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: June 2024 (Page 1 of 3)

June 29, 2024

Dear Ones,
Happy Weekend to you! Some of you may be starting to celebrate the holiday this weekend and some next weekend. Since the 4th comes in the middle of the week, we plan to go to the cabin next Thursday and Friday and spend both nights at the lake. Kurt and Grant are stopping by today on their way to the cabin to celebrate this weekend. EmojiEmoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I love to eat, and I love to grocery shop, and I love to cook and bake. Especially on rainy days, I find that filling the house with aromas makes my heart sing. The wonderful smells linger in the apartment and maybe in the long halls too! I baked a zucchini chocolate cake before going to bed last night, and the aroma still so present.
  I read about what Whitney Hopler, author and editor, had to say about her daughter’s girl scout troop. To earn a badge the girls prepared a stew with every imaginable vegetable and also many varied spices. The result was a tasty stew that was also full of nutrition. They were surprised at how wonderful it tasted as they probably had not be exposed to that many spices and veggies before.
   As I read, it brought to mind about the many different foods and flavors the Lord has for us if we were willing to taste. Maybe we prefer mostly scriptures on His blessings and love, and we avoid anything that has to do with suffering or developing patience. We might be unwilling to hear new teachings of things we have never been exposed to before even though they line up with what Jesus said.

Maybe we quickly pass over scriptures that are familiar and wonder if there is anything new that the Lord has to teach us through them. But that is much like eating too fast and not savoring the taste. I am guilty of that and need reminders to slow down, meditate and just sit with certain portions of scriptures.  The Lord has a banquet for us each day, if we pause and savor what He is giving us. David prayed in Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the person who takes refuge in Him.” He was in a tough place when he prayed that and surrounded by the enemy; but he wanted the Lord to open his eyes to the Lord’s goodness and his mouth to taste of Him. That is also an invitation to us to try the Lord, experience His goodness, and taste of the new things He has for us. Let us remember to bow in prayer before we eat and ask for an open heart and a willing spirit to taste all that He has for us.

 

Challenge for today: Be open and try the new things the Lord has for you today and give thanks.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

June 28, 2024

Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! Today is party day here so we will be going to Costco early this morning for the cake and then set up for the Birthday party. Always a fun time to be together and celebrate.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Lies, lies, lies! The enemy is the father of lies and tries his hardest to get us to believe his falsehood. It often starts in our thoughts with a seed of untruth, and if we dwell on it and feed it, soon we start believing it. It is far better to check it out first with the Word to see if it aligns with it. Maybe the enemy tells us we are a loser, we are not loved and all sorts of condemning thoughts. But immediately we should recognize this is not from the Lord as it violates scriptures of our loving Father that loved us so much, He gave his very life for us. We don’t need to go down that dead end alley of the enemy’s lies but catch it quickly. The more we read scripture and lay it up in our hearts, the more ammunition we have to fight the enemy.

The Lord has given us armor to put on each day and each part is important. I pray for myself and family early each morning and visualize putting each part of the armor on. All pieces of the armor are important and especially the belt of truth. In Eph. 6:14 Paul said, “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth”, in order that we can stand firm. Writer, Alisha Headley wrote a prayer to help us uproot the lies of Satan and I want to share with you.

Dear God,
Thank you for providing us with your Word, the Bible, so that we can access truth in a world full of lies. Thank you for the wisdom your Word provides us. Holy Spirit, please remind us to read and give us the passion to seek out Your Word daily. Forgive us when we lean on truth from other things or people rather than relying on your truth, which is the only truth. Please allow your truth to sink deep into our hearts so that we can discern a lie the moment it enters our minds. Help us to tighten our belts of truth each day as we study your Word. We know that we have an enemy and that there will be daily battles, but we praise you and thank you because you have already won the war. Thank you for the wisdom in your Word and for the promise of life that we can cling to this side of eternity. We praise you for loving us and equipping us each day.
In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen

Challenge for today: Pray this prayer the next time you feel attacked by the enemy.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

June 27, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a beautiful day! Al will be meeting with some men early this morning while I plan to bake, and we have Bible study here this afternoon. We had a rich evening last night at the book signing and a good teaching on the Holy Spirit given by the author.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Maybe we have come from a worship service with guitars and drums and smoke and strobe lights and think that this is really it! I feel pumped up and excited. But what about later? Did it draw us closer in our relationship to the Lord and were we prompted to go out and serve Him or was it just an emotional high that lasted a short time?

Eugene Peterson writes about the difference between religion and spirituality, and he gives the distinction. Religion is mostly what we do, our efforts to maintain some sense of responsibility before God. We can do some things for God that actually separate us from Him if we are doing it in our own power. But Peterson says Spirituality is mostly what God does and is a work of the Holy Spirt in making Jesus alive in us. It may result in acts of love and compassion and bring us to repentance. We don’t need the latest technology or any gimmicks to draw people to our churches but rather God’s Word preached with conviction, prayer offered, and time to listen.

David prayed in Psalm 86:11-13, “Teach me your way, O Lord, so that I may live in your truth. Focus my heart on fearing you. I will give thanks to you with all my heart, O Lord my God. I will honor you forever because your mercy toward me is great. You have rescued me from the pit of hell.” The Message translation asks God to work in us, “Train me, God, to walk straight; then I’ll follow your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind; then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you, dear Lord.”

When we honor and reverence God with our whole heart, He is free to work in our lives and in our relationships and our serving etc.

Challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to do a deep work in your and get yourself out of the way and let Him direct.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

June 26, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you have a day of growing closer to the Lord. I plan to bake cookies for Al, go to my exercise class, and Ann may stop in for lunch. Later this afternoon we are taking a friend to a book signing at a church in Pequot.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
How would you answer the question, “When did you spiritually grow the most, during times of ease or in times of suffering?” I suspect that most of us would say we grew closer to the Lord when going through difficult times, although suffering doesn’t always make people better. Just because we know the Lord doesn’t exempt us from going through suffering or experiencing, getting cancer, or having children rebel. Perhaps one of the hardest things is when our own children reject us, as in the case of Absolum and King David.

It all started when Absolum’s sister Tamar was raped by her half-brother Amon. Absolum was so angry he brutally murdered him, after which he went into exile to avoid paying the price of his crime. After 3 years King David pardoned him but would not see or forgive him, and Absolum felt rejected. So much so that he tried to take the kingdom away from his father. Being persuasive, he got a following of men that plotted to help him do that and David had to flee to the wilderness again. Even his most trusted advisor and good friend, Ahithophel abandoned him and supported Absolum. One of his enemies, Shimei cursed him and threw rocks at him as David was fleeing. David’s captain wanted to cut his head off, but David restrained him, for he felt like God was using him to preach to him. But in his situation, he turned to the Lord and recovered compassion and his close life with the Lord.  He knew His real help came only from the Lord. As a result. he had compassion again for Absolum and ordered his men not to kill him. But Joab stabbed him to death as Absolum was caught in a tree by his thick hair and left dangling. David wept greatly for his son, as his heart had been touched to forgive and to love Absolum again; so much so that he laments, “Why not me rather than you, my death and not yours, O Absalom, my dear dear son!” (II Sam. 18:33)

Maybe we can think of situations when we have been betrayed by even good friends, do we let the Lord change our hearts to forgive them and to love them again? If we refuse, our hearts will grow cold and we will feel distanced from Him.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to help you grow through your suffering, and not become bitter but better!
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

June 25, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a beautiful day! We are having friends over this afternoon, and I have a 5- layer dessert made for us, which Al and I both sampled already! EmojiEmoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I think all of us have been fooled many times, and what seemed to look so good turned out to be a disaster. We may have gotten taken in by some of the advertisements when ordering online, and what came in the mail turned out to be cheap and rendered useless. We all need discernment to see through things and to detect what is real. We especially need to have spiritual understanding to see through beyond the surface of things.

I was reading this morning of what the prophet Hosea says as he comes to a close in Hosea 14:9, “Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them.” Wouldn’t we all have to say we need to pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is saying, rather than what our eyes see that may glimmer and look good. Before making big decisions, we must pray and carefully listen for how God is leading. There may be times others ask to do something that seems harmless but there is a caution in our spirit, and we need to listen to that. Something doesn’t feel right. The Lord sees the whole picture and gives us a warning, even though we may not have a good reason to give. I remember what one of our kids said when not getting something desired, “I get tired of you listening to the Spirit!”  Sometimes we may later find out the reason the Lord says no, but even when we don’t, we need to listen.

How do we become more discerning? It is something we should desire for otherwise we can get “hood winked” and manipulated by others and go down wrong paths. We can ask for discernment to perceive what God is saying and not the enemy.  I think He loves to grant that request. We need to be in the Word, so we know what is spelled out already as wrong, but also so our heart is open to hear. Of course, we need to also be quiet and listen or we won’t be able to discern what the Spirit is trying to show us, and instead get influenced by the world. More than ever before we need discernment as there is so much going on that may glitter in our culture but leads to death.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord for discernment and be open to how the Spirit will direct you.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Jerry Seinfeld and Masculinity

I am always looking for voices calling our culture back from the brink of gender confusion regarding toxic masculinity and the  relentless attack on patriarchy. To my surprise, Jerry Seinfeld has been making his voice heard in the media.  It seems like he is calling us back to a “common  culture” of the early 1960’s, when gender roles were not so confusing.   He laments the decline of “dominant masculinity,” which he suggests has led to the disintegration of the clear social hierarchy that once maintained American culture.  He made these remarks on a town hall at SiriusEM Studios, hosted by journalist Bari Weiss.

Seinfeld noted that a “key element” missing in modern society is “an agreed-upon hierarchy,” which he said “is absolutely vaporized in today’s moment.”  He even had the courage to point out the decline of traditionally masculine men in today’s culture as “a symptom of the disintegrating social hierarchy.” Seinfeld noted that people who lean on the horn and drive in the crazy way  they drive is because they have no sense of hierarchy.  “And as humans” he believed, “we don’t really feel comfortable like that.”

While he admired traditional masculinity, Seinfeld admitted he did not epitomize such traits.  Looking back at his youth, he admitted, “I’ve always wanted to be a real man. I never made it.” He looked up to men like John F. Kennedy, Muhammad Ali, Howard Cosell, and Sean Connery as examples of a real man.  He admits what he called “the toxic thing,” while still still having admiration for a real man.  Seinfeld also talked about “toxic masculinity” with Bill Maher on his podcast, during which Maher ascribed the decline of men in part to rampant perverted pornography.  

Seinfeld, who is usually not overtly political, has complained recently about the far-left “woke” culture destroying entertainment and pushing people from comedy because it is not policed by anyone.  “‘This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap,” he lamented, “and people worrying so much about offending other people.”  

At a recent 2024 commencement address at Duke University, many pro-Palestinian students walked out in protest of the Jewish comedian.  Seinfeld told Weiss that such display against him were silly, noting, “These people should focus their frustration over the geopolitical situation at those individuals who have control over the decisions.”  

As a male, striving to have a biblical view of reality, and a male who also lived through the 60’s and 70’s with Jerry Seinfeld, I have experienced the disappearance of male leadership in our society.  I am especially grieved that the young men of Generation Z and the Millennials have so few exemplars of wholesome male models.  I felt as I read several accounts of his interview with Ms. Weiss, that Seinfeld was longing for the old days.   

Those days are gone.  But men are being called again to embrace a God-given hierarchy, expressed in a divine order of authority.  In the beginning, “God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Gen. 2:15).  Man was first. Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:18).  Eve was to be his helper.  They lived in harmony without conflict or competition.  “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Gen. 2:25).

Exemplary living starts with men being under authority.  “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.  All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another…..” (I Peter 5:5).   

 

June 24, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend! We enjoyed helping with the rummage sale here over the weekend and fun to work together. Yesterday we served at church and so many stay for coffee and fellowship. Today I need to go to Aldi’s and to exercise class and make more cookies. Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
It seems that Al and I that we have been faced with lots of deaths of friends recently and attended funerals. On Saturday a friend and I went through all the clothes of a another one who recently died, and it brought so many memories to mind of her. I remarked to Al that it seems today that people generally don’t take time out to really grieve the loss of a loved one and to honor their memory in a deep way; instead, their death may be sometimes viewed like an imposition to have work schedules messed up or daily schedules, and they desire to go back to their routine lives as quickly as possible. But is that how it should be? What happens when we store grief without expressing it? Sometimes it comes up much later in feelings of depression for the grief was never addressed when it happened.

When we read in the Word about Moses death or Aarons, the people grieved for 30 days. When Jacob died, Joseph threw himself on his father, cried over him and kissed him and mourned for him 7 days; even the Egyptians mourned for him for 70 days. (Genesis 50)  I have been reading about David and how he grieved for Jonathan and King Saul when they were both killed in the same day. He didn’t keep it all inside but tore his clothes, fasted and wrote a mourning song for both of them. (II Samuel 1) He was heartbroken and pours out his soul to the Lord. David cared and lamented and wrote many beautiful Psalms when he experienced grief. Eugene Peterson writes of David’s willingness to give attention to the fact of death and said, “In order to live totally we must face death totally.” David honored life and also lamented fiercely. Much of David and Jonathan’s friendship was not spent together but their friendship brought out the best in each other.

We find that 70% of the Psalms are laments and record times when David faced disappointment and losses and death. He didn’t run from things but faced them and prayed to the Lord. We also need to give ourselves time to grieve and lament, to remember our loved one and how they touched our life. It is not to attract pity from others but rather to notice how that person affected our life and enlarged us. We must not run from the reality of death but deal with it in the context of God’s sovereignty. And as we lament it helps connect us and prepares us for resurrection life.

Challenge for today: Don’t ignore loss and run from grief but use one of the Psalms to lament.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

June 22, 2024

Dear Ones
Happy weekend! We didn’t get the expected rain yesterday that was forecast, and we were pleasantly surprised. Kurt and Brenda and friends stopped in on their way to the cabin and even happier that they got sunshine instead of the rain. Today the sale continues on here and tonight things get back in order again. Fun working together and I suspect everyone will sleep well tonight!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Our God is a miracle working God and He does things above what we can ask or think. Paul says in Eph. 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power a work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Our God does amazing works above and beyond our thoughts and dreams.

I would like to share one more story of a missionary friend of ours who knew she had a calling from the Lord and trusted Him to open the doors to accomplish His will in her life.  I will use her words that can be found in the book, Food for Ravens, which many miracles are shared by missionaries.

 “It was August of 1990 and I was sitting in Chuck Lindquist’s office while he was trying to convince me that none of the World Mission Prayer League fields needed a librarian. ‘Here are some catalogs of colleges in the area that offer degrees in ESL certification,’ he said. ‘Perhaps you should look into something like that.’ I knew that wasn’t what I was suppose to do. I love being a librarian and really felt that God could use me in that type of position on the field. However, here was the Mission’s personnel director telling me that this might not necessarily be the case. As I was trying to figure out how to politely give all the catalogs back to Chuck and leave, the phone rang. He picked it up and began talking. As I started to leave the room, he motions me to stay seated. Pretty soon I hear him say, ‘Well, she’s sitting right her. Maybe you should talk to her.’ The phone call was from Bolivia. That very afternoon Linda Nelson, one of our missionaries in Bolivia, was going into the Santa Cruz post office when the director of the local American school for missionary kids was coming out. When Linda asked him if there was enough staff for the following year, he told her they were still lacking one key person. You guessed it—they needed a librarian. ‘We have one sitting in Minneapolis right now,’ Linda had said. ‘Call this number and ask if Carol is still available.’ So the director of the school did call, I was available, and two weeks later I ventured off to Santa Cruz. Six schools and more than twenty years late, I am still loving my job as a librarian.” She is soon going to retire and she is the best librarian I have ever known! She followed the path the Lord had for her.

Challenge for today: Seek to know God’s will each day and then trust Him to open the doors before you.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

 

June 21, 2024

Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! Lots going on here as yesterday we made preparations for a huge rummage sale today and tomorrow at Northern Lakes. Kurt and Brenda and another couple plan to stop by on their way to the lake this morning but the weather prediction is not the best.Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
We might ask ourselves today if we are a grateful person, one who is thankful for life itself, even with its ups and downs. I just finished reading, Wrestling with God” by Ronald Rolheiser, and he goes on to say that forgiveness follows gratitude, for the more grateful we are, the more strength is given us to forgive. We all must guard against bitterness for then we find our hearts will not be capable of forgiveness. It seems that the elder brother of the prodigal, had such a problem and couldn’t rejoice when his brother returned. When we refuse to forgive others, we are much like that elder brother who stands afar off and unable to enter into the joy of the celebration.

Forgiving isn’t easy when we have been hurt and suffered wrong and treated badly. If we choose not to forgive our own heart door starts to close and we become cold and end up hurt and carry around our wounds.

But Rolheiser writes that the deep secret of joy is forgiveness, and it is imperative. Jesus taught us in the Lord’s prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” I almost shutter when I hear persons say, “I will never forgive so and so!” Can’t you almost predict that they will lose their joy and become bitter and hardened? It is like having a closed fist and as they take a protective stance, they are unable to become vulnerable. But when we go through life with open trusting hands and embrace others our heart becomes warm and bigger.

Let us not respond in kind to others who mistreat us but respond with forgiveness and love.  May we stay connected to the One who has forgiven us everything we have ever done and let Him transform us into His grateful children who overflow with joy because we have been forgiven much.

Challenge for today: The next time you feel hurt and wounded by another, pause to pray and ask the Lord to help you respond with His love.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

June 20, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a day of sunshine. Al will be going to Men’s group early this morning and later leading Bible Study. After that we are going to help set up for a rummage sale here at Northern Lakes as it will start tomorrow and go until Saturday afternoon… a chance to make more room in our apartments for things we can do without as long as we don’t buy more!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
When I wrote my recent devotion on forgiveness I got many responses. Some found it hardest to forgive themselves for things they wished they had never done. One gal forgave her husband who tried to kill her, and in forgiving him she had found peace.  But whether it is something minor or something major, we must forgive if we want to be free. When we choose not to forgive, we are really saying that Jesus’ death on the cross was not enough. But the truth is He paid the full price that we might be forgiven of all our sins we commit and that has been done to us. Maybe we feel knocked down right now, but we need to get up again and go the way of forgiveness. Let us remember Paul’s words in Eph. 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” That means big things and small things!

One friend responded to my devotions by giving a testimony of forgiveness in her own life and I will share with her permission.                                                                                                                                                        “When I was a student at UW-Superior in the 1970s, I regularly attended a daily noon prayer meeting.  I lived in an apartment and had to park my car on the street.  One day my car would not start.  A friend looked under the hood and discovered that the alternator had been stolen!  At the prayer meeting I asked for prayer for the thief.  I likely said a prayer of forgiveness at that time. (I know my heart was forgiving him.) After the meeting a gentleman (older student like myself) asked me what kind of car I had.  He then proceeded to tell me he had an alternator he would give me!  My friend installed it, and I was on the road again.  (An interesting sidelight is that the man who gave me the alternator is the father of my chiropractor.  Of course, I told him the story.)                                                                                                                                          I know we don’t forgive to get something.  However, this was a graphic picture to me of God’s favor for my having an attitude of forgiveness, and praying for the thief. God’s ways are higher than our ways!”

Forgiveness is a gift we extend to others for we ourselves have been forgiven much.

Challenge for today: Freely forgive everyone, including yourself.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

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