Canaan's Rest

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: March 2025 (Page 4 of 4)

March 3, 2025

March 3, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Today I am going to skip my exercise class as I’m going to the dermatologist for my routine check-up. It is rare that she doesn’t find something that needs taking care of.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
On Sunday morning when I was having my quiet time before going to church, I read from Psalm 95 which just happened to be a call to us by king David to worship. He is inviting us to come before the Lord with joy and music and praise. The Message translation begins the Psalm with. “Come, let’s shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let’s march into His presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with hymns.! And why? Because God is the best, High King over all the gods.” He goes on to say we should bow before him on our knees and listen as He speaks. Wow! What if we went to church with hearts so full of thanksgiving that our praises almost raised the roof. And then if we quieted our hearts and listened attentively as we heard God speak through the word of our pastor. Our lives would be changed and all those around us.

What prevents this from happening? Too often we are complacent and do not have open hearts but rather want our own way which causes us to gradually drift away. We must guard against having hardened hearts that complain and are not open to the Lord. When we resist His will and go our own way, we will find ourselves distanced from Him and our hearts cold. David uses the example of the Israelites who were tested in the wilderness and complained to Moses, asking him why he took them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, since they lacked water at the time. God provided water when Moses struck the rock, but over and over again they tried God’s patience with hardened hearts.

What about our hearts? Do we submit to the Lord and bow before Him and desire His will for us. We are just like sheep that need a shepherd to lead us and guide us and we are to listen for His voice. Let us have thankful and grateful hearts that are open to the Lord as we sing from our hearts, shout, worship, bow down, kneel, and listen.

Challenge for today: Spend some time with the Lord before going to church and ask for an open heart to worship Him.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

March 1, 2025

March 1, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Today I plan to do some food prep and clean the apartment. We are serving at church tomorrow so want to be sure we have enough baked goodies too.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
We all have highs and lows in our lives and certainly the writers of the Psalms did as well, for some were written from out of the depths of despair. We all go through situations in life that are disappointing and difficult, and we may end up in depression if we fail to deal with what has happened or can’t accept the inevitable. Depression is at an all-time high and it is not wise to bury painful feelings, emotions, and fears, but to bring to the surface those feelings that need to be sorted out. If we choose to repress them it only delays dealing with things and takes a lot of energy to hold the negative thoughts inside. How much better to have a friend we can talk with who will listen as we verbalize what is going on within us. Sometimes just speaking things out, helps us see things in perspective. We may find that our fears are illogical, and we may get in touch with our negative thinking.

Another reason for depression is anger that is repressed and even denied. It is far better to be able to admit our anger so we can deal with it and use our energy in constructive ways. It means we have to accept responsibility for our own anger and seek to find out what is underneath it. It’s okay to experience our anger and to express it appropriately when it seems right, without feeling guilty.

Depression is also caused by negative thinking and most often the person will say they feel worthless. How much better to confront the negative thinking about ourselves and refuse to have a pity party. If we are a perfectionist, this is not easy for we have to give up unrealistic expectations and know that of course we fail just like everyone else. We are not perfect.

But when we know the Lord, we can accept who He made us to be and receive His unconditional love for us. Our faith in Him will give hope, though we fail every day, we are not cast aside. We realize even more how much we need Him and as it says in Heb.13:21, that God may “equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Challenge for today: When feeling depressed, don’t repress or bury your negative thoughts and anger but ask the Lord for His help to deal with things and at times share with a friend.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy
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