Category: Sister Judy (Page 2 of 220)
Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus (Ephesians 1:17-18) is, “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Him, so that, the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance among the saints.”. We can make this be our prayer as well, that our spiritual eyes would be open, and we would understand and discern the things of the Lord. The world walks in darkness and is blind to the things of the Lord and doesn’t accept them. They seem foolish to them and how can we expect them to understand if they are blinded.
Paul Baloche had his eye on the priesthood but for a time wanted to be a rock musician. But while at a conference the Lord spoke to his heart by the message, “It’s not about money, it’s about Jesus!” He was converted and would journal and then wrote many songs from the prayers he had written in his journal. One such song that was playing in my mind today is, ”Open the eyes of my heart, Lord/ Open the eyes of my heart/ I want to see You/ I want to see You/ to see you high and lifted up/ Shinin’ in the light of your glory/ pour out your power and love/ as we sing holy, holy, holy/ Open the eyes of my heart, Lord” etc.
When the eyes of our heart are flooded with light, we see clearly what He calls us to do, we can understand more the greatness of His power and have hope.
Today is women’s Bible study and Al is as I also made Finnish pasty yesterday to have for our dinner today.
When we get all get wrapped up in self-love, life becomes curved in on our self. Eugene Peterson describes such a life as boring and barren, and prayer is needed to create the space that helps us get detached and opens us to freedom. Rather than use people for fulfilling our own need and greed, we will be set free to give and receive love as a free act. As we pray and praise the One who is love, we are set free from our selfishness and can relate and love others as Jesus would have us.
Let us trust the Lord and be dependent on Him rather than on self or others. I read today from I John 4:16b (Amplified), “God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.” We will become more aware of His love as we pray and open our hearts in praise. Let us read His love letter daily, receive His plan for our day and let go of our self-life to love Him and serve others.
The also think of the prophet Jeremiah who was often in crowds, but he didn’t let it shape his message and values. He didn’t preach what the people wanted to hear about God or what would make them feel good, but rather what God told him to say. He listened first to God and only wanted to give messages from Him. Those words certainly weren’t pleasing to the crowd for they would have to recognize the truth of their sinful behavior and distance from God. It would have been far easier for Jeremiah to hold back on what he was to speak, but when he did it became like fire in his belly that he had to get out. (Jer. 20:9)
But how refreshing it is to see a person or a group of people that are willing to live in truth and have courage to go against the crowd mentality. Sometimes they even have to stand alone. As read in the book of Jeremiah, he writes about a group of people called Recabites. They were metal workers and lived in tents and were wanderers who lived outside the city. They drank no wine and built no houses or gardens but lived life according to their ancestor Jonadab. Jeremiah was told to invite them into an open room in the temple and serve them wine. The Racabites came but they refused to drink the wine and were not distracted to go along with what the crowd would have done. They held to their convictions set down 250 years before by Jonadab and didn’t waver. Jeremiah was using them as an example to the people to live according to God’s commands and not give in to the culture. The people had drifted far from God and he wanted them to be faithful to God and live by His commands, and not let the crowd distract them.
Let us also not be influenced by ungodliness in our culture but be persons of conviction who please God and not man.
As it is Maundy Thursday today, I think of Jesus as He celebrated the last supper with His disciples and washed their feet. He took the role of a servant and did what none of the other disciples offered to do. Jesus said in John 13:14-15, “So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also must wash each other’s feet. I’ve given you an example that you should follow.” He goes on to tell them they will have a blessed life if they follow His example and do to others what He has done.
Let us ask ourselves how willing we are to serve others, even when it involves things that we would rather not do. But the Lord will enable us to it with His love! A couple days ago I read an example that Mark Roberts, from Fuller Seminary, gave of the role of a servant. An Executive of a large company met the custodian as he was struggling to get some big boxes up some stairs. The boss offered to help and the two of them worked together until all the boxes were carried up and put away. As he went to leave, the sweaty boss noticed tears in the eyes of the custodian, who said, “I’ve worked for this company for many years. Before today, no boss has ever stopped to help me. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me.” It was a simple act but spoke volumes. Foot washing is sometimes carrying boxes or bringing a meal to a family, or helping someone who is hurt. Let us not think we deserve to be served but to serve with compassion and humility.
When winds of adversity come to us and try to knock us over, we need a good root system. As I take in the view out my window, writing to you, I look out on a courtyard with many trees. Some are strong and have deep roots and will withstand weather of all kinds; others whose roots don’t go deep will not be able to remain standing in stormy times. Trees need to press hard and tap into deep water if they want to be strong.in times of drought. The same goes for us. We need to be deeply rooted in the Lord if we are to stand when the going gets rough in our lives.
Especially during this Lenten season, we think of the Lord who endured so much and suffered more than any of us ever will. It is hard to watch movies depicting Jesus being whipped, spit upon, mocked, and crucified for he not only took it, but He endured it with joy. As it says in Heb. 12:2-3: “We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of Him, so He endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought Him. Then He received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God. Think about Jesus, who endured opposition from sinners, so that you don’t become tired and give up.” Jesus began and finished the race we are in, and He never lost sight of where He was headed, so He put up with everything along the way.
We are never to quit but to keep our eyes on Jesus. No matter what we go through in this life, we are not to feel sorry for ourselves and drop out and quit. Often, we do not understand why difficult things are happening to us, but like Job let us trust God and not lose heart or give up. We have a glorious future awaiting us and so let us persevere in faith!
We don’t have to run around searching for answers to life and who we are, but go to God, who knows us well and let Him tell us who we are. If we try to begin with ourselves, rather than God, we become egocentric. God is meant to be the center of our lives, the one who knows us better than we will ever know ourselves. I am reading Jeremiah, and God said in Jer. 1:5, “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you: A prophet to the nations—that’s what I had in mind for you.”
I wonder how many of us, as we were growing up, asked for God’s plan for our lives and followed the path He had for us. He has chosen us and whatever He has for us in life, He will help us discover. We read today of men who were millionaires and did not find satisfaction in wealth, leave their high positions and do what their calling was from the Lord. Those are Holy plans when they are God’s plans, and He has chosen each of us for a specific calling. Some take a detour before being willing to embrace God’s plan, as happened to many in scripture. Jonah tried but got him in the belly of the whale. Pl
Our place in life is determined before we are born. God puts within us all the gifts we need to accomplish what He has planned. The important thing is that we are on God’s team, and not that we do everything right, but that we follow His leading and live for Him and to serve others. We are not an accident but all of us are called and chosen, and may we live the life that God has for each of us.
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