Tag: Bible

One Nation Under God

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Dear Father,  We pray for our nation today.American_Flag_USA_Patriotic_Clipart_591x362-1

We were founded on your principles but we have strayed so very far.

We need your help.  We want to return to you with all of our hearts.

We want to repent.

Your light used to shine brightly out of our country for the rest of the world to see. Now it is a meer glimmer……….almost gone.  Please help us to turn back.

Rend our hearts, dear Father.  Please open our hearts wide open to you.  Bring about a rededication of our nation to what is most important to you.

We  thank you for your compassion and graciousness.  You are slow to anger and abounding in love.

You promise us, dear Father, that you will pour out your spirit on all of your people….

when we turn back to you.

You promise that everyone who calls on your name will be saved.

You promise that there will be deliverance!

We claim your promises, dear God.

Please help us return to you, dear Father, before the darkness consumes us.

Open My Eyes……….

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

so I may see God’s heavenly army

which is fighting for me,June 10 2013

protecting me,

surrounding me.

Elisha could see it.

When he looked at the hills surrounding him, they were filled with horses and chariots of fire.

But the servant couldn’t see it until God opened up his eyes.

Please open up our eyes, Lord!

We don’t have to be afraid.

Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

Everyday.

Jesus has promised us that he is with us until the day he returns.

And he has more than conquered the world.

Thank you, dear Jesus.

When Am I Really Going to Get It?

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

The battle is not mine, it is God’s.

Thousands of years ago, Jahaziel stood in front of all of the people of Judah and told them, ” You will not have to fight this battle.  Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  Go out to face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you.

It’s just as true today as it was back in the time of 2 Chronicles.June 6 2013

I just need to take up my position, stand firm and watch God fight my battles.

My correct position is to put myself where he wants me.  He leads, I follow.

I stand firm by staying focused on the purpose he as given me and keeping my daily relationship with him strong.

And then he delivers me.

He’s done it before, he will do it again.

And again.

And again.

So why do I sometimes have doubts that haunt me in the darkest part of the night?  Why do I start focusing on my plans and purposes only to become frustrated and confused?

Why do I draw up battle plans and go full steam ahead just to be defeated once again?

I have the Lord of all of the Armies on my side ready to fight my battles for me.

When am I really, really going to get that?

Thank you, dear Father.  I face all of my tomorrows knowing that you are with me and you are for me. 

I Don’t Want to Miss It!

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

The whisper of God.

It’s not in the great and powerful wind as it tears apart the mountains and shatters the rocks.

It’s not in the earthquake or in the fire.

The spirit of God moves in our hearts and our minds…….a whisper.

Which we will miss if we don’t turn off the distractions and focus on him.

I believe God is trying to guide me and communicate with me all day.  I just don’t always listen well.  Sometimes I’m just not listening at all.

So many things in my life clamor for my attention and they all have much louder voices!

There’s no time to stop to listen for whispers, is there?

No, there’s no time to listen for whispers…..

unless we make the time.  Unless we put ourselves in places where he can more easily speak to us.

june 5 2013Like studying his Word.

Like worshipping with our brothers and sisters.

Like serving in his name.

Like setting aside time for a good conversation with him.

Because, when our little light flickers out and it’s all done, we’ll want to be able to easily recognize the voice that whispers to us here…….

As it guides us home.

Clothed in Scarlet

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

“When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for all of them are clothed in scarlet.”May 25 2013

I have read this verse in Proverbs 31 many times but I never ‘got it’ until now.  I love that about God’s word – no matter how many times I read it all the way through, I’m always motivated to do it again.  Because there’s more.  There’s something new God wants to reveal to me.  It’s his living word and he’s still talking 🙂

And I realize that snowing in biblical  times was probably a huge deal, something they weren’t prepared for.  It would create a lot of issues and problems.  A mother could be very worried about her family and what was happening to them during this time.

I realize that they were clothed in scarlet but they weren’t wearing red clothes.  She knew her family was covered by sacrificial blood which was the blood of animals back in those days and is now the blood of Christ. 

So when all of the problems and issues came, she didn’t need to worry.  Her family was safe in the arms of God,

Love it! 

And, as a parent, I regularly need to remind myself to ‘ live’ this.  I am blessed to know that my husband and grown children all have a personal relationship with Christ.  Even my little 2 1/2 year-old grandson knows that God loves him.

They are in his hands.

They are clothed in scarlet. 

And when the snow – or troubles – come,  I won’t have to worry.

Maybe I’ll ask everyone to wear something red for our next family picture 🙂

Thank you, dear Father.

The Secret….

On By Judy GlasserIn June2 Comments

of being content.

The secret of being satisfied.

“Whoever loves money will never have enough.” Eccl. 5

May 29 2013Studying God’s perspective on money changed my life.  My beliefs and views about finances were so skewed by everything the world had taught me that I needed to go through a financial Bible study several times before it started to sink in.

God owns everything – it’s all his.  He gives it to us to take care of and use and he only asks for a small portion back.

He doesn’t need our money.  He could rain gold out of the sky if he wanted to.  We just need to be able to put him ahead of money in our priorities.  Then we can joyfully give to support his ministries here on earth.

How much we make is not the issue – how much we spend is.

When I really understood that God owned it all, it became easier to tithe.  It wasn’t mine to start with – God gave it to me, I didn’t earn it like I thought I did.  It all comes from God, he deserves it all – he only asks for a little back.  As soon as we started managing our finances according to God’s word, he helped us get totally out of debt and, years later, he is still making sure we have everything we need.  I have lots of stories of situations where God provided just what we needed right when we needed it.

And that’s a key – I know that, right now, I have what God wants me to have.  If I’m ever going to learn to be content, I need to learn to be content with what I have right now. 

I love this saying – Happiness is wanting what you already have.

God has so richly blessed me with all of things I have already.  And he has given me so many more things that money just can’t buy.

Thank you, dear Father.

Do Not Go Near

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

Self-discipline.  Most of us cringe a little when we hear those two words.  There always seems to be a place or 2…. or 3 or 4 in my life where I could use more self-discipline.

God tells us in Proverbs 5 to keep to a path that is far from adultery.  He tells us to not go near her house.

I have found that this is a strategy that will work in all of areas of our lives.  We will never explode our lives with something like adultery if we never think about it.  If we don’t think about it, we’ll never get to the point where we will actually do it.

We will be kinder to a ‘difficult’ person in our life if we don’t think bad thoughts about them.   Years ago I realized at work that I needed to get rid of my ‘jerk file’ because, once someone got into my jerk file, I automatically treated them like a jerk – whether they were acting like a jerk now or not.   When I got rid of my jerk file, it was easier to give people a second and third chance.  All of us are jerks once in a while :).

We’ll spend less money if we stop thinking about things we want to buy.  It’s interesting how thinking about something we want long enough can turn it into a ‘need’. 

It all begins in our minds.  Our thoughts become our attitudes and our attitudes become our actions.  If we stop the thinking, we stop the behaviors.

By controlling our thoughts, we are staying as far away from the temptations as we can possibly get – and it works.  Just like God tells us in Proverbs 5.

Dear Father, please help us discipline our minds.

Taking the Crooked Path

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

‘Whoever walks in integrity walks securely but whoever takes the crooked paths will be found out.’ – Proverbs 10:9

The crooked paths.may 18 2013[1]

They are often the easy paths.  The paths everyone else is taking.  They can look like a lot of fun.  There are often short-term benefits when we wander down them.

But we want to walk securely, right?  In order to do that, we have to choose integrity.

And that’s not as easy as it sounds – especially with the Evil One scheming against us.

One of the lessons I had to learn about being completely honest is what I used to call ‘bonus’ time at stores and restaurants. A  ‘Bonus’ was when I literally got something for nothing – the clerk made a mistake and didn’t charge me for something.  I used to rationalize this – we all know there are other times that we are overcharged, right?  So when I received a ‘bonus’, it was just evening things out a little.  Or – these items are overpriced anyway – I’m probably paying closer to what they are worth.  Any of these sound familiar?

Then I realized that Satan used this situation to tempt me away from being honest.  I didn’t have integrity when I knowingly accepted these ‘bonuses’ without saying anything.  

I know that Satan liked messing with me in this area because these ‘bonus’ opportunities happened a lot to me.  A checker at Target tried to charge me for only one part of a two-part lamp.  Staples didn’t charge me for 2 small bulletin boards when I was picking up supplies for the office.   A clerk at J.C. Penney’s got different piles of clothes mixed up and didn’t ring up about $70 worth of clothes – until I brought it to her attention.  Yup –  I decided I was finished with letting Satan tempt me in this area so I started always bringing it to the clerk’s attention so they could charge me correctly.

So Satan has raised his game up a level.  Now I get bonus items but I don’t realize it until I’m out in the car or when I’m unpacking the shopping bags at home.  It’s very tempting for me to just let the ‘bonus’ ride at this point because going back and telling people I wasn’t charged for something is a huge hassle and the response I get is not usually positive.  I get the ‘you are seriously crazy’ look from most of the customer service people when I bring up an item and tell them I wasn’t charged for it.  It’s not about money anymore – it’s about the hassle.

So – to be honest, I don’t always bring the item back.  I’m telling you this because I’m making a committment to bring it all back from here on out…..every bonus, every time.  My actual strategy is to take more notice of the check-out process to make sure everything is charged so I can avoid the ‘crazy lady’ routine later. 

Satan is NOT winning this one!

I’ll be needing some serious help with this one, dear Father.

Jesus loves the little children….

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

All the little children of the world.church 2

I was reminded of this song recently when I had the chance to worship at Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia.   I felt very privileged to pray and sing and listen to God’s Word along with 2,000 Australians. And my understanding of God’s omnipresence felt like it expanded by several miles.

It was just like a pot of popping corn.  I started with a small layer of corn(understanding) on the bottom of the pot but, as the corn popped it started to fill up the pot.  Higher.  Bigger.  Pop, pop!  That’s what my mind felt like as I experienced the reality of God being the God of all of these Australians on the other side of the hemisphere.  I always knew this and believed it – I just had never felt it before.

church1Awesome!

His love reaches out to all of us.  His mercy covers all of our sins.  Redemption through his Son is the only way for all of us to make our way back to him.  He created each one of us and has a purpose for our lives.

We are all on this journey towards the truth together – all of the little children of the world.

Proverbs 2 – Our Prayer

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

Dear Father,

We thank you for the understanding you give us as we read your word – your direction feeds our souls.

We open our ears to hear your wisdom, we seek understanding.

We call out to you – please give us insight!

We cry aloud for more understanding!

We seek out wisdom – it is more precious to us than silver.

We search for wisdom – it is a hidden treasure of understanding and knowledge of you, dear God.

All wisdom comes from you, Father.

You give success to us as we seek you.  You shield us as we walk closely with you.  You guard us when with act with integrity and you protect our way when we are faithful.

We desire to now what is right for us – the good path which you have planned out for each one of us.

We ask for wisdom to fill our hearts.  May our souls be complete with knowledge of you.

Please teach us to use discretion as protection and to use our understanding to guard our hearts.

Thank you, dear Father.