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: February 2026 (Page 1 of 3)

February 23. 2026

February 23, 2026 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! This morning I am going to Aldi’s and Exercise class and we are going to have a new recipe I made for breakfast and another new recipe for lunch.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
How often do we begin our prayer with a request for the Lord, telling Him something we feel we need right now? What would happen if we continually did that to our friends: instead of greeting them and saying how good it is to see them, we just tell them something we want them to do for us? I think not many of those relationships would be lasting. Occasionally, when there is an emergency, we might forget about the greeting and just blurt out what is needed, but that would be the exception.
Why do we assume it is different with the Lord? He already knows our needs before we even ask, so we don’t need to rehearse things in detail, forgetting to thank Him for all that He has done for us and all that He means to us. How much better to begin with praising Him and expressing gratitude from our hearts! I don’t know about you, but I find it much easier to give to others who are grateful rather those who have expectations and then lack appreciation. When we keep giving in to our children’s desires and they lack thankfulness, they only become more centered on self and want more. In Phil. 4:6, Paul tells us to let our praises shape our worries into prayers. “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.” We are to bring everything to the Lord in prayer, but to give thanks as well. It follows in verse 7, “God’s peace, which is greater than we can ever understand, will keep guard over our hearts and minds in King Jesus.”

I think we all want to be free of anxiety, letting peace settle down into our hearts, and what better way than to practice thankfulness and praise to the Lord? We will find our heart’s concerns lifted when we focus on the One who knows and will answer each need we have.

Challenge for today: When praying, begin with praise and thanksgiving before letting God in on your requests.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

February 21, 2026

February 21, 2026 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a great weekend. We enjoyed having Lars for his birthday yesterday and ate so much we went for a
walk afterwards. This morning I plan to bake Al’s favorite cookies and clean the apartment.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Perhaps we all would like a life of comfort, without problems or complications. I know I would, but they are needful to help us mature, grow and draw us closer to the Lord. I like to be warm and cozy, and even as I write this I have a heater close to my feet to warm me from winter drafts. But rather than having everything comfortable in life, we gain much through our afflictions. The psalmist says in Psalm 119:67 (Amplified), “Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now Your word do I keep (hearing receiving, loving and obeying it).” Our troubles actually help us learn and mature in our relationship with the Lord.

Let us not resent the times of trouble when they come, but to know that God in His love is using them to help us become more like Him and knows the best means. He gets our attention when we are hurting and wants our dependence to be on Him, rather than searching for ways to get out from under our situations right now! Instead, it is to be a listening time to surrender to the Lord and learn the benefit of the struggles we are experiencing. He has so much to teach us, and it helps if we are willing students who yield to Him.

The enemy is sure to tell us that God is against us or has forgotten us, and makes us question why we are holding on to Him. But rather than complain, we need to listen to the Lord and trust Him, even if we don’t fully understand the reasons at the time. I was reading what Thomas Brooks had to say about the benefits to be gained from our afflictions including: clear sight of our sins, softening of our hearts, removal of worldly influence, less pride and greater humility, growth in holiness, God revealed to us, thoughts fixed on eternity, and equipping us to help others who have troubles. That is a lot of pluses, and hopefully we are led to trust God’s power and to know it is in His love that we go through afflictions. He is not out to destroy us, but to free us. We may not love what we have to go through, but let us love what results from His refining in our lives.

Challenge for today: Recognize the hurt when going through afflictions, but thank the Lord He is walking with you through it and getting you ready for an eternity in heaven with Him.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

February 2, 2026

February 20, 2026 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a great weekend. Yesterday afternoon, after Bible Study, Al and I went to see “I Can Only Imagine” and it was an excellent movie, especially for fathers and sons. Worth seeing! Today I plan to do food prep and Lars is coming for lunch and we’ll celebrate his birthday!!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I was reading Peter Scazzero’s book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, and he asks the question the struck me, “Do we have an intentional, conscious plan to keep God at the center of everything we do?” It is otherwise known as a Rule of Life, which is a tool that helps us remember the Lord in whatever we do. I can too easily go on autopilot, but my desire is to be intentional to grow in the Lord and be aware of His presence throughout my day. We can get distracted doing many things, but how do we include prayer, spiritual practices, rest, silence, solitude, etc. in our day? Of course, we can start by eliminating some time-consuming things that need to go in order to grab hold of more important things.
Let us ask ourselves what is most important, as we desire to be transformed more into His image. Your list may be different than mine, but I like to start my day in scripture and prayer, spiritual readings, etc. followed by prayer together with Al.  If you have little ones, that may not be possible and you have to take what works for you. Since I write daily devotionals, I like to spend a few moments getting a sense of what the Lord would want me to say and see if it follows a theme of what I read in my devotional time. I also just like to sit in silence for a few minutes and just try to listen to the Lord. After that I like to get to work and accomplish things on my mental check list.

As I read from Scazzero’s book, I think I want to incorporate times during the day in the midst of my work when I just stop and pray the Jesus prayer, and spend some moments just focusing on the Lord. Maybe take time for a cup of coffee and just sit and enjoy being in His presence. My Sundays need to be more times of rest, and thinking of how the Word I heard at the church service applies to me; also time focusing on what would please the Lord and what things He has for me to serve others.

Carlo Caretto with the Little Brothers of Jesus said, “I can only say, “Live love, let love invade you. It will never fail to teach you what you must do.”

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to help you listen well to His voice and show you any changes that are needed for Him to have first place in your life. (Matt 6:33)
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

February 19, 2026

February 19, 2026 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a grace filled day. We had a good Ash Wednesday service last night to start Lent. Weather cleared so not a problem to get to church. Today Al has Men’s Group and I will have donuts waiting when he gets home. Later we have Bible Study.
Devotions from Judys heart
It is sad when we see friends or family following the Lord, and then suddenly turning back because they are discouraged, feeling they are failing and not having victory over their sins. But perhaps the biggest thing is they slip into self-reliance and try to go in their own strength rather than the Lord’s, but it doesn’t work for we all wear out. We have to go in the power of the Spirit with the humility to know we can’t do it on our own.

Our own efforts will never be enough, for the bottom line is that we must trust God and listen to the voice of the Spirit. So many start out well, but then slip into trying to do it on their own or take back their wills rather than doing God’s will. We need to be attentive to the promptings of the Spirit and respond right away, rather than waiting and deciding if we want to do what He is directing.

Maybe we have a wrong image of the Lord, thinking He is harsh and will hold us back from enjoying life. No, He came to give us fullness of life and joy as we cooperate with His grace. Without Him, we can do nothing. (John 15:5) We must let go of self-reliance, grab hold of God-reliance and live in His grace.

What I have pondered lately is that we cannot do any good works for the Lord except that He produces them in us by His Spirit. But even when we live a life of prayer and show compassion to others, etc., it was all prepared in advance by God. And of course, all the credit and glory then go to Him, for it all originated with Him and not our own doing. We can plan and act, but all that we do comes from His grace.

Let us receive His grace and walk in it, as we thank Him that all that we are and have and do comes from His grace.

Challenge for today: Memorize: “For by grace you have been saved through faith and it is not your own doing. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Eph. 2:8-9

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

February 18, 2026

February 18, 2026 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a peace-filled day on this first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday.  We got snow in the night and is continuing now so not sure if I will be going to my Exercise class. Later I meet for Crafts and tonight help at the Soup Supper before the Ash Wednesday service.
Devotions from Judys heart
How often do we tell ourselves lies that block our road to freedom and peace? Are we willing to address the lies and embrace truth, that we may get healed and set free? We’ve all been told things that later turnout to be false, and we have to acknowledge the lie and then be willing to change in our thinking and acting. I find that especially true in things I learned about health that science has been proven false. I am reading Pastor/Dr Gary Thomas’ book, The Life You Were Reborn to Live, and he shares twelve lies that rob us of our intimacy of God. The lies we believe about God make a difference in the way we see Him and respond to Him.

The spirit of the world is shallow, and there is a thirst for power, comfort, and wealth that distracts us from the truth of a life in Christ. Seeking to please God rather than man is quite a different agenda. Rather than pleasing an audience of many kinds of people, we aim to please an audience of one and that is the Lord. It will mean rejecting what is not true in this world and embracing the Spirit. Paul opens his letter in Galatians 1 saying that Jesus Christ, “rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!”

The bottom line is our peace is found in a person, not in all the right circumstances or possessions. We can lose it all in worldly goods but lack nothing, as David says in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing!” What a peaceful way to live: to not need acclaim, or a new home, but simply rest in the peace of the Lord. We don’t have to have everything fixed in our lives to have peace, for our when we have peace with the Lord it is well with our souls.

Thomas writes we must remove restlessness to have peace. Think of what makes us restless and worried and be willing to give it up. It may be different for each of us, but the solution is a relationship with the Lord who walks with us. As we are humble and gentle, knowing whose we are, we can come to rest, have peace and serve the Lord. We don’t have to live in anxiety about our circumstances or what others think of us, for now our focus is changed.

Challenge for today: Don’t follow the Lord simply to get peace, but desire to be with Jesus more than anything else and you will have peace.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

February 17, 2026

February 17, 2026 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a blessed day! Soon we begin Lent and last night I put away my Valentine decorations and took out Easter ones as we begin our walk through Lent. This morning I plan to make bars and do food prep and go to Women’s Bible study. Each day has been so sunny and beautiful for walks but we hear that is about to change soon. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Today we are becoming more and more dependent on technologies to connect us with others, and yet people are lonelier than ever before. I don’t believe we were ever meant to live our social lives online, but rather in real life experiences. Haven’t we all noticed when talking with others when their eyes are not on us, but focused on their phones, wondering if they have a message? Doesn’t it make us wonder who the person is that they feel is more special than having a conversation with us?
I was reading Christianity Today and said “Amen!” to remarks made by the editor Russell Moore and by author Nicholas Carr. They talked of a world that is foreign compared to the way I grew up. We had a plethora of kids in our neighborhood where we actually interacted in person, learned how to relate to one another, settle disputes, help one another and stand up for one another. We had time later when alone to process our interactions and plan for more times to play and grow together. I am not young anymore, but I still have friendships with those I went to school with and those in my youth group many years ago. I also use snail mail to send cards to friends, and I make it a point to write to our grandkids every month, even though we may email also.

But young people today miss out and don’t physically relate with others. One young man talked to me of how excited he was to have friends to the lake, and yet he had never met them in person, only online; and of course, people can show only the best parts of themselves that way. As many have also found out, people can act out rudely online and cancel you if they don’t agree. How can we learn to truly communicate or have empathy and caring for one another if we never take the time to really connect?

Carr and Moore talked about AI and how it gives us information quickly and efficiently, but who is doing the doing the editorial function of choosing which pieces of content people will see? A Roman Catholic group created Father Justin, an AI priest, who quickly became a heretic and suggested using Gatorade in baptisms. He was defrocked, even though he wasn’t real.

Before spending the majority of our day attached to our phones or scrolling online, let us take time for real relationships like when we gather together at church. It is a time to worship together, fellowship and pray for one another, and pray for one another, and then go out and serve and love others.
Challenge for today: Take a day off from your devices and truly interact with other in a meaningful way.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
 

 

The 6th of January

February 16, 2026 / / 0 Comments

I recently heard Amy Grant’s new single entitled, “The 6th of January (Yasgur’s Farm)”  I felt some nostalgia, as the song took me back to the 60’s when I was just a new convert.  The song didn’t have a preachy tone, rather it was almost contemplative, causing older listeners to reflect on their story and the present narrative of in our nation.  It did not ask us to do anything, but rather to ponder what might have been lost.  The last phrase of the song, leaves us with a challenging question for our conflicted time.  “I look ahead and realize we’ve lost our way.”  

I identified with the song because Amy Grant was a contemporary Christian artist, who was a part of my spiritual journey.  She now is older, having endured some difficult times on her journey.  Anyone who grow up with Amy Grant and lived through “Woodstock” will immediately be taken down memory lane, reflecting on the culture of the 60’s and its affects on our day.  

Here are some of the lyrics.  The first verse: “Maybe it’s the time of year/ Or maybe it’s the time of man/ 60’s playlist and a beer/ I’m suddenly 16 again/ What’s the future hold in store/ What’s it hiding up its sleeve/ All that wide-eyed hope/ Were we so naive.”  This seems like a longing for the past and a questioning of what was once experienced.  For those of us who are older, our response  is tied to our memory of the “old days” while those who are younger can only wonder what is being communicated.

Here’s the chorus: “Hey mister where’s the road to Yasgur’s farm/ He stares at me with pity and alarm/ Says that crowd left here long ago/ Scattered all to hell and Harper’s Ferry/ On the 6th of January.” Yasgur’s farm was the site of “Woodstock (1969)” and the summer of love.  Harper’s Ferry is identified with the civil rights movement.  Of course, January 6th refers to the confusion regarding the protest in our nation’s capital.  

The second verse includes the following,”I’m shopping for some groceries/ Muzak piped in overhead/ They only play the melody/ I hear the words John Lennon said/ Asking me to imagine/ As I fight this cart with crooked wheels.”  The bridge to the song seems to leave us wondering; “And we’re driving home and the radio plays/ What’s going on – Marvin Gaye/ Is it right on red or left on MLK/ I look ahead and realize we’ve lost our way.” 

 From the Message we read in I John 1:3-4, “We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.  Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!” As a seasoned follower of Jesus, I share with my readers the joy of having communion with  the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, since before the “summer of love.”

When I listen to Amy Grant, I do not have regret, sorrow or any longing for the “old days.”  Jesus has carried my wife and I, as we raised our family, during those  turbulent times brought about by “the summer of love (1968). To those who are younger, wondering what Ms. Grant sings about, I say, “keep your eyes on Jesus,” He is “The Way.”  Yes, “imagine” Jesus.  He will see you through.  I am living proof of what  the Lord has done in one man and his family.  Keep looking to Jesus and a future with Him.

 

 

 

February 16, 2026

February 16, 2026 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones, Hope you had a great weekend and celebrated Valentines Day.  This morning I am going to do food prep and go to Aldis and exercise class. My question this week is: When have you taken a big risk and step of faith and done something you felt the Lord was asking of you? What happened? 
Devotions from Judys heart
Have you ever done something risky that set you on a course that turned into something big and exciting? I have been reading about ordinary people who felt God calling them to leave family and comforts to risk everything to go where He was sending them. They took one small step, and God led them into a life of sacrifice and adventure. These pioneer missionaries were huge risk-takers, and counted everything as loss for the sake of gaining Christ. (Phil.3:7-9)

Familiar to most of us is Jim Elliot, whose brief life among the Auca Indians of Ecuador ended with his martyrdom, along with four other fellow missionaries. He had written in his journal, “God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life that I may burn up for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you Lord Jesus” His life was short, for he died at only 29 years of age, but he considered the salvation of the lost more important than his comfort or his very life. His wife Elisabeth wrote a biography of her husband and then carried on his work with the very people who had murdered her husband.  

I read of others who made sacrifices and took the risk to go where they felt called by God. C.T. Studd was considered the best English athlete of his day. He experienced a renewal of his faith at a crusade and felt called to Africa as an evangelist. Then there was Mary Slessor, a worker in a textile factory in Scotland who, when she came to faith, became active in street ministry, witnessing wherever she went. God laid a burden on her heart to go to Nigeria, to a bloody, cannibalistic, savage tribe. Later she built a mission house, a school and a church, rescued orphans and even adopted some of them. God also used her for intervening in tribal affairs and she became their tribal mediator. Then there was William Carey, a cobbler: when he came to the Lord, he became a lay preacher with a passion for world missions. He went to India and started a school and a college. He mastered many languages and translated the Bible into six of the languages and parts of the Bible into twenty-nine others.

The list could go on and on, of those who took a step of faith and risked their lives. They didn’t put limits on what God could do through them. For us also, the ultimate sacrifice is to give our whole selves to God. Who knows what He will do through us?!

Challenge for today: When you see a need around you, pray about it, and ask the Lord if he wants you to take a step to meet that need.  (It could be an unsaved neighbor, a youth program that needs help, a soup kitchen coordinator, etc.)  
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

February 14, 2026

February 14, 2026 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy Valentine’s Day!  I plan to clean and then my Valentine is taking me out for lunch to El Tequilas. EmojiEmoji Both Al and I were blessed by the funeral yesterday of a dear friend whose love for the Lord touched so many of our lives. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Recently in our Thursday Bible Study, we discussed how we could influence others for the Lord, and it kept coming back to loving them first. Our relationship with the Lord is most important, of course, but then we are to love others as we love ourselves. That means showing kindness, patience and mercy to them, not holding grudges, listening to them with an open heart, etc. How do we do this when we so easily become irritated with others?

We are blessed to see lots of love being expressed both here in our apartment complex and at church. Some can no longer drive, so others volunteer to give them a ride to their appointment and even stay with them during it. Others bring treats and meals to people who may be sick. Some take others shopping or out to eat, etc. Recently at the Women’s Bible study at church one member expressed a need to travel to the cities for an eye appointment and she didn’t want her daughter to have to take off work to bring her. Several said they could meet that need and one gal called her up saying she would take her there, stay with her, take notes from the doctor, and bring her home again. She was so overwhelmed with her kindness, she just bowed before the Lord in thanksgiving.

Loving others takes humility and a desire to live out God’s love. Only the Lord can give us His agape love that is unconditional, sacrificial, and seeks the best in others. It helps to remember that we are all part of God’s family and we are to treat each other as beloved family. Even as we have received grace, we are to offer grace to others. Jesus said in John 13:34, “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to open your eyes and heart to the needs of others, and be led by the Spirit to answer when prompted.
Blessings on this Valentine’s Day. Love, Judy

February 13, 2026

February 13, 2026 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy weekend! Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and hope for another today. We are going to leave this morning for a
funeral in Walker of a good friend we have known for many years. So many funerals lately but peace knowing they are with
the Lord now.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
The Lord desires our total trust in Him, and that we might abandon ourselves to Him as we walk out our daily life. I am reading a book by Ruth Burrows and tried to let her words settle in me, “Forget yourself once and for all in total trust in God, who will enable you to respond to His love in His way and His time.” Of course, the way He works is not always what we expect or would choose, but it is always best. In a nutshell, Burrows message is: Jesus is everything, Jesus is first and last, and Christ crucified, the wisdom and the power of God. What if each of us never said no to God? What would our lives be like?

We may think we don’t need God and many live as if God didn’t exist, but we are helpless apart from Him. We are prisoners of our own limitations. But even our suffering has meaning when we know the Lord, and He can produce good from it. One friend wrote recently:

“So many times in my life have I seen God work for me when I felt everything was against me and going in the wrong direction. Back in 1998, my business partner put me out of out business. I lost everything, and that led me to go to school to become a pastor (seemed terrible at the time) and now 28 years later, my life since the losses has been so unbelievably wonderful, certainly not the plan I would have chosen, but so much better than before. Another time I was asked to leave a church and that was a real blow, but now like only He could do, I am back at that same church and am teaching an adult discipleship class every week and have become an Elder!  I took the back seat and He elevates me to the best beyond what I could ever ask or imagine! THANK YOU JESUS!!”

We all need to wake up and know that there is no limit to what God can do if we trust Him fully. Our hope and confidence must be in the Lord alone, and may our heart trust Him more each day.

Challenge for today: Meditate on Isaiah 12:2, “Behold, God is my salvation: I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.”
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy
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