Devotions from Judy's heart In one of the O.T. readings of the Christmas season we have, "Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." Isaiah 60:1 During Christmas we are reminded that the Light has come. Jesus came as the light and the darkness has not overcome the light. The other night Al went for a walk wearing a device on his head that acted as a headlight, enabling him to see in the total darkness. Living as we do in the North woods, winter can be a time when we are engulfed in total darkness by 5 p.m. He came back excited that he could now take prayer walks in the evening as well as during the day since he had plenty of light to see. I just read this prayer today from Daily Texts from Mt Carmel Ministries and maybe one for us all: "Father of lights, I'm thankful that the light of Christ is stronger than darkness. In my weariness I often lose sight of your light. Whenever darkness threatens to overshadow me, reach out to me and fill me with your life, light, and love. Today keep me awake and aware of the needs of the others who have lost the way." We are children of the Light, let us walk in the light and share the Light of Christ.
Category: Sister Judy (Page 169 of 271)
Devotions from Judy’s heart
As you know after waiting over a month my new computer came when I was not at home to receive it. I missed out so made a point to be home the next day when Fed Ex came again. So often we miss what God is saying to us as we are “not home” in the sense of listening , being so preoccupied with other things. It may be that we are sick or depressed or just overwhelmed with pressures, but we mustn’t let that keep us from being alert to His voice. I have to pray almost daily to be attentive to hear His voice in my ordinary life. Cardinal Basil Hume said, “Each of us needs an opportunity to be alone, and silent, to find space in the day or in the week, just to reflect and to listen to the voice of God that speaks deep within us. Our search for God is only our response to (God’s) search for us. (God) knocks at our door, but for many people their lives are too preoccupied for them to be able to hear.” God may speak to us through His Word, events, nature, prayer, people, news etc.and may we be attentive and alert to hear!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
It’s hard to believe that a small item like a computer can be a treasure one minute and a frustration beyond words the next. I have also written lately on change and how we grow through it….but it isn’t always fun! After about 8 years, I have a new computer but it is nothing like my old one. I’m sure one day I will get use to it and love it but right now that is only in the future tense! It’s hard to give up the old as everything worked so well and was familiar. Spiritually, the Lord can ask us to give up the old also and to enter into the new He has for us. Sometimes we are like the children of Israel and complain and long for the leeks and garlics of Egypt. But He says in Isaiah 43:18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing: now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? ” Perhaps at times we must ask for eyes of faith to perceive that what He is doing now is so much better than the old. Let us be welcome the new things He has for us.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Last time we were at our son, Kurt’s, I gave the grandkids a prize on our arrival. Grant was excited but when he opened it up and found a bear puppet, his face fell. He was expecting a truck or something more fun. He said “Grandma, that’s not a prize!” So I reached into the prize bag and pulled out a wrapped truck and he was very pleased. I wonder how much we are all like Grant when the Lord gives us a “gift “to help us grow and become more like Him. It may come wrapped in a trial or was not what we anticipated or expected. We may even tell Him…”Is this a Gift?!!” But it all gets back to trust that we believe He has our best in mind and will give what is good for us. We need faith to look beyond what we can see at the time. As one person put on Facebook, “Faith is the bridge between where I am and the place God is taking me!” Let us trust and believe and as it says in Ps. 85:12, “Yes, the Lord will give what is good”.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
One day I was taken to the home of a potter’s shop and as I looked up towards his house of barn-wood it looked anything but elegant. But once inside was a different matter. It was filled with beautiful works of art on the walls, tables, and every where. I felt like I was in a museum. Sometimes we get fooled by the outward and don’t see the treasuere of what is inside. There are people we meet who we may not seek to know by first impressions,, but when the Lord opens our eyes, we see more of the treasure that is hidden inside. I read today from I Cor.1 ,”I don’t see many of the ‘brightest and the best’ among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, those these ‘nobodies’ to expose the hollow pretensions of the somebodies?” ( Message) Let us look beyond the outward and enjoy the beauty of the treasures within each person. |
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Yesterday we got in on the children’s Christmas program and what a delight. There were readings of scripture as each of the characters in the Christmas story came in. When they had all made their entrance they were quite angelic at first. Before long one of the angel’s halo began to tilt and soon she was making funny giggly faces and throwing bits of hay in the manger etc. Then I noticed two of the wisemen playfully punching each other. I thought of how we are like those kids as we try so hard to be good, especially when others are watching. But so often our “flesh nature” comes out and we call attention to ourselves, instead of pointing them to the Lord. Or we give someone else a punch by our insensitve words. It is humbling to remember that “there is not one that does good, not even one.” Ps. 14:3 But even when we “act up” and blow it, He offers us His love and forgiveness. How wonderful He continues to delight in us just as we do in those precious children when they act up. Isn’t His grace amazing?
At the close of the program there were prayers and tears for the families of the Newtown tragedy. When we beheld the innocense of the little S.S. kids, we realized that a similar tragedy could have happen here or any where. God have mercy.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
As we celebrate Christmas, our focus is on the greatest treasure ever given, Jesus. When I look back on previous Christmas times, perhaps it is in our losses that we are made more aware of our wondrous Treasure. I think back of a loved one, going through a divorce, who came to spend Christmas with us in California. I went with him to our candlelight service while Al stayed home with baby Mark. Christ was so present even as my heart was hurting for this loved one who was in pain. And another Christmas when my brother John was dying, we were all made so aware of God’s comforting love as we sang carols and shared how much he meant to us. And last Christmas was our first one without my dad who was spending it in glory! And this Christmas there is great sorrow in our whole nation over all the children who were innocent victims in the Newtown shooting. But in every situation any of us are in, He is there and promises to be with us always! “He who promised is faithful.” Heb 10:23 Amen!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I read a beautiful poem by a 12 year old girl who wrote it the night before she was struck by a car and died 8 days later. She talked about hesitating with fear to go through a door but then being willing and going through it with hope. The last line of her poem… “Change is beautiful; you will learn to love it.” Change is something we may not get excited about but we need to welcome and embrace it, rather than fear. As Joyce Rupp said, “Each day God calls us to stretch a little further, search a little deeper, and become a little freer. Let us go through those doors with hope …accepting the inevitableility of change and trusting in its benefits for our transformation.”
Devotions from Judy’s heart
During this Christmas time so many doors are decorated beautifully for this season. Doors are important as they are a passageway to where we are going. The opening of the door to our heart allows us to see more of the treasure of who He has made us to be and His presence within us. I am reading a book by Joyce Rupp, “Open the Door” and she speaks of opening the door to finding our true self that wants to be “known, loved, embraced, welcomed without judgment, and integrated into the way we live. When we open the door and go inside, God is there in the temple of our soul..in the cathedral of our being.” As we are all familiar with the picture of Christ knocking at the door, Sallman omits the doorknob on the outside, as it is only we who can open that door from within. It is our choice. If we choose to open the door of our heart and welcome Him in, we open ourselves to grow and change in ways we never dreamed of. I suspect we often get so preoccujpied that we miss opportunities or maybe we just refuse to take the next step and stop in the doorway. But if we are willing to go through the door, we will find the richness of His presence and greater freedom to be our authentic self.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Our lives have changed and we keep praying and seeking His will as to where we will find a church home. At a new church on Saturday night when it came time to pass the peace, a little Down’s syndrome boy shook my hand and then bent over and kissed me so sweetly on the cheek. I felt like it was His kiss to me and also when the deacon prayed for us it was His words speaking to our hearts. Isn’t it neat how the Lord can use whatever means He chooses to bless us and speak to us… from a child to a deacon etc? The Lord’s presence is always with us, and we don’t need to fear the future for He is already there. Like Sarah Young said, “Your future is in My hands; I release it to you day by day, moment by moment. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow…I want you to live this day abundantly, seeing all there is to see, doing all there is to do. Don’t be distracted by future concerns.” May we leave all our concerns into His hands.
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