth it.

It’s also funny that we all fear failure yet we all do it!  We have all failed and we will do it again.  So why be afraid?  It’s going to happen.  We just need to get good at failing.  I have learned that, if I learn something from my failure, I get to call it a ‘life experience’.  It’s no longer a failure.

So let’s rename our failures and listen closely for God’s direction to make sure we’re on the right path.

Thank you, dear Father!

Separated

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Feb 3 2014When Moses erected the Tabernacle, he put up the veil that separated the ark of the covenant from the rest of the space where regular people could go.  That veil symbolized how our sins have separated us from God.  We read of this separation often during the Old Testament.  Only the priests could enter the Holy of Holies at special times.  They wore bells on their robes so that people on the other side of the veil could hear them moving around.  They also had a rope tied to one foot.  If God was unhappy with them or the sacrifices they were offering, he struck them dead, the bells would stop ringing and they could be pulled out of the Holy of Holies by the rope.

The priests considered it an honor to be picked to go into the Holy of Holies because it took them into the very presence of God.

The Good News is that Jesus came and, through his death on the cross and resurrection, he provided a bridge for us to God.  We are no longer separated from God by our sins.  We are always right there, with God.

At the moment Christ died on the cross, the Bible tells us that the curtain in the temple tore in two – from top to bottom.  The separation was over.

When we accept God’s gift of grace, we can now have a personal relationship with him.  We can come before his throne with confidence that we are adopted sons and daughters of the King of the Universe.

And we know the end of the story.  When we accept Jesus as our Savior, our eternal life with God begins and it will continue on into eternity.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Amen!  Hallelujah!

Just Emotions

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

The people of Israel have just made a covenant with God to love him and serve him for the rest of their lives and for the rest of the lives of generations to come.Jan 31 2014

A very short time later, when Moses had only been up at the top of the mountain with God for a month, the Israelites persuaded Aaron to make them an idol to worship because they ‘needed a god they could see.”  As soon as Aaron was done making them a golden calf, they began worshipping this idol and praising it for bringing them out of Egypt.

Crazy!

That’s what emotions will do to us if we let them determine our actions and committment level. 

We’ll be up!

We’ll be down.

We’ll be up!

We’ll be down.

We’ll be worshipping God one day….

and then worshipping money the next.

We’ll be worshipping relationships the next day….

and then our new big-screen TV the next.

Emotions can’t define our reality.  The Israelites had seen God divide the Red Sea for them.  God had literally provided their daily bread but they ‘felt’ that they needed a god they could see.  Those feelings led them on a roller coaster of disobedience and they paid harsh consequences for their choices.

Dear Father, we thank you for your Word to us.  We ask that you help us put our emotions and feelings under your control so that we can become rock solid in our love and committment to you.  We don’t want to go up and down, sway right and left depending on how we ‘feel’ each day.  May your truth be a compass for every minute of our lives.  We don’t want any gods that we can see….because they aren’t you.  We love and serve the One True God.  In the redeeming name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

It Takes Teamwork

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

You could say that Moses won the battle with the Amalekites because the Israelites were winning when he stood on a hill nearby with his hands raised and they were losing when his hands got tired and he lowered them.  They couldn’t have won without him.Jan 27 2014

But they also couldn’t have won without Aaron and Hur who stepped up beside Moses when Moses’ arms got tired and they held his arms up for him.

And its pretty obvious that they wouldn’t have won without Joshua and all of the men who were actually fighting.

Each person had their purpose and, when each person did their part, they all won.

This is also how our churches are successful.  As the body of Christ, we each play a part.  We all need to do our part in order to win the battle we’re fighting against the forces of evil and darkness here on this earth who are trying to claim people’s souls.  Each of us need to be strong and courageous and faithful in fulfilling our duties as soldiers in God’s army.

So let us put on the armor of God every day and do our part to fulfill God’s purposes for us and to his Glory.

Amen.

What’s in Your Hand?

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

What do you already have?Jan 22 2014

Sometimes we don’t feel that we have the right skills or experience or knowledge to do what God is asking us to do.  That’s how Moses felt when God told him to go back to Egypt to free his people.

What if they don’t believe?  What if they don’t listen?

And then God asked Moses to look at what he already had in his hand and use that to do what God was asking him to do.

So – let’s look at what we already have – what God has already given us – and figure out how to use it to serve him.  Do we have a car?  Do we have a house with some chairs in it?  Do we have a couple of hours we could turn off the TV and computer and serve him?  Let’s not focus on what we can’t do – let’s just figure out what we can do.

What do we already have in our hands?

Dear Father, we thank you for how you have so richly blessed us.  Please open our eyes and hearts to how we can use what you’ve already given to us  in order to fulfill your purpose for us here on earth.  In the redeeming name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Blessings

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

May the God who has been my shepherd all of my life to this day bless you….jan 21a 2014

May the Angel who has delivered me from all harm also protect you.

May the strong hand of the Lord be on your life each day.

May the Almighty God help you and bring blessings to you from  all directions – from the skies above and the deep springs below, blessings in your heart and mind and blessing to those you love.

May your faith be a blessing to your family and to every life you touch.

Jan 21b 2014And our final blessing here on earth will be when we draw our feet up into our bed, breathe our last and are finally gathered to our people….

our people and our God who are already in heaven, waiting for us.

Amen!  Hallelujah!

He Prospered

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

‘The Lord was with Joseph so he prospered’.

Just like Joseph, God is with us and, at every opportunity, he blesses us and prospers us.Jan 18 2014

Sometimes it feels to me like I did all of the work so I prospered myself.  But then I’ve also had times when I’ve worked really hard and I didn’t receive any obvious ‘prospering’ from it. 

So it makes sense to me that it’s not the work itself that is prospering me – it’s the favor of the Lord – his will.

I’ve had several very clear instances recently where God clearly prospered me – just because he wanted to, not because of anything extra special that I did.  If you have been on this journey with me very long, you may remember a year or so ago when I felt that God was telling me he wanted me to go to the Holy Land.  It was very clear to me that he wanted me to go – he wants to forever change how I read and study his Word through this trip.

But I didn’t have the money for it so I asked him how I was going to pay for it.  And every time he reminded me that I was supposed to go, I reminded him – show me the money :). 

A couple of months later I won an award at work that I didn’t even know I had been nominated for.  It came with a check that was the amount of the trip (plus a tithe, of course).

Nice!  The trip has been rescheduled a couple of times and now I am less than 60 days away from going to Israel to experience all that God has planned for me!

I feel like a very rich woman when I think of my little grand-daughter  who is on her way – she’ll be here at the end of March.  I’ve wanted a grand-daughter for a very long time and I feel very prosperous in ways that don’t involve money as I think of all of the ‘girl’ fun we will have in the coming years.  She is definitely a very precious gift straight from the heart of God.

God prospered me again several weeks ago when I found out my position at work had been upgraded.  Out of the blue.  I’m doing the same thing I always do – giving it 100% and adding value.  It’s all God – he decides when the awards and promotions come.

And we prosper according to His will.

Thank you, dear God!

 

It’s Going to Be Good

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

We mess up. We make a bad choice. We wonder down the wrong path. Someone does something nasty to us and things go south.

Isn’t it a huge relief to know that God promises to work it all for our good?

Jan 13 2014This is the theme that keeps running through my head as Jacob deceives Isaac and Esau threatens to kill Isaac who runs away to live with Laban and then spends many years involved in a mutual game of deception with Laban.

Trickery….unkept bargains…..secret plans…….hidden sins.Jan 14 2014

Then Joseph’s brothers sell him as a slave and tell their father that he’s dead.

The treachery goes on – page after page.

Yet, in each instance, God works it all out for their good as they turn back to him, time after time.

On the right path,

Off of it.

On the right path,

Off of it.

Reading this brings me peace. God was patient with  them –  he’ll will be patient with me. God was always there for them – he’ll always be there for me. They sinned and rebelled but God worked it all out for them just like he works it out for me.  And he’ll be patient and work things out for you, as well.

Because we all love him.

Thank you, dear God

He Laughed

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

How awesome that the Bible tells us about real people and clearly shows us some of their warts and issues! It’s very clear that we have a lot in common.Jan 6 2014

When God tells Abraham that Sarah hs going to have a son, Abraham laughs. He asks how a son is going to be born of a man who is a hundred years old and his wife who is ninety?

So Abraham showed his humanity and had a moment of unbelief. It’s ok – right after this he did everything God asked him to do.

Abraham had a moment and then he got right back on track. He wasn’t perfect. He was still in training to be the Father of Nations.

He was a work in progress- just like us!

Thank you, dear God!