Month: September 2016

Before & After Christ

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

I was love-starved

and now I am beloved

 

I was existing

and now I am thriving

 

I was invisible

and now I am seen

 

I was aimless

and now I have purpose

 

I was a mess

and now I am His messenger

 

I was lost

and now I am  aligned with God

 

I was confused

and now I see clearly

 

I was hopeless

and now I am hopelessly in love

 

I was directionless

and now I am Holy Spirit directed

 

I was confined in my sin

and now I am confidant in my redemption

 

I was empty

and now I am full of Him

 

I was drowning

and now I am saved

 

I was dead

and now I am alive!

 

Life before Jesus

 

and after Jesus

 

The Divine Difference

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!

– Luke 15:32 (NLT)  

 

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.  He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

– Ephesians 2:1-10 (NLT)

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

– 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

 

It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put Me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.

– John 5:24 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Focus

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

If you were to be honest with yourself,

would you say you focus on…

 

How big your circumstances are,

or how big your God is?

 

How weak you are,

or how strong your God is?

 

How you don’t understand,

or how wise God is?

 

Your focus determines

your mindset

 

Trust wins

 

–  Susie Stewart

 

Worship and glory belong forever to the eternal king, the immortal, invisible, and only God. Amen.

– 1 Timothy 1:17 (GW)

 

“Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord.
“No, I am far away at the same time.
Can anyone hide from Me in a secret place?
Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?”
says the Lord.

– Jeremiah 23:23,24 (NLT)

 

Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done Him such a huge favor that God has to ask His advice? Everything comes from Him; Everything happens through Him; Everything ends up in Him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.

– Romans 11:32-36 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Come

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

You hear my heart

as I turn to You

 

You know my thoughts

not a single one missed

 

No pompous prayer needed

or pretentious posture required

 

I come as I am

in what state I am in

 

The highs and the lows

bowed before Love

 

Imperfect speaking to Perfect

adoring one another

 

All bowed down

 

– Susie Stewart

 

We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

-1 john 1:2-4 (MSG)

 

“…those the Father has given Me will come to Me, and I will never reject them.”

– John 6:37 (NLT)

 

“Come now, let’s settle this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.”

– Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)

 

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.

– Revelation 22:17 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Drawing Me In

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Your love, God,

it pulls me in

to a warm embrace

 

Your kindness

leads me

to repentance

 

Your goodness

pursues me

as a friend

 

Your mercy

settles

my anxiety

 

Your faithfulness

holds me

tenaciously

 

Your patience

encourages

my walk with You

 

Your grace

brings hope

to my soul

 

Your love

encompasses my life

in parental care

 

No wonder I run to You

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

Over time I realized that when we love God, we naturally run to Him — frequently and zealously.  Jesus didn’t command that we have regular time with Him each day.  Rather, He tell us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind.”  He called this the “first and greatest commandment” (Matt. 22:37-38).  The results are intimate prayer and study of His Word.  Our motivation changes from guilt to love.

This is how God longs for us to respond to His extravagant, unending love; not with cursory “quiet time” plagued by guilt, but with true love expressed through our lives.

– Francis Chan

 

What a stack of blessing you have piled up
for those who worship you,
Ready and waiting for all who run to you
to escape an unkind world.

– Psalm 31:19 (MSG)

 

Do you take the kindness of God for granted? Do you see His patience and tolerance as signs that He is a pushover when it comes to sin? How could you not know that His kindness is guiding our hearts to turn away from distractions and habitual sin to walk a new path?

– Romans 2:4 (VOICE)

 

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

– 1 John 3:1 (NIV)

 

 

Photo by Andy Stewart

Possible

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

 

Impossible

is not a word

God acknowledges

 

For He is God!

And there is not a thing

that isn’t possible for Him

 

 

Believe it

 

 

With people,

we don’t dare to ask

for what doesn’t make sense

 

With God,

He is glorified

in the asking

in the belief

and in the trust

 

For the impossible

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

– Matthew 19:26 (NIV)

 

Everything is possible for one who believes.

– Mark 9:23 (NIV)

 

Is anything too hard for the Lord?…

– Genesis 18:14 (NIV)

 

Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You.

– Jeremiah 32:17 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Evidence

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

So you say you need evidence…

 

that He is who He says He is

 

God’s Son

 

You are in prison

looking out

 

Can it be?

 

Jesus says to you from outside your prison walls,

 

“The blind see

The lame walk

Those with leprosy are cured

The deaf hear

The DEAD are raised to life

The Good News is being preached to the poor”

 

Grasping your bars

you want to believe

 

People can be so disappointing…

 

But you choose to come out

of sin-prison

 

Into light

 

And sure enough

 

Your blind eyes see

with wisdom new

 

Your lame legs walk

where you never thought you would go

 

Your leprous spots of sin

are cleansed snow white

 

Your deaf ears hear

your beautiful Shepherd’s voice

 

And GLORY!

 

Your dead self

is alive with His Spirit!

 

Your poverty of soul

is filled with the richness of His grace

 

Evidence

 

– Susie Stewart

 

John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”

– Matthew 11:2-5 (NLT)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

Spirit to Spirit

/ Susie Stewart / 4 Comments

Spirit

to

Spirit

 

The connection Divine

 

Unbroken

 

For You have taken up residence

inside my heart

 

I think about You

and I speak to You

and even when I do neither

 

Your Spirit knows

the worship that is all for You

 

In the mundane

I know I am heavenly connected

 

to Your God-Spirit

always there

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

– Psalm 42:7 (NIV)

 

There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we can be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs.  But deep within, behind the scenes at a profounder level we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.

– Thomas Kelly

 

I will be in my kitchen cooking for missionaries or writing at my desk, my mind on “outward” things, but when I turn inward, where my Lord resides, it is as if I’ve never left.  I am aware that worship has been going on from my spirit to Him who is Spirit while I was cooking and writing!  Oh, it is so beautiful to be aware of the continuous connection, spirit-to-Spirit.

– Linda Dillow

 

Blessed are the people who know how to praise you. They walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.

– Psalm 89:15 (GW)

 

This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in Him, and He in us: He’s given us life from His life, from His very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent His Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

– 1 John 4:15-17 (MSG)

 

It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before Him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.

– John 4:23,24 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Inside

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Outward

Shell

Exterior

Shallow

Skin-Deep

Temporary

 

Inward

Depth

Core

Heart

Soul-Deep

Forever

 

Watch what you look at,

for beautiful can be deceptive

 

What lies within

is profoundly significant

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

– 1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT)

 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.

– Proverbs 31:30 (NLT)

 

…but let it be [the inner beauty of] the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, [one that is calm and self-controlled, not overanxious, but serene and spiritually mature] which is very precious in the sight of God.

– 1 Peter 3:4 (AMP)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Relationship Over Religion

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Religious people talk to God

out of obligation,

in memorized words,

focused on what they can get out of Him

 

Lovers of God bask in His beauty,

seek Him wholeheartedly,

walk with Him,

and love Him with their words

 

Religion is man-made

Relationship is His Divine plan

 

– Susie Stewart

 

The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for Him, as if He couldn’t take care of Himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make Him. Starting from scratch, He made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find Him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; He’s near. We live and move in Him, can’t get away from Him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?

– Acts 17:26-29 (MSG)

 

Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

– Galatians 5:25 (NLT)

 

And I will be your Father,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.

– 2 Corinthians 6:18  (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

He Is There

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Are you looking?

 

Are you listening?

 

Are you searching?

 

God is there

 

He is there!

 

He is communicating to you,

the child who He loves

 

He is conveying His

Mercy

Comfort

Love

Forgiveness

 

Himself!

 

But you’ve got to quiet yourself

 

Intentionally

 

You’ve got to look

to listen

to search

On Purpose

 

For all that entangles

and distracts

and pulls you away

from His loving presence

 

Will drown out the whispers

and the shouts

of God

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you;
collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;
set your heart on a life of Understanding.
That’s right—if you make Insight your priority,
and won’t take no for an answer,
Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold,
like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;
you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God.

– Proverbs 2:1-5 (MSG)

 

DEMONSTRATE Your ways, O Eternal One.
Teach me to understand so I can follow.
EASE me down the path of Your truth.
FEED me Your word
because You are the True God who has saved me.
I wait all day long, hoping, trusting in You.

– Psalm 25:4-5 (VOICE)

 

But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep respond to His voice. He calls His sheep by name and leads them out of the pen. After He has brought out all his sheep, He walks ahead of them. The sheep follow Him because they recognize his voice.

-John 10:2-4 (GW)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart