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 92 of 171)

February 21, 2023

February 22, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Dear Ones,

Sorry I neglected to put this devotion on our blog site yesterday.

May you wake to a day of joy and awareness of God’s presenThe question for this week is:Have you ever been part of a an awakening  movement in your life and what  affect did it have on your life?

Devotions from Judy’s heart

  As I watch what is happening at Asbury University, it is so obvious the hunger that young people have today. There is so much depression, loneliness, and emptiness as the search goes on to find fullness and purpose. Many try to fill that hunger with busyness, accumulating more things, and getting to the top of the ladder but it will never fill the void within.

  God wants to pour His love into us and fill us with His Spirit and that is what is happening not only at Asbury, but other campuses across the country. There is such an awareness of God’s presence and holiness that people don’t want to leave. In fact, there is a long line outside of those who want to get into the chapel to not miss His joy and loving presence that is being poured out.

   Al and I experienced a time of revival in the 1970’s when Al was a youth pastor in Edina. When Al finished seminary, we had hoped to go to the poor in the inner city, but God sent us to the rich in the suburbs. We wondered what we could give to the affluent kids who already had everything. But God did a sovereign work in the hearts of the youth and so many lives were changed. It had nothing to do with glitzy programs and attractions but it was the work of the Holy Spirit, converting hearts of the young people. God broke through hearts as His love was poured out. We had so many hungry souls in our basement each week and many of them have become full time workers for the Lord and ministers.

   More than ever before in our day of such decadence we need a move from God, we need a spirit of repentance that acknowledges our sin and turn to the Lord for forgiveness. If we have thirsty hearts, He extends His invitation to us in John 7:37(God’s Word); “Whoever is thirsty must come to me and drink. As Scripture says, “Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me’.” 

  May we respond and daily drink of His living water.

Challenge for today: Say no to anything that would block the springs of living water from flowing out of you.

Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

   

Februaru 22, 2023

February 22, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a good day and are not getting buried in snow. We hear the cities may get up to 18″ the next few days and we will get a possible get 3″to 5″. I plan to go to my exercise class today and later crafts and Lenten supper and service. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   We are in a new season of the church year and Sunday Al and I changed the paraments on the church altar to the color purple with a crown of thorns embroidered into the cloth. A beautiful reminder that is the Lenten season and a time to reflect on Jesus’ death and resurrection.
   Lent is a very old practice and varies a great deal among Christians but this time is especially meant to help us become more aware of our need for the Lord. Some years I fast and give up something, like desserts; but the giving up of a particular enjoyable thing or action is not what is most important but rather time spent to focus more on the Lord. As it says in James 4:8 (God’s Word), “Come close to God and He will come close to you.”
    Lent is a time of preparation reminding us of what Jesus went through for us on the cross to save us. Hopefully, we use this time to draw closer to Him and know Him in deeper ways and experience His grace and mercy. In many churches ashes are put on foreheads of the people in the sign of the cross symbolizing repentance and a time of cleansing and renewal.
   At our particular church we have a soup supper and fellowship before a Wednesday night service. Each week Pastor or a different person will be speaking on the various aspects of Jesus journey to the cross. We can get ho hum about Jesus’ death as we have heard the story many times over our life time, but Lent is a time to refocus and remember.
    Maybe this Lenten season, we need to do something new, perhaps a particular spiritual discipline; or go on a weekend retreat, or just go for a walk out in nature and reflect on what Jesus did for us. Let us not just go through the motions but ask the Holy Spirit to open our hearts to go deeper with the Lord and to experience Him anew and receive from Him all that He wants to pour into our hearts.
Then it won’t be long until we will be celebrating His amazing resurrection with such gratitude and joy.
  Challenge for today: Ask the Lord how He would have you celebrate this Easter season in a new way with a fresh awareness of His sacrifice for you.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

   

February 20, 2023

February 20, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend and time to relax. It is starting to snow and we hope it won’t snow too much as we are going to a funeral this morning in     for our friend who just lived down the hall from us. We will all miss him and we are comforted that he is now with the Lord. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   There are some hard things we go through in our lives and later remark, “ It was worth it all!” Such is our lives as followers of Jesus, that no matter what we go through in this life, it won’t begin to compare to what awaits us in heaven some day.
  One of our friends here at Northern Lakes is now with the Lord and we will celebrate his life today. I wrote of Dan’s witness for the Lord some time ago as he was such an example to us of perseverance and someone who never gave up. He was 91 years old and usually was the first one to Bible Study each week and rarely missed. I went to bed last night thinking of his witness to us all and woke with an old familiar song that many of you know. “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus! Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase. So, bravely run the race till we see Christ.”
  Perhaps we can all identify with the  second verse when things seem stormy, “At times the sky seems dark, with not a ray of light; We’re tossed and driven on, no human help in sight. But there is One in heaven, who knows our deepest care. Let Jesus solve your problems, just go to Him in prayer.”
   There isn’t any burden that is too small or too great that we can’t hand over to the Lord. He gives us the invitation in Matt. 11:28-30(God’s Word), “Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke over your shoulders, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble. Then you will find rest for yourselves because my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The Lord promises to shoulder our burdens with us and lighten our load until one day we will lay all our burdens down as our lives are over. We will know that it was all worth it for we will spend eternity together with Him in heaven. What a glorious time awaits!
Challenge for today: Give all your cares to the Lord and experience His rest as you wait for that day.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

 

February 18, 2023

February 18, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy  President’s weekend to enjoy! It is misty and foggy out my window today but going to get up to 38 degrees. This morning I made egg dishes and cleaned the apartment. So beautiful to see what is happening at Asbury and other campuses and it can only be the Lord!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  How thirsty are we for God. If we are honest, we will admit that all the other comforts and pleasures of life fall short when we don’t leave room for the Lord in our lives. We will then most certainly be left with that unquenchable thirst and try to fill it with many other things.
  Recently a gal in my exercise class had to be helped to a chair as she felt faint. She sat out the remainder of the class but when she came the next day, she said it was simply that she was dehydrated. After drinking a lot of water, she was hydrated and later felt fine. As a result, she is more careful to carry her big bottle of water and consume it so it wouldn’t happen again.
   Sometimes we aren’t even aware of the thirst we have for God but simply that something doesn’t feel quite right. We get more focused on God’s blessings like family, friendships, health, finances etc, than we do in being thirsty for much more of Him. We come to know His love in deeper ways as we pray and read His word and spend time in quiet listening to His heart. As we do this, we begin to truly enjoy fellowship with the Lord rather than seeking to quench our thirst through other people or worldly pleasures. Nothing else can measure up or satisfy our thirst, for we were made for God.
   The choice is ours. No one forces us to choose the Lord, just as no one forced my friend to get hydrated. God gives us the freedom to make our own choice. Just like Joshua said to the people of Israel in Josh 24:15, “Choose today whom you will serve…my family and I will still serve the Lord.” He was in fact saying that no matter who they would choose, he was committed to serve the Lord. We each have a choice to make, whether it will be to God or a substitute that will leave us thirsty. Let us choose wisely!
  Challenge for today: Don’t settle for anything less than to know God and a desire to love Him and live for Him.
Blessings on your weekend a prayers and love, Judy

February 17, 2023

February 17, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy Weekend to you! The sun is shining but it is below zero.  I just got back from shopping and the house is full of aroma as I made a beef/lentil stew that has been simmering. T
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   One morning I went to my computer and found a poem that our friend David had just written concerning his wife with Alzheimer’s. Most of us know someone with Alzheimer’s and it is a hard road for the caregiver as they see their loved one gradually diminish. David shared his latest poem and the verses from Matt.11:28-30 that God gave him to lift his burden. When I went to my devotional book right after, there was the same verse God had given to another author who carried a heavy load; maybe He wants to give those words to us today.
   David shared how when he was only 7 or 8 years old, his father took him to a steam engine show where he saw a pair of cattle harnessed together. He explained to him how the yoke enabled the cattle to work together so the burden was shared and more was accomplished than if by themselves.
May his following poem help lift your load, whatever it would be.
             ” HIS YOKE IS LIGHT
As a caregiver for a loved one, you may experience complex emotions that never go away. 
The physical strain may be so great you wonder if you can make it another day. 
I will never forget when the neurologist told us she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.  
Tears of fear filled her beautiful blue eyes, we held each other’s hand, and I said all we could do was pray, and I felt like dropping to my knees.
 
 We needed the perfect bible verse as the dark storm clouds were fatal and low.
Jesus, please help; we do not know which way to go.
We found ourselves in a sea of emotions lacking islands and shore; could we hear if Jesus spoke?
A verse came as I remember my father explaining how early farmers used yokes.

 Matthew11:28-30 (NABRE) “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

 This was the perfect verse to lift his spirit and he changed the title of this poem from His Yoke is Light to His Yoke is Love. He said that the love of Jesus is the perfect solution for our earthly journey.
Challenge for today: Yoke yourself in simple faith to Him who is love and experience rest!
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

February 16, 2023

February 16, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a good day. The sun is shining but it is cold. Burr! Al had men’s group this morning. It is Donut day here and  I made Al’s cookies and a veggie stir fry. We have Bible study this afternoon and errands to run after that.  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Are we seeking the most comfortable way to live or are we willing to go God’s way that we can grow in faith and trust?  We have a choice to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and know the Lord in a deeper way or to insist on our own easier way and miss out on so much.
   I read from I Peter 4:1-2 (Message) today: “Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like Him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.”  Peter goes on to say that they have already put in time partying and living their own sinful ways and it is time to get on to God’s ways instead. If things get difficult, they are to think of themselves as fortunate as they are experiencing what Jesus did, for He suffered so much. He wants to use those situations to refine them and to trust as He takes them through it.
   Isn’t that also what Jesus is saying to us today. Things are getting darker in our world and it is costing more to be a follower of the Lord. In many countries Christians are losing their lives for His sake. We will all have to decide if we will keep on, even if we have to suffer and not quit but to let Him do a work in us. In the process we will gain patience, endurance, character and hope. The Lord wants us to enjoy our time with him and walk with Him, to run with Him. He will take us to places we have never been before. For example, maybe you have read about what is happening at Asbury University in Kentucky. A spontaneous revival has broken out that has been going on now for a week. After a scheduled chapel service, people did not want to leave but wanted to stay and worship as there was such a presence of the Lord. The altar is filled most of the time, and some people are being healed physically, emotionally and spiritually. When opportunity is given, there is a long line of those who want to share their testimony. God is moving and so many are taking a stand for the Lord.
  Let each of us also be open to the Lord and follow, no matter what the cost and never quit.
Challenge for today: Don’t complain when going through hard times, but pursue the Lord and rejoice that He refining you and making you more like Him. 
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy 

February 15, 2023

February 15, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a peacefilled day! The house is filled with aroma as I just made beef Straganoff. We got home from Des Moines yesterday afternoon in the rain the entire way, after a wonderful time away
We are catching up now and I will soon be going to my exercise class, then crafts this afternoon and Bible Study tonight. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  God knows best and obeying Him brings freedom! Often we think we know what is right for us but we can be dead wrong and have to suffer consequences. While at our son’s house, Callie their golden doddle dog, was begging for some leftovers from my luncheon plate of yummy food. First, she started licking her chops to let me know she was interested in sampling my food. When she didn’t get a response, she put her paw on my knee and looked at me with yearning eyes. But I had to say no and continued eating.
   Callie is an obedient dog and listens and does what she is told. Her family’s motto is “Discipline equals freedom.” Callie has lots of freedom as she doesn’t need a leash when going for walks with any of the family. They only need to tell her to come back closer if she gets too far ahead and she obeys. She is able to be out in their yard to just roam as she doesn’t go too far away. Other dogs they meet along the walk are pulling against their leashes as they are still learning to obey.
  How about us? Have we learned the secret of freedom that comes from obeying the Lord? Paul has lots to say about freedom in Galatians 5. A few of his words from the Message translation: “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you….It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure you don’t make this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows…Live freely , animated and motivated by God’s Spirit.”
   In Kurt’s family their kids have a great deal of freedom as they are disciplined to do their homework first and then have time for fun, they earn and save up $ before they spend it, etc. Our lives would all go better and freer if we obeyed. Callie didn’t realize what was best for her when she ate a few grains of my rice that accidently dropped on the floor. She got sick later and upchucked her meal. We may think that going our own way in small things doesn’t matter but when we fail to go God’s way we get robbed of freedom. Let us live disciplined lives in freedom.
  Challenge for today: Take time to listen to the Lord and submit to what He has in store for you.
Blessings on  your day and prayers and love, Judy

February 14, 2023

February 14, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy Valentine’s Day! May your day spill over with much love. We are in D.M. and going to head home this morning after such a rich evening last night. About a dozen of us gathered together for a dinner party and for an evening of fellowship and sharing. It was so faith building to hear from each one how God has been moving in their lives since we left here 32 years ago. This group has stayed together as families and still meet every other week. We came away so blessed with thanksgiving to the Lord.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Al and I were also asked to share some of the things the Lord has been teaching us through the years with a group of our former parshioners last night  and and caused me to spend time in reflection. So many people God has used in my life to help me along the way, including mentors. We are not meant to do the Christian life alone but God puts people in our path to walk with us; Sometimes we are mentored and other times we are doing the mentoring. It may be for a short time and sometimes it may be lifelong, but it is up to Him. There are also ministries that have mentoring programs, like Teen Challenge, and direction is given to those who want to grow in the Lord. It is a gift from the Lord when we can be mentors or when we walk with those who are ahead of us on the journey and learn from them.
    Recently I happened to read of how the prophet Elijah mentored Elisha, who was to be God’s prophet after he was taken to glory. He let Elisha in on God’s plan by finding him working in the field and throwing his mantle over him. It was a sign of God’s power and authority being poured into Elisha. Elisha responded by saying goodbye to his family and sharing life with Elijah and became his servant. (I Kings 19) He must have learned so much from his mentor as he accompanied him until he was taken up to glory. At that time, he asked for a double portion of his spirit which God granted.
  Think of those God has used in our lives to show us the way, to express His love, to be bold when needed. Seeing living examples perhaps makes a deeper impression for us than actual words. I was reminded of a woman who I use to visit who was blind and lived alone in her house and had only a son who lived far away. She was so upbeat, joyous and thankful and the most selfless of anyone I have known. I would read to her, bring coffee and goodies and pray with her but I always came home from being with her a better person.
  I think of so many others who were examples to me, who showed me the way by their words and their actions. Let us all be open to those that the Lord sends into our lives and welcome them.
  Challenge for today: Let the Lord use you as a mentor to others and thank Him for those who have mentored you.
Blessings on your Valentine’s day and prayers and love, Judy

February 13, 2023

February 13, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend! The game was so exciting last night and when the Chiefs won, everyone’s lights came on in the neighborhood and fireworks went off. Lots of jubilation!  We are going to head to Des Moines this mmoring and have lunch with a friend and supper and evening with a group from our former church. Then we will be heading home tomorrow. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Soon it will be Valentine’s Day and we send cards, texts, gifts etc. to those who have touched our hearts in special ways. Many of us have been blessed to find the one we would most like to do life with and love above anyone else in the world. But as wonderful as that is, the condition of our spiritual heart is even more important. We might ask ourselves what is the state of our heart?
  Perhaps all of us can sense when our hearts have become rather cool and not as receptive to the Lord. It seems to happen gradually and then one day we wake up and feel more like a stranger than a lover. We may also notice we aren’t as compassionate with those around us either and it is time to tend the soil of our hearts. The Holy Spirit is only too happy to help us with that and wants to be free to work in us to soften our soil.  
   Jesus spoke to a crowd of people about the soil of our hearts, but not everyone understood the meaning, for their hearts were hardened; but Jesus explained the meaning later to his disciples as they had ready hearts. In Matt 13 Jesus said the seed sown on hard soil is the person who hears the good news but doesn’t take it in and the enemy plucks it out of his heart. The seed on the rocky ground is the one who responds with enthusiasm at first but when troubles come, falls away. The seed that was sown among the thorns is the person who hears at first and then the worries and worldly cares choke it out. But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears and take it in and produces a harvest. Such a heart is tender and receptive and open. Don’t we want to be like that?
   Maybe we have all four of those soils but at different times in our lives. We know what is like to be cold and lack compassion, be caught up in worldly pursuits, and are stressed with worry; but we also experience times when our hearts are aflame with love for the Lord and others. Soil takes tending and tilling and we need to submit ourselves to the Lord so He can do the deep work that is needed.
  Challenge for today: Pray the words of the song: ”Change my heart, O God, make it ever true; change my heart, O God, May I be like you. You are the Potter, I am the clay; mold me and make me, this is what I pray.”
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

 

February 11, 2023

February 11, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
 Happy Super Bowl weekend! Thank you for prayers as we arrived safely at our son Kurt’s in Kansas and arrived yesterday afternoon. So fun to catch up with family last night over a scrumtious meal and laughter and today we are going to a Nursery to look at plants and have coffe and then this afternoon to buy Kansas Chief shirts and Kansas State shirts! Tomorrow the pastor is giving a summery of the T.V adds from the past from a spiritual perspective. Afterwards Grant has a basketball game and then we are going out to eat and maybe snooze before the Super Bowl game starts. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  The Lord has such deep compassion for us and expresses His love in such intricate ways. Last night I was just awed by His grace and kindness as our granddaughter shared with us. We had arrived at our son’s home in Olathe,  Kansas and all sat around the table in the evening catching up and laughing and telling stories. Paige opened a mug from us that was decorated with kitties and then proceeded to tell us about her beloved kitty, Cleo. When we visited before she had purchased a white Siamese kitty with her own money and cared for her with love in every way.  But being away in college it became difficult, plus her boyfriend had an allergy to cats and couldn’t be around Cleo. So, she prayed and put an ad online to find the right home for Cleo. God led her for she just knew when a certain person responded that she was the one. The gal was young like Paige and had lost her mom, and her beloved cat had died who had looked just like Cleo with the same markings. When they got together, Cleo responded in friendliness to her right away, which was unusual for her, and Paige was certain she had found the right home. Paige offered her Cleo’s bed and all the things she had bought for her and told the gal there was no charge as she just wanted to find the best home for her kitty. But the girl’s father sent her $200 in the mail for I’m sure he knew what it meant for his daughter who had experienced two big losses in her life. They both cried when she left for God had answered both of their prayers.
  As Paige told the story, I thought of how our Heavenly Father cares for us and loves to pour out his kindnesses to us. This morning I read from the Message translation the book of Ephesians  that we have been studying in our Bible Study class back home. Paul wrote, “Immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us …Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus…. God can do anything you know—- far more than you could even imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams:” That is our God, so rich in compassion towards us.Let us recognize His hand in our lives as He pours out His grace to us in big ways and small ways for He loves us above all else.
Challenge for today: Before you go to sleep tonight, recount the ways God has blessed you today.
 
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