Category: Whispers (Page 23 of 161)

I am so glad that God deliberately chooses the nobodies! That doesn’t mean we should go around with our head hung low and lacking confidence but rather it becomes clear to others that our confidence is in the Lord, not ourselves.  He deserves the praise and the glory and honor, for we know that without Him we could do nothing, Nada! We can only accomplish things because of His strength within us.

All of us have probably been amazed when we see God use an unknown very humble vessel to do something great. Maybe we are at our class reunion, and we discover that George who was so introverted and lacking in confidence is now head of a big Christian organization or well- known preacher.  Others may not be in the limelight but are like a bright star shining in the darkness around them. Let us not discount ourselves and think, who am I that God would use, for if we are His child, His power within us can do miraculous things. May our confidence be in the Lord and always, always give Him the glory.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you have an enjoyable weekend! I plan to clean the apartment and have an appointment. and our grandson may stop by on his way to the Cities.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Would we say we are present to our families and friends or are there times we are on overload from work, and they only get a small piece of us. Perhaps we are all guilty of bringing home the emotions and thinking of those around us in our work-a-day world to our families. We fail to pause on our rush to get home to take time to wash off the attitudes from the world and be ready to engage with our families. That is a mistake and if we drive to work, there is ample opportunity to pray on the way home and ask the Lord to cleanse us and settle our emotions so that we don’t infect our families with stresses of the world.

Why is so hard to say the word, “Help! Lord, I need your help!” It is humbling for one thing, but it also puts us in a place where we can deal with our stuff, not pretending everything is great .and burying our pain. Instead, we can trust God, and often He sends a Soul Care giver or a Christian counselor to help us navigate through our pain and bring us to the place of freedom where we may flourish. Let us not run away but go home to our Heavenly Father who all the while waits for us to come. Let us leave our shallow lives and live deeply in Him.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

We need to stop judging others while not owning up to our own sins. Father Pior who heard others passing judgment on another carried a sack of sand on his shoulder and at the same time carried a little basket with a small amount of sand in front of him. When asked the meaning of his behavior he said that the big sack was his sins that he put them behind him so he wouldn’t think of them or weep over them and the little bag was the few errors of this man that he had used many words to condemn him by. But he followed with that it is not right to do that. We should all carry our own bag in front of us and ask God’s forgiveness and of course keep the bag of others behind us and not dwell on them.

But when others sin, it is far better to pray for the person and at the same time remember that we also can fall into temptation and do the very things we are judging others of. How much better to win them over to God’s love and grace. If we are honest before God and open to self-knowledge, we will end up being compassionate, for we know that “There for the grace of God, go I. “

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

How do we get yes prayers and avoid the detours? We have to start with praying for God’s will and not our will. How is God viewing our situation? There are some things that we know right off the bat that it is His will and other things we may not know. Just as I am writing this devotional, I got a prayer request for a young man who is trying to get set free from drugs. We already know God would have all men come to know Him and be free of entanglements so we can pray confidently. Now if I am praying to win the lottery, well, that is very “iffy! ” When we are unsure of God’s will in something, we can also ask for confirmation, as He may say the same thing to someone else and it brings us into agreement in the spirit.

As we pray, we can ask for God’s heart on the matter and that we will desire what God wants. One missionary who was in a primitive field of ministry in a foreign country said that if he didn’t know it was God’s will, he could never stand to live under such conditions. But He knew God’s heart and desired His plan and was able to endure with peace.  Sometimes we are also called to just to speak out a word we feel God gave us publicly but still be open correction by the Body if necessary. There are times we may be led to follow through with action when He is directing us. I remember being in a circle of prayer warriors and we were praying for a gal that was troubled. As we prayed one of them felt led to take the young gal into her home and disciple her and it turned out to be a blessing for both. Let us always pray in His name and for His will in all of it.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a great weekend.  We got more snow and now it truly looks like winter. I plan to do food prep and go to Ald’s and Exercise class this morning and then walk in the snow this afternoon.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

When we have good news, the first thing we want to do is share it with others, especially those we are close to and love. So, when we know Jesus, don’t we naturally want our family to experience the joy that we have found and do it in a way that doesn’t turn them off but gives them a desire to know Him for themselves. As a pastor’s family our kids did the usual of going to Sunday school and Church, confirmation and youth group but we also had devotions together, memorized scripture etc. (grandma even gave them $ for each verse they learned and a whole chapter was worth a lot!) We told them they were an example to others, not the only example in their youth group but simply one. Of course, as parents we prayed a lot especially during those teen years and shared that they would have to make their own decision about following the Lord. Gratefully, they all chose to love and serve Him, but they had to make the choice.

Challenge for today: Share Jesus every chance you get, but don’t forget about your family too.

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying a good weekend. I plan to make chili and do other food prep and clean the apartment. We are enjoying brisk walks each day and lots of fresh air!!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We are all on the journey of our life and do we make the most of it or do we waste our moments in careless living. Hopefully we are we open to all that God has for us and follow the path He puts before us, rather than to go our own way that is blinded by the way of the world.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to enlarge your capacity for Him that you may journey well.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Happy Weekend! We got snow yesterday and looks more like winter and plows were out again. I am going to bake early this morning and then Al is going with me to an appointment.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Freedom is wonderful and as I write, Al will soon be going to church to meet with a couple men and I will be home in a quiet apartment and free to dance around if I like, free to sing and make noise. Ordinarily we are quite contemplative, and the apartment is quiet as we study and write. When we have birthdays in our family though, it is my time to let loose and sing at the top of my lungs, from high range to low range with a breathy voice…all for fun.  We might all think of when we feel truly free.

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to help you stand fast in your freedom and express it in acts of love.

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

I was reading from the book of Isaiah and the Lord used Isaiah to speak His word to the people. He warned them of what would happen if they went their own way. The people had become proud and trusted in themselves and said, in Isaiah 9:10, “The bricks have fallen, but we will build (all the better) with hewn stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put (costlier) cedars in their place.” In other words, we will do it ourselves in our own strength! The results were devastating as the Lord stirred up their enemies to devour them.

Our pride will bring us down when we choose to go our own way rather than God’s. It says in Proverbs 16:9, “A man’s mind plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.” It’s alright to make plans but we must hold them loosely so that if the Lord shows us a different way that we go His way, and not ours. I usually have a plan for the day of what I hope to accomplish but then I need to always follow with, “Lord, if this is not your plan then may I go your way, not mine!”

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

The Lord desires to teach us in those dark times and it is important to stay open to Him, even when we don’t have warm feelings of His nearness. It is an opportunity not to turn to all of our coping ways, even addictions, but to ask the Lord to help us deal with things in our lives that we have put before Him, any idol that blocks us from fully depending on Him. The idols could be even good things, but that have kept us from completely trusting in Him.

When I wrote this, I noticed an odor from my pantry, as the door was slightly ajar. I have a good sense of smell, and I knew right away it was potatoes that had gotten rotten. We only have potatoes for when I make Finnish Pasty so the remainder of them can go bad. The dark pantry closet made me think of times the Lord takes us into the darkness to show us what is “rotten” and needs to go and it is really like a gift to us to discover.

Perhaps God is calling us to a deeper walk with Him, and we can come to even thank Him for the gift of the dark night as it reveals areas of our hearts that need to be surrendered to Him. Of course, that means our own defenses have to go, our old ways of protecting ourselves, and we are content to live in grace that frees us from ourselves and to trust Him fully. Why does it take us so long to realize we can’t go on our own and need to surrender all? Let us face the things that block us from doing that, and be done with hiding.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy