Category: Sister Judy (Page 84 of 270)

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a good weekend with 9″ of new snow! It was nice to be able to stay inside. This morning I did food prep and soon going to Aldi’s and my exercise class. I have errands to do this afternoon as Al will have the car tomorrow.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  I believe often we learn the most from those who can’t give back; like when we find ourselves doing something out of love for the Lord and not for any payback we may get. Jesus said in Matt. 5:8, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” When our actions are without thought of being noticed or what good will come to us, but simply for the Lord, we are drawn closer to Him and see Him through eyes of love.

   Recently, I read a story by Rebecca Manley Pippert as she tells the story of a young nurse who was caring for a patient, Eileen, who had no control over her body and unconscious due to a cerebral aneurysm. She had to turn her every hour and feed her through a stomach tube etc. and another nurse told her that you just have to detach yourself emotionally from the whole situation.

  But the student nurse decided she to treat her kindly and talked to her, sang to her and even brought her little gifts. On Thanksgiving she told her, “I was in a cruddy mood this morning, Eileen, because it was suppose to be my day off. But now that I’m here, I’m glad. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss seeing you on Thanksgiving Day. Do you know this is Thanksgiving?”

  The phone rang then and when the nurse turned toward Eileen she noticed she was shaking and crying and it was the first emotion she had showed. It changed the attitude of all the staff towards her for they now knew she heard and understood. And it changed the young nurse as she said she might not otherwise have known what it is like to give to someone who can’t give back.

  This story struck me especially as my cousin’s granddaughter died last week and Jensyn was only 6 years old. She had never walked or talked or fed herself and her rare condition was such that she had to have constant care. She spent as much time in the hospital as she did at home. But she was loved dearly by her parents and 7 siblings and relatives and friends. I think perhaps she also taught all those around her about selfless giving to those who can’t give back. I know I have been touched each time I have observed the loving care her family gave her.

   Challenge for today: Reflect on, “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I should do and, with the help of God, I will do!  (Everette Hale)

Dear Ones,

Happy Weekend to you! The sun is shining and so beautiful out my window with more fresh snow. I just finished making Beef Stroganoff and later hope to go shopping. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart

  Are we on God’s time or our time? That is a question we need to ask ourselves as we go about our day and to make adjustments when needed. Jesus was always on His Father’s time, even though He was interrupted often; but He came to do the Father’s will. Even when pressured by His brothers to go to Jerusalem ahead of time, He did not give in but answered them and said in John 7:6 (ESV), “My time has not yet come but your time is always here.”

    I want to be on God’s time, but I know I often fail and have to ask forgiveness; although I missed it this time, I want to listen better next time with a willingness to change when He interrupts what I had planned.

   One Sunday at church Al and I knew we needed to change the paraments after the service. It was a special  Sunday with red paraments and we were to change them to green for the next Sunday. During church we reminded each other that we would do at the close of the service before we went to coffee. That was our time! But when we got up to leave, we noticed a new couple sitting behind us and introduced ourselves and got acquainted. We didn’t want to leave them there as the church had emptied and my eyes met Al with the knowledge that we needed to let go of our time. We took them to coffee and heard more about their lives and introduced them to others… and the paraments were done later on God’s time. This story is just one simple example but a reminder that we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to know what is in God’s timing for our lives.

  So many examples in Scripture of the right time. Wise King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time and season for every matter under heaven.  There is also a time coming when Jesus will come again and it says in Mark 13:32 (ESV), “But concerning that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” God’s timing is perfect and let us seek to know His timing in our lives.

  Challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to make you sensitive to God’s timing and let go of yours. 

Dear Ones,

Hope you have a joyfilled day! I just went downstairs for Donuts and Al is at Men’s group but will love one when he gets home! I made some Chocolate Peanutty Bars while he is gone and this afternoon we have Bible Study.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  We can so glibly talk about God’s love and yet we have so much to learn of love, for God is the source of all love. We see in our culture the shallowness of our own selfish love that is fickle and open to change which becomes evident in the soaring divorce rate. Yet the searching goes on to find deep love that is found only in the One who is love. 

    I am reading the book, In the School of Love, that is all about the Cistercians who go back to the year 1080 and believed that love needs to be taught. They saw love as God’s very being and the exchange between the 3 persons of the Trinity. They believed that we can only become what we are created to be by loving God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves. Quite different than our human love that is turned back on itself and needs to be reoriented and set free.

  The Holy Spirit wants to be our teacher in helping us to love God from the depths of our being and to enjoy Him and live for Him. God was from the beginning and always was. He is good, He is kind, He is mercy, and His love can’t be measured. He is all and more of what our soul longs for. Nothing else can take His place in our lives. If we don’t come to love Him, we will always feel empty. To know God, we must also come to know ourselves for we were created in His image and our worth is in Him. His desire it that we become more like Him and be united in spirit. He wants us to give Him our whole heart. If we choose to go our own way, we will miss what our heart is really longing for.

  Even if we feel like the Prodigal son that left his father and went far away, we can return to Him and know that He is waiting for us with outreached arms to receive us. Let us humbly return and let Him give us a heart of love. As David said in Psalm 23:2-3 “He offers a resting place for me in His luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace, the quiet brook of bliss. That’s where He restores and revives my life. He opens before me pathways to God’s pleasure and leads me along in his footsteps of righteousness so that I can bring honor to His name.”

Challenge for today: Read the Word not to know more, but to know God more and His love! 

Dear Ones,

Hope you wake to a day of sunshine. I will be doing some food prep this  morning and then we plan to have friends over for coffee and felllowship.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  Patience! Patience! Patience! Don’t we wish we had the patience of Job who endured so much and didn’t give up? Patience is a fruit of the Spirit and one that is quite beautiful as it matures. Too often we can be like little children that want everything now and not later and often ask, “Are we there yet?” when we have just begun a trip. Or who want dessert before the main course? If we are honest, we all need to grow the fruit of patience.

  I was reading what Pastor Mark Roberts from Fuller Seminary had to say about patience as he quotes I Thess. 5:14 (God’s Word), “We encourage you, brothers and sisters, to instruct those who are not living right, cheer up those who are discouraged, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.”  It isn’t easy to be patient with those who try our patience with doing things that we might think we would never do. But we must always remember that others are also likewise showing patience with us in many situations. I can picture even now that look in my mother’s eye, without a word said, that she was holding her tongue when she wanted to say something corrective to me. Patience!

   Paul is giving us different situations we might have to exercise this gift, like with those who are discouraged. The Lord might have us come along side of them and speak encouragement and show concern for them. Or those who are weak, sick or old. we might give some hands-on help, taking them places and giving them of our time. And those who might be involved in sinful behavior, that we patiently pray and not give up on them.

   I marvel at God’s patience with me, when I get stuck or do things over and over again that I should have moved beyond. When we get impatient, let us remember as it says in II Peter 3:9 that God is not slow to do what He promised but is patient for our sake.

Challenge for today: Thank the Lord for His patience with you and patiently help another. 

Dear Ones,

Hope you have a relaxing weekend! The apartment is filled with aroma as there is a pot of stew in the slow cooker. I also made cinnamon bread that Al has already sampled. This morning I am going to clean and maybe later go to Kohl’s as the sales are unbeliveable! 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

   How often during the day do we fix our thoughts on the Lord? If others could be privy to our thought life, would they be surprised at how much of the time our thoughts are on worries and problems of all kinds or even on pleasures and dreams, but not on the Lord? Anything we think of more than we think of God can be in idol in our lives and rob us of a deep relationship with Him.

  We are told in II Cor 10:5 that “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Perhaps all of us can say that our thoughts often run rampant and we can dwell on things other than the Lord. But the Lord is the One that we are to delight in and we can rejoice in His presence and experience incredible peace.

   The moment we find ourselves fixated on our problems, worrying about the “what ifs”, our focus is off the Lord and we soon find we are in a dark hole. But when we take every thought captive, we remember that the Lord is mighty, He is able to take our concerns and help us in every need and situation we will ever encounter. We must choose to listen to the Holy Spirit as He whispers promises of God’s help to our hearts.

  As the song goes, “When we’re weak and heavy laden/ cumbered with a load of care/ We should never be discouraged/ when we take it to the Lord in prayer.” Instead of ruminating on the negative, we can ask for help and grasp hold of the promises of God. It’s good that we know that we can’t but He can!

Challenge for today: Focus on the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to nudge you each time your thoughts go astray.