Tag: peace

Robbing God

On By Judy GlasserIn OctoberLeave a comment

“Test me in this.”  There is only one place in the Bible where God says this.Oct 5 Robbing God 2014

He’s talking about his directions to us to give him back a small piece of everything he has given us.

When we are faithful in tithing, God throws open the floodgates of heaven and pours out his blessings upon us.

God challenges us to test him because he always responds.

He challenges us to give back a portion because our trust in him needs to grow to the point where being faithful is more important to us than the money.  God needs to be a higher priority in our hearts than what this money could buy.

This is important for our happiness.  We won’t have the peace, contentment and joy that God wants for us until we can gladly give back a portion.

I have to admit – it took God and my husband awhile to convince me of this.  I always felt that we didn’t have enough money to tithe.  Other people who had a lot more money could tithe – but not us.  When the topic came up, I always hoped that someday we would make enough money so we could tithe.

Foolish thinking!

I have realized a very crucial truth in this area – if it’s all about having enough money, there will never be enough.

God tells us in Luke – if we’re not faithful with a little, there is no way we’ll be faithful with a lot.

God wants us to find peace and contentment with what he has already given us.  When we are faithful, he pours out the blessings that money can’t buy.

When we follow God’s directions for our lives, we are putting ourselves under the umbrella of his blessing.  If we don’t follow his directions to us in the area of money, we are holding our wallets out from under the umbrella of his blessing.  The result is that God will not bless our finances.  We will have constant money issues until we bring our wallet back under the umbrella by getting in line with God’s direction for this area of our lives.  His direction is to sacrificially tithe and to give offerings above our tithe.

Because we love God.  He’s more important than the money.

And we trust him.  God’s got this.  We can even test him.

Thank you, dear Father.

Think About It…..

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

Consider it…..

Give it careful thought.

This is the direction given by God to the Israelites about their priorities.  They had been very busy building nice houses for themselves and they had put off rebuilding God’s temple.Sept 26 2014 Think about it

The temple continued to lay in ruins while the Israelites went about their normal lives.

They were planting a lot but only harvesting a little.

They were eating, but they were never full.

They drank, but it was never enough.

They put on clothes, but they were never warm.

They were earning money, but it immediately disappeared into a purse full of holes.

God was telling them that he was withholding his blessings from them because their priorities weren’t right.

What about us?

Is it time to re-evaluate our priorities to make sure they are matching up to God’s?

Are we experiencing all of the blessings God has for us?

* Contentment because what God has already given us is enough?

* Fulfillment because we know we are busy completing God’s purpose for our lives?

* Peace because we have given God control over our lives and we’re trusting him?

* Joy because we are experiencing the love God has for us every day?

* Strength for each day and every situation because our lives are built on our Solid Rock?

God has these blessings along with a storehouse more, just waiting for us.

We thank you for your abundant blessings, dear Father!

 

In His Peace

On By Judy GlasserIn July1 Comment

Several members of my immediate family are already in heaven – my father, my mother, my oldest brother and my step-father.  With tears streaming down my face, I read Isaiah 57 as he tells us why the righteous die:

When those devoted to God die, it’s not the end.July 19 2014 In his Peace

Those left behind don’t understand that the righteous are taken out of this world so they don’t have to experience the ‘evils’ here any longer.

They go to a place of rest.  We call it ‘death’, but God calls it peace.

Thank you, dear Father.

Where Do We Find It?

On By Judy GlasserIn July, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Peace.

Do we find it when our To-Do lists are done?

When we have some extra money in our bank account?

Do we really ever find peace from the thoughts….. Bethlehem sign

the plans….

the fears….

the regrets….

swirling around in our heads?

The prophet Micah tells us that Jesus is our peace.

I always find it amazing that, over 700 years before Jesus was born, Micah and Isaiah prophesied so clearly and so accurately with so many details about the Messiah.

In Micah 5, we read that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  There is very little peace in Bethlehem these days.  On my recent visit to Israel, one of the shopkeepers in Bethlehem asked us to pray for freedom for Bethlehem.  It is a very depressed and oppressed city.

Micah also told us that the Messiah would be a shepherd who would care for his flock with his strength and majesty.  The Messiah’s flock would be secure because of his great power over all the earth.

And Micah tells us the Messiah would bring us peace.

Please give us your peace, dear Jesus.

He Brings Peace

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

It happens over and over and over – when people get their relationship right with God, they find peace.June 13 2014 he brings peace

When Jehoiada took over control of the Kingdom of Judah for the child-king Joash, he once got rid of Baal worship by smashing the altars and idols, and killing all of the priests.  Jehoiada also reorganized the responsibilities of the temple according to David’s original directions.  They were to present the burnt offering with rejoicing and singing.

The gatekeepers also made sure no was that was unclean entered the temple area.  The good thing about the gatekeepers needing to discern whether someone was ‘clean’ or not was it gave them a way to tell how serious someone was about their faith.  The directions they had to follow to stay ‘clean’ enough to go to the temple were extensive.   So someone would have to be very intentional about staying ‘clean’.  The negative side of this would be like what happened in the story of the Good Samaritan.  In that instance, the religious people passed by a person in need because it would have made them ‘unclean’.  The right thing to do would have been to get ‘dirty’ and help the person in need.  Being legalistic about God’s directions can sometimes make us blind to the real message God has for us in his word.

Jehoiada was very aware of what God wanted as he protected the child-king and pointed the people of Judah towards God.  When a king who was following God was seated on the throne, the city was calm and the people found peace.

We can experience this same peace when we place God on the throne of our lives.  Even when the circumstances of our lives are not great, God is with us, and, when we let him take control, he can give us peace.

Thank you, dear God.