Tag: blessings

Jesus Prays for Us

On By Judy GlasserIn November3 Comments

This is one of my very favorite scriptures – John 17.nov 16 2013

Jesus is praying for all those who will believe in him because of the message the disciples will share – that’s us!

The disciples were obedient to Jesus’ command to go and make disciples, teaching others to obey just like they were obeying and baptizing them.  Because of the disciples’ faithfulness to this calling, we have the opportunity to know and be redeemed by Jesus.

They were witnesses to what Jesus had done and they shared what they knew.

They started a legacy of faith that has been passed on to each generation for over 2000 years.

And now it’s our turn.

Now we are the witnesses who need to speak up about Jesus – who he is, what he said and what he has done in our lives.

Now it’s our job to pass the opportunity to know and believe on to the next generation.  We are all called to be witnesses.  We all have personal stories of how the Holy Spirit has moved in our lives and has transformed us.

And we’ve got to pass it on.

So – how are you doing?

Is this Possible in My Life?

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

That was my first question when I started to seriously consider Jesus’ first and greatest command to us – Love the Lord your God will all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your mind.  The 2nd commandment is to love others as we love ourselves.

The first commandment sounded so overwhelming that I decided to start there and worry about the 2nd one later.  I’m glad I seriously tackled the first one on its own because I found that, with every baby step I took towards loving God with everything I have, a truly supernatural thing started to happen. Nov 11 2103

God helped me with all of the rest.

I wanted to be a better wife and God helped me do that when I put him first.

I wanted to be a better mother – God also helped me do that.

I wanted to be a better employee at work and God helped me with that as well.

I wanted to be a better friend and neighbor – God helped me with that and gradually my obedience to command #2 was also improving without having to work at it. 

These are all areas of my life where I was working very hard to improve yet  feeling frustrated because of so little progress.

All of them improved and got easier with every step of faith I took closer to God.

That’s why God wants us to put him first.  He wants to help us with all of the rest.  And then he wants to take it to the next level by blessing us with the things we didn’t even have on the list!

In my experience, we only have to open our lives up to the power of the Holy Spirit and he helps us grow our obedience with both commands.

It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it!

Thank you, dear Father!

God Trumps Tradition

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Traditions.  We can have a lot of them – especially in church.

They can bring comfort and familiarity.  They can provide structure and bring back great memories.

Nov 1 2013They can also bring rigidity that refuses to change and grow.  They can create an attitude of mindless observation and boredom because we’ve done this a million times before.

Jesus confronts the teachers of the Law in Mark 7 with the fact that they had started making their own rules and traditions more important than God’s command.

Do we ever do that?

One of the most important messages to us in the New Testament is that Jesus changed EVERYTHING!

He turned the religious traditions of his day inside out and upside down.

Why?

Because doing God’s will was more important to him than observing the religious traditions of his time.

Jesus started a revolution over 2000 years ago by being radically sold out to God.  In his life, obedience to God  was more important than following traditions and the current acceptable cultural norms.

THIS should be our tradition.

Thank you, dear Jesus, for coming to earth to save us and to show us how to live.

Please Leave

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

It can be scary when God starts doing something new.

It’s strange.  It’s different.October 30 2013

It takes us out of our comfort zone.

We have a choice – we can embrace it and move deeper into God’s will for us.

Or we can be afraid of this new thing and miss the opportunity to know God better.

In Matthew 8, Jesus releases a man from possession by a legion (a lot) of demons.  People from all over the countryside come to see what happened.  When they see this man who was a lunatic for so many years dressed and acting normal, they were afraid.

So they asked Jesus to leave.

They missed it!  They were in the presence of the King of the Universe and they asked him to go away.

This was too different.

It was too new.

It made them uncomfortable.

So Jesus left.

Of course he did.  He wants to be wanted.  When we choose him, he will come into our hearts and minds to help free us from our own demons.  And, if we give him more and more room in our lives every day, his influence on our life grows and it all starts making sense.  The journey begins to have an eternal purpose that makes it all worth it.

If we’re too afraid, we’ll miss the ‘more’ that God has for us.

Dear Father, please chase away our fears.

When…..

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

is God going to tell me what to do? 

How often do we hear this question coming out of the mouths of Christ-followers?

The fact is – God has already told us what to do.   In his word.  And its specific.

The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew is full of directions for everything.  Jesus tells us how to handle eating, what we wear, giving, praying, our treasures, our worries, our relationships, lies, grace, our enemies and our faith.

What else do we need to know?

At the end of the sermon, Jesus says, ” Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ but do not do as I say?”

Jesus is asking us that same question today.  He has told us what he wants us to know and do – are we doing it?  He’s not our Lord is we’re aren’t growing in our obedience to him.  We’ll never be 100% obedient this side of heaven BUT – do we have a daily desire to become more Christ-like?  Do we have daily disciplines in our lives that open up our minds and hearts to God’s transforming power? 

If our answer is yes, then we can call Jesus ‘Lord’.

You are the Light….

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

of the world, ” Jesus tells us in Matthew 5.

Our light should give light to everyone in our house.  It should shine out to the point that those who see it are impressed with our God.

So how bright is our light shining today?October 26 2013

It’s good to take an objective look at our faith journey at least once a year to make sure we’re still growing.  God has called us to shine His light right where we live so that others may be drawn to him.  And our goal should be to shine brighter and brighter every year until God brings us home to heaven.

To grow, we need to find more time and more ways to place our mind, body and spirit into God’s presence so he can transform us.  Worship, serving, prayer and Bible study with others and by ourselves are great ways for us to continue to grow into the people God created us to be.

Too often I see older Christians who have become discontent and crabby.  They don’t like what the pastor says or does.  They are extremely quick to point out anything and everything that’s wrong with their church and with their family.

I think God calls us to grow more Christ-like as we grow older, not more crabby.   As we walk this path of faith, we are supposed to be learning more patience and more compassion and more contentment and more wisdom so we can become an increasing blessing to the people around us and our church family.

That’s my goal – to become more Christ-like, not more crabby.

What’s yours?

If You Believed

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

The Jewish leaders are persecuting Jesus in  book of John chapter 5 because they think he is breaking the laws that God gave to Moses.

Jesus responds to them, telling them that he is just doing what his Father does and  his Father is the same God that gave the laws to Moses,  Then he says that, if they really believed in Moses, they would believe in jesus.  Because Moses wrote about Jesus.

The Jewish leaders still refused to believe.Oct 25 2013

Their minds were closed and their hearts were hard.  The Messiah they were waiting for stood before them but they wouldn’t believe.

It appears like the only things they truly believed in were themselves and their rules and their status.

Such a sad thing.  They were committed whole-heartedly to the wrong things.

It is my hope and prayer that many of these Jewish leaders came to believe and trust in Jesus before it was too late for them.  I like to think that Nicodemus and his buddies were part of the 3000 who believed when Peter preached at Pentecost.

It would be such a tragedy for them to have known it all in their heads but then miss it with their hearts.

Dear Father, please help us keep our minds and hearts open to you.

I Am Well Pleased

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

These  were the words of God coming out of the heavens during Jesus’ baptism.

This is one of my favorite moments in the New Testament because Jesus hadn’t started his ministry yet.  He hadn’t DONE anything yet to earn God’s favor.October 22 2

He just ‘was’.

He was God’s son and God was pleased with him.

Just like God is pleased with me because I am his daughter.  Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, he made it possible for you and me to become children of God just like he was.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, God adopts us as his own – his precious child – in whom he is well pleased.

It’s true……..and its a miracle!

Thanks you, dear Father!

Prepare the Way!

On By Judy GlasserIn October1 Comment

The voice of one calling in the wilderness.  Prepare the way for the Lord!

John the Baptist spoke truth into people’s lives and helped prepare their hearts and minds for the time when they would meet their Savior.

Whose voice is calling out now?  Who is speaking to the wilderness of lonely, broken and lost people all around us?

Who is preparing the way so that the Spirit of God can touch these people with the truth?

This is supposed to us …….our voice.October 22 c2013

God has called us to be his witnesses on our block, in our neighborhood, in our city and where ever we go.

He has lavished his love upon us so that it can overflow to everyone around us.

He has given us the opportunity to hear and believe the truth and it’s not just for us.  We need to share it.

He has washed us clean with his mercy and grace.  We know it, we feel it.  Now we need to share it.

Let every valley be raised up and filled with His Light!

And our mountains of problems and issues leveled out by God’s hands.

Our crooked and confused paths made straight.

The love of God will smooth the rough road ahead of us.

And ALL people will see and understand God’s Salvation!

Amen!

A Test……

On By Judy GlasserIn October, UncategorizedLeave a comment

that God always passes.

God tells us in Malachi 3 that, when we bring our whole tithe to him, he will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there won’t be enough room to store it.

Have you tested him?

If you have, then I’m sure you’ve experienced the same thing that the rest of us who have done this have experienced.

God always keeps his word.  The blessings start rolling in, pouring out and multiplying.

Sometimes its actual money – an unexpected check, rebate or promotion.October 5 2013

Most of the time the blessings are things that money just can’t buy.  Things like joy, contentment, improved relationships with family and friends, a clear sense of direction and purpose.

And there’s an additional blessing of knowing that we are handling our finances in a way that honors and pleases God.

This is the only place in the Bible where God challenges us to test him.

He knows that it’s so easy for us to want to be in control of our money – even when it’s clear that we’re really messing it up.  Money can quickly become the god we are slaves to as the debt rises and the god of ‘more’ takes control.

God doesn’t want that for us.  He wants us to live a life filled with joy and freedom – freedom to serve him.  We can’t do that when we’re slaves to money.

So he challenges us to let him take control.  Because he loves us and he wants the best for us.

Thank you, dear Father.