Tag: loving God first

No Turning Back

On By Judy GlasserIn November2 Comments

Have you experienced a time in your life when you realized there was no turning back? You were on a path that you were going to be on for the rest of your life?

Did it feel like you were driving a stake into the ground declaring your commitment to this journey – no matter what?

I have felt that way three times in my life.

The first was when I got married, the second time was when I became a mom and the third was when I put God at the top of the list of priorities for my life.

The first time was marked by a wedding celebration with friends and family. The second included baby showers, a highly anticipated trip to the hospital, and the unbelievable joy of bringing our tiny son home for the first time.

The third time happened about 30 years ago when I was floating on an air mattress in my backyard pool all by myself listening to praise songs. As I sang along to words of the praise songs, I realized there was no turning back from giving my whole life to Christ. I had been a believer all my life but I had never committed to the narrow road of making Jesus Lord of my life. Floating in the pool that day, I knew Jesus was the only answer – he was everything I was looking for. There was nothing in life that was more important. There was nowhere else for me to go.

This memory echoes in my mind as I read the conversation Jesus had with Peter when some of his disciples were turning back and leaving him. “You do not want to leave, too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:67-69.

Good answer, Peter!

Once I knew the Truth and made him my top priority, the Truth set me free from looking any farther.

I’ve found the Light.

I’ve found the Way.

I’ve found the Life.

This relationship extends into eternity. There is nothing else I need. There is no turning back.

Amen and Amen

 

No Turning Back

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Have you experienced a time in your life when you realized there was no turning back? You were on a path that you were going to be on for the rest of your life?

Did it feel like you were driving a stake into the ground declaring your commitment to this journey – no matter what?

I have felt that way three times in my life.

Once when I got married, the second time was when I became a mom and the third was when I put God at the top of the list of priorities for my life.

The first time was marked by a wedding celebration with friends and family. The second one included baby showers, a highly anticipated trip to the hospital, and the unbelievable joy of bringing our tiny son home for the first time.

The third time happened about 30 years ago when I was floating on an air mattress in my backyard pool all by myself listening to praise songs. As I sang along to words of the praise songs, I realized there was no turning back from giving my whole life to Christ. I had been a believer all my life but had never fully committed to following Jesus. But now I knew that Jesus was the only answer – he was everything I was looking for. There was nothing in life that was more important. There was nowhere else for me to go.

This memory echoes in my mind as I read the conversation Jesus had with Peter when some of his disciples were turning back and leaving him. “You do not want to leave, too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:67-69.

Good answer, Peter!

There is no turning back. Once I knew the Truth, the Truth set me free from looking any farther.

I’ve found the Light.

I’ve found the Way.

I’ve found the Life.

This relationship extends into eternity. There is nothing else I need.

Amen and Amen

 

If You Love Me……

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

keep my commands.Nov 14 2014 If you love me

God rocked my world through this verse in John over 25 years ago.

I always said I loved Jesus.  I had loved Jesus my entire life.

But was I keeping his commands?

Jesus wasn’t talking to me about all of the laws in the Old Testament or the 10 commandments.  He was pointing out his first and greatest command – to love God with all of my heart, mind, soul and strength.  And the second great command – to love others as I love myself.

I wasn’t doing great at putting God first in my life at that time.  Two active kids, a husband, a career that involved significant travel, a house, 2 cars, family, friends, going to church where I was a member of the choir – my calendar was stretched to a superhuman level already.  I didn’t see any slot where I could fit in more time with God.

But the Holy Spirit was persistent, convicting me BIG TIME that I needed to stop just saying I loved Jesus and start showing it by obeying his first and greatest command.

So I gave up some things, lowered my expectations of other things (like how clean my house was) and re-prioritized.  I got serious about Bible study – both on my own and with a small group – and started to put God first in my life.  One baby step at a time.

And a miracle happened!  Everything started to go better, run smoother, be more fun!  I realized that God wanted me to put him first so he could help me with everything else!  He wanted to help me be a better wife, a better mother ( he gets the credit for my 2 intelligent, mature and responsible grown children), a better employee, a better everything!

He put the pieces of my life together so that they made a great picture.   Before, the pieces just seemed to pile on top of each other – making me crazy……making me feel empty……making me unhappy.  God made sense of it and brought real joy back into my life.

Loving him first made me whole.

The a whole me was much better prepared to deal positively with the rest of my life – as long as I kept God at the center.

Six words changed it all!

Amazing!

I love you, dear Father!