Tag: christianity

This is the Way

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

Have you ever wandered away from God?

It’s easy to do – there are so many distractions.  It’s difficult to keep God at the top of our priorities when long lists of other things clamor for our attention.

So we wander. I have wandered.

I used to wander away from God pretty regularly.  I wouldn’t even it realize it until something bad happened and I would look up to God – surprised at how far I had drifted away from him.

I stopped wandering when my spiritual habits became the foundation of my life.  Reading and studying God’s word daily has moved from a ‘if I have time’ thing to something that is not optional.  Talking with God and listening to him as he helps me stay in line with him is not optional in my life.  Worshipping and serving God with my spiritual family is also not optional.  Tithing my time and treasures is not optional.   Others things have to be taken out of my schedule if my time with God is not happening.

When my life became grounded on my spiritual habits, the wandering stopped.  I am experiencing the blessings Isaiah told the people of Judah they would receive when they turned back to God –

God is gracious to me and always answers my call.  He has walked closely beside me in all of the tough times I have gone through here in this broken world.  He blesses me during these times – guiding me and teaching me. 

Whatever is happening, I hear his voice in my head saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21.

The key was making God my first priority.  That’s when everything changed.  That’s when I became rooted in his grace and mercy.  I became constantly aware of his perfect love for me.  I also became totally confident that he will be my loving and faithful Father all the way to the end of my days.

Are you looking for direction? Peace? Purpose? Joy?

This is the way,

Walk in it.


The Main Things

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Have you heard anyone say something like, ” I just can’t figure  out what God wants from me?” or “I really don’t know what God wants me to do?”

Statements like these confuse me because I think God is amazingly clear and to the point about the ‘main things’ that need to be the focus in my life.

The only two commandments Jesus gave us are to love God with our whole hearts and love others.  Jesus tells me that obeying these 2 commandments fulfills ‘all the law and the prophets’ which includes the original 10 commandments from the Old Testament.

There used to be 10 commandments – now it’s 2.  God knows we need simple and clear directions.

As I read the 6th chapter of Micah, I am again amazed at how direct God is as he tells me what he expects from me. ” And what does the LORD require from you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8.

Which part of that is unclear?

Act justly – do the right things. God tells us what is right in his Word.

Love mercy – forgive others.  Give people a break especially when they don’t deserve it.  Help others.

Walk humbly with God – develop a close relationship with God understanding that he is a supernatural combination of Creator of the Universe, the Holy and Perfect One and my Abba Father.

Micah told us this thousands of years ago.  I have discovered that, if I am serious about doing the things God has already told me to do, he fills in the other details at the right time.

Do you think its time to stop asking God what he wants us to do and focus on the directions he has already given us?

The Truth

On By Judy GlasserIn June4 Comments

I need to know the truth. You need to know the truth.

And we won’t know the truth by listening to our culture – it is full of lies and half-truths and rationalizations.

Where’s the only place we can find real truth?

God’s Word. The Bible.

I have a huge thirst to know the real truth. I don’t need to hear what he thinks or she thinks or they think or even what you think.

What God thinks – that’s what is important to me.

This thirst has taken me on an 16 year journey of reading through the Bible every year. Somewhere in the middle – like year 4 or 5 – I started saying things like “that’s not in the Bible’ when people quoted things that just aren’t there. One of these things you and I hear often is not true – “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle”. Not in there. That’s one of the most misquoted scriptures we hear.

I know if what someone is saying is in the Bible about 90% of the time. If anyone says something new, I always look it up. Sometimes I learn something new and other times I realize that what they were telling everyone was not true.

What’s also important is that I know what’s missing when listening to a preacher or teacher teach from the Bible. One of the reasons I read the entire Bible is to get a big picture of God, an overall understanding. So I can tell when someone is leaving something out because its too controversial or maybe they don’t agree with it.

I don’t care if its controversial or you don’t like it. It’s in the Bible. That’s the truth. God calls us to adjust our lives to his truth – not the other way around

Unfortunately, I’m hearing about more and more pastors who are adjusting God’s truth to make people happy. They leave out the tough parts because, well, maybe people won’t like it and they will leave the church.

I’ve talked to several good Christian people I know who have left their church because the pastor started veering away from the truth. A denomination that I was a part of for many years has decided to let their churches wander from the truth without recourse. Some of the churches have decided to do what they think is right, not what God has written in the Bible. What??

The prophet Amos predicated times like these. “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.” Amos 8: 11&12.

We don’t have to stagger around searching for the Word of the Lord. His Word is in the Bible if we make sure we have a credible Bible. Some people and religions have actually changed words in the Bible to fit what they want to hear as well.

Any doubt that there is a famine?

Our Bible can be and should be in our hands and entering our minds every day as we read and apply God’s truth to our lives. You can’t count on anyone else to make sure you know the truth.

We are in a famine but we have what we need to feed ourselves – God’s Word.

Thank you for your truth in your Word, Abba Father.

Stumbling

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Who is wise and discerning?  They will understand that God’s path is the right path and they will walk in it.

The book of Hosea ends with this truth – But those who rebel stumble. Hosea 14:9.

How do they stumble?  They spend many hours on things with little or no ultimate value.  They spend a lot of money on things that provide little or no satisfaction.  They put ‘stuff’ ahead of people and leave a trail of broken relationships. They spend much energy looking for something that will complete them and give them a purpose when the Provider of these does not live on this earth.

Those who refuse to acknowledge God as Creator and Savior will stumble.  And they will continue to stumble until they submit to God and get on his path.

Meanwhile, God opens the eyes of the wise so they can walk with him.  There are still small stumbles but they know how to get back on the right path.

How do we walk right with God?  By loving God with our whole heart, mind and soul and loving others.  Simple….yet profound.  When we do this, we are transformed, we make a difference.

When we walk with God, he completes us and gives us a purpose.

He also gives us joy.

Thank you, Abba Father.

A Whirlwind

On By Judy GlasserIn June4 Comments

It’s hard to understand.  Dying seems like such a permanent thing here on earth.

But it’s not permanent.  My death on earth is when my body stops functioning, but my soul – the core of who I am – does not die.   Your soul doesn’t die, either.  Our souls live on – eternally in heaven if we have accepted salvation through Jesus or eternally separated from God in hell if we aren’t saved.

As I reach the fall season of my life, my body reminds me daily that it has a specific shelf life and there will be an end.  I have already started my eternal life – this first part is on earth, the second part will be my forever home with my Father.  I’m amazed at how many people call these man-made shelters we live in here on earth their ‘forever home’.  Not me – my forever home is much, much better than this one and it’s waiting for me when this part of my journey ends.

The prophet Elijah is one of two people in the Bible whose bodies didn’t die. Elijah and Elisha were walking together when, “suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” 2 Kings 2:11.

I would love to go to heaven that way – now you see me, now you don’t!  But I believe my journey home is going to be a lot less dramatic.  When I breathe my last breath, Jesus will be holding my hand and he will walk my soul into heaven with him, leaving my body behind.

No chariots of fire.

No whirlwinds.

Just joy.

I will finally be in my forever home.

Thank you for preparing a place for me, Abba Father.

Too Easy

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

It’s just too easy to wander away from God.

I know because I wandered away for several years when I was a young adult.    I moved away from home and gradually filled my calendar with activities I knew were not the best for me.  The people I met while doing these activities weren’t interested in a relationship with God so we never talked about him.  My whole lifestyle changed to ‘looking for love (and fun) in all the wrong places.’

It was easy.

Several years later, I woke up (with a lot of nudging from the Holy Spirit) and realized I was not where I wanted to be.  Don’t get me wrong – I had worked hard and gotten everything I thought I wanted – everything I thought would make me happy.

But I wasn’t happy.  I was empty.  I had a huge hole in my life.  I needed a meaningful purpose for getting up every morning beyond feeding the kids, paying the bills and getting my ‘to-do’ lists done.

It took me awhile to figure out that the aching hole in my life was where God was supposed to be.  I’m sure the Holy Spirit had to work very hard on me to get me to see that.  My relationship with God at this point had melted into nonexistence.

I realized I missed God.  I missed my spiritual family.

I’m extremely grateful that the Holy Spirit helped me identify my real need and desire so I could get back on track.  My relationship with God has given me all the purpose and joy and success that I was looking for.

I’ve seen many Christians wander away –

  • their Bible starts gathering dust on a shelf.
  • social activities on Saturday nights make sleeping in on Sunday mornings more important than worshiping God with their spiritual families.
  • their week becomes too busy with other things so they drop out of small group Bible studies, leaving their Christian friends behind.
  • Some Christians stopped going to church during our pandemic and have never gone back.  It is just so easy to wander away from being a part of a church family like God directs us to be, so easy to watch church in our pajamas on Sunday and check it off the list, ignoring God’s words in Hebrews 10: 24 – 25. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

I am reminded that this can happen to anyone when I read about the end of King Solomon’s life.  “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.”  1 Kings 11:4.  He was the wisest man who ever lived and he lost it.   Unbelievable!

God had even told Solomon when he was younger not to marry foreign wives because this would happen.

Solomon was warned and he still wandered.

I feel like God is warning me – and you – today through his Word.   I must be diligent about keeping my priorities straight.  When attitudes and activities start to draw me away from God, I need to adjust my focus.

I wandered away once.  I’m determined not to do it again.

 

Need Directions?

On By Judy GlasserIn May2 Comments

Ever feel like you need arrows pointing to the right decisions to make? How about a guide to light your path on this journey of life that we’re on?

I would be very surprised if any of us said no to either one of these questions.  I know I would like a personal guide for each day.  What would it be like to get ‘Judy’s agenda for today’ from God on my phone?  It would give me a plan for the whole day so I could do exactly what God wants me to do today and make all the right decisions.

The reality is that God has already given you and me a guidebook for our lives. The Bible.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path” Psalm 119:105.

The Bible doesn’t have directions like ‘do laundry today’ or ‘buy groceries’. We can figure out those easy things on our own.

God’s Word tells me the important stuff like what my top 2 priorities are for each day – to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as much as I love myself.

When we put our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us. One of his purposes is to guide us into truth and show us what is false. When we read and study the Bible with our eyes and our hearts wide open, the Holy Spirit highlights the sections of God’s Word that we need for guidance today and he draws our attention to the truth that we need to know to make the right decisions for tomorrow..

God wants you and me to plug into his guidebook each day so we know what direction to go. Through his word he provides a lamp for our feet.

This is my 16th consecutive year of reading the entire Bible and I don’t know how I could take my next step without it.

God lights my path.

I Am Not Afraid

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

Psalm 27, 2025

LORD, you are the light of my life.  You have saved me – so I am not afraid.

You protect me from danger.  There is no reason for me to tremble.  When the Evil One and his team attack me, trying to tempt me and distract me, they will not win.  Your mighty army of angels surround me – I have nothing to fear.  Even when my path gets tough, my faith in you remains solid.

The one thing I desire most of all, LORD, is to spend my life with you, enjoying my time with you and listening to your voice.

You hold me close when trouble comes.  I can hold my head high even when trials come my way.

I praise you, LORD, with songs and shouts of joy!

I know you hear me, LORD.  You answer me, showing great mercy.  You say, “Come and talk with me”, and my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.”

I know that you never turn your back on me in anger – you are always ready to help me.  You never leave me or abandon me, O God of my Salvation!  When everyone else leaves me behind you are here, holding me close.

Teach me the right way to live my life, LORD. Lead me down the path you have prepared for me and do not let me wander. Help me avoid the pain and consequences of rebellion. Do not let me give into the temptation to act as the evil ones act.

I live with the confidence that each day you are walking beside me – loving and guiding me.

God Knows Me – Psalm 139, 2026

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

You know me well, LORD.

You know where I am and what I’m thinking about.  You know where I go and when I stay – you know all of my habits.   Before any words come out of my mouth, you know what I’m going to say.  You walk close beside me, with your hand guiding me.

I will never totally understand you – you are too awesome!

I know I am never alone – you are always with me.  Where ever I go – you are already there.  My life is in your hands.  You are constantly guiding me, protecting me and loving me.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I feel alone and everything seems very dark.  But you are there –

you are always here. Darkness is not dark to you.  Your light shines through.

I know you created me, dear Father.  You knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you for how unbelievably wonderful you are!

You create masterpieces!  I know – because I am one of them.  You knew me before anyone else.  You saw me.  You formed me.  And you made plans for my life before I was even born.

Your plans are precious to me, God.  Please show me the path you have designed just for me.

I want to spend all my days with you, Abba Father.

(This picture is my littlest grandson- Jackson.  We got to meet him August 1, 2020 and he is a masterpiece.)

Psalm 100, 2026

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

All of the earth shouts because you bring us so much joy, LORD!

We worship you with smiles on our faces!

We sing praises to you because of the deep joy you give us!

We know you are God.  You made us.  We are yours.  We are your people.  We belong to you.

We are so grateful that we have the privilege of having a personal relationship with you, God!

When we come together in your house, we are filled with praise!

Thank you, Father!

You are so good to us!  Your love will never end.

We praise you for your faithfulness to us and to our parents and our grandparents and everyone that has lived before us.

And we praise you for your faithfulness to our children and our grandchildren and all of those who are yet to come.

We know we can always count on you, dear God.