Category: Sister Judy (Page 175 of 271)

Devotions from Judy’s heart
The other day I brought my computer to church to see if I could help a friend who had questions about a different program she was using. When she had asked me about it, I told her what worked on mine. But when we got together our programs were different and what worked on mine did not work on hers. Isn’t that the way life is? We are all so individual and what helps me may not help you at all. It is easy to tell someone else what should work for them, but it doesn’t always. Even medically speaking, what can be the answer for what seems like the same symptoms, may turn out to be different for others.  The Lord created each one of us and deals with us individually. As it says in Isaiah 43, “I have called you by name, you are mine….you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you.”  Wow!  There is not another person exactly like us and each of us is loved unconditionally by our Father. Let us remember that in dealing with others and ask for His wisdom before giving them advice.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Recently I read Max Lacado’s new book, Grace, and it is a good to remember how much we need to trust God’s grace. We mess up every day and so every day we are in need of His unlimited grace. Satan loves to accuse not only of what we may have done today but brings up things from our past. But like Max says, “Jesus trumps the devil’s guilt with words of grace”! Yes!  There are times I may be working around the house and a memory comes to my mind of something I flubbed and wished I would never have said or done. Instead of letting those thoughts bring me down, I can choose to ask forgiveness and receive God’s grace. As Max said, “Grace isn’t blind. It sees the heart but chooses to see Gods’ forgiveness more.”  But if our hands are full we can’t receive His gift. I will share one more quote today, and  you may get more tomorrow fro Max.  “He has enough grace to pardon every sin, solve every dilemma, wipe every tear, and answer every question. It’s more than we deserve and greater than we imagine.” Let us walk in grace!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

The other day I was going in the car and had to leave my cell phone home as it needed to be charged. I didn’t feel as comfortable driving as I couldn’t call if I needed help along the way. It made me think of how the Lord is never like that but always available for we can call on Him any time. He is our constant 911 number, and always answers!   As the familiar song goes, we have a friend in Jesus, who will bear all our sins and griefs. There is nothing we can’t bring to him in prayer! We forfeit peace and go through needless pain when we don’t carry everything to Him in prayer! We have so many promises of the Lord’s constant care over us and that He will never leave us. Why do we so often live under so much stress as if we have to do it all on our own? May we live in the comfort of His promises and the awareness that He is always there and will go with us through whatever happens throughout our day. “In His arms He will take and shield you; you will find a solace there”.

 Devotions from Judy’s heart,

Each day we are enjoying left-overs from Bo’s fantastic gourmet cooking. Although he went home, we are still partaking of what he left behind. Hopefully as we depart from this world we leave much behind spiritually for others to feed on for the remainder of their lives.  Just think of how rich we are because of all we have received by those who have touched our lives!   As we go through our day, instructive words spoken by our parents may come to mind. Or maybe thoughts by respected authors may influence us as we make decisions. The Holy Spirit may also bring to remembrance scriptures others have spoken to us in difficult times. God has called us all to be an influence and bear lasting fruit. As He said in John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last.”  May our lives be reflective of the Lord and bear fruit for all eternity.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

The other day we unexpectedly received a gift certificate to eat at The Chase in Walker. What a wonderful gift! We are looking forward to going there and using it in the near future. But what if we said thank you and then just left the gift card on the shelf, never to cash in on it? But isn’t that what we do with so many gifts God gives us?  Of course the most important gift is salvation but there are numerous other gifts as well….peace, rest, joy, wisdom, mercy, grace, hope, love etc. We could have a very long list for the Giver never runs out. But the problem is with our receiving and sometimes we don’t recognize that we even  “need” the gift at the time. Or maybe we just put off  taking the gift until another time, and that time never comes. Like the gift of wisdom…we may think we know best and don’t need His wisdom. Or the gift of mercy…we may think we are fine the way we are and don’t need forgiveness and mercy. How rich we would be if we were better receivers and were open to the many gifts He giving to us without measure..

Devotions from Judy’s heart

 I read from “Jesus Calling”  that we need to enjoy life more, relax, walk through the day with childlike delight in Him, savor every blessing, etc. I thought of last night and how we received hospitality in our own home as Kurt, Bo and Jeff prepared a gourmet dinner for us. They came with arms full of food and spread everything out on our counters and set to work to give us a fabulous meal.   We started out with Emeril’s Tortilla soup with browned tortilla strips on top that could have been the meal in itself. Then we had Pork Roulades ( pork loin stuffed with walnuts etc) that was just out of this world, a corn casserole smothered with cheddar, and Dirty Risotto ( rice dish with Italian sausage, pancetta, wine, mushrooms etc.), and Spelt bread from Linnea’s outdoor brick oven.  Doesn’t your mouth just water? We are still savoring the evening of feasting and have left- overs for several meals.  In scripture we see Jesus enjoying meals with his friends and disciples and engaging those around the table. I’m sure the talk was more nourishing than the food!  The table can be a place that we can experience fellowship and belonging. Just like the guys shared experiences from their past and present, we can share how we see the Lord working around and in us.  Let us use our homes to be a meeting place of the heart and bring glory to Him.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

When I was swimming in the pool of our hotel in the mountains, I was glad to be all alone as I like to pray while I swim. But in the pool were several floating noodles that would keep drifting into my path and impeding my progress. Finally I removed them all and could swim freely. In our lives there can be even good things that inhibit our freedom and progress if they distract us from the best.  Just like the noodles that are good since they can help keep children afloat, but they can also become distractions if we have to keep changing our course of action.  Each of us may be distracted by different things but whatever gets our focus rather than the Lord, is a hindrance in our walk with Him. We are told many times in scripture to pay attention, listen, hear, etc, and it is important that we are not distracted by many things and other voices that want our attention. As it says in I Peter 1:19, “You will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

 Devotions from Judy’s heart

While at Kurt’s we had quite a laugh as our 4 year old grandson, Grant, all of a sudden walked down the sidelines at the soccer game all humped over and knees bent wide apart. When we asked him about it, he said he was pretending to walk like grandpa! Now he is 4 and grandpa is 71 and he looked so funny and ridiculous pretending to be grandpa. But do we see this in our every day life…people not being truly themselves but trying to be like someone else?  It may not appear so obvious and so humorous, but is sad that the real person is not being seen.  So often we settle for our false self that is mostly a creation of our own minds and attachments. But our true self is objectively who we are from the beginning in the mind and heart of God.  Thomas Merton said, “If you find God you will find yourself and if you find yourself you will know God.” Let us find our true selves and give up acting and playing a role that is not real.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Wouldn’t it be great if life was all forward and upward?  This past week we walked on mountain trails that wound around, went up and down, and were anything but straight. And isn’t that really what life is like? Certainly not a straight line!  Richard Rohr (Falling Upward) talks about how failure and humiliation help us to look where we never would otherwise.  We need to get out of the driver’s seat and learn how to give the controls to God. I’m sure all of us have had situations in our lives that we cannot control or understand. But those times of falling and undergoing suffering can open up new spaces within us in which we learn and love in new ways. . Often people with addictions thank God for their former patterns as it broke down their false self and opened them up to grace and love. As we grow spiritually may we come to the place where we see down as up, for it teaches us things we would not know otherwise. When we fall and when we recover from the fall, we experience His mercy!  Sadly, W.H. Auden said, “We would rather be ruined than changed. We would rather die in our dread than climb the cross of the present and let our illusions die.”  Let us leave our comfort zones in life and be willing to be open and to admit and learn from our failures.