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.

Category: Sister Judy (Page 104 of 277)

October 7, 2022

October 7, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
  Happy weekend to you! It is especially happy as Bill who we have all been praying for, goes home early today with his new kidney. All is going well and we thank the Lord. This morning I cleaned the apt. and made chili and cookies. Tomorrow we go to a funeral in Remer and a wedding in Brookston so need to do get ready for that. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  We all go through storms in life and times when we wonder, how long oh Lord. We wish for peaceful times and for days that are calm and without stress. But no matter how long there is darkness and storms, we can lean into the Lord and find hope.
   I just finished the book of Habakkuk and read how the prophet knew that his country was going to be invaded by Babylonia but he remained confident in the Lord. He said even if the crop fails and fields don’t produce, and no cattle in the stalls etc. yet he will rejoice in the Lord, He says, “The sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.” (Hab. 3:19)
   No matter what we go through, we can be confident also, that we are in the Lord’s hands and He can lift us up to the heights. I want to challenge us when we go through dark times, loneliness and hardship, that instead of getting down, that we praise the Lord as Habakkuk. We don’t always feel like doing that but when we do, we find ourselves getting lifted right out of our pity pits and becoming hopeful and even joyful.
    Almost every time I go in the car alone to church and classes, I worship the Lord in song. I may not feel like that when I put my seat belt on, but by the time I get to my destination, my heart is full and I sense His presence with me. I often start singing the simple worship song, “I worship you Almighty God/ There is none like you/ I worship you O Prince of Peace/ That is what I want to do/ I give you praise for you are my righteousness/ I worship you almighty God/ There is none like you.”
  The enemy hates when we worship the Lord for He knows the Lord will give us hope and confidence in Him who is our Prince of Peace.
  Challenge for today: Find time in your day to worship the Lord and leave your problems in His hands.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

October 6, 2022

October 6, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall colors! Each day it gets more colorful out my window. Today is Donut day and I try to get downstairs early before the maple ones are gone! Emoji I plan to study and go to Aldi’s and then Bible Study and a beautiful walk on the trail. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  There are times to persist and there are times to let go we must listen to the Lord to know if it is His time to move on. Much of the time we need to hear words of encouragement to keep on and not to give up, but there are times that God will tell us enough!
  One day the diffuser for Al’s study just quit. It isn’t that old and once before it wouldn’t send out at mist, and we had called in and got directions of how to get it functioning again. So once again we decided to make a call and got someone difficult to understand. We tried to get it going with the directions we thought he was telling us but it didn’t work. We waited until evening and called for help again and got someone that spoke English well. But all that she told us to do, failed to work and although I tried again and again after we got off the phone, the diffuser was useless. We ended up getting a different one and are waiting for it to come. There came a point when enough was enough and I had to move on.
   It reminded me of other ways we need to let go, like in relationships. Maybe we have invested much time in a relationship that pulls us down, even though we have tried to help someone. A day may come when the Lord tells us to pray for the person but move on to others who are open and receptive. It could be we need to let go of a job that we’ve had for years and no longer challenges us and gets our juices going. The Lord may say, that He has something new for us, and we have to let go of the comfortable old.
  Isaiah says in Isaiah 43:19-20 (Message. “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. Its’ bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.”
  Let us not be held back by our past but let us have open eyes to what God has for us now and enter into the new things waiting for us. 
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to show you the things you are holding on to and let go.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

October 5, 2022

October 5, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Another beautiful fall day and hope you are enjoying it. This morning I made Oh Henry Bars and did lots of food prep and am going to my exercise class. Hope to get a walk in and tonight we have Bible Study.
 Devotions from Judy’s heart
 When Jesus asks something of us, there is a cost involved; often it is giving up our own will and way in which He is going to bring something about, but other times He asks us to do things we feel are far beyond our capabilities. I think back on my life and often my initial response was, “You have to be kidding!” Or maybe, “No! Please choose someone else.” Then I had to wrestle with my thoughts and usually came around to do it, but with a reluctant heart. I’m not even sure if that is called obedience.
  Whenever we put something on the altar, we can be quite sure we will be tested on it. I can’t even imagine what Abraham went through when God told him to go to Mount Moriah and sacrifice his only son. His trust was in the Lord for he obeyed right away and brought the kindling along etc. He didn’t know how it was going to turn out but he did what God asked without buts and questioning. And God spared his son and provided a ram for him to sacrifice. Afterwards the Lord told him that because of his obedience He would bless him and give him offspring as the stars of heaven and all nations would be blessed through his offspring. That is such a perfect picture of obedience.
  As we grow in the Lord, there will always be more that we need to bring to the altar and surrender to Him. Not long ago I realized that I needed to give an area to my life that I was holding back on. As I surrendered it, I knew there would be a testing time which happened only two days later. What I was asked to do was not possible because of our schedule but I had time to say to the Lord, I am willing. Then a couple more days, the schedule was changed and I was able to say yes and do it with a willing heart.
   It is comforting for me to see in scripture that when God called people to do something quite out of the ordinary, their initial response was often fear. But if they obeyed anyway, they came to know the power of God and their lives were changed and empowered. Maybe we can relate to the farmer Gideon who was addressed as a man of valor before he had done anything extraordinary.  He asked for signs to confirm that God would be with him in the battle ahead but he obeyed.
 When we obey the Lord, we grow, we change, and we are on the way to defeat fear!
 Challenge for today: Ask the Lord if there is something He is prompting you to lay on the altar.   
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

October 4, 2022

October 4, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
  Hope you wake to a peacefilled day!  The question for this week is, What is the most encouraging word you have received that made a difference in your life?
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Haven’t we all had times when we have gotten a word of encouragement that changed our whole outlook? Maybe we were feeling down and wondering if we were going the right way or if our action helped or hindered someone etc. Then someone, perhaps a stranger, says something that lets us know that God is pleased and we are on the right path, and our world lights up.
   Recently, Al and I went to the mall to buy Al shoes and unknown to us beforehand, there were many vendors selling a variety of things, mostly what they had made. After we finished at the shoe store, Al offered to let me browse a bit while he headed to the car. There weren’t many people shopping at the time, and I put myself in the place of the vendors and thought they must be discouraged. I was prompted to speak honest complimentary remarks as I went by their displays. One woman had beautiful works of art and as I talked with her, she related that she was a retired nurse that had just found time now for her passion to paint. I encouraged her as she definitely had artistic talent, and her hubby’s chest also swelled with pride over her works. I bought something from her but as I left, I let her know that she has a wonderful gift she is pursuing. When I went home, I also felt uplifted inside for as we encourage others our own hearts are touched.
   Perhaps you read on Facebook the story of the three-year-old girl who befriended the garbage man and waited for his truck each week. She always waved at him and gave him a cupcake on her birthday, a thank you sign etc. and it made his day. Since then her kindness ended up getting publicity, and the garbage man won $400.000 on a show, goes on to be a realtor and is now a motivational speaker. Just one little girl made a difference.
    As Paul said in II Thessalonians. 2:16-17 (God’s Word), “God our Father loved us and by His kindness gave us everlasting encouragement and good hope. Together with our Lord Jesus Christ, may He encourage and strengthen you to do and say everything that is good.”
   As we have received encouraging words from the Lord and others, let us take time to thank Him and the people who have given us hopeful and heartening words to us.
   Challenge for today: Tell or text someone today and share how much their encouragement has meant to you. 
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy 

October 3, 2022

October 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones
  Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Happy the Vikings won again!! This morning I did food prep and will soon make a quick trip to Aldi;s on my way to  exercise class. Tonight we have another party, Octoberfest with German dinner. Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  We are not called to be quitters who throw their hands in the air and say, “I’ve had enough. I’m done!”  When we know the Lord. we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us to spur us on and to help us persist to the desired end. We are often faced with challenging times and maybe we’d like to run away, but we need to be firm in our faith and hang in there. Endurance is something we all need if we are to stand strong, especially when it involves suffering on our part.
   We see today that so many people are giving up and relying on themselves rather than God. One area is in marriages that fall apart so quickly and brings the divorce rate soaring. We are invited to two weddings in October (another one postponed)  and it’s beautiful to see couples in love. I’m sure all couples start out with dreams and hopes but too often when problems arise, they quit working at the marriage and throw in the towel. Instead of putting the other before themself and dealing with the issues, they give up. How very sad!
   Yes, we all fail, at our jobs, marriages, parenting, etc. but that is not to say we should quit but rather call for God’s help and to get up again and go on. We can grow through those tough times if we don’t depend on ourselves but lean into the Lord. We were never meant to live life on our own but to entrust ourselves to Someone so much greater than we are. The Lord waits for us and we are never to give up on Him.
    King David knew what it was like to rely on the Lord, and yes, he blew it too; yet he knew where to go for help. He said in Psalm 31:23-24 (ESV), “Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!”
   Let us not be those who quit when hit with challenging times, but ones that run to the Lord and get our help from Him!
Challenge for today: Don’t give up but give the Lord all that concerns you and watch what He will do. 
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy  

October 1, 2022

October 1, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a wonderful weekend! The leaves are just beginning to turn their fall colors out my window.  I just made S.F. cookies and cleaned the apartment. We need to shop for Al this afternoon and often he stops at Culver’s afterwards!Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   Haven’t we all felt at times that we are entitled to justice when someone has done something to hurt us? We may even play the victim role and blame God for not being there in our pain.
  When we feel justified and focus on our pain of what someone else did, we will become bitter and find our heart gets left hardened. That is not a good place to be trapped, and it chokes out God’s grace and mercy.
   In essence we are saying that God why don’t you care and why don’t you deal with that person now and quit being so harsh with me. But the Jesus way is far different and He left us a powerful example from His own life. On the cross before taking His last breath, He asked His Father to forgive those who had crucified Him for they didn’t know what they were doing.   He forgave them even though they were not asking forgiveness and weren’t sorry at the time.
    We also are to embrace the cross and lay down our right to get even. That means a death to ourselves and canceling the debt of the ones who hurt us and putting it all in God’s hands. It’s not always easy to let go of that hurt and forgive them but we must remember all that God forgave us and we are also to show mercy to others. If we fail to forgive, we are like the slave in the story Jesus told, who was forgiven of his huge debt that he was unable to pay. But then this same slave would not forgive his fellow slave who also pleaded for mercy for his small debt, but instead threw him in prison. Aren’t we really just like him when we refuse to forgive? Like Paul said in Romans 2:4, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance and longsuffering (towards those who mistreat you), knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”
     May we not only forgive but also go a step farther and ask God to bless them, and pray for their welfare. We can then set aside our judgments and let the Lord handle the whole thing.
  Challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal those that you haven’t forgiven and then not only forgive them but ask God to bless them.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

September 30, 2022

September 30, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy Weekend! Today is party day here and Al and I will go get the Birthday cake as soon as Costco opens. We have another party on Monday night but we are not in charge of it. We had a wonderful time of fellowship with our pastor/missionary friend yesterday. We marveled as we see how God has so specifically directed his family and timing of events in their lives as they spend 6 months of the year in Africa and 6 months in the States.  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   Isn’t it wonderful what happens when God’s people get together to study His word, and to share what He is doing and how He is touching their lives? I love those times and we had a special time yesterday as about a dozen and a half of us gathered in our community room for Bible Study. We sensed the Lord’s presence as we studied together I Peter 2 about being living stones. As it says in I Peter 2:5 (ESV), “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
   Like one catholic gal said we are all beautiful stones of different shapes and sizes and colors that all blend and fit together.  We have many churches represented and we all accept where each one comes from and offer our piece to the whole. Since we are all seniors and over 55, many have walked with the Lord most of our lives. We can encourage one another as we share instances in our lives where the Lord was with us in the death of our loved ones, provided for us in unexpected ways, taught us through our failures and trials etc. We want to make our lives count for the Lord and there is no age that He cannot use us.
   We all have concern for our families to know the Lord and especially pray for our grandkids. I shared an e-mail that I got from an 84 -year-old grandma who was raised in a home where there was not mention of the Lord. Her parents did see that she got to S.S. even though they never went to church. But she said, “My paternal Grandma Olson must have had a huge influence on me, as well. Though she had nothing of the world’s goods (literally living in a tarpaper shack with no plumbing or electricity when I was young), I remember her old Swedish Bible and a little plaque, ‘Korsvagen Leder Hem’ were precious to her. I have that plaque now-‘The Way of the Cross Leads Home’, as she explained it to me.” 
   We never know how the Lord will use our lives as a witness or take our words and speak to the hearts of others. Gathering together with other believers brings encouragement and strengthens our faith. Let us remember that we are a living stone which is meant to be joined to others to become a beautiful dwelling of the Lord.
  Challenge for today: Make time to gather with other believers and share your lives with the Lord.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

September 29, 2022

September 29, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying this day. I got 2 Mexican pies made as we are having company after Bible Study today. I also went down for donuts this morning and Al had men’s group. 
Dvotions from Judy’s heart
  Do we live in a state of mindfulness or do we just go about our days on autopilot, without much thought? Many live with the monotony of daily work, feeling dry and empty and without awareness that God Has a full life for them to live. How sad!
   The Lord would want us to enjoy His presence and to live with a desire for Him, having Him in our thoughts throughout our day. His eye is always on us and it is good for us to live in awareness of His love all of our days on earth. Life is short so we need to make the most of our opportunities to respond to His love for us and then to show that love to others.
    One day our lives will be over and we are told in Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.” In other words, we should live each day as if we were to die today and take our last breath on earth.
    With that in mind, we certainly wouldn’t use the majority of our time to store up earthly treasures, but only what was necessary. We wouldn’t be busy accumulating more but giving to those in need.  When Mother Teresa died, she left behind only her prayer book and three saris that she had worn.  She refused the $192,000 award for the Noble Peace Prize and gave it to the poor in India. But think of how many lives were changed by her selflessness and love.
   If we knew this was our last day, we would not hang on to resentments for we would want to leave this world with good relationships. Our thoughts would be on things above and sharing Jesus with others so they can one day join us in glory.
   I suspect as we become more mindful, the desires of this world would lessen as we seek to draw closer to the Lord. Our selfishness would fade as our passion grows for Him and we would anticipate eternity with Him and our loved ones who have gone before us. The Lord searches for those who seek Him so let us be intentional seekers and ever mindful.
Challenge for today: Do something today with eternity in mind.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

September 28, 2022

September 28, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
  Hope you are having a good day and enjoying these crisp Fall days. This morning I am doing food prep, going to go toAldi’s and to my exercise class and then work on the small Alzheimer’s quilts, along with other gals. We have Bible Study tonight too, so it is a full day. 
Loved what so many of you had to say yesterday about growing spiritually these last years.  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  God is with us all the time and we have the privilege of communing with Him 24/7. He is always listening to us when we talk with Him and He wants to be part of everything we do, think, and say. In fact, we are told in I Thess. 5:17 to pray without ceasing. Now that doesn’t mean we are down on our knees praying all day long but rather we are simply lifting our heart to Him, recognizing His presence with us and sharing even what we are thinking with Him.
  Joyce Meyers wrote that prayer should be like breathing, something we do constantly to sustain ourselves. Just like we require breathing for our physical bodies, our spiritual lives need to be fed and nurtured by constant communication with God.
  He loves when we converse with Him and when we acknowledge that He is present to us all the time. We may find ourselves saying thank you to Him for something unexpected that He has just surprised us with. Or perhaps we lift our hands and praise Him in the shower as we feel the refreshing water washing over us.  Maybe we avoided an accident on the way to work and we thank Him again and again. 
 The longer I know Him the more I find myself talking to him, often in a whisper, throughout the day. We don’t have to have our eyes closed or hands folded but we can enjoy His presence with us and share our hearts with Him. We are not alone for He is always there with us! 
 King David said in Psalm 139 that God knew everything about Him and he was never out of God’s sight. God even knew him when he was formed in his mother’s womb and knows what he was going to say before he starts a sentence.
  Let us not forget that God’s reassuring presence is always with us and He is our closest friend. He waits for us to share our life with Him. James said in James 4:8, “Come close to God (with a contrite heart) and He will come close to you.” 
Challenge for today: Welcome the Lord into your day and share everything with Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

September 27, 2022

September 27, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a day of sunshine! I plan to go downstairs for coffee and Choc covered raspberries. The question I have for you this week is, Would others say you have changed and grown the last 5 to 10 years or would they say you are the same? (You could ask your spouse or a friend that question like I did, if you are ready for their answer.) Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Are we the same person we are today that we were 5 or 10 years ago, or have we changed so much that others can hardly recognize the new me? Hopefully we are not the same and have grown in the Lord and let Him change us to become more and more like Him. If we have been self-centered in the past, would others see us now as one who is centered in the Lord and who then reaches out to others? Would we have a furrowed brow and an anxious look as we see the world situation getting worse or would we have a calm presence and peaceful countenance that makes them wonder if we have had a happy pill?
When Al went to his high school reunion, I heard his classmates say, “I can’t believe Sam (his nick name then) is a pastor now!” They knew him as a fun loving, always joking sort of guy but not pastor material. But God changed him and it was so evident to them, that he is not the same person they once knew.
I’m sure we can all identify as we know friends that have had such a life change that they are hardly recognizable. Recently, I was introduced to a friend I hadn’t seen since high school when she was a rather quiet and shy. I didn’t recognize her as she was now a very confident person, a pastor, and the president of a college. Wow! My immediate thought that went through my mind was, only the Lord can produce such change!
We might ask ourselves, what would people say about us? Would they see Jesus in us? As I read today from II Cor. 5:15 (ESV), “and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.” Paul said to the Christians in Corinth that it was the love of Christ that controls us and we are now a new creation, and the old has passed away and the new has come.
We should not be the same as we were years ago but rather changed more and more into His likeness and just maybe others will hardly recognize us
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to bring change to you where needed and to grow in your likeness to Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

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