Category: Sister Judy (Page 158 of 271)

Dear Ones,

Hope you will have a wonderful day. We have traveled 800 miles so far and are in Columbus, Indiana at another Marriott with a pool. Fortunately it is also close to Culvers and we stopped for sundaes when we went for our walk. I am not getting my anticipated reading done on this trip as we have been listening to the Supreme Court hearing and makes the time whiz by as we drive. It is beautiful here as well as leaves have turned brilliant colors.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Prayer is probably the most important thing we do in life. When we lift our minds and hearts to God, we can tell Him anything; not just all the warm fuzzies, but those times we feel afraid, alone, unloved, angry etc. He already knows, of course, but He loves to hear us and for us to acknowledge what is going on inside of us. We can tell Him anything and everything. I like to pray as I scrub the floor, swim in a pool, walk on the trail, and especially times when I am at my desk early in the morning. When we went to see my 94 year -old aunt on Monday, she said that there are so many miracles that happen each day. She had prayed and prayed for a miracle concerning a loved one and God answered her prayer that very day. As I have been reading Sacred Fire, Rolheiser tells about how Jesus disciples asked Him in Luke 11:1 “Lord teach us to pray.” They saw the depth of relationship He had with His Father. They weren’t really asking for a formula but rather how they could love like He did, be self-sacrificing as He was, forgive like He did, have divine energy etc. We are the ones that need prayer the most, especially when we are bored, have doubts, or are full of anger. We can be transparent with Him and we don’t have to stop doing to pray but can go about in the awareness that He is with us. One spiritual mentor who was teaching on prayer said, You  must try to pray so that, in your prayer, you open yourself in such a way that sometime—perhaps not today, but sometime—you are able to hear God say to you: ‘I love you!’” The Lord wants a love relationship with us!  After Jesus death, Mary goes to the tomb and asks a stranger where she can find Jesus.  Jesus answers her by simply saying her name, Mary, with great love. She then recognized him speaking to her. May we also hear Him say our name and respond to Him in love for that is what prayer is all about.

Challenge for today: Spend some time sharing with your best friend, The Lord, what is going on inside you.

Dear Ones,

Thank you for your prayers. We are having a wonderful trip so far. We especially enjoyed seeing my aunt on the way yesterday and she seemed better. She talked about the miracles in her life and as always she was thinking of others. We had a time of prayer together too and we went  away blessed. We traveled nearly 500 miles  here to Coralville, Iowa where we spent the night at our favorite motel. This Marriott boarders on the woods so we had a long walk and then I had a good swim in the pool all alone. Great for prayer time too. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

What does it really mean when Jesus says in Mark 12:30-31(NRSV) “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength? The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  How do we love God completely and also others as we care for ourselves? We can’t carry out this command by will power but only by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. In Ronald Rolheiser’s book, Scared Fire, he asks us to picture a mansion with 30 rooms, but we give the Lord only 27 of them as we want to hold back 3 of them for ourselves. God patiently waits as He wants to inhabit all of them, for the deepest joy is found when we are willing to give up all.  Is it easy? No! The rich young ruler couldn’t do it and went away sad. Rolheizer uses the example of Jesus mother, Mary, who didn’t hold anything back. She had great faith and when the angel came to her to tell her she would be pregnant by the Holy Spirit, she just said, “Be it according to your will.” The cost of the misunderstanding she would experience from others did not hinder her from giving her all. It also says she pondered all that the angel told her. In Hebrew ponder means to hold and transform tension so as not to give it back in kind. Mary stood under the cross and was silent. She didn’t try to stop the crucifixion or protest its unfairness but stood there in strength. Her silence and strength spoke a powerful message and she chose not to get caught up in hatred and bitterness of others but radiated forgiveness. Yes, there are times to protest but there are also times that protests aren’t helpful and we need to stand under the cross and refuse to pass on the bitterness. Rolheizer admonishes us not to let the energy of an angry crowd flow through us and become the basis for our actions. Sometimes we are called to ponder and carry the tension within us and respond as Mary did if we want to help take the darkness out of the world. Jesus took in hatred of others, and transformed it and gave back love and forgiveness. Let us also love well!

Challenge for today: Be like a filter that takes what is negative around you and give back only what is good and pure.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Sad for the Vikings though. We had to watch to the very end. We will be on the road shortly this morning and stopping to see my aunt on our way to N.C. So excited we’re going to see Mark’s family since it has been so long and our grandsons must have grown heaps. Not sure how far we will get today but it should be beautiful with the leaves at their peek.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Don’t we love when people tell us they are praying for us, especially when we are going through difficult times? It is so comforting to know that they are asking God to give us strength to help us stand and for His comfort and peace. Holding others up in prayer is also one of the best gifts we can give another. I know we have many friends we pray for daily and rejoice with them when the answers come. We also are so grateful for those who share they daily pray for us. I read a devotional today about how Jesus prays for us and it made me realize in a deeper way, how great that blessing is. It says in Heb. 7:25 (NRSV), “Consequently He is able for all time to save those wo approach God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”  Jesus paid the price for our sins at a great cost of His very life; but He goes on to intercede for us with God. He is our advocate and personally available to us at all times. He pleads our case and knows what we are going through as He was tested in every way that we are. He did not give in to temptation but He totally understands what we go through. Just think of it; every time Satan comes to accuse us or try to get us to fall, Jesus is at the right hand of God to present our case and speak up for us. That is so amazing and comforting!  So instead of hiding the fact that we are being tempted, we are to honestly tell Him exactly what we are going through and ask for His help. He knows we will be tempted and tried and wants us to call for help. When we get a sarcastic remark aimed at us and we want to respond back the same way, we can ask the Lord to help us forgive and answer with kindness. Or if we disagree with someone who heatedly shares their opinion on Facebook, we can pray and let it go rather than giving our feedback. Sometimes all we do is say the name of Jesus and we know that He is right there helping us.

Challenge for today: Thank Jesus that He is your advocate and call on Him in every time of need. 

Dear Ones,

Happy weekend! This will be my last devotional from home for a while as we will be on the road to North Carolina to see Mark’s family. We plan to stop to see my aunt on Monday morning to say good bye and to pray for her. Today I cleaned and scrubbed  so we can come home to a clean house and this afternoon went shopping. Tomorrow we will pack the car and would appreciate prayers for our safety on the road and from the virus.
Devotions from Judy’s heart

How deep is our trust in the Lord? Do we believe He will help us when we are in troublesome situations; or maybe we feel like we should take matters into our own hands in the event He is late? God is never late! He is worthy of our complete trust. In Isaiah 26:3-4 (The Word) it says, “With perfect peace you will protect those whose minds cannot be changed, because they trust you. Trust God always, because the Lord, the Lord alone, is an everlasting rock.” The Lord is unmovable and a solid place so we can feel very secure. He is not going to change but the same loving God that is there for us. Perhaps we don’t seek the Lord in our everyday life and have very low expectations of Him. I read today from Acts 3 of the crippled man who Peter and John encountered on their way to the temple. He was begging for a handout, but instead he was healed and began walking and leaping and praising God. Peter said, “Faith in Jesus’ name put this man, whose condition you know so well, on his feet.” This man got much more than he ever imagined.  God has so much for us, and often we don’t even recognize that it is Him in our day. I just love when the Lord meets a need I have, without anyone else even knowing about it. When it happens, praise just wells up within me and I tell Him, “I know it is you, Lord! Thank you!”  When we begin our day, let us believe God is all powerful and able to help us through any difficulty that may happen to us?   Like David said in Psalm 62, “He’s the solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul…lay your lives on the line for Him. God is a safe place to be.” We can have peace when we sink our trust into Him and know that He won’t move but is our solid rock.

Challenge for today: Find a rock and put it in a special place to remind you that God is your everlasting rock.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Happy weekend! Another beautiful Fall day and Monday we will be traveling to NC and enjoying more beauty. I hope to keep up on writing devotions on the trip but will see how that goes. This morning I made individual egg dishes and lots of cookies for Al for the trip.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We were made for fellowship with God! He is our loving Father and when we receive Him, we also brought into fellowship with others in His family that crosses all barriers of our differences. It doesn’t matter our status in life, how much we have or don’t have, for we are joined with other believers. John writes in I John 1:7 (The Message), “But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.” When we no longer walk in the darkness of our sin, but are forgiven and brought into the light, we enter into a family of close brothers and sisters. We share our lives together. Lately we have gotten together with new friends and old friends, and spent some afternoons sharing our faith together, with some reminiscing. Each time I am left feeling like my soul is filled to the brim and so grateful to the Lord. We talked about times in the past when the Lord showed up in miraculous ways and changed the course of our circumstances, when He walked with us through health needs and challenges in our churches etc. It was upbuilding to our faith as my old roommate and I recalled His provision for us when we were down to our last nickel. God always provided. The enemy knows that we are strengthened if we gather together as Christian brothers and sisters, and does all he can to separate us. But let us not fall prey to his devices and make a point to gather in Jesus name with other believers.

Challenge for today: Connect in some way with a believer and share what you see God doing. 

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a good weekend. Our Church Women’s event went well on Saturday and I think everyone enjoyed the teachings, food, and the whole day. Yesterday we went to the cities to see my aunt and it was truly a holy time. You can read more in the devotion today. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

How we live our lives is important to God and to those we leave behind. We can ask ourselves if we will leave footprints of caring and mercy that our loved ones can follow, or are our words simply empty when we don’t live what we profess? My favorite aunt will soon be with the Lord and she is one that has left so many footprints that have influenced my life. I have spent a lot of time with her family as I became a nanny that started when I was only 10 years old; there were only two children then and eventually they had eight. I learned so much from her as we worked side by side and she didn’t seem to get rattled or raise her voice with the kids (both of which I have done!), but seemed to just flow with what was at the time. She loved so well and saw the potential in each of her children as individuals with special gifts. That love spilled out to others old and young, friends and strangers, and whoever God put in her life. We went to see her yesterday and had a precious time sharing with her how much she has meant to us; we also sang How Great Thou Art and I Am the Resurrection and Life, prayed for her and said good bye. I am richer because of my relationship with Marcia and whenever the Lord takes her, she is ready to go to her heavenly home. The way she is facing her death is also a gift as she is not afraid but looking forward to eternity with the Lord and seeing her loved ones. The beloved Disciple, John, tells us in I John 2:5-6 (NRSV), “But whoever obeys His word, truly, in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in Him; whoever says, ‘I abide in Him,’ ought to walk just as He walked.” Let us walk in love as Jesus did and leave footprints behind for those that follow.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to fill you with His love and be an example for others to follow.

Dear Ones,

Hope you will have a good day and aware of God’s presence with you. I am sending this out early today as I will be gone all day to help serve at our  women’s district gathering at church. Al is going to come at the end to help us clean up. Tomorrow we are going to the cities to see my favorite aunt who is slipping away and soon to be with the Lord. Her family is gathering around her and would appreciate prayers as we say our good byes. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

So often when we read the Word, we are given the invitation to go deeper and to give ourselves away. If we respond to the invitation, we find our eyes are opened and our minds and hearts get stretched, and we come to experience a deeper compassion for others. When I was reading Ronald Rolheiser’s book, Sacred Fire, he takes several stories from the Bible where Jesus extends the invitation to us; if we say Yes to it, He will bring us into a deeper maturity. The first story he uses is in Luke 24 when Jesus is on the road to Emmaus with two disciples and they were quite discouraged at the time. Jesus had been crucified, but they didn’t recognize Him after He had been resurrected. They felt downcast and had lost hope as they walked 7 miles away from Jerusalem towards Emmaus. Rolheiser says Jerusalem represents for Luke the faith dream of the disciples, the place where Jesus died, and the church. Emmaus is like the escape, a place of worldly consolation. When the disciples tell their sad story of the crucifixion, Jesus plays naïve and listens to their explanation. Then he takes them from where they are at and helps them integrate their way of seeing things into a vision of faith. Humiliation of the cross is hard for all of us to grasp, and many times we go through the process of crucifixion and resurrection when our hopes seem dashed. How we see God and the church at such times turns many to walk away from the church and lose faith. But when we walk towards the place of consolation, Jesus comes to us in a new deeper way and will help us turn around and go back to Jerusalem. Just like the disciples who said to each other in Luke 24:32 ( God’s Word), “Weren’t we excited when He talked with us on the road and opened up the meaning of the Scriptures for us?” They hurried back to tell the news after Jesus broke the bread and offered it to them and their eyes were opened. It’s important how we recognize Jesus when He comes to us in new ways. We need to have our eyes opened and not have a closed mind set. Jesus doesn’t come to us in only one way that we may have perceived Him as a child. But sometimes we have to let go of our set ways and then receive Him in a deeper way.

Challenge for today: Be open to the new ways the Lord comes to you and go deeper.