Category: Sister Judy (Page 38 of 267)

I like the real thing and not a fake! In our world there are many fakes and sometimes it takes very close examination to discover if something is real, like a diamond or an expensive name brand of shoes or a purse etc. The fake can look real so we must take time and thought to see if it truly is. Sometimes we hear preaching of things that sound good but do they line up with scripture. We need to closely examine what we are taught so we don’t go down wrong roads and find ourselves captive to the enemy. I especially like real people of integrity who say what they mean and mean what they say. I am very thankful for friends who are willing to speak truth and be real with me. I also want to be honest and open and one they can trust. The apostle Paul tells us to be careful how we live and speak truth to our neighbor. He wrote in Ephesians 4:25, (message translation), “Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.”

Today we often don’t know who to believe and we need to ask for discernment. Let us be careful what we embrace as truth and be people of integrity ourselves!

Challenge for today: Take off any masks you have and be authentic and real and one who others can trust.

How about us, what do we do when we need an encouraging word or seem overwhelmed by what is happening in our lives. Do we tell the Lord how we feel and then go on to praise Him and maybe ask for a sign of his goodness and how He sees our situation. God sends help in many ways and through many instruments. I had such an encounter the other day on the Paul Bunyan trail. We bumped into a professor that we had casually talked to previously and he stopped and shared that he had been reading my daily devotions. His words to me were confirming and encouraging and I felt like the Lord had sent him and I savored his words.

Maybe we feel overwhelmed today or there are questions we have and situations we don’t know how to respond to; let us bring everything to the Lord. We can tell Him how we feel, and then take the next step as David and begin praising Him. We may be sure He will hear and answer our prayers and will tell us the way to go.

Challenge for today: When feeling bowed down or questioning of what is happening in your life, go first to the Lord and let Him put you back on your feet.

When I read from Eph. 3, Paul was writing from prison and he tells the Ephesians that his life work is to help people to understand and respond to the message that all are welcome into God’s family, both Jew and Gentile. He tells them, “When we trust in Him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!” (Eph.3:10)

I also read from Genesis how Noah and his family were saved from the flood because they trusted God and did all that He commanded. And in Nehemiah, when threatened by the enemy to quit building the wall, they did not quit, but prayed and trusted God and set a watch against their enemy day and night.

We say we believe in the Lord, but do we really trust Him if we are filled with anxiety and worry? If we spend time dwelling on the “what-ifs” will happen, we are not resting in Him. Joyce Meyer shares from Heb. 4:3, “For we who have believe (adhered to and trusted in and relied on God) do enter that rest…” She gives ways of how to get our mind off of mauling over our problems and instead to choose to think of other things. Maybe we can simply do something like go for a walk, try a new recipe, or read a book. We get our focus on things other than our problem and trust God to work in our situation. Let us pray and give God our circumstance and wait in Trust.

Challenge for today: Don’t feed worry but trustingly give your situation to the Lord in prayer and rest in Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

A friend from my nursing school days emailed me recently about how she was taken by surprise as she appeared in the guest pastor’s message at the small country church she attends. He had been a classmate of hers many years ago and his sermon was about living out our faith. She was a studious student and rarely talked to him but had a class or two together; but evidently, he was observing her life. The pastor lost his father at age 14 and became a very angry young man. He and his family were regular “church goers” but he hadn’t had a personal relationship with Jesus. He had seen his dad became a “changed person” at some point, and he would often ask his dad questions about God and the Bible. The Pastor said that in high school he would watch four classmates—one being my friend and her best friend and another gal and guy. He saw Jesus in them. When one of them went to summer camp at Asbury College between her junior and senior years of high school she became truly born again and witnessed to this young man. He however went off to a state school for his freshman year of college. Then he thought he had to go to Asbury to get what he saw this gal had. So, he transferred to Asbury his second year and thought all the students were crazy because they were so happy. At some point he surrendered his life to the Lord during a revival. He became a pastor and has had a lifetime of serving God in that capacity.

The point of this pastor’s sermon was how important it is live our lives so that people see Jesus in us. My friend had no idea in high school that she was being watched and having a positive influence in a classmate’s life! She was humbled and honored and gave glory to the Lord. We may not have any idea who may be watching us, but it is important that we live like a Jesus follower. A verse I learned as a young girl from Matt. 5:16 says it well, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

  “Lord God,
     We pray for the Church during this time. Lord, the Church is not just a building to be visited on Sundays, it is the Body of Believers You came to this earth to save. We pray for the Church to come together and work together in unison to be a vessel of Your Light in this dark World. May we be driven to come before You humbly for direction, guidance, and wisdom in how to navigate these times, but also how we may be the difference during this time. May we be used to encourage, uplift, and bless those around us and may we ever be pointing others to You. As You said, “As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”  May the difference in who we are be You, Lord. Please pour out Your Spirit among Your children and lead us in how to be in the world, but not of it.

In Jesus Name, Amen.”

 Let us also pray for our nation and its leaders.
 “Lord God,
     Our leaders in this nation need our prayers. Whether we voted for them or not, and whether we agree with them on every issue or not, they are still Your creation and they have been given a seat in leadership for a reason. Father, we pray for their souls individually. May they be transformed by the working of the Holy Spirit and Lord may they use their positions for Your glory. We pray for wisdom for each of them as they navigate from day to day, we pray for discernment of what is right and what is wrong, and Lord we pray that their hearts would come to know You so intimately that they are like David, men and women after Your own heart. Lord, we pray for them in this age, and we pray for the leaders to come. We know no matter who sits in Oval Offices, Congress, or Governor’s Chairs, ultimately You Lord are Sovereign, and Father we pray those in such seats will seek Your face today and in the days to come.

          In Jesus Name, Amen.”

  Even before the retreat I felt the Lord speaking to me of not settling for less than what He has for me. I had just read from Genesis 11 of Abraham’s father, Terah, who was told to pack up and go to the land of Canaan. But when he got only as far as Haran he settled there until he died. I have always thought, why didn’t he continue going? He missed out on the Promised Land! In my own life it was a word to me not to miss what the Lord has for me but to keep going into all that He has planned for me, the land of milk and honey! Not only for this retreat but for my life and to finish strong!!

  To enter that land also means keeping in step with the Spirit and to continually die to my own flesh.  More of Him and less of me! That is a daily struggle, but it is my desire and prayer. As I meditated on Galatians 5 we were to choose a fruit of the spirit that we wanted the Lord’s input on, and mine was kindness. I want to serve others and stop what I am doing to meet their needs but not always sure what the Lord is asking of me, and whether there is actually time for it. But the Lord reminded me there is always enough time to do what He calls me to do, and I need to listen carefully and stay in step with the Spirit! God initiates and I am just to respond.

  As I meditated on Psalm 16 and it being just after the assassination attempt, I took hold of verse 8, “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I will not be shaken.” Again, knowing that my life is in God’s hands and no matter what happens in this world, “my flesh dwells secure.” (verse 9)

We can always be honest with the Lord in our prayers for He can read our hearts and knows us better than we know ourselves. We don’t need to pretend but can be our true selves with Him, even when we seem out of sorts. He listens to us and if we are honest with Him, He can change us out of our own selfish worlds into His spacious world of love.  It can change how we think and live and help us to participate in what He has for our lives. Even when we are at the office or busy with the demands of our children, we can be communicating with the Lord.

It’s especially important to be prayerful as we read the Bible. We are to see ourselves in the stories and not just judge others who blow it, but rather asking if we are like that one that is prideful? Judgmental? Vindictive etc.? It’s important that we live what we read in the Word. If we prayerfully read the Bible and ask Him to form our life according to His Word, our lives will be lived from our true self. We can relax and live according to His promptings without trying to take over in our own strength. May we desire to live such a life and be like Mary who said, “Let it be according to your Word.

Challenge for today: Read the Bible prayerfully, listen and remember you are being spoken to and follow with obedience.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy