Category: Uncategorized (Page 1 of 5)

August 24, 2024

August 24, 2024 / Judy Hendrickson / 0 Comments

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 17, 2024

August 17, 2024 / Judy Hendrickson / 0 Comments

Dear Ones,

Happy weekend to you! Take some time to enjoy it and get refreshed. Today I am going to clean the apartment and make Blackberry cobbler with berries that were brought to our door last night by a friend who just finished picking them.

What a wonderful surprise!

Devotions from Judys heart

Scripture is not just a book to read but God’s story to us that reveals His love for us and His desire for a personal relationship with us. The Bible is an immense narrative that contains so many stories that we are to enter into. Too often we can read a book but fail to realize how it impacts us. But in the Word, it is especially important that we find ourselves in it, and to start with it could be the prodigal son that is far from home and needs to turn around and go to the Father.

Even though we may know may scripture verses by heart, it is important that it isn’t just informational but that we have a relationship with the One whose story it is. And of course, it is super important that we listen to what the story is saying to us. We may find ourselves in one of the characters, like Martha who is so busy serving and not giving attention to just being at Jesus feet. Or maybe we identify with Job whose friends misread him and tell him it is because of his sin that he has so many problems, making him feel worse rather than better.

We also don’t want to read scripture to see only what we will get out of it to improve our lives and be in control, but rather that we see how our story fits into God’s story. We ask how would He like to use me and how might I can fit into His larger story? This may draw us into community as well for we begin to see how important relationships are in the larger story of how God loves the world and wants all to be saved.

Al and I use to meet with a group of half Lutheran’s and half Catholics for Lectio Devina, the scripture for Sunday was read 3 times. Each time we paused and spent time reflecting on what stood out to us, then what was God saying to us and followed with how we needed to change in some area of our life.

It’s important to know what God is saying to each of us in His Word. Commentaries and other means can help us know the details and meaning of things that may puzzle us and also give us what a word is in the Greek etc. Let us use all means to help us get the story right and to grow and find our place in God’s story.

Challenge for today: When reading your Bible first pray and then listen as you read and find your place in His story.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

July 29, 2024

July 29, 2024 / Judy Hendrickson / 0 Comments

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a great weekend! Exciting to watch the Olympics! We are in for more hot temperatures with predictions to be in the 80’s all week. I plan to do food prep and go to Aldi’s and exercise class this morning.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

I was reading from Hebrews 12 about how we are God’s children, and he trains us, disciplines us, and corrects us because He loves us. We are to also be responsible parents and teach and discipline our children and do what is best for them so they can mature in their relationship with God and live His best for their lives.

Sadly, there are delinquent parents who are shirking their responsibilities and giving their children up to our culture that does not want their best but is boldly leading them astray. Right after reading scripture, I read an article by Alicia Searl on Crosswalk.com who writes about how Satan is after our kids and confusing them about love, sex, their identities etc. and we need to fight back. In our Bible study group, many are grandparents and see the confusion in their grandkids hearts and praying much for them to see the truth. We need to fight back in prayer and use every opportunity to speak into their lives.

Alicia shared areas the enemy uses to bring confusion to the young people. First of all, he tries to confuse them in their identity and uses social medial, books, movies to deceive them. But Psalm 13:13-14 speaks about how wondrously we are made from our mother’s womb and God doesn’t make mistakes. The enemy also attacks our children’s innocence and rather than honoring their bodies, he raises up questions about their gender, sex outside of God’s plan of marriage etc. It seems like much of society pays no attention to God’s rules and children see these examples. Satan also attacks God’s purpose for them, and they become complacent and passive. Their faith is attacked, and their minds and hearts get swayed toward selfish wants instead of going God’s way. Their friends can either lead them away from the Lord or encourage them in the Lord’s ways, so it is important who they have for friends. With one of our kids was a teenager, we had to limit activity with a friend as they came home like a different person, and not in a good way.

Whether we have young children or older grandkids, we need to fight for them by praying daily and diligently for them. They are accosted with so much evil every day that is far from what the Lord wants for them, and they need grace to stand against what the enemy is sending. Let us not be negligent but diligent in prayer.

Challenge for today: Spend some time praying for your children and grandchildren and when led send and text them words of encouragement.

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

July 24, 2024

July 24, 2024 / Judy Hendrickson / 0 Comments

Dear Ones,

Hope your heart is filled with trust in the Lord for whatever the day holds. This morning, I plan to do food prep and go to my exercise class and this afternoon Al and I are going to Costco as I never got shopping yesterday.

Devotional from Judy’s heart

Do we trust the Lord? I know we say we do, but do we really trust Him with everything? I usually read each day from the O.T. and N.T, a few different translations, and a devotional book but in all the books recently it spoke of trusting God, and that’s a clue I need to pay special attention.

For example, when the Babylonians took over Jerusalem, they burned down the royal palace and took King Zedekiah and slaughtered his sons, and then put out his eyes before taking him into captivity. But the King of Babylon treated Jeremiah differently and very kindly and gave orders for him to be taken care of. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah and told him he would not die in the war but. ”You will escape with your life because you trusted me.” (Jer. 39:18)

When I read from Eph. 3, Paul was writing from prison and he tells the Ephesians that his life work is to help people to understand and respond to the message that all are welcome into God’s family, both Jew and Gentile. He tells them, “When we trust in Him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!” (Eph.3:10)

I also read from Genesis how Noah and his family were saved from the flood because they trusted God and did all that He commanded. And in Nehemiah, when threatened by the enemy to quit building the wall, they did not quit, but prayed and trusted God and set a watch against their enemy day and night.

We say we believe in the Lord, but do we really trust Him if we are filled with anxiety and worry? If we spend time dwelling on the “what-ifs” will happen, we are not resting in Him. Joyce Meyer shares from Heb. 4:3, “For we who have believe (adhered to and trusted in and relied on God) do enter that rest…” She gives ways of how to get our mind off of mauling over our problems and instead to choose to think of other things. Maybe we can simply do something like go for a walk, try a new recipe, or read a book. We get our focus on things other than our problem and trust God to work in our situation. Let us pray and give God our circumstance and wait in Trust.

Challenge for today: Don’t feed worry but trustingly give your situation to the Lord in prayer and rest in Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

June 3, 2024

June 3, 2024 / Judy Hendrickson / 0 Comments

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! We enjoyed our walks on the trail and have had such beautiful weather. Today is exercise class, shopping at Aldi’s, making spaghetti pies etc.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

As I shared with you before that my word for 2024 is Deeper, to go deeper with the Lord. Of course, that means there will be things that have to go that are taking up room in my heart so that more room will be occupied by the Lord. Some of you may be familiar with a pamphlet called, “My Heart, Christ’s Home.” The story is about giving each room of our spiritual home (heart) to the Lord. Years ago, I gave a talk on that using a dollhouse that lite up and spoke of the cleansing of each room.

The Lord wants all of us and that means dealing with the clutter of our hearts. It’s a deep inner work that involves our attitudes, emotions, beliefs and actions. We have to confront those negative things in our lives and Mark Roberts from Fuller Seminary also shared on Crosswalk.com about it. His timing for my life is perfect as I desire that my thoughts, feelings and actions to be in tune with the Lord and acknowledge my own sinful responses. It takes courage on the part of us all to be truthful and look honestly at our own hearts. It’s more than going through the outward motions of changing our behavior and more of an inner cleansing to see how God sees us. Roberts uses Psalm 51 to help us, like David, to know how to pray and deal with all the clutter within. I want to share His prayer and may we make it our own prayer. “Gracious God, thank you for the example of Psalm 51. Thank you for David’s courageous look into his own sinful soul. Thank you for how the Psalms teach us to pray with open minds and hearts. Help me, I pray, to have the same confidence and courage that David had. I admit, Lord, there are times I don’t want to confess my sin to you. Sometimes I don’t even want to look inside of myself to acknowledge what’s there. I need your help, Lord. May I discover how doing the inner work of confession is a way to experience the forgiveness and restoration that comes from your grace. Amen.”

Challenge for today: Read through David’s confession in Psalm 51 and make it your own.

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

The Church in a Negative World

May 27, 2024 / Alan Hendrickson / 0 Comments

Aaron Renn has written an important book, “Life in the Negative World.” It is meant for evangelicals learning to live in a culture where a biblical faith is seen as a negative influence on others. In a recent blog, Renn noted “About a quarter of the book is an updated and expanded version of my diagnosis of what’s happening in evangelicalism and its relationship with society at large. But three quarters of it is about how evangelicals should start living in this new era I’ve called the ‘Negative World.'”

I have been following Renn on line for sometime. I regard his insights worthy of serious reflection and discussion. In his blog he wanted to “highlight four themes that you can use as a guide in thinking through the ideas I share in the book.” I believe they are worthy of our attention as men who want to follow Jesus.

First, a posture of exploration. In the world as well as in the church we are in a time of rapid change and uncertainty. We all are experiencing significant change. Renn believe this should lead us into “adopting a posture of exploration.” “Today’s world is much more like a ‘zero to one’ startup. We are in the unknown territory and have to get more comfortable walking by faith rather than sight.” Using the Israelites crossing the Jordan River into the promised land as an example, he suggests, “They had known only the wilderness, which was their comfort zone. Now they had to venture into the unknown, following the ark because they had not been this way before.”

Second, increased focus on being a counterculture. Renn believes, “the evangelical church needs to spend much more time self-consciously and intentionally stewarding the strength and health of its own community.” He sees evangelicalism as internally weak. He suggests there should be more of an internal focus rather then that of an external focus. The image of building an ark to survive the flood would be a good image for the church to adopt

Thirdly, a minority mindset. We are no longer a “moral majority” representing the cultural mainstream of America. “This means,” according to Renn, “that evangelicals need to learn to act like other minorities have always acted. We have to create our own institutions and practices that demarcate and sustain community life and be less reliant on the mainstream institutions of society. Evangelicals do not need to take responsibility for or invest in mainstream institutions.”

Fourthly, raising the bar on church. When Christianity was the de facto national religion, most people were members and attended. The bar was rather low; discipleship and belief were seen as artificial barriers to membership. But Renn maintains, “As evangelicalism becomes more of a minority faith that requires an unpopular choice to embrace, this gives evangelical churches the opportunity to raise the bar for what they expect out of their members. Raising this bar will be crucial to having stronger churches as well.”

These four suggestions can work effectively for any gathering of men, wanting to combat the effects of the shrill voices regarding toxic masculinity. Men, the culture is not going to give us the guidance, encouragement and support to be a godly man. We must be more creative in building communities of men who are about to build an ark, so as to rescue especially younger men. We will need to accept the status of minorities, while calling men to whole hearted allegiance to the Lord. I am thankful for the godly men in my life. Jesus said, “Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self” (Mark 8:36 – Message).

May 22, 2024

May 22, 2024 / Judy Hendrickson / 0 Comments

Dear Ones,

Hope you wake to a day of sunshine! We will soon be leaving Coralville, Iowa today and heading home. We were glad to get here yesterday as there were strong winds and tornado warnings. I had a wonderful swim in the indoor/outdoor pool and some time to retreat. Thank you for your prayers for our time away.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Why are we surprised when difficulties arises when we are serving the Lord? The first question that usually comes to my mind is, what am I doing wrong to cause this trouble? But when we encounter opposition, it may well be, not that we goofed up, but rather the enemy sees the progress being made for God’s kingdom and wants to sabotage it. In fact, we can expect it. Jesus told us it would happen, and we would be attacked and hated for His sake but also reminds us of His power to overcome. In John 16:33 He said, “In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

I am reading in the book of Ezra, how Zerubbabel led over 42,000 Israelites back to their land after being exiled in Babylon for 70 years. It was God’s doing that the Persian King Cyrus, gave volunteers permission to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. They no more got started with the foundation laid and the altar built and sacrifices offered, when they had to face opposition that hindered the building for over 16 years. Zerubbabel was discouraged and the people fearful; but finally, when their hearts received encouragement by words from the prophets and leaders and reading of the scriptures, they were able to finish the temple and worship there again.

We will have those that oppose us and try to sidetrack us from doing God’s will and we may get discouraged. We should not be surprised or feel hopeless, but rather seek God’s help and move ahead. God may use others to come along side of us, and encourage us and pray for us so that we can complete the work given to us. Let us not be slowed down or to give up but to place everything in God’s hands and go in His power, not ours.

Challenge for today: When doing God’s will, don’t weaken by words from the opposition, but feed on God’s word and get prayer to complete God’s task through you.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

May 15, 2024

May 15, 2024 / Judy Hendrickson / 0 Comments

Dear Ones,

Greetings from Lexington, KY and we arrived here after a full day of travel in the rain and lots of traffic. Our usual place to stay was filled up and so we kept traveling. I had a wonderful swim and today we will be going to Knoxville and Thursday to Statesville, N.C. So excited.

Devotions from Judy’s heart,

I just finished reading the new book out by my cousin’s daughter-in-law, Kristin Salvevold, “A Quiet Witness”. It was so good that I read the whole 346-page book in one day, as we traveled. It taught me much of how the Lord can navigate His children through the most difficult circumstances in life and shower them with His goodness, binding them together as a family in God’s love. I can’t even imagine the painful circumstances this family endured as Kristin and her husband Chris first lost one baby by a miscarriage, and then had 8 children; one was a special needs daughter, Britlyn, who had a rare condition of a deletion in her tenth chromosome which hindered her from growing as other children and required surgeries and lots of therapy.

The latest 8^th child that was rather a surprise, was Jensyn with an even rarer condition that only a few in the world have. It is called Trisomy 5p which resulted with many multiple problems that required constant care, much of it being in the hospital ICU. But she was loved so much by her parents and all her siblings that I think they would all say she was a gift to them and helped each of them to cling to the Lord in deeper ways than they ever would have, without caring for her. Often mom or dad had to miss birthdays or games of her sibling because she was in need of emergency care. Since Chris is a pastor, their church stepped up to help often and prayed much. Miracles were evidenced when they prayed, and Jensyn would suddenly get better. Jensyn was a silent witness as she never learned to talk or walk but communicated God’s love in other ways.

The family was all able to be with Jensyn when she was near her homecoming and through tears, they each sat at her bedside and cradled her and said their goodbyes. They sang and worshiped together and before her last moment they sang Chris Tomlin’s song, as the words became very real, “I will rise when He calls my name; No more sorrow, no more pain.”

Although she lived only 6 ½ years she touched many hearts, even of the doctors and nurses. There were 550 at her funeral, and Al and I were among them and very touched. It was a funeral we won’t forget as Jensyn’s siblings were the worship team and lifted their hands and hearts in praise to the Lord for His gift to them. Jensyn wasn’t a burden but God’s gift of love.

Each person has to deal with pain and death, and it isn’t the same for everyone. Jensyn’s siblings have written letters to her, and they are grateful for what they have learned through her. One said she taught her to how to love without expectation of return. Another felt she learned that she couldn’t rely on her own strength, but the Lord’s. Her brother writes that she brought the family close and now they await being reunited someday.

Challenge for today: Be present to others going through grief and allow them to grieve their way and hold them up in prayer.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

May 1, 2024

May 1, 2024 / Judy Hendrickson / 0 Comments

Dear Ones,

Hope you wake to a peace-filled day. We had a beautiful sunny day yesterday and then rain in the night. Today I plan to bake, have Exercise class, Crafts, a visit from Ann, and later Bible Study.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

I’m sure we have all felt the negative words of fellow Christians against us at times and it can wound us. Likewise, we have all said things that were not kind about our brothers and sisters in Christ and judged them. Apostle Paul was the recipient of a lot of very negative words, but he learned how to handle the criticism without letting it get to him. I was reading in I Cor.4 and he tells the Corinthians that he is not concerned about what people say against him for it is the Lord who is the judge. In verses 3-5 he writes, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.”

We are all guilty of judging and when we do that, we are setting ourselves up as better than others, which is spiritual pride. We may be led to confront others when they are sinning but judging them is up to the Lord. He knows the hearts of all, our motive and purposes, and all tht is hidden deep inside of us and will one day bring all these things out in the open. He doesn’t need our help making judgements ahead of time!!

Let us not waste our time and energy trying to get the approval of others, which can change in the flick of an eye. It is the Lord who will judge, and we can lay our hearts open before Him and ask Him to reveal what is in our hearts that needs correcting One of our parishioners told me that I wasn’t sophisticated enough as a Pastor’s wife. You can probably quickly bring up critical things that were said to you. We don’t have to react and defend ourselves but just bring it to the Lord and then rest in His love.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to show you when you are being judgmental and to repent. And when criticized by someone to quickly take it to Him to be the judge.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

April 19,2024

April 19, 2024 / Judy Hendrickson / 0 Comments

Dear Ones, Happy weekend. Hope you wake to a sunny day. Each morning as I look out my window the trees are budding and everything is starting to green up. Today Ann’s family is taking us out for lunch! Devotions from Judy’s heart The Lord is after our hearts and wants us to know Him in a deep way. We can pray and ask Him for decisions about who to marry, what field of work we should go into, or whether we should move etc. But those things, though they are important, they are not the most important for first it is to really know the Lord. The more intimate we know Him, the more we will be able to discern what He wants in our lives. Because I know Al so well, I can almost predict in situations what He will do. There are many times I could finish his sentences and he mine. It’s because we spend time together and share together and know each other well. As we spend time in the Word and prayer with an openness to the Lord, the Holy Spirit will reveal more of the Lord to us. Some of the questions we are asking may be answered specifically in the Word and we don’t have to wonder if it is His will, for it is only a matter of obedience. Through our times with Him, we may find our hearts are being enlarged and softened and we come away with a desire to express His love to others around us. It is not something we feel we have to do, but it becomes something on our hearts we want to do.

One thing we discover as we draw closer to the Lord, there is no room for unforgiveness towards anyone. Jesus forgave those that put Him to death, and we must also forgive everyone who has hurt us. We are going to need His power to do that, as it is one of the most difficult things He asks of us. But if we do not forgive and become revengeful, it is much like poison in our bodies. It may show itself in depression, anger, bitterness and anxiousness. But as Paul told the Colossian believers, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Col. 3:13) If we do not forgive our Heavenly Father will not forgive us. (Matt. 6:15) Let us give our hearts fully to the Lord and let us be known by Him and become like Him. Challenge for today: Open your heart in new ways to the Lord and to others. May you have a wonderful weekend full of blessings and prayers and love, Judy

Category: Uncategorized (Page 1 of 5)

August 24, 2024

August 17, 2024

July 29, 2024

July 24, 2024

June 3, 2024

The Church in a Negative World

May 22, 2024

May 15, 2024

May 1, 2024

April 19,2024

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