Category: Sister Judy (Page 140 of 270)

Dear Ones,

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We need to be alert and on guard for things can change in a moment when we are not expecting. Just this past weekend we were visiting friends and the weather was in the 80’s as predicted, so we dressed in summery clothes. Then it seemed in a matter of minutes it suddenly dipped down to 59 degrees about the time we were to eat outside on a beautifully set table. That morning I had slipped a sweater in the car before we left, even though I never thought I would need it. I was thankful that I was prepared for cooler weather, even though I had no idea it would happen. There are many changes taking place today as we can all attest to, and more to come, but are we prepared? We don’t know how the future is going to unfold but now is the time of preparation. Do we know the Lord ourselves and have received Him into our lives? “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) And when we know Him, are we prepared to tell others about Him? Paul writes about how people are going to turn away from God and the truth but he said to Timothy in II Tim. 4:2 (ESV), “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” When things get worse, others are going to be looking for answers and more open to receive the Lord. We need to be ready to share our faith with them. We also prepare by putting on the armor of God each day so that we can stand in the difficult days and not fold. We need the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the Spirit. (Eph 6:13-17). We must also prepare our minds for action (I Peter 1:13) and feed on His word and promises. You can add many more things as you seek to get prepared but don’t wait! We don’t want to be like the 5 foolish virgins who were not ready and missed out on the wedding banquet. (Matt. 25:1-13) But rather let us be like the 5 wise ones who had their lamps trimmed and burning and were ushered into the marriage feast when the Lord appeared. Now is the time to get ready!

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord how you should be preparing for dark days ahead and follow through. 

Dear Ones,

Hope you are enjoying this day. This morning I made egg dishes and a zucchini cake and went to my exercise class, and this afternoon is creative crafts. The weather has certainly changed and  is only going to be in the 50’s today…going from sweating to sweaters!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

I think we are all aware that church attendance is declining more each year; even before Covid the number of those who have no religious affiliation has continued to increase. Particularly large numbers of young adults are dropping out for a variety of reasons; 73% because of feelings that church members are judgmental and hypocritical, and 76% because they disagree on political or social issues. But the bottom line is America is becoming less Christian and does not see the need for the Lord and fellowship of the Body that was to be a place of refuge and healing.  How sad that we neglect the very One who gave everything for us. It says in Isaiah 53:5 (The Word), “He was wounded for our rebellious acts.  He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from His wounds.” The Lord has given us Himself and also the gift of Christian community. No, the church is not perfect, for we are all imperfect people who make up the church. I was recently reading Al’s thesis and he talks about how we are meant to belong and not to have the “Lone Ranger” mentality; we are to be participants in this community of faith. Bonhoeffer writes about how it is not just a purely spiritual relationship but has a human element as well, for we are sinners gathered together and saved only by grace. Yes, we have this wonderful ideal of what Christian community should be like, but we also have to live in the real. We need to acknowledge our own sins and judgments and how it hinders spiritual growth in the church. Bonhoeffer said, “He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.” Christian community is a reality, not an ideal and we have to live in the actual. We have to give up our high expectations and face our own sinfulness, rather than accuse others. Then we can enter into fellowship, not as a demander but as a thankful participant, receiving God’s love through others. Let us not neglect the church, but love the church as God does and join together with fellow believers.

Challenge for today: Meet others in the church where they are at, and purpose to grow along side of them.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you are enjoying a nice sunny day. This morning I did lots of food prep and took a friend with me to the Dollar Store. I tried a new chicken recipe for lunch and my chief-taster liked it.  

Devotions from Judy’s heart

God delights when we gather together with His children to praise Him and recognize His presence, power and love. We most likely come away feeling encouraged and lifted in our faith, knowing that God is at work in our midst. Al and I have been blessed in deep ways lately as we see how He has brought people into our lives to share and fellowship together. We are especially grateful for the couple we met on the Paul Bunyan trail and daily walk with them as we talk about the Lord together. We pray for one another’s needs and it is exciting as we see how God answers. Some can be very practical needs and when the answers come, we all rejoice. Others are long term more hidden needs that we continue in prayer daily. Sometimes the Lord surprises us as things we have prayed for a very long time are now answered. We were with a pastor and wife over the weekend who have been seeking God’s will about going to Africa as missionaries. We have prayed daily they would know His will and now rejoice with them as they are preparing to leave and go. The Lord has added another blessing as his dad, who was in his 90’s, recently came to know complete forgiveness and restoration with family before he died. That concern was all taken care of before they even depart. We are told in Romans 12: 15-16 (ESV), “Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another.” When we know the Lord, we are part of the Body of Christ and care for one another. When one hurts, we all hurt and when one is full of joy, we rejoice with him. But we have a choice if we will join with our spiritual family, and if we don’t, we miss out on a huge blessing and the support God has in His plan for us. Two are better than one and as it says in Ecclesiastes 4.10, “For if one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.” When we join with the Body of Christ, God can provide for us what we lack. Some of us may need parenting because of what was missing in our own family, and others may need to be healed to trust again.  The Lord uses others in the Body to fill the needs that we have. Together we can be strong!

Challenge for today: Join together with others who know the Lord and grow strong together.

Dear Ones,

Happy weekend to you! The sun is peeking out now and clouds disappearing. Hope it is this way tomorrow as we go to a graduation party etc. This morning I cleaned the apartment and wrote letters etc. This afternoon I am getting my hair cut before we go on our walk.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Do we view ourselves as one of God’s beloved or as one who is a failure? Many live by assumed identities, viewing themselves as what others have unfavorably spoken of them. Maybe we have been told we will never amount to anything like our father, or are lazy like our mother or stupid and useless. When we accept these lies as truth, it colors how we view ourselves and influences how others see us. It is important that we renounce these judgments of others on our lives and to forgive those who have spoken these untruths. Then we can declare how God sees us and how we need to see ourselves. I read this morning from Ann Spangler’s devotional the story about Chaffetz Chayyim who was a well-known rabbi. He was traveling to give a lecture one evening, and on the train, he asks the man sitting across from him where he is going. The man replies that he is going to hear the greatest sage and saint in the Jewish world today- Chaffetz Chayyim. (He is unaware that he is right there in front of him) The rabbi, Chaffetz himself, was rather embarrassed at such praise, and responded that other people say that this man is really not such a great sage and certainly not a saint. The passenger slapped the rabbi in the face and said to him, ”How dare you disparage such a great man!” Of course, that man was shocked when he later discovered that evening that he had indeed sat across from this great sage and that he had slapped him. Later, after Chaffetz’s speech, the man rushed to find him and begged his forgiveness. But the rabbi said that it was he who needed forgiveness as he had learned a great lesson. He said he had been teaching people that it is wrong to speak disparaging of others but he had now learned it is also wrong to speak that way about oneself. It is true we are not to speak ill of others but we fail whenever we speak negatively about ourselves. We need to accept how God sees us and believe our worth in His sight. He sees us as someone He loves, a new creation in Him and as His temple where His Spirit lives. (I Cor. 3:16) Like the song goes, “I am covered over with the robe of righteousness that Jesus gives to me…. When he looks at me, He sees not what I use to be but He sees Jesus.”

Challenge for today: Accept others as God made them but also accept yourself as He sees you. 

 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

I love spending time in the produce section of the grocery store and filling my cart with fresh veggies and fruits. I know how healthy they are for us and strengthen our bodies, and we eat an abundance of them each day. But more importantly I wonder how fruitful we are for His kingdom; does the Lord see big grapes on our vines or are they baren? When I grew up our family went to the cabin, sometimes for the whole summer, and on the Point near where we swam were grapevines. The vines became loaded with grapes and my mom would make grape juice and grape jam for our pancakes that were made on a wood stove. But over the years those vines have dried up and there are no grapes at all there now and only a few dried up vines. How sad! We are branches and need to be connected to the vine or we will dry up like the ones at the lake. They aren’t good for anything now since they are all shriveled up. What a picture for us of the need to stay connected to the Lord in a vital way. We are to live in God and for Him to live in us in order to produce fruit. He sends the sunshine and rain and nurtures us and then is glorified when we bear fruit. We can’t do it on our own and we have to stay attached to Him so we can receive all that we need to be fruitful. In John 15:8 (God’s Word) Jesus said, “You give glory to my Father when you produce a lot of fruit and therefore show that you are my disciples.”  He went on to say we are chosen to produce fruit that would last. Separated from the Lord we can’t produce anything, and like the vines we wither. When we launch out on our own, our reliance is on ourselves and will fail.  So we must be joined to the Lord and live in Him and make ourselves at home in His love. As we do this, fruit will naturally come forth. It will be evidenced in our answered prayers, our joy and love,  and sharing Him with others. May we bear much fruit and bring glory to God.

Challenge for today: Spend some time in the Word and ask the Lord to make you into a fruitful vine.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you are enjoying this day! This morning I made cookies and got some exercise before my Fitbit class as I cleaned Al’s study while he had men’s group. This afternoon I am going downstairs for the craft time before our walk on the trail. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We can’t fix ourselves and need to lay our lives down before the Lord so He can do a deep work in us. His way leads to the cross where we humbly surrender ourselves and find real peace. The process is not always quick or without pain and He uses many ways to get us to the point where we die to ourselves. God knows where to probe and cut and sometimes we resist when He takes away a desire or strips us of a relationship, or we go through a painful circumstance. But He is only cutting away the rubbish of our selfishness and pride so we can come to the place of real wholeness and peace. It’s important not to resist how He wants to bring all this about for He knows the best way for each of us. I am going through a physical process now that seems very much like this spiritual process. When I went to the dermatologist, she put me on Fluorouracil which is used to treat precancerous lesions and skin cancers. I have had many skin cancers on my body from my youthful days in the sun, and this ointment she ordered for me is to use on my face. It says that it kills atypical, rapidly growing cells while allowing healthy skin to survive. That sounds good but I am in the middle of a 4 week process of using this ointment that causes my skin to get inflamed/scabbed/and blistered at first. And if that wasn’t enough, I have to use it on my lips as well and each day they seem to be getting bigger. I am sensitive to light during this time and have to wear a large hat to shade my face when I walk.  When I have the ointment on, others ar not to touch my skin until it is washed off. At the end of 4 weeks, if I can last, my skin may be pink for some time but should be healthy skin.  Spiritually it is much like God’s transformation process in us as He cuts way those things that hinders our closeness to Him. We have to surrender ourselves to let Him do the work and during that time it can be messy and painful. We might say, “That’s enough” but then we won’t get rid of those spiritual cancers that will cause serious problems. It is an individual process as each one should keep their hands off of what God is doing. Others may have different troublesome spots from ours and the Lord will deal with them. It is mostly done out of the bright light of others as it is a hidden work. But after the process of cutting away that which is hindering our life with the Lord, we may say as Peter in I Peter 4:10 (ESV), “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ. Will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

Challenge for today: Submit to God’s knife and let Him do a deep work in you.

Dear Ones,

Hope you are enjoying this beautiful sunny day! Can’t wait to get outside. This morning I made egg dishes, a cherry cheesecake, and a veggie dish. We hope to have friends coming this afternoon after she has a procedure done at the hospital. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

The Lord wants to unite His church and bring us together to display His power and His glory. Of course, the enemy is using every means to divide us and to cause divisions between Christians. It is so common place today to hear words like us and them, as people place others in groups according to sameness…what political party one is in or if they got the vaccine, or their view of end times etc. This should not be! We don’t all think alike for the Lord speaks to us in unique ways and we are to follow how He leads our individual lives. Our oneness is found in the Lord. The times are getting darker and we need to unite as never before to become one body who is willing to stand together against the powers of darkness. Al is now leading a Bible Study here at our apartment complex and we come from varied backgrounds but all with love for the Lord. We don’t have to agree on every bit of doctrine but on the important issues we can stand firmly together. When we are humble and open, we can learn much from one another for the Lord has many expressions and works in mysterious ways many times. I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from our son for Mother’s Day; there were flowers of various kinds and many different colors all blending together. The beauty of the bouquet is in the variety of flowers and each flower’s uniqueness. Even the smallest flower makes a difference and fits in. God wants us all to harmonize and live in peace with one another; that means appreciating the uniqueness of others and not demand they think just like us.  We are called to be peacemakers and Jesus told the crowd in Matt. 5:9 (ESV), “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Also in Psalm 34:14 (God’s Word) King David says, “Turn away from evil, and do good. seek peace, and pursue it!” We are to pursue peace as far as that is possible and it begins with those closest to us.  Isn’t it good we are all different for we will be amazed at all we can learn from one another, things we would have otherwise missed. Let us be peacemakers and unite with other Christians to become a strong force for His kingdom.

Challenge for today: Reach out to someone unlike you and ask questions and seek to understand

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy