Category: Sister Judy (Page 184 of 277)

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Today I went on a road that I haven’t been on for a long time. I was surprised how the forest had filled out with wild flowers and bushes and grasses that seemed to hide the fallen trees and decaying logs.

Often when we go through a loss, whether it is through sickness or death of a loved one, a job loss, or loss of friendships etc. we may feel like we are walking in barrenness and darkness. It may be hard to see the light of hope. But as we lean into the Lord, we receive faith that we will be led out of the darkness into the light again. In time we will be able to see the hidden work the Lord has been doing in our lives. We may actually see beauty in it and what a miracle that is!  He turns our mourning into dancing! ( Ps 30:11) and beauty for ashes.( Is. 61:3) The forest is no longer dark but alive with sunshine and aroma of flowers and fullness. We may have thought it was not possible but now we can see He was working in our dark times to fill us out. Let us trust Him in our dark times and know that the day is coming when the sun will shine again and we will dance!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Yesterday, I was reminded that we should never give up hope. I was watching the Viking game and in the last minutes when the Jaguars got a touchdown pass, it looked like the game would be over. But it wasn’t. Walsh, the Viking rookie , made a long 55 yard kick and tied the game. Great jubilation!  He scored again with another good kick in the overtime and won the game. Spiritually often times it looks like the enemy is getting the best of us. It seems like we are losing ground and he is winning. David had so many of those times in his life. But even though he had some very narrow escapes he says in Ps. 30, “ I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.”  It is not over until the end, and in the end we have the ultimate victory in Him. Often we tend to depend on the big star player, but sometimes it is the little rookie that comes through for us. It is a good reminder that it is truly His power that defeats the enemy. Even when we may be in a tight situation like David, let us remember his words in Ps. 42, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

 Devotions from Judy’s heart

On Friday when I was at Line Dancing, a new gal joined us and was not familiar with the dances. Our instructor went through the moves with her and she also observed the rest of us and did quite well for the first time. She was open to instruction and wanted to learn. Isn’t that the way we should be in our spiritual lives too?  Are we willing to take instruction from others or do we think we already know all there is to know in an area?   Do we gain by observing others that are further along on the spiritual journey? We can learn a lot just by observing their lives, how they handle conflict, how they face trials, how they handle praise etc.  We of course, will make many flubs but as we are open and willing to learn, we will grow in grace and become more like our INSTRUCTOR who has our best always in mind. One of my favorite verses in Ps. 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” We are further warned not to be like a horse or mule that have to be controlled by bit and bridle. Let us be teachable and humble and open to His instruction through whatever means He uses in our lives

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Jesus has called us to be light-bearers and as He says in Matt 5, we are to let our lights shine so others can see and give glory to God. The Message translation puts it this way “ You’re here to be a light, bringing out God-colors to the world.” He desires to use us to make Him visible to the world. When we went to the coffee party on Saturday with all the relatives, Scott spoke of relatives that we honor and who have let their lights shine before us, like my dad, my aunt etc. I’m sure you have all gone by mailboxes with reflector tape on and it makes them stand out, especially at night.  We are to be His reflectors and  As Sarah Young said we are to brighten up the world by reflecting who He is.  As the Holy Spirit has free access in our lives, may the light of His presence flow from us to all those around us, bringing His healing love.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Yesterday I was at a coffee party and one of the gals showed a picture of a bear taken right from her window. Another gal said this bear was in her garage and they had a hard time getting him to leave, even after banging on things.
As you can imagine that didn’t make me feel very good as I walk each day in the same vicinity!  I thought of how the enemy is out there and wants us to be afraid and to hinder our relationship with the Lord. In fact, we can get so focused on him that we lose sight of the power of the Lord.  We need to be cautious of the enemy’s tactics and alert, but not so the enemy steals our focus. When this happens we miss out on the peace and joy that the Lord gives. Later yesterday I went for a prayer walk but I just enjoyed that time and used it to pray and not to imagine a bear behind the trees or a rock. We have the wonderful promise in Ps. 91:15, “When you call me, I will answer you. I will be with you in trouble. I will rescue you and honor you.”  When we sense the enemy trying to trip us up or rob us of our peace, let us call out to the Lord and as it says in Ps. 18:39, He equips us with strength for the battle.

P.S. Right after I wrote this I went to Facebook and there I saw a picture of a neighbor who had just killed the bear. Wow!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Yesterday  when I was at the garden I went down the 2 rows of beans and thought I had picked most all of them. But as I went back the opposite way down the row, there were so many beans I missed. They were seen better from the other direction and I would have missed them. Sometimes we see things only from our point of view and don’t want to turn and look at things through another person’s eyes. When we do this and hang on only to our way of seeing, we may miss many valuable things the Lord has for us. Our way is not the only way!  We need to be open and seeking and searching so that we glean what He has for us. It may mean lifting the leaves and looking way down under, it may mean pushing aside what we have always known. And when we do, we may be surprised at what the Lord has for us. As it says in Prov. 15:14, “The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge.”

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Yesterday I went to the garden to weed and pick the veggies but soon found out my gardening-partner had the sprinkler on there and I had to postpone my plan.  Had I forced my way, that wouldn’t have been very wise and, I would have gotten dirty and muddy. Sometimes we can try to make things happen that are not part of God’s plan and it messes things up. Hopefully we learn from those times and are content to wait for His perfect timing and way the next time.  Just yesterday I was amazed at how He orchestrated the timing of the relatives coming over, as one left others came etc and was like clock work.  I would have had a hard time to arrange that so perfectly but He had it all on His time table. As it says in Prov. 3:5-6 as we trust and acknowledge Him and don’t depend on our own understanding, He will make our path straight….In other words, He will put us on the right course so we progress to the goal. Let us not push our own way but trust His ways area best.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Today I washed the rugs for the bathrooms and hung them on our deck railing to dry while I went about my day. Later when I checked on them they were totally dry and I could put them back on the floors. It made me think of things that happen to us that may just need to rest and let time do the healing. We know it would not do any good to speak up and may do more harm than good. Sometimes it is best to confront but there are other times, we need to just lay it to rest. Just like the rugs, I hung them out in the sunshine, and let them lay all day.  During that time the Lord can work on it, and in the sunshine of His love, healing takes place.  Our part is just to surrender it into His hands and let Him bring the healing to our hearts.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

When Kurt came with his kids on Friday, they were so keyed up to see the new boat that they went from their vehicle directly down to the lake… after hugging us of course. They delayed supper and unpacking to get right to the water and spent the next couple hours tubing and riding around the lake. They were focused and excited and everything else was on hold. We could hear their squeals of laughter as they rode the big waves Kurt created for them with the boat. I had a sneaking suspicion that they would want to be boating before eating, so I held off on supper until they had fun on the lake. Now if I insisted on eating first and having them unpack, they would have been disappointed for their enthusiasm was very high for being on the Lake. I wonder sometimes with new Christians if we try to direct them as to what they should do and know, and give lots of rules. Maybe even steer them away from what the Lord is teaching them at the time, in order to get this teaching or that teaching that we think is more important. God has each of us on a journey that is exciting and individual. We need to respect and reinforce His ways in each other’s lives and not put on them our ways. We might even find ourselves rejoicing and renewed as we hear their laughter and joy in the excitement of the new!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

The other day Al took me for a boat ride around the Lake. When we got near to our Point the depth finder said it was 6 feet deep. Just a short distance from there it went down to 91 feet. Hard to believe!   It made me think of the deep things of the Lord and how careful we need to be to listen to His word for our lives. Sometimes we are going along in our ordinary life and reading the Word or listening to someone speak when suddenly we know we have just received a deep nugget. It could have come through a new Christian or a seasoned preacher but it doesn’t matter as it hits us deeply in our soul.  We feel we want to hang on to it, to savor it, and to reflect upon what the Lord is saying to us. How we hear and the attention we give is important as the Lord wants to impart His words to our hearts. I read today from Mark 4:24 where He said, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, It will be measured to you, and still more will be added.”  If we embrace what we hear, He will add yet more.  Let us not miss the deep things He sends our way but “pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”  Heb 2:1