Category: Sister Judy (Page 49 of 267)

The Lord will not only give us peace in our struggles but also comfort and deep joy. Sounds unbelievable but many of you have maybe experienced it, and it is hard to explain to others. The Message translation says that he cares for the needs of all who mourn and gives them bouquets of roses instead of ashes and messages of joy instead of news of doom, and a praising heart instead of languid spirit. The Lord is right there with us through it all and we can experience His peace and even a deep joy. Debbie writes a prayer that you may want to pray for yourself or send to a loved one who is going through a dark time.

Dear God,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  In this season of Lent we’re reminded of our own difficulties and struggles. Sometimes the way has seemed too dark. Sometimes we feel like our lives have been marked by such grief and pain, we don’t see how our circumstances can ever change. But in the midst of our weakness, we ask that you would be strong on our behalf. Lord, rise up within us, let your Spirit shine out of every broken place we’ve walked through. Allow your power to be manifest through our own weakness, so that others will recognize it is You who is at work on our behalf. We ask that you would trade the ashes of our lives for the beauty of your Presence. Trade our mourning and grief for the oil of joy and gladness from your Spirit. Trade our despair for hope and praise. We choose to give you thanks today and believe that this season of darkness will fade away. Thank you that you are with us in whatever we face, and that you are greater than this trial. We know and recognize that you are Sovereign, we thank you for the victory that is ours because of Christ Jesus, and we are confident that you have good still in store for our future. We thank you that you are at work right now, trading our ashes for greater beauty. We praise you, for you make all things new.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

On Sunday a choir of men, my husband included, sang before the congregation a song that deeply touched me, called “Knowing You”.by Graham Kendrick, a Christian song writer in the UK. He wrote that everything that he used to count as gain in the eyes of the world he now counts it as loss and writes:

Hope your day is full of sunshine and peace. I have Women’s Bible study this morning and we have friends coming this afternoon. Al has already sampled the dessert! 

We are partakers of His divine nature, and we are given work to do that God has assigned to us. Jesus did the work that God had given Him, which included carpentry work, teaching, healing, praying, preaching etc. His work was divine since He was carrying out an assignment given by His father. If we are doing what God calls us to do, it brings glory to Him. But if we use our work for self- serving ways, we miss what God has intended, and waste our lives. One day we will also have to give account. When we do things His way, we will have compassion for others, joy in our serving, and a wonderful sense that He is with us as we carry out the work He has give to us.

Our lives are not divided into God’s work and our work, for it should be one if we are in His will. Only we can answer for ourselves if we are doing what He has called us to do. We can help others know what they are good at as we see their giftings also, but they have to answer to the Lord, and sometimes it surprises us where He places them.
Let us desire His will and purpose for our lives above our own and serve Him with all our hearts. As it says in Heb. 12:21 may He equip us with everything good that we may do His will.

Challenge for today: Spend some time thanking the Lord for His plan for your life.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

I marvel at how the same verse of scripture may speak differently at various times in our lives. God may use a verse that prompts us to make a decision and later in life that same verse may direct us in another way. That’s because His Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. The Message translation says in Heb. 4:12-13, “God means what He says.  What He says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey Nothings and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.”

That being said, when we read the Bible, we need to have our ears open to what God is saying to us and respond in obedience. It is good not to try to read and digest large portions of scripture at a time but read it slowly, asking the Holy Spirit to make real what He is saying to us. I remember the time before Al and I were married, he was working one summer at his dad’s store and I was in nurses training. Both of us wrote to each other daily and Al’s mom would put my letter by Al’s place at the table when he came in from the store for lunch. That was his dessert each day!  I would read Al’s letter’s over and over again and then slowly as I wanted to absorb all the love contained in them. It wasn’t a duty to read them but it was a delight and warmth to my soul.

We are not simply to read the Word but to meditate on it and savor it and let it penetrate our souls. It is powerful and it brings us into His presence and thereby produces changes in our lives.

Challenge for today: Take a small portion of scripture and meditate on it, letting it touch your soul and bring change where needed.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

Jeremiah now saw things in a new way from this experience, how God (the potter) is making people in His image and for His glory. Every one of us has a unique part to play in what God is doing and it is like no one else. Now we have all blown it badly at times, and the potter has to use the same clay and start over. He doesn’t give up (PTL!) or throw us away but begins to make another pot with the same clay.

In Jeremiah’s instance God was saying that as the potter works the clay, He tries to get the children of Israel to change from their wickedness. He doesn’t give up if they will repent and willingly let Him shape them. God used Jeremiah to confront the people and he preached to them. It was not an easy assignment for Jeremiah was living what he preached and they didn’t want to hear. Just as God shaped Jeremiah before being born, God wanted to work on the people and shape them for His purpose.

God forms us for His purpose and uses our lives as a message to others also. He is shaping us by His own hands to create an original and a message. Yes, it is painful when He has to shape us again but the result is we become a useful vessel and thing of beauty.

We may think what we believe is nobody’s business except our own, but what we believe shapes how we act and treat others in our world. The atheist will make decisions based on what is best for him and his desires but not what is good for others. Our beliefs really shape our behavior. When we think we know so much more than God, we end up using others as objects to meet our needs. If we all did that our society would become depersonalized.

That poor become a problem for the atheist, like Peterson says, “The poor are a standing indictment against the grandiose foolishness of self-righteousness.” They are no use to him and God confronts and requires something of us in the poor. God has so much compassion for them and reminds us, “Blessed are he poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Luke 6:20. The poor are not in control and are able to respond more easily to the gifts of God’s sovereign grace.
Perhaps all of us need to be weaned from ourselves and recognize we are poor and everything we have comes from Him. Self must get off the thrown and let God be Lord over all things in our lives. Let us be not foolish and think we know it all but be wise and put God at the center of our lives. It sems to always go back to the verse, “He must increase and I must decrease!”

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to show you any area where you have taken over and ask for the Him to be the center.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy