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 165 of 271)

July 18, 2020

July 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments
How good are we at paying attention to warnings? Do we ignore them or do we know that they are there for our good and we need to take heed?
 
Not far from us we have a section blocked off where roadwork is being done and no matter how we feel about it, we have to take the detour. We can’t get through! We are warned ahead of time and can take the alternate way. Last night we also had warnings of storms coming and one friend who was at their camper had bags packed in case they had to go to a shelter quickly. We also heard a siren go off in the night and hoped we didn’t have to go downstairs to the underground garage…especially since my hair was in rollers!!
 
But more important are the warnings we are given in scripture of coming times to be alert and pay attention. When Jesus was with his disciples, he gave them warnings about what would happen after He left this world; in Matt. 24 He says that they will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes and Christians will be hated for being committed to Him. False prophets would arise and people would be deceived. Other places in scripture we are warned that men will be lovers of self, scoffers, arrogant, abusive, slanderous, profane and show no respect for what is holy and on and on. Doesn’t it sound like our world today?
 
But what are we to do as we see these things take place?  We are told to stay alert, watch, and be awake spiritually and be in prayer.  More than ever before we need to pray for our nation and as God told Solomon in II Chron. 7:15 (ESV), “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I  will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and  heal their land.” Now is the time to seek the Lord! Let us not dismiss the warnings but humbly pray!
 
Challenge for today: Pray to be awake spiritually and pray for repentance and healing of our land.

July 20, 2020

July 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments
Life is exciting when we listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him direct how we spend our day. We never know what is on His agenda and sometimes we can be very surprised.
 
He wants to use us for God’s kingdom work and isn’t amazing how he brings people together from even opposites of the world if He has a special plan? But often it is in small ways that He whispers something for us to do.    We have a 94 year-old friend who spends most of her day in her apt. due to the virus. She still drives and is sharp and fun and a joy to be around. She is also in our Soul Care Group but we haven’t been meeting again yet so the hours are long for her. But since she doesn’t have a computer, I felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me to offer to put my daily devotion on her door each morning.    So simple to print out and then on the other side of the paper I draw a comic picture of her with a special name I give her for the day, like “Liberated Lois.”    I might put in a humorous photo from my past or whatever comes to mind. She tells me how much she appreciates opening her door each day to the message and I find great joy in doing it.
 
Now this is such a small thing but if something comes to our minds, we need to just pray and see if it is the Holy Spirit telling us what is for our agenda. It could be that we are led to pay for groceries for the stranger ahead of us in line, or to offer to babysit so a young mom can just have some time to get out. It could be that we offer to mentor a teen who is struggling; but whatever it is, we will experience the joy of pleasing our Father when we respond and obey.
 
Paul says in Phil. 2:13 (The Message), “Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, and energy deep within you, God Himself willing and working at what will give Him the most pleasure.”    Even when we don’t  feel  like it, He will give us the power and the desire to do whatever He asks.
 
Challenge for today: Ask for sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and respond in obedience and joy.

July 21, 2020

July 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments
There is a lot of pain in people’s lives; pain of every kind. One friend wrote of the severe physical pain she is having and unable to get into the Dr. for 2 weeks. Others wrote of the loss of a loved one.
 
Many speak of the pain of loneliness they are experiencing and that was even before the pandemic. Self-isolation and quarantine have only made matters worse.  Some write about painful feelings of rejection but what do we do with all of those feelings? Do we give up?  Think of King David whose own son rejected him or the apostle Paul who had to flee for his very life from those who hated him. We can all feel like victims when those hurtful things happen to us but that only makes us feel bitter and lash out at those around us.
 
We have a place to go for we can cry out to God who is the one who brings healing to our souls. Only He can give us a sense of belonging, love that is unconditional, and fill the empty space in our hearts. When we come to experience that love, we don’t need to have 1,000 likes online for we know we are loved by the One who is love. Even when things get difficult God uses those challenges to refine us.
 
I was amazed and touched when I read about a Jesuit priest, Walter Ciszek, who was accused of being a Vatican Spy. He spent five years in a Moscow prison and 15 years of hard labor in a Siberian prison camp, and yet he didn’t give up. In fact, he was thankful to God for stripping away his external comforts and offered his suffering to the Lord as it brought him closer.
 
We can all offer our pain, our rejections, our sorrows to the Lord and experience His presence and power. As it says in Psalm 91:1 (Amplified), “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty (Whose power no foe can withstand).” Let us run to that protective secret place and give all our hurts to Him.
 
Challenge for today: Give the Lord all your pain and sorrows and invite His power into your situation.

July 22, 2020

July 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments
Devotions from Judy’s heart:
 
Would people around us say, “Oh she is a grateful person!” or “Oh he is one thankful guy!? It is good to do a check on ourselves often to see what our gratitude thermometer reads.
 
We have so many scriptures about thanking God and it says in Eph. 5:20 (The Word), “Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Message translation puts it as, “Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.”
 
Wouldn’t it be great if all Christians were overflowing with thanksgiving and praises? What a difference we would make in the world. I read what Mark Roberts at Fuller Seminary had to say about living fully, gratefully, and persistently. We are aware that we are to regularly give thanks to the Lord but the word persistently would mean even when things on not as we’d like. For me that means praising God even when my computer goes bonkers after the updates! (I find that hard but later, of course, I am full of thanksgiving when it is up and running again.)   But we have the example of the apostle Paul who thanked God even when he was persecuted or in prison for the Lord’s sake; his praise wasn’t dependent on his circumstances but on God’s mercy to him in all things. He didn’t ask to be removed from his circumstances but asks God for strength to endure the hard things with joy. Really with joy!
 
We may not thank God for our problems but rather for His strength and all the good things He is building in us through our circumstances. Then we can be thankful at all times and for everything, knowing that he is depositing something good in us. Let us not wait for perfect circumstances to be grateful but to praise Him right now where He has us.
 
 
Challenge for today: Start a list of things you are grateful for and add more each day.

July 23, 2020

July 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments
I woke up with a song today and then after I wrote the following devotional, I did the challenge for the day. So the rest of the morning I spent doing the “secret” things I felt the Lord telling me to do. I’m not sure what He will tell you, but it might be exciting to see what He has in store.
 
Devotions from Judy’s heart:
 
“Come, now is the time to worship
Come, now is the time to give your heart
Come, just as you are to worship
Oh, come, just as you are before your God”
 
These were the words of the song by Brian Doerksen sung by Phillips Craig and Dean that were going through my mind as I woke today.  “Now is the time!” When God speaks to us, it’s important to listen and respond. The question is, are we on God’s time or do we delay and do things on our time, which is sometimes too late?
 
When I was a nurse working in OB, the doctor was called after a mother was checked in ready to deliver. But sometimes the Doctor didn’t make it in time, and he came after it was all over. He was too late. May it not happen to us in a spiritual sense that we miss God’s now time.  The Holy Spirit is the one who is at work and prepares our hearts for what God has for us. When we ignore His promptings, it may take a while before we are ready to hear and respond and we may miss the treasure that is for those who choose Him now. Jesus was always on His Father’s time and sometimes he had to tell his brothers and disciples, that the time wasn’t now. He had to wait until the now time also, just as we do. But when He says NOW, we need to act! This may mean praying as never before for our country, for God’s people to wake up. Or it could mean to take a stand when it costs us.  Now is the time! The song goes on to say we bow our knee and willingly choose to surrender our lives, with all of our hearts, mind and strength.  That’s the bottom line that we daily give up our own wills and agendas and surrender to Him.
 
May our prayer be as David prayed in Psalm 31: 14-15a (NRSV), “But I trust in you, O Lord; I say ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand.”
 
Challenge for today: Spend some time listening and ask the Lord to help you recognize His  now  time, and respond.

Feb.3rd

February 1, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Devotions from Judy’s heart

I think all of us can admit we are not always on top of our game. As  Minnesotans we wish the Viking would always do well  and  be on top of their game. I play Scrabble with several people and right now I am in 3nd place. Just a short time ago I was in first place for a long time. What happened?  Sometimes we fall, sometimes we slip behind, but aren’t we glad for grace, especially when our performance is not good?

It’s nice to be No#1 and on top of our game but also so good to know we are loved just as much by our Father when we are not performing well and have blown it. Let us appreciate others where they are at as well. They could be on top tomorrow and we could be #2, but let it not make any difference. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” I John 3:1

Feb. 1st

January 31, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Devotions from Judy’s heart
Our son just got progressive tri-focal glasses so now he can read menus etc. I also have reading glasses even though I don’t need glasses for driving, watching t.v. etc.  I have to admit that I am “blind” to reading a map, even my Bible, without my reading glasses  In a spiritual sense we all have blindness but often we are not aware of how blind we are. It is so easy to see farther away at the sin in someone else rather than close up of our own sin!  We can quickly see the speck in our neighbor’s eye rather than the log that is in our own eye. ( Matt. 7). So we need to honestly allow the spirit to reveal areas we need to change and humbly accept however God reveals it to us. It may be easier when God shows us through scripture or a loving brother or sister, something that needs to change, but sometimes he uses even our “enemies” to challenge us to change. But however He does it, it is out of His heart of love and He desires that we become like Him.

Jan. 31st

January 30, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Devotions from Judy’s heart
It’s been said that one picture is worth a 1,000 words. I found that true as a picture was put on Facebook of our friend, Grace, up and walking with the aid of a walker after her knee replacement yesterday. My heart just sang as I saw how well she was doing and the picture was proof of it. The Lord gives us so many pictures and symbols that are worth more than 1,000 words.  A vivid picture comes to mind of Luke 15 where the lost sheep is found and there is so much rejoicing. I’m sure we have seen pictures of our loving Shepherd carrying that lost lamb, and felt His arms of love enfolding us when we have lost our way.  Or when our life seems so stormy and out of control and we see with hope-filled hearts, the Lord raising His hand to calm our storm. God speaks to us in so many ways, and let us be still and let Him minister to our hearts. Just seeing a cross can be a reminder of the depth of His love that sacrificed all and lets us know how much we are loved.

Jan. 30th

January 29, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Devotions from Judy’s heart
On Sunday Al and I served sweet rolls, caramel rolls, banana bread, and choc chip cookies on a stick for coffee time at church. My what a response! The first man to see the treats helped us carry them in from the parking lot, and there were so many words of thanks….A couple people sampled everything! It made me want to serve again soon! I thought of it in a spiritual sense how it must please the Lord when we get excited over His blessings to us and express thanks in the little and big things He sends our way..  “Lord, this sunset is awesome…I just want to sit here with you and enjoy it!”. Or “Lord your timing is perfect as this e-mail came at the time I needed to hear those words of affirmation!” etc. etc. Our lives should overflow with gratitude as His children.  Ann Voscamp said,” Gratitude is what births trust…”It’s only when you live the prayer of thanksgiving that you live the power of trusting God.”  Let us count our blessings and in the process we will find God can be counted on!!  Yes!

Jan. 29th

January 28, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Devotions from Judy’s heart
On Saturdays we talk to Ann’s family on Skype, and last Saturday I was in the process of baking sweet rolls when we talked. Because I have baked lots of rolls in my life time, I can tell by the aroma when they are about ready to come out of the oven. I got a whiff and sure enough, I went and looked and each time they were done.
I have often thought of the sense of smell as spiritual discernment…sniffing out what really is! Discernment is needed more than ever as our values and convictions are getting tested in our culture today. We need discernment constantly since we are all vulnerable to getting “hoodwinked”. Something can sound and look good but may not be at all. In Eph. 5 we are told “Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” Let us not be naive and taken in by the false, but let us ask Him to give us discerning hearts.

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