Category: Sister Judy (Page 121 of 277)

Dear Ones,

Hope you are having a joyful day! I cleaned the apt this morning and made a Blueberry Crumble and went downstairs for Donuts. This afternoon we have Bible Study and then good friends from college days are coming after that. Always lots of laughter when they come! Kurt is also stopping by on his way to the Lake so a fun afternoon in store! 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

As I watched a health video one day, I noticed how the speaker was so full of joy and enthusiasm. She was talking about bone health, and how our bones will be stronger when we are not stressed but have a joyful outlook. We might also say joy and laughter is good medicine, good for our whole body.

Does that mean everything in our lives is peachy great? No! But it does mean having joy in the One who is love, who is Joy and who gives us deep peace. He is the Joy giver! If we have a lack joy, we cannot blame it on the Joy Giver but the problem is with us as the receiver.

If the Lord is not first in our lives, then we can get our focus on seeking material things, on worldly pleasures, on having a life of comfort etc.; but in the process we will be robbed of our joy. We have all known people with lavish houses, huge bank accounts, and who go on exotic trips all over the world, and yet they feel empty. Riches don’t satisfy and pleasures fade.

Joy is in a person, and when we neglect Him, we are left with an empty feeling that we are missing something, missing “Someone!”.

Today if we have lost our joy we can pray as David did in Psalm 16:11 (ESV) “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.”  We can find joy in His presence by walking close with Him and by spending time with Him, sharing our hearts. As we read the Word and listen to what He is speaking to us and follow in obedience, we will experience deep satisfaction and joy. That means getting rid of secret sins, and being expectant of what God wants to do in our lives. We can also ask in Jesus’ name and it says in John 16:24 (Message translation), “Ask in My name, according to My will, and He’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!” 

If we want a fresh start and overflow with Joy, let us draw close to the Lord and ask in faith that His joy will overflow in us.

Challenge for today: Pray David’s prayer in Psalm 16:11, that He will restore your joy and giving you a willing Spirit to go His way.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you are having a wonderful day. The scene out my window has changed as the trees are all laden again with snow. Spring has disappeared for now. This morning I did food prep and went to Aldi’s and my exercise class. This afternoon is Crafts and then an appointment and later is the soup supper and service at church. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

I love to sing to the Lord, especially when I am by myself in the car or out in nature. I have even sung to deer in the woods who stood still while I sang. I also love to sing together with other believers in worship, as we all praise the Lord in harmony. We are told in Col. 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”

When we sing to the Lord, we are the performers and God is the primary audience. It isn’t really how much we get out of the experience, but it is rather for God’s glory and His pleasure. Our main concern should not be for a certain worship style that we like best, but Paul is saying to the Colossae believers that we are to be open to a variety like singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Singing scripture songs is especially meaningful and it is a wonderful way to memorize scripture. When our children were little, we played tapes of catchy scripture songs that helped us all memorize the verses and gave us greater recall.

One of the men from church, along with his wife, has put scripture to music, whole chapters at a time. We sang part of Colossians 3 as a congregation in church last Sunday. It is a beautiful way to let the Word get inside of us and to remain with us. Many of the Psalms are put to music, and also hymns, and songs given us spontaneously by the Holy Spirit.

Our focus is to be the Lord and we need open our hearts to embrace many kinds of worship expressions for His pleasure. Let us not be only thinking of what we prefer but remember we are singing to the Lord and come with hearts to worship.

Paul also says we are to sing with grateful hearts, remembering all that the Lord has done for us.

Challenge for today: Sing a song of praise to the Lord today and do it with a thankful heart of worship.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you wake with the awareness that the Lord has your day all planned. What is hardest for you to give the Spirit control? 

I hope to do some baking and get downstairs for coffee. The Paul Bunyan trail is now clear and it is wonderful to walk it with our friends again.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Are we aware of how important it is to let the Holy Spirit have free reign in our lives; to be open to Him to listen to what He has to say and to follow in obedience? Or do we often find ourselves asking forgiveness for times we have not followed through when we have had a prompting and not responded? Of course, sometimes we wonder if it is just our own thoughts or if it is really the Lord speaking; other times we just know and act immediately and are left with incredible joy.

There may be a time we are in line at the grocery store and the person ahead of us doesn’t have enough to pay; but the Holy Spirit whispers to us that we have more than enough and we quickly hand the person what is needed. Or it could be someone is grieving and the Lord tells us to set aside time to just be with them and to listen and to pray. We are His hands and feet and we never know how He will lead us when we get up each day, but that also makes life rather exciting. Today I woke with the song by Magnolia Lewis Butts,

“Let it breathe on me, Let it breathe on me

Let the breath of God now breathe on me

Let it breathe on my, Let it breathe on me,

Let the breath of God now breathe on me.”

We need the breath of the Holy Spirit to breathe on us and move through us and fill us anew every day.

Sometimes we may wake up thinking that we are not able to handle what is before us but the Holy Spirit whispers that God’s grace is sufficient. Or we tell ourselves that no one loves us but He says that He loves us with an everlasting love. Maybe we feel all alone but He whispers that He will never abandon us or leave us. (Heb 13:5)

The Holy Spirit is our helper and counselor, and gives us wisdom and understanding. He makes Jesus real to us and we need to daily invite Him to freely move in our lives.

Challenge for today: Pray that the Holy Spirit would make your eyes to see, your ears to hear and your heart to overflow with His love.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

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Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Will you be celebrating in some way today? We have a supper party planned for here tonight.

This morning I went downstairs for Donut day and decorating, and this afternoon we have Bible Study. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart

A life lived for the Lord and others is a life of joy; but one lived for ourselves will leave us wanting.

Have you noticed how those that are busy helping others seem to bubble over with joy. Paul writes from prison and says in Phil. 2:4 (God’s Word), “Don’t be concerned only about your own interests but also be concerned about the interests of others.” The Message puts it this way, “Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”  We are to humbly think of others as being better than ourselves and to think of ways we can help them. Now if I were in a cold dark prison, I can imagine myself writing of my pressing needs and to plead with others to pray that I get out of my situation!  I suspect that might be my first request before thinking of how I could be of help to others!

Many people who are busy helping others do not have an easy life and yet they put the needs of others before their own. We have a friend here in our apartment complex that seems to always be busy joyfully meeting the needs of others. She recently organized a card shower for a friend’s birthday who is temporarily in Rehab and went to visit her on her birthday, along with all the cards. Other times she is praying for someone or bringing food to their door, or putting treats on all 60 doors in our apartment building. She volunteered to help us with the Birthday parties each month and she and her hubby help at Teen Challenge. Life seems very rich for her, but it is not centered on herself but how she can serve the Lord.

One of the best ways for those who feel depressed and down is to find a way to help others. The attention is off of ourselves and our hearts open wide to needs others have. Let us make the choice to serve others out of our love for God!

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord for an opportunity to serve some unsuspecting person in a hidden way today. 

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you are enjoying the day. This morning I went to Alid’s and my exercise class and this afternoon is Crafts and tonight soup supper and Lenten service. Al is preaching tonight so prayers appreciated. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Have you ever awakened to a picture or thought going through your mind and felt it was the Lord trying to say something to you? Or maybe you had a dream and knew that it was not something that resulted from overeating the night before but a message from the Lord. I woke up one morning with the word going through my mind that Jesus is my Rock. I could immediately picture a particular rock along the gravel road that I traveled when picking up a friend for Bible Study. It stood out as it was huge and was a reminder to me that we have a solid place, a secure place to stand; that no matter what happens, we can’t be moved. We are under the Lord’s protection and He is our rock, our shield and our fortress!

I read today from Psalm 18:1-2 (God’s Word) where David sang to the Lord after he was rescued from his enemy, “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my Savior, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and my strength of my salvation, my stronghold.”

David said his life was in the clutches of death but he called on the Lord and the Lord was His rock!

Many times, he called out to the Lord and He heard and answered; David was not shaken for the Lord was His secure place and the bedrock under his feet.

It’s like the song that Paul Baloche sings:

“There is no rock /There is no god like our God /No other name worthy of all our praise

The Rock of Salvation that cannot be moved /He’s proven Himself to be faithful and true

There is no rock /is no god like ours /Rock of Ages /Jesus is the Rock /Rock of Ages…”

Jesus is the Rock….”

Let us remember that when we go through rough times when things suddenly change, we get bad news, a loved one dies etc.; We have a safe place to go where we are secure.

Challenge for today: When experiencing something difficult, hide yourself in the Rock of Ages.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you awaken with a fresh start and eagerness to what God has for you in this day. Al will be gone most of the day to get our taxes done and to see two friends. I plan to study and go downstairs for coffee and choc covered cherries later this morning. 
The question for today: Do we feel any changes coming in our life or things we need to let go of? Perhaps God is preparing us for something new! 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We are getting older by the minute and we can’t stop the clock for it just keeps on ticking. So many people are looking for the latest ways to look younger and defy their actual age. Alice Fryling writes about aging faithfully and says the third third of life begins at age 52.7 years. We have two children that are now in that age bracket and another who will be there before long, so we are really old!                     

Maybe that’s why I love the words in Isaiah 46:4 (God’s Word), “Even when you’re old, I’ll take care of you. Even when your hair turns gray, I’ll support you. I made you and will continue to care for you. I’ll support you and save you.”

As we all age, we start to notice how those in a younger generation are taking over doing many of the things we use to do, but no longer have the desire or even the energy to do it all. We have to make changes and relinquish some things in our lives in order to do what God is calling us to do now. Are we willing?

It may not be easy to let go of things we may have been applauded and known for, but if God’s timing is over for it, then we need to let go and let others. That also means God has something new for us if we are willing to change. God is looking for faith in those wanting to pursue Him, and we need to be open to what He has for us next. Maybe it is not in the limelight as before, or in a position of prominence, but it will be in a place to bear fruit. Paul said in Eph. 2:10 (Message), “He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.”

Let us be faithful and fruitful until we take our last breath!

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord if there is something you need to relinquish and then enter into the new He has waiting.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Al and I are thankful to be well and to attend church again. We also got to walk on Cypress with our friends that we hadn’t seen for a while. This morning I made egg dishes and choc covered raspberries and went to my exercise class. This afternoon I am going to do more baking!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Western culture is obsessed with being entertained. People complain of being bored and want continual excitement and entertainment. In many ways it is because hearts are empty and weary and have lost meaning, therefore they want to be entertained. Sadly, our culture assumes that our lives are without meaning if we don’t have a constant stream of stimulation and some form of excitement.

Television has only taught people to be more passive and to feel and not to think deeply. It is a time waster and often erodes our spiritual values.  At the close of a busy day, most people settle in passively watching T.V. rather than read a worthwhile book. We tend to vegetate rather than be stimulated or taking time to reflect.

When we go on a trip, I bring several books along, and I read in the car and at the motel. I usually bring several books from Al’s library but I also bring some lighter reading that perks my interest. Al says books are like good friends and he has a library full of friends! It’s good to read books that give us knowledge but also those that help us evaluate where we are at in our journey and the direction we are taking.

A good book needs to be savored and not hurried to be read; who knows how it may influence how we think and our very lives. Years ago, a book by a catholic priest changed my life and helped me to let my self be known to others. Otherwise, I may never have been sending out the personal devotions that I do each day.

As I child I loved books so much and only had to walk  a few blocks to the Longfellow Library where there were always more. I loved just being in the quiet library and could hardly wait to get home to read. For most people today it is easier to just turn on the TV and let it fill our minds, and excuse us from thinking too deeply or enlightening us in new ways. Like Father Michael Casey said, a good book is an invitation to grow beyond what we are at present, and to view issues from a different perspective.

A good book brings enjoyment and refreshment and of course, we should not neglect to daily read the best gook ever written, that feeds our faith. “The Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ” (Acts 4:12 NIV)

Challenge for today: Take some leisure time to read a book that will challenge you in new ways.

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy