Tag: God’s love

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 realized what they were doing was wrong so they let their slaves go free…

for a short time.

“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, can’t we?

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 do 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 the wonder of God’s supernatural love and strength and peace.  These are blessings from God.

The blessings that only come after I obey.

I am ‘Becoming’

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave 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. When you put your life in our Father’s hands, he is able to mold you, too, into the person he created you 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.

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

I have watched God work in my life for many years – 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 14 years and I continue to reap the benefits of committing this time and effort to my relationship with God.  The better I know his Word, the easier it is to hear God and let him move in my life.  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 that brings glory to him.

My life – created by God.

Your life – created by God.

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

Our choice.

I choose you, Abba Father.

He Loves Us This Much

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

Seven hundred years before he was born, Isaiah spoke a stunningly accurate prophesy about Jesus.

Here are some of my thoughts and reactions to Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 53: 2-6 –

Jesus was not a good-looking man.  The pictures we have of him where he looks like a movie star are totally inaccurate.

People despised him but he was used to pain and sorrow – that was his life.  A lot of people ignored him and avoided him when possible – especially the religious establishment. Almost everyone he knew either yelled ‘crucify him’ in the end or ran away.

Yet he took on more pain – the pain that was meant for us.  He paid the price for our rebellion and selfishness and anger – all the sins of all the world.

Some people were confused when they saw all the problems Jesus had – they thought God was punishing him.  Their eyes just weren’t open to the truth.

The truth is that Jesus loves us so much that he took all of the punishment that we deserved…

so he could be our Savior…

so we could have peace…..

so we could be healed.

You and I have sinned.  And we keep sinning.

Have I said anything out of frustration or lack of patience today?  Not yet – but it’s early.

Have you thought of anything unkind or unforgiving today?  God also knows our thoughts – that’s a tough one.

Jesus paid the price for all of our sins for all time….

so he could offer us salvation.  For free.  For eternity.

Thank you, Jesus!

I Want to Go Back

On By Judy GlasserIn July2 Comments

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 8 years ago.

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

He is doing a new thing.

He is With Me

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

God has spoken to me very clearly for the last 8 years as I read through the Bible every year and I get to Isaiah 43:2 & 3.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

Eight years ago my life blew up.   My son, David Glasser was a Phoenix Police Officer, who was killed in the line of duty on May 16, 2016.  The promise of God in this scripture has been very real in my life.

When I am passing through the waves 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.

I had an incident a couple of years ago where an antelope came out of no where and hit my car as I was driving 75 mph on a rural highway in Wyoming. I saw him a second before he hit me and I had this exact thought – “This could be it.” The end. I had heard of deer coming through the windshield and people being killed.

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.

Lay It Down

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.

God has 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 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.

I’ll never forget the times I have laid facedown on the floor, asking God to move, begging for an answer, telling him I wanted his will to be done in my life. One time I had to make a significant decision TODAY so I asked God to give me a direction. As I finished praying and was getting up off the floor, my phone rang and I knew it was God. Well, it wasn’t actually God, it was a person that God was using to give me an answer. At the end of the conversation, the decision I needed to make was clear.

It works 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 because I have a huge God.

He Knows

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

How often are we on ‘auto-pilot’ when it comes to our relationship with God?

Just going through the motions?

In Isaiah 29, God tells his people that their worship was meaningless because it was based on human rules but their hearts aren’t engaged.  They are saying the right words but they didn’t mean them. “The LORD says: ‘These people come near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Isaiah 29:13.

God can tell the difference.  He knows when I are focused on him with all of my heart.  He knows my thoughts and intentions. He knows when my thinking wanders away from him – even if my Bible is laying open on my lap. He knows when I am just saying things I have been taught to say but there is no passion and love behind them.

My love for God shines bright when its authentic. When its real. When its based on a personal relationship, not just traditions that I have been taught by others.

God sees right into my heart and he knows. He knows if I’m serious about my faith.

There is no ‘faking it’ with God.

Please help me worship you and love you like you want me to, Abba Father

Who Makes the Difference?

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 8 years since my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer, was killed in the line of duty. I have experienced more crazy extreme feelings of grief, loss, sadness, and heart break than I ever had before.

I have learned to quickly turn to God for his comfort, love and direction. When I do that, the roller coaster ride slows down. My emotions settle and the fog of pain in my mind gradually disappears. This is God smoothing out my way.

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 thinking and leveling the mountains of emotions created when I lost a child. 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 don’t understand it all, so I’m trusting him with it all.

He is the Light

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

I love how accurate Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah were even though he spoke them 700 years before Jesus was born.  This shouldn’t surprise me – God knows everything and is in control of everything – including my future.

Isaiah’s prophecy in the 9th chapter of his book was fulfilled when Jesus came to earth, died on the cross for our sins and rose again in victory over death.

Isaiah’s prophecy came true –

People who were walking in darkness saw a Great Light.  Lost in deep darkness, they saw the Light as it dawned.  This Light gave them success and joy.  They celebrated the Light just like they celebrated a great harvest.  They celebrated just like warriors who are dividing the plunder after a victorious battle.

This Light’s name is Jesus. All people who believe in Jesus today also walk in the Light.

He forever shattered the yoke of sin and shame in our lives.  There is no need for war in his kingdom.

For he came to us as a child, the Son of God.  And we call him –

Wonderful,

Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

He is reigning forever victorious and there is no end to the peace he gives to those who put their faith in him.

He reigns in justice and righteousness –

now and forever.

The LORD Almighty has done it all for us.

Thank you, Abba Father.