Tag: blessings

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!

 

Blessed

On By Judy GlasserIn February1 Comment

We are blessed.

You, Oh God, watch over us.

You provide.feb 24 2016 blessed

You protect.

You teach.

And you show your love for us.

We feel you smiling down on our lives every day.

You shower your grace upon us.

We always have your attention – it never wanders.

You bless us with your peace.

And your peace is not like the fleeting feelings of peace we may experience here on earth.

Your peace quiets our souls and dispels our worry.

You remove our anxiety.

You place our feet once again on the Solid Rock of our Salvation.

And we are blessed.

Thank you, Abba Father, for the blessing of this benediction you gave to Aaron centuries ago.  

 

Who is Coming to Dinner?

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

One of my favorite hobbies is reading.

And I read a lot.feb 22 2016 fellowship with God

But I’ve never read a book more than once because, when I know the ending, there is no motivation for me to read the book.

The only exception to this is the Bible.  I am on my 6th time of completely reading the Bible, cover to cover and I am amazed at all of the new things God is still teaching me.  I love how God speaks so clearly through his Word.  The fact that I know the end of the Bible gives me peace and joy and confidence.  I love getting to the end where Jesus says he is coming again and then starting over “In the beginning”.

I am excited about the things God has to show me in 2016.  And I love sharing some of those thoughts with you.

Let’s face it.  If you’re like me, I like the historical accounts of the people in the Bible – Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and especially Joseph’s interesting relationship with God.

Numbers and Leviticus are much harder to read and try get something from.

But God always reveals tidbits about himself to me when I persevere through these chapters.

Like today – Leviticus tells us all about the various festivals the Israelites were supposed to celebrate and their required offerings.

Honestly, I used to skip a bunch of these chapters the first couple of times I read through the Bible because all the splashing of blood stuff and directions for animal parts turned me off.

Now, God points out to me pieces of his relationship with the Israelites that increase my understanding of him and what he desires from me.

Today, he pointed out the Fellowship offerings that the Israelites were to give him.  These offerings were given to praise God and to show their gratitude for what he had done for them.

They would all eat the meat and bread of their offering together like they were eating a meal with God.

A meal with God.

How would something like that work for us?

Instead of just praying grace over our food at the beginning of the meal, what would our meal be like if we dedicated the food to God in thankfulness for what he has done for us and then we eat the meal with him?

Maybe we should try it?

Dear Abba Father, Would you like to come to dinner?

 

What is Your Offering?

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

What are we giving to God that goes beyond just a tithe?

Goes beyond money?

Feb 4 b what is your offeringGoes beyond attending worship every week?

In Numbers 7 & 8 we read about the Israelites leaders bringing their offering to God’s altar as it is being dedicated.  Each person is listed by name in the Bible.

What would my list look like if God did this today?

Judy, from the Glasser clan, brought this offering.  Her offering was….

Are we just giving God a minimum amount of our time?

A minimum amount of our money?

A minimum amount of our attention?

God has gotten more of my attention this last year as he has challenged me with memorizing chapters of his Word.

And he has poured out his blessings on me as he has etched his Word upon my heart and mind.  This amount of memorizing has caused me to go to a whole new level of devotion to God and his Word.

And it’s all good.

Every day we bring our offering plate of attention, love, service and resources to God.

How full is your  plate?

We love you, Abba Father.

 

 

We Live in the Light

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

As believers, we don’t walk in the darkness.Jan 25 2015we live in the light

God’s light of love, grace and peace shines on us day and night.

Unless we make a choice to move into the darkness.

It’s always our choice.

Yet, even in the darkness, God is waiting for us to choose to move back into his light.

We are never separated from his love.

But it can feel like it.

It can feel like we’re all alone in the darkness.

It can feel like God’s not there when we are paying the consequences for things we’ve done when we’ve strayed.

That’s how it feels, but it’s not the truth.

As we read through the plagues God brought upon Egypt, I start feeling a little sick.

Boils.

Hoards of bugs.

Fields of dead animals.

A river of blood.

And then there was the plague of darkness.  A darkness so deep that it was ‘felt’.

Have you ever ‘felt’ darkness like that?

The closest I ever got to that feeling was camping out on a side of a road on the top of a mountain in a forest outside of Flagstaff.  After we turned off our lanterns and put out the campfire, the trees and clouds covered the moon and it was hard to see my hand in front of my face.

I ‘felt’ the deep darkness.

It makes me question the popular view that hell is full of fire and heat.  That night I wondered if hell could be more like this….. black…. cold….nothing.  Complete separation from the Light.

Total darkness covered all of Egypt for 3 days.

But then we read that God shown his light down on where the Israelites lived!

The Egyptians were living in this deepest darkness while the Israelites living next to them had light.

How awesome!

I imagine giant spotlights shining down from heaven just where the Israelites lived.

And that is how we, as believers, live today.  God’s spotlight of love and grace and truth shines down on us each day.

When we choose God, we choose to live in his light.

Thank you for the wonderful gift of your light, Abba Father.

 

Bad Intentions

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

Other people with bad intentions often cause us harm.

It happens to all of us.Jan 21 2015 bad intentions.

But wait!

God has promised us that he has plans for a great future for us.

He is omnipotent.

Everything that touches our lives has gone through his hands.

He can stop anything.  But sometimes he doesn’t.

Is it possible that, like with Joseph, God can use the bad things that happen in our lives to accomplish good?

Do we believe that?

Do we trust him enough to face every bad situation in our lives with the certainty that God will use it for good?

Can we wait patiently for the good outcome?

Can we walk through the dark times with our eyes focused on the Light?

Joseph’s brothers intended to kill Joseph.

And God transformed that situation by making Joseph a blessing to all of Egypt.

What people intended for bad, God used for good to accomplish what he wanted.

I believe God can and already has done this in the dark times of my life.

What do you believe?

Please help us trust you, Abba Father.