Category: Sister Judy (Page 31 of 267)

 We may all feel we are generous people for we give away some of tour surplus to the poor because they need it but as I was reading it is also important for our own hearts. Ronald Rolheiser says we cannot be healthy unless we give freely, for if we hoard wealth, we are the ones that get corrupted. He writes that any gift we don’t share turns sour and often we get bitter. God’s blessings are meant ot flow through us to others and not stop with us. We are also going to judged one day on what we do for the poor. Jesus will ask us if we fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty and clothed the naked. (Matt. 25:41-46) Generosity should be a trademark of each Christian whether it be physical gifts or generosity of our time etc. There are so many Christian organizations that we can give to also, that will dig wells, daily feed the hungry, help and supply needed items after hurricanes etc.
We are meant to enter into the struggles of the poor if we want to be spiritually healthy. The Lord also gives special consideration for the vulnerable like the widows and orphans and strangers. Rolheiser says that how we treat the poor is how we treat God. If we have great wealth, it is not bad in itself, but the question is how we use it and how it affects our hearts. When we give away our hearts are open, but if we are stingy, we will find our hearts closed. Let us remember that all that we have is really a trust from God. Can He trust us with His riches?

Dutch writes we must learn the power of prayer and take back what Satan has seized of our nation and world. We need to expose our enemy and have our eyes opened and realize the power of our prayers. If you remember the Columbine High tragedy, the deaths of those martyrs resulted in youth picking up the torch and many responding with total commitment to the Lord. They had Torch Grab rallies and many accepted the call to reach their generation for Christ.

A friend wrote that her church had a conference on a Friday night and Saturday where there were about 100 young people in the ages of 20’s – 40’s who were present worshiping, listening and taking notes. There were topics presented about being in the presence of the Lord, spiritual attacks, attending to the needs of others, being Spirit led, consistency in time spent with the Lord through prayer, and Bible reading, worship etc. They want to make a difference in our world and it made me think of the song, “All to Jesus, I surrender, all to Him I freely give: I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.” The chorus goes, “I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”  It goes on to ask to be filled with love and power and it is a need we all have if we are going to stand in His power against the enemy!

Challenge for today: Ask for Holy Spirit power to stand for the Lord and not to give in to Satan’s tactics.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

There are communities that minister to the poor with physical and mental disabilities and try to give them a family-like environment to give them a sense of their worth. If we are humble enough and receive them, we will discover hidden beauty in their weakness and be led closer to the Lord. Even though in the world’s eyes, they are so often rejected, they can be a source of hope and life to us, for they open our hearts to God’s love and compassion. Jesus invited all to follow Him and we all have a choice to make if we will choose Him and say no to the world.

Everyone wants to feel valued and loved and when we follow Jesus, we must accept others and know that they all have value. He loves those who are poor and have mental disabilities etc. as much as He loves us. We can grow together if each is free to be ourselves and know we have worth. We say we love Jesus but are our hearts humble and open to love others whom He loves but our society sees as worth very little? Perhaps we may discover our own inner pain and that we are the ones that are poor and needy also. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3) Let us open our hearts to receive others and love them as we love ourselves.

Mark Roberts writes on Crosswalk.com about the furnace of adversity. It doesn’t sound like something we would jump up and down and say, “Bring it on!“ Many of us avoid whatever is painful and want to get out of suffering as quickly as possible. But when life is painless and rather easy, we can get focused on such trivial things, our looks, our possessions, the latest things and miss what is important. So, God may use fire to refine us and help us get rid of the dross and see what is truly meaningful.

God often uses the avenue of pain in our lives to bring us good and to cause us to be brought closer to Him. If we think back on our own lives, we may have wondered at the time where God was when we suffered from covid or cancer etc. But suffering helps us to see what is most important and we discover that the things we were worried about before seems trivial in comparison now. The Lord doesn’t have us go through the furnace to destroy us but rather to refine us and purify us and help us become more like Him. We also experience God in deeper ways and I believe it also helps us to relate with empathy to others who are suffering. When I have pain, I am reminded to pray often during the day for a friend who lives in pain every day and to lift her before the Lord.

Let us patiently accept our times in the furnace and reap the blessings God has for us.

One thing I admire of David, is how honest and forth right he is with God. He tells his exact predicament and that he feels trampled and oppressed by his enemies. He knows they are waiting to get him, but he goes on to say that at such times he puts his confidence in God. In Psalm 56 verses 2-3 his words, “O Most High, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust I am not afraid; what can flesh do to me?” David turns his thoughts to the One who understands and can help him. He shares what is on his heart and how the enemy is twisting his words and finding ways to trip him up and even have his life. But he asks God to intervene and bring them down. He puts his confidence in God and with His help he will rely on Him to cause his enemy to retreat. He knows that God cares and has even kept count of his tears and put them in His bottle. David’s prayer reaches God for he is totally honest with Him and is leaning into Him.

When we are also in situations of fear, let us be like David who recalls how God is with him and puts his full trust in Him and gives praise. We will also find it helpful if we are in a tough spot, to remember how the Lord has been with us in the past and thank Him for His deliverance; but also, we can anticipate and praise Him for how He will do it now.