Tag: faith

A Foolish Thing

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Oh, yes.

We do a foolish thing..

We say a foolish thing…

We buy a foolish thing…

We make a foolish choice.

It happens to all of us.April 16 2016 a foolish thing

As we read 2 Samuel, we see King David doing many good and courageous things.

And also some very foolish things.

But he was still called ‘A Man After God’s own heart” because, when he sees the wrong things he does, he admits it.

He repents.

He deals positively with the negative consequences of his choices.

And he praises God through the whole experience.

David is a good role-model for us.  When we mess up – and we will! – God wants us to own up to it, turn away from the sin and turn towards God.

Unfortunately, many of us get mad or frustrated when we are confronted with our foolishness.  Worse yet – we deny it.  We blame it on someone else.

Too often, when we don’t like experiencing the consequences for our foolish choices, we turn away from God and stop doing the things that help grow our relationship with him like participating in worship and reading God’s word.

Foolishness upon foolishness!

When we own up to our weaknesses and sin, God opens up his arms, ready to hold us close so we can feel his love and grace as we walk through the mess that is the result of our foolishness.  He lights our way and gives us strength to grow through the trials.  All of our trials.

Just like he did with King David thousands of years ago.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Psalm 63, 2016

On By Judy GlasserIn April1 Comment

There is a burning desire within me to know you better, my God!

I feel such an overwhelming thirst.

But no water can quench this thirst – only you.April 3 psalm 63, 2016

No where and no thing but you.

Oh, yes!  I have experienced your power and your awesomeness!

Your love is what makes this life worth living!

I just can’t stop talking about how great you are!

When I lift my hands up to you, I feel  your touch as you reach down to me.

Only you satisfy me.  There is no food that fills this craving inside of me – only you.

You are magnificent!

In the darkest and loneliest part of the night,  I think about you.

You are always ready to help me.

You hold me in your arms and I sing for joy!

You love me.

You protect me from harm.

You fight my battles for me and make the wrong things right in my life.

All the liars will be silenced!

Let everyone be glad because our God is here!

All who believe in God will experience his goodness.

Thank you for your goodness, Abba Father!

Sword Fighting Class- Hostile to God

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting ClassLeave a comment

We are being blessed as we memorize Romans 8.  This is a tough chapter for me – lots of repetition.  But its starting to stick!  Thank you, God!

“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.  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 requirements 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.  The mind of sinful man is death but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace”

And now the next verse –

“The sinful mind is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law nor can it do so.”

Hostile to God.  Cold, hard words.

But true.

Those who have not accepted the redemption offered by Jesus do not have God’s spirit living within them and their minds are hostile to God.  They have not been renewed.  They have not been reborn.

This explains so much of the culture around us.

Thank you for your redeeming love, Abba Father.

Fighting Our Giants

On By Judy GlasserIn April1 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.

A lot of the time, we fight against 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.March 31 2016 fighting our giants

Our giants also make themselves evident very regularly.

They are persistent.

We can’t miss them…..even when we try.

And, just like David, we need to put on the armor of 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).

There is only one way to successfully fight out giants –

and that’s with God on our side.

The battle is yours, Abba Father.

Battles on Every Side

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Yesterday….

Today……

Tomorrow.

We all have our own battles to fight every day.

Relationship issues….

Money problems……

Health struggles…..

Work situations….

And more.

Every day.March 29 2016 battles on every side

As we read through 1 Chronicles, we see the Israelites fighting physical battles against their enemies on all sides of them.  They went to battle with their spears and swords.

We also have a sword to help us fight our battles – the Sword of the Spirit.  God’s word.  The Bible.

God’s truth pierces through the lies and sin of our cultures, helping us forge ahead on the good path God has planned out for us.

March 29 2016 battles on every side bThe Bible is our map for today, tomorrow and the rest of our time here on earth.  God lights our way as we read and meditate on his revelation to us.  As we memorize God’s word, he is arming us with powerful weapons that he can use to bring us victory.

God wants us to have victory in our lives.

And he can give us victory.

Are we giving him the room and authority in our lives to do that?

Please give us victory Abba Father.

The Giver

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

He gives us everything we have.

Our families.

Our jobs.

Our skills and talents.

Where we live.

Joy!

The air we breathe.

Our next heartbeat is a gift from him.

The Giver.

This is one of my favorite names for our Father God.

Because he gives…..

and gives.

He never get tired of giving the very best things to us, his children.

He gave us his only Son –

that we might have redemption and purpose here on earth followed by eternal life in heaven with the Giver.

In 1 Samuel 8, Samuel starkly contrasts the differences between earthly kings (and governments) and our heavenly king.  The earthly kings (and governments) just keep taking –March 28 2016 The giver

taking sons to serve in the army.

taking daughters to cook in the kitchens.

taking the best of the land and a tenth of all crops.

The earthly king takes a tenth of the flocks as well.

Eventually, everyone is a slave working for the earthly king.

Unlike our heavenly king who has given us everything.

Yes, he asks us to give some back.

But not because he needs it.

He knows we need to be able to give it.  We need to be able to put God’s kingdom before the other things we want to do with our money, time and possessions.

He knows whats best for us.  He wants the best for us.

Let our gratitude grow as we think about all God has given us!

Thank you, Abba Father!

Do What You Want

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

What a good description of how our culture makes decisions!

We just do what we want.

And then we wonder why we have problems and issues.  So much emptiness.

Just like the Israelites.

As we read through the end of the book of Judges, the Israelites are going from one bad decision to the next.

They are making idols and then killing each other over these man-made statues.

They slaughtered the tribe of Benjamin and then wiped out another tribe in order to get wives for the Benjamite survivors.

Craziness!

The book of Judges ends with this verse, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” ( 21:25).March 25 2016 do what you want

And their choices were causing all kinds of mayhem and problems.

This is what happens to us when we aren’t submitting to God.  When we’re just doing what we want.

In order to have the meaningful, successful lives that we’re looking for, we need direction and wisdom from God.

He created us.

He knows what’s best for us.

When we seek his will and obey him, we avoid the traps we encounter when we are  ‘doing what we want.”  We avoid the consequences for those bad decisions.

And, the longer we’re committed to this journey towards the truth, we gradually want more of the things God wants for us.  It might be a slow process, but God performs a supernatural transformation when we stay aligned with him year after year after year.

Please give us your direction and wisdom, Abba Father.

 

Redeemed

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Renewed.

Reconnected.

Reaffirmed.

Readjusted.

Reassured.

Realigned.

Rearranged.

Re-born.

Resurrected Lord!

Easter is – by far – my favorite holiday.ftdDSC_0558

There are definitely fewer distractions from the main reason for the holiday than with Christmas.  A visit from the Easter Bunny just isn’t that exciting.

Easter comes in the spring when the plants are blooming, the sun is shining and the cold, dark days of winter are behind us.  Yes, I live in Phoenix now so I’m not describing our beautiful, warm winters :).  But I grew up in the freezing northern area of the midwest, so I know all about dark winter days, weeks and months.

And then comes Easter!  We celebrate the redemption that Christ Jesus gave us by dying on the cross and rising again!  Hallelujah!

Satan thought he had won – what a fool!

It is finished.  The grave is empty and Jesus gives us victory over sin and death!  (picture is of an empty garden tomb in Jerusalem which is the right type and in the right place to have been Jesus’ tomb).

Thank you, Father!  Thank you, Jesus!

 

Let Them Save You

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

What keeps us from attending worship every week with our spiritual family?

What fills our calendars so we don’t have time to read, study and meditate on God’s word?

What keeps us too busy to serve God?  What leaves us no time to belong to a small group Bible study?

What are we spending our money on when we say we can’t tithe?

These things are our gods.

Because we are making them more important in our lives than the One True God – the creator and sustainer of the universe.

When we read in the Old Testament about the Israelite’s statues and altars  for various other gods, we think, “I don’t have any other gods.”

But we do.

We have a  lot of other gods if we don’t choose to put the One True God first in our lives.  We can be very distracted with serving and loving everything but our Father God.

Until something goes wrong.

Really wrong.

THEN we cry out to our Father God.

Just like the Israelites did in Judges 10.

And God told them to “Go and cry out to the other gods you have chosen.  Let them save you when you are in trouble.”(vs 14)March 21 2016 let them save you

Scary.

Because we all know why we don’t cry out to our other little gods.  They are powerless.

They can’t help.

So, if we’re smart, we cry out to our Father God.

If we want to get on the right path, we repent.

If we want to make the best choices for our lives, we turn back to God and get our priorities straight.  We put God first and all of the rest of the things we used to think were so important fall into line behind him.

And, just like he did for the Israelites, he comes to our rescue.

Because he loves us.

And he wants the best for us.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Are We Getting It?

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Are we watching?

What are we thinking?

As I read the account of Gideon in the book of Judges, I wonder what he was thinking when he threw out a fleece so God could assure him that he was going to save Israel though Gideon.

And not just one fleece – but 2!march 19 2016 are we getting it yet

Gideon had already talked with the Angel of the Lord who gave him a sign by burning up Gideon’s offering with the tip of his staff.

When Gideon obeyed God’s command to tear down the Baal altar and Asherah pole, God showed that he was with him by protecting him from the hostile crowd.

After that, the Spirit of the Lord came onto Gideon which was special, unusual at that time – a clear sign that God was with him.

And – still – Gideon had to throw out fleeces to make sure God meant what he said.

The Angel wasn’t enough?

We see a clear picture of God’s mercy and patience with Gideon – and with us – in this story.  God did not send down a lightening bolt to kill Gideon even though Gideon’s faith was so shaky that he had to keep testing God.

God didn’t give up on Gideon and go find someone else who would understand that a visit from the Angel of the Lord should be enough.

God patiently passed the fleece tests 🙂 so that Gideon could actually believe that God was going to do what he said he would do.

God is so patient with us!  He knows we are weak and he loves us anyway.

One of our goals on this Journey towards the Truth is to grow our trust and faith in God.  As we get to know and understand God at a deeper level, we should be able to obey him without having to throw out fleeces.  His directions and desires should become more and more clear to us the closer we get to him.

That’s the journey that we’re on.

Thank you for your guidance, Abba Father.