Category: Sister Judy (Page 176 of 277)

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.

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!

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.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Yesterday I went for a prayer walk and since the leaves are gone, I was able to see the nests in the trees. There is a well known  nest of an osprey on top of a power pole on Highway #5 that is especially huge. I thought of the birds and their nests and prayed that God would lead us to a new “nest” (church home). These past months have been a time of prayer, seeking discernment, and sharing together for Al and I.  The bottom line is that we have left the  ELCA Lutheran church after a life time.  It is not an easy decision and for now we are “homeless” and we will be seeking a new church home. Often in scripture we read how God only tells so much and after we obey He gives us more. Just like Abraham who was told to leave his home country to a land that God would show him. As I was pondering just what our future will look like, I read a verse that a friend gave on Facebook from Ps. 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you the way you are to go.  I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” That is enough for He will give us what we need when we need to know.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Things are not always the way they seem outwardly. We can misjudge if we only go by outward appearances.

Each day I try to find time to go for a walk alone and spend that time praying as I walk. The other day Al and I both went for a prayer walk about the same time, only in separate directions so we wouldn’t interfere with each other’s time alone. But a neighbor saw us as he was driving by and asked if we had had a fight. That’s how it looked. I told him we were both on a prayer walk and he just laughed.  God sees what is, and the more we grow in Him the less concerned we are for what others think. What matters is our life before Him, as it says in Prov . 5:21 “For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord”.  When we are doing His will , we don’t  have to justify, but “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” I Cor. 15:58

When we were in Charleston, Al took each of the grandkids out alone and was hopeful to make a good deposit in them.

It says in Ps. 89 that we are to tell the next generation of His faithfulness. At this Christmas time it is the first anniversary of my dad’s Homecoming and I think of him often. He made many deposits  in us in so many ways by his words and even more by his life of generosity and unconditional love. The fruit of his life goes on and on as we share about him in our memory bank. What will people say about us when we are gone?  Did we love well? Did we put first things first? Did we use the gifts God gave us?  Did we change courses when necessary? Wm Penn said, “let us be careful neither to run out ahead of our bride nor loiter behind Him; since he that makes haste may miss his way, and he that stays behind may lose his guide.” Let us run the race of life well and leave behind a path for others.