Tag: blessings

Psalm 23, 2016

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

My Lord protects me.

I have everything I need.

He provides for me and fills my life with his supernatural peace.

He gives me joy and strength for each day.  Through his Word, he directs my choices and decisions.April 20 psalm 23, 2016

Even when I am going through tough trials and situations, I am not afraid.  I know God is right beside me.

Guiding me.

Comforting me.

No matter what is going on, I know God loves me.

And provides for me.

And protects me.

I am precious to him.  My heart overflows with thankfulness.

I know, Abba Father, that your love and goodness will never end.  You will be with  me all of my days here on earth.  And you will be walking right beside me when I leave earth to enter heaven.

Where I will be with you…

Forever.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Everything Is Yours

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Everything we have comes from God.

Do we really believe this?  Do we let this fact change how we manage our treasures, time and talents?

If we do, then we are the path to becoming good stewards that God is looking for.

One of my favorite biblical mental pictures is from 1 Chronicles 29 when David is amassing huge piles of gold, silver, bronze and precious stones to be used in April 19 2016 everything is yoursbuilding the temple for God.

I see David standing in the middle of this fortune with his hands raised to the sky as he acknowledges in front of everyone that all of this – and everything – comes from God.

Let’s join him –

We lift up our praise to you, Lord, our God and Father, forever!

You have all the greatness..

all the power…

all the glory…

all of the majesty..

and all of the splendor!

Everything in heaven and on earth is yours.

You, oh Lord, own everything and are in control of it all!

Any wealth or honor we have comes from you.

You rule over everything!

Only you are able to give strength and power to us.

Now, our God, we give you our thanks and we praise your glorious name!

Thank you, Abba Father!

 

Psalm 63, 2016

On By Judy GlasserIn April1 Comment

There is a burning desire within me to know you better, my God!

I feel such an overwhelming thirst.

But no water can quench this thirst – only you.April 3 psalm 63, 2016

No where and no thing but you.

Oh, yes!  I have experienced your power and your awesomeness!

Your love is what makes this life worth living!

I just can’t stop talking about how great you are!

When I lift my hands up to you, I feel  your touch as you reach down to me.

Only you satisfy me.  There is no food that fills this craving inside of me – only you.

You are magnificent!

In the darkest and loneliest part of the night,  I think about you.

You are always ready to help me.

You hold me in your arms and I sing for joy!

You love me.

You protect me from harm.

You fight my battles for me and make the wrong things right in my life.

All the liars will be silenced!

Let everyone be glad because our God is here!

All who believe in God will experience his goodness.

Thank you for your goodness, Abba Father!

The Giver

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

He gives us everything we have.

Our families.

Our jobs.

Our skills and talents.

Where we live.

Joy!

The air we breathe.

Our next heartbeat is a gift from him.

The Giver.

This is one of my favorite names for our Father God.

Because he gives…..

and gives.

He never get tired of giving the very best things to us, his children.

He gave us his only Son –

that we might have redemption and purpose here on earth followed by eternal life in heaven with the Giver.

In 1 Samuel 8, Samuel starkly contrasts the differences between earthly kings (and governments) and our heavenly king.  The earthly kings (and governments) just keep taking –March 28 2016 The giver

taking sons to serve in the army.

taking daughters to cook in the kitchens.

taking the best of the land and a tenth of all crops.

The earthly king takes a tenth of the flocks as well.

Eventually, everyone is a slave working for the earthly king.

Unlike our heavenly king who has given us everything.

Yes, he asks us to give some back.

But not because he needs it.

He knows we need to be able to give it.  We need to be able to put God’s kingdom before the other things we want to do with our money, time and possessions.

He knows whats best for us.  He wants the best for us.

Let our gratitude grow as we think about all God has given us!

Thank you, Abba Father!

Redeemed

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Renewed.

Reconnected.

Reaffirmed.

Readjusted.

Reassured.

Realigned.

Rearranged.

Re-born.

Resurrected Lord!

Easter is – by far – my favorite holiday.ftdDSC_0558

There are definitely fewer distractions from the main reason for the holiday than with Christmas.  A visit from the Easter Bunny just isn’t that exciting.

Easter comes in the spring when the plants are blooming, the sun is shining and the cold, dark days of winter are behind us.  Yes, I live in Phoenix now so I’m not describing our beautiful, warm winters :).  But I grew up in the freezing northern area of the midwest, so I know all about dark winter days, weeks and months.

And then comes Easter!  We celebrate the redemption that Christ Jesus gave us by dying on the cross and rising again!  Hallelujah!

Satan thought he had won – what a fool!

It is finished.  The grave is empty and Jesus gives us victory over sin and death!  (picture is of an empty garden tomb in Jerusalem which is the right type and in the right place to have been Jesus’ tomb).

Thank you, Father!  Thank you, Jesus!

 

Sword fighting Class- Life and Peace

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting ClassLeave a comment

We are being blessed as we memorize Romans 8 together:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin sacrifice.  And so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirement of the law be fully met in us who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the spirit.Romans 8; 1-9

‘Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what nature desires but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

And the next verse:

“The mind of sinful man is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”

What a great promise!

Life and peace!

I love it!

This section of scripture seems full of long sentences and difficult wording….until we get to this sentence.

Simple.  Direct.  Life-changing!

When our minds are controlled by the Spirit, we have life (like God wants us to have) and peace.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Always on My Lips

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Do you want to be prosperous?

Successful?

God tells us exactly how to do this as we begin reading the book of Joshua.March 10 2016 I forget the name.

Here is our one direction for achieving success and prosperity:

Be careful to obey God –

  •  do not turn from him to the right or the left.
  • keep God’s words always on our lips, meditate on them day and night so we are careful to do them.

What does it look like in my life when I obey God?

It has to be about what God wants, not what I want.

When I do what God wants and it’s not something I want, then I am submitting.

As we grow closer to God, we become more aligned with what God wants and obeying becomes a little easier because we start to want more and more of the things God wants.

Meditating on God’s word has become easier for me as I memorize it.  We have to be thinking about it, repeating it and going over it several times daily in order for it to stick.  Lots of meditating on it going on!

And with God’s truth stuck in our minds – renewing our thoughts – we are well on our journey of increasing our obedience.

As we memorize God’s scripture, his words are always on our lips – transforming the things we say with those lips.

This is success.

This is prosperity.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Do Not Be Afraid

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

What keeps you up at night?

What are you afraid of?

Some of us have a long list of things we are afraid of.  Some of us often find our minds filled with fear.  This world can be a scary place if that’s what we focus on.

God told Joshua to be strong and courageous. ‘Do not be afraid’.  Moses said this to Joshua twice and God said it again in the first several verses of Deuteronomy 31.March 8 2016 a do not be afraid

Why repeat these same words so many times right in a row?

It’s pretty obvious that Joshua had a lot to be afraid of.

He was taking over leadership of the Israelite nation from Moses.  Moses!  This is the man who personally talked with God many times.   That’s a hard act to follow!

Joshua was being commanded to lead the Israelites into taking over land which was full of fortified cities and over-sized warriors.  Scary.

And we all know how fickle the Israelites were – they were bound to create all kinds of issues a long the way.  Have you heard the phrase, “herding cats?”

A large amount of courage was needed.

So this command – this message – acknowledged the challenges ahead for Joshua.  It also encouraged him because God promised he would be with Joshua.  God would go before him.  God would do this, Joshua just needed to be strong and courageous as he obeyed.

God gives us this same promise to us today.

What are you afraid of?

God tells us he will fight our battles.  He will never leave us.

We just need to be strong and courageous while we obey.

Thank you for taking away our fear,  Abba Father.

 

 

I Will Send the Rain

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

If we were farmers, the right amount of rain for our crops would be critical to the amount of our harvest.

I grew up in rural Iowa and we would have standing-room-only extra prayer meetings in church if we needed rain for the crops.  We had no irrigation.

God provided the rain.March 6 I will send the rain

Today, we may not be farmers but we still depend on God to provide what we need.  He provides the jobs we have in order to buy food to eat and a place to sleep.  He provides his Word to us so he can guide us in making choices and decisions.

God provides the air we breath.  If he stopped, we would…….stop.

In Leviticus 26, God reminds us that, if we obey him, we will experience his blessings of obedience.  Notice this very important thing – obedience comes BEFORE the blessing.

After we obey, the rain (God’s blessing) will come down making our crops grow (our work and efforts will be successful).  The harvest (joy,  love, meaning) will be plentiful.

We will live safely in our land.

He will fight our enemies for us and bring peace to our lives.

When we obey, God will look upon us with favor.

And he will walk beside us every day.

He has promised and he always keeps his promises, so it will happen – after we obey.

Thank you for your blessing on our obedience, Abba Father.

My Perfect Father

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

He’s my Heavenly Father.

He takes care of me perfectly.

He wants only the best for me – he has promised this and he always keeps his promises.

Absolutely nothing is impossible for him to do.

He has proven this to me many times – especially in the area of parenting.

Being good parents is the most impossible thing my husband and I have ever done.  It’s only God’s power and grace and intervention in our lives that caused us to now have 2 mature, educated and successful adult kids.birthday

I was reminded of all the ways God is my perfect parent recently as my husband and I cared for my 5 year-old grandson and almost 2 year-old grand-daughter for 8 days while their parents cruised through the Caribbean.

It’s been almost 30 years since our kids were this age.

As I placed several bandages on my grandson’s knee after he fell off his new bike, I remembered all the times in my adult life when my Heavenly Father had comforted my hurts and my emotional bruises.

Oh, how He loves me!grandma loves me

Whenever my granddaughter gave me ‘the look’ and shrieked ‘no!’, I was reminded of my own rebellious No’s to my Heavenly Father.  But he never turned away.  His patience with me was longer than my rebellion.

Oh, how He loves me!

We struggled to keep up with feeding their hungry bellies.  They are growing very fast and we continually failed to understand the half-formed words behind the pointing fingers of our 2 year-old grand-daughter.  What did she want?  I was reminded of my Father’s perfect provision for me all of my life.   He knows exactly what I need.

Oh, how He loves me!eating

As I looked into the blue eyes of my granddaughter which look hauntingly like my own, I am reminded of how God has uniquely shaped each one of us and yet he has attached us to each other in beautiful ways.  Sometimes he connects us by the color of our eyes – creating a bond which goes straight to my heart.

Oh, how He loves me!

We were reminded that our Perfect Father does not grow tired of caring for us.  As our week of taking care of our grand darlings rolled on, we had less and less energy.   There was a lot of sighing going on at my house after our kids came back from their trip and we dragged our bodies home – so thankful for a quiet place to rest.eden with stroller

Oh, how He loves us!

We were rewarded many times every day during that week with happy smiles that came our way and even tiny ‘thank you’s’ from the little one who has such a big personality but only knows a couple of words.

Oh, how He loves us!

Our Perfect Father.

He has showered his blessing on us with precious memories of extra moments spent with our awesome granddarlings.

Oh, how He loves us!