Canaan's Rest

Canaan’s Rest represents a quiet place “set apart” for the purpose of hearing God's voice, growing in intimacy with the Lord, and being renewed in soul and spirit.

Category: Whispers (Page 121 of 164)

January 4, 2022

January 4, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you waken to a fresh outlook on your day! What things do you want to implement into your New Year  of 2022? 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
As we begin a new year, I like to do some deep cleaning projects of things I have put off during busy days preparing for Christmas. I strip the bed down to the mattress pads and wash everything and also clean the blinds which are on each window in the apartment etc. But one thing that surprised me, is why I haven’t noticed the dust and dirt that has accumulated as I open the blinds each day. One friend living here at Northern Lakes told me about the rain that was seeping into the small crevice where the upper and lower windows connect. I didn’t think we had a problem but as I cleaned our blinds and windows this time, I recognized the moisture had also seeped in and left some mold behind. Why hadn’t I seen this before?
As God so often speaks to me through my daily experiences, I was quickly made aware of my own heart and how I can be unaware of certain things in my life that need to change. Others probably have noticed and maybe even shared of their own shortcomings as they are dealing with them, but I did not recognize my problem. Of course, the Lord can’t show us everything all at once or we might get bowed over with discouragement. But He shows us just what we need to know at the time He has prepared for us to deal with things. As we get rid of these things that hinder close fellowship with Him, we experience more freedom and the joy of His pleasure. It’s because He loves us that He exposes those things that causes distance from Him as He desires an intimate relationship with us.
Each day it is good to pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us through the day but also to reveal those things that separate us from the Lord. He is only too happy to show us the smudges on the windows of our hearts and the dirt that has accumulated and will cleanse us if we ask. In I Peter 1:2, Peter is telling the exiles, “who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood.” It is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us, which is to say, makes us holy in a moment-by-moment process. Every day let us welcome Him to do a deep work in us!
Challenge for today: Pray for openness to the Holy Spirit’ promptings with a willingness to change.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

January 3, 2022

January 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful New Year’s weekend as many of you celebrated with friends and family. Our son, Kurt, and Brenda made it to the Viking/Packer game at Lambeau Field last night, which was on Kurt’s bucket list. Today I made S.F. Choc chip cookies and went through papers, and then to my exercise class. It’s warming up so hope to get a good walk in today! 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
God’s love for us is never up for question. He is love and that will never change for His love is everlasting. No matter what we encounter in this coming year, we can count on Him to be there for us, pouring out His love to us and giving us strength. 
I was reading from Ann Spangler’s devotional book as she shares about King George VI in his address to the nation in 1939. France and Great Britain had declared war on Germany and the King spoke to the people on Christmas day at a very dark time. A New Year was at hand and they didn’t know what would happen. He told the people, “None of us know what the new year will bring. If it brings safety, healing, prosperity, wholeness, and joy, we will praise and thank the Lord. But if it brings continued struggles, we will remain undaunted, not because we are strong or have it in our own power to remain faithful, but because our God is strong and more than able to keep us in his peace.”
Then he closed with these words to further encourage the people:
“ I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied: ‘Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.’”
The King then asked that God’s Almighty Hand would guide and uphold them and we know it was six years more of war until peace came to the nation,
We are beginning a new year and living in uncertain times; none of us can predict what 2022 will hold; but we need to put our hand in the One who is love and all powerful and will give us peace. As the song goes, “Precious Lord, take my hand/ lead me on, let me stand/ I am tired, I am weak, I am worn/ Through the storm, through the night/ lead me on to the light/ Take my hand, precious Lord/ lead me home.”
Challenge for today: Put your hand in His and let Him lead you each day until one day you are home.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy
 
 

 

January 1, 2022

January 1, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy New Year to you!! Wonder if you made it til midnight. Emoji We didn’t intend to, but went to a nice party here at Northern Lakes and enjoyed the good food, game and fellowship. This morning I am cleaning blinds, writing, and making Al snacky food to have when he watches the games this afternoon. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Instead of making out a list of Resolutions for this New Year, why not make a simple plan that we will do whatever the Lord asks of us. He wants all of us, not just bits and pieces of our lives; that means living in close relationship so we can hear His voice and be resolute to follow in obedience. But let us not fear of what He will ask of us because we know in our hearts that He is good; so, may we respond with all that we are. I’d like to share a poem by Mary Fairchild called, A New Year’s Plan
 
“I tried to think of a clever new phrase—
A slogan to inspire the next 365 days,
A motto to live by this coming New Year,
But the catchy words fell flat to my ear.
 
And then I heard His still small voice
Saying, “Consider this simple, daily choice:
With each new dawn and close of day
Make new your resolve to trust and obey.”
 
“Don’t look back, caught in regret
Or dwell on the sorrow of dreams unmet;
Don’t stare forward anchored by fear,
No, live in this moment, for I Am here.”
 
 “I am all you need. Everything. I Am.
You are held secure by my strong hand.
Give me this one thing—your all in all;
Into my grace, let yourself fall.”
 
So, at last, I’m ready; I see the way.
It’s to daily follow, trust, and obey.
I enter the New Year armed with a plan,
To give Him my everything—all that I am.”
 
 Challenge for today:  Resolve to live for His glory and ask the Holy Spirit to help you follow God’s plan for you each day.
Blessings as you go into this New Year. Sending prayers and love, Judy

December 31, 2021

December 31, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Hope you are enjoying this day! Soon we will enter a new year and we have a party to go to here at the Apartments. Al and I are going to wear our lite up hats! EmojiEmojiThis morning I cleaned the apt and made Oh Henry bars and started cleaning blinds. Tomorrow I will make Al snacks that he loves for his football day. I like to catch up on projects, go over the Christmas cards, journal etc. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
We are ready to take off into a New Year and I read Flight 2022 Instructions on Facebook that I thought were good for all of us each day. Even if you have read it before, it is good to be reminded of how to face the New Year with hope.

“Good morning and welcome to Flight 2022

We are prepared to take off into the New Year.

Please make sure your Positive Attitude and

Gratitude are secured and locked in the upright

   position. All self-destruct devices; pity, anger,

selfishness, pride, and resentment should be turned

off at this time. All negativity, hurt, and

discouragement should be put away.

Should you lose your Positive Attitude under

pressure during this flight, reach up and pull down a

prayer. Prayers are automatically activated by

Faith. Once our faith is activated, you can assist

other passengers who are of little faith.

There will be NO BAGGAGE allowed on this flight.

God, our Captain, has cleared us for take-off.

Destination-Greatness!

Wishing you a New Year filled with new Hope, New

Joy and New Beginnings.

Stay Blessed!
And welcome in 2022”

 Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to take your old baggage and enter into the New Year with anticipation!
Blessings on your New Year! Prayers and love, Judy

 

December 30, 2021

December 30, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are keeping warm and safe! I love to stay inside when it is so cold out, -7 today, but I went to Aldi’s this morning and going to Costco this afternoon. Probably going to walk in the underground though.  I am going through cards and gifts and want to get at some piles of papers. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I look out on a beautiful landscape of over 20” of fresh snow. As lovely as it is, I also notice that the trees are heavy laden with snow as their branches are all bowed over. I would like to go outside and shake the snow off but their branches are too high for me to reach. In time the sun will help melt the snow and likely a wind to help blow some of it away.
The verse of a familiar song comes to my mind, “Are we weak and heavy laden/ cumbered with a load of care/ Precious Savior still a refuge/ Take it to the Lord in prayer.” Maybe we feel like those trees that are bowed over with grief, are lonely from being quarantined and separated from loved ones, or feel anxious over the future etc.; but even then, we have a place to go where our burdens are lifted. The Lord knows our weaknesses and troubles and promises to share our burdens. Maybe we don’t sense relief all at once but as we come to really know that the Lord understands and is with us, the heaviness begins to melt away. King David said in Psalm 55:22 (Amplified), “Cast your burden on the Lord (releasing the weight of it) and He will sustain you; He will never allow the (consistently) righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).” We are invited to trust God with whatever concerns us and weighs us down.
God may also help us by providing safe places to experience His love through others; a place where we can be nurtured and healed. Our churches should be such a place and also gatherings of small groups of caring believing people. As things get darker in our culture, I believe God will draw us together with others who help us feel we belong and are cared for. Maybe it is a small group that meets in a home, but we feel loved and nourished and healing takes place.
Let us not be weighed down like the snow laden branches but open ourselves to the wind of the Holy Spirit, and the warmth of his love and the fellowship of others.
Challenge for today: Seek a place you can be free to share your burdens and also help others to feel cared for.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

 

December 29, 2021

December 29, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are keeping warm. It was -13 here today. I decided to stay home and bake cookies and take down the Christmas decorations this morning. I’m sure we will walk in the underground this afternoon and not outside.  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Jesus is for the poor and showed great love and compassion for them; He instructs us to do the same and tells us to remember to care for the poor, the widow, the orphan. Sometimes we forget those who are struggling to make ends meet and who live in fear that they will end up on the street.
It was an eye opener when Al and I worked at the Soup Kitchen and saw those who feel down and out. Some were dressed very warm as they lacked proper shelter and had to brave the elements. As I helped serve and looked into their eyes, one particularly looked like the lights had gone out in her life. Since we had enough help Al was able to visit with some of the ones that came for a hot meal. One man was rejoicing that he had a place to stay and was no longer homeless. Others go to a warming place for the night that is now up and running in Brainerd. All were needy!
But we don’t have to go to Soup kitchens to find the poor, for they are all around us each day. They may not be physically poor put they may be spiritually lost and hungry for the Bread of Life.
Whenever we help the poor, we are doing it for the Lord and He said in Matt. 25:35-36&40(Message), “I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to see me… Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me- you did it to me.”
We are to help others as if it were the Lord Himself. Not all acts of mercy depend on how much we have to give; for it costs nothing to give a glass of cold water or to visit someone in prison. And maybe we need to let go of clothes we no longer wear and give to those in need.
Many people give to organizations and missions at Christmas but let us have hearts that want to give all year long and do it as unto the Lord.
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to make you alert to meet the needs of those around you.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

December 28, 2021

December 28, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. What was one of the best part of your Christmas celebration?  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
We all want to be happy but perhaps it is better to seek joy. Happiness is based on having the right circumstances in our lives and everything working out perfectly; but most of life is not like that so happiness is fleeting. But joy is consistent and not based on everything going well but finding strength in the Lord. As it says in Nehemiah 8:10 b (ESV), “And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” In Hebrew the word for joy is chedvah, which means rejoice and make glad. Strength in this context is a place of refuge and safety. Our joy stems from inner strength from our relationship with the Lord, so that means we can have deep down joy no matter our circumstances.
Perhaps more than anyone I know of, Joni Eareckson Tada is a beautiful example of someone who exudes joy. She is 72 years old now but has been in a wheelchair for 55 years as the result of her diving accident leaving her a quadriplegic. Yet, she lights up the room with her joy and has written 45 books, is an artist, speaker, and aids special needs people all over the world. How can this be? Only the Lord! Joni lives in overwhelming chronic pain, had cancer twice and COVID not long ago; yet she embraces the pain and often cries out scripture verses that give her help and the ability to endure. She shares how pain puts God’s promises to the test and said, “Suffering is like a textbook that teaches us who we really are and what we really believe.” She bases her life on what God has promised and embraces her trials with courage. She also memorizes hymns to help her focus her mind when she is in severe pain.  
Her word to all of us is to choose joy. We need to desire the life God gives each of us, even when it involves suffering for His glory. Let us finish well and bring glory to Him, especially in our pain and difficult circumstances. One day we will be with the Lord for all eternity and have no pain or sadness but rather the fulness of joy!
Challenge for today: The next time you are in a hard place, quote or sing Psalm 118:14, “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

December 27, 2021

December 27, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a blessed Christmas! We are home now from 2 days at the hotel with about 40 relatives and it was a wonderful time. So many good talks together and everyone also sharing about their families after our Christmas feast! We shopped yesterday at Mall of America and found the sales too. Emoji Thank you for prayers as we went home in lots of snow and icey roads about 1/2 way. Grateful to be back home safely!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Christmas is a reality, not just a story that we tell to children; Jesus really came and He makes all the difference in the world. This reality of His coming changes our lives in the deepest and most profound ways.
I was reading today from Psalms 33:21-22 (God’s Word), “In Him our hearts find joy. In His holy name we trust. Let your mercy rest on us, O Lord, since we wait with hope for you.”
Our joy is in the One who came and gave Himself for us. Jesus is God’s gift to us and He gave us the most precious gift ever; when we come to know Him, we experience a peaceful rest in our spirit and live in hope.
I am a bargain hunter and I do not like paying full price when I know it was on sale previously or will be on sale in the near future. But God did not hold back His best Gift for us and it came at an enormous price… He did this so we would be set free and come to know His love and joy. But this gift is something we are to receive; it is not just for those who try to live a good life, or those who are rich and famous…it is for the poor, blind, and all who know they are sinners and need a Savior. 
And when we receive this Gift we are not to hide it but to tell others the gift is also for them. When I find something of value, I love to tell my friends so they can get in on it too!
I think of the shepherds and how after they found baby Jesus, they went back to their flocks glorifying and praising God. I’m sure they couldn’t keep this wonderful news inside and told others all along the way.
As we begin a New Year, let us also ask God for boldness to share the Good News of His wondrous Gift.
Challenge for today: Seek to share the Lord with someone who God places in your life today.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

December 25, 2021

December 25, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
We will be leaving this morning to go to the hotel in the cities to gather with the relatives to celebrate Christmas. We missed doing that last year so it seems even more special this year. We look forward to our big meal together and time to fellowship and catch up… We pray that we will all remain well also.
For devotions today I want to share a poem that a friend, former Board Members of Canaan, wrote and sent us. Hope you will enjoy it and remember the significance of the Christmas trees you will see. Have a most wondrous Christmas and your challenge today is to simply enjoy Christmas in whatever circumstance the Lord has you in right now and to give Him thanks.

Christmas Tree by Robert Althoff

 What do you see when you see a Christmas Tree?

With the tinsel placed just like the shining sea

The lights of colors that gleam in the night

And the top with the Star glistening bright

 
The meaning is much ,much more

Than the lights and ornaments galore

It is about the Star of whom the people did sing

“Glory to God in the Highest” to the Newborn King

 

The tree made of wood and branches spread wide

Could make the cross on which Jesus, our Savior, died

The color green represents life everlasting

This life can be yours if you just ask Him

 

The lights are as the Light of the World, the True Light

Shining with colors so beautiful and bright

The tinsel hanging with so large of an amount

Like God’s mercies un-ending to count

 

Bows and garland wrapped around the tree

Is like God’s Grace that warms you and me

Some ornaments are glowing crimson red

Reminds us of the blood for us He shed

 

Give Jesus your heart and happy you will be

His gift of life has made us free

How beautiful are all the wonderful trees?

None so beautiful as “God’s Christmas Tree.”

December 24, 2021

December 24, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy Christmas weekend! Hope each of you is blessed in a special way as you gather with family and friends etc to celebrate the birthday of the King of Kings. We are going to Ann’s this morning and stopping on the way to see a friend at Birchview. Nice to be able to see all 3 grandsons as Lars flew in from San Antonio for 10 days. We plan to get home in time to go to our church and then tomorrow will pack up for the hotel. Lots of food to get together!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Do we want to live a life for God, or are we wrapped up in ourselves and thinking of what is best for us? If we look around us, the happiest people are those that are helping and serving others. The apostle Paul found contentment but not because everything in his life was rosy and good, but in serving the Lord and the giving of his life for others. That sounds beautiful but it is not always easy to live that way. Paul says in Philippians 2:13(NRSV), “for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
Sometimes we may not feel like obeying the Lord, and we need the power of the Holy Spirit to motivate us and help us to carry through to do what God asks of us. Maybe we are called on to bring a meal to a sick family, or to take care of someone’s children while the mom goes to the Doctor, or to fix the plugged-up sink of a widow. If we choose to obey, the Lord will come along side of us and give us the desire and will to do His will. And afterwards we are left with the sense of God’s pleasure and His presence with us.
When we walk with our friend David, he often remarks about how the Lord must increase in our lives and we must decrease. It’s really a choice and either we expect to be served or we are willing to serve others. But as Jesus’ followers, He is to become greater and we become less. It’s like John the Baptist; he was only the forerunner and knew when to get out of the way for the One who was to come. We also need to step aside and allow Jesus to be seen.
Paul goes on to say that we shouldn’t murmur but rather shine out like stars in the world. Others should be able to tell by our lives that we belong to the Lord. I think the secret is for us to humble ourselves and decrease that the spotlight will be on the Lord.
Challenge for today: The next time you receive credit for a good deed, give the glory to the Lord!
Blessings to you at this holy time and prayers and love, Judy

 

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