Category: Sister Judy (Page 23 of 270)

As an ambassador, our aim is not to serve ourselves but to represent the one who is Love. We are meant to be a light to help show the way. In our world today, we see so many people who are lost and lonely and may not even be sure of what they are looking for. We all have that empty place that is within us that only the Lord can fill. Until we receive the Lord, that hollow feeling will persist and we find ourselves searching and incomplete. But then one day an ambassador comes along, could be a friend, a pastor or even a stranger, who shares that we can know the Lord personally and all we have to do confess our sins and open our hearts to receive Him. Once we take that step, we are never the same again, for now we live life together with the Lord who not only loves us but directs our lives and gives us purpose.

We might say for now we live in a foreign land and how can we expect our world to understand if they do not know Him. Let us live as His ambassadors and become like the One we represent. Ambassadors should be peacemakers and respectful, bringing a message of love and peace even in dangerous places. We are not to be self-seeking but serve Him who sent us. May we stand firm and represent the Lord everywhere we go!

I was reading a book by Joyce Meyers, and she writes about how Terah was going with his son Abram and his daughter-in-law Sarah and his grandson lot to the land of Canaan. But it says in Gen. 11:31 that when they got to Haran, they settled there. I always wondered why they didn’t go all the way. Why did they settle and miss the blessings the Lord had. When Terah died Abram and family finally moved on to Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey but why did they wait so long.

The big BUT is that David had faith and trusted the Lord and asked for His help. He looked to Him as his safe place, his rock and fortress. His strength is in Him and David asks for His guidance and protection. He knows the Lord can keep him from hidden traps of the enemy and He renews his trust in the Lord to keep him safe. He said in verse 14-16 “But I trust in you, O Lord I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.”  His confidence is where it should be, in the Lord.  Just like us when in tight places, we may not know how the Lord will protect us, but we can put our life in His hands and ask for deliverance and trust Him. We can be honest and tell Him the situation as we see it and then give it to Him. We are not to make the mistake of taking it back into our hands but leave it with Him.

Some following words of David in the Message translation that are good for our ears, “What a stack of blessings you have piled up for those who worship you, ready and waiting for all who run to you to escape an unkind world. You hide them safely away from the opposition…Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to Him…Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up. Expect God to get here soon.” ….

I can’t help but note that Peter himself has been radically changed by the Lord from an impulsive man, prideful and confident in himself, is now humble and dependent on the Holy Spirit and concerned for others to live out their days pursuing the Lord. He tells them in Chapter 4 to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what they want and learn to think like Jesus, as they are being weaned from the expectation of getting their own way.

In our day, how do we live carefree before God rather than living for ourselves and doing whatever we feel like doing? What does a life shaped like God look like and how do we practice it in our everyday life?  What first comes to mind is to forgive like Jesus who freely forgives us. We don’t need to keep rehearsing in our minds what someone else did to hurt us but to let it go and forgive without giving thought of how to get even. When we trust God to handle the situation and pray for those who have wounded us, we are living carefree in His grace. Another way may be to have a heart of gratitude. We take time to recognize how much the Lord has blessed us instead of thinking what we don’t have or wish we had. We can show our gratitude with praise as we express thankfulness all throughout our day. That entails looking for good things throughout our day and thank those also who the Lord may be using to bless us. We also will live life carefree when we live in awe of His presence and recognize His mighty power as we fully trust Him. Let us enjoy the Lord each day and live carefree knowing He loves us, listens to us and is waiting to help us draw closer to Him.

Thank you for your prayers for Susan as I was able to talk to her yesterday. Her nurse dialed the phone for her and so we were able to talk a long while. She is thankful for your prayers and sounded happy and just great. She voiced that she had the best nurse ever, care was wonderful, food good etc. I still don’t have the name of the hospital or her room number, but she will let me know by the next call. Right after her call friends knocked on our door with a bag of groceries of just the things we were running out of. Infact, I had finished the broth Ann made for me in the morning and then we got delicious soup, salad, fruit etc. If that wasn’t enough our son called after that, so it was raining blessings all afternoon. 

There are many sayings in our culture that are not based on the Word of truth like “If it feels good, do it!” If you have tried that you know it can get you into a lot of trouble. Or what about “Follow your heart!” Sounds nice but our feelings and desires are not always the best guide for what we should do, and often it can be the opposite. Or how about the one that may be the most misquoted, “Money is the root of all evil.” No, it is not wrong to have wealth but is the love of money that can come before the Lord.

Let us live our lives based on the Word of God, not our feelings or our culture, and be done with partial truth.

We are told to count our days and center our life on our Creator for a life without Him is lonely and unfulfilling. Solomon said in Eccl. 12:1, “Honor and enjoy your Creator while you ‘re still young. Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes.”  We must not waste our lives away for the very decisions we make now will impact our future. We will have to live with the choices we make and some are irreversible. We may have brief times of happiness with momentary pleasures, but it will leave us feeling hopeless and that there has to be more to life than what we are experiencing.

King Solomon goes on to say his final word in verse 13-14, “Fear God. Do what He tells you. And that’s it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil.” Every day we need to be praying and asking the Lord what His will is for our life and to follow in obedience. I just read about a pastor who was telling another pastor how disappointed he was at the message he just heard from a world-renowned speaker. This particular pastor had traveled a great distance and spent money to hear the pastor who had a large following and kept emphasizing the secret, “I pray: I obey. I pray; I obey.” The pastor listening kept thinking there had to be more to the secret of such church growth, but the message remained the same, I pray, I obey.

Isn’t that what the Lord says to all of us. We are to seek Him and follow in obedience to do whatever He tells us. As we obey our life will be lived with purpose and enjoyment of knowing our Father’s pleasure.

Hope we are all open to whatever the Lord has for us today. I rather think for me it is another day to rest and be quiet as no one would desire to be around me yet with my coughing, fever, etc. I haven’t gotten dressed for 3 days and we missed a Valentine dress up party last night.  One friend emailed that there are others that are very sick, but we all stay in our rooms so as not to spread anything.

Jesus may come to us in new ways, and we will miss out if we are not open. Sometimes He brings something new to our attention and we have to decide if we will be in step with the Spirit or if we will march to our own beat. God wants to continually renew us and that means we have to be open to new things that we may not have experienced before. Maybe we have a dream that seems to have deep meaning, or a vision that seems important. Do we welcome such ways and ask the Lord to tell us what they might mean, or do we just brush it all aside? Each time we see the Lord at work we have to decide how we will respond. It’s quite easy if it is familiar but what if is vastly different and we wonder, why are you choosing to work with that group and blessing them? However, the Lord is in charge and can do as He pleases, and we decide if we are going to leave our comfy seats and go join what He is doing.

In the days to come, I believe we are going to need one another, and it isn’t going to matter if they are part of our denomination, our tradition, our view of the end times etc. We are to join in heart to one another and have openness to what the Holy Spirit is doing and encourage one another. When Al was a youth pastor, we experienced revival with the youth of our church, but it was also happening amongst the Catholics and together it was even richer.  The Lord may bring us all into better balance today as we mix together with others not just like us. Al and I have experienced many different traditions and greater richness because of it. Let us be humble and not think we have a monopoly on the truth but welcome the Holy Spirit wherever He is working and join in.