Category: Sister Judy (Page 167 of 271)

Devotions from Judy’s heart
When Al went to the Dr. yesterday he had a couple questions to ask him about the pain in his hip. He thought he needed a physical therapist or a chiropractor to work on him. But the x-ray showed that he has arthritis in his hip, so those measures would not solve his problem. Sometimes we also think we know just what is “wrong” with us and we self diagnose and don’t always come to the right conclusions. But instead we need to go to the Great Physician and let him give us the right diagnosis so we can get help and get well.  Isn’t it easy to say that this or that person treats me badly so that is why I am the way I am?  Wrong diagnosis! Or if my circumstances were different, I wouldn’t feel so lethargic or depressed. Wrong!  It doesn’t matter about the people around us for we  first have to know we are the one who is sick.  Jesus was hard on the Pharisees as they thought they were “healthy” before God but were blind to their spiritual sickness.  Also, Job’s friends gave him the wrong diagnosis and he calls them worthless physicians. ( Job 13:4). They were no help at all.  We need to know when we are sick and  go to our Physician where  we will get the help we need. Al was glad for his diagnosis as now he knows what needs to be done.

Devotions from Judy’s heart
On a recent Sunday in church we sang, Crown Him With Many Crowns and something inside me resonated  when I sang the words, “Awake my soul and sing”.  I wondered when and how I had fallen asleep.  Later as I went on a prayer walk, I found myself singing aloud those very words with much gusto.  Fortunately no one but God and  nature surrounding me was able to hear me sing. It’s so easy to get lulled to sleep and not be alert to His voice and His hand at work in our lives and all around us.  In Eph. 5:14 it says to “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Just like in a marriage relationship we can go along and take one another for granted and all of a sudden something happens that we are awakened to the “treasure” we have.  As it says in I Thess. 5,  Let us be children of the light and keep awake and sober, putting on faith, love and hope etc.  May we “Crown Him as our matchless king throughout eternity!”

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We are given so many wonderful promises but often we have very low expectations.  The Lord has promised that He will answer even before we call, He will bear our burdens, He will provide according to His riches, He will give us peace instead of anxious thoughts etc.  Last Sunday I was at our new church and we usually have coffee and cookies in the middle of the service. But that Sunday we were to have coffee at the new site for the church when the service at the theater was over.  I was expecting coffee and cookies again but to my surprise there were egg salad sandwiches, veggies and dip, muffins, coffee and juice etc. What a nice surprise beyond what I had anticipated.  Sometimes I think we aim too low, or we go to the wrong place when we need help. Instead of going to the Lord and trusting He will direct us and give us what we need, we may get anxious and think we have to fix things ourselves. Instead let us go to the source of every good thing and believe He means what He says in His Word and expect incredible things!

devotions from Judy’s heart

We have been involved in a Small Group for several years and next time
when we meet I don’t think we will take up  as much of the group’s time.
The past few times we have asked for their discernment and wisdom
concerning our church situation. They were so helpful to us and we are
grateful for their input.  But what if we took the whole time or dwelt
on just our issues every time that would not be good.  Each one in the
Body has needs and we are to be there for one another. Some people are
more quiet about their needs so we mus ask to be sensitive and aware of
them. In fact, as we pray and help others, it seems as if our own
problems get smaller and smaller. Do you think it is because the focus
is off of ourselves and on Him who holds the answers?  He wants to 
guide our footsteps and  like I read today from Ps. 138:8 “The Lord will
fulfill His purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord endures forever.

Devotions from Judy’s heart
Yesterday I did a deep cleaning and stripped our bed down to the bed frame and dusted and  washed everything.  Maybe you  couldn’t tell that the carpet was dusty underneath the bed but it feels good to have everything clean again.  Don’t you wish things would stay clean once and for all?!  In a short time more cleaning will be required! Our lives are like that as the Lord dusts us off and we feel free and cleansed deep down with more room for His Spirit.  But it isn’t long at all before we are asking Him to forgive us and to make us clean again, and it becomes a constant practice.  When we let things go they seem to pile up and we feel the affects.  David prayed after his sin with Bathsheba in Ps. 51 “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me , and I will be whiter than snow.” Even as our bedroom now is sparkling clean, He desires to cleanse us and  give us a pure heart.    Why not throw off every thing that hinders and the sin that easily entangles? ( Heb. 12:10)

Devotions from Judy’s heart on 1000 things
A thankful heart is an open heart that is able to receive.
In  Ps. 43:5 it says, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.”  As we remember His blessings to us and ponder His goodness, we are going to become more  grateful people, overflowing with joy. For Christmas I received the book,  One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and she has found joy as she slows down and wakes up to the gifts in her life. Just like her, we can find joy in the small and insignificant which will  help us to be more aware of all the many ways He loves us . She accepted a dare to write down a thousand things she loves, a thousand blessings. I think all of us would be changed by writing such a list as we would see what is right before us as gifts of His love to us.  I rather think our moments would become grace filled, holy ,and amazing!

Devotions from Judy’s heart
Yesterday Al and I helped clean out and begin the renovation of our new church site. It is an older building and a wall had to be knocked down, carpet discarded, nails taken out of the lumber etc. It is a mess and really doesn’t look like much yet but there is a blueprint taped on the wall of the desired result.  In so many ways we are like that mess, and it’s hard to imagine what we will be like some day .  But the Lord is able to see what we are becoming… As it says in I John 3, “We are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”  Yes, we are already His children but one day we will be like Him in eternity, without any weaknesses and imperfections but like our Father.  In the meantime, let us ask the Lord for eyes to see others as He sees them, and eyes to visualize ourselves as He sees us!!  Perhaps it will radically change how we live today!!

Devotions from Judy’s heart
One of my New Year’s goals is to savor the moment and not rush through my day.  As Ann Voskamp said “They say time is money, but that’s not true. Time is life. And if I want the fullest life, I need to find fullest time. ”  Hurry leaves us feeling empty, and so often we find ourselves rushing to get more, when we need to slow down and enjoy what is.  We need to take time to live with soul and body and God all in sync. We have enough time in a day to get done what the Lord has for us.  And I suspect we have enough time to go out into the night air and look at the stars and give praise to our Creator.  Let us give our full attention to what He has for us each day and not feel pressed to rush to do more!  As Ann says, “God gives us time but do we have time for Him?”
May we just live our one life well!

Devotions from Judy’s heart
There is a need in all of our lives to be quiet and still so we can hear His voice.  As I read today from Ps. 37 ” Be sill before Lord and wait patiently for Him.”  Hush and wait!  Even when we are talking with others, we need to be listening to what He is saying to our hearts.  Al is just back from St. Scholastica where the directees  have spent a weekend in silence. But Al listened to each of them in his group for 1 1/2 hours to help them discern God’s voice in their lives.  As they were open to the Spirit, it was a holy time.  I think  the most important thing we can do for another person, is to listen to them and help them to discern what God is saying.  It’s not important what we think, but it is vital what the Spirit is saying and we need to be quiet to listen.  One word given when empowered by the Spirit is worth more than an abundance of our own words.  As Sarah Young said, “Be a channel of My Love, Joy, and Peace by listening to Me as you listen to others.”

Devotions from Judy’s heart
As you may know I play Scrabble with several friends on line and sometimes the computer is very frustrating. I will go to the Scrabble screen and a little circle goes round and round but it won’t click into the scrabble board so I can play. I thought of how we often press the button that says we will follow the Lord where He leads and then when it comes to something He asks of us that we don’t like, we won’t click in and do it. We go round and round but refuse what He is directing us to do. We can’t click in to the next thing the Lord has for us that way and we miss out on wonderful opportunities. His ways are not always our ways but let us give up our self-willed ways that our hearts will be set free.