Tag: truth

Do You See It?

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

There’s a light.

When you are talking with a person who you know has a close relationship with God, can you see the light of Jesus shining out of them? I have some people in my life that regularly shine His light in their lives. I see it, I feel it.

That’s one of my goals – to let the light of Jesus and the love of Jesus shine out of my life. Sometimes when I’m talking with someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus yet, I can see in their eyes that they are wondering what’s different about me. They are feeling something, seeing something that they don’t understand.

They are seeing the light.

Don’t get me wrong, the light and love of Jesus is not always shining out of my life. I have a ways to go on making this a daily reality. But – there are times when I get out of the way and let Jesus shine.

I am amazed as I read Daniel’s story about getting thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel did not obey the decree King Darius made regarding not praying to anyone or anything but the King for 30 days. Daniel prayed to the One True God, Maker of Heaven and Earth every day and refused to stop. King Darius was forced to throw Daniel into lion’s den. The King didn’t want to. He knew there was something special about Daniel. But the king had to keep his word and Daniel was thrown in. Darius was unable to sleep so he got up early the next morning and hurried to the lion’s den.

“When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, be able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me because I was found innocent in his sight.” Dan 6:19 – 22.

The king was overjoyed. He was also impressed with Daniel’s God. God’s light was shining out of Daniel and the king could see it. So the king send a decree to his entire kingdom telling his people to have fear and reverence for the God of Daniel.

“For he is the living God and he endures forever;

his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.

He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth.

He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:25-27.

How awesome!

May your light shine out of us, Abba Father, so others may know you and praise your name.

The Rest of My Life

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

Do you have a plan for your life?

I know what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.

As I read Psalm 89, my plan jumps right off the page- “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever.” vs 1.  I will tell everyone I know about how I have experienced your faithfulness all my life, Abba Father. I will talk about your perfect love for me and the abundant blessings you have showered down on my life.

I will walk with you all of the days I have left on this earth, Father, until the day we walk into heaven together, hand in hand.

I will find my peace in your strength.  I will find my joy in your love and faithfulness.  I will find my strength in your righteousness and truth.

I will walk in the light of your presence each day, Father. 

And I will continue to sing of your great love forever.

Amen and Amen.

I See His Work

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

What do you do in a thunderstorm? Check out the clouds? Watch the wind rip through the trees? Count the seconds between the flash of the lightening and the roll of thunder?

Every summer, I spend some time staying by Lake Okoboji in Iowa which is near where I grew up. It’s a beautiful lake surrounded by lots of vacation homes, condos and hotels. Every year I go, there’s at least one rain storm and it always reminds me of one of my favorite things about this part of the country. It’s farmland as far as you can see but there is no irrigation here – God himself waters this land. I remember several times as a kid when the farmers needed more rain. So we had a prayer meeting. And when we had a prayer meeting for rain, the large church I grew up in was full – wall to wall people, standing room only. Everyone around my hometown knew who watered their crops and our town’s economy depended on those crops.

As I read God’s Word in the book of Job I am remembering what it felt like sitting in my cabin by the lake, listening to it rain and thunderstorm, saying ‘wow’ when the thunder clapped very loudly right over us and watching the bright show of lightening cracking across the lake.

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;

he does great things beyond our understanding.

He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’

and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour”.

So that everyone he has made may know his work,

he stops all people from their labor.

The animals take cover;

They remain in their dens.

The tempest come out from it’s chamber,

the cold from the driving winds.

The breath of God produces ice,

and broad waters become frozen.

He loads the clouds with moisture;

he scatters his lightening through them.

At his direction they swirl around

over the face of the earth

to do whatever he commands them.” Job 37: 5-12.

God definitely gets the attention of everyone around the lake when it storms. It was impossible to ignore his work.

Do you know the benefits that God has packed into a rainstorm like that?

  • the obvious one is the rainfall – growing the crops and providing grass to feed the animals.
  • rainstorms are natural air-conditioners – cooling the air and the land.
  • lightening provides nitrogen which fertilizes the soil and provides protein for the animals.
  • rainstorms remove pollution in the air, cleaning it.

I may not understand a lot of things God does, but when I feel the rain, hear the thunder and see the lightening, I know that God is providing for us and taking care of us.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Really Alive!

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

A valley of bones.

Millions of bones.

When God breathed into them – “they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.” Ezekiel 37:10.

Wow!! Growing up in church, I always thought this vision of Ezekiel should be preached around Halloween because a valley full of dry bones suddenly connecting and standing up is weird as well as a little scary.

How time changes things! Now I love this visual because it’s exactly what happened when I turned over my whole heart to God.  His breath went deep into my soul and – for the first time – I was truly alive.  I have an eternal purpose.  I have been re-created into one of the soldiers in his army – wearing his armor and working next to my spiritual brothers and sisters to share the Good News and push back evil.  Each day, I read and study God’s word – getting to know him better and listening as he speaks truth into my life.

Are you looking for purpose? Are you looking for guidance? Are you looking for hope?

God gives me hope.  Not the ‘I wish’ kind of hope.  This hope is cemented into my heart by the promises of God.  I know who is in control and I know he is working everything out for my good.  I know where I’m going when I leave this earth.  I know who wins in the end.

God’s redeeming love has turned my dry bones into something good and useful.  His breath moves in my heart and soul – bringing new life each day.

There are no dry bones here.

What’s the condition of your bones?  Would you like to experience a new breath of God’s spirit in your soul?

Turn to him and ask, he’s waiting for you.

Don’t Skip It

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

I’ll admit.

Lamentations is one of the books of the Bible I used to skip. Before I started reading the entire Daily Chronological Bible every year, I tried several different ‘Read the Bible in a Year’ plans. They usually include a chapter or two of the Old Testament, a chapter or two of the New Testament and then some Psalms. I’m more of a big-picture person, so these plans never worked for me. I skipped anything that I found ‘not interesting’ and one of the things I skipped was the entire book of Lamentations.

This world has enough issues, right? Why would I want to read about some old prophet’s issues?

Now that I read the entire Bible in the right order, the gems in Lamentations are evident. I have just finished reading the book of Jeremiah which detailed Jeremiah’s faithfulness as he experienced the pain and hardships of being a prophet of God.

Now its time for Lamentations. I am in the fall season of my life just like Jeremiah was when it is thought that he wrote Lamentations. I can relate to his review of his life and his feeling of dismay as he looks at the mess his culture is in and thinks about all the rebellion and sin that brought them to this place. Israel was in exile. Jerusalem was destroyed and deserted. “Her enemies looked at her and laughed at her destruction” Lamentations 1:7.

“My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.” Lamentations 2:11.

I know what you are thinking and that’s the reason I used to skip the entire book.

But wait!

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I can wait on him.” Lamentations 3:22-24.

No matter how bad it gets, and it can get pretty bad, God’s love and compassions never fail. Never! When you and I are in a deserted and destroyed place, God is there. When we are exiled from people and things that used to be very important to us, God is there. When we are dealing with the consequences of our bad choices or consequences of other people’s bad choices, God is there.

Great is His Faithfulness!

And, just like Jeremiah, we must wait on God when we are lamenting about our lives. Trust in his faithfulness. Know he is responding to our pleas and prayers. We are not consumed because we turn toward him every day and move closer. We wait on his perfect timing knowing he loves us with a perfect love and he is working all things out for our good.

I regret that I missed this wisdom and direction when I was younger but I’m really glad I have this figured out now. Our culture is a mess from all the rebellion and sin that have brought us to this place but I know…

Great is your faithfulness, Father.

Under Attack

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

I feel it. Do you?

I feel that the values Jesus role-modeled for us as believers are under serious attack in our culture. Loving others, forgiving people, and giving other people grace when they aren’t perfect are all getting lost under mountains of political division and widespread judgement of anybody who says they are a Christ-follower.

Other people can share their opinions and perspectives and the culture is very ‘inclusive’. But when I talk about what I believe to be true and it’s different from what is popular in our culture, a negative label gets slapped one me really fast. I guess the ‘inclusiveness’ doesn’t include me?

Jeremiah’s prayer to God echoes some of my concerns. He is praying this while he was confined within Jerusalem which was itself being confined by the Babylonians as they began to attack the city. “See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city,” Jeremiah prayed. “Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it.” Jeremiah 32:24.

I see the siege ramps being built up to take away many of the values that have made our country a great “One Nation Under God’. I see the sword of division, a famine of truth and a plague of fear.

As I pray about this, I hear only one response from God, “I am in control”. God highlights Jeremiah 32:27 for me as I read his Word. “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?’

No, Father. Nothing is impossible for you.

Your will be done, 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 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.

Do Not Listen

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

Do you ever feel surrounded by lies?

Do you automatically question news you read on Facebook or hear on TV?

When you see graphs and numbers and statistics, do you wonder if any of it is accurate?

I do. I question any news I hear – all of it. I don’t believe a lot of things that people tell me. If it’s important, I research it myself looking for corroborating information from several credible sources.

I recently fact-checked a story about a dog who reportedly saved hundreds of people by leading them out of one of the towers during the attack on 9/11. Hundreds of ‘likes’ in Facebook. I liked it but wondered how I could not have heard about this before. So I checked it out. It was not true. It is what is called an ‘urban legend’. The true story is a guide dog led his owner out of the tower. Great job! But it grew to this big thing that wasn’t true. Since then I have started fact-checking many ‘interesting’ things I see and most of them are not true.

Being lied to by people we should be able to trust is not a new thing. God spoke very clearly about some of the liars in Jeremiah’s day. “Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles from the LORD’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. Do not listen. ” Jeremiah 27: 16 – 17. God goes on to say that the articles of the temple would stay in Babylon until he brought them back. Ultimately he was saying that it wasn’t happening until he made it happen and it wasn’t happening now.

I no longer automatically trust leaders – any kind of leader. They all have agendas which can make them wander from the truth if they aren’t very careful. The real pandemic during the pandemic were the big lies announced to the world like it was truth. Election years are the very worst.

I question things that I hear come out of pastor’s mouths during sermons. I’m in my 14th consecutive year of reading the entire Bible and, if I don’t remember reading something that is said in a sermon, I go home and research it. Most of the time it’s a phrase or a situation that I’ve never fully understood before and it’s great – I learned something. I’ve had a few times when I didn’t agree with how the pastor used a scripture especially when a single verse is not used in context with the verses around it.

The one source I never question is the Bible. It is the Living Word of God. I question people’s interpretations of scripture but not what God has actually said. God is perfect and he doesn’t make mistakes. The Bible is as relevant today as it was when it was written.

And God is saying, “Do not listen.” There has never been a time in my life where this direction is more important than right now. There has never been a time where asking God to help me discern the truth has been as high of a priority for me.

Because I feel like I’m surrounded by lies. Surrounded by information that is being manipulated by people who are putting personal goals of power, prestige or wealth ahead of the greater good.

And God is saying, ‘Do not listen.”

Revealer of Mysteries

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

I don’t understand everything I read in the Bible.  I know I will never understand everything I read in the Bible.  It’s very interesting to watch God reveal different truths to me each time I read it. Was that always in there? How did I miss that before? When God does this, I have discovered that it’s usually an answer to a question I have asked him.

Daniel called God the Revealer of Mysteries.  As Daniel started to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream for him, he said , “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.” Daniel 2:29.

There are many mysteries in our lives that we would like to have answers for, aren’t there?

Why am I here?

Why is this happening?

What am I supposed to do?

Should I go through this door?

I have discovered that God has all the answers to these mysteries. When I trust him, he reveals what I need to know when I need to know it. If I’m feeling like I need an answer right now and I don’t have it, I focus all of my attention on God and he always responds. Many time, I realize later that God was trying to give me direction but it was so different than what I expected that I had overlooked it.

I know I’m moving down the right path when I’m heading towards God.  I’m on the right road when I’m trusting that he will explain what I need to know when I need to know it.

As my trust in God grows, I have found that the number of mysteries in my life shrinks.  He is always speaking to me – loving me, guiding me and pointing out my next step just at the right time – not a day early.

The Revealer of Mysteries proves over and over that he has it all under control.

Thank you, Abba Father.

It’s Not a Waste

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

Sometimes I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of time today – or last week – or last year.

How much time did I waste watching TV? How much time did I waste worrying about tomorrow? Worrying about things that never happened? How much time have I wasted looking at my phone or IPad?

What about you? How much time have you wasted lately?

But there is one place in my life where no time is wasted. I know this for fact – when I sit with my Bible open on my lap reading God’s word, studying God’s Word, and listening to God as he helps me figure out how to apply his word to my life, not one second is wasted.

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater; so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55: 10-11.

This is great news for all of us and especially ‘achievers’ like me. It is so awesome to know when God’s word goes into my mind, it achieves the purpose God has for it. Of course, I have freedom of choice so I have to choose to listen and I have to choose to obey.

It’s a huge confidence-builder for me to know that when I choose to open my eyes and heart to the word of God, he promises that he will accomplish his desires through me.

I can count on it.

I love knowing that I’m not wasting a second of my time when I spend it with God.

Thank you, Abba Father.