Canaan's Rest

Canaan’s Rest represents a quiet place “set apart” for the purpose of hearing God's voice, growing in intimacy with the Lord, and being renewed in soul and spirit.

Category: Sister Judy (Page 25 of 276)

April 12, 2025

April 12, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a good weekend! Our friends have arrived and will be retreating today. The nearby Arboretum or the Paul Bunyan trail is a good place to walk and have time with the Lord. We will be going out for dinner later and then time together in sharing and prayer. Tomorrow afternoon we will be packing the car as we plan to leave very early Monday for North Carolina to see our son’s family. We are excited! Appreciate prayers for our safety, good health and weather.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
It is a relief to know that our spiritual lives don’t depend on our will power and desire to do everything right, but rather on putting our lives into God’s hands and giving Him control. That is not the way of our culture today that seeks to do what we want, when we want, to the extent we want. That way will leave us drained and feeling empty. God’s way is a way of freedom as we give Him the controls and cooperate with the Spirit to receive that which we are powerless to do, but He will do within us.
I am reading about spiritual disciplines and the definition given for discipline is: “The ability to do the right thing at the right time for the right reason.” If we practice the spiritual disciplines, when the time comes to act it will be a natural response according to the Spirit. We don’t become more like Jesus by trying to become godly, but as His love, joy and peace fill us so we do the right thing without thinking it just comes naturally. Don’t we want that in our lives: to receive His grace that gives us new attitudes and a more loving heart?
Richard Foster, in his book “Life with God” writes of the difference between training and trying harder. Our granddaughter has loved soccer since she was very young and has trained well, eats well and is very disciplined. Therefore, when she is in a game, she excels as a result of training she has put in. She doesn’t wait until she is going to a game to train, but she does the workout beforehand so she is ready when the time comes. We also train by doing spiritual disciplines. It is not our self-effort that earns us a close relationship with God, but rather trusting fully in Him. What is even better is the fact that we train with a supernatural Partner and the results far exceed the work we put in. We do not produce the change, we simply receive it. We take the steps to cooperate with the Spirit, but He does the work within us. Doesn’t that sound much better than having it depend on us? Let us rely on the Lord and obey as we sense the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Challenge for today: Memorize Phil. 2:13, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

April 11, 2025

April 11, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy weekend! Al and I will be starting the day by going for our annual Doctor visit. Later we have friends coming for retreat and staying until tomorrow evening. We hope for good weather so they can walk the trails and enjoy nature.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I have gotten so much out of reading seminary professor Chuck DeGroat’s book “Healing What’s Within” and loved his vulnerability. After he was fired from his pastoral job, the Lord met him right where he was and healing took place over time. We all need healing and to learn how to flourish in who God made us to be. As we look around, we see people who are depressed, lonely and anxious as they try to live life without the healing presence of the Lord.
Chuck asks the question, “What do you long for?” We all have an inner hunger to belong and be loved and seen, so how do we try to meet that need? Some seem unaware that we are all born with a desire for God, and we will all be restless until we find our rest in Him. Nothing else will fill that void, no matter how much money we have, no matter how much power we have, for without Him we will feel empty. In Matt. 5:6 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst.” May we satisfy that hunger and thirst in knowing the Lord and experiencing His love and compassion. His love for us never quits and He waits for us patiently.
Our healing also involves being vulnerable and known. Jesus was vulnerable to the point of death, so he understands all that we go through.  He was wounded so that we may be healed of our wounds and know His love. Once we really know this in our hearts, we can live freely. We are many times like the prodigal who goes off on his own, doubting his father will want to receive him again. But the Lord watches for us and compassionately greets us as He welcomes us home with hugs and a robe.  No lectures, but just like it says in Isaiah 30:18, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore, He will rise up to show you compassion.”
Challenge for today: Don’t hide your wounds but open yourself up to your Heavenly Father and also to others of His children.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

April 10, 2025

April 10, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a peace-filled day! Al will be going to the men’s group early this morning and awaits donuts when he comes home. I plan to do food prep, some cleaning, bake a dessert and attend Bible study.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
The line between right and wrong in today’s world is blurred, and people are choosing for themselves what they think is truth and what is false. But if it is not based on what is in the Word and leaves God out of the equation, we will have grave results.
I am presently reading the book of Isaiah where God had commissioned Isaiah to be a prophet to speak His message to the people who had wandered off on their own. They were getting drunk, exploiting others, perverting justice, being prideful and conceited, accepting confusing moral standards, etc. Sounds a lot like our present culture. Isaiah was chosen by God to be His mouthpiece to warn the people of what He would do if they didn’t change their ways. He calls them out and says in Isaiah 5:20-21, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent and shrewd in their own sight!” Isaiah told them doom was coming if they refused to listen, and he gives the picture of them dragging a full cartload of sins behind them that they refuse to give up (verse 18). That gets to be a heavy load and will wear people out.
But what a different outcome if the people listened and obeyed! They would be blessed, encouraged, comforted, and given direction and assurance, etc. Let us not make excuses for our sins and go along with the culture, neglecting to call out sin for what it is. Rather let us live our lives based on God’s word and desire to please the Lord.
Challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart and show you if there are areas of compromise in your life that you need to give over to Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

April 9, 2025

April 9, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a wonderful day. Al will be going to preach at Assisted Living today after a month or more off because of lockdown there. Hopefully they are well now. I have Exercise class, Crafts, and later Lenten supper and service. It is quite different from last week’s snow when it was canceled.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Haven’t we all had times of shaking when things rattle and change? I was reading an article by Kim Potter and she describes the shaking going on today, even in and our own lives. We have only to watch the news to see changes taking place in our world, church, and family as things are shaken and exposed. God will shake everything that can be shaken, not to rattle us but to uncover and remove the negative things so we can be fruitful.

Now we probably won’s say it is a pleasant thing to be shaken but it is necessary so we can lay aside those things that weigh us down and keep us encumbered. I love the illustration Potter gives of a man in Florida who has his garden professionally landscaped with gorgeous azalea bushes. They were beautiful, all except one that wouldn’t bloom no matter what the gardener did. But one day a terrible storm hit and shook everything violently and afterwards that azalea bush began blooming like all the rest. The gardener said that there some bushes that just need to be shaken in order to bloom!

Maybe we feel like we are being shaken but it is good to know it is for our own good. It says in Psalm 75:3 that “The earth and all its people may shake, but I am the One who holds it steady.” Or like the Message translation says, “When the earth goes topsy-turvy and nobody knows which end is up, I nail it all down, I put everything in place again.” We can trust that whatever shaking goes on in our lives, God will give us grace to help us let go of the things that need to change and will hold us steady as we learn to trust Him in a deeper way. May He shake and awaken each of us to let go of anything that distracts or encumbers us and hold on to Him

Challenge for today: When shaken, ask the Lord what needs to go and release it to Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

April 8, 2025

April 8, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a wonderful day and live in freedom. The snow is all gone and seems like spring again and the trees are budding outside my window. We are getting excited and making preparations to go to North Carolina for Easter. We leave early Monday morning.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
When I hear the word freedom, my heart resonates as I have been reading more about freedom from our ego for the sake of others. Today most people are obsessed with self and what will make them happy but that is not a life of freedom for it is losing our life for His sake that we find life that is truly free. Jesus said in Mark 8:34-35, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” And what if we gained the world but forfeited our soul, how tragic that would be.

How do we lose our lives for the sake of others and become free from our selfishness to serve them? Our focus must be on Jesus and live in the present moment by faith and not worry or fear. When we know the Lord, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit within us and our part is to respond to His leading in our life. That takes surrender and I have to admit that many times I fail in responding to His lead and go my own way. Afterwards I feel sorrow and ask forgiveness and pray that I will continually die to self and respond to the Spirit’s leading.

As we live more and more in the Spirit, there will be evidence of fruit of unselfishness in our lives like love and joy and peace and patience and gentleness. We don’t have to get our own way but instead put everything in God’s hands. I often pray when I tell the Lord I would like something specific to happen but then follow with, “But Lord if that isn’t your will that is fine too.”  I find that if it is postponed, I later experience even more joy. Let us get free of the obstacles of our own ego and go God’s way in God’s timing and experience true freedom.

Challenge for today: When you lack peace and freedom, ask the Lord to show you if you are pushing your will and not letting the Holy Spirit lead you.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

April 7, 2025

April 7, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend. I want to give you an update on Jack, who you prayed for recently. He is out of ICU and in rehab at the very place his wife has happened to be for a while. We got a picture of them both in wheelchairs as they hugged and kissed each other after God’s miracle of healing on Jack’s life. What a reunion for them!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Most of us don’t choose struggles in life, but they happen to us and we must deal with them. The fourth and fifth-century desert fathers had a different outlook on struggles, seeing them as healthy and necessary to drive us to the Lord. Al and I recently struggled with minor health issues and I had not thought to thank the Lord for them, but thought more to pray that they may soon disappear. Instead, I should have been praying that the Lord would teach me through them, develop my character and lead me into greater intimacy.
Our goal in life should not be to live a comfortable life and to be successful in the eyes of the world, but rather to draw closer to the Lord and develop mature character that we can have an influence on others to know Him. Struggles that fight against our flesh are good for our souls as they help us realize how much we need the Lord. One who exemplified this was St. Antony of Egypt, who grew up in a rich home and who after his parents died managed the responsibilities of the home and his younger sister. But while going to church one day, he wondered what it would be like for him to forsake everything to follow the Lord. The sermon text at church was from Matt 19:21, about if you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor. That is exactly what he did and then entrusted the care of his sister to friends. He withdrew and lived in an abandoned fortress for 20 years in isolation where he did battle with the enemy and came through the testing with humility, peace and great love for the Lord. Others sought him, and eventually he left his desired solitude and spent the last part of his life healing the sick, mentoring disciples, and serving those who had suffered for their faith. He especially encouraged others to prefer nothing in the world above the love of Christ.
When Constantine assumed the throne, he issued the Edict of Milan (A.D. 313) giving Christianity legal status in the Roman empire. Church attendance grew, but it wasn’t long before Christianity became almost fashionable. What resulted was a worldly church; not persecution but privilege. The enemy they fought was now within. It sounds like the church today. We all have to face the darkness of our own souls. Let us not seek a life of comfort, but rather victory over our struggles that draw us closer to the Lord.
Challenge for today: Thank the Lord for the very struggles that help you realize how much you need Him.

May 5, 2025

April 5, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a blessed weekend. Today I plan to clean the apartment and then Al and I are going to go to the celebration of life for a special person in our lives from here at Northern Living. She is someone we will never forget and I hope you will get a picture of what she was like as you read the devotion today.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Haven’t we all met people that are unforgettable and have an impact on our life in a deep way? I think many of us at Northern Lakes will never forget Ivy, a small bent over woman who buzzed around in a motorized wheelchair and came to Bible Study each Thursday. We reserved a place for her next to Al so she could hear better and so others could hear her. What she had to say seemed to be just what we needed to hear and often it was a scripture that fit whatever we were discussing.

Al and I met Ivy when she first came to Northern Lakes several years ago. She had many questions and had a difficult time making decisions. She lived in the handicapped apartment and we often took her to church with us. Her son and wife invited her to live with them for a time but it wasn’t long until she came back to her same apartment and we had all missed her.

Ivy shared with our Bible study group about her early years growing up in a dysfunctional family that had left her wavering with many questions. She wanted to believe in her Heavenly Father and His love for her, but it wasn’t connecting to her heart. One day while driving she was calling out to the Lord and saying she wanted to believe and please help her. Suddenly she was overcome with a sense of God’s presence and that He loved her. It left her changed.  After that Ivy seemed to just glow and there was a holy boldness about her. Al and I noticed a great difference in her and from then on, we spent time with her rejoicing, for she had found the Pearl of Great Price.

Ivy’s life was not easy as she lived in pain all the time. She had a hard time breathing as she was very bent over as her spine was collapsing and breathing became more difficult. But she never wanted to miss Bible Study where the Lord used her words to speak to all of us. Even when hard things were shared by others, she had a positive word of how the Lord was sovereign and would handle it. She certainly knew that from experience.

Ivy went home to the Lord and as I write this there is such joy in my heart that she is now with the Lord. No more pain but only delight to see Him face to face. Her only sorrow was loved ones who have not yet received the Lord. We will carry that burden and pray. No, none of us will forget Ivy, for she challenged us spiritually with her strong faith and words spoken in love.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to give you holy boldness to share Him with others and live your life for His glory.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

April 4, 2025

April 4, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! The snow has been beautiful out our window but hope it will be disappearing soon so spring will come! Today I am going to spend time in the closet as I got some free containers that stack and want to use them for a less cluttered look.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Jesus’ way is so opposite of the world’s and as His followers our responses to others should show who we belong to. Our natural way is often opposite of what Jesus would do. I was reading in Luke 6 and Jesus is telling the crowd to do for other people everything we want them to do for us. He specifically mentions those who do not treat us well that we would respond His way. “Love your enemies. Be kind to those who hate you. Pray for those who insult you…Love your enemies, help them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back…Stop judging and you will never be judged. Stop condemning, and you will never be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven…Give and you will receive.”

These are all beautiful words but how hard they are to put into practice. We need to be filled with God’s love, need to die to self and not feed our egos, need to look at our own hearts rather than pointing out what we see in the hearts of others. God’s way is one of humility and when our hearts are right before the Lord, even the hard things can bring blessings and bear fruit. I also read from Proverbs 15 and wise King Solomon really opens our eyes to what happens when we go Jesus’ way. Instead of a sharp answer to others, “A gentle response defuses anger.”  Instead of cutting words, “Kind words heal and help.”

Our hearts are also amazingly changed as we go His way and Solomon says “The lives of God-loyal people flourish,” and “a cheerful heart fills the day with song,” also “an obedient, God-willed life is spacious.” He goes on to say we first learn humility, then we experience glory.

Challenge for today: The next time someone is angry calmly respond and use gentle words and watch God work.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

April 3, 2025

April 3, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
We have lots and lots of snow! EmojiSo glad our pastor postponed the service last night as it just kept snowing. Today is donut day and I am going to try a new recipe for chicken thighs. This afternoon is Bible Study and tonight is Soup supper and Lenten service.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
No matter what is going on in our lives, we can rest securely, for God is with us. Over and over again in the Word, He reminds us that we do not have to fear but trust Him in every circumstance we may go through. Isaiah 41:9-10 is one of my favorite scriptures that comes to mind when I am afraid and experiencing something difficult. ”Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah said this to the Israelites when they were experiencing the threat of the Babylonians. The Message Translation says, “Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.” He said they could always count on God’s help and He would not let go of them.

When we respond to the Lord, even that is a work of God that draws us to Him. From the very beginning, God gives us freedom to choose if we will follow Him; He doesn’t force us to believe and obey Him. Adam and Eve began right but chose to disobey God and felt fear and shame, just as we do when we sin. But the Lord seeks to draw us back. We have to decide if we will choose Him or our own way. It’s comforting that the Bible records all the many people who sinned and turned from the Lord, but then later came back and were restored. When we choose the Lord, we are set free from self-effort and earning for we can never measure up. Instead, we simply receive from the Lord even though we may sometimes have to pray, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief.”

Let us not shut ourselves off from the Lord and go our own way but choose to trust the Lord each day. Gradually we will become more like Him and our fears will give way to knowing He is with us and will uphold us with His victorious right hand.
Challenge for today: Ask for grace to trust the Lord in all things and know He is always with you.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
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