Category: Whispers (Page 124 of 164)

Dear Ones,

Hope you wake up with a peaceful heart and anticipation of a new day. What is the hardest thing for you to hold on to with faith at this time? 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We must never give up! As God’s children we will win if we fight and don’t give up. As we look around us in the world today there is so much evil and destruction; the enemy wants to do us in and is using all his tactics to destroy us. But the bottom line is his time is short and almost over; if we hang in there and lean into the Lord, we win!

I read what Heidi Baker wrote about how God’s Got This, and we are to hold on by faith. She and her husband have a ministry in Mozambique and have seen evil so rampant. Christians have lost homes, family and friends, and been tortured because of their faith; whole villages have been wiped out. But she says to us that love wins, and when we share His love, loss and grief are not the end of the story. We overcome as we lean into the Lord and commune with Him and make our life one of prayer and worship. Every day we can live in His presence as we go about our work and give thanks for His sustaining power.

Most of us are not going through anything like those in Mozambique but we also must continually realize that we are not in control. Then we can place our life in God’s secure hands and practice what Paul said to the people who are being persecuted in Thessalonica.  He tells them in I Thess. 5:16-18 (God’s Word), “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God’s will in Christ Jesus that you do this.” We are not thanking God for the terrible things happening to us or our loved ones but we are giving thanks to the Lord in the situation. Even when we feel pain and loss, we remember that He is enough, He is sufficient.  As we go through suffering, our lives can be transformed as we learn things we never would have known otherwise. So let us not give up hope and throw in the towel, but rise up stronger as we go forth in the strength of the Lord.

Challenge for today: Refuse to give up when going through rough times, and listen to the Lord as you draw closer to Him.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and recovering from lots of feasting at Thanksgiving! We are packing up and will be going to Mora today as Al will be preaching there tomorrow morning. We look forward to seeing old friends too. This morning I have been working more on Christmas cards and only have the ones for friends at church left to do. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

God is good. He is good all the time, even when we may misjudge Him and wonder why certain things are happening. We are familiar with Romans 8:28 (NASB) and may quote it to others, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love, God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” But in the midst of trials, we may have to repeat the words often, “God you are good!” I don’t understand why you are allowing this to happen to me, but I still know you are good.” Some things in our lives are very hard, but never more than we can bear when we know the One who loves us and walks with us through those difficult times.

When we were little children, we didn’t always understand why our parents didn’t allow us to do certain things that we had our heart set on. We may have begged and begged but the answer still was no. At the time we might have felt they were the meanest parents in the neighborhood, but later in years we realized how they were protecting us from doing what we were not ready for. What was once viewed as withholding, is now viewed as loving. We won’t always comprehend God’s motives or make sense of what is going on, but we can remember that God is good and He wants His ultimate best for us. The Message translation says God knows us far better than we know ourselves and puts it this way, “That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean what is happening right now is good, but that God will weave it into something good in the future; and this is a promise for those who know Him.

When we went through a hard time in one of our churches, I wondered what good could become of it; yet it wasn’t long until I realized how needed it was for us to experience if we were to open a retreat house for wounded pastors and wives. I don’t think I could have identified with their woundedness if we had not gone through it ourselves.

But for all of us who believe, no matter what we go through in this life, it is not worth comparing to what awaits us some day. Yes, like the song goes, “God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He’s so good to me.”

Challenge for today: The next time you are experiencing a difficult circumstance, thank the Lord for the good He is working out of it!

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

A blessed Thanksgiving Day to you all! We have so much to be grateful for and last night at church we were asked to share many of those things publicly. Two men also shared their stories of how they came to personally know the Lord and it was very moving. 
Today we are going to Ann’s at the lake and looking forward to time with them and enjoying a feast together. Mark and Kurt’s families have a house full of relatives from the other side as well. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart

Thanksgiving Day is here and perhaps many feel it is a struggle to be thankful and give praise since circumstances are less than ideal. Some have lost jobs, others are sick, some are just plain weary with all the demands on their lives. But like Debbie McDaniel writes we have a choice to be thankful and it is a powerful way to live. Even when our circumstances may not change, our hearts will be changed. I want to give you her words today on the blessings of being thankful.

•         It reminds us we’re not in control, but that we serve a Mighty God who is. It keeps us in a place of humility and dependency on Him, as we recognize how much we need Him.

•         It helps us to recognize we have so much to be thankful for, even all the little things, which often we may forget to thank Him for. It takes our attention off our problems and helps us instead to reflect on the goodness of His many blessings.

•         It reminds us that God is the Giver of all good gifts. We were never intended to be fully self-sufficient in this life. A grateful heart reminds us that ultimately God is our Provider, that all blessings and gifts are graciously given to us by His hand.

•         A heart of gratitude leaves no room for complaining. For it is impossible to be truly thankful and filled with negativity and ungratefulness at the same time.

•         It makes the enemy flee. The forces of darkness can’t stand to be around hearts that give thanks and honor to God. Our praise and thanksgiving will make them flee.

•         It opens the door for continued blessings. It invites His presence. God loves to give good gifts to His children. He delights in our thankfulness and pours out His Spirit and favor over those who give honor and gratitude to Him.”

May we choose to focus on the Lord and let our hearts overflow with thankfulness and praise!

Challenge for today: Try on this day not to give words of complaint but only praise and gratitude.

Blessings to you on this Thanksgiving Day. Love, Judy

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you wake to a day full of promise and peace. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

How grateful are we as God’s children? Are we content and thankful or do we complain that we lack something or that someone has more than we do? Perhaps we all need a reality check each day to help us see if we have attitudes of ingratitude or envy in our hearts.

I sit at my desk in a warm apartment as I write, with a healthy body, a loving husband, plenty of food, and in a cozy robe. Quite different from the early pilgrims who suffered so much loss, hunger, cold, and sickness, and yet they paused to give thanks under less-than-ideal conditions; but were they perhaps filled with more gratitude than many of us? We must remember that we are not entitled but rather to receive what comes to us as a gift from the Lord.

The Lord loves to bless us but He also wants to know that we receive it from a grateful heart, just as we desire that from our own children. I hear so many grandparents say that they rarely get a thankyou from their grandkids, and one even gave their grandchild a nice van!

We can show our gratitude in many ways as described in Psalm 105 (Message), “Thank God! Pray to Him by name! Tell everyone you meet what He has done! Sing Him songs, belt out hymns, translate His wonders into music!..Keep your eyes open for God, watch for His works; be alert for signs of His presence.”

I read what Jim Robison wrote of what theologian Tadeusz Dajczer said, “A gift should be accepted with such detachment that at any given moment you could return it.”  This is a paradox and telling us that each time we receive a gift from God we are to be ready to return it. We are to hold it loosely and be willing to give it back to God at a moment’s notice. When we think of it, everything belongs to Him anyway.

I am reminded of a song, “Give thanks with a grateful heart/ Give thanks to the Holy One/ Give thanks because He has given Jesus Christ, His Son/ And now let the weak say, ‘I am strong’/ Let the poor say, ‘I am rich/ Because of what the Lord has done for us.’”

No matter what our present circumstances are and how much or how little we have, let us give thanks, especially for our spiritual blessings.

Challenge for today: Spend time throughout your day, lifting up prayers of thanksgiving to the Lord.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. We enjoyed going to our son-in-law’s installation as the Pastor of St. Paul’s church in Hackensack. The bishop came and there was a yummy brunch afterwards and good to see old friends. 

Today I have been busy busy in the kitchen and also got to my exercise class. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

As Thanksgiving approaches, we might try something new this year and not only thank the Lord for our many blessings but to thank and pray for those who we are not grateful for….you know, the difficult people, the selfish ones, the users, complainers, and those that have hurt us. I was reading an article by Pastor Brad Russell who challenges us to be grateful for those we would not naturally want to invite to our Thanksgiving dinners. God loves them and sees their deepest needs and tells us how to treat them in Luke 6:27-28(ESV), “But I say to you who hear, ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” That seems like a tall order but we have a loving Heavenly Father who loves us when we are sinful and ungrateful and undeserving of His love and mercy. I will share some of Pastor Russell’s words:

“Thank God that these people are being used to make you more and more like Jesus. Difficult people are used by God to produce patience. Difficult people are used by God to take you to the end of your own strength; to take you to your need for supernatural love, patience, and forbearance. And, according to Colossians 3, the supernatural patience, love, and forbearance that comes from the Holy Spirit can and will produce peace, joy, and thankfulness. The more God uses people to produce patience, love, joy, and peace in you, the more grace you will experience as He makes you more and more like Jesus. Praise God that these difficult people are part of God’s plan to bring you peace and joy.

This Thanksgiving consider starting a new tradition. Bring the most difficult people in your life before the Father. You and your family will always have to deal with difficult people. Embrace the work of God being done in your own hearts through them. And then, by God’s love, mercy, and grace produced in you, find ways to embrace them in prayer and service. Those difficult people may just be the greatest hidden blessings of God in your life.”

Challenge for today: At this Thanksgiving time, thank the Lord for a person who God is using to make you more like Him.

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

 

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Happy weekend and hope it is a relaxing one too. Today is our monthly Birthday party here at Northern Lakes so we will be going to pick up the cake in a few minutes. I’m also working on Christmas cards and want to get the overseas cards in the mail soon.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

I think we have all heard the phrase, “It is what it is!” I woke up this morning with those words going through my mind but then wondered what does that really mean? When I googled it, I found that it is an expression to characterize a frustrating or challenging situation that the person believes cannot be changed. In other words, it is something we have to deal with and accept, and is much like saying, “Whatever will be will always be.” Yes, it is good to not get frustrated by what we are going through and accept that it is the way that it is right now, but not necessarily how it will be in the future. Otherwise, we leave the Lord out of the equation. But the truth of the matter is that He can change our circumstances in the blink of an eye if He so chooses.

Maybe saying, “it is what it is”, helps us refrain from complaining but as Christians we can put a much more positive spin on it. Just now as I write, the moon is shining in my window and the stars are filling the sky and I think of our mighty God who made all of this. As David said in Psalm 8:3-4 (God’s Word), “When I look at your heavens, the creation of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have set in place—what is a mortal that you remember him or the Son of Man that you take care of Him?” The creator of the universe made us and cares for us, and will always make a way for us for He is full of mercy and compassion. Our situations can change suddenly for we are His and can rest our full trust in Him. Maybe we feel like a door has been slammed in our face, but we can be assured He will open another door for us in His perfect timing. The first time I heard, “It is what it is”, was by an elderly woman who was in a situation she felt was out of her control and was reconciled to the fact that it would stay the same. But today God has changed her circumstances and it is no longer an issue at all.

Let us be people of faith in our mighty loving God who can do all things, and we can say, “It is not what it was in the past for behold all things are new!”

Challenge for today: Be at peace in the present but live with faith for whatever the Lord may do in the future.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy