Tag: faith

Sword Fighting Class – The Only Thing That Counts

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting ClassLeave a comment

‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1- 1-9

‘If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord, he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

‘The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.’

How are you doing in memorizing James 1?  When we ask God to help us write his word upon our hearts, its amazing what he can do!  We’re up to verse 10:

“But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.”

Those of us blessed with significant earthly goods (which is most of us in the United States) need to understand our true position of sinful poverty in front of a holy and perfect God.

When we’re in that mindset, we know just how badly we need the free gift of grace that God offers us.  Our money, our possessions, our influence – they are nothing.  They pass away just like a wild flower.

Only God remains.  And our relationship with him.  For eternity.

Thank you, Abba Father.

 

As God’s Chosen People

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were God’s chosen people.  Under the New Covenant in the New Testament, the church is God’s chosen people.december 14 2014. God's chosen people.

Not the church building.  The people of the church.

We are the church.

And Paul gives us clear directions in Colossians about how we – as God’s chosen people – will act when we let the Spirit of Christ live out loud in our lives.

God’s chosen people –

– are clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

– bear with each other, forgiving each other as our Father has forgiven us.

– love one another in a way that provides perfect unity.

– let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.

– wisely let the message of Christ inhabit our minds, our teaching and our praise.

We live a life defined by gratitude, giving thanks to our Father God.

So be it – Amen.

For Those Who Love Him

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

In Romans 6, God promises to work all things for the good of those who love him.

When people quote this verse, they often leave off those last 5 words.Dec 8 2014 for those who love him

This is God’s promise to believers, not unbelievers.  Those are very important words to include when we use this verse.

God goes on in this passage of Romans to tell us that he has called us, he has justified us, he has glorified us.

And he promises us as his children that he will work all things out for our good.

We can count on it!

Thank you, Abba Father!

 

Don’t Rely on Yourself

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

We just talked about this!  And here in the first chapter of 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us that his group was under great pressure – far beyond their ability to endure.  They thought they were going to die.  But Paul says this happened so that they would learn to rely on God, not on themselves.dec 4 2014 don't rely on ourselves

And then Paul reminds us something that was true for him and is true for us today.  God has always delivered us in the past and he will deliver us again.

Such a comforting truth!  I often remind myself of this reality in my life.  God has always been faithful in the past.  He will be faith now – in this situation I’m facing today.

It’s not in God’s character to drop the ball – to be too late or too early.  His plan unfolds at just the right time in the right way – if we let it.

We will face trials and situations that are far beyond our ability to endure on our own.

But nothing is impossible with God!

Amen!  Hallelujah!

Sword Fighting Class – Perseverance has Rewards

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting Class2 Comments

 ”Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1 1 -9

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without fault and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not believe that he will receive anything from the Lord, he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Great job so far in memorizing James 1!  Verse 9 gives us an example:

‘The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.”

He should take pride because he has persevered in his faith despite his lack of earthly possessions.

This man has let his trials grow him and help him be mature and complete.

He has asked for wisdom when he needed it.

He believed that he received it.  There were no doubts.

His faith helped him become a stable man focused on God.

A high position.

Please help us follow his example, dear Father.

Nothing in Vain

On By Judy GlasserIn December2 Comments

‘Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”December 3 2014 nothing in vain

This is one of my life verses.

Stand firm – grounded in the truth with my eyes focused on Jesus.

Not Moving – faithfully following Christ is the life I’ve chosen.  Nothing is going to change that.

Always give myself fully to the work of the Lord – it’s all about God.  Sometimes I still need to remind myself about that.  And the ‘work’ of the Lord is everything I do, not just what I do at the office.

Nothing I do for God is in vain.  This is my favorite part of this verse.

How much of our time is spent on worthless things?  Things that have no kingdom value?

A lot!  Too much!

But everything I do for God is valuable.  Everything I do in his name has meaning.  Nothing I do for God is a waste of my time.

Love it!

If we want our lives to have purpose and be worthwhile, we need to be all about God!

I’m smiling as I remember the day that I realized I had become a ‘Jesus freak’ 🙂  It  kind of shocked me because the words bring to my mind an image of a hippy looking person driving around in a VW Van with flowers painted on it.

Not me.

But totally sold out to Jesus is me.  So I’m proud to be a Jesus freak 🙂

Completely Wrong

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

“God doesn’t give us any more than we can handle.”december 1 b Completely misquoted

I’m sure you’ve heard this – and you might have said this before.

It’s not in the Bible.  The verse that is being misquoted is in 1 Corinthians:

“And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

What?  This isn’t even about struggles or suffering.  It’s about temptations.

And that makes sense to me.  In my experience, God often gives us more hardships and problems than we can face by ourselves.  When these things happen, we are driven to reach out to him, depend on him and he gets us through them.

So, every time I heard someone use this misquote, I knew it was wrong but I just figured out why its wrong.  It’s not in the Bible.

This is a great example to all of us about how we need to be grounded in the truth.

Another saying I hear sometimes is ‘God helps those who help themselves.’  Not in the Bible.  God actually talks to us often about loving others and serving others.

Have you heard any other quotes that sound like they are from the Bible but they’re not?

We know the truth when we read and internalize God’s word to us.   Knowing the truth sets us free from the lies!

Thank you, dear Father!

Sword Fighting Class – Become Stable

On By Judy GlasserIn Sword Fighting ClassLeave a comment

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.   Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.James 1 2-5

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like the wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the sea.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;” 

Great job!  We’re memorizing James 1 one verse at a time and we’re adding verse 8 this week:

‘he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.‘

Double – minded.  Changing his mind over and over.  Not sure.  Not confident.  Not grounded.

Unstable.

So, how do we become stable?  When the waves of life crash all around us.  Over us.  Into us.  Shoving us.  Frustrating us.  Making us unhappy.  Tired.

God tells us to believe and not doubt.

Believe he is the creator of the universe.  Believe that he is in control.  Believe that he wants the best for us. Believe that he sent his Son to save us.  Believe that he gives us wisdom when we ask for it.

Believe – not doubt.

Become stable.  Sure.  Confident.  Grounded on the Rock.

Thank you, dear Father.

I Have the Right….

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

to do anything – but not everything is beneficial,” Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians. dec 1 2014 i have the right He goes on to tell us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.  We were bought with a price and God wants us to honor him with our bodies.  These verses also mention food.

Recently, the Holy Spirit convicted me that this is true for me.  Don’t you love how you can read these verses for years and then, suddenly, the Spirit uses one of them to rock your world?

This is true for me and food.  I needed to start using food for the right purpose – to nourish me.  Not to comfort me or make me happy or to ‘treat’ myself.  That’s not the way God wants me to take care of the temple of the Holy Spirit which is my body.

When God made this a matter of obedience for me, it was a game-changer.

We have the right to do a lot of things, but some of these things are not beneficial.  So God tells us avoid things that are not beneficial – even if we have the right.

This fits in with God’s direction to us that we will have to deny ourselves – what we want – when we pick our cross and follow him.

It’s not easy, but it’s the truth.  And lining up our lives with what God wants for us is always the right thing to do.

Thank you, dear Father, for the truth.

Don’t Forget

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

As part of a church family, we can sometimes forget how we should act.  Paul exhorts the people in the Thessalonian churches to encourage one another – build each other up:Nov 29 2014 don't forget

* Always acknowledge those who work hard for the Lord, who care for us and correct us.  Hold them in highest regard with love.

* Live in peace with each other, warning those who are disruptive and idle.

* Encourage those who are down and depressed.

* Help the weak.

* Be patient with everyone.

* Always strive to do what is good for others.

* Rejoice always.

* Pray continually.

*Give thanks in all circumstances.

Thank you, dear Father, for this reminder of how we should treat our brothers and sisters in Christ.