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 15 of 161)

April 19, 2025

April 19, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying a wonderful meaningful Easter weekend. We have been having a great time at Mark’s as we spend lots of time sharing, many games inside and out, a movie we all enjoyed and scrumptious meals. Yesterday each of us acted out a Biblical story too. We will be going to their church tomorrow and they have a great pastor who is vulnerable and preaches powerful sermons.
I am sending you a prayer today so if you like you can pray the following prayer tomorrow whether alone or gathered with family and friends. May each of us live with joy and purpose and love.
“Heavenly Father,
On this blessed Easter Sunday, we come before you with hearts full of gratitude and joy. We rejoice in the resurrection of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we gather with loved ones and fellow believers, we are reminded of the glorious victory over sin and death that He accomplished on the cross.

Lord, we thank you for the promise of new life and the hope that Easter brings. Your mercy and grace shine brightly on this day, illuminating our lives with the warmth of your love. May we never forget the incredible sacrifice of Jesus and the profound significance of His triumph over the grave.

On this sacred day, fill our hearts with the joy of the resurrection. Help us to experience the transformative power of your love, renewing our spirits and strengthening our faith. As we celebrate together, may the message of Easter resonate deeply within us, inspiring us to live as reflections of your grace and compassion.

As we rejoice in the miracle of Easter, we lift our prayers for those who may be struggling, lonely, or in despair. May your comforting presence be with them, bringing healing and hope. Use us, Lord, as instruments of your peace and vessels of your love in the world.

We dedicate this Easter Sunday to you, grateful for the promise of redemption and the assurance of your unfailing love. May our lives be a testament to the power of your resurrection as we seek to follow you faithfully.
In the precious name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.”
Challenge for today: Don’t just celebrate Easter, live it!
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

April 17, 2025

April 16, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a good day. I am sending out Thursday’s devotions early tonight since we will be leaving tomorrow morning. We are in Sevierville, TN at the Fairfield and just had a wonderful early supper at the Chop Block. Tomorrow we head to Statesville, N.C. to see Mark and Andrea and John Mark and A.J. We are excited as it has been way too long since our last visit got canceled because of the hurricane.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Traumatic events have happened to most all of us and when they occur in our early years, we can bear the scars even now. We may overreact and feel some of the same emotions in our present life that we felt long ago. How surprised we are when we react so strongly to something in the present that stirs up old feelings from the past. We realize then it has not been forgotten or healed yet.

But Jesus wants to heal our soul through union with Him, and He welcomes each of us to come to Him. He is always available and wants to restore us and make us whole. Only He can take the broken pieces of our lives and create beauty out of the ashes. It’s such a wondrous thing for we can end up feeling just like a new creation.

Satan on the other hand, wants to destroy us and lies against God’s love and healing power. We don’t have to live fragmented lives forever but can give the broken pieces to the Lord and let Him heal us and make something beautiful of us. He wants to re-create all things in us! John Eldredge shares that our part is to invite Him in and seek union with the Lord in the damaged parts of our souls. We give Him access and it’s an added blessing if we have a prayer partner, pastor or counselor to share our hurts with and receive healing prayer. We don’t’ have to understand everything but simply ask Jesus to meet us in the place of our need and be open to His loving presence and healing power. No one knows us better than Jesus and when we turn to Him with all our heart, He will bring us into oneness and heal our fragmented parts. He came to bind up the broken hearted and to proclaim freedom for the captives. (Isaiah 61:1)

When we have fears, compulsions and struggles that surface needing healing, Jesus knows how to access them and restore us. We can ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light into those dark areas and invite Jesus to be with us in that place in our past. He will cleanse our wounds and His blood brings healing and integration. Why continue to live with the hurtful wounds when Jesus is waiting to hear our cry for healing.

Challenge for today: When a painful memory comes to mind spend some time with Jesus and ask Him into that place to heal you.
Blessings on your evening and day tomorrow and prayers and love, Judy

April 16, 2025

April 15, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have been enjoying a lovely day. I am sending out tomorrow’s devotional tonight as we leave  after breakfast tomorrow to travel. We are in Shelbyville, Kentucky tonight at a new Fairfield. We have gone about 900 miles since yesterday morning and have wind again today and lots of traffic….but also some beautiful blossoms on the trees and fields.
Devotional from Judy’s heart
I love to go on trips but even more I like coming home. I love to settle into my quiet sanctuary at my desk that overlooks the trees and soon blooming flowers; it is a place of rest and peace and home to me. But perhaps everyone is really looking for home. Ever since Adam and Eve were banned from the Garden of Eden there has been a seeking after a place of refuge. That place is the presence of God but many seek instead to find safety in the world and end up with anxiety and frustration. I recently read that 45.3% of young adults have anxiety disorders today. Wow!

We all need a safe place, an emotional, psychological and spiritual place of refuge. When our kids were young we lived on the Iron Range in the parsonage that bordered on the woods.  Bears were not uncommon. Al built an igloo with three kids helping and it was big enough for us to all sit inside. One night he lit a candle and we had our family devotions there together. The igloo gave us protection from the elements and we all huddled together and talked to the Lord.

Jesus is our perfect habitat and we live in Him and He in us. We get nourished as we spend time in His presence for we were made for Him. He is our home and our safe place. He breathed life into us and He wants us to not be anxious but to rest in Him. We might know many scriptures and facts about the Bible and still miss knowing Him in an intimate way as our heart’s longing. When we come to Him with all our heart and hear His voice to our heart, we have found home.  Psalm 91:3 says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” When we trust in Him we are safe!

Challenge for today: Find your home in the Lord and spend some time just enjoying His presence.
Blessings to you and prayers and love, Judy

April 15 2025

April 14, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
We are in Coralville, Iowa tonight at the Drury. We checked in early so we could have a time of retreat and we were given an upgrade. We had 35 mph winds on the road but it was sunny and lovely with trees budding. Too bad the wind wasn’t behind us or we would have made terrific gas milage!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Would we say we live a shallow life or do we live a deeply rooted spiritual life? I recently received an e-mail from a young mom who was responding to the question I asked of who had spoken encouragement and life into her when she was growing up. She ended up writing to me about her mother-in-law. I will share but leave out the names. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if others could say the same about us.
“There are so many people who have been an encouragement and spoken truth over my life! My mother-in-law is such a person and she lives and speaks scripture out over us as her children. Sometimes she will put our name into the Bible passage and personalize it. Many times when she has done this, God has used it to speak directly to my spirit. She is a devoted child of God and doesn’t settle for less than God’s best. She proclaims life and walks so closely with Jesus that He and she truly must walk step-in-step! My mother-in-law has blessed my life more that she could ever know and I praise the Lord for sending me another Mom to share truth with me for the second half of my life! I know that when she and my mom meet in Heaven, they will both share so much in common, and that is ‘a remarkable and undying commitment to Christ!!’ What a glorious day that will be!!”
This gal’s mom died some years ago and never lived to see her daughter marry and have her precious grandson. It is a marvelous gift that God has now given her a wonderful mother-in-law that is helping her on her spiritual journey.
Hopefully we all want a deep interior life and to seek the Lord and live our lives in accordance with scripture. It is good for us to take times of retreat when we can withdraw and just be with the Lord and hear Him speak. Some would say withdrawing for a time is not the real world, but perhaps it is more real to spend time with the Lord than to watch hours of TV or scroll endlessly on our phones. Let us choose wisely to read and digest the Word so we can live deeply rooted in the Lord and grow in our faith. Of course, we never really arrive because there is always more waiting for us to help us mature and cause our roots to go deeper.
Challenge for today: Be attentive to the ways the Lord desires to draw you deeply closer, transforming you more and more to reflect His image.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

April 14, 2025

April 13, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones
I am sending tomorrow’s devotion out tonight as we are going to leave about 3 a.m. to begin our trip to N.C. We would appreciate prayers for safety, health, weather and a joyous time with our son’s family. I will do my next daily devotionals from the hotels along the way.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit as it says in I Cor. 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy spirit within you, whom you have from God. You are not your own for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” The Message translation says it more descriptively, that our body is a sacred place and we shouldn’t squander what God paid such a high price for. Our physical bodies are not just the property belonging to the spiritual part of us but God owns the whole works. Therefore, we need to let people see God in and through our body.
Let us remember how important our bodies are and that they let us know what is happening within us if we are listening and aware. Sometimes they give us signs and symptoms of what is going on that needs our attention. This just happened to me when I went for my annual physical and I described my symptom to the Doctor. I got tested and ended up needing a medication. If we ignore the signs we might get warning flashes, and if we ignore them also, we may end up with pain and regret.
Through the years if we do not pay attention to stress in our lives or our deep wounds, we may one day begin to have symptoms in our bodies. In Psalm 38 King David describes his body and says he has searing pain in his back, his heart pounds, his strength is gone and he is desperate.to let God into his suffering and deal with things. We may also live with unforgiveness, anxiousness, and festering wounds that one day we can’t hide anymore and must deal with it all. Some may go to drink or drugs to numb the pain, but the real help comes from the Lord who goes with us into those deep places of our lives to cleanse the wounds and to bring healing.
Challenge for today: Pay attention to the warning signs in your body and let the Lord attend to your wounds.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

April 12, 2025

April 12, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a good weekend! Our friends have arrived and will be retreating today. The nearby Arboretum or the Paul Bunyan trail is a good place to walk and have time with the Lord. We will be going out for dinner later and then time together in sharing and prayer. Tomorrow afternoon we will be packing the car as we plan to leave very early Monday for North Carolina to see our son’s family. We are excited! Appreciate prayers for our safety, good health and weather.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
It is a relief to know that our spiritual lives don’t depend on our will power and desire to do everything right, but rather on putting our lives into God’s hands and giving Him control. That is not the way of our culture today that seeks to do what we want, when we want, to the extent we want. That way will leave us drained and feeling empty. God’s way is a way of freedom as we give Him the controls and cooperate with the Spirit to receive that which we are powerless to do, but He will do within us.
I am reading about spiritual disciplines and the definition given for discipline is: “The ability to do the right thing at the right time for the right reason.” If we practice the spiritual disciplines, when the time comes to act it will be a natural response according to the Spirit. We don’t become more like Jesus by trying to become godly, but as His love, joy and peace fill us so we do the right thing without thinking it just comes naturally. Don’t we want that in our lives: to receive His grace that gives us new attitudes and a more loving heart?
Richard Foster, in his book “Life with God” writes of the difference between training and trying harder. Our granddaughter has loved soccer since she was very young and has trained well, eats well and is very disciplined. Therefore, when she is in a game, she excels as a result of training she has put in. She doesn’t wait until she is going to a game to train, but she does the workout beforehand so she is ready when the time comes. We also train by doing spiritual disciplines. It is not our self-effort that earns us a close relationship with God, but rather trusting fully in Him. What is even better is the fact that we train with a supernatural Partner and the results far exceed the work we put in. We do not produce the change, we simply receive it. We take the steps to cooperate with the Spirit, but He does the work within us. Doesn’t that sound much better than having it depend on us? Let us rely on the Lord and obey as we sense the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Challenge for today: Memorize Phil. 2:13, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

April 11, 2025

April 11, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy weekend! Al and I will be starting the day by going for our annual Doctor visit. Later we have friends coming for retreat and staying until tomorrow evening. We hope for good weather so they can walk the trails and enjoy nature.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I have gotten so much out of reading seminary professor Chuck DeGroat’s book “Healing What’s Within” and loved his vulnerability. After he was fired from his pastoral job, the Lord met him right where he was and healing took place over time. We all need healing and to learn how to flourish in who God made us to be. As we look around, we see people who are depressed, lonely and anxious as they try to live life without the healing presence of the Lord.
Chuck asks the question, “What do you long for?” We all have an inner hunger to belong and be loved and seen, so how do we try to meet that need? Some seem unaware that we are all born with a desire for God, and we will all be restless until we find our rest in Him. Nothing else will fill that void, no matter how much money we have, no matter how much power we have, for without Him we will feel empty. In Matt. 5:6 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst.” May we satisfy that hunger and thirst in knowing the Lord and experiencing His love and compassion. His love for us never quits and He waits for us patiently.
Our healing also involves being vulnerable and known. Jesus was vulnerable to the point of death, so he understands all that we go through.  He was wounded so that we may be healed of our wounds and know His love. Once we really know this in our hearts, we can live freely. We are many times like the prodigal who goes off on his own, doubting his father will want to receive him again. But the Lord watches for us and compassionately greets us as He welcomes us home with hugs and a robe.  No lectures, but just like it says in Isaiah 30:18, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore, He will rise up to show you compassion.”
Challenge for today: Don’t hide your wounds but open yourself up to your Heavenly Father and also to others of His children.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

April 10, 2025

April 10, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a peace-filled day! Al will be going to the men’s group early this morning and awaits donuts when he comes home. I plan to do food prep, some cleaning, bake a dessert and attend Bible study.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
The line between right and wrong in today’s world is blurred, and people are choosing for themselves what they think is truth and what is false. But if it is not based on what is in the Word and leaves God out of the equation, we will have grave results.
I am presently reading the book of Isaiah where God had commissioned Isaiah to be a prophet to speak His message to the people who had wandered off on their own. They were getting drunk, exploiting others, perverting justice, being prideful and conceited, accepting confusing moral standards, etc. Sounds a lot like our present culture. Isaiah was chosen by God to be His mouthpiece to warn the people of what He would do if they didn’t change their ways. He calls them out and says in Isaiah 5:20-21, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent and shrewd in their own sight!” Isaiah told them doom was coming if they refused to listen, and he gives the picture of them dragging a full cartload of sins behind them that they refuse to give up (verse 18). That gets to be a heavy load and will wear people out.
But what a different outcome if the people listened and obeyed! They would be blessed, encouraged, comforted, and given direction and assurance, etc. Let us not make excuses for our sins and go along with the culture, neglecting to call out sin for what it is. Rather let us live our lives based on God’s word and desire to please the Lord.
Challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart and show you if there are areas of compromise in your life that you need to give over to Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

April 9, 2025

April 9, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a wonderful day. Al will be going to preach at Assisted Living today after a month or more off because of lockdown there. Hopefully they are well now. I have Exercise class, Crafts, and later Lenten supper and service. It is quite different from last week’s snow when it was canceled.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Haven’t we all had times of shaking when things rattle and change? I was reading an article by Kim Potter and she describes the shaking going on today, even in and our own lives. We have only to watch the news to see changes taking place in our world, church, and family as things are shaken and exposed. God will shake everything that can be shaken, not to rattle us but to uncover and remove the negative things so we can be fruitful.

Now we probably won’s say it is a pleasant thing to be shaken but it is necessary so we can lay aside those things that weigh us down and keep us encumbered. I love the illustration Potter gives of a man in Florida who has his garden professionally landscaped with gorgeous azalea bushes. They were beautiful, all except one that wouldn’t bloom no matter what the gardener did. But one day a terrible storm hit and shook everything violently and afterwards that azalea bush began blooming like all the rest. The gardener said that there some bushes that just need to be shaken in order to bloom!

Maybe we feel like we are being shaken but it is good to know it is for our own good. It says in Psalm 75:3 that “The earth and all its people may shake, but I am the One who holds it steady.” Or like the Message translation says, “When the earth goes topsy-turvy and nobody knows which end is up, I nail it all down, I put everything in place again.” We can trust that whatever shaking goes on in our lives, God will give us grace to help us let go of the things that need to change and will hold us steady as we learn to trust Him in a deeper way. May He shake and awaken each of us to let go of anything that distracts or encumbers us and hold on to Him

Challenge for today: When shaken, ask the Lord what needs to go and release it to Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

April 8, 2025

April 8, 2025 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a wonderful day and live in freedom. The snow is all gone and seems like spring again and the trees are budding outside my window. We are getting excited and making preparations to go to North Carolina for Easter. We leave early Monday morning.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
When I hear the word freedom, my heart resonates as I have been reading more about freedom from our ego for the sake of others. Today most people are obsessed with self and what will make them happy but that is not a life of freedom for it is losing our life for His sake that we find life that is truly free. Jesus said in Mark 8:34-35, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” And what if we gained the world but forfeited our soul, how tragic that would be.

How do we lose our lives for the sake of others and become free from our selfishness to serve them? Our focus must be on Jesus and live in the present moment by faith and not worry or fear. When we know the Lord, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit within us and our part is to respond to His leading in our life. That takes surrender and I have to admit that many times I fail in responding to His lead and go my own way. Afterwards I feel sorrow and ask forgiveness and pray that I will continually die to self and respond to the Spirit’s leading.

As we live more and more in the Spirit, there will be evidence of fruit of unselfishness in our lives like love and joy and peace and patience and gentleness. We don’t have to get our own way but instead put everything in God’s hands. I often pray when I tell the Lord I would like something specific to happen but then follow with, “But Lord if that isn’t your will that is fine too.”  I find that if it is postponed, I later experience even more joy. Let us get free of the obstacles of our own ego and go God’s way in God’s timing and experience true freedom.

Challenge for today: When you lack peace and freedom, ask the Lord to show you if you are pushing your will and not letting the Holy Spirit lead you.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
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