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.

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Awake, not Woke

This is the title of a new book by Noelle Mering.  She wrote a condensed article about the woke movement for Ralph Martin’s monthly newsletter.  She contends there are victims of the movement, who need healing.  There are those who, “have been given some poison of ideology that has harmed and wounded them.” Others have simply been deceived.  Then there are others who are “the source of the poison and need to be stopped.” This all causes confusion.  “Some people need to be befriended and listened to.  Other people need to be woken up.  And the people doing immediate harm need to be stopped.” 

The woke movement started in the Garden, where Adam and Eve were tempted to be as god.  “It is a self-deification movement,” writes Mering, “that corrodes the human person as well as friendships, families, and relationships.”  Following Marx, woke sees “every person either as an oppressor or the oppressed.” Marx believed, “the biggest obstacles to a revolution as faith, family, and the father.”  Why?  “All three give us a particular identity and help us to feel named and known.  They root us and give us purpose.” 

The poison of the movement is “a redefining of what a human is.”  According to Mering, woke has three dogmas.  “The first dogma emphasizes the group and sublimates the person.  It redefines humanity according to society’s hatred and demands uniformity of thought.  Identity is found in fighting oppression.  It creates a society looking for a perpetrator and seeking victimhood.”  Instead of being children of a loving God, “the movement defines us by society’s hatred.” 

The second dogma, “emphasizes will at the expense of reason.  It attempts to re-engineer society by claiming that society and humanity have no fundamental nature….our feelings and desires define us and that we should pursue transgressive identities…..moral law is oppressive and innocence is a form of dominance that must be destroyed.”  We are oppressed by our own internal repression, which is based on a moral law that is really a social construct and not actually real. 

The third dogma, “emphasizes power over authority.  It harms the whole family by targeting and weakening the father.  This harms our understanding of God as well.”  Targeting fathers implodes the human family.  But warms Mering, “the real target is our Lord.” 

But Mering is hopeful.  “Social re-engineers think,” observes Mering, “human nature is putty, but the human person longs for and is made to know, love, and serve God.”  The woke movement understands, “everything is systemically wrong around me.”  As believers we say, “What is wrong with me?  Mea culpa.”  Each of us is self-accused; We don’t accuse others.  “From there,” she declares, “we can bravely call out the lies that are harming people.”  “The thin veneer of ideology will not satisfy the human soul.  We all need to know they are named and known by God.”  

In my opinion, the poison of Woke has already done much harm to families and especially the young. Men, we need to be alert to the intention of this poison in our society.  We are no longer seen as beloved children of God, but victims of society’s hate.  The moral law and reason are  devalued, while personal choice is promoted.  Men need to know Woke has them in their crosshairs, with its emphasis on power over authority.  Mering points out that faith, family and faith are the biggest roadblocks in the movement, since any authority is seen as oppressive.

Men, don’t be deceived by this poison.  Don’t allow those in your family to be wounded.  We must wake up. “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph 5:14).   

August 26, 2024

This is being sent early for Monday morning!
Dear Ones,
Hope you wake up to a great day! Soon we will be on our way to Marquette, MI to see Al’s sister. The view of Lake Superior from her 11th floor apartment is so beautiful! We plan to celebrate her birthday and Al’s and mine. I am not taking my computer along so tomorrow you won’t be getting a devotion and the one on Wednesday will be late when we return. Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Many of us have monitored what our kids watched on T.V when they were young so they would not be taken in by things that were not good for them. But what about ourselves? Are we careful what we allow into our hearts? It says in Prove. 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life.” We are to put a watch over our hearts and to guard them diligently. That can mean choosing what we think on and let our minds dwell on, memories we are to no longer focus on, freedom to not be controlled by our emotions etc.

Maybe we have wounds in our lives of things that happened even before we came to know the Lord. It may still cause us trauma and they are like strongholds that we need to get free from. A friend of mine would often quote from II Cor.10:L4-5, “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” We need to let the Lord show us all those things that don’t agree with His Word and think God’s thoughts instead. There are times we may need help from others to pray over us that the strongholds will be torn down. I think of it as a holy work that the Holy Spirit does in our lives as he cuts out those areas that have hindered us from living a life of freedom in the Lord. The Word of God is so powerful, and it will be sharp enough to show us areas that are not aligned to the Word and need to be cut out.

When we lack peace and feel restless, let us ask the Holy Spirit to lay siege to any strongholds in our lives. As they are removed, we will sense peace and freedom and later, we might wonder why we waited so long. May we all keep watch over our hearts.

Challenge for today: Guard your heart carefully and don’t give access to things that are not aligned with God’s Word.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

August 24, 2024

Dear Ones,
May you enjoy some time to be refreshed this weekend. We will be leaving to go to Mora to gather with friends that were on our Board at Canaan’s Rest. It’s one of my favorite times of the summer as we fellowship and pray together…and eat too!
I would also ask for prayers for Melissa, a mom from our former church. She is very sick and has viral meningitis and her MRI showed lesions of M.S. and also thyroid cancer. Besides their own son, Melissa and her husband adopted 3 children and also care for a foster child. Please pray!
 Devotions from Judy’s heart
Wouldn’t we all like to live a life of simplicity and joy and be true to who God made us to be. Not trying to be important or famous or powerful but free to be ourselves and love the One who made us. That means we will have to let go of some things that are not true about ourselves, like many who think that they are what they have, which may be riches and sadly they will always want more. But how much better to live in the reality of who God made us.                                                   I have been reading a book by Psychologist, Dr. Robert Wicks who writes about how to let go, see clearly, and live simply. Doesn’t the sound like a recipe for living well. He quotes Thomas Merton who said, “Happiness consists in finding out precisely what the ‘one thing necessary’ may be in our lives, and gladly relinquishing all the rest. For then, by a divine paradox, we find everything else is given us, together with the one thing we needed.” When we live for the Lord and His kingdom, we have found the treasure of the One thing that is most important and everything else seems to fall into place. But we must also let go of all that is unnecessary and incomplete like pride, self-interest, anxiety, and our insecurities so we can be single-hearted and discover who we are and live in freedom. It takes humility and courage as we see ourselves and let go of those things that hinder a full true life. We must ask ourselves often if we’re open and willing to be transparent and be emptied of self so there is more space for the Lord.                                      God uses different people in our lives to help us. He may send a prophetic type person who challenges us to look honestly at ourselves and to ask us important questions. He may also send us someone who is more playful to help us not take ourselves too seriously. He may send another who cheers us on.  God could also send us a soul friend who helps us to see our value and brings encouragement and leaves us with gratitude for the life the Lord gave us. Let us want to know our true selves and be grateful for all those He uses to help us be humble and to see ourselves as we really are.
Challenge for today: Live simply in the joy of who God made you to be!
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

August 23, 2024

Dear Ones,
Happy weekend and enjoy! I plan to do some baking today and cleaning our apartment as we have a few busy days ahead. We are excited as we anticipate taking a trip to Michigan to see Al’s sister next week. Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I am reading a book called, “Chastity of the Soul”, and in our culture where sex is freely given without commitment, chastity is ridiculed. But today soulless sex is clearly evident and confusion and unhappiness result. We find that God’s ways are far superior and bring joy and respect. The author Ronald Rolheiser defines chastity as proper reverence, respect, and patience. Sex is included and to be chaste we will not violate others’ boundaries prematurely. He writes that chastity is the key to community, love, joy, and even the enjoyment of sex, and he goes on to say every person we stand before is holy ground.

We live in a culture that everyone wants something right now. But we need to be patient and learn to wait. Instead of irreverence, disrespect, and impatience we learn to wait and to relate to others in respectful ways that don’t violate them. In essence we are to see others as God sees them. Jesus said in the sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8) We will be pure in heart as we are respectful and honoring of others, and even our sexual energy flows in a life-giving way. We bless people rather than exploit them and we help others flourish and not harass them.

There are people today that don’t believe they have a soul. Today love and sex are described more in terms of chemistry rather than terms of a soul. Songs are all about desiring someone’s body and not listening to the soul, and we see the result as more and more people become broken and suicidal. So often our need for a soulmate is brushed aside and it’s more about the chemistry and that bing feeling! It shows us our society is basically soulless and it is evident with the acceptance of pornography and sex with no ties.

But Rolheiser goes on to say that our souls want to be protected, honored for their sacredness and listened to. We must take care not to lose our souls but when we sense we are reverenced and respected, it gives us the feeling of being home. It’s a place of belonging and we sense that we are in union with each other. We find what we do either connects with others or divides us, and even our private lives impact the whole body for good or for evil. In Rolheiser’s own words, “The ideal of chastity embeds sex within romance, sacredness, commitment, community and soul.

Challenge for today: Be an example of chastity and never take by force what you are to receive as a gift.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

August 22, 2024

Dear Ones,
May you have a joyous day! Al will be leaving for Men’s group early and will have a donut waiting for him when he gets home. I have an appointment this morning and then Bible Study this afternoon. So glad for the nice days to walk the trail too.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Isn’t it wonderful that we have a place to go when we feel fearful and anxious or sorrowful and sad and wonder how we are going to get through the challenging days ahead. We don’t have to live with dread if we know the Lord, for He provides all the help we need and promises to be right there with us. The enemy wants to steal our joy and peace and whispers all kinds of scenarios of what could happen but let us not focus our attention there. Instead, we can take our concerns to the Lord and ask for His grace and strength.

Recently while I was waiting in an examining room for my dermatologist to come in, I was thinking of situations of concern and praying. There was a high set window in the room and sitting where I was, I could not see what was happening on the ground level but only the tree tops above. All of sudden it occurred to me that I don’t need to know all the answers to what is happening below, only to keep my attention on what the Lord is doing above the circumstances. As I was looking at the trees gently blowing in the breeze, I was blanketed in peace and felt like the Lord speaking a word to  me.

We have so many examples in the Word of people who didn’t shrink back when in trouble but trusted and had hope. Like David or Moses or Paul or Esther, they committed everything to the Lord. We also have scripture verses to strengthen us, and when we have memorized some key verses, the Holy Spirit brings them to our remembrance when we have need. I can’t tell you how many times I have prayed Psalm 121 and found strength. “I will lift my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep…The Lord will keep you from all evil’ He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this day forth and forevermore.”

Let us not be moved by what is happening in our lives around us but lift our eyes upward to the Lord where true help comes from.
Challenge for today: Don’t fear but experience peace as you focus your trust in the Lord.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

August 21, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you wake to a prayerful day! I plan to make egg/ham dishes and go to my exercise class and later Bible Study.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Have you often experienced God placing burdens on your heart to pray and do warfare against the enemy” Perhaps, you watch the news and see the chaos in our country, and you feel a heaviness, or maybe you have a family member who is living far from the Lord is God calling you to be an intercessor? We are all to be available and obedient when the Holy Spirit lays burdens on our hearts to be faithful to pray and intercede. We are not to brush it off but be sensitive and to pray as He directs us. We have no idea what a marvelous difference our prayers can make. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16) The Amplified version says, “The earnest (heart-felt), continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).”

It is time we all wake up and pray and intercede as never before. I believe the Lord is calling people together, even whole churches to pray against what is happening in our world as Satan is getting more and more bold. Can you imagine if not just one righteous man is interceding, what happens when a whole group or a church prays and interceded together? It is powerful!! Let us not underestimate it. We can pray for our families, our cities, our nation, and the world. Then enemy wants us to be apathetic and tells us we can’t make a difference, but great things happen when we pray!

Lately I have been reading of the many miracles happening when people gathered to pray, and I will just share one that happened some years ago in Hemet, CA. It was known as “Cult Haven” as it was filled with occult activity, gangs operating, and named the methamphetamine capital for the West Coast. Even the cops were corrupt and peddling dope in their cruisers. Because of the prayers of intercession amongst the churches and unity, one entire gang came to the Lord, church membership doubled, gang involvement declined greatly, cult membership nearly disappeared, and corruption of law enforcement was gone. Just think of the fruit of united prayer! Let us pray and unite and never give up!

Challenge for today Be a faithful prayer warrior and join others in unity to pray for our families, churches and nation.
Blessings and prayers and love, Judy

August 20, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope your day is full of intention! May we start each day listening to the Lord with a desire to know Him better. I have an appointment this morning and hoping it will be over in time to go to Women’s Bible Study. The gal who leads is one who gets excited about knowing the Lord better each day. EmojiEmoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Upon waking each morning, we can ask the Lord to speak to us and to help us hear what He wants to say as we go through our day. It is the best way to begin for He wants to direct us and accompany us through whatever transpires. Often in my life, He brings a scripture or a song to my remembrance that might be new or an old one whose words become fresh. Whatever it is we need to pay attention for He is speaking and knows what is in our day.

One day I woke up early and the song was playing in my mind, “O Lord most holy”. I went back to sleep and when I awoke the second time it was the same song, so I wrote it down and want to carry it with me. The Words are:

“O Lord most holy, O Lord most mighty, O Loving Father, We praise forevermore. Help us to know Thee, Know Thee and love Thee; Father, Father, grant us Thy truth and love. Father, Father, guide and protect us. Rule Thou our willful hearts; Keep Thine our wand’ring thoughts; In all our sorrows let us find our rest in Thee: And in temptations hour Save through Thy mighty pow’r. Thine aid O send us. Hear us in mercy, O Lord, we pray. Show us Thy mercy. So shall we live and sing praise to Thee.”

It speaks to me of our hearts desire to know Him and His love in deeper ways and to guide us through all that happens today. We need his protection and guidance and not to give in when temptations come. Sometimes we no more get out of bed, and we are tempted to snap at those in our family. When we encounter untruths in our culture in our day, we need His unwavering truth to not fall prey but hold to what scripture tells us. In all of our work, we can ask that we respond in love and that our actions would have a ripple effect on those around us and bring glory to Him.
Challenge for today: Use the words of this song to share your heart’s desire with the Lord and invite Him into your whole day.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Look at my Servant

I am preparing a meditation on Matthew 12:18-21.  Matthew is quoting a prophecy of Isaiah regarding Jesus.  He records these words just after the political and religious leaders of Jesus’ day wanting to kill him.  Mark’s gospel tells us, “Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.”  The religious and secular leaders, who did not care for each other, were united in their hatred of Jesus.  Imagine – they wanted to kill Jesus.

The influencers in our nation- the ones who shape the dominant narrative, want to get rid of the memory of King Jesus.  They are in the process of removing the memory and relevance of Jesus. But the true narrative sees things differently.  Pilate ask Jesus if he was a king.  Jesus replied, “Yes, it is as you say” (Luke 23:3)  Then Jesus let Pilate know, he is not in charge.  “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above” (John 19:11). Jesus was secure in his Lordship over all things, knowing, “The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands” (John 3:35).

Matthew 12 has a certain relevance in our day, when King Jesus is getting such bad press.  With all the confusion and uncertainty about who is really in charge of our nation, I gladly submit to King Jesus, He reign in all the earth and His final victory over evil is assured.  He taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt. 6:10).

By this time in Jesus’ ministry, public opinion had already began to question his credibility.  He had to withdraw from the public, while still healing the sick.  But he warned them, “not to tell who he was” (Matt. 12:16).  Similar to our day, there are mixed opinions regarding Jesus.  

“Look at my servant, whom I have chosen.  He is my beloved, who pleases me” (v. 18).  Matthew challenge us to consider the lordship of Jesus.  Not only is he the beloved of the Father, but also the Father’s  chosen servant, coming into our world on a  rescue mission.  The Father loves him and is pleased in what he is doing.  

Then Isaiah notes, “I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations” (v. 18).  What an encouragement to each of us.  The very Spirit of God is upon Jesus.  Through his sojourn among us, He will straighten out all right and wrong.  He will be the final judge and jury in world affairs.  This is God’s promise to us.

In the meantime, “He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public” (v. 19)  Wow, what a relief to hear these words.  King Jesus, who is working out justice on the earth will have no need to protest, demonstrate and shout for justice.  He simply will go about getting things in order, in a quiet and decisive manner

He will not use force or coercion to win over brutality and force.  Rather, “He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle” (v. 20).  Imagine the hope and comfort in these words for the downtrodden and outcast in world affairs.  Remember his mother’s words, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble” (Luke 1:52).

Isaiah closes with these words, “Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.  And his name will be the hope of all the world” (v.  21-22). In Jesus we are truly “on the right side of history.”  Men, I pray today that your hope for a better future is in Jesus.   

August 19, 2024

Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend! Warm weather but we still enjoy our walk on the trail. I have an appointment this morning with the dermatologist at 7:45 and should get done in time to go to my exercise class.
Devotions from Judys heart
When we desire to grow in the Lord, we find we are in a battle between our flesh and the Spirit. Paul says in Galatians 5:16 that we are to “Walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Sometimes it is hard to know what our part is and what is God’s part when the battle is going on. There is a division of labor as we put on the outward visible work, but it is God’s work to bring change in us.
I remember years and years ago hearing Pastor Larry Christianson put this into a way that helped me to visualize this. He said it is like a carpenter that builds a form before cement is poured into it. When the cement hardens the form is discarded and the cement remains. The wooden form is our role in sanctification as we don’t work patience, kindness or love into ourselves but just construct the outward form into which God pours His work of holiness. He gives the example of someone trying our patience and we feel guilty because we recognize how impatient we are. But instead of trying to work up patience we construct a form. One of the boards may be listening to our irritating neighbor. We try to hear where she is coming from. Another board could be prayer and to start praying for her. Or It could be a board of a thoughtful deed like maybe taking her a meal or even giving a kind word. Then we need faith to nail these boards together after which it is ready for God’s divine cement to be poured into as He does the inward work in us. We do the temporary outward work, but He does the inward work that lasts. So instead of striving to be more patient and loving, we trust Him to change our heart as we conform our lives to His will. As Paul says in I Thess. 5:24, “He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.”
Let us construct the outward form of love and trust that the Lord will fill it with the real thing. One woman who married early and to get out of her home situation and found herself in a marriage to a man that she didn’t really love. But she laid out an outward form by praying and doing thoughtful things for him and the Lord was faithful and filled in with real love!
Challenge for today: Conform your will to God’s will in outward things and be surprised at His divine filling!
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

August 17, 2024

Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! Take some time to enjoy it and get refreshed. Today I am going to clean the apartment and make Blackberry cobbler with berries that were brought to our door last night by a friend who just finished picking them. Emoji What a wonderful surprise!
Devotions from Judys heart
Scripture is not just a book to read but God’s story to us that reveals His love for us and His desire for a personal relationship with us. The Bible is an immense narrative that contains so many stories that we are to enter into. Too often we can read a book but fail to realize how it impacts us. But in the Word, it is especially important that we find ourselves in it, and to start with it could be the prodigal son that is far from home and needs to turn around and go to the Father.

Even though we may know may scripture verses by heart, it is important that it isn’t just informational but that we have a relationship with the One whose story it is. And of course, it is super important that we listen to what the story is saying to us. We may find ourselves in one of the characters, like Martha who is so busy serving and not giving attention to just being at Jesus feet. Or maybe we identify with Job whose friends misread him and tell him it is because of his sin that he has so many problems, making him feel worse rather than better.

We also don’t want to read scripture to see only what we will get out of it to improve our lives and be in control, but rather that we see how our story fits into God’s story. We ask how would He like to use me and how might I can fit into His larger story? This may draw us into community as well for we begin to see how important relationships are in the larger story of how God loves the world and wants all to be saved.

 Al and I use to meet with a group of half Lutheran’s and half Catholics for Lectio Devina, the scripture for Sunday was read 3 times. Each time we paused and spent time reflecting on what stood out to us, then what was God saying to us and followed with how we needed to change in some area of our life.

It’s important to know what God is saying to each of us in His Word. Commentaries and other means can help us know the details and meaning of things that may puzzle us and also give us what a word is in the Greek etc. Let us use all means to help us get the story right and to grow and find our place in God’s story.

Challenge for today: When reading your Bible first pray and then listen as you read and find your place in His story.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy
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