Tag: faith

No Luck Involved

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

I recently talked with a man in his 40″s who said he believed that most of what life throws at us is luck.  Some people are lucky so good things come their way.  Others aren’t lucky so bad things happen to them.April 16 2014

How interesting!  Because I believe the total opposite.  I don’t believe in luck.  I think that our decisions directly determine what happens to us.  Sometimes we don’t think ahead when making decisions and we don’t like where we end up, but it’s not luck.

As a Christian, I also believe that God works everything out for good for those who love him.  But not without consequences for bad decisions we’ve made.  He walks with us as we go through the bad consequences and he helps us grow wisdom through these negative experiences.   If we let God guide us through the pain, disappointment and regrets, we come out more mature and with a greater faith at the other end.

In 2 Samuel, King David had made some bad choices so he and his people were going to pay the consequences.  No luck involved.

Blaming the results of our bad choices on luck is a very dangerous road to take.  When we don’t hold ourselves personally accountable for our decisions,  we won’t be motivated to change and improve.  I see lots of ‘bad luck’ ahead for anyone who chooses the treacherous path of not taking responsibility for where our decisions have taken us.  If we want a different outcome, we need to make different choices.

No luck involved.

Please give us wisdom, dear Father.

Psalm 3, 2014

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Nothing is going right for me, God!April 14 2014

Everybody and everything is against me.

They believe that you’re not going to help me this time, Lord.

But I know you are always with me.  Because of you I have hope.  When I look to you and call out to you, you always answer.

I can sleep at night because you are there to take care of me.

I wake up every morning knowing that you are there to give me strength for the day.

I will not be afraid of anything that comes at me.

Save me once again, O God!

Take out my enemies.

You give me freedom.  May your blessing be upon all of us.

This psalm is especially sad because David’s enemy at this time was his own son, Absalom.   Absalom’s rebellion brought an enormous amount of pain to David and to David’s family.

Dear Father, Please remove any rebellious spirits within us so that our lives can bring glory to you.

The Tomb is Empty!

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Hallelujah!

My journey down the Via Dolorosa seeing each Station of the Cross where another horrible thing happened to Jesus culminated in a emotional visit to the garden tomb.ftdDSC_0549

Experts can’t verify that this is the exact tomb where Jesus laid for 3 days.  But it’s in the right place and it has the same  unusual layout that Jesus’ tomb had. 

It’s in a peaceful and beautiful garden – an oasis in the middle of noisy, crowded, tension-filled Jerusalem.  Did I mention that we heard machine-gun fire for several minutes while having lunch in Jerusalem that day?

It didn’t matter to me if this was the exact tomb……Jesus’ body isn’t thereftdDSC_0558 anyway.  He is risen!  And he lives inside of me and all who believe in him!  So it was even more glorious to realize that Jesus was there that day with me.  He was helping me understand what he did for me just a little bit more.  I experienced the depths of his love at a new level. 

And I was overwhelmed with gratitude for those in my life who had introduced me to Christ – specifically for my mother who lived a sold-out-to-Jesus life all the way up to her death.  What a great role-model!  What a great legacy!

So I celebrate my risen Savior today with new enthusiasm and new understanding.

Thank you, Jesus!ftdDSC_0564

The Via Dolorosa

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

The Way of Suffering.

The path Jesus took throftdDSC_0523ugh Jerusalem that day.  The day he died on the cross – for you….for me.

His agony was more real to me as I walked down that crowded and narrow street just a few weeks ago.

The whips and the beatings caused his body to bleed. 

The hatred and anger etched upon the faces of the people he passed by must have hurt even more.  These were the people he loved enough to die for.   And they spit on him as the blood flowing down over his head mixed with the tears dripping down his face.

Meanwhile, Satan and his team cheered loudly, encouraging the crowds on as they hit Jesus and let the rage of their sinful hearts loose upon the sinless Son of God.ftdDSC_0527

It’s a narrow street.  It was filled with people and merchants on the day I walked down it just like it had been the day Jesus dragged his cross down it.  There wouldn’t have been much room.  I’m sure Jesus felt the pressure of humanity weighing down him just as much as the weight of the cross.

It was very personal.

And very ugly.

Isaiah’s prophecy from 700 years before Jesus was born rang through my head as I made my way down the Via Dolorosa:

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him.  Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised.  And we esteemed him not.fdtDSC_0502

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, and we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. 

But he was pierced by our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed.

We all like sheep have gone astray – each of us to his own way.

And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Thank you, dear Jesus.

So Easy

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

It can be so easy to make quick judgements about other people’s actions.  Their unfairness is so crystal-clear.   Their lack of judgement is so evident.

Why is it so much harder to look at our own behavior using the same standards?  We are very quick to excuse ourselves and rationalize away our own actions.  There is a veil of self-centeredness that covers our eyes when we look at our own choices.

Sometimes we all need a very good friend to help open our eyes to what we are doing.

That’s what Nathan did for David in 2 Samuel 12.  He tells David a story about a very rich man who took advantage ofApril 10 2014 a very poor man.  When David heard the story, he burned in anger and said the rich man should die for his actions.   And then Nathan turns to David and says’ You are the man.’

Wow!  Call it like it is Nathan!

Nathan goes on to correlate his story with David’s recent action with Bathsheba and Uriah.  This helped open David’s eyes to what he had done and David acknowledge his sins before God.  David was so good at turning right back to God when he strayed.

He asked for God’s mercy for his sins in Psalm 51 and here is how some of that psalm might have sounded if David had written it in 2014:April 10 2 2014

I really need your mercy this time, God.

I know you love me.  Your great compassion makes all of my sins disappear.  Wash me, dear God.  Clean me once again.

I know I have sinned against you – I can’t get it off of my mind.

I am guilty – go ahead and judge me.

I have always been sinful yet you desire faithfulness.

Cleanse me and wash me, dear God.  I’m ashamed of my sins.

Create in me a heart that honors you, dear God.

May your spirit continue to grow within me.

Never turn away from me.  You have saved me – may I find joy again.

Help me be a willing and faithful servant, dear God.

Amen.

Psalm 18, 2014

On By Judy GlasserIn April2 Comments

Everything God does is perfect.April 7 a 2014

All of his words are correct.

You are a refuge for all who believe in You.  There is no other God.

You are the only real Rock that is available to us.

It is You who gives me strength and keeps me safe.  You help through my days.

Anything that I’ve achieved has been done through your power in my life. 

You give me wisdom in conflict – the right words at the right time.April 7 2 2014

Your hand is my shield and You provide everything I need.

You have given me a purpose and You have made my life worth living.

You direct my path and give me the endurance I need.

Thank you, dear God!

 

The City of David

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Jerusalem.

David built up the city and became more and more powerful because the Lord Almighty was with him.

On my recent trip to Jerusalem, we looked at an excavation site which experts believe to be remains of the City of David.  We stood where David lived as King.  It’s on the side of a hill looking down  on a beautiful section of Jerusalem.jerusalem from the city of david  We looked down upon the rooftops below us  just like David would have done when he saw Bathsheba.

The stories of David reverberated in my head as I looked out over David’s beloved Jerusalem.

First Chronicles tells us that the Lord Almighty was with David and he became more and more powerful.  Today, regular people like us don’t become more and more powerful by amassing armies and plunder.

We become more and more powerful as our witness to the power of God in our lives grows – when our faith becomes a rock which never waivers and cannot be moved.  Our power grows because God is with us all day, in every situation and we can feel him supernaturally moving through us.

And we grow more like Jesus who has all of the power.

Thank you, dear God!

Psalm 34, 2014

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

I will talk about the greatness of the Lord all of the time.

I won’t stop praising him!

I am awed by God!

Let those who don’t know him hear this and be glad.

Let us praise God together!April 2 2014

God always answers when I call.

My fears and my shame disappear in his presence.

God saves us all whenever there is trouble.

If you want to live a good, long life, be very careful about what you say.

Do good and seek peace.

 

A Drama King

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

March 23 2014A man of extremes.  That’s what I think of as I read the story of Samson.

Killing lions with his bare hands, betting big on riddles no one can answer without using deceit, killing to settle his bet, dramatically burning other’s crops in revenge only to have his family burned to death…..the center of attention over and over and over again.

Yet God used him.  God’s spirit came upon him several times and God used him against the enemy of the day – the Philistines. 

This is a great example of how can and does use anyone who makes themself available to him.

Dear God, we praise your name today.  Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty!  We ask that you will help us to always be available to you.  We are here to complete your purpose – the things you have prepared in advance for us to do.  We pray in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

Available for All

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Not accepted.  Not included.  Born in the wrong place.

March 22 2014All of these describe Ruth, the widowed daughter in law of Naomi.  She was a Moabite.  The Israelites hated the Moabites.  She was a Gentile.  She was a young widow – a relatively worthless person in the community.

And she chose to go back to Bethlehem with Naomi.  She chose to become part of Naomi’s people.  She chose to love and serve Naomi’s God.

As we read on in the story, we see how God blesses her through these choices by giving her a new husband, a new family and a new son.

A Moabite, a Gentile, becomes part of the lineage of King David.  Which becomes the lineage of the Savior of the World, Jesus.

Jesus told us that there is just one way to heaven, one way to the Father, and its through him.  There is only one way but it is available to everyone.  Everyone is accepted.  Everyone is included.  And we were all born in the right place – here on earth.

Because God so loved the world that he sent his only son to die for us so that anyone and everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

He loves us all so very much!

Thank you, dear Father!