Tag: Bible

Stop Giving……

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

we have enough. 

This is what Moses told the Israelites after he saw that they already had more than enough of everything they needed to make the tabernacle.  In Exodus 36:2-7, he send out an order to restrain them from giving more.

Really?  Have we ever been told by our church to stop giving because everyone was so generous that the church had more than enough?

As we read through Exodus and Leviticus, it’s easy to label the Israelites as whiney immature unbelievers.  Come on – if you haven’t said it, you were thinking it 🙂

But it appears that they have this giving back to God thing going on strong at this point in their journey.

What would our world be like if those doing God’s ministries had to ask people to stop giving because there was more than enough?  I know we would see a holy outpouring of God’s blessings because we can never outgive him.  He loves it when we trust him enough to give more than what our accountant thinks is wise.  When we are dependent on God, he has the opportunity to lavish his love on us and on others through us.

And what God gives back to those who are generous to others in His name can’t be bought with money.

Thank you for the joy we experience when we give back generously to you, dear Father!

It Takes Skill

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Have you read the directions God gave to Moses concerning the tabernacle that he wanted the Isrealites to make?

They are extremely specific and detailed.  This was obviously very important to God.Ex 31

God chose who would work on this project with him by giving them wisdom and knowledge and ability to make everything that he had commanded them to make.

He does the same with us today.  When he asks us to do something, he will give us the knowledge and abilities we need to complete the task.  Maybe not right away.  We may have to hang tough through some struggles – that’s one of the ways he trains us.  

God promises that he will equip us when we step out in faith and follow his lead.  It’s after we step out and after we obey that we will experience his blessings.  We often want to see the blessing first but it just doesn’t work that way.  It’s through our faith and perseverence that God blesses us.

Thank you for your blessings, dear Father!

It Felt Like Years

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

Two years, in fact!

Joseph interpreted the dream of Pharoah’s cupbearer and all he asked for in return was that the cupbearer remember Joseph when he got out of prison.  Just like the dream, the cupbearer was released from prison and given back his job,

but he forgot about Joseph for 2 years.Gen 41.2

Two years of sitting in prison, waiting to be remembered!  Will it ever happen?  Joseph had already experienced hatred, betrayal and treachery coming at him from all angles and now this!

Throughout Joseph’s story, we continue to hear that God was with him.  We know that God was with him in prison – he helped him interpret the dreams. God has told us that he has a plan and a purpose for everything.  So God must have had 2 more years worth of things to teach Joseph in prison – hence, the delay.

But we don’t like delays.  Patience in the face of diversity is a tough challenge.  We don’t like it.  It feels like God is not answering our prayers. 

It’s the trust factor, again.  It’s knowing that, contrary to my circumstances right now, God has the best planned for me.  He is working things out for me.

Right now……..even if it takes 2 years.

Driving a stake….

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

into the ground.Gen 31

In this passage, we see Jacob taking a stone and setting it up as a pillar to commemorate the agreement between himself and Laban, his father-in-law.

We often see people in the Bible setting up pillars or altars to remind them of an event or an agreement.

From this day forward…..

and here is the reminder.

I think we might do a better job of keeping our commitments if we would set up pillars to remind ourselves.  Well, not exactly pillars :), but reminders.

When I decided that I was going to get serious about reading my Bible, I started putting it out in the family room where I saw it all the time.  It was a very helpful reminder and I ended up reading it a lot more often because whenever I saw it, I remembered my committment to God and myself.

Some people tape special Bible verses onto their bathroom mirrors so they see them every day and are reminded of God’s promises.

Simple, but effective.  What are some other things we can do to help remind ourselves of the committments we have made to God?

It’s So Easy…..

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

to satisfy our immediate needs and give up something that would be a big benefit to us in the future.Gen 25

Esau does this when he sells his birthright for some food because he was ‘famished’.

What do we sell when we’re famished?  When we feel like we really need something…..and we really need it now.

Many of us have sold ourselves to our creditors when we get into a lot of  debt to buy things we really, really need right now.  As a result, we have to work too much and stress too much, losing our joy and sacrificing precious time with our family.

Many of us have sold ourselves to sports, hobbies and recreation to the point that we don’t have time for God.  We give up all the blessings God wants to lavish upon us when we make no time for him in our schedules.

Whenever we feel short-changed by life or are experiencing a  lack of joy in our lives, we need to remember that we can do something about it.  We can turn back to God and set our eyes on him.  We can choose the ‘better’ things that are available to us through a solid relationship with him. 

We won’t feel ‘famished’ when we have a strong faith in God.

Insanity

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

Abraham  does it again!  He tells another king, King Abimelek, that Sarah is his sister!Gen 20.2

He got caught and was ejected from the town the last time he did this – why is he doing it again?

We would never do that, would we?

We would never make the same mistake over and over like Abraham…..

or would we?

If we’re honest with each other, we’ll admit that we do this regularly – especially when we’re dealing with relationship issues or parenting issues.  We just keep hammering the same nails over and over and wonder why the situation doesn’t improve.  We’re really in trouble when we blame the other person each time.  It’s really easy to blame someone else – then we don’t have to own our part.

I was told many years ago that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over yet expecting a different outcome 🙂  Realizing the insanity can help motivate us to spend some extra energy is thinking of new ways to approach an issue.

Try something different.  It might work!  At least it won’t be the same old mistake.  It might be a new mistake but we can learn from it and try something else.

Will Abraham learn his lesson this second time God told on him and he got caught?  We’ll have to read the rest of the story and find out!

Passing the Test

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

Dear Heavenly Father,

We ask you to grow in us the faith and trust that our Father Abraham had in you.

You tested him and he trusted you.Gen 22

He knew you would provide….in some way.  He didn’t know how.  You gave him no clues.

But he obeyed.  He was willing to sacrifice his only son because he loved you.

Like your sacrifice of your only son, Jesus, for us……because you love us.

When we experience trials, dear Father, we want to trust you.  We know that you are working all things out for those that love you.  We can’t see the end.  You rarely give us any clues.  It’s so easy to become anxious and try to take care of things ourselves…..

Until we lift up our eyes and focus on you.  Then we know the answer.  Your word lights our path.  Trust paves the way to peace.  Your peace, dear Father.

We love you.  Please keep drawing us nearer.

Don’t Look Back

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

No one in the Bible teaches us this lesson better than Lot’s wife.Gen 19.1

Out of his infinite mercy, God answered Abrams prayers to save Lot and his wife from the rain of fire and death coming down on Sodom and Gomorrah.  They were saved! 

Yet Lot’s wife disobeyed and looked back.  As a result of her disobedience, God turned her into a pillar of salt.

Can you commiserate with Lot’s wife?  I can. Isn’t it hard sometimes not to be tugged backward to maybe a time we felt safer?  A time we felt happier?  A time we were more comfortable or maybe our lives were closer to what we thought they should be?

Yet God has saved us for a purpose….and that purpose is always for now and  the future.  We won’t find it by looking backward.  And we definitely won’t fulfill that purpose by looking back.

How easily we can find ourselves comparing what’s going on today with how things used to be.  This is a pattern that become easier and easier as we get older.

What about if we start comparing today to how it could be tomorrow if we fulfill our purpose in God’s plan?  How much better could it be if we encouraged each other to be all that God wants us to be?  He has big plans for us – what would happen if all of us jumped into those plans with no holds barred?

The best if yet to be!

Test Me!

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

God promises in Malachi to bless us so greatly that we won’t have enough room for it all.Dec 31

He says that this will happen when we bring all of our tithes into his storehouse.

“I will open the windows of heaven for you,” he promises us.

And then he tells us to try it – to test him.

Have you ever tried this?

It’s true.  As we learn to tithe, we will start to experience these promises coming true in our lives.  As we learn to give offerings above and beyond our tithe, we experience even more of these blessings in our lives.

When we’re obedient in this area of our lives, we have stories.  These are stories about God’s supernatural provision in our lives.  Stories about times when he opened up the windows of heaven for us – in just the right way and at just the right time.  All as a result of  the bringing of our tithes and offerings into his storehouse.

Test him!  You’ll see!

Why Should He?

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

God tells the Israelites through Malachi that they are defiling his altar by bringing blind, diseased and crippled animals as their offering.Dec 30

He tells them they can go ahead and beg for mercy, but why should God show them any favor at all?

God asked them and he’s asking us today for the first fruits of our labor.  The first.  The best.

Not the leftovers.  Not the amount that we can do without.

And he showed us exactly how to do this when he sent his son, Jesus.  His first.  His best.  For us.  He held nothing back.

God could ask for it all – since it’s all his.  And God does ask some people to give it all – including their lives.

For the rest of us, he asks that we put him first and give him our best.                      

Then we can anticipate his blessings as we are obedient and walk in his will.

Thank you, dear Father!