Category: Sister Judy (Page 45 of 270)

Dear Ones

Happy weekend to you. We are packing up to go home after the beautiful wedding of our granddaughter yesterday. All went well and Kurt gave them, and all of us, good and motivating words to begin their marriage. What a joy it was to be present! Before we leave, we are meeting for breakfast with a precious couple who are celebrating their first anniversary and then will be heading home. Prayers appreciated.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

I read on Facebook a catchy article called DON’T GET MARRIED IF, and it went on to say many things that hinder someone from being a good marriage partner. Well, we have just been to the beautiful wedding of our granddaughter Paige and her now husband Devin and it was a joyous occasion for they were both ready. They know one another well, even their ups and downs, for they have gone together for 6 years and are choosing marriage to share their lives until death parts them.

   So, I will put a positive spin on what I read and share about when someone is mature and ready for marriage. After all it wouldn’t be fun to be married to someone who wants to always be the center of attention and immature and can’t seem to delay gratification. Wouldn’t we all rather marry someone who is selfless and has their heart open to us?  With Paige and Devin, we see such openness and togetherness and have never heard them speak negatively about each other for they see the best.

With maturity both partners need to be united and strong enough to stand against others who may try to meddle in their relationship. Each couple needs to have boundaries and to solve problems between them without interference from others unless asked. You don’t want to be married to someone who needs to ask mom what to do each time you have a disagreement. Both partners need to be financially wise and to pay the bills and not spend when the money is not there. Paige and Devin established a budget even before they were married and want to stay within it.

In marriage both partners need to put each other first before their friends, especially of the opposite sex, so they can truly be each other’s best friend. That means times to laugh lots together, play together, do fun things, listen to one another and enjoy life together.

There are things to avoid also and one of them is to not compare your marriage with the Jones and want to try to keep up with them. You don’t need a yacht when a fishing boat would do. Enjoy the journey the Lord has for you and be content. Also, don’t hold back vital things from your past but be an open book, for the past always seem to catch up one day. Knowing the details of each other’s lives will help to deal with the present situations that may come up. Also don’t expect every day to be breathlessly passionate but find thrill in the everyday normal stuff like loving hugs, shared chores, knowing looks, dreaming together, and just living together.

Marriage is for the mature, for those who choose to give up childish ways and are ready to love and cherish a partner for life. I would add that having the Lord as the 3^rd person in your relationship is vital and praying together does wonders for holding a couple together in love. It’s not all about me, me, me, but it’s about the Lord and our partner, and then ourselves. In 3 days Al and I will be celebrating our 59^th anniversary and it’s all because of God’s mercy and grace!

Challenge for today: Make the Lord the center of each of your relationships.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

There was such a one, Mephibosheth, and he was crippled from a fall when his nurse was quickly escaping with him after a battle and tripped, leaving him with 2 broken ankles. He lived an obscure life in Lo-debar among exiles and his royal identity was hidden. But he was found, now as an adult and taken to King David. He must have been afraid of the worst, because when most kings were captured or killed, family members and those close to them were also done away with. But Mephibosheth did not know of David’s covenant with his father. David calmed his fears, called him by name, and showed him love. He also gave him all the property that his grandfather Saul had and gave him a servant, Zeba, to manage it. Every day he sat at King David’s table and became family.                                                                                                                                                   At one point, David had to flee because of his son Absalom’s rebellion and after his son’s death, David returns. Ziba tells David that Mephibosheth stayed behind as he hoped to be king, so David gives him Mephibosheth’s land. But later Mephibosheth tells David that he was ready to go with him but Ziba left him behind stranded without transportation. He was in mourning the whole time and had ragged clothes and didn’t cut his beard. We never find out who was telling the truth, although I tend to think Mephibosheth was, but David doesn’t make anything out of it. He just shows love and accepts both of them back and treats them with love.                                              Would we be that forgiving, or would we be sure of who was right, and would there be consequences? But David loved no matter what! “Love covers all offenses.” (Proverbs 10:12)

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

I love when I read a particular verse of scripture, and it speaks right into the situation I happen to be in or gives comfort or clarity. But not everything is easy and comfortable for there are also many hard words that can jar us. Just like with our own children, we have those fun times and conversations but sometimes when there is disobedience or disrespect, we have to give a hard word and even a consequence. That is not as much to their liking but necessary. Sometimes the Bible asks questions of us, like when Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say I am?” He also asks us the question who is He to us? Is he really the One who is in charge, the Lord who is over all, or only when we ask Him to be in certain situations we can’t handle on our own? We can’t force His Word to fit what we want it and try to fit into what we are presently experiencing. We need to read it with a willingness to do what it says, as the Holy Spirit directs, not just what seems pleasing to us. If we don’t plan to obey, why are we reading to find out what He wants us to do?

The Lord calls each of us to open our ears and listen and hear as He speaks. He said to the crowd of people, “He who has ears, let him hear.” And later to his disciples He said, “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear (Matt. 13:9 and 16) Let us open our hearts and hear what He has to say to us. Success in life is doing what He calls us to do, whatever that is each day.  That becomes living what we read and brings glory to the Lord.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

But after rehearsing all the bad things that plaque him. Jeremiah responds with words of hope. He says in verses 21-26, “The reason I can still find hope is that I keep this one thing in mind: the Lord’s mercy. We were not completely wiped out. His compassion is never limited. It is new every morning. His faithfulness is great. My soul can say, ‘The Lord is my lot in life; That is why I find hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to anyone who seeks help from Him. It is good to continue to hope and wait silently for the Lord to save us.”  Jeremiah is realizing that God’s love and mercy never runs out and He is totally faithful and can depend on Him every day, and so can we.

Sometimes in His mercy, God sends us a friend in the midst of our seemingly hopeless situation, that just listens to us with compassion. They hear us and try to understand and reflectively listen without interruption. Somehow as we share our hearts and are heard, the answer may come to us from the Lord. Or knowing that they understand our pain and will pray for us, lifts us from the slimy pit to a place of hope. Whether we are the person in despair or the one listening and giving encouragement, we all can hope in the Lord who is faithful and merciful. In the Message translation Jeremiah says in verses 28-29, “When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear.” No situation is hopeless when our hope is in Him!

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a restful night and that you will experience the kind of rest you need. Today I have Women’s Bible study and will do some cooking, studying and packing.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We all know rest is important and yet we are often exhausted and have failed to stop and get the rest we need. Since I am an early bird and up at 4, I have to work at going to bed earlier than others. Recently while reading Just Between Us magazine, I came across an article that Catriona Futter wrote about the 7 kinds of rest that medical Doctor, Saundra Dalton-Smith identifies in her book, Sacred Rest. I had never thought of the various kinds of rest because physical rest pops up in my mind immediately, for we know our bodies need to rest to be restored. But if we’ve been in stressful situations, there are times we can get 7 or 8 hours of sleep and yet still feel tired so we might want to also include things like breathing and stretching exercises, along with rest in other areas.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             I will briefly share what other kinds of rest we may need, the next one being mental rest. Perhaps it is even more necessary than it was for our parents years ago. We are mentally overloaded today with demanding work, long lists of things to do, and many hours in front of the computer etc.; we need to take breaks, time for silence briefly and pray short breath prayers.

Thirdly, we need sensory rest and that means turning off the electronics and music and background noise and having a time of silence. We might want to just listen to the birds or go for a walk. I like to look out on our courtyard and the tree right outside my window.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Fourthly, is creative rest and that means getting away from our bland environment or cluttered space and be inspired by something beautiful like music, or art or scented candles. Beauty can inspire our creative juices and awakens our creativity and turn us to our Creator.

Fifthly is spiritual rest as we focus on the Lord who gives us purpose and meaning and belonging. We may just sit quietly in His presence and be still and not read or say anything but just be with Him.

Sixthly we need emotional rest and it is a time we can express our how we really feel, without trying to please others or feeling judged. We give ourselves space to validate our own needs and be vulnerable.

 Seventhly we need social rest from those around us who deplete us and have a negative effect. Instead, we need time to be ourselves and have positive support from those around us who are life-giving and supportive.                                                                                                                May we be wise and plan times of rest that will help restore us when we are weary and heavy laden. (Matt. 1128)

Challenge for today: When you sense your weariness, respond to Jesus’ invitation to come to Him for the kind of rest you need and let Him restore you.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

The Lord wants all of us and that means dealing with the clutter of our hearts.  It’s a deep inner work that involves our attitudes, emotions, beliefs and actions. We have to confront those negative things in our lives and Mark Roberts from Fuller Seminary also shared on Crosswalk.com about it. His timing for my life is perfect as I desire that my thoughts, feelings and actions to be in tune with the Lord and acknowledge my own sinful responses. It takes courage on the part of us all to be truthful and look honestly at our own hearts. It’s more than going through the outward motions of changing our behavior and more of an inner cleansing to see how God sees us. Roberts uses Psalm 51 to help us, like David, to know how to pray and deal with all the clutter within. I want to share His prayer and may we make it our own prayer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             “Gracious God, thank you for the example of Psalm 51. Thank you for David’s courageous look into his own sinful soul. Thank you for how the Psalms teach us to pray with open minds and hearts. Help me, I pray, to have the same confidence and courage that David had. I admit, Lord, there are times I don’t want to confess my sin to you. Sometimes I don’t even want to look inside of myself to acknowledge what’s there. I need your help, Lord. May I discover how doing the inner work of confession is a way to experience the forgiveness and restoration that comes from your grace. Amen.”

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

There is often debate about head and heart. Should we listen more to our head, or will we let our heart guide us? If we are to mature in the Lord, we need both along with our thoughts and feelings, the rational and the emotional. Some of us lean one way and some another, but that is why we are often put with people that are quite different or even opposite of us. It promotes good balance, and we grow in new ways.

Some Pastors preach so much on heaven that they miss the mission of what we are to do on earth. Jesus told his disciples but also to all of us to “Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19-20.) We are to be sharing the Lord with others, but we are also to live with heaven in mind.

Are we to spend hours praying or are we to be out in the community helping the poor and the sick? Both are needed. The Lord would have us functioning as He directs us and learning to love even in new ways. May our hearts be open and receptive and serve Him by giving of our lives.so that at even the end of our lives will bless others.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Happy weekend to you! Today is party day here so we will be going to Costco for the cake and celebrating the May birthdays. Always a fun time and we feel blessed to live in a place where there are many gatherings and daily opportunities to share with others.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Recently we watched home movies and so many took place around our table in different parsonages or at our retreat house with family and various groups of young and old. As I look back, I am thankful for the energy and joy to host the groups. In those days, we had center pieces and used real dishes, cloth table linens and cloth napkins folded in napkin holders etc. It gave the sense that friends and neighbors were special, thought about. and cherished.

  But I recently read an article by Abby Turner Kuykendall who wrote of The Other Side of Hospitality which is a little harder for me.as she writes about receiving hospitality and being served as well. In her words, “True hospitality involves something deeper, something beyond perfectly set tables and meticulously planned gatherings? What if it’s about opening our hearts to the natural ebb and flow of our season, recognizing that there are times for both serving and being served?” She is in the season of being served as she has a new baby and is a fulltime worker and is accepting help from her husband and others.                                                                                 We also need help in our lives at various times and must learn to accept being served as well. Think of examples in Scripture like Jesus who came to serve and even wash feet of his disciples but was also served by Mary and Martha and others. Receiving makes us more vulnerable and opens up space for a deeper and closer connection with others. We have only to go through hip surgery, death of a loved one etc. and it helps us become good receivers for a time with great appreciation of being served.                                                                                                                 Even though it may be more comfortable for us to be in the serving role, we need to be willing to receive. It may not be a meal, but it could be simply someone listening to us and hearing our heart. We will find that we become more deeply connected as we not only give out but receive.  As it says in Prov. 11:25, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

Challenge for today: Embrace the season you are in if that changes, be ready to embrace it.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

“I don’t know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine,
For its skies may turn to gray.
I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

We all go through hard times of sadness and mourning, and it is part of our healing, but let us not get stuck there for we need to let joy come into our lives again. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalms 30:5

Where we live at Northern Lakes, many have lost their loved ones and grief is very real and huge adjustments result. I notice that others who have lost their mates, come along side of them, for they have known that darkness of grief but also have known that the Lord will walk beside them and hold their hand. He will shine His light of healing into their lives and one day joy will return. Whatever we go through now, let us be assured we don’t go through it alone, for the Lord will never leave us, but walk us through it.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you wake to a day of peace. Today I will be going to my exercise class (much needed since I missed walking yesterday and have had rich desserts), craft class, and Bible study.  After our company yesterday our grandson came, and he cleaned up the leftovers. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

When we come to know the Lord, we are traveling together with other believers on a road that leads us closer to the Lord and an eternity with Him and one another. We are going the same direction and have the same destination, so it is important that we get along and help each other along the way. I like to read scripture from more than one translation as it helps me see things, I may not otherwise be aware of. Today I was in Ephesians 4 in the Message translation, and it gives me a big picture of the Body of Christ traveling well together and hints as to how to get along on the journey.

Challenge for today: Travel in oneness on the journey and be humble and forgiving with others along the way.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy