Canaan's Rest

Dear Ones,
Hope you use your time wisely today! I see the Wound Specialist today and after another week or so, I hope to be on my own and nearly healed. PTL and many thanks for your prayers! Many of you are writing that you aren’t getting my devotions and please try to go to canaansrest.org/whispers and scroll to the bottom and resubscribe and hopefully it will work.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Time is important and valuable, and we need to give our time to what is worthwhile. Haven’t we all watched something on T.V. that afterwards we said, “Why did I waste my time with that!”? Many things we know right off the bat that they are not worthy of our time, but sometimes we question things, asking the Holy Spirit to help guide us. Paul says in Eph. 5:15-16, “So then, be very careful how you live. Don’t live like foolish people but like wise people. Make the most of your opportunities because these are evil days.” Some translations say to make the very most of our time, and take advantage of each opportunity.

What could be better to do with our time than to love the Lord, delight in Him, serve Him, enjoy Him and give Him our attention, not just when we go to church but all throughout our day? We can use our time to express our love in a myriad of ways. If we are honest with ourselves, we may say that our time is often wasted on things we love more than the Lord, for they become like idols. Rather than look to the Lord Himself, we may look to other things to give us a sense of identity and security. Some can make idols out of their jobs by giving all their time there while neglecting their families.

What about times we could give a positive witness to what the Lord is doing, and yet we care more about what people will think of us and remain quiet? Rather than affirming our love for the Lord, we care more about protecting ourselves. Instead, let our love for God be demonstrated in our love for others, not judging them. We are to love them and offer what they need the most, not what they can give to us. Some need encouragement, others need comfort, compassion or to be accepted for who they are. Let us not waste our time on what is frivolous, but live each day by His power within us and let His love pour out of us on others.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord how you may use your time today to express His love to others.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,
Hope you have a blessed day! I have an early morning appointment with the dentist for a tooth extraction! Not my most favorite way to start my day but necessary!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I know I have written often about surrender because it is so important in our daily lives to give everything to the Lord as we recognize our dependency is on Him. Why do we keep trying to take control when it only brings us anxiety and stress? Surrender is not giving up and throwing in the towel, but it is a positive, loving way of inward yielding to God and His will in our life. This is quite different than someone who surrenders because it is mandatory like to an enemy; rather it is something we do voluntarily. God is so worthy of our trust, for He loves us more than anyone else ever can and wants our good.

Surrender may not look the same for everyone, as we all face life’s challenges differently. Persons who are told by their doctor they have cancer may surrender it all over to the Lord while actively undergoing treatment given by the doctor. Others may go through a time of great grief as they surrender and place their dependency on the Lord, even when they are full of questions as to why. Some focus on their eternal home and feel closer to Him as they prepare for that day, while others lament and ask God to change their circumstances, even as they accept whatever His outcome is.

Of course, none of us will completely understand why certain things happen to us, but we can hand it all over to Him. We don’t need to have all the answers if we are willing to surrender to Him in confidence and know He controls the outcome. It reminds me of the song, “I don’t know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day. I don’t borrow from its sunshine, For its skies may turn to gray. I don’t worry o’er the future, For I know what Jesus said, And today I’ll walk beside Him for He knows what is ahead. Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand; But I know who holds tomorrow, And I know who holds my hand.”

Challenge for today: Know that whatever tomorrow holds, His presence goes before you and He is worthy of your trust.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

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