A Woman's Walk

[Judy Harder]

Week of June 13
In the Arms of Jesus

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.  2 Peter 1:3

One day, while working in my former job as a flight attendant, a woman boarded my flight and stopped cold, just inside the passenger door. I sensed something wasn't quite right, so I approached her gingerly, and I asked if I might help her find her seat. She didn't respond, so I asked her if she had a boarding pass. With this, she burst into tears and buried her face in my left shoulder. "Indeed," I thought. "This is one whom God has sent."

The Lord had instructed me, more than a year earlier, to begin to spend time in His presence before working each trip in order to prepare me to receive divine appointments that He would bring to me on airplanes. Up to this point, He had sent all kinds of people with all kinds of needs. All for whom, He wanted me to pray and share my faith. I had grown pretty accustomed to reaching out, not knowing what to expect in advance. Oftentimes, I was shocked at the circumstances passengers would share with me, and I was always awestruck at how God would show up. The situation that was now before me would be no exception.

As I held this crying woman in my arms, I prayed silently for the Holy Spirit to guide my words and actions. Almost immediately, I sensed Him prompting me to seat her in first class. Amazingly, the entire front row of first class was available. I seated her in a window seat and reached for her tote bag to place it the overhead compartment. As I took the bag, I could not help but notice a large envelope of medical x-rays. I walked into the galley to make the woman a drink, all the while praying, "Holy Spirit, tell me what to do, tell me what to say."

After the plane took off, and I served the other passengers, I returned to sit beside the woman. I asked her if she would like to talk. She nodded, and she began to share that she and her husband had traveled from Montreal to Florida in search of a new home. She said that she had had pneumonia before their trip and that her husband had developed a cough while in Florida. She suggested that he visit a doctor. When he did, the doctor diagnosed him with lung cancer and informed him that he had six months to live.

And now this woman was flying home to Montreal, as her husband was driving their car back with friends. She was overwhelmed and had no one else to reach out to her in that moment. As she shared her circumstances, I sensed the Holy Spirit prompting me to ask her whether she attends church. When I asked the woman this question, she paused, and then she replied, "I used to, but I stopped going when my first husband and my son both died."

Gulp! Suddenly, my heart felt a deep burden for this woman, and I asked her if I might pray for her. She nodded again, and I took her hands in mine and led a prayer. I sensed the Holy Spirit prompting me to give her a message. And so after I finished praying, I said to her, "I believe the Lord wants you to return to church so that He can help you through this." The woman wept, and my heart was deeply touched because of God's deep love for her.

Indeed, sometimes sharing our faith doesn't necessarily mean leading someone to salvation. Sometimes it means simply leading people back into the arms of Jesus, who is big enough and loving enough to handle it from there.

I never knew who would walk on board my airplanes and stand before me with needs unknown to me but known unto God. One thing was certain, whatever they needed, Jehovah Jireh could indeed provide for them. And I wanted to be in position to be used. Are you ready and willing for whomever and whatever God will divinely bring to you if you ask.

[Judy Harder]

Week of June 20
His Presence


"I will praise the Lord, who counsels me . . . You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand."  Psalm 16:7, 11

In God's presence, there is light, safety, peace and joy.  How many of us can honestly say that we reside in this place all day every day?  Most of us struggle by reacting to sin, and some of us may have never experienced this amazing place.  But there is hope.

The restorative process of overcoming patterns of sin in our hearts is a provision of God's great mercy and love for us.  Psalm 41:4 (Amplified) says, ". . . heal my inner self, for I have sinned against You."

Some of our sins are obvious to us (and others).  But there are those that are "hidden" or "secret," residing deep within our souls without our conscious awareness.  For these to be revealed, we need the Holy Spirit to "illuminate" them before we can repent and be more intimate with God.

Psalm 90:8 (NIV) says, "You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence."  The NIV note for this scripture defines the light of God's presence as being "The holy light of God that illumines the hidden corners of the heart and exposes its dark secrets."

We can walk around for years, even as Christians, unknowingly operating in sins.  Some of them may have taken root during our childhood or perhaps were even established in our bloodline generations (Gen. 20:5).  Operating in these iniquities can seem "normal" because we grew up in the midst of them, not knowing any better.  And we oftentimes carry these sins into our adult lives unknowingly until something in life triggers them.

But there comes a time when God will bring those issues to the surface, enlighten us and lead us to confront and overcome those obstacles.  With our participation—and often the help of a counselor chosen by God—He restores us to His peace, love and joy where we once again feel His presence in a profoundly intimate way.  This level of communing with Our Heavenly Father is what we were created for.  It's called freedom.

Would you like to reside in the profound presence of God?  Ask Him to illuminate your secret sin patterns and help you overcome them.  Praise Him in the process.  And remember that love in action and truth is "how we will set our hearts at rest in His presence" (I John3:19).  You are the delight of God's heart, and He longs for you to draw near to Him (Heb. 10:22).

[Judy Harder]

Week of June 27
Giving

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."  Ezekiel 36:26

The very nature of God is to give out of love.  And when we as Christians receive the Lord into our hearts, He impacts us so deeply that we can't help but pour out His amazing love everywhere we go.  When we show up, so does God.

God makes His point clear in Ezekiel 36:32 where He says He will renew and restore His chosen people and their land for His glory, not because they earn His favor.  On the contrary, by their sinful conduct and actions, His chosen people had defiled their nation and their land that was divinely given to them.  But because of God's zeal for them and a remnant cry from them, God extended His grace and turned their circumstances around.

Likewise, God loves us even when we feel we don't deserve His love.  And we are to model His expressions of love and grace to others through a heart of giving, even to those who offend us.  God loved the unlovely, and so must we.  But we cannot do it alone.  We must ask Him to soften our hearts, to do it for us.

Giving comes naturally from a true heart of love.  It is the heart that must be cultivated.  Giving is simply the byproduct.

In the marketplace, we face many tests.  Sometimes, we are challenged to demonstrate love through acts of giving and kindness to a difficult boss or to cohorts.  It helps to remember that they may have become difficult to get along with due to hurts, wounds, injustices, sins and a lack of love in their life, whether self-imposed or inflicted by others.  It helps to look beyond their exterior and see into their hearts.  And we can ask God to help us see their hearts as He does, to increase within us His vision and His love for them and to break down barriers of fear.

When we have a big heart of God within us, giving out of love is easy, no matter what the behavior of others because we ourselves are overwhelmed with God's very presence of love.

When we are faced with "the unlovely," we must remember two things: We ourselves are only made righteous through Christ Jesus.  And God placed "the unlovely" in our path for the purpose of sanctifying our hearts with an increase of His love.  In other words, we the Christians need to come up higher in the love department.  And when we do, transformation takes place around us as a result of giving out of that love.

It's not enough to hold love in our hearts.  We must give it.  And when we give, we receive more from God, our divine source, and from others whose hearts cannot help but be touched.

The question is, will we consistently extend love no matter how others behave?  If we do, it will change the atmosphere in which we work.  If we do, we will not feel controlled by the other people's negative attitudes, comments or actions.  Our heart and others' hearts will transform, and this will manifest in a more Godly work environment.

The truth is, through Jesus Christ, we have more power than we realize.  God's principles really do work when faithfully put into action.  We must not let fear of rejection, fear of authority or intimidation prevents us from giving out of a generous heart of love.

Remember, God rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Heb. 11:6).  And God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7).  May we respond to others from an outpouring of the heart of the Holy Spirit within us, instead of reacting to negativity.  Only then will we be able to freely give.

[Judy Harder]

Week of July 4
Living

"Give ear and come to Me; hear Me, that your soul may live.  I will make an everlasting covenant with you, My faithful love promised to David."  Isaiah 55:3

Good news brings life.  And God longs for us to receive His good news.  There is so much that He wants to give us.  But are we willing to listen?  Do we hearken when He speaks to our hearts to sit with Him and partake of the life He offers? 

Relationship demands intimacy and priority.  If we are not spending the time with God that He longs to have with us, we are robbing the Kingdom and robbing those He has called us to serve because we cannot give out that which we do not have.  We will end up giving and receiving our meager portion, not God's greater serving.

In my years of working as a flight attendant, I learned how to function safely in a cabin decompression.  I was taught to first don an oxygen mask and then assist others, just like in the airplane safety videos.  The reason for helping myself first is because, in a serious decompression at high altitudes, I may only have seconds to function before loosing consciousness.  If I did not breathe in the oxygen supplied from a source above my head, I would not have the ability to help anyone else because life would begin to drain out of me.  Interestingly enough, the time between a person's full ability to function and their inability to function is called the "time of useful consciousness." 

This life-giving priority is often the opposite of how we think in the world or how we think as women in caring for others.  Too often, we serve everyone else and accept the little bit of time and energy that remains for our Lord.  We give Him the leftovers.  We think we're being unselfish by putting the needs of others before our own, but the truth is that we're putting people and daily responsibilities before God.  We end up running on empty because we're not taking the time to sit and sup with the Lord.

Given these circumstances, how useful are we to God or anyone else?  It may help to be reminded that our lives were bought with a price, therefore, this resource of time God gave us is not our own.  It may also help to remember that Christ only did what The Father called Him to do.  What things are we doing that God didn't call us to do? 

Isaiah 55:2 asks, "Why spend money [resources] on what is not bread , and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." 

God's first and greatest commandment is to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mk. 12:30).  "All" does not mean a meager portion.  And His second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mk. 12:31). 

Are we honoring God's priorities by partaking of the bread of life (Him) first so that we have a rich love to give to our neighbors, who come second?  Or do we need to spend more time at His table?

May we spend some of the time God graciously gives us to examine our hearts and repent so that we may receive and give out His richest love.

[Judy Harder]

Week of July 11
Safety

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."  ~ Psalm 4:8


God made His covenant of peace through Christ so that we may live free of hostility and enjoy life in complete security.  God's original intent was that we live fearlessly and in safety.  Of course, this requires obedience, following the voice of the Holy Spirit carefully and seeking God in worship above all things.

Proverbs 28:26 says, "He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe."  May we exercise God's wisdom.

Proverbs 29:25 says, "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe."  May we fearlessly trust God, not man.

Proverbs 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."  May we run to the Lord.

Psalm 34:10 says, "... those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.  May we seek the Lord.

Deuteronomy 33:12 says, "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields Him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders."  May we rest in the Lord.

The enemy would like nothing more than to destroy us through eternal separation from God.  Although we can rest secure in our salvation, consider how he could destroy our lives through tempting us away from worshiping and seeking God's face regularly as the Holy Spirit leads.  The enemy can use distraction, complacency, overwork, untimeliness, fear and false responsibilities to lure us away from our first priority, thus causing us to not know God's revealed direction for specific assignments. 

Seeking God's face and direction is an obedient choice we make.  If we willingly choose to not seek His will, we may lean unto our own understanding, talents and gifts to make important decisions.  Thus, God will not bless the work of our hands.  Even though we may accomplish a bit, at some point, we will come to a screeching halt. 

Throughout the Bible, God revealed unusual directives to leaders.  Consider the Book of Joshua where the Lord gave Joshua a unique strategy for each battle in the Promised Land.  What if Joshua hadn't listened and instead leaned on previous battle strategies (old manna) to get him through.  What if he had looked left and right upon distraction and not kept his eyes upon the Lord?  What if he had let fear control his actions? 

Joshua would have failed because he would have been in disobedience against God and would have been fighting in his own strength.  Much hinged upon Joshua's obedience, including his own life.  But it wasn't just about him.  It was about a nation.  It was about God's will being done on earth as it is in heaven.  It was about a Kingdom.

Clearly, obedience is key to our security and livelihood.  God's mercy is new every morning.  May we partake of His fresh manna and drink of His new wine daily so that we may enjoy life in complete safety.

[Judy Harder]

Week of July 18
Catalysts

"[David], who through faith cnquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised . . . "  ~ Hebrews 11:33

Catalysts move the heart and hand of God.  Faith, praise, obedience, worship, crying out, prayer, work, perseverance and excellence are all examples.  Put into action, these disciplines invoke God's power through us.  We become a powerhouse for God, and no obstacle can stand in our way.

David knew exactly how to activate God's promises.  Take the promise of protection for example. David was motivated by a profound love for God and by a need and a faith for manifest victory in battle.  In 2 Samuel 7:9, God promises David that He has gone before him, defeating all his enemies ahead.  David had to exercise diligent faith each time his enemies pursued his life.  He had to call on the name of the only One who could save him, the One who promised victory and rescue every time.

In so doing, David saw time and again God show up and prove faithful.  His trust God increased as a result. 

God rewards faithfulness and those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6).  We must do our part by believing and obeying the omniscient, omnipotent God of the universe.  Nothing is too big or two impossible for Him.  Indeed, God is faithful to deliver His promises.

I Peter 1:6-7 says we will suffer but for a little while for the purpose of proving our faith genuine, resulting in praise, glory and honor to God.  This level of faith is of greater worth than gold.  Yes, we experience tests and trials, but we will not prolong pain or fear if we process through the journey God's way.  Rather, God will bring us through these times in His appointed time, if we cooperate with Him.  In so doing, our character is built and we are able to help others who follow behind us.

God was able to exhibit His faithfulness and power and glory in David's circumstances for all time.  God crowned him as king over Israel.  A big mandate requires big faith and a big God.  David did not know all that he would experience when God spoke to him initially.  He just took God at His word, knowing that he would have enemies and that God defeated them on his behalf. 

God does the same for us when we carefully obey what He instructs us to do.  He will send us into places that are too big for us to handle alone.  He will cause us to realize that we depend upon Him greatly.  He will prompt us to look unto Him instead of our "insurmountable" circumstances.  And we will live and not die.

And all we have to do is simply follow the leading and instructions of the Holy Spirit.  When the Holy Spirit prompts us to praise the Father, do it.  When He prompts us to move out and take dominion, do it.  When He instructs us to rest, do it.  Biblical principles are the catalysts that move the hand of God on our behalf, no matter what the circumstances. 

Our God is an interactive God.  In which areas of partnering do we need to be more prolific?  In which areas do we need to express more love?

[Judy Harder]

Week of July 25
Faith

"We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."  ~ I Thessalonians 1:3

Faith is critical to bringing to fruition the hopes, desires and dreams that God places within us.  It is the fuel that propels us to act, to work and to persevere through challenging assignments.  Without faith, we could not overcome obstacles and finish the race victoriously. 

Throughout the Bible, we see people of great faith and little faith.  Yet, God blessed both.  Consider Abraham.  He stepped into a journey that was unknown to him by choosing to exercise his faith and trust God's plan of greater inheritance.  Even Gideon, the slightest member of his clan, took courage, exercised his faith, trusted God and proclaimed victory over his enemies.

Moreover, the gospels are full of miracles Jesus did for people who did not know him.  They had no New Testament to build their faith.  Yet their mustard seed faith helped facilitate healing miracles.

Hebrews 11:1 says "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  And Romans 1:5 tells us that "obedience comes from faith."  Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6).

Fortunately, God, through His sufficient grace and tender mercy, helps us build faith, the purpose being to serve Him and others.  I have a friend who exercised her faith to be healed from cancer as well as painful neck injuries that she suffered in an auto wreck.  God completely healed her from each affliction through a process that involved prayer and believing.  What the enemy meant for destruction, God turned around for good.  He gave her a new career, after loosing her former one due to ailments.  And now she reaches out to others through prayer, sharing her healing testimonies and writing inspirational songs that have climbed the charts.

It is faith that enables us to receive the higher ways of God when we do not understand where He is leading us, especially when circumstances get tough.  When faith prevails over fear persistently, we become victorious.

Moreover, fear is the opposite of faith.  Irrational fear can paralyzes us or cause us to run in the opposite direction from where God wants us to go.  Obedience to the bondage of fear is idolatry and rebellion in the face of God.  Fear limits us under a ceiling.  Faith facilitates promotion, turning our ceiling into our floor.

Hebrews 11:13 tells us that the great people of the Bible "were still living by faith when they died" and that they did not see the promises of God come to pass.  They were on a sacrificial journey of faith that was bigger than they for a higher purpose.  They laid down self-centered comforts and willingly pursued the path that brought glory to God.  In short, they left a legacy of faith.

What faith journey does God have you on?  Are you allowing Him to build your faith to accomplish greater things?  Which areas in your life do you need more faith?

[Judy Harder]

Week of August 1
Patience

"Love is patient . . ."  ~ I Corinthians 13:4

Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a work assignment, knowing the project is of God and knowing that you're right in step with His timing, when suddenly things seemed to stagnate or get stuck?

What did you do?  Did you stop and pray and wait to hear God's response?  Or did you persist along your path, leaning on your strengths and talents and understanding of what had worked for you in the past, what you knew to do?

Did you receive an answer from God?  Or did frustration and anxiety begin to rise as you feverishly ran harder to try to make things work to meet your deadlines?

God's pathways strategically include divinely appointed times.  And when He sets us out on a journey, His directive is to sometimes simply wait.  This is where our faith gets tested.

So often, God's ways do not make sense to us, especially when we feel the pressures of meeting a deadline.  And in these times, we feel like we're waiting on God to show up and clear blockages, organize things, make people cooperate with us therefore making a way for us to get the job done.  But the truth is, as we await God, He's awaits us.  He desires us to stop and listen and worship Him during the wait.  And He desires to do a work in us in the process.

Patience must have its perfect work.  While we're working, God is doing a work in us, to perfect us, to do things His way.  He longs to bless us, to reward our faith.  But will we pass the test?

Consider the prophet Habakkuk.  The people of Judah took to behaving in Babylonian ways, and the righteous were grieved.  When taking this issue before the Lord, He seemed to withhold His answer for a while.  But God ultimately revealed to Habakkuk that He would take care of the issues through a release of judgment using the Babylonians to bring His people to their knees. This was not a solution that Habakkuk expected.  Nevertheless, after hearing from God, Habakkuk did the right thing and awaited God's plan with a spirit of worship.

Sometimes, God has to take care of a few things before we can move forward.  And sometimes we just need to stop and get out of God's way.  While He aligns people and circumstances, He expects us to align our faith with His purpose and timing and exhibit that fruit of the spirit called patience.

Though often not easy for our carnal nature to cooperate, God is actually doing us a favor by offering us an opportunity to advance.  In this process, we get to surrender our arrogance and self-reliance to God's higher ways.  And if we pass the test, He takes us to the next glorious realm of faith and reward.  Like a deer, we become able to stand on the higher places.

Do you believe that God loves you enough to groom you to stand in higher places?  Do you love Him enough to cooperate with His plan?  My prayer is that you will not fear God's heights and that you will excel, not accelerate.  May we worship God during His appointed times, resting in His love, exercising patience.

[Judy Harder]

Week of August 8
Redemption

"My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to You—I, whom You have redeemed."  ~ Psalm 71:23

What comes to mind for many Christians when we hear the word "redeemed" is being saved from the pit of hell by Jesus Christ, Our Savior. 

But what may not come to mind as often is having abundant life on earth. 

The dictionary defines redemption as saving or improving something that has declined into a poor state.  Ones career, marriage, finances or physical health can be examples.

The root word, redeem, is from the Latin word, redimere, which means to buy back.  To redeem can mean to keep a promise, fulfill a pledge, pay off an outstanding portion of debt, atone for human sins, restore someone to favor or to make acceptable despite negative qualities.

Indeed, Jesus Christ is Our Redeemer.

The Bible says that we are redeemed from the grave (Ps. 49:15), from death (Hos. 13:14), from the law (Gal. 4:5), from all wickedness (Tit. 2:14), from the curse (Gal. 3:13), from sin (Col. 1:14) and from the pit (Ps. 103:4).

The Apostle Paul may have said it best as he beseeches us to "live a life worthy of the Lord," to "please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.  For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves..."

God's word is true.  It is purposed for us.  Let us keep our eyes on Him so that we may have abundant faith, love, hope, prosperity, health, joy and relationships.

What do you have need of?  Do you feel special, or are you just getting by?  Have you called on your Redeemer?  He awaits you.

[Judy Harder]

Week of August 15
Potential

" . . . My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."  ~Judges 6:15

How many of us have ever felt like Gideon, believing false truths about ourselves that have stunted our growth and attempted to undermine our God-given destiny?

Author Dondi Scumaci describes it well in her new book, "Designed For Success: The 10 Commandments For Women In The Workplace."  In the very first chapter she says,

"Imagine that when you were born, you were given a box.  The box is empty to begin with, but almost immediately people begin to put messages into it.  Some of the messages make you feel strong and safe and powerful; others teach you to doubt yourself and your abilities.

"Over time the box is filled with messages.  Some are duplicates.  You've received them more than once and from more than one person.  One message tells you it's important to be popular, one reminds you to always be very polite, while another tells you to wait to be recognized—because bragging is very bad.  Your messages warn you against making mistakes, rocking the boat, or being pushy—because nobody likes a bossy girl.

"Now imagine shaking the box!  The messages get all mixed up.  That makes it hard to separate the encouraging, empowering messages from the negative, limiting ones.

"You grow up and carry your box of messages to work.  As you being to use them, you discover that, for much of your life, the messages have been managing you.  Now you must learn to manage them."

This is the very place where Gideon found himself.

Gideon processed through discouraging old messages and new encouraging ones from God throughout the remainder of Judges chapter six.

Although Gideon's self-doubt was high, and his faith was low, by stepping forth into God's instructions—albeit with trepidation—he managed to overcome obstacles and reach the divine destiny God had for him.

How about you?  Is anything holding you back from reaching your God-given potential?  If so, have you asked the Holy Spirit to intervene, to reveal the issues of your heart and lead you to overcome to full victory?

God sees our potential, and He has a plan to advance us all the way.  His purpose being that He loves us, He loves nations, and He desires to use us to affect them.  God's vision is big.  It goes beyond us.  As Gideon was set free from his fears and ungodly beliefs, others were also restored.  It was a battle that was worth fighting.  And so is yours.