Month: April 2016

Abandoned

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Abandoned,

is one of the worst

ways to feel

 

Alone

Forsaken

Forgotten

 

And we are tempted

to believe God would do that

to us

 

because people do

 

But His timeless words

speak assurance

into our wounded souls

 

“I will never leave you”

 

Never

 

“I will never forsake you”

 

Never

 

And enveloped in that

constant care,

that unending Divine presence,

the question really becomes,

 

“Have I abandoned Him?”

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Those who know Your name trust in You,
for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

– Psalm 9:10 (NIV)

 

…For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

– Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT)

 

Is it possible for a mother, however disappointed,
however hurt, to forget her nursing child?
Can she feel nothing for the baby she carried and birthed?
Even if she could, I, God, will never forget you.
Look here. I have made you a part of Me, written you on the palms of My hands…

– Isaiah 49:15,16 (VOICE)

 

Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.

– Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

 

Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God…

– Deuteronomy 8:11 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

Priorities

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

…in the good things of life, you should try not to lose the important things.  Show me your calendar, and I will show you your priorities.  How you schedule your time, as well as your resources, reveals what is truly important.

If you are not spending time cultivating your relationship with the Savior, it is not because you don’t have the time.  It is because you don’t prioritize the relationship.  Whatever is first in our life, you will find the time to do.

– Tony Evans

 

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in Me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are My true disciples. This brings great glory to My Father.

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved Me. Remain in My love. When you obey My commandments, you remain in My love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

– John 15:5-11 (NLT)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

Gracious

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

Your God-sized graciousness

can’t wait to shower

it’s refreshment on us

 

You long for us, God,

to experience the freedom of grace

the depth of grace

the weightlessness of grace

 

and You wait

and You wait

and You wait

 

and while You wait

we carry the weight

 

the weight of guilt

the weight of shame

the weight of the ungraciousness of people

 

and You long to show us

love

and

compassion

 

You wait patiently

for the laying down of our pride

 

and You are quick to fill

when we finally surrender

to what we needed all along

 

beautiful grace

 

 

– Susie Stewart

 

So the Lord must wait for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for His help.

– Isaiah 30:18 (NLT)

 

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!

– Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)

 

He is a rock. What He does is perfect. All His ways are fair. He is a faithful God, who does no wrong. He is honorable and reliable.

– Deuteronomy 32:4 (GW)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Brilliant!

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

I didn’t miss it, Lord

 

I noticed

and pondered

and soaked in

 

Your brilliance

 

It was all around me

and in me

 

but I almost missed it

because the day was busy

and my thoughts were all over the place

 

but then you drew me in

to the green earth

and the blue sky

and the love of family

and the truth of Your Word

 

And Your brilliance

BURST

before my eyes

and in my heart

 

Let me not miss

for a single day

brilliant YOU

 

for life is dull

existing only in the shadow

of distraction

 

– Susie Stewart

 

God, brilliant Lord,
Yours is a household name.
Nursing infants gurgle choruses about You;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.
I look up at Your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?
Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us Your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.
God, brilliant Lord,
Your name echoes around the world.

– Psalm 8 (MSG)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

Love Sees

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

You look at me

and see

my flaws;

I look at you

and see

flaws, too.

Those who love,

know love deserves

a second glance;

each failure serves

another chance.

Love looks to see,

beyond the scars

and flaws,

the cause,

and scars become

an honorable badge

of battles fought

and won –

(or lost)

but fought!

The product,

not the cost,

is what love sought.

 

– Ruth Bell Graham

 

God help us see

beyond the now

to the before,

and note with tenderness

what lies between

– and love the more!

 

– Ruth Bell Graham

 

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

– Romans 12:9 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Grief & Grace

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

But in thinking about love and grief we must be careful not to confuse either with that sentimentality which is part of cheap grace.  The kind of loving grief I’m talking about involves acceptance of the precariousness of life and that we will all die, but our wholeness is found in the quality rather than the quantity of our living.  Real love, between man and woman, friend and friend, parent and child, is exemplified for us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who offered us and still offers us the wholeness of that costly grace which gives us the courage for healthy grief.

We live in a time where costly grace is what makes life bearable; more than bearable – joyful and creative, so that even our grief is part of our partnership in co-creation with God.

– Madeleine L’Engle

 

For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

– Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NLT)

 

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

– Psalm 24:18 (NLT)

 

God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

– Matthew 5:4 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Warrior

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Do you know

that your King

is also your Warrior?

 

He fights for YOU

 

The fiercest battles

are the unseen

 

And because you are His

He will defend you

 

Almighty Warrior

Savior

Defender

Rock

 

Surrender to Him

and He will fight for you

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior….

– Jeremiah 20:11 (NIV)

 

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

– Exodus 14:14 (NIV) 

 

You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

– 2 Chronicles 20:17 (NIV)

 

For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’

– Deuteronomy 20:4 (NLT)

 

Artist unkown

 

Endure

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

What then are we to do about our problems? We must learn to live with them until such time as God delivers us from them. We must pray for grace to endure them without murmuring. Problems patiently endured will work for our spiritual perfecting. They harm us only when we resist them or endure them unwillingly.

– A.W. Tozer

 

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

– Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)

 

The readiest way to escape from our sufferings is, to be willing they should endure as long as God pleases.

– John Wesley

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

On Purpose

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

The decisions we make dictate the schedules we keep.  The schedules we keep determine the lives we live.  The lives we live determine how we spend our souls.  So, this isn’t just about finding time.  This is about honoring God with the time we have.

– Lysa Terkeurst

 

Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days. Don’t be vague but firmly grasp what you know to be the will of God.

– Ephesians 5:15-17 (PHILLIPS)

 

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

– Deuteronomy 6:5 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Grateful Trust

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Ungratefulness can be traced to a failure to find benefits in everything we experience and an unwillingness to trust God to fulfill our deepest needs.

– Gary Smalley

 

I realize anew that, just as we must learn to obey God one choice at a time, we must also learn to trust God one circumstance at a time. Trusting God is not a matter of my feelings but of my will. I never feel like trusting God when adversity strikes, but I can choose to do so even when I don’t feel like it. That act of the will, though, must be based on belief, and belief must be based on truth.

– Jerry Bridges

 

Begin to rejoice in the Lord, and your bones will flourish like an herb, and your cheeks will glow with the bloom of health and freshness. Worry, fear, distrust, care – all are poisonous! Joy is balm and healing, and if you will but rejoice, God will give power.

– A.B. Simpson

 

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God, and I trust Him.
For He will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with His feathers.
He will shelter you with His wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.
If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
For He will order His angels
to protect you wherever you go.
They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love Me.
I will protect those who trust in My name.
When they call on Me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

– Psalm 91 (NLT)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart