Category: Whispers (Page 139 of 165)

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a great weekend. We enjoyed having Al’s sister here and time to share together. Today I made bars, went to Aldi’s and my exercise class. We are walking on these hot afternoons even though some days we are the only ones on the trail. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Do we live our daily lives in gratitude for our salvation and all the blessings God has poured out on us?  When we wake in the morning, do we welcome the day as another opportunity to love and serve Him? I wonder if our prayers are more about asking for things rather than seeking ways to give back and thanking Him.  Some give to the Lord out of the motivation of “giving to get” for the Lord has promised if we sow bountifully, we will reap bountifully! An English teacher, Keith Gogan, writes that our motivation for giving should be selfless and pro bono. (Latin, “for the good”) In fact as Christians, shouldn’t all our giving be pro bono?! Recently a friend responded to one of my prior devotions on speaking the truth, and not holding back, like Samuel when he had to tell Eli what God was going to do to his sons. She told of the struggle in her own life to speak up as she was afraid to hurt other people’s feelings. She wrote, “Many years ago after attending both of our church services and Sunday School I was feeling hungry.  I wanted to eat something, but I knew our cupboards were bare.  It was like that after Dad died.  I found myself walking to Nymans Grocery store.  My idea was to ask Mr.  Nyman if I could charge some groceries.  I was shy and did not want to ask him, but I did walk around the store and planned what I would get if he said yes.  It was hard and I felt so embarrassed even to ask him.  The store closed at 1:00 pm and church had gotten over at Twelve noon.  I walked around this little store a number of times and waited for whatever customers were in the store to leave.  I knew that if the owner said no I would be unable to ever go back there. With five minutes until closing with all of the other customers gone it was time to go. I could not move and then standing at the back of the store I heard the words, “Helen go.” I looked around me thinking it was my Dad, but I knew it wasn’t.  I forged ahead, asked Mr. Nyman and he said yes. I ran and picked out some bread, apple sauce, coffee for my Mom and cream for her also.  On the way home I wondered what my Mom would think.  I charged the food and now Mom would have to pay for it.  When she came home later that night she smiled and wrapped her arms around me.  I am thankful that I responded to Gods prompting and need to listen carefully and then act.” I read this with tears in my eyes as she was a friend and we even double dated as we became teens; but I didn’t know the extent of her poverty. My dad often gave her and I a ride to school but I know my folks and I would have been over to her house in an instant if we thought she was in need and pro bono for sure! We missed an opportunity to give back to the Lord but may all of our hearts be open to the joy of giving to others in whatever ways we can and out of gratitude.

Challenge for today: Look for opportunities to share your love for the Lord Pro Bono!

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Happy Weekend to you! We are enjoying time with Al’s sister, Ann Marie, and going to the lake today to see our daughter Ann Marie and all the renovation they have done to our former home. We spent last evening sharing and catching up and looking forward to another day of it.  It’s going to be a hot day in the 90’s!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! Today it is so difficult to know who is telling the truth and who to believe. We hear opposite points of view and wonder what is the truth? But one thing we do know that God Himself is truth and does not lie and what He says we can believe. All that is found written in the Bible we can believe and trust. I was reading what Ines Velasquez-McBryde had to say about Samuel of the Old Testament on Crosswalk.com. One night when Samuel was a young boy, he was lying down in the temple near the Ark of God and heard his name called. He thought it was Eli the priest calling him and he went to him to find out what he wanted. This happened again and Eli told him, it was not him but to go back to bed. But the third time Eli realized God must be speaking and told Samuel if He calls again to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” When God did call the next time, He revealed what he was going to do not only to Israel but also to Eli’s family. His sons had had been blaspheming God and Eli did nothing to correct them. Samuel must have been afraid to tell the truth when Eli asked him the next morning what God said. But he told Eli what God had spoken and the punishment his family was to suffer. Not an encouraging word but Eli told Samuel not to hold back and to tell it all. So Samuel learned at an early age to speak what God gave him, even when afraid. Now just speaking the truth is only part of what we are called to do, for the second part is to tell it in the right way. Ines himself first struggled with speaking the truth and often did it with harshness and devastated others. His boss helped him learn to speak the truth in a way that would build others up and not tear them down. It is something we all need to learn and practice for sometimes the truth gets lost and ignored by the delivery of the messenger. Paul told the Ephesian church in Eph. 4:15 (ESV), Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ.” When we speak truth we are to be humble and speak with grace, remembering we have many things that need correcting in our own lives. After speaking truth, it is good to ask ourselves if others are left knowing they are loved, no matter what the message was that was given.

Challenge for today: Before speaking the truth, humble yourself and ask God to help you say it in love.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

 

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Isn’t wonderful to know that when we put things in God’s hands, He will take care of it? We don’t have to spend time needlessly worrying but only to listen if we are to be part of the solution in some way. The bottom line is that our burden is lifted because our dependency is on the Lord, not us. A friend recently shared how he had several complex decisions that had to be made. As we know, lake property has many regulations that must be followed, and he was getting stressed out by trying to figure this all out on his own.   He had issues of a rain garden, fire pit, excavation and the property line. These all had different set back rules with additional specific requirements. He asked God to make this complex problem simple. When the DNR person came out at his request, he simply told our friend, “Put all of these details in my hands and it will be just fine.” He had the power and authority and was an answer to the prayer of our friend. Now our friend could just relax.  That’s the way it is for all Christians who commit everything into God’s hands. They can live in hope and have a solid anchor to hold them fast when strong winds blow.  As it says in Heb 6:19 (TLB), “This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God himself.” We have God’s presence and power to help us with anything that concerns us. A hymn comes to my mind….

 

Our burdens belong in God’s hands and when the adverse winds blow, we are held safe and secure.

Challenge for today: Give all your concerns to God and thank Him that you are anchored in Him

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

As it is the beginning of Memorial weekend, let us not forget to honor and remember those that have sacrificed their lives for our country!  Today it is only 36 degrees out but the sun is shining! I am writing early as we are going to take a friend to the hospital this morning for a test, then to Costco to pick up a Birthday cake and then have a Birthday Party here to celebrate the May birthdays.  

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Are there times we don’t feel like praying or cannot find the words to pray? Maybe the enemy puts obstacles in our way and tries to tell us that another time would be better as we aren’t in the mood right now etc. But if we keep putting it off, soon we seem to grow lazy and cold spiritually and no longer have a desire to pray.  When we studied about prayer in our Bible Study, we talked about barriers to prayer such as anger, pride, busyness, brokenness, disobedience etc. Those things become obstacles in our prayer lives. Maybe we have done things that we know are wrong or habits we need to give up but we are ashamed to come before Him. Praise God we have an advocate, a helper, who is the Holy Spirit and will come to our rescue. He intercedes for us as it says in Romans 8:26-28 (The Message), “God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God.” The Holy Spirit knows us and will nudge us and help us, even though we don’t have the words. How often do we pray the Lord’s prayer and call God our Father?  When we do, we can be assured that we can come to Him any time, anywhere and He will hear and answer us.  He may not always answer us in the way we would like and the enemy may whisper to us that God doesn’t care or He is punishing us etc. But let us not believe his lies and instead firmly trust the Lord, accepting whatever answer He gives us.                                                                                            

Challenge for today: Pray the Lord’s prayer slowly and with faith and meaning.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy