Month: August 2016

The Sound

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

Have you heard the sound?

 

The thunderous, ear-splitting, mighty

sound?

 

It’s the sound of enormous Jericho walls

tumbling to the dust

 

The sound of heavy prison gates

clashing to the stone floor

 

The sound of mighty Red Sea waters

piling high

 

The sound of two million of God’s people

running through the desert away from Egypt

 

The sound of a giant of a man

crashing down under the blow of one small stone

 

The sound of solid rock tons

rolled away from the deathly tomb

 

It’s the power

the glorious power

of God Almighty!

 

Who longs to bring the thunderous sound

of freedom and power

to you

 

 

Have you heard the sound?

 

The sound of a tear

falling to the earth

as Love gave His life

for you?

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

…The Lord sets prisoners free.

– Psalm 146:7 (GW)

 

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.

– Ephesians 1:19-21 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Fight!

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

What battle are you fighting?

 

There always is one

right?

 

A battle in your mind for purity

A battle in your home for peace

A battle at work for your witness

A battle in your heart for trust

A battle in your family for unity

 

And on and on…

 

And we often forget,

that at the root,

the battle is not with the people

 

The real battle is fought in the spiritual realm

 

 

The weapons we fight with

look like

 

Vigilance of mind

Prayer

Truth-seeking

Readiness

Faith

Steadiness

and

Standing firm

 

And too often

Jesus Followers surrender

 

We give in

when we need to fight!

 

There is an unseen world

swirling all around us

 

The battle is fierce!

 

And we approach it with

niceness

excuses

depression

cowering

apathy

fear

anxiety

defeat

 

The stance is casual and weak

in this intense battle

 

There is a clash of swords unseen

Light and darkness having it out

 

A struggle

between good and evil

 

And in the physical world

it feels like silence,

Deafening silence

 

But KNOW that all is not silent

It is unearthly LOUD

 

Our apathy

our surrender to evil

our cowardice

 

cause us to walk in limbo

or defeat

instead of victory

 

Let us stand up and fight, Warriors!

 

Better yet, let us get down on our knees

and fight

 

Fight for our purity!

Fight for our families!

Fight for our friendships!

Fight for our peace of mind!

Fight for our trust in God!

 

And may we not stand down

in our witness

 

For the battle belongs to the Lord

 

– Susie Stewart

 

He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

– 2 Chronicles 20:15 (NLT)

 

This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world.

– Ephesians 6:12 (GW)

 

David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there’s an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—He’s handing you to us on a platter!”

– 1 Samuel 17:46-48 (MSG)

 

It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

– Zechariah 4:6 (NLT)

 

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

– Exodus 14:13,14 (NIV)

 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

– Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

A New Day

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

God can give you

a new day

 

in the middle of your moment

in the middle of your day

in the middle of your life

 

He’s all about new

 

He refreshes

He restarts

He renews

He begins

 

What was broken

can be repaired

 

What was torn apart

can be mended

 

What is tired

can be made alive

 

Jesus

can bring anything

to new life

 

After all,

He specializes

in death to life

 

You can count on Him

for a new day

 

But you’ve got to turn to Him

in humility

for all things new

 

 

We can be stuck

and stubborn

and unrelenting

 

preventing new

 

He wants us free

He wants to bring new

 

We need to let Him

 

– Susie Stewart

 

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

– 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

 

Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

– Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

 

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is His faithfulness;
His mercies begin afresh each morning.

– Lamentations 3:22,23 (NLT)

 

…You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you.

– Ephesians 4:20-24 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

What They Need

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

You desire to give of yourself

to the people in your life

 

You want to make sure you provide

what they need

 

You want to be everything you can

for them

 

But what they need more than anything

is for you

to spend time

with Jesus

 

Nothing will enable you to be

what they need

more

than being with Him

 

So guard your time with Jesus

talking to Him

listening to Him

learning from Him

repenting before Him

soaking in His love

being open with Him

processing the Word with Him

Worshiping Him

 

Being

with

Him

 

Then the radiance of Jesus

will be evident to all those people

who need you

 

And they will have

what they need –

 

Jesus

 

– Susie Stewart

 

* I was inspired to write this after hearing my friend Nicole Rowell speak on this subject.  Thank you, Nicole!  I am blessed by your time with Jesus.

 

Moses told God —  If it is true that You look favorably on me, let me know Your ways so I may understand You more fully and continue to enjoy Your favor.

– Exodus 33:13 (NLT)

 

…the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.

– Exodus 33:11 (NLT)

 

When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord.

– Exodus 34:29 (NLT)

 

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.

– Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

 

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

– Matthew 6:33 (MSG)

 

Photo by Gracie Oertli

 

 

 

Beauty

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

I think it’s interesting that so many who are confronted with extremely difficult circumstances – cancer, loss of a spouse or child, a natural disaster, imprisonment in a railcar – seem to find wonder in the simplest things. And those of us in seasons of comfort and ease seem to have such a hard time seeing the beauty around us.
– Matt Heard

 
When we experience beauty, we feel called. The Beautiful stirs passion and urgency in us and calls us forth from aloneness into the warmth and wonder of an eternal embrace. It unites us again with the neglected and forgotten grandeur of life.
– Elaine Scarry

 
From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance.
– Psalm 50:2 (NLT)

 
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display His craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make Him known.
– Psalm 19:1,2 (NIV)

 
Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.
– Luke 12:27 (NLT)

 
… I fight to nourish my mind and heart with beauty. Yes, it’s a fight, because the world is fallen. But it’s still a world that has its Creator’s fingerprints all over it, so I open the eyes of my heart and behold His beauty. And the greatest reward of the journey is growing closer to the Author of all the beauty….My intense hope for you – and me – is that we’ll start uttering, ‘That’s beautiful,’ more often and more deeply than we ever have before. And that we, as men and women created in the image of the Creator Himself, will experience the freedom of using our unique and creative abilities, whether we call ourselves artists or not, to generate more beauty on the canvas of our relationships, our careers, our stories, and our culture.
– Matt Heard

 

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

A Covering

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Ashamed, we humans

seek to cover sin

 

In hiding

we want to conceal in the dark

the darkness in us

 

And graciously You call us

out of that darkness

into the light

 

For that is where

we find Divine covering

 

You envelope us by Your sacrifice,

with Your blood

 

Defending and shielding

the ones You love

 

So we go from a covering of darkness

to a covering of light

 

Sin is exposed

confessed

redeemed

Out in the open

 

But we are not exposed

 

Your mighty protection

comes over us

as a blanket of light

 

We are saved from our enemies

and from ourselves

 

A heavenly Paternal covering

wrapping us

protecting us

reassuring us

 

May we not underestimate

what a covering of God protection and love

does for us

 

And may we walk in Your righteous ways

making the most of that covering

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

Like a bird protecting its young, God will cover you with His feathers, will protect you under His great wings; His faithfulness will form a shield around you, a rock-solid wall to protect you.

– Psalm 91:4 (VOICE)

 

You, O Eternal, are the One who lays all good things in the laps of the right-hearted. Your blessings surround them like a shield.

– Psalm 5:12 (VOICE)

 

The Lord is my strength and my [impenetrable] shield; My heart trusts [with unwavering confidence] in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I shall thank Him and praise Him.

– Psalm 28:7 (AMP)

 

I passed by you again and saw you were old enough to love and to be loved, so I offered Myself to you in marriage. I wrapped my garment over you to cover your nakedness. Then I gave you My divine promise to always be your Beloved, and I entered the sacred covenant of marriage with you. I wed you, and you became Mine.

– Ezekiel 16:8 (VOICE)

 

Whoever covers over his sins does not prosper. Whoever confesses and abandons them receives compassion.

– Proverbs 28:13 (GW)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Fragrance

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Jesus,

the fragrance of You is so sweet

and I desire to spread Your beautiful scent

 

May my life be poured out

at Your feet

 

And may Your Spirit in me

be so evident

 

As perfume fills a room

and a scent permeates the senses

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Yet I am so thankful to God, who always marches us to victory under the banner of the Anointed One; and through us He spreads the beautiful fragrance of His knowledge to every corner of the earth.

– 2 Corinthians 2:14 (VOICE)

 

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

– Ephesians 5:1,2 (NIV)

 

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

– John 12:3 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Comparison

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Comparison

 

Useful in shopping for a good deal

Not so great with people

 

Comparing yourself to others

usually leads to feelings

of inferiority

or superiority

 

Be who God made you to be

and be glad for others in their gifts, abilities and blessings

 

Compare when you’re shopping

But don’t do it with people

 

Just

Love

people

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

– Galatians 6:4,5 (MSG)

 

You are not to covet what your neighbor has or set your heart on getting his house, his wife, his male or female servants, his ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

– Exodus 20:17 (VOICE)

 

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

– Proverbs 14:30 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Reminder

/ Susie Stewart / 3 Comments

I’m thinking you might need a reminder today

 

A reminder of who you are

 

Because we all tend to believe lies sometimes,

spoken to us

or whispered in our heads

 

Truth is a good reminder,

so soak it in

 

YOU ARE

Loved more than you can even imagine

Redeemed from the worst

Royal, grafted into the family tree

Accepted right now

Child of Almighty God

Saved from eternal death

Friend of Jesus

Heir of treasures and life unimaginable

United with your Creator

Temple to the Holy Spirit

Member of the Body of Christ

Forgiven for everything

Free to walk in freedom

A new creation

Chosen by God

Wise by His guidance

Complete

 

Let truth remind you

and don’t listen to those lies

 

Live a life worthy of your calling

 

And if you went over that list quickly

as you are running through life

stop

and read it again

 

slowly

 

Believe His promises to you

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

– Ephesians4:1 (NLT)

 

How blessed is God! And what a blessing He is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in Him. Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure He took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of His lavish gift-giving by the hand of His beloved Son.

– Ephesians 1:3-6 (MSG)

 

But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.

– John 1:12 (NLT)

 

And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.

– Romans 8:17 (NLT)

 

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

– 1 Corinthians 12:27 (NLT)

 

For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With His love, He will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

– Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)

 

Photo by Andy Stewart

 

Full

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

Water

Bread

Light

 

You are all those things, Jesus

 

You are everything we need

 

And you fill us to overflowing

with You

 

We are satisfied

And we are saved

And we see clearly

 

Our hunger

and our thirst are satisfied

in You

 

Your Light

fills every dark corner

 

We are sustained

by the fullness of You

 

– Susie Stewart

 

You have the fountain of life that quenches our thirst. Your light has opened our eyes and awakened our souls.

– Psalm 36:9 (VOICE)

 

How exquisite your love, O God! How eager we are to run under your wings, To eat our fill at the banquet you spread as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water. You’re a fountain of cascading light, and you open our eyes to light.

– Psalm 36:7-9 (MSG)

 

Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from His heart.’” 

– Psalm 7:38 (NLT)

 

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now He offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.

– John 6:32-35 (NLT)

 

“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.
“I am dying of thirst,” said Jill.
“Then drink,” said the Lion.
“May I—could I—would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl …
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.
“Will you promise not to—do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.
“I make no promise,” said the Lion …
“Do you eat girls?” she said.
“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.
“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.
“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”
“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.
— C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair

 

Photo by Susie Stewart