Tag: God’s love

There is Danger

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

On my trip to Israel 7 years ago, we visited a village in Nazareth which is set up to show us what it looked like when Jesus lived there.

nn watching over Nazareth

A watchman was placed on the hill overlooking the village and the land surrounding it.  Their responsibility was to call out warnings or sound a trumpet to warn the people of the village when they saw possible danger approaching.

God explains a spiritual watchman’s duties in Ezekiel 33: 17-20.  “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.  When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin and I will hold you accountable for their blood.  But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will be saved yourself.”

What does this mean for us today?

We don’t have watchmen……or, do we?

As I read this, God reminds me that I am a watchman for the people he has placed in my sphere of influence.  I know the truth.  And I know the danger of eternal separation from God if a person doesn’t accept salvation through Jesus Christ.  So I must say something. I cannot be silent.

I wish it was as easy as sounding trumpet.  It’s much harder today to warn others of danger coming their way.  Our culture is  more independent than that of the Israelites and many people don’t understand that God still holds us accountable for each other.  Those of us who know the truth need to share it with others.  Those of us that know the danger of not accepting God’s free gift of salvation need to talk to the people around us about the Gospel that sets us free – eternally free.

So how do I make sure I’m fulfilling my responsibility as a watchman?  I have a great role model in Jesus who used equal measures of grace and truth.  He didn’t judge people (except for the religious leaders who should have known better).  He didn’t condemn people who didn’t believe he was the Son of God.  He communicated truth with love every chance he got.  He communicated in ways that the people around him could hear.  And understand.  And avoid the danger.

Thank you, dear Jesus.  Please help me do the same.

Branded

On By Judy GlasserIn August2 Comments

The truth is etched onto my brain,

it’s written on my heart.

God’s truth has forever changed me.

You and I are the ‘created ones’.  God is the ‘Uncreated One’. He was here before the beginning and he will be here forever.  He created us to live in a relationship with him but that was broken by our rebellion and sin. That’s one of the reasons why the Old Testament is filled with so much violence and gore.  That’s why there was continual conflict and strife between God and humans in the Old Testament.

Sin was in the middle of everything – messing it up.

But before the beginning of time, God already had a plan to deal with our relationship problem.  He was sending Jesus, his Son, to pay the price of all our sins for all time.  Because of what Jesus did through his death and resurrection, those of us who accept salvation through him can now have a personal relationship with God which begins here on earth and extends into eternity.

In Jeremiah, God describes the New Testament relationship that is coming – the New Testament relationship with him that we now have the privilege to choose.  “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31: 33.

When I put my faith in Jesus, his Spirit came to live inside of me. I hear the Holy Spirit talking to me, guiding me, correcting me. When the Holy Spirit challenged me to get serious about memorizing scripture, I told him I would try but he was going to have to do the main work because I have a terrible memory.

I saw the Spirit move in my life every day as I got out my index cards with the whole first chapter of James written on them. Yes, I have a terrible memory – except when it comes to God’s Word. It took a couple of years but I eventually memorized James 1 and 2 and now have begun to work on James 3.

I never understood why memorizing scripture was so important to God – until I got serious about it. Now I understand. He talks to me all the time using his words that I have etched upon my heart. This has been especially important when a crisis happens and I need guidance ‘right now’! There are other times when I’m having an important conversation with someone who is seeking God and I don’t have a Bible handy or time to look something up. God speaks in my brain – reminding me of scriptures I have memorized.

I’ve had Christians tell me they don’t tell other people about their relationship with Jesus because they are worried that they won’t have the words. I can tell you for a fact, if you memorized scripture you would have the words. The Holy Spirit highlights the words I need in my head so I can share them.

My life is branded by God’s truth.

I am God’s.

Thank you, Abba Father.

After, Not Before

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

How often do I decide to make a positive change in my life- and then I don’t follow-through?  I change my mind.  It gets too hard.

How often does this happen?

More often than I like.  What about you?

How often are we convicted by the Holy Spirit to make an adjustment in order to better line our lives up with God’s will?  And, after we try, we give up.  When it gets tough, we go back to our old habits.

We are very fickle.  When it gets hard, we opt out of the difficult changes that are needed and decide to go back to being comfortable.

In Jeremiah 34, we read about the Israelites doing this same thing.  The Law of Moses had restricted how long Hebrews could be slaves.  When Jeremiah pointed out that fact that the Israelites had not been following this law,  they saw that they were doing this wrong thing.  And they let their slaves go free.

“But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.” (vs 11)

God doesn’t tell us the details of why the Israelites changed their minds – but we can read between the lines.

Life got hard.  The Israelites had to get their own water and cook their own food.  They had to clean and do all of the dirty work the slaves had been doing.

Obeying the law was just too difficult so they decided to disobey and go back to the comfortable life they had before they were convicted of their sin.

And they missed the blessings that come after we obey.

God blesses obedience.  He has blessings lined up, waiting for us……if we’ll go through the tough part of obeying.

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When I do the things that the Holy Spirit is prompting me to do, I feel the satisfaction that comes with partnering with God in his plan.  I feel the contentment and satisfaction of living my life in line with God.  I also experience with wonder of God’s supernatural love and strength and peace.  These are blessings from God.

The blessings that only come after I obey.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Maybe

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

Maybe we will all understand.

Maybe we will turn away from our next bad choice and turn back to him.

This is what God wants for us. This is what God wanted for the people of Judah when he had Baruch write down all of the words he had given to Jeremiah.  “Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.”

God wants to forgive us.

He wants us to know him

– to feel his love.

– experience his peace.

– live in his joy.

– rely on his strength for each day.

– and anticipate all of the good things he has planned for us tomorrow.

God wants all of this to happen in our lives.  That’s why he had his wisdom and guidance for us written down in the Bible.

I believe that God does not ‘inflicts disaster’ on those that have put their faith in Jesus. But God does let us pay the consequences for our bad decisions hoping that we will learn to turn away from bad behavior. He also lets us experience the negative things that happen from living in a broken, sin-filled world. It’s a great reminder that this is not our home. God walks beside us through all of our negative consequences and situations, loving us, teaching us and helping us mature in our faith.

As my Bible lies open on my lap with my mind actively seeking God, his truth is soaking into my soul, changing me, renewing me. He is helping me make make better choices. He is guiding me through the mess and the lies of the culture around me. His Spirit is alive inside of me, filling the ‘God spot’ within my soul and making me whole.

God hoped that the people of Judah would understand. Maybe this would help them decide to turn away from their sin and turn back to him.

God wants this same thing to happen today.

Right now.

For you and I.

As we read and respond to his Word.

Please open our eyes, Abba Father.

I am ‘Becoming’

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

I am ‘becoming’ something.

We are all on the path to ‘somewhere’. I decide what I am becoming and where I’m going by my choices each day. I am going one way or another – I’m not standing still.  If I’m not doing anything new – not growing – then I am moving backward as the world moves forward around me.

When I put my life in my Father God’s hands, he is able to mold me into the person he created me to be.

Isaiah is very clear about this, ” Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are the work of your hand.” 64: 8.

Potter-at-Work1

When I let God change me and transform me, I become a beautiful work of his hands.

I have seen God work in my life – gradually changing my thinking and perspective so it more closely lines up with his.  I have been reading the entire Bible each year for the last 10 years and I continue to reap the rewards of committing this time and effort to my relationship with him.  The better I know his Word, the easier it is to hear God and let him mold me.  I look forward to many more years of God continuing to refine me – I am confident that his goal is to create a unique masterpiece of my life.

Our lives – created by God.

Will we be molded  and shaped by the Master’s hands?

Our choice.

I choose you, Abba Father.

I Want to Go Back

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

I have days when I want to go back in time. I would gladly go back to anytime before my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer, was killed in the line of duty.

So much was lost when he died. So much has changed.

Do you ever want to go back?

God speaks to me – and to you – today through Isaiah when he says, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43: 18-19.

God is doing a new thing in my life and in your’s. He wants our eyes to be focused on today and tomorrow. The past is past.

I have been watching God do an entirely new thing in my life since my son was killed. God has a very different plan than I had for the rest of my life and he is gradually revealing it, one step at a time.

God is making a way in the wilderness that defined my life after Davey was killed. He is leading me to streams which feed my soul. He is guiding me out of the wasteland of grief and pain where I found myself 5 years ago.

The past is past. God wants my ‘now’ to count. He wants your ‘now’ to count.

He is doing a new thing.

Thank you, Abba Father.

He is With Me

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

God has spoken very clearly to me through Isaiah 43:2 these last 5 years since my son, David Glasser, a Phoenix Police Officer, was killed in the line of duty. Here is my response –

When I am passing through the waters of grief…

*of disappointment…

*of disillusionment…

*of pain….

God is with me.

When I am passing through a river of tears…

*pierced by the shattered pieces of my broken heart.

*trying to figure out how to live with a huge hole in my life…

the river does not sweep over me.  God is with me.

When I am walking through the fire of anger…

* not happy with my reality…..

* trying to understand….

I am not burned.  God is with me.

I am passing through.  I’m not getting stuck in these places.  Everything that happens in my life has first gone through the hands of my Father God.  He has a purpose.

So I will trust him as I pass through the water, the river and the fire.

Thank you for walking closely beside me, Abba Father.

It Makes a Difference

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

My life is short.

My life is fragile.

My life is a tiny flicker of light that can be extinguished in an instant.

This fact is more real to me since I hit an antelope while driving on a rural road in Wyoming last week. I had this exact thought when I realized I was going to hit him- “This could be it.” The end.

It wasn’t ‘it’ because the antelope bounced off and ran into the bush after poking a big hole in my car – which was still drivable.

It wasn’t ‘it’ but it could have been.

God tells us through Isaiah that ‘Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fade but the Word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40: 7 & 8.

Forever.

When I sit here with my Bible open on my lap, I am letting the only truth of all the ages soak into my mind. God’s Word has been the one thing that is right and good since time began. How amazing that this is so readily available to me every hour of every day!

How amazing that the Eternal Creator of the Universe speaks to me personally through these words!

How amazing that this entire book is a love story written to me by God. It’s God’s revelation of how much he loves me and you.

My life is short and fragile and just a small flicker of light in the big picture. I’m so glad that I know that my Father God sees me as his precious daughter who is so important to him that he made a way that I could live with him in my forever home in heaven.

My life may be short and fragile but I’m important to God….

and that makes all the difference.

Thank you, Abba Father.

The Only Way Out

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

I’ve been there – a place where there’s no way out.

When there is nothing I can do to even try to fix it.

A total dead end.

This is when the only way out is up.

King Hezekiah knew all about this place thousands of years ago when a huge Assyrian army came to Jerusalem and camped right outside the city walls.

The Assyrian King told Hezekiah that the LORD had told him to destroy Jerusalem.

What?

King Hezekiah was wise enough to recognize a big lie when he heard it so he went to the prophet Isaiah to get the truth. The Lord told Isaiah that King Hezekiah should not be disturbed by what the Assyrians were saying –  God was going to move against them himself.

Next, the Assyrians send a letter warning King Hezekiah that he should not be deceived by God’s promises to protect him.  (There were serious mind games going on here.) The Assyrians had been completely destroying everyone in their path and that’s what the Assyrian king was planning to do to Jerusalem.

King Hezekiah knew that was exactly what the Assyrians had been doing – destroying everyone and everything and no one had been able stop them.

So Hezekiah took the Assyrian’s letter to the temple and spread it out before the Lord.  He laid out his concerns to God and asked him to rescue them so that all the nations of the world would know that he was God.

I visualize Hezekiah on his knees spreading out this scroll full of scarey and deadly threats.  Then he totally lays himself down on the floor in front of the scroll as he asks God to save his people.

How interesting – he doesn’t summon the commander of his army.  He doesn’t consult with anyone.  He and his people are facing annihilation and he prostrates himself before God.

I’ve been there several times in my life – when there is no way out but up.   Faced with massive issues that were extremely beyond my control, I have laid it all out before God and asked him to take care of it.  I didn’t know how he would do it and I told him I didn’t care what he did – I was just placing it all in his hands and trusting in his promise that he is working all things out for my good.

It worked for me just like it worked for Hezekiah thousands of years ago.  God heard Hezekiah’s prayer and took care of the situation. God always hears my prayers and he answers by orchestrating situations in his way with his power to benefit me.

I have discovered I don’t have big issues for long when I have a huge God.

Thank you, Abba Father.

My Path

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

Life can feel like a roller coaster ride of emotions – up and down and sometimes upside down.

Or

it can feel more like a smooth, level path.

What makes the difference?

A better question is – WHO makes the difference?

God stopped me today as I read Isaiah 26:7, “The path of the righteous is level; You, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.”

I’ll admit, I have had many emotional roller coaster rides these last 5 years since my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer, was killed in the line of duty. I have had more crazy extreme feelings of grief, loss, sadness, and heart break than I have every had before.

And I have learned that the quicker I turn to God for his comfort, love and direction, the faster the roller coaster ride slows down. My emotions settle and the fog of pain in my mind gradually disappears.

Just to be clear – I am ‘righteous’ because of what Jesus did for me, not because of anything I have done. God sees me as ‘righteous’ because I have accepted salvation through his son, Jesus.

I know my Father God is walking closely beside me, smoothing out my path and leveling the mountains of emotions. I still have all the feelings but I face them with peace in my soul as I am held, grounded and secure, within my Father’s strong arms.

I have learned to trust God at a whole new level and I am totally confident that he is working all things out for my good.

I may not understand it all, but I know it’s true.

Thank you, Abba Father.