Tag: Bible

Watch…

On By Judy GlasserIn July1 Comment

and pray.

Watch and pray.

Watch and pray.July 20 2013

God tells Jerusalem in Isaiah 62 that he had posted matchmen on it’s walls and these watchmen were never silent, day or night.

I know of a specific time in my life when God posted watchmen on my walls.

The watchmen were not silent. 

They watched.

And they prayed.

These watchmen were my mother and mother-in-law.  They were both Godly women who lived thousands of miles away from us but they knew my husband and I needed prayer.  So they prayed. 

They didn’t know the details but they prayed.

It was a time when my husband and I were making a lot of very important, life-changing decisions….

but we weren’t consulting God.

It was a time when we thought we were in control and we had a plan…..

but we never considered God’s purpose for our lives.

When I look back on that time, I am amazed at how well those HUGE decisions worked out.

And then I am reminded of the watchmen on our walls.  They were praying.  God was answering the prayers of our mothers in response to their faithfulness. 

We received the blessings of God through our mother’s prayers.  I still believe that God has a special interest in the fervent prayers of a faithful mother.

God calls each of us to be watchmen for others at different times through our lives.  To watch and pray.  To lift the cares of others up and lay them at the feet of the Father – knowing that all things are possible through him.  We don’t need to know the details because our Father knows them all.  And he cares about them all.

May we be found faithful, dear Father!

Thirsty?

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

We come to you, dear God, for we are thirsty….July 18 2013

thirsty for the water that only comes from you.

We have no money, nothing of value except what you have given us.

We can come to you through your gift of grace and you take care of all of our needs.  Everyday.

But sometimes we still get tempted by the distractions of this world.  And we spend our time and our passions and the resources you give us on things that don’t satisfy us.  They never will.

Only you, dear Father, can satisfy the desires of our soul.  We want to listen….and then listen some more.

We want to eat what is good – all of the good things that come from you.

When we focus on you, we are delighted by the richness of what you provide.  More than we ever dreamed.

We give you more than just an ear, dear God.  We lift up all of our heart, mind and soul to you today.

We desire to live in your will.

Please quench our thirst, Holy Father.

Do You See It?

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

God is doing a new thing.

It is springing up!July 14 2013

He is making a way for us even when it doesn’t look like that’s possible.

He has always been faithful in the past

and he will be faithful in this new thing.

God tells us in Isaiah 43 to forget the former things.  He tells us not to dwell on the past.

Because he has created a new day for us.  It’s today!

He is creating a new song for us,

a new perspective,

a new hope,

a new and renewed purpose.

Do you see it?

Yes, We Know!

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Yes, we have heard.

It has been told to us from the beginning – since the earth was founded.July 12 Isaiah 40, 2013

That God sits enthroned above the earth.  So high above us that we look like grasshoppers.

Each day he stretches out the heavens once again  like a canopy.  He provides this tent for us to live in.

Rulers on the earth are reduced to nothing.  They think they are powerful but God blows on them and they wither away only to be swept away like chaff in the next whirlwind.

There is no one and nothing that can be compared to our Holy God.

Nothing ever has been or ever will be equal to him.

We lift up our eyes, dear Father, and look to the heavens.

You created everything!

You bring out the stars every night – one by one – calling them by name.

Because of your great power and mighty strength, there is never one missing.

We praise your name, most Holy God!

He Reached out…..

On By Judy GlasserIn July1 Comment

He took a chance.July 4 2013

After restoring the temple and reconsecrating it, King Hezekiah sent word out to his estranged brothers in Israel inviting them to come to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover with them.

Second Chronicles tell us that they had not been able to celebrate Passover in large numbers for a long time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem.  Hezekiah was not only leading his own people in Judah back to God, he was also taking a huge risk by inviting the people of Israel.

But we read that he felt it was the right thing to do, so he sent couriers throughout Israel and Judah with a proclamation which started:

“People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he may return to you…..

Yes, some people in Israel ridiculed him.

But others came. 

And we’re told that God gave Hezekiah’s people unity of mind so that they followed the word of the Lord and carried out the decree of the king – welcoming their brothers and celebrating Passover together as the people of God.

The first week of the celebration went so well, everyone decided to celebrate for another week.  We are told that there was ‘great joy’ in Jerusalem for those who were assembled.  All of the people were blessed by the priests before they went back to their homes.

We know the people were changed by this experience because we are told that, when they got home, they smashed their idols and the shrines.  They cut down the Asherah poles and destroyed the high places.

Hezekiah had been obedient.  He did what God asked him to do even though it was risky.  As a result, he started widespread religious reforms not only in his own country but also in Israel.

Please help us follow Hezekiah’s example, dear Father, as we reach out in your name.

Our Light Is Coming

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

Our world, which is walking in darkness, will see a great light when Jesus comes again.

All of us who are living in the land of deep darkness will see the dawning of the light.

Our God will bless our nation and we’ll be filled with joy!JUne 29 2013

We will rejoice before our God

– like someone who just received a big promotion.

– like a football team who just won the Superbowl raises their coach up on their shoulders so he’s above the crowd.

You will bring this light, dear Father.

Our burdens will disappear, we will have no worries or concerns.

All evidence of the battles we have fought in this life will be burned – gone.

For until us a child was born.

Until us a son was given.

The government of all the world is on his shoulders.

We call him Wonderful,  Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father,

our Prince of Peace.

There is no end to his greatness.  He is reigning over his kingdom, upholding it with justice and righteousness from the time of his first coming to the time of his second coming and forever forward.

The zeal and passion of the Lord Almighty has accomplished this.

Amen!  Hallelujah!

Isaiah 6, 2013

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

June 24 2013Dear Father,

We join with the seraphim who are surrounding your throne in heaven right now and we call out:

“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory”.

We praise your holy name!

We come to you with confidence knowing that our sins have been washed away and our guilt is gone because of what your son, Jesus, has done for us.

Please help us hear you and understand you.  We want to see you and perceive you.

Soften our hearts, dear God, so we are constantly aware of you and your purpose for us.

Help us to focus our ears on your voice and open our eyes to your truth in our lives.

It is our desire to love and understand you with all of our hearts, minds and souls.

We turn to you, dear Father, and ask for complete spiritual healing.

Hallelujah!  Amen!

Our High Places

On By Judy GlasserIn June1 Comment

What are our high places?

June 20 2013As we’re reading through Kings and 2 Kings, we read about good Kings who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  Some of them demolished idol worship everywhere within their kingdom and others destroyed most of it but left the high places.  And the people would continue to worship idols in the high places.

Do we have high places in our lives where we continue to worship our idols?  Pieces of our lives which we want to keep under our control and refuse to give over to God?

Some areas I  had a big and long struggle with but eventually gave over to God are:

My children.  It was a very big relief to finally understand that God loves my children more than me and my worrying over them did no good for anyone.  God is with them always – loving them and taking care of them.

My career.  It was also a big relief when I really understood that my career came from God.  I am where I am because that’s where he wants me to be.  When he wants me to be somewhere else, he’ll guide me there.  Meanwhile, all of my achievements and successes and promotions and pay increases come from him.

Our finances.  I never felt that we had enough money to tithe – until we started tithing.  Since we’ve started tithing, we always have enough money for our needs.  And whenever God decides that we need some extra, he sends us an unexpected check or makes some more hours of work available for my husband. 

God amazed me last year when I felt that he was telling me to plan a trip to Israel but I didn’t have the money.  So I asked him to show me how I was supposed to pay for it.  And he orchestrated an award for me at work which I didn’t even know I was nominated for.  The total of the award was the price of the trip including – of course –  a tithe of the amount.  He couldn’t make it more obvious, could he?

I have learned that, when I was trying to control these things, I was actually keeping them from coming under the blessing of my Father God.  Since I have recognized his Lordship in all of these areas of my life, he has consistently me in each of them – every day in every way.

Thank you, dear God!

More Than Enough

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Dear Father,

You are more than enough for us.June 18 2 2013

Our desire is to be faithful to you today and every day.  We want to be anchored to you so that we don’t drift away.

Please help us understand your wisdom and directions.  Reveal the truth to us.  Make the lies and traps that surround us clear to us so we can avoid their snares.

Your’s is the only voice we want to follow – please make us deaf to all others.

Your prophet Hosea tells us that our spirit of prostitution leads us astray – we give so much of ourselves away to things in our world which have no eternal value –  cars, houses, sports, food, shopping for material things, television and computers. 

Why do we so easily sacrifice our relationship with you, dear God? 

We’re disappointed when our children follow our lead and get drawn into the mess of our culture.  They are simply following our example.  They see all of the ‘gods’ in our lives so they develop their own.

You are the only true God.

You deserve our devotion and our love.

Please continue to draw us closer, dear Father.

Are We Listening?

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

How it really happened.  That’s what I love about reading the Bible chronologically.

It’s such a different experience to read through the Old Testament and hear the words of the various prophets speaking directly to the kings in context.

The kings of Israel and Judah had prophets coming at them all of the time speaking the words of God.  Sometimes the prophets were screaming the words of God. 

Hosea married a prostitute who was repeatedly and blatantly unfaithful to him.  Why?  To illustrate God’s perspective as he watched the Israelites prostitute themselves with other gods over and over.

The prophets did anything they could to get the kings’ attention.

But the kings didn’t listen.

They refused to change their behavior.  They didn’t repent and turn back to God.

We now have the huge advantage of having the Spirit of God living inside of us.  God doesn’t need to send prophets anymore – he speaks directly to us.

But there’s still the same question – are we listening?