Tag: blessings

Where am I planted?

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

A tree planted by a stream of water spreads its roots out to the stream and is rewarded with a constant source of nourishment.  The heat doesn’t bother it and its leaves are always green.  The tree doesn’t have to worry about rain or no rain – its planted in just the right spot.  It grows fruit every time its in season.  The storms come but the tree’s roots are strong and well-nourished so nothing can blow it away.

Sounds really nice, doesn’t it?  God uses this example a couple of times in his word to us – this time it’s in Jeremiah and the same picture is given to us in Psalm 1.July 31.2

Because this can be us.  This can be our life.  We can choose to plant our lives very close to the Living Water where we will be rewarded with a constant source of truth, peace, joy, love and encouragement. We will live fruitful, purposeful lives.  When we live close to the Living Water, we don’t have to worry about rain or no rain.  The storms come but we are firmly rooted, never blown away.

It’s not a one-time decision.  It’s a daily decision.

We decide if we’re going to live close to God today.

And then tomorrow we need to make the decision again.  And every day after that.

It’s priorities.  We all have a long list of things we can fill our days with that draw us away from God.

God just has to be more important to us than those things.

As God moves up our list of daily priorities, our roots grow stronger and we become better and better nourished.  We begin to grow more fruit.  We don’t have worry about rain and the storms don’t scare us.

By the time God gets to the top of our daily list of priorities, we are experiencing all of the blessings God has for us as we are lavishly fed by his Living Water.  Life is not perfect but it’s as good as it gets here on earth.  We have a Rock, we have a Refuge, we have a Counselor, we have the Truth, we have a loving Father and an Eternal Savior.

We need to seriously ask ourselves – where am I planted?  We can honestly tell where we’re planted by how much of the Fruits of the Spirit we are experiencing in our lives.  Love, Joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.  How much of these do we have in our lives?  The closer to God we grow, we experience more and more of these fruits in our lives.  If we want more of these, we know the Source.  it’s our choice.

Thank you, dear Father.

Our High Places

On By Judy GlasserIn June1 Comment

What are our high places?

June 20 2013As we’re reading through Kings and 2 Kings, we read about good Kings who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  Some of them demolished idol worship everywhere within their kingdom and others destroyed most of it but left the high places.  And the people would continue to worship idols in the high places.

Do we have high places in our lives where we continue to worship our idols?  Pieces of our lives which we want to keep under our control and refuse to give over to God?

Some areas I  had a big and long struggle with but eventually gave over to God are:

My children.  It was a very big relief to finally understand that God loves my children more than me and my worrying over them did no good for anyone.  God is with them always – loving them and taking care of them.

My career.  It was also a big relief when I really understood that my career came from God.  I am where I am because that’s where he wants me to be.  When he wants me to be somewhere else, he’ll guide me there.  Meanwhile, all of my achievements and successes and promotions and pay increases come from him.

Our finances.  I never felt that we had enough money to tithe – until we started tithing.  Since we’ve started tithing, we always have enough money for our needs.  And whenever God decides that we need some extra, he sends us an unexpected check or makes some more hours of work available for my husband. 

God amazed me last year when I felt that he was telling me to plan a trip to Israel but I didn’t have the money.  So I asked him to show me how I was supposed to pay for it.  And he orchestrated an award for me at work which I didn’t even know I was nominated for.  The total of the award was the price of the trip including – of course –  a tithe of the amount.  He couldn’t make it more obvious, could he?

I have learned that, when I was trying to control these things, I was actually keeping them from coming under the blessing of my Father God.  Since I have recognized his Lordship in all of these areas of my life, he has consistently me in each of them – every day in every way.

Thank you, dear God!

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.

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.

Psalm 4, 2013

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

I know you answer me when I call to you, my righteous God.

You give me peace when I am stressed;

You have mercy on me and you always hear my prayers.

Why do we, your people, turn away from having a glorious relationship with you?

May 6 Psalm 4Why do we constantly try to control the world ourselves when we’re obviously so terrible at it?

How long will we love the delusion that we can know the truth apart from you?  How long will we love the delusion that we’ll ever be happy doing what we want while disregarding what you want?  How long will we seek happiness through money and possessions?

We have been set apart for you – you always hear when we call to you.

When we lay down at night and review the day, help us confess our sins

and make a commitment to walk closer to you……tomorrow and every day.

We trust you, dear Father.

Let your light shine on us, dear God!  You bring prosperity!  You bring joy!

Because of you I have peace.

Because of you, I can lie down at night at sleep.

I am safe within your arms.

Thank you, dear Father.

Psalm 136, 2013

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

                                                                                                               His love endures forever.

He alone deserves our worship and our praise.

                                                                                                               His love endures forever.

Because of his will, the sun rises every morning.

Because of his will, I will take my next breathe.

                                                                                                               His love endures forever.

He planned a life of faithfulness for me when he gifted me with a family rich with generations of believers.

                                                                                                                 His love endures forever.

He formed a long-lasting union when he blessed me with my husband

He created my son’s tall, strong body and my daughter’s beautiful smile.

                                                                                                                 His love endures forever.

I continue to be showered with his blessings as I look into the big blue eyes of my grandson who loves to dance for God.

                                                                                                                 His love endures forever.

He has been my rock and my salvation for all of my life.

                                                                                                                  He love endures forever.

I give thanks to the God of Heaven.

                                                                                                                  His love endures forever.

The Good Stuff

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

We want all of the good stuff, right?  We call them blessings.

Prosperity, purpose, good health, joy, love………we want it all.

And God tells us in Leviticus 26:3 – 13 that we can have it all……….we get it from him through obeying him.

That’s how he showers his blessings over our lives – through our obedience.March 6 - blesssings

As I read his promises in this passage of Leviticus, this is what I hear:

When you are careful to obey me, Judy, I can make you productive and effective in your career.  You will work hard and I will make all of your efforts successful and valuable. 

Through your obedience, I will be able to heap blessing upon blessing into your life.  You will have peace and not be afraid.  You will have enemies, Judy, but they are no match for my strength so they will fail every time you trust in me.

Your family will be blessed over and over and over.  You will so be overwhelmed by all of my blessings that you’ll have to work hard to pass the blessings on so that there is room for more in your life.

I will walk with you every day, Judy.  I have broken the bonds of sin in your life so that you can choose to trust in me – every hour of every day.  Then you will experience all of the blessings I have for you.

Thank you, dear Father.