Dear Ones,
Hope your day is full of peace. I have an appointment this morning with the wound specialist and hoping for a good report this time and no infection. Your question this week is, what is your favorite peaceful place to go when you want to spend time with the Lord?
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I love peaceful settings like sitting by a still lake, walking in the woods, or even simply beholding the beautiful tree outside my window. Slowing down and opening our hearts as we live in the present moment helps us enjoy the many gifts the Lord has given us. Peace is a precious gift and it is also a fruit of the Spirit. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to indwell us, the more we experience incredible peace.
We have a wall hanging that has the names of Jesus, including Prince of Peace. Jesus often spoke of peace, brought peace wherever He went, and even spoke peace to a raging storm. Peter tells us in I Peter 3:11 that if we want to love life and see good, we are to, “seek peace and pursue it.” Our peace begins with the Lord, for if we open our hearts, confess our sins to Him and receive forgiveness, we will have peace. We also are to cooperate with the Spirit, for He helps us grow and mature, and encourages us to give Him all that concerns us, including any anxious thoughts.
Too often we allow people, circumstances or thoughts from the enemy steal our peace. Sometimes we are to just remain silent. We try to defend ourselves or get across our opposing views to others who have made up their minds already, when it may simply be better to pray. We can ask the Lord to work in their lives and change them according to His will. It is exciting when God has spoken to them without a word from us but by His spirit, and their eyes are opened.
Sometimes the Lord asks us to do something or to change in some way, and when we refuse, we find our peace seems to disappear. Let us humble ourselves, be open and willing to go God’s way, and He will blanket us with His peace.
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to help you cooperate with the Spirit when He shows you what is blocking His peace, and to humbly go His way.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
Category: Whispers (Page 2 of 185)
Dear Ones, Hope you have a good day and keep cool on this hot day. More warm weather expected for the holiday weekend. I am planning to bake early this morning!!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
The question is often asked today by parents of how they can disciple their children in this busy and electronic filled world today. It seems like there are so many soccer games or basketball practices to take the them to, church functions, work related projects etc. that leave parents feeling overwhelmed and maybe guilty too. When do they have time to teach them how to be a Christ follower? I do believe it is harder today than when we raised our 3 children. We ate meals together and had family devotions after supper together, had family night once a week to do special things, and actually talked in the car while we taxied them. Today meals are often eaten on the way to practice and schedules are filled to exhaustion. What can be done? For some it may be a simple start to have everyone turn off their phones when traveling to a game and share together while listening to Christian music.
First of all, none of us are 100%qualified to disciple our kids but the Lord will equip us and give us wisdom and we need only to ask. The church can be a wonderful support and it helps to be surrounded by a faithful community. Most churches have resources for families with books for family devotions and discussions, podcasts, programs for the youth, Sunday school, youth programs, Bible Camp. There are many great books to help us with questions and problems that arise and hopefully groups where we can discuss them with others who have navigated what we are going through.
I read an article by Abby Perry who had some good words to help parents as she encourages connecting generations at home and at church. Some churches have a meal together once a week which involves all ages. There are summer family camps and mission trips where old and young are serving together. A teen may sometimes feel more likely to share his struggles with the youth director or someone older in the church. Growth often takes place as people are in community with those older and younger and are walking with the Lord.
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to help you disciple those under your care but openness to help others and being helped.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
Dear Ones, Hope you had a good weekend. Warm days are ahead this week but also lots of celebrating as the 4th is soon here. Today I am going to Aldi’s and no wound care today as the paramedic is out of town.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Don’t we all love to be around humble people who are open and don’t think their way is the only way? Humility is beautiful for it shows strength of character with a willingness to listen, and to learn and to grow. Pride, on the other hand, shows up in unteachableness, defensiveness and a puffed-up ego. The Lord hates pride! James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Even a stronger word is given in Proverbs 16:5, “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured he will not go unpunished.” We may think that pride is not a serious sin, but God sees it differently. And wasn’t it pride that the Devil fell from his heavenly angelic place?
If we think of sins in our own lives, it seems like they all go back to pride at the root. We may envy someone but we think we deserve even more than them. We complain of hard circumstances and forget that we are owed nothing for Jesus paid the ultimate price to rescue us. If we have a disagreement, we feel certain it is the fault of the other person, rather than searching our own heart.
Pride is not pretty but rather stinky!! It tries to hide and mask itself as something good. But when we look closer we realize that it is not rooted in love but in selfishness, defensiveness and fear. The Word has so much to say about our need for humility and warns us against pride. Pride certainly hinders good relationships with others and is defensive and not open to correction.
Humility, on the other hand, is so beautiful as it reveals those who know they are loved and chosen and don’t have to prove their worth. They are at home with themselves, and when they make mistakes, they thank the Lord for His grace of forgiveness.
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to show you the places that pride is hindering your relationship with Him and with others.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I would surmise that most of us don’t like suffering of any kind and would like a trouble-free life. But that is not possible for all of us will go through painful times, struggles and hardships. The key question we can ask ourselves, is how well do we do when suffering comes into our life? I was reading an article by Joy-Ann Wood who shares how Paul writes to Timothy, his spiritual son, and exhorts him to be courageous in suffering and uses the examples of a soldier, an athlete and a farmer from II Tim 2:3-7. He starts out by saying, ”Share in sufferings as a good soldier of Jesus.”
If we were in the military we would want to be strong and not distracted given our assignment. If we are an athlete, we would want to be disciplined and focused on the goal and training well. If we were a farmer we would be hard working and willing to toil in the heat and deal with the weeds etc. In other words, Paul is saying to keep focused, work hard and endure suffering courageously.
I must admit I am not excited about suffering but I am seeing more and more the benefits of suffering. As you all know, I fell and have been dealing with my injured leg and often have to go to a wound specialist at the hospital. I am excited to go in one sense, as she surveys my wound and knows exactly what to do to help it heal. But I also know when she debrides it, and removes the old dried blood and skin with several kinds of instruments, it hurts! Sometimes I close my eyes and just pray. All the while she is doing it I know it is for my good and so I thank her and call her my angel. I am thankful she is very observant and knows what to look for and detected that I had a staph infection. She gave me the necessary antibiotic and although I could have rejected her advice it would not be wise to do that or I would only have become more sick and not heal.
The last time I was there, the picture came to me of how our Great Physician is our healer, and we need to be willing to go to Him for help. Sometimes it is something very big but even in the little things that cause pain, He is the one we need to go to. If we reject his ways and don’t receive His help, we will only become sicker and deeper in despair. Yes, it may hurt initially, but in the long run it is healing. We are not to let things go, but to quickly run to Him for help.
Challenge for today: Thank the Lord when going through suffering that He is bringing healing and restoration to you, and follow His instructions.
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a great weekend! We had a full house for the Birthday party yesterday. Today is cleaning day and Al and I will be working together to shape up the apartment.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I believe our hearts long for wholeness, for we are made for God and made to love. We see so many books in the bookstore or online about healing and wholeness. For our physical health, we are apt to pop vitamins in our mouth, walk ten thousand steps a day, and go to the gym, but what about our souls? How can we live as God’s children, lives that are holy and whole? God is only too happy to correct us when needed, to guide us, and to heal us. He wants to restore us and transform our character to be like Him. Paul writes in a letter to the Christians of Ephesus, “Long before He laid down earth’s foundations God had us in mind, and settled on us as the focus of His love to be made whole and holy with His love.” (Eph. 1:4)
How many of us feel holy and whole? In ourselves we are anything but holy, and we can’t be whole without being holy. Would our driving habits exhibit that we are holy? How about our response when someone has stormed us with their political views? John Eldredge wrote, “He makes us whole by making us holy. He makes us holy by making us whole.” It’s in the Lord that we come to know who we are and can live lives of purpose. The Lord wants to restore us and heal those broken parts of us. He desires that we have far more than correct doctrine, for He wants intimacy with us.
How do we want to be known? Would we be called the cantankerous one or the loving one? The impatient one or the kind one? The stingy one or the giving one? We can fake things for a while, but that is shallow holiness and eventually what is inside is seen. Holiness is a matter of our hearts and the Lord knows what is going on inside of us. He wants to transform our lives, heal our souls and make us ever more like Him.
Challenge for today: Be honest with the Lord about your motives and ask Him to make you holy and whole.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a great weekend! We have party day here today and Ann also plans to stop by. We had a big group for Bible study yesterday and it was good to be back again.
Devotions from Judy’s heart,
I believe our hearts long for wholeness for we are made for God and made to love. We see so many books in the bookstore or online about healing and wholeness. Physically we are apt to pop vitamins in our mouth, walk 10,000 steps a day and go to the gym but what about our souls. How can we live as God’s child and a life that is holy and whole. God is only too happy to correct us when needed, to guide us and to heal us. He wants to restore us and transform our character to be like Him. Paul writes in a letter to the Christians in Ephesus and he says, “Long before He laid down earth’s foundations God had us in mind, and settled on us as the focus of His love to be made whole and holy with His love.” (Eph. 1:4)
How many of us feel holy and whole? In ourselves we are anything but holy, and we can’t be whole without being holy. Would our driving habits exhibit that we are holy? How about our response when someone has stormed us with their political views. I read a book by John Eldredge and he said, “He makes us whole by making us holy. He makes us holy by making us whole.” It’s in the Lord that we come to know who we are and can live lives of purpose. The Lord wants to restore us and heal those broken parts of us. He desires that we have far more than correct doctrine for He wants intimacy with us.
How do we want to be known? Would we be called the cantankerous one or the loving one? The impatient one or the kind one? The stingy one or the giving one? We can fake things for a while but that is shallow holiness and eventually the inside of our cup is seen. Holiness is a matter of our hearts and the Lord knows what is going on inside of us. He wants to transform our lives and heal our souls and make us ever more like Him.
Challenge for today: Be honest with the Lord about your motives and ask Him to make you holy and whole.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy
Dear Ones, Hope your day is full of wisdom. We have Bible study here today and it is also Donut Day. I hope to get some food prep done and catching up. I had a good report yesterday from the wound specialist and am so grateful!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Haven’t we all wanted to be a person of wisdom, knowing what to do in situations and responding in the right ways? King Solomon had a dream and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” He asked God for wisdom to govern the people and was given great wisdom. God was very pleased with his request and he became the wisest man ever. He applied that wisdom during most of his reign, but sadly in his last years his heart was not fully given to the Lord. Something we all need to guard against for we can start out well, but then give out.
There are those that have a lot of knowledge, but wisdom is putting that knowledge into practice and doing the right thing. What good is it if we have knowledge, but don’t follow through and act in the right way? It is easier said than done! Most of the time we don’t actually lack the knowledge of the truth of what we know we should do, but we fail to live it out. What good is that? James said in James 1:22, “But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” The Message translation says, “Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!”
Of course, there may be times we aren’t sure what to do, and it may help to think of what you would tell someone else if they were in your situation. It may become clearer to us, and we see our need to do the very thing that is hard but right. It has helped me to be accountable to a friend about my desire to spend quiet time in stillness before the Lord each morning before I get into my work routine. Since I have done that, it has helped me to be faithful daily. Do whatever works for you, but don’t stop part way in just knowing what you should do, but actually do it.
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord for wisdom to know what is the right thing, and then follow through by doing it.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a blessed day. Al will be off to men’s group and in home in time to go with me to the wound specialist. My wound feels better so am hoping the infection is taken care of.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Haven’t we all been guilty of presumption? We presume to know what is best, what God may do next, what puts us in the limelight, etc. Sometimes it is in jest, but sometimes it is a matter of putting ourselves first. I read today from Mark 10:35-45, where James and John presumptuously asked Jesus to sit on his right and left hand in glory. Jesus answers cuts through their less-than-humble question saying, “But whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” That was not the response they were expecting or wanting.
I have a humorous example to share as our son’s family was recently here for ten days, and we had games and fun family times. At the beginning of their stay at a rental on the lake, I told them there would be a cash prize for the one who caught the biggest fish. That got their attention, and each day they spent time out on a huge pontoon boat catching fish. When the first large fish was caught, it caused some hope to fade that others would be able to top it. For a while our grandson was leading, but then our son got a bigger one, and in a jesting pompous way bragged that he would get the prize. He teased and walked around like a king pin and as if he had already won it, but I reminded the rest that they still all had a chance to win. Well, early on the final morning I got picture on my phone of our youngest grandson, A.J., with a big smile on his face and holding up his huge northern. On his second cast he thought his lure was caught in the weeds, but instead he hooked the giant fish. I couldn’t believe it. He beat his dad and was the winner and awarded $50. The rest got smaller prizes for participating, but presumption did not win.
Pride and presumption will not win in our lives either, for Jesus calls us to a life of humility and self-sacrifice, seeking the good of others.
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to help you put Him first, others second, and yourself last.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
Dear Ones, Hope you have a wonderful day. Last night was our last night to see Mark’s family before they go back home to N.C. We have had a wonderful 10 days with them and lots of sharing, games, meals together and we will miss them. I do already! Today we are invited to friends for coffee and fellowship!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Friendships are important in our lives, and if we have all the money in the world but have no friends, we are poor. Since our family has moved around as a clergy family, we have friends in different parts of the country who remain good friends for life. I am always excited when we go to see Kurt’s family, as we also stop on our way to Kansas so I can have lunch with a friend that I see only a couple times a year. I look forward to those times, counting the days and always go away from time together with a full heart.
Recently, I read what Jamon Guinasso had to say about friendship with the Lord. He doesn’t mean calling on the Lord only when we have a crisis or some specific need when we want His help, but treasuring His friendship all the time. In other words, we want His friendship more than the outcome for us. We know Moses spoke with God face to face, and Abraham was called a friend of God three times in the Bible. In James 2:23 it says,” And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; And he was called the friend of God.” Jesus had many names given him: He is our Savior, Lord, Prince of peace, Wonderful, Counselor, etc. We have a wall hanging given us by our congregation in Brunswick on our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Since then, it has accompanied us on all of our moves and hangs in our living room now. I often look at it as Al and I meet together for prayer on the sofa each morning. I am reminded of the Lord’s greatness, and yet He desires friendship with us.
Abraham built altars in pivotal places where God spoke to him as a mark of God’s nearness and friendship. We most likely will not make an altar, but Guinasso suggests recording in a journal the times God has met with us. If asked who we are, may we say with deep conviction, “I am a friend of God!!”
Challenge for today: Spend time with the Lord talking to Him throughout your day as your best friend.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a good weekend, especially you fathers. Kurt and Brenda stopped by Saturday night to wish Al a happy Father’s Day and yesterday we went with Mark’s family to church and then to their bnb for steak dinner and afternoon. Today I see the Paramedic and later going to Mark and Andrea’s for our final time together. It has been a wonderful time to see them nearly every day before they go back to N.C.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Every child needs secure attachment and to know they are safe because they are seen by someone who will respond if they are in distress. Such children are resilient. Those that pray experience God’s love even when things are not as they would wish them to be. They know someone cares for them. Somehow in my childhood, I felt like my dad would always be there, rescue me if needed and make things right. It left me feeling secure even when we were poor when Al was in seminary, going through challenging times, and yet feeling God would take us through.
Professor Justin Bailey writes that there is a connection between attachment and how we approach prayer, experience joy, hope, forgiveness, etc. When we know a God who sees us and loves us, we feel secure and can trust His promises. We can’t secure ourselves in the fallen world that is full of evil and violence. If we try to find security in the world, we will find there are no safe places. We all have different responses because of our early childhood experiences. Bailey writes that if we were blessed with secure attachment, we develop a positive image of ourselves and others. We can solve problems and know that we have support from others when needed. If we have a preoccupied or anxious attachment, we may look at others positively but have a negative image of ourselves. We will be fearful others won’t be there for us. If we have a dismissing or avoidant attachment, we have a positive image of ourself but negative view of others and don’t feel a need for them. If we have a fearful attachment, we avoid close relationships and have a negative image of others as uncaring and ourselves as unlovable.
After reading about attachments, I see the importance of accepting and loving my self, but also having loving relationships with others where we feel safe. Maybe as you read this you didn’t have loving parents, but the Lord can be our attachment figure and heal our sense of insecurity. He is a father to the fatherless. Even if our parents forsake us, we can say as David did in Psalm 27:10, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.” As we draw close to the Lord in prayer, we may begin to be seen and can trust. It is a gift when the Lord also gives us persons who listen to us and see us for who we are.
Challenge for today: Pray that the Lord will help you feel safe, and thank Him that He sees you and loves you unconditionally.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy
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