Category: Sister Judy (Page 72 of 270)

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Each day has been sunny and warm. This morning I am going to go to my exercise class and this afternoon Ann is coming and then a party after that.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

 It is so beautiful to be with unselfish people that are always on the lookout of how they can serve others. They live out what Paul said to the Philippians in Phil. 2:3-4, “Don’t act out of selfish ambition or be conceited. Instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves. Don’t be concerned about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others.” It is a joy to work with people who put that into practice and their focus is off of themselves. They are not concerned if they will get noticed or receive credit, for they look out for the needs of those around them.

  Each month I work with two people like that for the parties here and we have so much fun, as we work side by side. Not just at parties but one of them seems to notice the needs of others in our complex and is quick to help in any way she can. When new people come, she welcomes them and invites them to the special events we have here. The other one is 96 years old and has just as much or more energy as we have. She is never idle, and she also knits 100’s and 100’s of caps for the needy for when the weather turns cold. Neither of these friends sit down during the parties we have, but help me serve and pour coffee and clean up etc.

   All of us serve someone, either the Lord, or ourselves. When it is God, we surrender our plans to do what He asks of us. If it is in serving ourselves, our world is small, and we never seem satisfied. We are here on earth to bring glory to the Lord, to be interested in the needs of others and to share the good news with them. Let us not insist on our own selfish way but submit ourselves daily to the Lord and let Him direct our lives.

  Challenge for today: When feel nudged by the Holy Spirit, respond to the need before you, and let go of your plans.

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you are enjoying the weekend! I just made egg dishes for Al and soon going to do more food prep and clean the frig etc. Happy news! Our granddaughter got engaged last night and we are so thrilled for them both!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

   When we know the Lord in a close relationship, He reveals God’s love to others by our words, prayers, and acts of kindness. It’s not out love, but His love that flows through us and enables us to love what some may call the “unlovable” and even our enemies. Many people we meet may not be interested in hearing a sermon about God, but some kindness done to them, grabs their heart and it begins to open.                                              But we all need to guard against our own attitudes and actions that can nullify people receiving God’s love. One thing that kills love is envy and Paul wrote to the Corinthians (I Cor.18:4) that, “Love does not envy.” The Corinth church must have had that problem for some envied even the spiritual gifts of others. But we all have to beware since envy causes conflict and resentment. People compare themselves with others and think of them as the competition, rather than brothers and sisters in Christ. When we do that, we will come up feeling deficient and unhappy as there is always someone who we feel is better or more talented than we are. Envy can start early in life if parents compare their children with others and leave them wanting. It happens in the church also, if we forget who we are in Christ. Maybe another person is chosen over us to take a position we wanted, and we are envious and make sure others know that person has weaknesses!                                     

  Each of us is unique and not to be compared with anyone else. Our motive for wanting to do well, should not be to compete with others but to do our best for the Lord and to enter into all that He has for us. When we envy others, it shows we are not sure in our hearts of our worth to God, although we may know with our minds. I love the verse in Ps. 149:4, “For the Lord takes delight in His people; He crowns the humble with victory.” The Lord accepts us, rejoices over us, and even sings over us; our response should be praise and deep joy! If that is hard to believe, it is good to spend time in the Word and to let the Holy Spirit speak to our hearts. When we spend time in His presence, we won’t have to feel insecure by someone outshining us for our lives are secure in His love. God has a place for each of us to fill, let it not remain empty but rejoice as we fill that position.

Challenge for today: Confess any envy that you hold for others, and thank God for who he made you to be.

Dear Ones,

  Hope you are keeping cool today. Al is off to men’s group, and I am cleaning as we are having a pastor friend and his dad from Tulsa coming this afternoon after our Bible study. We see them only once a year so it is a special time. It is also Donut Day here!

Devotions from Judy’s heart 

  Money, money, money! What is enough money? Some people have very little money and are extremely happy and some with more money than they can ever spend are very unhappy. Jesus had lots to say about money for we can’t serve both God and Money. Wise King Solomon wrote that “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.” (Eccl. 5:10)

 Money is one of the hot topics in marriage, as each of us have our own perspective of money which influences how we make decisions daily. If a lavish spender is married to a stingy hoarder both will have to do lots of compromising if there is to be harmony. Also, both may be greedy as Michael Mangis says in his book, Signature Sins, one would be greedy for spending and the other greedy for having money. As a practicing psychologist, he rarely sees a couple that money isn’t an issue of lots of contention and difficult discussions.  Maybe each one of us can think of how we feel about money…are we generous to a fault, or are we stingy and worry if we give away money or goods, we will not have enough for ourselves?  We see a little bit of both sides of the coin in Scripture for Jesus said we shouldn’t be so concerned about money and what we eat and drink but be like the birds and flowers who don’t toil. But then on the other hand, he also speaks of sloth of the servant who doesn’t make a profit for his master. Or throw in the example of Mary who pours a whole bottle of expensive ointment on Jesus feet, that would have been enough to feed many poor and yet He commends her. Then there is the question of how much do we need, and what else is simply wants or luxuries?

   Sometimes we have a hard time letting go of our money as we don’t believe God will take care of our needs, as if it all depends on us; but we forget we have a very rich and generous Father. How about tithing and giving at least 10% of what we have been given? Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48. I am always so astounded at the many times when we gave to others and how the Lord returned it to us in other ways with more than we gave. We can never ever out give God! Let us remember our security is in the Lord, not in our money or things!

Challenge for today: Give as the Holy Spirit prompts you and renew your trust in the Lord to provide all that you will need each day.

Dear Ones,

Hope your day is full of joy and kindness. It appears it’s going to be another very warm day, so we may walk early. I am going to Aldi’s and doing lots of food prep.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

As the days are getting darker in our culture, the light of Christ seems to shine brighter in His followers who have made love for Him and others their aim. We have only to watch the news to see how rampant evil is and then contrast that with those who put others before self and overflow with kindness and love.               

   Here where we live at Northern living there is good evidence of kindness and caring for others. Just recently one of the gals had a stroke and others were alerted; two friends stayed with her and one was on the phone with the ER, another watched for the ambulance, and one was at the hospital almost to midnight with her; even when she was recovering, one of the friends stayed the night to be sure she was okay. All acts of kindness. If someone here at our apartment needs to get to an appointment, there may be offers for a ride, or food brought to someone who is sick etc. Of course, for all of us whereever we live, there are so many needs around us every day if our hearts are open to share God’s love in a variety of ways.                     

We who have received so much from the Lord are told to “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.” Eph. 4:32. That can cover a lot of circumstances and extend to not only friends but strangers and even enemies; maybe especially enemies. When we reach out to those who have done us harm and show them kindness, it can begin a process to bring peace and unity.                   

 Of course, we don’t meet every need around us, or we would be quickly worn out and our own families would suffer too. But we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to respond when He directs us to meet a need. When that happens there can be deep down joy in our obedience even if the person doesn’t seem grateful for our help. It’s nice to get fulfilment from helping others but it is most important to draw our strength from the Lord and to spend time with Him. He is our ultimate fulfilment and let us spend time with Him and get refueled for whatever He has for us next.

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a lovely weekend!  As you will read in today’s devotion, we enjoyed time with our former Board and felt the presence of the Holy Spirit with us. Today I am going to my exercise class, and then my cousin is coming from the Lake, and we are going to the Assisted Living to see our dear friend who is in the Alzheimer’s unit and bring chocolate chip cookies on a stick and have coffee with her.  

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  Our lives are forever changed by love. When we open our hearts to the Lord and others to let them in, something beautiful happens. We grow, we change, we become more of who we really are. Both Al and I felt so blessed as we came home from our annual gathering of our former Board of Canaan’s Rest. Eight of us gathered to share together from the Word and then from our lives over the past year. It is our favorite time for these couples have known us for many years. The youngest member has known us for over 40 years as he was in college at the time and later on our Board. 

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord for trusted people who love Him and that you can share with.