Category: Sister Judy (Page 63 of 268)

We have lived almost 5 years at Northern Lakes and both Al and I have a big closet. Mine has a door on both sides of the closet and only one light bulb in the light fixture. All this time I have contended with not being able to see well to know if the shades of colors go well together or to read papers that I have stored in the closet file etc. So I would take the items out into the light in our bedroom to discern. But one day we asked maintenance man to come as we had several light bulbs going out in our high ceiling fixtures. I asked Greg to also replace the one in my closet and he not only put in two bulbs but had to take the fixture apart to fix it. When I came back to the apartment my closet was full of light and I thought, why didn’t I do something about this before.

How much of our Christian lives are lived more on the shadowy edge rather than in the center of the Light? We know Jesus but we don’t commit everything into His hands. The world subtlety creeps in, and even though we may have a feeling that things are not quite right, we may not do anything about it. When we live in the shadows though it erodes our faith. Perhaps we want to be spiritually mature in record time and don’t want to go through the slower training as His follower. Deep faith life does not just happen in an instant but more like being an apprentice as we learn from the Lord, the Word, and from mature Christians. But maybe we’d rather take a shortcut like taking a fast course or some new study method and skip the slower maturing process. It doesn’t work that way for it’s not all about obtaining information about God, but being in relationship with Him and learning as we walk and talk and work together. We let Him lead for He is the teacher and we are only the apprentice.

We need to keep our eyes on the Lord and learn from Him who is gentle and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29). The only way we can do that is to walk as children of Light, enjoying His presence and learning from Him wherever He leads us and for however long it takes.

“

Happy weekend! It looks to be raining all day so some plans may need to be changed. I like to bake on such days and fill the house with aroma. Tonight, I have a Women’s Night out at church with a speaker and pie and fellowship. 

 In the Body of Christ much damage is done when anger is let loose into rage and leaves the other persons wounded. Words are said that can’t be taken back and they leave a negative feeling in the hearts of all who are recipients of the anger. It is a stealer of unity in the church and we must guard against emotional outbursts of wounding words. Yes, there will be differences but we are given ways to handle them in a righteous way.

Sometime we can put ourselves in stressful positions by having too heavy of a schedule. We can’t seem to ever catch up and then when things pile up, we burst out in anger at those closest to us. Maybe we need more sleep or it could be the Lord is telling us that we need to pare down as He hasn’t called us to do all those things that are stressing us out, even if they are good. It helps when we just tell our loved ones we are facing a deadline and let them know we are under pressure. It may cause them to be more accommodating with us and cut us slack. One night recently Al said he was very tired, and he felt “crabby” and he would be fine later when he had a chance to rest. It put us on the same team, and I appreciated that.

Of course, the first person we can all go to when we are stressed and feel anger building up is to the Lord. If we will give our concerns to Him and all the emotions with it, He will shoulder our burden and give us His peace. Let us go first to Him and not wait until we have done damage to others.

God wants to take each one of us and use us also to show His love and care for others; even the very way we live effects the lives of those around us. We may show His love in caring for their physical needs, and have countless opportunities to do that; it may mean taking someone to the Doctor, visiting a lonely person, fixing a widow’s car, bringing a meal to someone just home from the hospital etc. He also uses us to care for the souls of others and we may never know how a word of scripture and encouragement can impact their life, or simply listening. When I question the Lord if I should keep writing, He sends me words through others that lets me know His answer. A positive word can change the course of a person’s life.

 James Smith shares the story of a woman who was old and not in good health and lost her loved ones. She was ready for God to take her home, but she felt God telling her to write to prisoners. She wrote a letter to the prisoners saying she was willing to be their friend and would answer every letter she received. She ended up corresponding with hundreds of inmates and it became the most fulfilling years of her life.

There are so many ways we can care for others, and it could be sharing a scripture, praying for them, or simply texting them you are thinking of them. Let us love and care for others as He loves and cares for us.

The enemy is subtle, and we often respond to his cues rather than the Holy Spirit who always desires to point us back to Jesus. True deep joy is found only in the Lord’s presence and too often we get tripped up and sidetracked by the things of this world. Rather than time in the Word as we go into a new day, the enemy will often tell us we need to first check our phone; he knows it will rob us of time with the Lord and get our focus elsewhere for the day.

 I read today Romans 14:17 which says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” When we chose to listen to the Holy Spirit we will be filled with joy and flooded with peace. But if we choose to listen to the voice of the enemy, we will become stressed and laden with anxious thoughts and concerns, and find our peace has disappeared. When that happens, we need to quickly respond to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and ask Him to turn us back to the Lord and strengthen us with resolve to go God’s way. I’m sure we have all experienced those times we suddenly realize something is wrong and we have been taken in by the voice of the enemy. We need to do a quick turnabout and obey the Spirit and as we follow His directions our joy will return.                                         

The choice is ours, for the Lord has given us free will and does not force us but rather invites us to enjoy His joy-filled presence. He will help us stand against the temptations from our enemy that wants to rob us. Let us choose God’s love and His kingdom and experience all that He has waiting for us to receive!