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: October 2022 (Page 2 of 3)

October 21, 2022

Dear Ones,
Happy weekend! Our weekend is already a joyous one as we arrived at Mark and Andrea’s in N.C. early yesterday afternoon. So thankful for the safe journey here! It’s great to be together, we played games and lots of laughter, and went to see John Mark’s basketball game last night. Today Al is going out with Mark for father/son time, boys have home schooling, and tonight their pastor’s family is coming over  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  How big is our God? Do we believe He can do anything? Like the song goes by Pastor James Cleveland, that I learned as a youth: “God can do anything, anything, anything/ God can do anything but fail…He’s the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end/ He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul/ God can do anything, anything, anything/ God can do anything but fail…He can save, He can cleanse/ he can keep, and He will/ God can do anything but fail.”
    God can do the impossible but do we believe that? We read of all the great miracles and signs that Jesus did when He walked on earth, like healing the blind, raising the dead; but do we believe that He still does miraculous things today? Absolutely!!
   Rather than wasting the day in worry about things that concern us, we can pray and ask God for His will in everything. As it says in Jer. 33:3 (Amplified), “Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).”
   Our concern might be like Keneesha who applied for a job she really wanted but that she was not as qualified as others: she prayed before sending in her application, “Not my will but Thine be done!” God surprised her and gave her the job and she didn’t doubt that it was His doing. God can do anything!
   Or we might have concern for a loved one that has been given bad news from the Dr. and a set number of days to live. But then God does a miracle and when returning to the Doctor, no trace of cancer can be found. That happens today and we praise Him for God can do anything!
   What is it today that we need to trust God with? Maybe a child that has gone astray or a lingering illness etc. But whatever it is we can give it to the Lord and in faith, believe that He will answer according to His perfect will. Nothing, absolutely nothing is too hard for Him. 
Challenge for today: Give to the Lord something that weighs on your heart and wait in faith for His answer.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

 

Octobr 20, 2022

Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a peacefilled day! We will soon leave our hotel to go to Statesville to see Mark’s family!! EmojiEmojiYesterday the freeway was nearly shut down for miles and miles so we took an alternate route and saw trees at their peak with beautiful fall colors. We hit it big too as got to our hotel in time for a late supper and swim. Thank you again for your prayers  
Devotions from Judy’s heart 
  Yesterday I read an article about comfortable Christianity and got me questioning….Are we comfortable Christians, just sort of floating along each day with no real goal in mind? Or are we Christians with purpose who are growing, being challenged and stretched in our faith? There is a big difference!  When we are complacent and lukewarm and let our guard down, we are influenced by the enemy and our culture. But when we are active and growing in our faith, we are not sucked in by what is happening around us but rather focused on what the Lord is doing.
   Paul writes to the Christians in Colossae to be done with the old self and all its practices and says in Colossians, chapter 3, to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, forgiveness and love. He wants to know that the Christians brothers and sisters are growing, teaching and admonishing one another, singing spiritual songs and having thankful hearts. No lukewarmness but always growing and active in their faith life.
    What about us? What would the Lord say about us? Have we influenced greatly by our culture and live just like those who don’t know the Lord? Or are we known for our compassion, and love and Christ-likeness? If we are just Sunday Christians, or make excuses for our less than godly behavior, we will miss out on so much that God has for us. We must take responsibility for our responses and live in forgiveness and love.
  As we travel, sometimes it becomes obvious that a person belongs to the Lord. Yesterday I was eating breakfast at our hotel and saw a lady with a t-shirt on that had a Christian symbol of the cross with the word faith running vertically, and I told her I loved her shirt. We had an immediate coming together as sisters in the Lord. Sometimes words aren’t even necessary as there is a oneness with others who are His children. 
   Let us all take responsibility for our own faith life with the Lord. and not just take things for granted. As we live in grace, may that spur us on to live a life of compassion and love.
  Challenge for today: Do an act of kindness today as an expression of your love for the Lord. 
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

October 18, 2022

Dear Ones,
 May your day be filled with joy and song! Soon we are leaving to go on our way to North Carolina to see Mark’s family! We have had a wonderful time here at Kurt’s and loved seeing Grant play football yesterday afternoon. Very cold so bundled up though. Just good to catch up with Kurt’s family and now we look forward to doing that with Mark’s. Appreciate prayers for a safe trip and wellness. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  How do we see ourselves and others? Is it through our own lens or is it from God’s perspective? Perhaps we feel so ordinary and not nearly as gifted as those around us; but maybe we need a new lens, His lens.                                                                                     I was reading on Crosswalk.com what Suzanne Eller had to say about how God knows us and sees us. Just as Nathaniel was puzzled and as to how Jesus knew him, it says in John 1:48 (NIV), “How do you know me?” Nathaniel asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Jesus saw who Nathaniel was just as He knows and sees who we are and what we are becoming. He looks past the outward and sees who we really are on the inside and what we are meant to be. If we can grasp how Jesus sees us through His lens our lives would be radically changed.                                                                                                                                
   Each of us is created uniquely and is an original, for no one else is like us. We need to celebrate that and not try to be like someone else. We can embrace that we are known and seen and ask Him to help us see ourselves as He sees us. We can start by thanking him for the unique things about ourselves and how He can use those things for His glory. Maybe some of those qualities seem so ordinary that we miss realizing that God is using us…like bringing an essence of joy when we enter a room, or having a way with words that bring comfort, or identifying with those in need etc.
   As we begin to see our uniqueness, we may also see others through God’s lens and help them celebrate who He created them to be. In our Women’s Bible study on women of the Bible we are to write the names of 3 women who have influenced our lives in a big way and then list specific ways they have inspired us. I was just writing of a friend’s qualities when she e-mailed so I responded by sharing the qualities I see in her life that has impacted me. Let us do that for one another and let them know how we see them through God’s lens that they can also rejoice in how God is using them celebrate.
  Challenge for today: Thank God for your uniqueness and also look at others through His lens and celebrate.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

October 17, 2022

Dear Ones,
Hope your day is full of good things! We are in Olathe, KS, and enjoying time with Kurt’s family. We are excited that we will get to Grant’s football game to see him play later this afternoon.Yesterday we went to Redeemer in D.M. for church and got to see friends from years ago. Lots of hugs and catching up and then had dinner with the Donhowe’s who just got back from Bolivia. Many memories as we had dinner at the parsonage, which we lived in for years and brought back many memories of council dinners, birthdays parties and rich times. Our hearts are full of gratitude to the Lord.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
    We were made for God and the desire for God is engraved on our very being. Those who have not received Him are left with an unfulfilled longing that they try to unsuccessfully stuff with other things; but it won’t work because only the Lord can feed the deep longing of our souls.
    But we must choose God rather than self. Our ego wants its own way and to satisfy our own desires but it doesn’t work. We must come to grips with our own poverty and living for self, and in faith come to God and allow Him to direct our lives.
  Only a life lived for God will fill that void that is within all of us. He feeds the hunger of our soul and helps us live out the unique life He has planned for each of us. He will give us whatever we need to become that person we were created to be.
  In many ways it also brings relief that we don’t have to figure it all out for we can’t see into the future; but instead, we can by faith entrust our lives into His hands and let Him direct it. When we place our dependence on Him that is the very best place to be.
    I think of Mary and her response to the angel who told her she would carry the Son of God in her womb. In Luke 1:38 (ESV), she said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” In other words, let Him do what He will with me! Later she magnifies the Lord and we read of Mary’s beautiful song of praise in the Magnificat.
   When we also choose to let God have His way in our lives and to call all the shots, our souls feel full to overflowing. The more emptied we are of self the more room there is for Him to fill. We come to the realization that it is Jesus that matters and our only goodness is Him living in us.
   Let us be done with living our lives on our terms and trying to fill the void; instead may we set our hearts on the Lord and live in total dependence on Him.
  Challenge for today: Seek the Lord and let Him direct every aspect of your life.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

Eve In Exile

In a recent documentary entitled Eve in Exile, Rebekah Merkle makes the following observation: “I don’t think even the third-wave feminists have any idea what they’re fighting for… Every battle has been won and now we’ve gotten into the weird space where we don’t know what a woman is.”  Feminist ideology portrays Eve, the symbol of womanhood, as wandering through a confused world, robbed of her purpose and identity, living outside the garden.   In the national dialogue, the question is being asked, “What is a woman?”   

I think Merkle makes a valid point.  Maybe 10 years ago, when feminism was in full ascendency, the sense of being lost in a confused world was not a topic. But today it feels like the cry of a dissatisfied, questioning feminist yearning for a place called home, sensing she has been “exiled from Eden.”

There is a place for men and women in our culture to live in harmony in the garden, rightly related to each other.  Could it be that men haven’t fulfilled their God-given task in the garden, thus causing women to flee – only to find themselves lost outside the garden?  Maybe men need to reevaluate their roles.  Is it possible for men to woo women back to the garden?  

T.D. Jake of The Potter’s House preached a Father’s Day sermon entitled Real Men Pour In, which  I found very insightful: “We are raising up women to be men,” noted Jake. “When men are led by women, the divine order is broken… Real men pour in,” Jake said. “If Adam had not allowed Eve to pour into him, sin would have never come into the world. Sin came into the world because Adam broke the order.” 

Men are not to receive initially from women.  He warned women to “be careful about pouring too much into us” because “we are designed to pour into you and you are designed to take what we pour into you and increase it and make it better.”  He further warns women, “until you create a need that I can pour into, I have no place in your life.”  

Today the cry is, “Let’s prove to the men how dispensable they are.”  But this cry,” observes Jake, “is born out of pain, ’cause we hurt you, and betrayed you, and lied to you and cheated on you, and you became like you are out of pain.  But watch what is born of pain.”  He urged women to hold men to a higher standard instead of trying to replace them.  “Anatomically, men pour in.  Life begins when men pour in.  We were designed to pour in; you were designed to preserve what is poured in.” Jake told the women in his church.  “As it is in the physical, so it is in the spiritual.  We are designed to pour in.”

Drawing from both Eve in Exile and Real Men Pour In, I offer these observations:

First,  the voice of angry, wounded  women living outside the garden, is partly our fault.  As men, we have to own up to our role in failing to create space for Eve to grow. 

Second,  I  appreciate the image of “pouring in.”  If I can’t pour into my wife and others, I have the responsibility to get right with God, so that His Spirit will flow through me in the rough days ahead.

Third,  man and woman can both live  together in the garden.  As a man I can only “pour in” what is in my container: “Lord, fill me with your love, allowing me to meet the needs of my wife.”

October 15, 2022

Dear Ones,
Hope you are having an enjoyable weekend and keeping warm. Yesterday we had rain, snow and sunshine that kept switching back and forth.  We are packed and will be leaving later this morning for my nephew’s wedding. I will send out devotions as I am able along the way. We look forward to going to our former church in D.M. tomorrow and some time with missionaries afterwards before going to Kansas. We appreciate prayers for our trip. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  We are all called out to live out the way of love no matter what situations we are in. Our part is to open ourselves up to God’s love and let it burn brightly in our hearts. As I awakened one morning an old familiar chorus came to mind that some of you may know, “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before/ every day with Jesus, I love Him more and more/ Jesus saves and keeps me and He’s the One I’m waiting for/ Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.”
  We can ask ourselves if that is true for us, that every day we love the Lord more. That would mean spending time listening to Him, sharing our day with Him, delighting in Him and letting His love seep into all those deep places within us. Many couples today live in emotional divorce, where they are like two ships in the night passing but not really communicating or living together in a loving relationship. Can that be true of our relationship with the Lord at times, when we just go about our day without acknowledging Him and living on our own?
  I am reading a book by Ruth Burrows, a Carmelite Nun in England and her love for the Lord spills over on all the pages of her book. She describes Jesus as He moved about on the earth and how wherever he passed by flowers of joy and hope sprung up. Jesus was interested in all that was around Him and talked to His Father as He worked, ate, shared life with His disciples, preached, healed etc.
  The Lord delights when we share our lives with Him and live in Him and He is us. Paul’s prayer for the Christians in Ephesus was, “That Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite Him in. I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives; full in the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:17-19, Message)
   Let us share our lives with Him, and not hold anything back.  As we do this our lives will also overflow with love and every day will be sweeter than the day before.
Challenge for today: Delight in the Lord’s love as you go about your day. 
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

October 14, 2022

Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! When I looked out my window this morning there was snow on the ground and reality hit. Burr! Today will be spent cleaning and packing the car as tomorrow we leave to go to my nephew’s wedding in Prior Lake. After spending the night, we are going to try to make it to our former church in D.M. for their Sunday service and then on to Kansas and N.C.  I will e-mail as I am able on our trip! Appreciate prayers for our safety and for us to stay well. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   Our friend that we walk with on the Paul Bunyan trail writes poetry and doing so has helped his own heart heal as he deals with his wife’s Alzheimer’s. They have a creative room at their home on the lake and in the evening his wife colors pictures in adult coloring books while he writes what is happening in his heart. Last week David wrote about how God is giving him a new heart like it says in Ezekiel 36:26 (KJV) “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony hearts out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” He said God is taking him from a place of self-centeredness and transitioning him to loving others.
   I love the how he describes the journey of his heart and in his introduction, he says, “As we age, many individuals look at the aging process as linear. The time clock becomes a trap for our golden years, but the aging process is like fruit ripening. When fruit is young and not ripe, it is hard and bitter. When it ages, it becomes sweet and flavorful. If we look at our spiritual journey as one that desires to become mature fruit, the aging process takes on a dimension of developing as God intended. I believe God wants us to become low-hanging fruit. Fruit that is mature in love development. St Francis of Assisi is an excellent example of this concept. He was not well educated, certainly not in theology. He spent long hours in prayer in places of solitude. I believe St Francis’s pursuit of love and not knowledge allowed him to enter a more profound experience with God.” If want to become low-hanging fruit, we also must focus on the Lord and let our hearts ripen in love.
  David goes on to write a poem of his early fruit basket and then the journey of beginning to ripen and go on to maturing with low-hanging fruit. He references John the Baptist who said that He must increase and I must decrease. Isn’t that really the key? May we draw closer to the Lord and let His love fill us and mature us into fruit that brings glory to Him.
  Challenge for today: Humbly seek the Lord and let His love mature you into luscious fruit for His kingdom.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

 

 

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October 13, 2022

Dear Ones,
Hope you began your day with anticipation. Al went to the Men’s group this morning and I made meatloaf etc and went downstairs for Donut Day. We have Bible Study this afternoon and then need to get to packing for our trip. It looks to be cooler all the way to N.C. so I better get prepared.Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
 The Body of Christ is a diverse group but even though we are all very different, it is important to be well-rounded as individual members. Too much of anything can cause us harm to ourselves and others, so we need to let the Lord put us together in a balanced way.
  Some are extroverts and love being in big groups of people and activities and get energized. Others are introverts and like small groups with one or two close friends and time alone in quiet, so not to get depleted. But we all need times with others in the Body who have our best in mind, and will help us in our Christian walk, especially in our weak areas. We are to live intentionally for God and each one of us can be used by Him to help each other to grow and mature in our Christian lives.
  I am married to an extrovert and when we go for walks, Al talks with everyone along the way. I am an introvert and love days when my schedule is clear and evenings when I don’t have to go out. But we help one another as we spend time each day studying quietly, each in our own study area, and then go for a walk together and share our hearts. We might have a Bible Study, exercise class, or simply coffee and fellowship with others, but we attempt a balance of time for togetherness and aloneness.
   If extraverts spend too much time just in activities and groups, and not time alone, they can become shallow and neglect the deeper things of the Lord. If introverts spend too much time alone, they can become selfish and self-focused and neglect the needs of others. We need to be balanced and God uses us to help and stimulate one another. In Prov. 27:17 (Message), it says, “You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.” May we be used of God to help others to be their best and most effective for His kingdom; and may we challenged by others to be all that God created us to be.
  Challenge for today: Be balanced in time spent together in the Body of Christ, but also spend some time alone with the Lord.
Blessings on our day and prayers and Love, Judy

 

 

October 12 2022

Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying the beautiful colors of fall. As I lookout my window there is a awesome Maple tree, that is full of brilliant red leaves and so beautiful. This morning Al is preaching next door at Assisted Living and I am going to my exercise class. This afternoon I plan to work on quilts for Alzheimer’s patients and later have BIble Study at church. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  How is your day going so far? Would you say it is a good day or a bad day? When we know the love of the Lord, then every day is a good day, no matter what is happening. Maybe we received some bad news, but in our hearts, we know the good news that He is with us in our circumstance; or it could be someone’s words or actions hurt us but it only drives us to the Lord for His comfort. We can pray the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 73:23 (Message),“I’m still in your presence, but you’ve taken my hand. You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me.”
  When little children are wounded, all they need is the sight of their parent coming to help and they begin to feel better. They know Dad or mom is now present and will take care of them and comfort them and make everything better! Our heavenly Father is aware of all that happens to us and the Psalmist said he almost missed seeing God’s goodness as he was looking the other way. But when he turns to the Lord he says, “But I’m in the very presence of God—oh how refreshing it is!  I’ve made Lord God my home. God, I’m telling the world what you do!” Everything changes for him when he realizes God is with him and will be his strength and refuge.
  We are continually in God’s sight and every day is good when we live with that in mind. We can give Him all our concerns throughout our day and He will be there to help and give us the strength needed for each and every situation. Let us not have bad days when we have our eyes only on our circumstances and fail to look to Him. Instead let us have a steady gaze to the One who holds everything in His han
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to help you keep your focus on Him and enjoy the day before you. 
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

 

October 11, 2022

Dear Ones,
  Hope you wake today to hear His voice to your heart. I love when I can see the full moon beams shining in my window as I awaken. 
The Question for this week is, what storm has the Lord recently taken you through and did you go to Him for cover? 
‘Devotions from Judy’s heart
  It seems like we are recently hearing of many catastrophic things happening with wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes etc. and some  have lost power, their homes and even their loved ones. But just like physical storms in life we also have spiritual storms and need  a place of shelter in which to go.
   The 91st Psalm is one of my favorite ones and I remember saying it over and over again as I swam laps when we were going through a stormy time in one of our churches. Particularly, I love the first verse, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty (whose power no enemy can withstand.)” (Amplified Version)
I think of the shelter as God’s presence and how we need to run first to Him, before trying all our own solutions and protections to the storms that hits us. Some storms come unexpectantly and we have to make a quick decision whether we will trust Him and find shelter in Him.
  I have been amazed at how the Lord protects us even in our small storms if we go to Him first. Not long ago when we were preparing to go out of town, I had several concerns and I just gave them to the Lord and left it all with Him; then I watched as everything on my anxious list was answered above what I asked, down to fine details. I came home praising Him and with an awe of His power.
   Just like Jesus calmed the waves in the storm that the disciples were facing in the boat on the windy Sea, so He speaks peace to our storms if we find our shelter in Him. We don’t need to fear terrors of night, plaques, pestilence etc. for He will send His angels to defend us, and deliver us and honor us. (Verse 15)
Challenge for today: Memorize Ps. 91:1 and take with you today and everyday.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
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