Canaan’s Rest represents a quiet place “set apart” for the purpose of hearing God's voice, growing in intimacy with the Lord, and being renewed in soul and spirit.

Month: December 2021 (Page 2 of 4)

December 21, 2021

Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a peace-filled day. Christmas is only days away and is there a  family tradition you have that is meaningful to you? Our family gathering may be over 40 relatives at a hotel and I love that we can catch up with one another and go home knowing more how to pray for each one. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
As we get closer to Christmas, we have to make a conscious choice to make Jesus our first priority. It is easy to crowd Him out as we rush to buy the perfect gifts for others, bake special pastries, plan gatherings, go to Christmas parties and programs etc. Debbie McDaniel writes a prayer that can help us put the focus where it should be, on Jesus, and make room to keep Him first.
“Dear God,
Help us to keep our focus first on Christ this season. Please forgive us for giving too much time and attention on other things. Help us to reflect again, on what Christmas is really all about. Thank you that you came to give new life, peace, hope, and joy. Thank you that your power is made perfect in our weakness. Help us to remember that the gift of Christ, Immanuel, is our greatest treasure, not just at Christmas, but for the whole year through. Fill us with your joy and the peace of your Spirit. Direct our hearts and minds towards you. Thank you for your reminder that both in seasons of celebration and in seasons of brokenness, you’re still with us. For you never leave us. Thank you for your daily powerful Presence in our lives, that we can be assured your heart is towards us, your eyes are over us, and your ears are open to our prayers. Thank you that you surround us with favor as with a shield, and we are safe in your care. We choose to press in close to you today…and keep you first in our hearts and lives.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Challenge for today: Pray this prayer from your heart and choose to put Him first.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

December 20, 2021

Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Christmas is coming soon! Today I made a big G.F. spaghetti type dish and bars incase our grandsons stop by, and went to Aldi’s and my exercise class. Burr it is cold out! 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
The faith of a child is beautiful and perhaps they can tell the Christmas story better than anyone. At this time of the year there are children’s Christmas programs happening in churches all throughout our nation; parents and grandparents and friends who may not go to church regularly during the year, will come from miles away to see their precious ones act out and retell the Christmas story. It can soften hearts and bring tears to the hardest skeptics.
I remember as a very young girl waiting for my turn to sing a solo on a verse of When He Cometh and I was terrified at the time. But somehow, I got through it and the memory is still very vivid! It was not like that for a young girl at our church yesterday, when we had our S.S. program.  My heart was so touched by her comfort and ease of being upfront and joy was written all over her. She was dressed like one of the angels with a sparkling crown and was excited to sing and say her part. She just kept smiling to her parents and grandparents all in the front row. There was no self-consciousness but rather a freedom to just express what was in her heart. So beautiful! 
Towards the close of the program, the congregation sang, “Go Tell It On the Mountain..that Jesus Christ is born.” Why aren’t we all like this little girl that freely wanted to share the Good News with others, for it is the best news of all time?
The Apostle Paul was not ashamed to share Christ and says in Romans 1:16 (Message), “It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts Him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else!” We have the most wonderful message to proclaim to others and let us do it with boldness and joy. There are preachers today that believe God will raise up this present generation of youth to bring in the greatest revival today.
Let us pray for the youth to have a holy boldness, but also include ourselves in that prayer, so we may all freely share the Good News.
Challenge for today: Pray for opportunities to joyfully share the Lord with others.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

 

The Empty Manger

I saw something the other day that seemed to be an appropriate metaphor for our holiday season. While waiting for my wife in our local bank’s parking lot, I noticed a manager scene in which the baby Jesus was missing. Mary looked adoringly into an empty manger while Joseph pointed to it. It seemed to be saying, “We have canceled the reason for the season,” almost mocking the story of Mary and Joseph.  

How appropriate the empty manger scene is in contemporary culture.  We no longer have the so-called “Christmas wars,” when we used cry “foul” because Christ had been taken out of Christmas programs. “God with us” has been canceled altogether.  “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means, ‘God with us.'” (Matt. 1:23).  This is no longer the narrative.  

The good news that the shepherds were so excited to share is no longer being sung in malls and public squares. “”Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). Christmas carols are no longer giving witness to the good news. As a result, we have to produce our own version of the good news, which often ends up being, “Let’s try harder next year.”  

We now have to be cautious to whom we dare wish a “Merry Christmas.”  The word “Christmas” is seldom heard in the dominant culture. The message, of course, is that we can go on to have “Happy Holidays” without any awareness that Christmas has its origins in celebrating the birth of God’s only begotten Son as a baby born of the virgin Mary.  

What can an empty manager at Christmas teach us? 

First, be intentional in celebrating the ultimate meaning of Christmas in your daily life.  Enjoy the festive nature of this time of year.  But don’t forget the real meaning. Tell the story as it has been told for over 2,000 years.  Have the courage of young Joseph, who believed the message given him regarding the young woman he would marry.  “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Tell the story especially to the younger generation, before it fades from their memory.

Second, remember you are part of a greater story.  Don’t forget that Jesus came to bring his kingdom presence into our lives.  It’s sad to see how small and self-focused our collective national consciousness has become.  Get out of your small story and celebrate the life you have within the life of the Trinity. “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and his Son. We write this to make our joy complete” (I John 1:3-4).   

Third, live out gratitude. It is God’s love for you and me that sent His one and only Son into the world.  God took the initiative so we would take initiative with others. We live among many lonely people who live with a sense of abandonment. They have no clear identity.  Who really cares for them?  God showed his love by becoming one of us: “This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (I John 4:10). 

 

 

 

December 18, 2021

Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying the weekend and not overly busy with Christmas preparations. I look out my window to more snow but very beautiful. This morning I made a couple Mexican pies and took a neighbor friend to the Dollar Store. Our grandson is due here any minute.  Later this afternoon we will be going to the Soup kitchen to serve. Yesterday we had a big turnout for the Birthday party. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
All of us need healing in our lives as we have had experiences that wounded us, words that hurt us, and were raised by imperfect parents. But we aren’t always aware of the wounding of our souls and need the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and bring healing where needed.
I have often sung the song, “Come Holy Spirit I need Thee/ Come sweet Spirit I pray/ Come in thy strength and thy power/ Come in your own gentle way.” It is an invitation for the Holy Spirit to go to work in our hearts and free us from those hidden hurts and bring inner healing…even to those deep places.
I saw Christian Home Decor company online today and one of the Biblical framed posters said, “Holy Spirit You are Welcome Here.” What a reminder to the family who pass by it many times a day and a witness to others as well.
As I write this, I feel warm and cozy as our furnace is in the closet close by. Three years ago when we first moved to our apartment home, I would experience cold air pouring out on me as I would sit at my desk. I put insulation around the door etc. but it didn’t help much. One day we had to get maintenance as the furnace didn’t seem to work well and it was discovered that a piece was left out when they put the furnace in four years before. The piece was ordered and when it was installed, it made all the difference. I don’t need the space heater anymore and I am very comfortably warm as I write. The truth is I had no idea we were missing a part and yet the evidence was there in the cold air.
There are hurts in our lives that may have happened so long ago that we have only a faint memory of, and yet they affect our present live. We may have exaggerated responses to things, read more into situations than is there etc. They are signs that we need healing and we can ask the Holy Spirit to do a deep work. He may use our pastor or counselor or mentor to aid this process but it is the Holy Spirit who reads our hearts and knows what piece is missing.
It says in Psalm 147:3 (Message), “He heals the heartbroken and bandages their wounds.”  God is right there and listening and ready to help and heal our deepest wounds. May our prayer be as the second verse to the song goes, “Come like a spring in the desert/ Come to the withered of soul/ Lord let They sweet healing power/ Touch me and make me whole.”
Challenge for today: Welcome the Holy Spirit to heal your heart!
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

December 17, 2021

Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you!! We are getting ready for the Birthday party here and went to Costco this morning for the chocolate cake and set up the Community room. I also made stir fry and cleaned the apartment and after the party we will walk in the underground as our regular route isn’t plowed yet. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart’
Life is full of good things but also bad things that are hard to understand. We have probably all said, “Why me?” when things have come crashing in on us. Then we look at so and so who is living a sinful life apart from God and things outwardly seems to be going well for him. It doesn’t seem fair!  Or we may read Christmas newsletters from those who have had a spectacular year and are flying high while we are barely making it! Lord, why?
I am reading the book of Job right now and he must have had similar questions for he was living a righteous life when one day everything went wrong. His children all died, and his thousands of donkeys and camels stolen and his sheep killed; and later he physically suffered greatly with boils. But he didn’t blame God and said in Job 1:21 (The message), “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I’ll return to the womb of the earth. God gives, God takes, God’s name be ever blessed.”  His wife wanted him to curse God, but even though Job doesn’t understand he accepts the mystery of his suffering.  He doesn’t play the role of victim but takes his case before God, and he comes to accept the good days as well as the bad.
We can’t avoid suffering and just because we are Christians doesn’t give us immunity to suffering. In fact, we may suffer more. But rather than trying to run from suffering or trying to prevent it, we need to look for God in the midst of it and ask what He wants to teach us through it. It can lead us into a closer relationship with Him and cause us to worship and love Him from a deeper place.
Charles Spurgeon said, “It is the mark of great grace to be able to comply in tribulation; to be able to welcome it and say, ‘Oh, the Lord is elevating me to the upper class in His school—to teach me some deeper truths that I have not yet learned to work in my heart some new grace which has never been there before!”
Let us not persist to know the why of our suffering for is a mystery, but instead let God do a deep work in us that will transform and change us to be more like Him. May our love for Him grow whether He blesses us or whether He allows suffering to come to us, for He is enough!
Challenge for today: The next time you are tempted to complain of your circumstance, ask God what He is trying to teach you.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

December 16, 2021

Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a great day. We drove home from Bible Study last night in a deluge of rain and this morning we woke to snow. Winter is back! Today I baked S.F. lemon almond flour cookies, and went downstairs for coffee and donuts. This afternoon we have Bible study and tomorrow we have another party and this one to celebrate the December birthdays. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I’m all for natural immunity and gravitate to articles on how to have strong immunity. Recently an article caught my attention by Pastor Sara Whitten who writes of Ways to Activate Spiritual Immunity which is even more important. It’s good for us to give thought of how we can activate our spiritual immune system!
One way is our testimony. When we go through hard times in our lives and overcome with God’s help, then God can use us to share with those going through similar things in their lives. Sara mentions how survivors of small pox, years ago, were recruited to help those with active small pox because they had natural immunity to the disease that no longer had power over them.
We also have community to strengthen our immunity for we are not to be an island unto ourselves. When we connect with others, we are stronger and we need to be open to those the Lord places next to us in the Body.
Rest is also important, but that does not mean being inactive but rather remembering there is times to act and times to rest to be restored. We are to be still before the Lord and then go out in His strength.
Joy and laughter are a natural immunity booster. A joyful heart is the best medicine!
We hear lots about gut health today and it is so important in our immune system. And spiritually there are times we just have a gut feeling even though we have nothing to back it up with. But the Holy Spirit may be trying to tell us something and we need to pay attention.
Next there is freedom/choice when we have resistance and can stand against those things that war against our freedom to serve the Lord.
We also have power and authority that God gives to us which is far different than our own power. Like it says in Luke 10:19 (Message), “See what I have given you? Sate passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the enemy. No one can put a hand on you.”
So let us have courage to share our testimony and join with others in community with wisdom to know when to fight and when to rest. May we let joy and hope bubble up and listen to the Spirit so we can walk in freedom and power.
Challenge for today: Share something the Lord has done for you with someone else today.
Blessings on  your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

December 15, 2021

Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying this day! We woke to dense fog this morning. I went to my exercise class and made stroganoff for lunch. This afternoon I am going with my neighbor/friend to the Christmas open houses on each floor here, followed by hot cider and cookies. After that our walk and then we have Bible study so today doesn’t leave time for me to get in much trouble!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
So many of us have heard about Jesus since we were little children and are familiar with the Bible stories. Our head may be full of knowledge of the scriptures and can recite verses but we need more than that; we need a heart that trusts in the Lord. Our emotional brain is meant to function along with our rational brain. Sometimes we read the Word just with our mind engaged and our heart is not with it.
Yes, we may be able to quote a verse or two or even a chapter, but if it hasn’t touched our hearts, we come away much the same.
When we read the Word out of a trusting relationship with the Lord, it like reading a love letter, not some factual information that may tickle our intellect. 
The Lord wants a close relationship with us and out of that we want to know more and have a hunger for what the Word says. When our heart is engaged, we are like David who sang on his way to worship in Psalm 131:1b-2 (God’s Word), “I am not involved in things too big or too difficult for me. Instead, I have kept my soul calm and quiet. My soul is content as a weaned child is content in its mothers’ arms.” Some have grown up in homes where love was absent and life was harsh and it may be hard to picture being held in loving arms. But the Lord can bring healing and correct our heart image of God. He does this in many ways.
Often, the Lord gives us a Christian brother or sister that helps us on our way and is like a spiritual guide, showing us what it is to experience a trusting relationship. Others may sit in nature and observe God’s care for even the birds of the air and come to realize how God is there loving and caring for them. Some who participate in the life of the church may learn to trust as they see living examples around them. Others try to put themselves in the story about Jesus they may be reading and imagine themselves in the audience. His message seems so personal. I love to sing worship songs as it puts my focus on the Lord and His greatness and love. God has so many ways to draw us close to Him and to help us engage both our rational brain and our emotional brain. Delight in Him!
Challenge for today: Take a prayer walk with the Lord today and share your heart with Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

December 14, 2021

 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Every Christmas, many people get robbed.  Houses are burglarized, packages on doorsteps are stolen and people may be beaten and robbed. Thieves are busy and we are to be aware. The other day Al and I drove to the bank and I noticed they had a nativity scene in front but no manger or baby Jesus. I told Al, “You mean people even steal baby Jesus!” When I went inside to make my transaction, I complimented the bank on having the nativity scene but asked if Jesus had been stolen. I was so glad to hear quick response, “Oh no, we must wait for Christmas eve, the time when Jesus was born. It is too soon so we wait until then!” I was so glad to hear that was the case and not that someone had kidnapped him!
It seems like there is so much spiritual robbery taking place at Christmas with many taking Christ out of Christmas. The literal meaning of Christmas is Christian’s Mass or Christ’s Mass and how can we celebrate if we leave Him out?  Greg Laurie wrote how King Herod was the first to try to stop Christmas. He pretended to be a worshiper and asked the Wisemen to come back after they found Jesus to let him know where He could be found. Of course, this knowledge was not to pay homage to Him but to kill him.
Today so many are trying to leave Jesus out of Christmas.  I was approached by a woman who hadn’t been able to find Christmas cards and wanted to know if I had any to spare. I asked her if she wanted religious ones or just holiday ones and she was quick to answer, “Nonreligious ones!”  Schools also want Holiday Programs not Christmas Programs and to sing Jingle Bells rather than Away in a Manger.
But we don’t have to live like those that have been robbed for we can read the Christmas story, go to see live Nativity scenes, sing carols, go to S.S. Christmas programs, have devotions around the Christmas wreath, give to the poor, help others to know of Jesus coming etc. Like the carol goes, “O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”  He wants our hearts, so don’t rob the Lord.
Challenge for today: Find a new meaningful way to celebrate Jesus’ birth.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

December 13, 2021

Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend! I enjoyed the Christmas luncheon at Sherwood Forest on Saturday with over 20 gals from church. This morning i made a double batch of G.F choc peppermint cookies and went to my exercise class. We have more parties this week coming up! Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
How bright does our light shine for the Lord? Do we seek to know God and use the spiritual gifts that He has given us? I read today that as Christians we are like billboards that God uses to tell the world about Him. So, we may wonder how our billboard would read!
Would those around us notice we look past ourselves and seek to serve others? It isn’t all about us! We want to give back out of gratitude for what the Lord has done for us. Since we all have been given spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6-8), are we using them to extend His kingdom? Our gifts are given not to make us feel important or a matter of pride but to minister to others and share God’s love.
The world may tell us we are what we do, or we are what we have, or we are what people say about us, but that is not true. Rather than our position or self-importance, it is the Lord who gives our life meaning and reveals who we truly are. And then out of hearts that know we are loved, we can share Him with others around us.
I was reading Bill and Kristi Gaultiere’s book, Journey of the Soul, and they write how the measure of our life is love. We don’t have to feel we can’t serve the Lord because of our own guilt and shame for we have been forgiven. They give an example from Brennan Manning who tells the story of a prosecutor who presented all of his sins that he had committed and those sins of omission. It went on for hours and he felt worse and worse, like he was hit by a landslide. But a group of angels appeared to conduct his defense and all they could say was, “But he loved.” They chanted over and over again, “But he loved. But he loved. But he loved.” This continued until dawn and the angels won and he felt safe.
We are not perfect and even though we sin every day, let us rejoice that God forgives us and desires to use us to share His love with others.
Challenge for today: Share His love in some small way with someone else today!
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy



International Pronouns Day

On International Pronouns Day (Oct. 20), the State Department tweeted to explain that many Americans use pronouns as a form of gender expression. This day was created by Shige Sakurai, who believes that pronouns, like names, allow people to express themselves and their identity to the rest of the world.

Remember President Biden’s executive order issued during his first days in office seeking to prevent discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation: “It is the policy of my administration to prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, and to fully enforce Title VII and other laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.” This is now reflected in the policy of our State Department and the stance of America in the world.

“Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity. Being referred to by the wrong pronouns particularly affects transgender and gender nonconforming people,” Sakurai wrote. With this in mind, Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that the State Department would allow people to choose their gender identity on passports even if it contradicts with the sex or gender identity listed on other official documents. 

For those individuals with official documents and medical forms identifying them as either male or female, no longer is any official confirmation needed to show they have a medical condition warranting the nonbinary option. According to the government, their word is as good as gold. 

The U.S. special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, said the passport was “historic” and puts the government in touch with the “lived reality” of Americans who identify as something other than male or female. “When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect,” Stern said. A spokesperson for the State Dept. explained, “The Department also continues to work closely with other U.S. government agencies to ensure as smooth a travel experience as possible for all passport holders, regardless of their gender identity.”  

We are referring to a very small segment of people in the world who believe someone actually is the sex or gender they believe they are, rather than the one their body says they are. To date there is no new scientific evidence requiring this belief. “Yet,” notes The Daily Citizen, “many are trying to force the belief on others with brutal rigidity. That is why the gender pronoun issue is such a contentious issue.” 

Men, this is the world in which we live. Reality is not what we make it to be but is objective and unchanging based on the revealed Word of our Creator. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The NET states, “This verse constitutes the most concise statement of the incarnation in the New Testament.”  The Message proclaims, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” 

The Word became a man. Jesus loved men and women equally, accepting them with all their flaws, but never confusing reality with their identity as Man and Woman, reminding us, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female'” (Matt 19:4). May Jesus be our guide in this confusing time. 

Our identity is in Christ. “…Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously towards others, the way God lives toward you” (Matt 5:48 – Message). 

 

 

 

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