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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September 27, 2024

September 28, 2024 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. We had a fun birthday party here yesterday! Mark’s plane in N.C. was delayed 3 times yesterday so he didn’t make it here last night but will be coming this morning and later going to the Lake.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
We are all called to bear fruit once we come to know the Lord, for we are fellow workers in His kingdom to reach others to become part of the family of God. Often it means revealing ourselves to others as in opening the door of our hearts and becoming vulnerable. We need God’s help to love others and to smash the idols we have in our lives. Self seems to always want to rear its head and say, “What about me, me, me!” But the Lord wants to help us and free us of selfish pursuits and help us grow in love and faith.
What the Lord asks for is not easy and in ourselves it is impossible; but He wants us to lay down our lives for Him and for others, and to love even our enemies. He wants us to do His will above our will out of love and obedience to Him. Our prayer daily is, “Thy will be done!” Not my will!  That means we have to become good listeners to hear His voice deep in our hearts. I think many people expect that if they pray that and obey, they will be miserable because they aren’t getting their own way. But the truth is just the opposite, for when we do His will from our hearts, we will experience deep joy. The song comes to mind by John Sammis in 1887
“If we walk with the Lord in the light of His word, what a glory He shed on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
The verses that follow speak of how He will bear our burdens and share our sorrows and take away our doubts and fears; but and it is a big but, he says we have to lay everything on the altar! When we do this, we will experience joy and sweet fellowship in His presence.
Let us be willing to lay the idol of self on the altar and obey His will and then wait and see what joy will overflow our hearts.
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to smash any idol in your life that you may be free to do His will and bear fruit for His kingdom.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

September 27, 2024

September 27, 2024 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! This is party day here and we are going to Costco to get the Birthday cake for celebrating 9 birthdays in September. Our son from N.C is also arriving today for a week and will be at the cabin part of the time and with us the other half.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
It is quite likely we have all gone through heart-wrenching experiences in our lives and felt like our hearts were crushed. It could be in the death of someone we love or feeling betrayed by a close friend etc. I read two Psalms today and in Ps. 34, David escaped from Abimelech and is praising the Lord with a heart full of thanks. He tells how God met him in his desperate situation and shares in verse 18, “If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there. If you’re kicked in the gut, He’ll help you catch your breath.” He had been in many tight situations in his life but had experienced God listening to him and delivering him. If you feel like that today, know that God not only listens to you, He will rescue you.

The second Psalm I read today was Psalm 77 that Asaph who was one of David’s chief musicians wrote on a night he feels very upset and faint. I noticed the Psalm is full of “I’s” as he tells how he can’t sleep all night and says, “I cry aloud to God… I think of God and I moan; I meditate and my spirit faints…I am so troubled I cannot speak etc. But then I notice things change as he switches the focus from himself to the Lord and begins worshiping Him. He goes from asking if God has forgotten him to recalling all of God’s wonderful deeds and His goodness during the difficult times. He starts meditating on the Lord and how He led His people through the Red Sea and worked wonders.

God can help us shift our focus as we also go through desperate times. We can share how we feel but then remember how faithful He has been and all that He has taken us through before. Listen for God’s voice as He will lead us through our own Red Sea to see His mighty hand and work His miracles.

Challenge for today: In those times of discouragement, meditate on God’s Word and also the works that He has performed and give thanks.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

September 27, 2024

September 27, 2024 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! This is party day here and we are going to Costco to get the Birthday cake for celebrating 9 birthdays in September. Our son from N.C is also arriving today for a week and will be at the cabin part of the time and with us the other half.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
It is quite likely we have all gone through heart-wrenching experiences in our lives and felt like our hearts were crushed. It could be in the death of someone we love or feeling betrayed by a close friend etc. I read two Psalms today and in Ps. 34, David escaped from Abimelech and is praising the Lord with a heart full of thanks. He tells how God met him in his desperate situation and shares in verse 18, “If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there. If you’re kicked in the gut, He’ll help you catch your breath.” He had been in many tight situations in his life but had experienced God listening to him and delivering him. If you feel like that today, know that God not only listens to you, He will rescue you.

The second Psalm I read today was Psalm 77 that Asaph who was one of David’s chief musicians wrote on a night he feels very upset and faint. I noticed the Psalm is full of “I’s” as he tells how he can’t sleep all night and says, “I cry aloud to God… I think of God and I moan; I meditate and my spirit faints…I am so troubled I cannot speak etc. But then I notice things change as he switches the focus from himself to the Lord and begins worshiping Him. He goes from asking if God has forgotten him to recalling all of God’s wonderful deeds and His goodness during the difficult times. He starts meditating on the Lord and how He led His people through the Red Sea and worked wonders.

God can help us shift our focus as we also go through desperate times. We can share how we feel but then remember how faithful He has been and all that He has taken us through before. Listen for God’s voice as He will lead us through our own Red Sea to see His mighty hand and work His miracles.

Challenge for today: In those times of discouragement, meditate on God’s Word and also the works that He has performed and give thanks.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

September 26, 2024

September 26, 2024 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you have a creative day. Al will be heading to the men’s group and when he comes home, I have an appointment and later morning to the dermatologist to take care of the skin cancer on my leg. Then this afternoon we have Bible Study here.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
How often do we clean our homes when we hear that company is coming and we want it to look welcoming and nice? But how much more important is our spiritual home (temple) in which the Lord dwells when we come to know Him! In I Cor 3:16-17 Paul says, “You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God and God Himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred–and you, remember, are the temple.” Further on in chapter 6 Paul says our bodies were made for God and they are sacred so we can’t live how we please. God owns all of us, so we are to let people see God in and through our bodies.

Let us think more about what it means to be God’s temple where He dwells, for when we become a Christian the Holy Spirit lives in us and fills us. So how do we take care of our temple? Do we abuse it by living any way we please, filling ourselves with junk food, living such a fast- paced life that we have very little time to sleep and not time for exercise etc.? If we are God’s temple, His masterpiece, we are worth more care than that. We need to see ourselves as God sees us and be willing to change and care for our bodies.

I want to challenge us today, myself included, to take better care of our bodies and minds which may mean making some changes. If we don’t eat healthily, change our diets, get some daily exercise walking or lifting weights etc. and enough sleep. Develop our minds with scripture and stimulating books and give our phones a rest! We can enjoy some creative outlets like gardening and painting or something entirely new and adventuresome. It’s not selfish to just sit with a cup of coffee on the deck and enjoy the moment with the Lord.
Let us all take good care of our temples for He dwells within and enjoy our lives with the Lord.

Challenge for today: Make space today for something new in caring for your temple.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

September 25, 2024

September 25, 2024 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you will have a peace-filled day. I plan to make an apple recipe and go to Exercise class and Craft Cuties and later to Bible Study. Having such gorgeous weather!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Fear is something perhaps we all struggle with in life, and it is something we have to learn to cope with it. Priest Ronald Rolheiser writes that we have ways to deal with sadness as in shedding tears, and deal with anger by shouting or doing something physical, but fear is different for there is no release valve for it. We have to wait and endure, and in the meantime, we can name our fear and pray that it would not dominate in our lives. When we acknowledge we have good fear, that is a sign of maturity and love; but we may also have to acknowledge we have bad fear, that is not good and blocks maturity.
   Rolheiser describes the healthy fear as a reverence and a loving awe, a love that doesn’t want to disappoint. We are to have that kind of fear for God, not that we are afraid of Him, but we can trust and reverence Him. It might be called holy fear that is inspired by love, and King David is a good example of that. In relation to others, we don’t want to disappoint them or betray them either.
Bad fear are those things that frighten us that do not come from God. We probably all have a list of those fears in the back of our mind and the enemy knows what things to put before us to rob us of our peace. He may bring up bad memories to cause more fear, but we are not to give heed to them but look to the Lord who is always open and waiting for us to come home to Him.
When fearful things come to my mind. I like to picture them as like a package I have wrapped and am handing to the Lord and asking Him to take it. The scripture comes to mind, “Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28) To me the load of fear is very heavy, and I know the difference in my spirit when I give over to Him my fears. As the song goes that I love to sing when I am fearful, “Be not afraid I go before you always. Come follow Me and I will give you rest.” May we reverently fear the Lord but fling those bad fears into the Lord’s hands.
Challenge for today: When you have fearful situations, ask the Lord to go before you and clear the way.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

September 24, 2024

September 24, 2024 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope your day is full of expressions of His love. Ann is coming today, and I plan to make stroganoff and Almond bread.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
How are we being formed by Jesus in our everyday life. Would others know that we belong to Him and are in the process of becoming more like Him, or are we so much into the world that they aren’t able to discern the difference? I am reading John Mark, Comer’s book on Practicing the Way and I like how he frames apprenticeship to Jesus as He teaches us to do what He does. Very simple training: 1. I do; you watch. 2. I do you help.  3. You do; I help.   4. You do: I watch.

Isn’t that how Jesus taught His disciples after He asked them to follow Him. At first, all they observed all He did and not long after they were helping Him and passing out fish and bread to 5,000 listeners etc. Then they began doing His work but they discovered they needed His help, especially when casting out demons etc. In time, after spending 3 years with Jesus, they were ready to carry out His work when Jesus left this earth and He watches.

I hope all of us want to be an apprentice to Jesus and to do what Jesus would do. Comer said “our end goal is to grow and mature into the kind of person who can say and do all the things Jesus said and did. When faced with situations when we might be used of God, we can ask ourselves, how would Jesus handle it?  He gives us the power of the Spirt to do His works, and it is not dependent on our abilities. As Jesus said of His disciples in John 17:2, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will also do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.”

A friend and I meet every other week to share and pray together and we have a different question to ponder and write about until the next meeting. This time we are to ask ourselves how we express His love? We are to put His love into action purposefully in some way each day. Will let you know later what happens.

Challenge for today: Ask Jesus to empower you to do His works, His way and give all the glory to Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

Good Men vs. Real Men

September 23, 2024 / / 0 Comments

On April 15, 1912, when the liner Titanic was declared doomed, men gather each year on that date at the Titanic Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Men’s Titanic Society gather to honor the passenger who donned evening clothes in order to die like a gentleman. They annually offer a toast: “Chivalry, gallantry, bravery and grace….To the young and old, the rich and the poor, the ignorant and the learned, all who gave their lives nobly to save women and children.  To those brave men.”  

“Men seem to instinctively treat masculinity as the call to die so that others may live – the highest form of sacrifice,” notes Nancy Pearcey. That principle seems to be built into men’s created nature.  Pearcey, however, makes a distinction between a “good man” and “real man.”  She calls the “good man” ideal as the software of God’s creation, while the “real man” stereotype reveals the “virus of sin.”   

In her book, Pearcey notes the work of sociologists, who have discovered that active churchgoing evangelical men have the lowest rates of divorce and domestic violence,  while the “nominal” men who identify as Christians because of their cultural roots, but rarely attend church, have the highest rates of divorce and domestic violence – even higher than secular men.  These “nominal Christian men” often “internalize the real man script, while defending their behavior by pinning Christian language on their abusive beliefs.” 

“When it comes to real issues in the lives of real men, far too many religious leaders are looking the other way,” she observes.  Meanwhile books are being sold with titles such as, “I Hate Men,’ “The End of Men,” “Are Men Necessary,”Boys Adrift,” “Why Boys Fail” and “Why Men Hate Going to Church.”  

Pearcey makes this insightful observation: “On Mother’s Day, we hand out roses and praise mothers.  On Father’s Day, we tend to scold men and tell them to do better……We need to talk about the positive things men are doing, while also trying harder to find ways to reach out to the nominal men and speak the truth about what it means to be a good man.”  She warns the church, when she says, “The most common mistake pastors make is to assume that domestic violence is a marriage problem and to offer marital counseling – bringing both spouses into the office together.  The wife may be afraid to reveal any serious mistreatment.”  

Lord help me to be a “good man,” motivated by  your spirit,  not just pretending to be real. I don’t want to hide from you. “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…..Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?'” (Isaiah 29:13 & 15).  

My intentions are to be a “good man.”  But I am a work in progress.  Becoming  a “good man” can sometimes be painful.  Remember, Al, you are the clay; He is the potter.  I can not hide from God. “How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!  Should the created thing say of the one who make it, ‘He didn’t make me’? Does a jar ever say, ‘The Potter who made me is stupid'” (Is. 29:16 NLT).

At a recent pastor gathering, two other pastors shared their testimony of coming to Christ through the same man who helped me, Pastor Theodore Hax.  That has now been 65 years of the potter working on this clay (Al Hendrickson).  He is still shaping me, even when it hurts. 

 

September 23, 2024

September 23, 2024 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend! We had a congregational meeting after church yesterday and are going to be open to call an intern to assist our pastor. This morning, I plan to bake Al cookies and go to Aldi’s and my exercise class.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
There is a lot of turmoil in our nation during this election time which shows up in hateful words and even violence. We need discernment and to listen to one another and learn from one another and to pray for wisdom from above. I would like to share the 3rd prayer by Whitney Hopler as she writes a prayer for wisdom and discernment.

“Dear God, we need your wisdom and discernment as we face critical decisions in this election season. Guide us to make choices that honor you and reflect your will for our nation. Help us to discern truth from falsehood, integrity from deceit, and justice from injustice. Show us the moral character of the candidates for all the positions on our ballots during this election season. Help us set aside political positions and look directly at the level of holiness in the lives of each candidate. Help us understand who is truly walking with you faithfully and who is not. Reveal those who are motivated by service and living in love versus those who are motivated by power and living in sin.

Your Word promises in James 1:5, ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be give to you.’ We ask for your generous gift of wisdom God. Illuminate our paths and lead us in the way we should go when we vote. Help us to elect people who genuinely care about the well-being of all Americans, and who will govern with compassionate hearts as servant leaders. Grant us the courage to stand for what is right and the humility to admit when we are wrong. Let our actions be guided by your Spirit, and may your wisdom prevail in our nation.

We believe the words of Daniel 2:20-21,’Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; He deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.’ Thank you, our wise Father. Amen.”

Challenge for today: Pray this prayer morning and evening.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy

September 21, 2024

September 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy weekend! May you enjoy the beautiful day before you. I plan to clean the apartment and shop and maybe bake. I am excited as two weeks from today we will be on our way to see friends and family in Iowa, N.C. and WI. Emoji Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I think we would be surprised at how often our thoughts focus on ourselves and what is good for us. We are basically more selfish and self-centered than we would like to admit. But the Jesus way of loving Him first and putting others before self is really the way to a rich and wonderful fulfilling life. How do we get to the place where we can love more like Jesus and follow His example of loving and serving others?

We might have to start by admitting we cannot love others by extending to them our own selfish love that wants something in return but ask to be filled with God’s love and to let it overflow in our lives. It is only with His love that we truly love those around us, and we can ask the Lord to help us be willing to serve and express His love to them. Real love is action and meets needs and is willing to sacrifice. A friend with whom I often pray and I, committed to do one thing every day for 2 weeks for someone else. We were to choose it purposefully and prayerfully and put love for Jesus into action.

One way we can perhaps all do is to make space to show hospitality to others and we don’t need much in order to do it. Sitting around a table with a simple meal brings people together and the first day of our exercise, two of our grandson’s stopped in to see us. I quickly made them a chef salad like we were having, and homemade bread and a fresh dessert. Most importantly around the table they shared about their lives, and we listened.

Jesus was no respecter of persons, and He ate with prostitutes, Gentiles and the unclean. It was a way of inviting them into the Kingdom and welcoming them. Let us not think that we have to have a perfect setting to show hospitality but let us forget ourselves and show Jesus’ love every chance we get. Paul writes to the in Romans 13:1-2, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to show you one way that you can express His love to someone else today.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

September 20, 2024

September 20, 2024 / / 0 Comments
Dear Ones,
Happy weekend!! Hope you have time for R&R! Al has an appointment this morning and hopefully he will be home in time for me to get to mine right afterwards. What beautiful fall weather we are having and the walk on the Paul Bunyan trail will just continue to get more colorful.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
If we have been estranged from a family member or friend, or even the Lord, how good it is to be reconciled and share our hearts again. When I read about the children of Israel, I see that time and time again, they wandered far from the Lord and got into worshipping idols etc. and suffered the consequences. And then the Lord would send them a prophet to plead with them and they often would return to the Lord and experience his love and favor again. I just finished the book of Hosea and Hosea was a living parable of God’s love that he enacted in his life. In fact, the Lord told him to marry a prostitute and have children with her. Just as he went after his wandering wife who kept returning to prostitution, the Lord comes after us to bring us back to Him again and again.

 In the last chapter of the book of Hosea, he tells Israel to prepare their confession and pray to God and return to Him. They have wandered off again just as his wife had but he received her back. Israel makes confession and the Lord responds, starting in Hosea 14:4 by saying, “I will heal their waywardness. I will love them lavishly. My anger is played out. I will make a fresh start with Israel. He’ll burst into bloom like a crocus in the spring…from now on I am the One who answers and satisfies him. I am like a luxuriant fruit tree. Everything you need is to be found in me.” The Lord never gives up on us and shows us His unconditional love, just like Hosea did to Gomer, his wife. He also gives us a fresh start over and over again and gives us everything that we need out of His abundance.

Hosea concludes with saying, “If you want to live well, make sure you understand all of this. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll learn this inside and out. God’s paths get you where you want to go. Right-living people walk them easily’ wrong-living people are always tripping and stumbling.”  Let us not turn our backs on the Lord but respond to his voice that keeps calling us back to Him with a fresh start.

Challenge for today: Thank the Lord for the times He has brought you back and shown you His love and ask Him to help you not to wander but stay close to Him.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy
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