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: August 2024 (Page 1 of 3)

August 31, 20024

Dear Ones,
Happy Labor Day weekend! Hope you have an enjoyable weekend. We plan to see a friend in Assisted Living on the way to the lake and then on to brunch at Taylor’s cabin. Later hope to have some Scrabble games and a wiener roast at the Point with more relatives. We plan to go to church tomorrow to hear Leif preach and then back to Ann’s for lunch. We also look forward to quiet time by the lake and love the view of the lake right from the French doors of our bedroom. Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
We all get tested in life with situations we may rather not have to go through, but it is a time that reveals our true character. We may not be always aware of how much we need the Lord and so we often we slip into depending on ourselves rather than Him. God uses trials of all kinds to shape us and help us to more firmly put our confidence in Him.  We may not jump up and down with joy as we go through those difficult times, but it can be a strengthening time as we find we can rest in Him even in the hardest of circumstances.

So many promises come alive when we are tested and go to the Word to find a promise that is like balm to our hearts. Maybe today we are facing a circumstance, and we are unsure of the outcome; can we still trust the Lord?  When Moses was 120 years old and getting ready to leave this earth, he told his successor, Joshua to be strong for, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deut. 31:8)

It’s important we don’t harden our hearts and lose our focus but know God has a plan in those difficult times. He will work out the details and we need to look to Him. We are not strong in ourselves but as it says in Psalm 18:32, “It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.”  David prayed when God delivered him from his enemy Saul, and he goes on to say that the Lord would give him a wide place to step so that his feet would not slip. He realizes that God has heard him, and his strength comes from the Lord. We don’t have to work up courage but as David said, “Now I’m alert to God’s ways; I don’t take God for granted. Every day I view the ways He works.”  He closes the Psalm with thanksgiving to the Lord.

May we be like David when tested and lean on and rely on the Lord, drawing our strength from Him. No matter what happens, He will see us through!

Challenge for today: Thank God when you go through a time of testing for what He will show you and teach you through it.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

August 30, 2024

Dear Ones,
Happy Holiday weekend? Hope your long weekend is full of some relaxing times. Today is Party Day here so we are going to delay going to the “Silver Chateau” (cabin) until tomorrow morning and then spend the night and have time with family.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Every day we make decisions, and our choices determine how we are going to spend our time, if we are going to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit, if we are going to be loving to those around us etc. Don’t we wish we could wave a magic wand and do it all perfectly but of course we often fail. At the end of the day as we turn in for the night, we may have regrets and wish we had made different choices and had more loving responses.

We need to have patience with ourselves as well as, patience with others for we don’t become spiritually mature overnight. We are in process and spiritual growth takes time. As I looked out my window while writing one morning, I saw tall colorful flowers blooming and so beautiful; but I also remembered when I previously looked out at little piles of black dirt that received the seeds and took so long to grow. During that time, hope was needed, sunshine, lots of water and tending of the weeds to produce this beautiful array of flowers.

Aren’t our hearts like that as seeds are planted in us while we read the Word, listen to sermons, fellowship with others and spend time in prayer?  We don’t all of a sudden become mature and do everything right. It takes time and patience and when we fail again, we don’t give up. We can ask the Holy Spirit to break up any clods of sin in our hearts, spend time in the sunshine of His presence, let the water of His word saturate us and gradually we grow. We may get excited when we see a bud appear as we know the seeds within are growing. Like it says in Isaiah 35:2 may we be “Like the crocus in spring, bursting into blossom, a symphony of song and color.”

Challenge for today: Be patient but responsive to the Lord’s transformation process.
Blessings on your holiday weekend and prayers and love, Judy

August 29, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a day of willingness to do His will. It is good to be home again and we had a wonderful time in Michigan. Today Al has men’s group and will have a donut waiting for him when he comes home. I have food prep to do and an appointment before and after our Bible study today.
Devotions from Judys heart
While in Michigan, Al and I drove at daybreak to Presque Isle, the place where we have gone often throughout the years, especially to hear the Lord. It is a peninsula on Lake Superior that is beautiful, and we usually walk around it, but on that day, it was softly raining so we sat in the car as we watched the billowy clouds on the horizon. Al and I reminisced how God has spoken to us through the years, and we often came with questions on our hearts. One big one, was asking God if we were to move on to another church who was extending a call to Al or should we stay put. We didn’t always know the specific answer right then, but we left the Isle with peace and a willingness to say, “God, Your will not mine.”

That day I read from Ephesians 4 and 5 from the Message translation and the main verses that spoke to me, “Walk, better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel…Mark what you do with humility and discipline…pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love…You were called to travel the same road in the same direction, to stay together, both inwardly and outwardly.” In other, we are to be permeated in oneness and in step with one another and with gentleness and sensitivity. “Don’t waste your time on useless work; mere busywork…make sure you understand what the Master wants. “Learn a life of Love…figure out what will please the Lord and then do it.”

Perhaps these are not just words for me in relation to the Lord and to Al, but for all of us in the Body of Christ. May we understand what the Lord wants from us and how to treat others in the Body and do it.

Rain dampened our desire to walk Presque Isle but Al and sat in the car to listen and to observe His creative beauty over vast Lake Superior. May each of us listen to His instruction for our life and also for our life together.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
Challenge for today: Dare ask the Lord how you might live a life of love for His glory!
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

August 28, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you have been enjoying this day. We just got home from Michigan where we spent 2 wonderful days with Al’s sister by Lake Superior.  We went out for dinner last night to celebrate all 3 of our birthdays after spending the afternoon with our niece and her hubby. A big welcome home here today as our door was plastered with cards and gifts.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
How free do we live? Do we speak freely, act freely and enjoy a rich life? Instead of trying to fit into the culture and speaking their lingo and buying what things are “in”, are we enjoying life lived by faith in the One who loves us most? That may involve suffering and death to our own ego but when we submit to the Lord, we are set free from trying to please others and being controlled by their opinions.

I memorized a verse from Gal.2:20 when I was a young girl, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. And the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of Man who loved me and gave His life for me.” When we are crucified with Christ, it means we die to our own way and choose to go God’s way. Paul said that he gloried in the cross by which the world has been crucified to him, and him to the world. God does for us, what we cannot do, and we willingly respond. What results is a life well lived in freedom.

We need to be willing to die to our own selves and all our earning attempts of keeping the rules, and instead receive what God does which will bring freedom. For after death is resurrection life that is free and beautiful and lived by faith. We can respond with living deeply and freely for Him and for others as we embrace the cross. Our life becomes one of joy in the Holy Spirit, liberty, and enjoyment of the Lord, as we live freely forever In Him.

Challenge for today: Be willing to die daily and then live in freedom with resurrection power.
Blessings on your evening and prayers and love, Judy

Awake, not Woke

This is the title of a new book by Noelle Mering.  She wrote a condensed article about the woke movement for Ralph Martin’s monthly newsletter.  She contends there are victims of the movement, who need healing.  There are those who, “have been given some poison of ideology that has harmed and wounded them.” Others have simply been deceived.  Then there are others who are “the source of the poison and need to be stopped.” This all causes confusion.  “Some people need to be befriended and listened to.  Other people need to be woken up.  And the people doing immediate harm need to be stopped.” 

The woke movement started in the Garden, where Adam and Eve were tempted to be as god.  “It is a self-deification movement,” writes Mering, “that corrodes the human person as well as friendships, families, and relationships.”  Following Marx, woke sees “every person either as an oppressor or the oppressed.” Marx believed, “the biggest obstacles to a revolution as faith, family, and the father.”  Why?  “All three give us a particular identity and help us to feel named and known.  They root us and give us purpose.” 

The poison of the movement is “a redefining of what a human is.”  According to Mering, woke has three dogmas.  “The first dogma emphasizes the group and sublimates the person.  It redefines humanity according to society’s hatred and demands uniformity of thought.  Identity is found in fighting oppression.  It creates a society looking for a perpetrator and seeking victimhood.”  Instead of being children of a loving God, “the movement defines us by society’s hatred.” 

The second dogma, “emphasizes will at the expense of reason.  It attempts to re-engineer society by claiming that society and humanity have no fundamental nature….our feelings and desires define us and that we should pursue transgressive identities…..moral law is oppressive and innocence is a form of dominance that must be destroyed.”  We are oppressed by our own internal repression, which is based on a moral law that is really a social construct and not actually real. 

The third dogma, “emphasizes power over authority.  It harms the whole family by targeting and weakening the father.  This harms our understanding of God as well.”  Targeting fathers implodes the human family.  But warms Mering, “the real target is our Lord.” 

But Mering is hopeful.  “Social re-engineers think,” observes Mering, “human nature is putty, but the human person longs for and is made to know, love, and serve God.”  The woke movement understands, “everything is systemically wrong around me.”  As believers we say, “What is wrong with me?  Mea culpa.”  Each of us is self-accused; We don’t accuse others.  “From there,” she declares, “we can bravely call out the lies that are harming people.”  “The thin veneer of ideology will not satisfy the human soul.  We all need to know they are named and known by God.”  

In my opinion, the poison of Woke has already done much harm to families and especially the young. Men, we need to be alert to the intention of this poison in our society.  We are no longer seen as beloved children of God, but victims of society’s hate.  The moral law and reason are  devalued, while personal choice is promoted.  Men need to know Woke has them in their crosshairs, with its emphasis on power over authority.  Mering points out that faith, family and faith are the biggest roadblocks in the movement, since any authority is seen as oppressive.

Men, don’t be deceived by this poison.  Don’t allow those in your family to be wounded.  We must wake up. “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph 5:14).   

August 26, 2024

This is being sent early for Monday morning!
Dear Ones,
Hope you wake up to a great day! Soon we will be on our way to Marquette, MI to see Al’s sister. The view of Lake Superior from her 11th floor apartment is so beautiful! We plan to celebrate her birthday and Al’s and mine. I am not taking my computer along so tomorrow you won’t be getting a devotion and the one on Wednesday will be late when we return. Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Many of us have monitored what our kids watched on T.V when they were young so they would not be taken in by things that were not good for them. But what about ourselves? Are we careful what we allow into our hearts? It says in Prove. 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life.” We are to put a watch over our hearts and to guard them diligently. That can mean choosing what we think on and let our minds dwell on, memories we are to no longer focus on, freedom to not be controlled by our emotions etc.

Maybe we have wounds in our lives of things that happened even before we came to know the Lord. It may still cause us trauma and they are like strongholds that we need to get free from. A friend of mine would often quote from II Cor.10:L4-5, “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” We need to let the Lord show us all those things that don’t agree with His Word and think God’s thoughts instead. There are times we may need help from others to pray over us that the strongholds will be torn down. I think of it as a holy work that the Holy Spirit does in our lives as he cuts out those areas that have hindered us from living a life of freedom in the Lord. The Word of God is so powerful, and it will be sharp enough to show us areas that are not aligned to the Word and need to be cut out.

When we lack peace and feel restless, let us ask the Holy Spirit to lay siege to any strongholds in our lives. As they are removed, we will sense peace and freedom and later, we might wonder why we waited so long. May we all keep watch over our hearts.

Challenge for today: Guard your heart carefully and don’t give access to things that are not aligned with God’s Word.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

August 24, 2024

Dear Ones,
May you enjoy some time to be refreshed this weekend. We will be leaving to go to Mora to gather with friends that were on our Board at Canaan’s Rest. It’s one of my favorite times of the summer as we fellowship and pray together…and eat too!
I would also ask for prayers for Melissa, a mom from our former church. She is very sick and has viral meningitis and her MRI showed lesions of M.S. and also thyroid cancer. Besides their own son, Melissa and her husband adopted 3 children and also care for a foster child. Please pray!
 Devotions from Judy’s heart
Wouldn’t we all like to live a life of simplicity and joy and be true to who God made us to be. Not trying to be important or famous or powerful but free to be ourselves and love the One who made us. That means we will have to let go of some things that are not true about ourselves, like many who think that they are what they have, which may be riches and sadly they will always want more. But how much better to live in the reality of who God made us.                                                   I have been reading a book by Psychologist, Dr. Robert Wicks who writes about how to let go, see clearly, and live simply. Doesn’t the sound like a recipe for living well. He quotes Thomas Merton who said, “Happiness consists in finding out precisely what the ‘one thing necessary’ may be in our lives, and gladly relinquishing all the rest. For then, by a divine paradox, we find everything else is given us, together with the one thing we needed.” When we live for the Lord and His kingdom, we have found the treasure of the One thing that is most important and everything else seems to fall into place. But we must also let go of all that is unnecessary and incomplete like pride, self-interest, anxiety, and our insecurities so we can be single-hearted and discover who we are and live in freedom. It takes humility and courage as we see ourselves and let go of those things that hinder a full true life. We must ask ourselves often if we’re open and willing to be transparent and be emptied of self so there is more space for the Lord.                                      God uses different people in our lives to help us. He may send a prophetic type person who challenges us to look honestly at ourselves and to ask us important questions. He may also send us someone who is more playful to help us not take ourselves too seriously. He may send another who cheers us on.  God could also send us a soul friend who helps us to see our value and brings encouragement and leaves us with gratitude for the life the Lord gave us. Let us want to know our true selves and be grateful for all those He uses to help us be humble and to see ourselves as we really are.
Challenge for today: Live simply in the joy of who God made you to be!
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

August 23, 2024

Dear Ones,
Happy weekend and enjoy! I plan to do some baking today and cleaning our apartment as we have a few busy days ahead. We are excited as we anticipate taking a trip to Michigan to see Al’s sister next week. Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I am reading a book called, “Chastity of the Soul”, and in our culture where sex is freely given without commitment, chastity is ridiculed. But today soulless sex is clearly evident and confusion and unhappiness result. We find that God’s ways are far superior and bring joy and respect. The author Ronald Rolheiser defines chastity as proper reverence, respect, and patience. Sex is included and to be chaste we will not violate others’ boundaries prematurely. He writes that chastity is the key to community, love, joy, and even the enjoyment of sex, and he goes on to say every person we stand before is holy ground.

We live in a culture that everyone wants something right now. But we need to be patient and learn to wait. Instead of irreverence, disrespect, and impatience we learn to wait and to relate to others in respectful ways that don’t violate them. In essence we are to see others as God sees them. Jesus said in the sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8) We will be pure in heart as we are respectful and honoring of others, and even our sexual energy flows in a life-giving way. We bless people rather than exploit them and we help others flourish and not harass them.

There are people today that don’t believe they have a soul. Today love and sex are described more in terms of chemistry rather than terms of a soul. Songs are all about desiring someone’s body and not listening to the soul, and we see the result as more and more people become broken and suicidal. So often our need for a soulmate is brushed aside and it’s more about the chemistry and that bing feeling! It shows us our society is basically soulless and it is evident with the acceptance of pornography and sex with no ties.

But Rolheiser goes on to say that our souls want to be protected, honored for their sacredness and listened to. We must take care not to lose our souls but when we sense we are reverenced and respected, it gives us the feeling of being home. It’s a place of belonging and we sense that we are in union with each other. We find what we do either connects with others or divides us, and even our private lives impact the whole body for good or for evil. In Rolheiser’s own words, “The ideal of chastity embeds sex within romance, sacredness, commitment, community and soul.

Challenge for today: Be an example of chastity and never take by force what you are to receive as a gift.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

August 22, 2024

Dear Ones,
May you have a joyous day! Al will be leaving for Men’s group early and will have a donut waiting for him when he gets home. I have an appointment this morning and then Bible Study this afternoon. So glad for the nice days to walk the trail too.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Isn’t it wonderful that we have a place to go when we feel fearful and anxious or sorrowful and sad and wonder how we are going to get through the challenging days ahead. We don’t have to live with dread if we know the Lord, for He provides all the help we need and promises to be right there with us. The enemy wants to steal our joy and peace and whispers all kinds of scenarios of what could happen but let us not focus our attention there. Instead, we can take our concerns to the Lord and ask for His grace and strength.

Recently while I was waiting in an examining room for my dermatologist to come in, I was thinking of situations of concern and praying. There was a high set window in the room and sitting where I was, I could not see what was happening on the ground level but only the tree tops above. All of sudden it occurred to me that I don’t need to know all the answers to what is happening below, only to keep my attention on what the Lord is doing above the circumstances. As I was looking at the trees gently blowing in the breeze, I was blanketed in peace and felt like the Lord speaking a word to  me.

We have so many examples in the Word of people who didn’t shrink back when in trouble but trusted and had hope. Like David or Moses or Paul or Esther, they committed everything to the Lord. We also have scripture verses to strengthen us, and when we have memorized some key verses, the Holy Spirit brings them to our remembrance when we have need. I can’t tell you how many times I have prayed Psalm 121 and found strength. “I will lift my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep…The Lord will keep you from all evil’ He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this day forth and forevermore.”

Let us not be moved by what is happening in our lives around us but lift our eyes upward to the Lord where true help comes from.
Challenge for today: Don’t fear but experience peace as you focus your trust in the Lord.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

August 21, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a prayerful day! I plan to make egg/ham dishes and go to my exercise class and later Bible Study.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Have you often experienced God placing burdens on your heart to pray and do warfare against the enemy” Perhaps, you watch the news and see the chaos in our country, and you feel a heaviness, or maybe you have a family member who is living far from the Lord is God calling you to be an intercessor? We are all to be available and obedient when the Holy Spirit lays burdens on our hearts to be faithful to pray and intercede. We are not to brush it off but be sensitive and to pray as He directs us. We have no idea what a marvelous difference our prayers can make. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16) The Amplified version says, “The earnest (heart-felt), continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).”

It is time we all wake up and pray and intercede as never before. I believe the Lord is calling people together, even whole churches to pray against what is happening in our world as Satan is getting more and more bold. Can you imagine if not just one righteous man is interceding, what happens when a whole group or a church prays and interceded together? It is powerful!! Let us not underestimate it. We can pray for our families, our cities, our nation, and the world. Then enemy wants us to be apathetic and tells us we can’t make a difference, but great things happen when we pray!

Lately I have been reading of the many miracles happening when people gathered to pray, and I will just share one that happened some years ago in Hemet, CA. It was known as “Cult Haven” as it was filled with occult activity, gangs operating, and named the methamphetamine capital for the West Coast. Even the cops were corrupt and peddling dope in their cruisers. Because of the prayers of intercession amongst the churches and unity, one entire gang came to the Lord, church membership doubled, gang involvement declined greatly, cult membership nearly disappeared, and corruption of law enforcement was gone. Just think of the fruit of united prayer! Let us pray and unite and never give up!

Challenge for today Be a faithful prayer warrior and join others in unity to pray for our families, churches and nation.
Blessings and prayers and love, Judy
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