Tag: wisdom

Foolish

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

What was this person thinking?

I can’t believe this person wrote that!

There are times when I feel surrounded by crowds of people who are not thinking, not using logic, and not caring about the facts. These people seem to be reacting purely out of emotion – to everything.

And sometimes its hard not to respond back in the same way. It would feel good – for a minute – but then I would regret that I was acting just like they were. Emotionally. Without thinking. That’s not good.

God generously gives you and I some wisdom in this situation in Proverbs 26:4, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly; or you yourself will be just like him.”

Yep, when I answer a foolish statement with my own emotional, foolish statement, I am on the wrong track. The right track is to look to God for wisdom and discernment.

God tells me in Proverbs 9: 7-9 to forget about correcting a fool. Their response will be to insult me, abuse me and hate me. But a wise person learns from correction and grows wiser.

That’s the kind of person I want to be – a wise person who is learning and being transformed by the truth of God.

Proverbs is full of God’s wisdom regarding all kinds of situations we find ourselves in.

Thank you for your precious Word to us, Abba Father.

My Greatest Treasure

On By Judy GlasserIn MayLeave a comment

My greatest treasure is not money,

or fame,

or any of my ‘stuff’.

My  greatest treasure is wisdom.  Wisdom – so I can navigate successfully through all of the valleys and hills and blind curves of my life.  I’ve been memorizing wisdom scripture this last 10 years.  I have an extremely bad memory so it is really God who is etching his Word on my heart – I just faithfully get out my memory cards every day.  I found out why God commands me to memorize his truth 9 years ago when tragedy blew my life apart.  God used the words he carved into my brain to keep my soul from crumbling into a million painful pieces when my son was killed in the line of duty.

God tells us in the first chapter of James that he gives us generous amounts of wisdom when we ask for it.  I’ve been asking, I need it and I’m not going stop.

King Solomon asked for wisdom at a crucial time in his reign and God responded by making him the wisest man who ever lived. The news about King Solomon spread and we read in 1 King 10 that the historically famous Queen of Sheba decided to go visit him.  She knew about King Solomon’s extreme wealth but she was not interested in that — she was crazy rich herself.  She was not interested in his palaces or any of his numerous possessions.

The Queen of Sheba came to test Solomon’s wisdom.  That’s what motivated her to take a very dangerous 1200 mile trip on camels through a desert filled with thieves and criminals.

When the Queen of Sheba asked Solomon all of her many questions, he had an answer for everything.  She was surprised.  She didn’t think any man could have that kind of wisdom.

Before she left, she said to Solomon, “How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!” 1 Kings 10:8.

I can’t help thinking – are the people who hang out with you and me happy about all the wisdom they hear from us every day? Maybe we should be asking for more?

All wisdom comes from God and he generously gives it to us when we ask.  It is our greatest treasure.

Thank you,  Abba Father

A Discerning Heart

On By Judy GlasserIn May3 Comments

Do you have any decisions you need to make? Are you surrounded by options that all look good? Which one do you choose?

Are you struggling with a relationship in your life? You don’t know what to do? Where to turn?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Sometimes I do. Everything is moving and changing so quickly…and its all just going to get faster. If you’ve been on this planet as many revolutions as I have, it’s extremely tough to keep up. I’ll admit it – I can use all the help I can get.

I’m sure King Solomon felt this way as he was talking to God in 1 Kings 3: 9, “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” 

God honored that request by making Solomon the wisest man who has ever lived.

Whenever I think about all the wisdom I need to navigate this world, I am reminded that God tells me at the beginning of the book of James that he wants to give me a generous amount of wisdom. I just need to ask for it. “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1: 5 & 6.

Did you catch that last part? God has promised so, when I ask for wisdom, I must believe that I am receiving it. I have to pray expecting an answer. After I pray, I need to focus on what God is saying to me in his word and keep my eyes open for confirmations of how he is guiding me. There are no such things as coincidences – they are God-incidences. God is answering as we watch things happen in our lives and associate them with our prayers. God is moving, he is orchestrating his plan. We can miss it and become a ‘wave of the sea’ if we’re not carefully attentive to what’s happening around us.

One of my regular prayers is asking for wisdom. Whenever I feel the twists of concern in my stomach or find myself in the middle of conflict or a difficult situation, I know where I can get wisdom for this situation. God has promised he will give me plenty.

And he has. God is always faithful. But it’s not a magic button and ‘poof’ I have the answer or my issue is resolved. God speaks to me daily through his Word and gives me direction. I have to listen to him and do what he says. Then I see how he is guiding me in the right direction and giving me wisdom – step by step. He never tells me the whole plan. I have to trust him as I take each step.

Do you have choices you need to make? Plans? Relationship issues that need to be addressed?

God has generous amounts of wisdom he is waiting to give you. Ask for it as you open your eyes and heart to him and his Word.

You’ll find it.

Who Am I?

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

Isn’t this one of the big questions we try to figure out as we travel this road of life?

Who am I?

Who are you?

If we don’t find the right answer to that, it can really sidetrack us and distract us. We can end up in places we never wanted to be. We can follow roads we really don’t want to go down.

As you look around the world today, do you see any of this action? I know I do. I see a lot of people who are lost in a mire of pain and bad decisions and grief.

God knows that we need an anchor. We need a light – his light – of truth in our lives. That’s what the Bible – God’s Word – is meant to do for us. If we let it. God gives us a foundation to stand on when the waves of this world try to roll over us, when the pain of living in a broken world takes all the joy out of our lives, when getting out of bed in the morning and facing the day seems futile and useless.

There are way too many dark pits we can fall into if we don’t have the right guide. These pits have names like selfishness, hate, unforgiveness, cheating, lying, unfaithfulness, and the list goes on.

I agree with King David as I read the words he wrote in Psalm 8: 3 – 9 –

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all the flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim in the paths of the sea.

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

This is what God created us to be. This is how he looks at those who believe in him. He knows our potential to be great people who love him and love others.

But it’s impossible to live right and become the people God created us to be by ourselves. It’s only when we put God in the center of it all that it works. Because that’s how he created us. That’s how he created everything – with him right in the middle.

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 63, 2025

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

O God, you are my God.  I am searching for you with all my heart.

My soul needs you.  My whole being longs to be close to you in this empty, weary and very confused world.  I treasure the precious time I get to spend with you.

I have personally witnessed your power and glory.  I praise you for your love which makes this life worth living.

I will lift my hands and heart up to you in praise for as long as I live.  Only you can fill the emptiness inside of me and make me sing for joy.

In the darkest part of the night, I remember how much you have loved me in the past and how much you have promised to love me in the future.  My heart sings for joy as I cling to your promises and feel your arms around me, holding me safe and securely to your side.

The Evil One and his team are all around me, Father, trying to ruin me.  But I know you are fighting my battles, God, and you have already won the war.

I rejoice in you, God.  All who know the Truth know you.  Liars will be silenced.

I will lift my hands in praise to you for the rest of my life, Abba Father.

I Know That Voice

On By Judy GlasserIn April2 Comments

Little Samuel’s story in the Bible is one my favorites.

He heard a voice calling to him in the night and he thought is was the Prophet Eli since he was living with Eli.  So Samuel got out of bed and ran to Eli saying, “Here I am”.

But Eli said, “I did not call, go back and lie down.”

This happened again and then the third time, Eli realized that it was God who was calling the boy.  This time Eli told Samuel, when he heard the voice, to say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:9.

When God spoke again, Samuel told him he was listening and God went on to tell Samuel what was soon going to happen.

I’ve got a challenge for you.  The next time you think you might be hearing something from God, say those same words, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”  And then listen.  Listen to what is going through your brain.  Think about what you have been reading in God’s Word and how it applies to your life.  Think about coincidences that have been happening in your life and how they relate to what you’ve been reading.  Remember things that Godly people in your life have said to you recently.

I believe God is regularly trying to break through the cacophony of our culture – especially the electronic bubble where we spend a lot of our time.  He is trying to talk to you and me – guiding us, encouraging us, and teaching us.

Have you had the experience where you are reading God’s Word and suddenly a sentence seems to stick out of the page? It almost looks like it’s in bold print? You reread a phrase a couple of times?  You start to wonder what this means in your life?  Has that phrase always been there?  I don’t remember ever reading that or even hearing anyone talk about that before?  That is God stopping us.  That is God drawing our attention to something specific in his Word so he can speak to us.

That’s what God did today with me.  He stopped me as I was reading to remind me how much I like young Samuel’s story.  Because I know God, I know he is encouraging me to continue to learn how to hear him more and more clearly as I read his Truth.  My knowledge of God is growing and the more I know him, the better I hear him.

How can I be confident that it’s God that’s talking to me and not just my own thinking?  What God says to me will always be consistent with what he says in the Bible.  He will not contradict himself.

I am also 100% sure it’s God talking when he says something I’ve never thought of before and it’s consistent with what I have read in the Bible.  God confirms his guidance to me through my circumstances as well.  When it’s God talking to me, things happening around me will line up with what God is saying.  Sometimes it will be something my husband, my pastor or a friend says.  As I pray about what God is telling me, God will often open up my eyes to how he is moving around me and I’m be able to connect the dots.

When I take time to consider all of these things, God’s directions to me become really clear.

When I work at staying aware of the fact that God is trying to talk to me, it’s not hard to hear him.

I hear you, Abba Father

Whatever I Want

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Sounds good – let’s all do whatever works for us.   Then we’ll all be happy.

Or not.

“In those days Israel had no king: everyone did as they saw fit”. Judges 21:25. This is how the book of Judges ends.  It may sound good until we scan back a couple of chapters and realize what they thought was ‘fit’ to do. 

Family members were stealing from each other.  They obviously thought this was an ok thing to do.

Family members were kidnapping each other.  They thought this was ok as well.

Family members were killing each other to the point that they virtually annihilated one of the 12 tribes of Israel.  I wonder how they could possibly think this was ok but they did.  They could rationalize anything. Their moral judgement was quickly spirally into total chaos and confusion.

Because they had no compass.

Sounds familiar? Our current culture has many of these same issues. Why?

When I base what is right and wrong on what I think, I’m in trouble.  Then I’m just like these Israelites – doing what I see fit and letting my standards waiver in whatever direction the wind is blowing.

God has been very clear to you and me on moral boundaries. His Word to us is full of direction and guidance. I might not like all of it. You may not agree with all of it. But that doesn’t change his Word to us.

This picture of the Umbrella of God’s Blessing is stuck my head and reminds me that one of my main goals in life is to stay in line with God. When I obey God and follow the compass he has given me, I am placing my life under his umbrella of blessing. When I don’t obey God and just do what I want to do, I am stepping out from under his umbrella. I can’t expect God to bless my decisions and life when I’m not obeying him.

One example is tithing. If we have put our faith in God, we also want to put our money in his hands. This means tithing. We can’t expect God to bless our finances if we steal for ourselves his portion of all he gives us.

It’s my choice and I choose to stay under the umbrella – every hour of every day.

What do you choose?

Dear Father, I desire to walk in your path of truth.  Please guide me so that your moral standards are what ‘fits’ me best.

Sifted

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

What does it mean to be sifted?

Ash is sifted to find anything important or useful in it.  Wheat is sifted so the unusable chaff is separated from the valuable grains.

I know what it feels like to be sifted. My world shook when my son, David Glasser, who was Phoenix Police Officer was shot and killed in the line of duty on May 18, 2016. My life crumbled. All of my hopes and dreams for him were stripped away. His future completely disappeared, leaving gaping holes full of hurt in my world.

What was left? I had to dig deep…..

very deep,

into my faith and what I knew to be true in order to stay standing in the middle of the devastation.

Harsh sifting.

So Jesus’ words to Peter in Luke 22 stop me.  “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.  But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail.  So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” vs 31-32.

Satan asked to sift the disciples – let that sink in.  Satan knew that Jesus expected the disciples to share the Great News of salvation to world so the disciples became a pivotal target for Satan.

Jesus knew that Peter would deny him three times in one night.  Major sifting.  So Jesus was encouraging Peter that his faith could not only withstand the shaking it was going to get, it was going to become stronger.  Through this experience of denying Jesus, then repenting and turning back to him, Peter would be more prepared to help strengthen his brothers.

I have learned there is purpose in the pain when I let God control what happens next.  God can make good come from evil – he did it in my life. My prayer is that my sharing this with you will help you turn to God when you are being sifted so your faith and trust in him will be strengthened.

What Makes Him Happy?

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

Being ‘good enough’ is not my goal.  Getting my act together is not my goal.  Checking all the boxes – keeping busy with ‘God’ stuff – is not my goal.

The historical account of Jesus’ baptism tells me what pleases God, what makes him happy.

I do.

If you have put your faith in Jesus, then you do, too.

When I trusted in Jesus and was redeemed by his sacrifice on the cross, I was adopted by God and became one of his precious daughters.  ‘Joint heirs with Jesus’ – as an old hymn describes it.  What Jesus did for me makes me ‘good enough’.

While reading about Jesus’ baptism, I realize a very important fact. Jesus hadn’t started his ministry yet.  He hadn’t DONE anything huge for God.  “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17.

Let’s take a moment to let that soak in, my brothers and sisters.  Jesus was God’s son and God was pleased with him – before his ministry began.  Before Jesus did any miracles.  Before he did any teaching. During this spectacular moment when all three parts of our Triune God met on earth, the only thing our Father God wanted to say was how much he loved his son, Jesus.

Accepting salvation through Jesus makes you and I children of God and, as with his son, Jesus, God is pleased with us. It’s not what anything we do, it’s all about who we are.

Feel his smile shining down on you.

Feel his unconditional love.

Feel his forgiveness for any guilt that is weighing heavy on your shoulders.

Feel his peace flow over you in a supernatural way.

Feel his strength flow through you as he walks right beside you each day.

Let his joy fill your heart today.

Don’t DO anything.  Just feel the pleasure he has as he looks at you.  He sees himself in you.  We are all created in his image, yet each one of us reflects different aspects of him – making us all uniquely his.

I am important to God.  He has made me special.

You are very important to him.  He has made you special.

And he is pleased.

Thank you, Abba Father.

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.