Category: Sister Judy (Page 101 of 270)

Dear Ones,

Hope you are having a wonderful day. I enjoyed yesterday with the Bible Study gals that met at Ann’s. There are many new gals since we moved away but  beautiful  gals who love the Lord. There is a wide age span which is so good for learning from one another. 

Last night I came down with some kind of a bug and have slept nearly all morning. The only thing I did was make one batch of cookies and  the rest of the morning I simplh slept. I missed my exercise class and we won’t be going to Bible study as I don’t want to give anyone else whatever it is i have. 

 Devotions from Judy’s heart

   Even though we are a new creation in Christ our transformation process is continuous. Our part is to keep surrendering our own will, and as we listen to the Holy Spirit, to follow in obedience.

   If we want to grow spiritually and live a full life, we need to be sensitive to any area in our lives that we grieve the Holy Spirit by our actions and attitudes. Like David prayed in Psalm 25:4-5 (God’s Word), “Make your ways known to me, O lord, and teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth an teach me because you are God, my Savior. I wait all day long for you.”

   But sadly there are many instances when we don’t follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and go our own way. Perhaps we return evil for evil. Our natural response is to inflict injury on others that have hurt us because we are wounded and want to strike back. Some choose to cancel others and put negative comments online about them that makes things worse. That is not the Jesus way.

   The Holy Spirit whispers to us to love our enemy. As Christ followers we are to patiently endure injuries done to us and lay down the right to retaliate and that is not easy. But if we withhold love and strike back, we really hurt ourselves. Resentment builds as we refuse to let go of the offense and we can’t move on in our lives. How much better when we opt to pray for our enemies instead, and even ask the Holy Spirit to tell us where we might have contributed to the situation.

    When we respond rightly God will give us endurance and love and cause us to go deeper with Him. At the time the situation may cause us hurt, but it helps us to endure if we remember the Lord sees, and He will be our place of refuge. It is likely we ourselves will be changed if we are willing to respond with a blessing and prayer for the one who has hurt us. I suspect that we will also find that our capacity to receive His love becomes greater and greater.

   Challenge for today: The next time you are hurt by another, pray for them and give up the right to get even.

Dear Ones,

Hope you wake to a peace-filled day! We will be leaving at 7 am. this morning to go up north. I plan to visit a friend in Assisted living on the way, and  Al is going to spend the morning with a friend in Hackensack, whose wife is going on with me to Ann’s. We are going there to be with the Bible Study group of which I was part of when we lived at the lake. I look forward to seeing those special friends again and having lunch together. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

   Isn’t it amazing how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary works for His kingdom? Sometimes it seems He picks the least likely persons we would expect, to bring change and motivate others and do great works; all the more reason we know it is God and it is His power at work in them. We must not disqualify ourself from God using us by saying we are insignificant or come from a damaging background, for He can take anything from our past and actually use it to work for good to bring glory to Him. Like Blanca Juarez Olthoff said, “God is bigger than your history and more concerned with your destiny.”   

   Think of Rahab who was a harlot but courageously hid the spies and is later mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. Or Gideon who was fearful farmer and yet became a mighty man of valor in victory over a massive army with his army of only 300 men. 

   We studied Deborah in our women’s Bible Study and God used her as a Judge and Prophetess in a day when women were not highly valued. Yet, God filled her with wisdom and called her to take military leadership in a battle against the Canaanites, who had long oppressed her people. Together with Barak, victory was miraculously won and they were given a song of praise and celebration for the victory.

   Maybe today we feel very ordinary and wonder how God can use us and yet He waits for us to surrender ourselves to Him and be willing to say Yes for whatever His calling is on our lives. I never dreamed when I wrote short devotionals in my letters to our parents years ago that I would one day be sending daily devotionals to all of you. But whatever God calls us to do, let us do it with our hearts engaged as serving the Lord. Paul said in Col. 3:23-25 (Message), “Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ.” 

   Challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to confirm God’s specific call on your life and do it willing from your heart.

Dear Ones,

  Hope you had a great weekend! Beautiful weather we are having! This morning I did food prep and made a choc/zucchini cake and went to my exercise class. This afternoon I am off to shop before our walk on the trail.  

Devotions from Judy’s heart

   All that we have belongs to God for He gave us life and all our blessings. No reason for us to be filled with pride when we give to others, for it is really what God gave us in the first place. It says in Deut. 8:18, “You shall remember the Lord your God for it is He who is giving you the power to make wealth.”

   Our neighbor, the candy lady, is gone for the week and I am taking care of her plants and the candy dish outside her door. The day she left the dish was full of a variety of candy that anyone walking down the hall may take and sample. By evening there were only 2 packages of M&M’s left. She e-mailed me that there was candy in her frig and gave me permission to fill the bowl when it got empty. Now when I put candy out there, people might thank me, but I am not really the giver of the candy, I only pass on to others what was made available to me. The candy really comes from my friend who paid for it all.

    It was a picture to me of how the Lord is the giver of all gifts and even though we may distribute some of them, everything comes from His hand. We are to be good stewards and pass on to others as directed by the Holy Spirit. We can’t give what we don’t have, so we are not asked to give beyond what we have received. If we have been given a lot then more is required.

   When Al was in seminary, we were poor but the Lord seemed to always show us ways we could still give and help others, and it didn’t always involve money. A friend of mine recently died but I will always remember the gift she made for us. They didn’t have a lot of money at the time as they had 8 children and her hubby went to seminary. But she made us a large Advent calendar out of material that had pockets to open each day with some special advent symbol and a scripture verse. Our children loved taking turns to open the pockets and it added to our Christmas and it was her way of expressing love to us.

   David said in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” Since He owns everything and has given so much to us, let us be creative and find ways to share with others

  Challenge for today: Ask the Lord how you can bless someone else in some way today.

Dear Ones,

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. We were blessed yesterday as we went to the funeral of our friend Helen and heard of all the lives she touched by her love for the Lord and her caring ways. She lived her faith in a beautiful way and is now with the Lord.

This morning I made a couple casseroles and cleaned our apartment and now I am going to fry some sun fish that a friend caught and shared with us.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  We all need to take care of our soul! Sometimes we get so busy doing things for the Lord that we neglect taking time for our soul; that results in losing our sense of purpose and meaning and we are left feeling joyless.

   I am reading James Smith new book, “The Good and Beautiful You” and he differentiates the self from the soul. He explains the self as an isolated individual, interested in surviving and finding value in how it looks and what it possesses and accomplishes etc. The self can become like an idol, but our souls on the other hand, are real and eternal and know what really matters. They care about integrity, harmony, connection and what is true and good. Our souls hunger for God and also want to be loved without conditions. God breathed our soul into us and our soul is a gift that needs be nourished. It is the most real part of us and the essence of who we are most deeply.

   When we neglect our souls, we pay for it as we may get depressed and feel unloved and lack purpose, as Smith himself experienced. He got so caught up in his work that he lost his joy and felt empty; he ended up at a Christian therapist where he got restored and learned to guard his soul thereafter.

    Our souls do not want to be unwelcomed, ashamed, or disconnected to God; but they want to soar and have meaning. As it says in Psalm 42:1-2a (ESV), “As a deer pants for the flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”  James writes that our souls desire is to be loved, forgiven, have purpose and eternal life. Only the Lord can provide the deepest needs of our souls and only He can provide the love we crave. Let us quiet ourselves and receive His healing love to our souls.

   Challenge for today: Spend some quiet time with the Lord in nature and let Him nurture your soul.

Dear Ones,

  Hope you wake to a day of blessings. Al is with the men of his Accountability group and I just finished making his favorite cookies. Soon I will go downstairs for donuts before going to Aldi’s and then off to Bible Study this afternoon. The Salmon supper at church last night was simply delicious  and the couple who processes it from the wild Alaskan salmon were also present with their family. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart
  How big is our world? If our focus is only on ourselves and our needs, our world is very small. When we know the Lord, our world should become very big as we are concerned for His kingdom. That means our families, our work and all that we do, serves a much bigger purpose for we want to extend His kingdom.

   Having said that, it may lead us to work with other Christians to accomplish things we can never do on our own. Recently, a young woman felt led to establish a Christian school in our town but that isn’t a job for just one person; other Christians are needed to do their part to help this dream from God to become a reality. We are to work together and not just concerned about our own agendas but the bigger picture.

   God calls us to be team players. There is no room for pride or selfish ambition for we are all needed in the big purpose God has before us. That takes humility and realizing that each person is important, whether the position seems small or large. Our goal is not to impress others with our self-importance but humbly recognize we are privileged to be part of the Body. Like the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4:1-3 (ESV), “I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another n love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Paul goes on to say we belong to one body, one Spirit, one faith, one hope, and we are all connected. Therefore, all of us are important in the big picture.

   Let us not be self-serving and focused on ourselves, but open ourselves up to work with others in carrying out the Great Commission to win the world for Jesus.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord how He can use you for His kingdom purposes and don’t worry if you will get recognition.