Category: Sister Judy (Page 120 of 277)

Dear Ones,

May your day be blessed in every way.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Don’t you love getting together with your best friend as you share back and forth together. One person doesn’t do all the talking but listens as well. You feel good afterwards that you have caught up on each other’s lives and there is closeness and a bonded feeling.

Sometimes we may complain that we don’t feel close to the Lord and that He seems distant from us; we might want to check ourselves if we have been doing all the talking and neglecting time spent listening to Him. We may have a list of things we ask of Him and then we rush away without ever being quiet and hearing what He has to say to us.

I’m sure none of us hear perfectly everything God is saying to us, but listening is important. One of the ways we hear Him is through His Word and after we read scripture, it is good to just sit there quietly and listen. Lord, what is it you are impressing on my heart?  What comes to mind may be the exact Word He knows we need that day. But there are times I get up too soon and am on my way into a busy day and I miss what He has for me.

When Jesus was speaking to the crowd, He said in Mark 4:23-24 (God’s Word), “Let the person who has ears listen!” He went on to say, ‘Pay attention to what you’re listening to! Knowledge will be measured out to you by the measure of attention, you give. This is the way knowledge increases.’”

We are encouraged to listen well, and as we hear truth, more will be given us. But if we ignore what God is saying, why should He give us more?

Let us give our attention to the Lord and seek to know what He has to say to us. So often His words are words of assurance of His love.

May we make room for the Lord to speak to us and talk less and listen more. 

Challenge for today: After reading the Word, spend 10 minutes in quiet listening.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a good weekend!  Today we woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland out our window again but is melting quickly. Where is Spring?!! Patience! This morning I cleaned the linen closet, did food prep and went to my exercise class. Looking forward to our walk on the Paul Bunyan as the snow should be gone by then.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Sometimes we have to do the hard thing rather than let things slide along. It’s not always easy but there are times we need to speak up and deal with what is going on that needs correction. Paul had to do that with the Corinthian church as reprimanded them for not disciplining the church member who was guilty of incest. He tells them to exercise church discipline for if his behavior persists it will affect the whole church. Paul exhorted them to do the responsible thing and to deal with it, and they did listen and responded, as they excluded the man from their fellowship. Later the man repents and Paul tells them to forgive and restore him again.

Sometimes we may see our Christian brothers and sisters going down wrong paths and we need to show loving concern. If we just ignore it as they continue to go deeper into sin, we are hardly showing love. We care more about being nice than about helping them. If we are honest with them and ask questions and show concern, it may cause them to think of the ramifications and turn away from what they are doing. Wouldn’t we want others to care enough to do that for us?

It says in Proverbs 27:6(Amplified), “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are lavish and deceitful.” Don’t we want true friends that would correct us if we were going astray?Wouldn’t we also wonder why they didn’t warn us if we kept on in a dangerous direction?

I remember an elder in one of our churches simply asking me a question that caused me to stop and think if I was doing what was best at the time. I knew he was doing it out of love and concern and I learned a lesson through it.

The bottom line is always forgiveness and restoration and not to be judgmental or wanting to be right. Let us care enough to speak up when the Holy Spirit prompts us and then commit the results to Him. Let us also be open to when we need correction and bring it humbly before the Lord.

Challenge for today: Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to speak up when needed and do it in love.

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you are enjoying the weekend. I was busy this morning cleaning the apartment and doing food prep. This afternoon I may go shopping and for our walk. You will hear about yesterday’s walk in the devotion today ( with David’s permission) 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Yesterday Al and I were walking on the trail and sharing about how God often works in ways that are unknown to us and hidden to our minds. We were sharing words from St. John of the Cross and remarking how we have to trust God in the darkness, even though we don’t know what God is doing in the deep parts of our hearts.

As we turned to go towards home we bumped into our friends on the trail, and David shared how he had written a poem called Allow, all about how God works in the darkness and stillness of our hearts. God was speaking many of the same things to him as He had been to us and showing us how we can’t figure it all out with our minds but have the need to allow ourselves to go deeper with Him.

David writes about letting ourselves go into stillness and ask God to reveal our negative attachments and things that are hiding in the core of our being. Al and I had just talked about how we need to continue to get rid of our attachments so there is more room in our hearts for what God wants to do in us and through us and draw us closer.

David had written in his poem how at the core of his being he became aware of unforgiveness, fear and anger and selfishness, which is present in all of us. In the stillness and darkness of intellectual knowing, God poured out his mercy and His grace and he experienced peace, light, freedom and love. He wrote,“His love, like a river, flowed when I asked forgiveness and gave Jesus control. I spent a lifetime in a cathedral of the mind. God said, ‘I will sing again in His light.’”

When we allow God to do His work in us and surrender those hidden things in the darkness, something deep and beautiful happens to us. As it says in Psalm 97:11 (Message), “Light seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people; Joy-seeds are planted in good heart soil.”

Let each of us say yes to the Lord and open our hearts wide to Him as we ask Him to show us what attachments need to go. And let us surrender it all and know that we will sing again in His light.

Challenge for today: Spend some time in quietness and allow Him to do His work in you. 

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,                                                                                                                                                                Hope you are having a great day! Today is Donut day here so I went downstairs for coffee. I also made Salisbury steaks and dusted all the blinds and washed windows etc. Al had men’s group this morning and this afternoon we have Bible study here and Ann may stop by.                                                                                                            Devotions from Judy’s heart                                                                                                                           The other day, as Al and I walked in the underground parking, we talked intently about how important it is that the Body of Christ be tightly knit together. It is something we pray for daily since it is so vital as the darkness around us in our culture deepens. We need to stand together in unity that we may be strong in His strength in the coming storm.                                                                                                             When we know the Lord, we become part of the Body of Christ and as Paul says in Romans 12:4-6 (God’s Word), “Our bodies have many parts, but these parts don’t all do the same thing. In the same way even though we are many individuals, Christ makes us one Body and individuals who are connected to each other.” The Message says, “Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of His Body.”                                                                                                                                                                                                It’s so important for all of us to be connected and unified if we are to stand firmly in the days ahead. Some of us may need healing from past hurts as we find it hard to trust and bond with others. There needs to be openness and honesty and dealing with our insecurities, if we are to have a deep connection. The church should be a healing place!                                                                                                                     Also, we will all need to do a lot of dying to ourselves, our vision, our wants, and to consider the whole. And of course, most importantly we need to relate and function together in His love. As we unify, we will be alert for what is coming ahead and have greater power to stand against the enemy. So let us have open hearts and use the individual gifts God has given us to minister to others and to be knit together in love.                                                                                                                                            Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to fit you into your place in the Body of Christ and do all you can to welcome others.                                                                                        Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Today I made egg dishes and smothered porkchops and went to my exercise class. This afternoon we have an appointment before our walk on the trail. I am wondering if Al is going to suggest going to Culvers for ice cream too! 
Devotions from Judy’s heart

It is important as followers of Christ to be faithful in how we live our lives. We are all far from perfect but hopefully it is our desire to live more and more like Jesus. Recently

I read what Tim Tebow had to say in living a mission possible life and he used Daniel’s life as a model for us.

Tebow is a two-time national college football champion, Heisman Trophy winner, author, former professional baseball player etc. When he interviews employees for his foundation, he said he looks for those who want to learn and grow and be stretched. He shared some practical ways to live a life of excellence and how to be faithful in even the little things in our lives (Luke 16:10), for then we will be faithful in much.

He says we need to remember to live with integrity, even when no one is watching.

Of course, the eyes of the Lord are always on us, so even if we are not aware of the eyes of others, we are never out of the Lord’s sight. When he was a young boy, he did many good things to win Daddy dollars that could be redeemed for actual money or special privileges. But he discovered that it was more fulfilling to do things to please the Lord, even if no one else was watching or that he got rewarded. 

Tebow also said that it is also very important to do things with a heart of gratitude. We can get bitter when we think of an outcome that is not what we had hoped for or we can choose to think of how faithful God has been to us.  When we are grateful, we will find we are in a better mood, healthier and more optimistic. Some find that keeping a gratitude journal helps them to remember what God has done in their lives and their attitude is more positive and they relax in a better mood.

Tebow also says to do our best and do everything with excellence. Whatever it is that we are doing, we can be intentional to not just do it to get by, but make every effort to do it well. 

Let us not do things half-heartedly but rather with integrity, gratitude and excellence.

Challenge for today: Whatever you do today, do it well and for the glory of God.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

Dear Ones,

Happy Weekend to you! The snow is quickly melting again and hoping spring is around the corner. This morning I made bars and we went to Costco to pick up the birthday cake. This afternoon we have our monthly birthday party here so need to set up for that. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We all experience loss throughout our life and sometimes it seems like we have lost everything. At such times tears seem to flow endlessly and we wonder will we ever recover; will we ever feel happy again? I know it must feel that way for a friend who has lost her husband and dad and have two other loved ones who are struggling to recover.

Recently, I read Jennifer Maggio’s devotion who felt she lost everything. She got a call at 3:30 in the morning that she needed to get out of her house immediately as her neighborhood was flooding. It took her only 20 minutes to load her car and get out during the Great Louisiana Flood of 2016. Everything was gone, and she had to fight Satan’s lies that God had left her too.  She felt hopeless.            

The Apostle Paul experienced so many trials, so many losses and yet he said in II Cor. 4:8-9 (Message),  “We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.”                                                                            Yes, we need to grieve our losses and take all the time needed for them to heal but let us never believe Satan’s lies that God has left us. No, He is right there with us, even when we are not able to feel His presence. We can’t base truth on feelings that come and go, but on what Jesus said in the Word. It helps to defeat the enemies’ lies with scripture for he is out to destroy us and rob us of our joy and hope.                                                                                                                                                                                             Today if we feel all alone and that we have lost everything important to us, let us pray the prayer that Jennifer prayed:                                                                                                “Lord, I’ll just be honest: I feel like everything good has been taken from me. And I feel like You’ve let it happen. Can I admit that to You? Thank you for being big enough to handle all my fears, angers, and uncertainties.                                                            

Lord, thank you for this truth: I am afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, struck down but not destroyed.                                                              

  Lord, help me- give me Your Spirit, help me know Your goodness even in the midst of this pain. Help me out of this pit, Lord, and onto steady ground. Thank You, God for never leaving me. Help me only have hope in you. In Jesus’ Name,                            Challenge for today: Sit quietly in God’s presence and let Him comfort you with His love.