Category: Whispers (Page 50 of 164)

What we must not do is to remain passive and refuse to respond to His promptings. We have all met Christians who were saved years ago but have not grown spiritually through the years. They are asleep and miss maturing in their spiritual lives. I believe in our day, that is an especially dangerous place to be as our culture gets darker as it resists God’s ways. We are told to be alert, active, give attention, and be persistent.  We are going to have to choose if we go along with the world, or if we will take our stand for the Lord. Will we be complacent or will we be passionate and progress in our walk with the Lord.

We need to exercise our faith as Abraham did and respond without knowing what the purpose of our circumstances my be at the time. But we can pray, seek His will, and choose now what will turn out for our good later. I just think back on all the moves we have made as a pastor’s family. We never knew when the Lord was going to move us on to another church, but knew He would take care of us and bless us. If we had stayed put, we would have missed so much, and never known the special people He has brought into our lives etc. Let us live with faith and openness to what the Lord has for us next.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

When I read about Jeremiah, I see that he was very practical but if seen from the world’s perspective, it may seem he was very impractical. God told him to buy a field on land that was going to be taken over by the enemy and he and others of his people were going to go into exile. Those looking on must have thought Jeremiah was crazy and totally impractical to buy that field, but he was following what God told him to do. God was using his life as an outward picture of hope to the people that they would one day come back to their land. Judgement was coming to them for they had forgotten God, but He was calling them back.

   God is the most important reality, and our lives were made to live in relationship with Him. If God tells us to do something, then the most practical thing is to do it. If we live apart from God, we wander about and waste our lives.  Sometimes what God asks us to do seems impractical and foolish to those looking on, but if we obey Him when we feel He is the one directing us, then we are doing the most practical thing of all. In Jer. 32:27, God confirms His direction to Jeremiah and says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”  Jeremiah is filled with hope that the people will one day come back to their land. There are times I also ask God to confirm what I think I am supposed to do, and I love when He lets me know in the most unusual ways at times. Let us all live practically for Him and never lose hope.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Everything got a good soaking rain and wiped out any traces of snow. This morning, I plan to make Oh Henry bars and go to my exercise class etc.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  Have you experienced a time of renewal in your life when you were filled with the joy of the Lord that seemed to just overflow and sensed His love in a deep way? I am reading in II Chronicles lately and I felt joyful just reading about what happened to the people when Hezekiah became king of Israel after they had endured years of cruel King Ahaz who had even shut up the house of the Lord. In chapter 29 King Hezekiah comes on the scene and everything changed for he opened the doors of the temple, had it cleansed and repaired and resumed the sacrifices. He offered bulls and rams and lambs and goats for the priests to sacrifice and called the people to come and celebrate the Passover. The Levites had cymbals, harps, and lyres and the singers sang praises and trumpets sounded as people bowed down in worship. What a glorious praise service! People’s hearts were touched and they brought offerings with glad and willing hearts. They didn’t want it to end and the Passover was resumed for another week as they feasted and made confessions and gave thanks to the Lord for another 7 days. While on their way to their homes again they must have had so much to share about their renewing time of worship of the Lord.

  Do we expose ourselves to times of going apart and seeking the Lord? We may have all read of the revival that took place at Asbury College as the Holy Spirit was poured out on those present in chapel and went on for days and days. Even when the revival services were later shut down and school life resumed, revival broke out at Baylor University and Louisiana State University, Texas A&M University etc.  Revival is a sovereign move of God and brings repentance and change to hearts and a passion for the Lord. Jesus is front-center and believers have a hunger for the Word and a passion to see others won to the kingdom. Joy is found in meeting together in worship and praise and it is evident God is moving by His Spirit.

  Let us pray for revival for our country as it is in a mess and needs God; even the church needs renewing and lives that aren’t compromised to the world.

  Challenge for today: Pray for revival in America and that your own heart would be renewed.

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you have a good day with a heart of thankfulness for how God made you. Al has men’s group and I plan to cook and make up my own recipe, so hope it turns out.  Later we have our Bible study and then a few places to go.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  We can all make plans, and it is good to be organized and make plans each day, but we have to hold them loosely and make sure they are what God has planned for us. Our desire is to be for His purposes to be fulfilled each day in our lives. Sometimes He surprises us and our day doesn’t turn out anything like we expected or anticipated. He may add things or remove things but it’s good when we welcome whatever He sends. Psalm 16 has some things to say about our plans and we are told in verse 3 to “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” When we put everything into His hands, He will establish our steps, (Verse 9) and His purposes will be fulfilled.

  Tuesday, I had my day planned out for me and after Women’s Bible Study at church, my plans went out the window. I got a call from the dentist that they had a sudden opening in an hour and a half later and it was mine if I wanted it. Yes, I was to get my implants and loved that I didn’t have to wait any longer and I was at there with bells on! Of course, there are other days when our fine laid plans are interrupted in a negative way, like when we may be about to go home, and the boss puts a pile of papers on our desk that we have to take care of first. We have to adjust, and we need to expect the unexpected things that may happen in our day. Even when we have a tight schedule it is good to schedule in some time for some breathing room and not have to break the speed limit to get somewhere on time.

   We are all different and designed by the Lord. Some of us like to be quick to get to our work and others tend to procrastinate. If we do things right away and not last minute, we will have greater peace and actually more time to accomplish our work. Being organized and not cluttered will also help us accomplish more. Decluttering our homes gives us more space and with it, greater peace. May we trust the Lord to guide us to be and do what He wants us to and accomplish His purposes.

   Challenge for today: Thank the Lord for how He has created you and ask Him to guide you into His plans for your life.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you have a day filled with peace and hope. My day is chuck full of activities of shopping, exercise, crafts, Bible study etc.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

We’ve all probably heard someone say, “He’s blind as a bat!” and it could mean he physically can’t see without glasses, or he is unable to recognize problems that may be clear to others. Many have to live with physical blindness and yet go through life with great spiritual sight; and there are those who see but are blind spiritually, which is far worse.

Challenge for today: Put Eph. 1:17-18 in your own words and pray it with meaning.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you wake to a beautiful day. Such lovely weather for refreshing walks. Snow is melting so we will soon be able to walk again on the Paul Bunyan trail.
Today is women’s Bible study and Al is  as I also made Finnish pasty yesterday to have for our dinner today.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  Are we seeking truth in the way we think and live or do we accept the lies of our culture?  Pastors who preach to make people feel good but refuse to talk about sin and truth miss the mark. They may be popular but cheat their congregation of the life of truth and peace God wants for them. It’s much like putting on a bandage in regard to sin, but the way of truth cuts to the heart of the matter and brings wholeness.

   Some go to church to feel happy and good about themselves, and others because they desire to know God and let Him direct their lives and become whole. It’s not really about what we want but to become what God wants, which is a big difference.

  In Jeremiah’s time, Pashur was a popular eminent preacher and had a following. Everyone liked to hear him, and he preached everything positive to make the people feel good. But Jeremiah couldn’t stomach him because Pashur doctored up truth and people didn’t see their sin or need of God. On the other hand, God wants us to deal with our selfishness and sin and seek forgiveness. He wants us to become mature people in the Lord.

   We all need to live by the truth, not by what the culture says or preachers who tell us only positive things and want us to applaud. We are to test everything against scripture and to face our lies and sinful behavior and seek forgiveness. It’s not like polishing our outward behavior but experiencing inward truth, seeing ourselves as God sees us. To illustrate the seriousness of sin Jeremiah took a pottery water jug and threw it to the ground, smashing it in the presence of the leaders; he told them how God was going to smash the people and the city who had wandered from God, but he ended up in stocks for telling them. For him, the most important thing was living for God and not the applause of men. Are we passionate for God and truth seekers or do we go along with the world?

  Challenge for today: Dare to ask the Lord of ways you value comfort and applause of men over living for Him, and purpose to go God’s way!

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Dear Ones,

Hope you had a blessed and joyous Easter. We enjoyed our time going to the lake, hearing Leif preach, the yummy dinner, games and just being in nature. We came home feeling thankful and blessed. Today the Easter decorations will be put away and I plan to go to exercise and do some baking.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

How many times have we prayed that the Lord would draw us closer to Him and that we would sense His nearness. We may have sung the old familiar song, “Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it Jesus is my plea, daily walking close to Thee, Let it be dear Lord, let it be.” We know in our hearts when we have drifted away from the Lord and we desire His nearness. Chances are we have taken over control of our lives again and like Anthony Bloom said that “So often when we say to the Lord, “I love you” we say it with a huge “I” and a small “you.” The bigger our “I” becomes, the more isolated we feel from the Lord.

Challenge for today: Meditate on God’s love for you and ask Him to help you find ways to express His love for others.

Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy