Tag: faith

Psalm 86, 2025

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Let’s join with King David in his prayer:

Hear me, LORD, and answer me, I need you.  I am a faithful servant who trusts you – please save me.

You are my God, have mercy on me as I call out to you all day long.  I trust you, God.  Please give me joy.

You are so good.  When I walk close with you, your love and forgiveness overwhelm me.  There is no other god like you.  Everything you have created joins together to worship you.  You are great and marvelous.  You alone are God.

I want to learn all about you, LORD, so I can build my life on your truth.  Give me an undivided heart which is focused on loving and honoring you.

I will praise you, God, with all my heart forever.

Each day I feel your great love for me.  Keep me safe.

I am surrounded by arrogant and confused people who don’t believe in you, God.  But I know you are a compassionate and gracious God, overflowing with love and faithfulness.

Open my eyes to what you doing, God.  Have mercy on me and save me just like you have done for those who have gone before me.  Show me your goodness, LORD, so that others around me will see what a great God you are.

Thank you for your help and comfort, LORD.

Amen.  

Psalm 23, 2025 – The Lord is My Shepherd

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

The LORD takes care of me each day.  He provides everything I need.

My Father guides me on the right path – he knows what is best for me.  He gives me exactly what my soul longs for as I walk closely beside him.

I can always trust my Father’s guidance.

Even when I’m going through the darkest, most painful times of my life, Father, I have no fear.  You are with me.  You comfort me.

You pour out blessings on my life.  Even those around me who don’t want the best for me can see how well you take care of me.

You fill my mind with your truth as I continue to study your Word and grow in my knowledge of you.

I am overwhelmed by your love for me.  Your goodness and grace fill all the days of my life here on earth.   And I am 100% certain of what happens to me when my time here on earth is done – I will go to live with my Abba Father forever.

Amen.  Hallelujah!

It’s All Yours!

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

I love the picture I get in my mind when I read 1 Chronicles 29: 10-20.  King David is standing in the middle of more than 300 tons of gold and 638 tons of silver along with 675 tons of bronze with his arms stretched out, praising God saying “It’s all yours”.

I think about this passage whenever I find myself focusing on my money and my stuff.

Do you see that ‘my’ word crop up?  The truth is – it’s not mine.  Everything I have has been given to me by my Father God.  He owns everything.  I am just taking care of what he has given me while I’m here on earth.  And I give some back to him because I’m grateful for all that he has given me.

So I join with King David in praise of my Father today with my version of these verses in 1 Chronicles –

It’s all yours, dear Father.  Yours is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty.  Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours.

Wealth and honor come from you alone for you rule over everything.

Power and might are in your hand and you decide who is made great and given strength.

Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone soon without a trace.  But you, dear God, give us significance.  You call us your sons and daughters and you delight in us.

We love you, Abba Father!

Psalm 51, 2025

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

I ask for a pure heart, O God! I want my life to be focused on you.

Keep me close by your side and grow your spirit within me. Bring back the joy I felt when I first asked you to be Lord of my life. Give me a faithful heart so I stay near you. Then I will tell others about your saving grace and I will share the truth you have revealed to me.

Please lift the burden of my guilt about my sins and rebellion from me, O God, and I will sing of your goodness forever. When I open my mouth, Lord, let it be to praise you.

I know you don’t want me to just ‘show up’ at church because it’s the right thing to do. I know you don’t want me to give money to the church just because it’s the right thing to do. I know you don’t want me to read the Bible just so I can check it off of my reading plan for the year.

You want my heart to be broken open,

repentant,

humbled,

willing to be filled with your truth.

Amen. Let it be so, Abba Father.

Psalm 57, 2025

On By Judy GlasserIn April2 Comments

Hear my prayers, Father, and show me your compassion.  I will hide myself in your shadow until my fears and worries go away.

I ask that you fulfill your purposes for my life.  I know the angels of heaven are fighting my battles and they will give me victory.

Your love and faithfulness never leave me, Father.

I am surrounded by the evil one who is trying to take pieces of me and devour me.

But I still praise you, God.  May your glorious light shine over all the earth.

My enemy sets traps for me – especially when I am weary and distressed.  The evil one digs deep pits in my path but then he falls into them himself.

I am confident in you, oh God.  My heart sings your praises.  I awake every morning with a song of praise to you.  Thank you for your love and faithfulness which has no end.

I praise you, Father.  May your glorious light shine over all the earth.

Psalm 63, 2025

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

O God, you are my God.  I am searching for you with all my heart.

My soul needs you.  My whole being longs to be close to you in this empty, weary and very confused world.  I treasure the precious time I get to spend with you.

I have personally witnessed your power and glory.  I praise you for your love which makes this life worth living.

I will lift my hands and heart up to you in praise for as long as I live.  Only you can fill the emptiness inside of me and make me sing for joy.

In the darkest part of the night, I remember how much you have loved me in the past and how much you have promised to love me in the future.  My heart sings for joy as I cling to your promises and feel your arms around me, holding me safe and securely to your side.

The Evil One and his team are all around me, Father, trying to ruin me.  But I know you are fighting my battles, God, and you have already won the war.

I rejoice in you, God.  All who know the Truth know you.  Liars will be silenced.

I will lift my hands in praise to you for the rest of my life, Abba Father.

Psalm 34, 2025

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

God is good – all the time!

I will share this great news with everyone I know.  Everyone needs to hear this – there is no one and no thing that compares to the LORD!

Say it with me – God is good, all the time!

When I talk to God, he answers me and takes my fears away.

The light of God’s love shines out of us, his children, and we are never ashamed.  When we are lost in a pile of problems that we created, we can call on God who rescues us.  His angel protects us and sets us free!

Try him and see!  God is good!

My Father God is a safe haven and a provider for me and for everyone who has faith in him.  Those who look strong on the outside are actually weak and empty on the inside if they don’t have faith in God.

God’s children have everything they need.

Listen to me –

respect and honor the LORD and you will live a life filled with good days.  Stay away from lying and all evil.  Be a peacemaker.

God watches over those who do what is right.  He hears our cries.  God is always close to the brokenhearted.

But God turns his face away from those who do evil.

When we have faith in God, we will still have trials but God walks beside us every step of the way – giving us peace and strength.

The wicked get what they deserve.  The LORD condemns anyone who opposes the people who love him.

God rescues his children – he is a safe refuge that is always available to us.

We praise you, Abba Father, for you are good!

Fighting Our Giants

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

We all have them –

things we battle against.

Sometimes its family members. Sometimes its our boss. Sometimes its our friends or situations in our lives. Many times its how to handle our finances.

A lot of the time, we find ourselves fighting against attitudes and desires that grow within us…

lies that have rooted themselves in our brains…

unwillingness to change….

rebellion against giving God first place in our lives.

What are your giants?

As we read historical account of David and Goliath, I noticed that the giant Philistine came out every day for forty days to take his stand against the Israelites. Our giants also make themselves evident very regularly.  They are persistent.  We can’t ignore them…..even when we try.

And, just like David, we need to put our trust in God and let him fight our battles.  We often forget what David knew and counted on – ” the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam 17:47).

David’s bold confidence in fighting his giant came from his absolute trust in God’s faithfulness.  As a young boy, he stepped up to fight Goliath while an army of grown men around him cowered in fear. David knew that God had been faithful before, he would be faithful again. 

I have also experienced God’s faithfulness over and over in my life.  He hasn’t always done what I wanted him to do, but everything he has done has worked out for my good.  Many things have worked out better than I could have ever imagined.

When I started to believe in the very depths of my soul that God wanted only what was best for me, my giants – one by one – were taken captive by God’s power and love.

There is only one way to successfully fight our giants – and that is with God leading the way.

The battle is yours, Abba Father.

No Hiding

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

No faking it.

You and I see the outside of people – what they look like, what they wear, where they live and how they act.

God has an entirely different perspective of us – he looks on the inside.  He knows my intentions, my motivations and desires.  He knows what I’m thinking – I don’t have to say anything.

When Samuel was picking who would be king after Saul, God said to him, “People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16: 7.  Knowing this is true challenges me as well as gives me confidence.  I’m glad God sees below my surface – he understands my true feelings.  He knows me better than any human being ever could.

But the fact that God knows my thoughts also challenges me.  Like many of us who have been on this road of faith for a long time, I have gotten better at not saying things I shouldn’t say.  But have I trained my mind to not think them?  Have I let God renew my mind so it doesn’t go where it shouldn’t go?  The honest answer is – sometimes.  There are areas of my life where it is difficult to control my thinking.  There are other situations where I find it pretty easy to leave it all with God.

For example, I found it very easy to ‘let go and let God’ in our pandemic a couple of years ago.   I was obviously NOT in control of anything about that situation so I simply turned any concerns or fears I had about that craziness over to God.  Meanwhile, I did my part of trusting God and obeying him – confident that he was in control of everything.

A woman in one of my Bible study groups recently shared about how much she worries.  She wakes up worrying and goes to sleep worrying – when she can sleep –  and she doesn’t stop worrying in between.  Wow!  I realized that I rarely worry.  When I do, I’ve gotten good at stopping my thoughts and turning the things I’m worried about over to God.  I have learned that my worrying is useless, it simply creates anxiety over things I can’t control.  My prayers, however, are very effective, giving my concerns to God who can actually do something about them.

I’m continuing to trust God with whatever is coming next and it’s comforting to know that God sees this  when he looks into my heart today.

I filter everything that happens to me through the facts that God is good all the time, he loves me with a perfect love and is working everything out for my good.

God has promised and he always keeps his promises.

I Know That Voice

On By Judy GlasserIn April2 Comments

Little Samuel’s story in the Bible is one my favorites.

He heard a voice calling to him in the night and he thought is was the Prophet Eli since he was living with Eli.  So Samuel got out of bed and ran to Eli saying, “Here I am”.

But Eli said, “I did not call, go back and lie down.”

This happened again and then the third time, Eli realized that it was God who was calling the boy.  This time Eli told Samuel, when he heard the voice, to say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:9.

When God spoke again, Samuel told him he was listening and God went on to tell Samuel what was soon going to happen.

I’ve got a challenge for you.  The next time you think you might be hearing something from God, say those same words, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”  And then listen.  Listen to what is going through your brain.  Think about what you have been reading in God’s Word and how it applies to your life.  Think about coincidences that have been happening in your life and how they relate to what you’ve been reading.  Remember things that Godly people in your life have said to you recently.

I believe God is regularly trying to break through the cacophony of our culture – especially the electronic bubble where we spend a lot of our time.  He is trying to talk to you and me – guiding us, encouraging us, and teaching us.

Have you had the experience where you are reading God’s Word and suddenly a sentence seems to stick out of the page? It almost looks like it’s in bold print? You reread a phrase a couple of times?  You start to wonder what this means in your life?  Has that phrase always been there?  I don’t remember ever reading that or even hearing anyone talk about that before?  That is God stopping us.  That is God drawing our attention to something specific in his Word so he can speak to us.

That’s what God did today with me.  He stopped me as I was reading to remind me how much I like young Samuel’s story.  Because I know God, I know he is encouraging me to continue to learn how to hear him more and more clearly as I read his Truth.  My knowledge of God is growing and the more I know him, the better I hear him.

How can I be confident that it’s God that’s talking to me and not just my own thinking?  What God says to me will always be consistent with what he says in the Bible.  He will not contradict himself.

I am also 100% sure it’s God talking when he says something I’ve never thought of before and it’s consistent with what I have read in the Bible.  God confirms his guidance to me through my circumstances as well.  When it’s God talking to me, things happening around me will line up with what God is saying.  Sometimes it will be something my husband, my pastor or a friend says.  As I pray about what God is telling me, God will often open up my eyes to how he is moving around me and I’m be able to connect the dots.

When I take time to consider all of these things, God’s directions to me become really clear.

When I work at staying aware of the fact that God is trying to talk to me, it’s not hard to hear him.

I hear you, Abba Father