Tag: truth

What Does He Want?

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Have you heard anyone say something like, ” I just can’t figure  out what God wants from me?” or ” I really don’t know what God wants me to do?”

Statements like these confuse me because I think God is amazingly clear and to the point about the ‘main things’ that need to be the focus in my life.

The only two commandments Jesus gave us are to love God with our whole hearts and love others.  Jesus tells me that obeying these 2 commandments fulfills ‘all the law and the prophets’ which includes the original 10 commandments from the Old Testament.

There used to be 10 commandments – now it’s 2.  God knows we need simple and clear directions.

As I read the 6th chapter of Micah, I am again amazed at how direct God is as he tells me what he expects from me. ” And what does the LORD require from you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8.

Which part of that is unclear?

Act justly – do the right things. God tells us what is right in his Word.

Love Mercy – forgive others.  Give people a break especially when they don’t deserve it.  Help others.

Walk Humbly with God – develop a close relationship with God understanding that he is a supernatural combination of Creator of the Universe, the Holy and Perfect One and my Abba Father.

Micah told us this thousands of years ago.  I have discovered that, if I am serious about doing the things God has already told me to do, he fills in the other details at the right time.

It’s time to stop asking God what he wants us to do and focus on the directions he has already given us.

Thank you for how clearly you guide me through your Word, Abba Father.

Coming Straight at You

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

One of my favorite things about the Chronological Bible is that the words of the prophets are placed into the reading so they are talking straight at the kings and people who God called them to warn.

God sent the prophet Amos to both Israel and Judah to call out the current religious establishment.  The religious leaders in Judah were leading their people to develop meaningless religious traditions while refusing to do what God really wanted them to do – give mercy and justice to the oppressed and needy.

Israel was experiencing a time of prosperity which led them to a lifestyle of greed and immorality.

Sound familiar?  Do we see any of this in our culture today?  Immorality – have you turned on your TV lately? Have you looked at billboards along the freeways?  Greed – there are so many examples its hard to figure out where to start.  People will do anything these days for money.

As I read the book of Amos, God speaks to my heart and asks me to critically evaluate my religious habits and my ethical conduct.  He also warns me against complacency – getting too comfortable.

I’m careful to keep my relationship with God as my first priority, not religious habits.  When someone tells me they aren’t into organized religion, I tell them I’m not either – I’m totally into having a close relationship with God.  That always gets their attention.

But I know what God means by being too comfortable.  I used to live in a nice Christian bubble.  All of my close friends were Christian.  Everyone on my social calendar was a Christian.  I knew some non-Christians at work but everyone in my personal world was a believer.

This is the definition of complacent.

For God so loved the world……we have been commissioned to tell the world the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.  That’s not comfortable – that’s being stretched and reaching into the mess that is our culture today with the love of Jesus.  Now my calendar always includes places and relationships where I can be the light and let the love of God flow through me out to people who don’t know him.

Take a close look at your life.  Have you wandered into some immorality?  Or greed?  Or meaningless religious traditions?  Or complacency?

If that’s true, it’s time to turn back to God. “Seek me and live” God tells us in Amos 5:6. When we repent, he restores.  And he renews.  And he changes us from the inside out.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Real Love

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

Love is a choice. It’s a decision.

Many people get confused when they think love is something they feel – or not. Real love is not an emotion, its a commitment.

God has so much real love for us that he made us in his own image and he gave us free will to make our own decisions. He could have made us love him – but that’s not love, is it.

The arms of God are full of grace and compassion and they are wide open to each and everyone one of us. We have a choice to make – are we going to love him back?

God chose Jonah to go tell a group of people, the Ninevites, to stop their wickedness. Jonah didn’t want to do it so he tried to run away from God. Did you know that it’s impossible to hide from God?

Jonah ended up in the belly of a whale for 3 days where he repented, was spit out and ended up going to Nineveh anyway.

After Jonah spread his message throughout Nineveh, everyone – including the king – stopped the wickedness and rebellion. They repented and God did not punish them.

This made Jonah very angry. “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” Jonah 4: 2.

Why was Jonah so mad? He did not think the pagan Ninevites deserved God’s love and grace.

The fact is that none of us ‘deserve’ God’s love and grace. We can do nothing to earn it. We can never be ‘good enough’. If we’re honest we know we have all rebelled and ignored God while doing things the way we want them done putting ourselves at the center of our universe.

When we place our faith in Jesus, he saves us from the eternal death we have ‘earned’ because he is more than ‘good enough’.

Unfortunately, people who decide not to love God and put their faith in Jesus are choosing eternal separation from God’s grace and love. God doesn’t want that to happen to anyone but he won’t make this choice for us.

If you have not chosen Jesus yet, today is the day. Only Jesus can save us from getting what we truly deserve.

Thank you, Jesus.

I’m Sinking

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

If Jonah was writing his prayer (the second chapter of Jonah in the Bible) to God today, it might sound something like this –

I’ve hit rock-bottom, God and I have decided to call out to you. I know you will answer me.

My choices have taken me to a deep, dark place in my life, far from you.  But I’m confident you still hear me when I pray.

I tried to run from you – a very bad decision.  And now you’re letting me pay the consequences as waves of darkness and regret wash over me.  I feel like you are very far away, dear God.

Even so, I am looking for you, watching for you, calling out to you.

I keep sinking….

down,

into the cold,

deep,

sadness.   This is where my choices have taken me.

But I know you are here, Lord God.  And you will lift me back up into your arms.

I was lost and dying, LORD, but now I am turning back to you.  I’m not like those other people who idolize money, success or fame.  I praise you with a joyful heart, my God!

I am here to do your will.  I will do what you have asked me to do. I will tell everyone that ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.”

I’m listening, ready to obey, Abba Father.

Open My Eyes

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

I can be so blind!

Blinded by the immediate.

Blinded by what everyone else thinks.

Blinded by my routines or traditions.

Blinded by worry.

Blinded by trying to control things in my life .

There are times when its a major struggle to open my eyes…

open my mind….

open my heart…

to the truth….

to a different reality – God’s reality.

Sometimes I can be just like Elisha’s servant in the Bible who was afraid of the huge enemy army which surrounded the city they were in. Elisha wasn’t afraid. He knew something the servant didn’t know. Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so he may see.” 2 Kings 6: 17.

And when the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, he looked up and saw the hills around Elisha full of horses and chariots of fire. God’s army.

Elisha was not worried – he knew the truth.  God had his back and there was no cause for alarm. Elisha understood and trusted in the power and faithfulness of his Father God.

His eyes were open.

Please open our eyes, Abba Father.

Be Still and Watch

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

It’s hard for me to be still and watch.  I’m a doer.  I’m an achiever.  I spent over 34 years of my career “making things happen”.

So I tend to skim over all the situations in the Bible where God tells us to “be still and watch”.  And God says this often.  You probably don’t notice how often he says this unless you’re trying to ignore him when he says this – like me.

In 2 Chronicles, King Jehoshaphat tells his people not to be discouraged by the huge, combined army that is marching toward them. “You will not even need to fight.  Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory.” 2 Chronicles 20:17.

After saying this, the king and all the people bowed before God with their faces to the ground and they worshipped God. This creates a great visual picture in my brain because they were acting like they had already won!

Because they had.

Early the next morning, they marched out to their positions singing praises to God.  They were not afraid – God was going to fight for them.

And he did.  While King Jehoshaphat was marching out with his men singing praises to God, God caused the enemy army to become confused and they started fighting each other – killing everybody in their own army.

When God’s people arrived, all the of the enemy soldiers were dead. They won and the only weapon they raised was their trust in God.  It took them three days to gather up all of the supplies and valuables left behind by the dead army.

Wow!  They didn’t even have to use their weapons.

God showed me how this works several years ago when I was concerned about a family situation so I was going to do something about it but I kept forgetting to do it. This was very unlike me – I make lists and it gets done. I realized God was trying to stop me from getting involved. So I stopped and watched and prayed. And prayed some more.

A couple of weeks later I discovered that the issue had been totally resolved. God fixed it. And he accomplished something that I could have never done. I had no idea what he was doing until I found out it was all taken care of.

God is saying to me and you today that there are battles coming our way that he wants to fight for us.  We just need to trust and be still and watch.

Thank you for fighting my battles, Abba Father.

He Is Not Like Us

On By Judy GlasserIn June2 Comments

God is never tired, he is never impatient, he is never distracted, he is never busy.

We are made in God’s image – little glimpses of him show up in each of us.

But he is not like us.

This fact brings me a lot of peace and confidence. I desire to be more like Jesus. I am eternally grateful that he is not like me.  He has none of my weaknesses or failings.

Sometimes God tell us about his emotions in the Bible – anger, sadness, and joy.  All of his emotions are perfect – for the right reason.  They are not like our emotions which are self-centered and can often cause us to say and do wrong things.

When Elijah mocked the priests of Baal in 1 Kings, he was trying to point out the godlessness of their gods.   When Baal didn’t respond to their requests,  Elijah said, “Shout louder! Surely he is a god. Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 1 Kings 18: 27. This kicked the Baal prophets into a frenzy of shouting louder and slashing themselves with swords and spears.  They often did this trying to get a response from Baal.

I grimace when I imagine this scene of four hundred and fifty bleeding prophets of Baal – crying out to a manmade wooden statue.  Looking for answers. Looking for hope.

How futile!

How wrong!

How lost.

When I take a look at the world which surrounds me today with overwhelming violence and lies and confusion, I can say the same thing –

How futile!

How wrong!

How lost.

Jesus came to bring his light of truth, grace and salvation to everyone who would believe. He is the only answer.

He lives within each believer and he has commissioned each of us to be his light in our part of this dark and broken world.

Dear Father, Please help us shine your light brightly right where we live, work and play

It’s Not Working

On By Judy GlasserIn JuneLeave a comment

I’m an achiever. I like to get things done. I’m also a planner and organizer so I can get them done.

There have been situations in my life in the past where I have struggled and worked and persevered to make something happen only to discover that it wasn’t the right thing. It didn’t work out.

So dissappointing.

As my faith in God has grown, I have realized that I want God’s plans for my life to become reality, not my own plans. The truth is he knows everything, he has the power to do anything and his plans are perfect.

Mine aren’t.

So now I talk to God about what he wants, watch to see where he is moving and then join him in what he is doing. Does it surprise you that great things happen when I do this?

I’m not surprised.

Does it surprise you that sometimes I forget to do this?

I’m not surprised.

As I’m reading King Jeroboam’s story in 1 Kings, I am reminded of some of the disappointments I had when I was trying to do things my own way. Jeroboam was setting up his own kingdom in Israel without asking God what he wanted and Jeroboam was making a lot of bad decisions. But he persevered and made everything happen just like he wanted it.

Then, one day, the king stretched out his hand to command to his men to seize the prophet of God (another bad decision) and his hand shriveled up.

Wow! That got Jeroboam’s attention!

Jeroboam knew exactly who shriveled up his hand so he said to the prophet of God , ” Intercede with the LORD our God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” 1 Kings 13: 6. This was a good decision – God instantly restored the king’s hand.

God doesn’t usually make hands shrivel up today but he is constantly trying to guide us down the right paths so we make good decisions. Since I’m a planner and organizer and doer, I have to be careful to listen to God and not just use my own skills to make stuff happen. When the road I’m on gets tough and things just aren’t working, I’ve learned to stop and look to God – is he trying to stop me? – before I just push through to make it happen. Years ago I decided before I put the big effort into climbing a wall, I’m going to make sure it’s the right wall.

When I am keeping my eyes on God, studying his Word and spending time with him, he shows me when I’m getting off track. I ask him to open doors or close doors – somehow show me if I’m going down the right path or not.

And he does. There are times when he opens my eyes to a different next step than I was planning. In other situations, he encourages me and I know I’m supposed to keep moving forward.

By focusing on what God wants – not what I want, God doesn’t have to try hard to get my attention. It’s a great way to avoid climbing the wrong wall and experiencing nasty consequences.

No shriveled hands here.

Thank you for your truth and guidance, Abba Father.

Too Easy

On By Judy GlasserIn June1 Comment

It’s just too easy to wander away from God.

I know because I wandered away for several years when I was a young adult.    I moved away from home and gradually filled my calendar with activities I knew were not the best for me.  The people I met while doing these activities weren’t interested in a relationship with God so we never talked about him.  My whole lifestyle changed to ‘looking for love (and fun) in all the wrong places.”

It was easy.

Several years later, I woke up (with a lot of nudging from the Holy Spirit) and realized I was not where I wanted to be.  Don’t get me wrong – I had worked hard and gotten the degree, the husband, the career, the house, the kids and the cars that I thought I wanted – everything I thought would make me happy.

But I wasn’t happy.  I was empty.  I had a huge hole in my life.  I needed a meaningful purpose for getting up every morning beyond feeding the kids, paying the bills and getting my ‘to-do’ lists done.

It took me awhile to figure out that the aching hole in my life was where God was supposed to be.  I’m sure the Holy Spirit had to work very hard on me to get me to see that.  My relationship with God at this point had melted into nonexistence.

I realized I missed God.  I missed my spiritual family.

I’m extremely grateful that the Holy Spirit helped me identify my real need and desire so I could get back on track.  My relationship with God has given me all the purpose and joy and success that I was looking for.

Huge numbers of Christians have wandered away this last year because of the pandemic:

  • their Bible started gathering dust on a shelf.
  • with churches closed, other things used up the time they used to spend with God and their church families.
  • it got so easy to tune in to church on line when it was convenient. It’s so much easier than going back to church in person.
  • their week became too busy with other things and they didn’t like zooming so they dropped out of small group Bible studies, leaving their Christian friends behind.

Do any of these describe you? I’ve got to admit the ease and convenience of on-line church had a hold of me for awhile….especially since I moved out of state at the start of the pandemic and I needed to find a new church home. But then the Holy Spirit gave me a significant nudge, reminding me of the importance of having a spiritual family full of people who I can worship with, serve with and grow with. So my husband and I searched and prayed and God is blessing us through our new church family.

I am reminded that wandering can happen to anyone when I read about the end of King Solomon’s life.  He was the wisest man who ever lived and yet his pagan wives influenced him to such a degree that he turned his heart away from the One True God and started worshipping manmade idols.  Unbelievable! Such a sad end to an awesome life.

God had warned all the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them (foreign wives), because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” 1 Kings 11:2.

I feel like God is warning me today through his Word.   I must be diligent about keeping my priorities straight.  If attitudes and activities start to draw me away from God, I need to adjust my focus.

I wandered away once when I was young.  I’m determined not to do it again.

Please keep me close to your side, Abba Father

Making the Right Choice

On By Judy GlasserIn May2 Comments

What does a life lived with integrity look like?

Having integrity means doing what we say we’ll do and doing the right thing even when it costs us something and no one would ever know if we didn’t do it.  It means being honest and not just talking a good line but living that out every day.

God tells us in Proverbs 10:9 “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”

I’ve got to admit – there are times I really hate owning a mistake I made.  It would be so much simpler to tell a little lie about it and cover it up.

It seems easier to take a crooked path.

There are other situations where I don’t feel like taking care of a responsibility or doing ‘the right thing’. Maybe if I ignore it, it will go away.

It seems easier to take the crooked path.

Every once in a while taking a short-cut looks very enticing instead of struggling with all the work that is going to be involved to do something the right way.

It seems easier to take a crooked path.

Satan likes to tempt me by giving me free stuff at stores – things that were somehow never rung up so I didn’t pay for them. I hate the hassle of bringing these things back into the store and asking to pay for them. Satan knows I really don’t want to get back in line and then explain that I didn’t pay for this the first time. I hate the strange looks I get from employees who are wondering why I am doing this weird thing – I had it all the way out to my car without paying for it, I should be happy, right?

It’s definitely easier to take the crooked path – just put the item in my car and drive away.

But God tells me that the crooked path is dark with holes and cracks that will make me stumble and fall.  I’m kidding myself if I think people around me won’t realize that I lack integrity by sometimes choosing a crooked path. And I’m really kidding myself if I think God doesn’t know I took a crooked path.

God tells me the blessing of walking with integrity is that I will walk securely.  The path of integrity is straight and solidly built on the truth.  God’s light shines on this path and it is filled with his love, grace and security.

Each day, each choice, you and I have a decision to make about which path we’re going to take.

Please help us stay in the path of integrity, Abba Father