Canaan's Rest

Dear Ones, Hope you are able to keep cool on these warm days. I walked on the trail yesterday with Al but the next days will be even warmer. I plan to clean the apt this morning and do food prep.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Sometimes I must remind myself to just be honest with the Lord, and not sugarcoat what is going on in my life but to be real with Him. Recently, I read about Psalms of Lament, that there are many Psalms that help us face what we are going through, speaking how we are feeling to the Lord. Since Jesus probably participated in the communal praying of the Psalms, He must have prayed and even sang the laments as well. We know He lamented when Lazarus died, when He was in Gethsemane, and when He died on the cross, crying “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46)

We also can lament, which is a prayer that we speak to the Lord about our pain and brokenness. We tell Him exactly how we feel and are struggling, and then shift from focus on our self to focus on the Lord. David is so honest and asks how long the Lord will forget him and hide His face. But after sharing his sorrow he says, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” (Psalm 13) I’m glad that we can express to the Lord our true feelings and be open with Him and tell Him our complaints, our disappointments, our hurts, even our doubts! But we must guard against complaining about God to others. Instead, we tell God everything, for He is our hope and the One who can help us. It doesn’t necessarily mean He will take away the situation we are in, but rather we see things in a different light and ask what we can learn. We don’t have to rush through this stage, as we need time to work through our grief. Some things we suffer may not change until glory, but we remember that He is loving, powerful and kind. After we tell Him what is on our hearts, it often leads us to remembrance of times past when He has rescued us and led us, and it may help us to move on to worship Him and praise Him.

Then it is important to give our situations to the Lord and to surrender it all into His most capable hands. Just as I am writing this, the sun broke through the many clouds and is shining right in my eyes. Isn’t that what the Lord works? As we worship Him, He shines His light into our darkness and we find joy even in the midst of what we are going through… for our joy is found in Him, not our circumstances.

Challenge for today: Be real with the Lord, give Him your complaints; then give everything confidently to Him and follow with praise and worship.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,
Hope you have a great weekend and keep cool! I am going to take my first shower since my leg injury and I have to do it within an hour of the paramedic coming. I am also stripping our bed down to the mattress and washing everything since I spent lots of time there lately.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
The Lord has so much to show us and say to us if we are open and receptive. I have found it is wise to pay attention when we sense He has something He wants to get across to us. He knows the best timing in our lives, and when we dismiss it and think we will be receptive later, that time may not come for some time or maybe ever. He is the One who takes the initiative and our part is to have an open heart-door and respond. As with the familiar picture of Christ knocking at a door, there is no handle on the outside but we have to open it from the inside, as the Lord never forces His way. He has so much to give us if we are ready and open, and He will change us from the inside out.

The Lord asks all of us to follow Him, just as He said to His disciples. They had no idea where that would take them, and we don’t know either. Hopefully, we are willing wherever that takes us. When Al and I were engaged, I was saying I would go where ever that led because I loved him. At the time, one of the possibilities was the mission field and I was saying yes to that as well, although the Lord never led us to do that. Knowing the Lord, we don’t know what He has in store for us. But we respond in blind trust, because we can fully trust the One who is leading us.

Maybe today we have an inner desire for God, and yet sometimes we seem to be walking in blind faith since we don’t know where He is taking us. But if our desire is for Him, we will begin to know the joy of wanting what He wants for us, no matter what it is. Life gets pretty exciting for even if we go through darkness of understanding, for as it says in Isaiah 45:3, “I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places.”

Challenge for today: Remember even when we go through times of darkness, the Lord may be calling us into deeper places to know the depth of His love in new ways.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,
Hope you have a blessed day. Today is Donut Day and I plan to do food prep and later Bible Study. I got a good report from the wound specialist and in a couple weeks, i may “graduate”!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Some things in life we enjoy and take for granted until they are taken away from us. As you know I usually walk the Paul Bunyan trail several days a week, except this last month after my injury. Al went each day and I longed to go with him, but knew my leg could not take it yet. I missed being out in nature and seeing the flowers along the path, but had to focus on just getting my leg up and looking out the window instead.

Maybe for you, something you treasure has been taken from you. It could be a loved one, a job, good health or a relationship that suddenly is missing from your life. We may wish we paid more attention and appreciated what we once had, but now it is too late. This experience may cause us to look at other things in our life that we also take for granted, and begin thanking the Lord for the gift He has given us.

Whatever we have lost, it is good to remember Jesus is not absent in the midst of our situation. It says in Isaiah 53 that He took upon Himself our pain and bore our suffering, and it’s by His wounds we are healed. Because Jesus unites with us in whatever we suffer or any changes that take place in our lives, we have hope. Healing and restoration could take place in this life, but sometimes we await it in glory. Either way, may it draw us closer to Him, knowing there is purpose to our pain. It is an opportunity to know the Lord more intimately and become more like Him!!
Challenge for today: When going through a hard time, ask Holy Spirit how He wants to use it to draw you closer to Jesus.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,
Hope you have a fruitful day. I plan to bake cookies on a stick and a dessert and then go to the wound specialist, crafts and later Bible study.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Many people are working in their gardens, making sure they have good soil and the right seeds, and very excited over what their garden will produce. I loved having a garden in each place we lived, and could hardly wait to see the signs of growth until finally having everything needed for a rich salad. It took a lot of work constantly battling with weeds, but was very rewarding. Recently I was I was reading a devotional from the late James Robison, and he wrote about our lives being like a well-watered garden. I was especially struck by Isaiah 59:11, “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a well-watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

James mentioned those weeds and briers that prevent our gardens from looking beautiful or failing to produce, which means we have to be vigilant. I thought immediately of my own spiritual garden, and how I have been in a timeout period due to my leg injury. Am using this time to reflect on my weeds that need to go? What things prevent me and maybe all of us from bearing fruit? James mentioned going through the pretense of worship and outward actions when we may not have the Lord in first place in our hearts. That can happen gradually, and all of a sudden we realize how far we have strayed. Since I write devotionals, I must guard against not studying to write of things that I have not put into practice myself. I want my words to be what is actually in my heart to follow.

Whenever God exposes a weed in our hearts, we aren’t to dismiss it and take it lightly, but take to heart that it needs to go. How can we be fruitful if we are being choked out by weeds? Let us deal with them as they are exposed, so we can get on with being fruitful for His kingdom. He will give us water whenever we are dry, and strength when we are weak. He will even cause our bones to be strong and make us into a well-watered garden.

Challenge for today: Share with a spiritual friend one of the weeds in your garden that needs to go, and ask for their prayers.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,
Hope you have a wonderful day. We are preparing for Taylor’s family and I have Finnish pasty ready to pop into the oven. So thankful it is working out for us to see them and fellowship with them. Later I have Women’s Bible study at church.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Wouldn’t we say that there is an urgency today facing the church that we give ourselves more fully to the Lord, as it seems in the darkness of our culture so many are leaving the church? Who would have ever thought when we were young, how things would change with so many people ending up ignoring God? For many, it is as if God has disappeared and they don’t even care. Father Donald Haggerty’s book, The Hour of Testing, is an eye opener of what is happening in our culture, with faith fading and people be coming godless. We are to have our eyes wide open, but it seems there is a blindness to what is going on behind the scenes. Some believe there are many paths, but Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6) So many are spending time and attention dabbling in all sorts of things where God has no place.

It may seem like many of the signs of darkness we see today point to Jesus’ second coming. As we watch the news, we see so much chaos, godlessness, and everybody doing whatever they want without regard for what is right. There is a collapse of morality even amongst Christians who know what the Bible says on things that they now practice. We don’t know the timeline of Jesus coming but we are to be ready, prepared and waiting. There may be persecution also of holiness within the church, and doctrinal truths may be questioned and even done away with.

Let none of us let our love for the Lord grow cold, for we need power to stand even when it means going against the flow in our culture. We are to stand for what is right and true. Sometimes that means we have to stand apart in the minority and suffer for His sake. This is not a time to fold, but to stand strong and point others to the Him who is the Light of the World.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to give you holy boldness to speak up when the Holy Spirit prompts you, even when you are in the minority.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,
Hope you had a fabulous holiday weekend. We saw relatives and went out with friends and enjoyed the holiday. Tomorrow we are having Taylor’s family come and we are excited to see them, especially little Eden who is to have a sibling in September.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
It’s so important to pray for our nation and we are called to pray for all those in authority. (I Tim. 2:1-4.) that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in godliness and holiness. It pleases God and He wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.
A couple days ago I read a prayer by author and speaker, Dan McCollam, who wrote a modernized adaptation to the First Continental Congress prayer from Sept. 7, 1774. It was a prayer by Anglican Rector Jacob Duche’ that helped unify the political and religious divides. I pray daily for our nation, and this prayer is one that we might want to all pray for our nation no matter what party we belong to

“O Lord, our heavenly Father, high and mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords, You look from Your throne over all the earth and reign with supreme authority over every nation and every government.

“Look with mercy upon these United States. We have come to You for refuge and have placed ourselves under Your gracious care. We desire to depend on You alone. To You we appeal for what is right, and to You we look for the favor and strength that only You can give.

“Heavenly Father, take us under Your loving care. Give our leaders wisdom in their decisions and courage in the responsibilities You have entrusted to them.

“Frustrate the plans of those who pursue evil. Convict them of what is right. And where there is conflict, let Your justice and truth move hearts toward peace and cause violence to cease.

“Be present with those who govern our nation. Direct their decisions and establish this nation on the firm foundation of truth and righteousness. May conflict come to an end, and may order, harmony, and peace be restored. Let truth, justice, faith, and godliness flourish among our people.

“Preserve the health of our bodies and the strength of our minds. Pour out the blessings You know are best for us in this life and prepare us for the everlasting glory of the life to come.

“We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Savior. Amen.”

Challenge for today: Thank the Lord for the freedom we have in America and that we become again a nation under God.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Devotions from Judy’s heart
This is a special week as we celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday and the signing of the Declaration of Independence that says, “All men are created equal and have unalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” It’s a time when our whole nation should come together to celebrate in thankfulness for the freedom we have been given. I recently read an article by James Robison who wrote (just before he died) on our nation’s beginning and what we stand for. His words for our country are important, as he writes how freedom can only be experienced while exercising personal responsibility.

Freedom and liberty are not exactly the same. Robison gives the example of animals are free, but they lack conscience and wisdom to make choices. They kill prey as that is what comes naturally; they have no personal conscience. But if our lives as humans are centered on God, we are responsible to choose wisely and make responsible choices. Uncontrolled desires can rob us of our personal and even national freedom. Even Thomas Paine, a purported atheist said, “It is the fool only, and not the philosopher, or even the prudent man, that will live if there is no God.” He went on to say that if a man had a belief in God, His life would be regulated by the force of that belief and he would stand in awe of God.

We are all called to live in submission to God and do what is right and responsible; in other words, to do what we should, not the right to do whatever we want. Robison said, “…it would not then be liberty, but rather license, rebellion and lawlessness.” If we are honest, we might say that our freedom is on trial now in our nation. People are rejecting responsibility and choosing to do away with God’s ways. If you are reading this and a believer in the Lord, then let us not be indifferent and uninvolved, but prayerfully unite with others in faith to pray for our nation and to live responsibly before the Lord and others.

Challenge for today: Pray for our nation and be bold to stand for what you know is right in God’s eyes.
Blessings on this special holiday and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you have a great Holiday weekend!!! We enjoyed seeing Kurt’s family yesterday, later had a good Bible study and then went to Culvers. Today the paramedic comes and then I plan to bake Al’s cookies and do food prep etc.

Dear Ones,
Hope you have a great day and keep cool as well. I’m sure many of you are getting ready for the holiday weekend. We have Kurt and Brenda and Grant stopping by this morning on their way to the lake and later Al has Bible study. I was so grateful for the good report from the Wound Specialist yesterday as she said the wound is looking good now and by the end of July it should be healed. PTL! Thank you for prayers!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Wouldn’t we all like to say we are free of temptation and we have victory over all the things that use to trip us up? But how prideful that would be, for we would credit ourselves and think we are beyond certain sins. The truth is, we will never be beyond temptation, but we may look at those things that seek to undo us with new eyes. Pastor Gary Thomas writes that he sees good that comes from fighting temptation and says we need to stay engaged in the struggle against sin. We can fall hard when we think we are no longer vulnerable or need God’s help. When you think about it, even Jesus was tempted.

I heard of one pastor who led a wild life before coming to the Lord, but he is careful now not to put himself in compromising situations, as he knows temptations will come. His computer and phone are open for others to see and he is careful where he puts his attention. Our temptations will die when we die, but we are naïve if we think they will all die before then. Like I read from Prov. 20:9, “Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin’?” None of us!

Until reading Thomas’ book, I never thought of the good that comes from fighting temptation. Rather, I get down on myself when tempted and wonder why I haven’t progressed farther. But even if we find victory over one sin, we will have another to deal with and the next one could be worse. Instead, our struggles are good in the sense that they keep us humble and continually dependent on the Lord. We need His grace and are reminded of that each time we fail. But our struggles to fight against sin point us towards heaven, rather than choosing lesser pleasures in life. Those times we do fail and sin, we become more compassionate for others who also fail at times.

When we own our failures and share them, we might think others will think less of us. But maybe it is good for them to know we struggle with unbelief, selfishness, pride, lust, etc. also and need forgiveness daily, but we are not giving up. Let us learn how to use temptation to love and depend on the Lord even more.

Challenge for today: Share with a trusted friend an area in which you struggle and ask for prayer.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy