Category: Sister Judy (Page 218 of 279)

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Isn’t it easy to do things half heartedly and just enough to get by?  As I read from Ps. 119:10 “With my whole heart I will seek you”, I thought of what it means to be whole hearted. When we are in a group we can easily enter in enough to be respectful and polite. But what a difference when we give of our whole selves!  When we were at Kurt’s we tried to enter in fully with the grandkids. We played hard, and tried to be present in  their world. Two nights in a row we played school and Paige and Lily took turns being the teacher. All of us were totally present as Kurt dressed in his letterman jacket and acted like a teen, Brenda giggled and passed notes to me , I drew pictures of the teacher , and Al asked lots of questions etc. Grant especially loved being part of it all.  You can see we didn’t just sit on the sidelines but were all actively engaged. We had fun and the kids didn’t want to quit when it was time for bed. We have a choice also as to spiritual life…we can sit on the sidelines and be more of a spectator in the Body of Christ. Or we can enter in fully and be energized by the Spirit. Life is only half-lived when we do things half heartedly and we miss out on the deep joy of giving of ourselves to Him. Let us not settle for less. I’m sure the grandkids would have noticed if we were just sitting there bored in their “classroom”. I think it must give the Father pleasure when we live life fully in Him!

“I will give thank to the lord with my whole heart.” Ps. 9:1

Devotions from Judy’s heart

When I was floating on the lake on an air mattress I looked peripherally into the water and saw the reflection of the trees and clouds in the water. But it wasn’t until I looked directly into the water that I could see the fish and all the  vegetation. As I floated out deeper I couldn’t see the bottom of the lake at all and whatever was under the water was a mystery.. I thought of how we grow in our spiritual lives. As new Christians we often are so impressed by “ floating clouds” and high emotional experiences. Later we see beyond these and become aware of the “fish” and real everyday highs and lows. Usually much later we move into mystery, knowing we may not understand what God is up to in our lives but it is alright. Mystery is good and we just trust Him for even those things we can’t see or know the whys.  As in Eph. 3:18 may we have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is His love and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that we may be filled with the fullness of God. Let us go on to know Him in deeper ways and grow in trust.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Have you ever been burdened by someone else’s problems that weighed heavy on your heart and sapped your energy?  Did you wonder how much you are to carry?  I know I have struggled with this.  One day this week I walked over to the garden to weed and harvest tomatoes, beans, carrots and lettuce. As I was walking home, the bag with all the tomatoes and carrots was much heavier than the other one with the green beans and lettuce so was not balanced.  What came to mind were the verses from Gal 6 where it says that we should “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” But a couple verses farther on it says that “each one should carry his own load.”

How do we do both well?  I think we will always have people that would like us to carry their whole load and give us the responsibility of their well-being. But none of us can do that for another person, for we each have our own load to bear. God gives us the grace only for what He wants us to carry.. Each of us must go to the Lord and ask for His help. He often sends others that lighten the load but they don’t take the whole load. If that happens it throws us off balance and we are not able to handle it all. I had a dream once that I was pushing a wheelbarrow and it was weighted down with children. I could hardly push it and was so tired. When I woke up, I knew I was taking on too many of the burdens of those in our ladies’ class and they needed to minister more to one another than just coming to me. He has promised in Ps. 68 to “daily bear our burdens”.  Let us go to Him and point others to Him.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

In Eph 4:32 it says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”  That is often easier to quote than to practice, even for little ones.  While at Lily’s game, our grandson Grant was playing and accidently hit a little red headed girl with a stone he was throwing into the culvert. The girl’s daddy held her and moved her to a little chair and gave her a snack.  Grant didn’t try to defend himself but immediately went over to the little girl and bent down to look into her eyes and asked if she was alright. He stayed around to make sure she was okay and was so sweet. Don’t we have a lot to learn from this example? Because we are human we hurt others even when we don’t mean to. Rather than rationalizing or defending ourselves, how much better to just go to the other person and ask them to forgive us and show that we care.  It’s not about who is right and who is wrong but rather about who is expressing Christ’s love. Let us be tenderhearted and kind, and quick to forgive.

Devotions from Judy’s heart
Have you had the experience of planning out your day and then finding that nothing goes as planned?  Our times are in His hand and scripture is full of verses about time. Jesus said,” My time is not yet.” He was on His Father’s time table and not man’s or his own. When interruptions come into our lives, do we receive them as coming from His hand or do we buck them?  I like to plan my day of things I want to accomplish even before I get up. I did that last Saturday and my plans were changed by 7 am. as I got a long distance call that lasted 2 hours. Then I had another call from a friend asking if she could come over. What I didn’t know was that she was bringing her lovely granddaughter and a delicious 3 layer birthday cake. Then in the afternoon 2 couples came over that we hadn’t planned to see until evening…but instead the afternoon  was just perfect for sitting on the deck and enjoying the sun and breeze while we shared and ate. In the evening another neighbor stopped by with something important for Al and since our company had left he was free to receive. You get the picture, as the Lord perfectly orchestrated the day and had surprises for us all along the way.
What if I had told my friend that I was too busy for her to come over… I would have missed the most delicious cake ever! What things do we miss when we are so caught up on doing what is on our schedules that we miss the wonderful things the Lord has for us. Plans are good but let us hold them loosely so that when He interrupts them, we have openness to receive.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Do you think that how we start our day may actually influence how the rest of our day goes?  I read from Ps. 118 today, verse 24 which is so familiar, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  I thought back to when we were at Kurt’s a few days ago and how Paige and Lily woke up each morning. They would come bounding down the stairs into my arms knowing a big hug was waiting. Then they would know one of grandma’s sweet rolls was on the counter for them and a little prize for that day. Were they excited and “rejoicing”? Yes!  Do we awaken to the day with the awareness that our Father is waiting for us and has good things for us to receive?  Can we hardly wait to see what it might be?   He wants to feed and nourish us with his Word and has surprises for us to open. He always has new things to teach us and new ways of showing us His love.  But often we are lazy or negligent and go right into our day without receiving what He desires to give us. Now if Paige and Lily came downstairs and didn’t acknowledge me, and spurned the gifts on the counter etc, I would feel badly. I wonder how our Heavenly Father feels when we do that. Let us go into the day with anticipation and newness and with rejoicing!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

 Do we always hear what the Lord is saying to us?  I’m sure I miss what He is saying to me far more times than I will ever know.  One day I was in the garden with a friend and we were picking green beans and lettuce etc. She said I could pull up the weeds by the onions and I thought she was telling me to pull up the green bean plants when I was done picking. ( We have already pulled up the spinach etc)  I went over the next day and picked more beans but wondered if I heard her correctly so I called her to double check. And sure enough she said, No, No, they will produce more and are not done for the season yet. I was so glad I checked again as I did not hear her rightly. Sometimes we are not quiet enough to hear the Lord and we take off doing things He has not asked us to do. Other times we may need to check with someone we respect spiritually to see if we are “off the wall” in something we believe the Lord is saying to us. There have actually been gals that have said the Lord told them to divorce their hubby to marry someone else in the Body that was more spiritual etc. You get the picture….we don’t hear 100% of the time and I believe the Lord looks at the intention of our heart, even when we misread Him and take detours. I know I need to be more attentive and take more time to be quiet so I don’t miss what He has to say to me.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

I am reminded so often how everything goes back to God’s grace. We are more aware of it when we disobey and know how much we need forgiveness and grace. But how many times do we make mistakes and need to forgive ourselves. We wish we could take back something we said or wish we had done something differently. While at Kurt’s he was going to visit Lily at her 11:30 lunch time and bring her McDonalds. But he got a call from the office wondering where he was at 11:15 as Lily’s lunch was really at 11:05. ( not as he had been told)  Big mistake for a little girl waiting for her daddy with nothing to eat.  And today when we left so early in the morning, I forgot the blueberries I had cleaned for my dad and it was too late when I remembered. I told dad my mistake and he forgave me just as Lily forgave her daddy. These are just small things but in the big things we mustn’t hang on to our mistakes and “beat” ourselves but receive His grace. As Paul said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” II Cor. 12:9-10. May we constantly know how much we need His grace and be quick to receive.

Devotions from Judy’s heart.

All of us can attest to the difficulty of waiting. When we were little as the grandkids, it seemed like time stood still as we waited for Christmas to come. Or like Kurt as an adult, waits to hear if he has the job in Chicago. Or like a spouse who waits to hear the report of the recent MRI. It is not easy to wait but I believe God does something deep in us as we are in that waiting time. We realize in a new way we are not in control.  In Is. 30:18 it says we are blessed as we wait for the Lord, as He is gracious to us and shows us compassion. For me it becomes a matter of trust for even though we don’t know the outcome, we know He is loving and so worthy of our trust.  Often it is later that we realize that our very hearts have been changed in that time of waiting.   David says in Ps. 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”  Let us be courageous and trust and not fear for all is in His hands.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows”.” James 1:17
God’s gifts to us are good, even when we may not realize they are at the time. When we go to visit the grandkids, I usually have little wrapped prizes so they can open one each morning. The girls were delighted with theirs yesterday morning but when Grant opened his stuffed pirate he was not thrilled. In fact he threw it on the floor. Later in the day he appreciated it more and we used it when we played school.  His room theme is pirates so the prize was to fit in with his room decor.  But at first he never gave it a chance and threw it away. I wonder how many gifts the Lord sends to us that we discard or just plain ignore. We would rather have something else and so we put it aside. Maybe he sends us something that is wrapped up in a way we refuse to open. Inside is a precious gift if we would be willing to look beneath. Sometimes we go through hard circumstances and we just want to get out of them as quick as possible, when He is forming His character in us. Or maybe we wish for the gift our neighbor has and believe we are short changed. The apostle Paul learned the secret of contentment (Phil 4;11) and may we receive what the Lord sends, giving  thanks in all things.