Month: June 2017

The Day That Was Not To Be

/ Susie Stewart / 8 Comments

Every day

the imperfections of life

show up

 

and those things,

those disappointments,

that hard stuff

threatens to hold us …

 

My husband and I, we have been anticipating the trip of a lifetime for many months.  A touring trip to the Holy Land, to Israel.  And this wasn’t supposed to be just any vacation, but a chance to walk where Jesus walked.   To be at the heart of His heart.  And to do this with 43 other people from our church.  We gave up our yearly trip to Uganda to go on this trip.

We counted down the days until our departure.

And the day finally arrived on Tuesday of this week.  Our group all smiles, met at the airport, luggage in tow.  We arrived extra early since our group was so big.  Everyone got there on time, and we talked and got to know one another at the gate.

Excitement was in the air.

 

IMG_0146

 

People started to stand in boarding lines, while we stayed seated, preferring to sit in the terminal than in the still plane.  As we talked with our friends, we kept glancing up at the lines.  Why weren’t they moving?

“There has been a slight delay in boarding.  We appreciate your patience.”

Didn’t give it another thought.  Then the same announcement came again.

Then this.

“A ladder has hit the side of the plane and they are assessing the damage.”

Ok.  How much damage can a ladder do to the side of an airplane?

“I’m sorry to tell you, but a ladder has hit the engine, doing damage to it, and the pilot has made the decision to cancel this flight.  You can re-book a flight by going back to the ticketing counter.”

Wait a minute.  What?!

A LADDER canceled our flight???

Hmmmmm…

This was inconvenient.  But we’ll be on another flight in no time.

 

in

no

time

 

But in the imperfect

we look to The Perfect

 

We handle our circumstances with a loose grip

and we hold tight to God

 

We know not the complexity

of Sovereignty over Billions

 

in the imperfect

 

And remind ourselves

it’s not all about me

 

Our Missions Pastor, our fearless leader, handled all with wisdom and grace, and we all prayed.  Back at our homes we waited for word.

Each hour and each day that passed by, I felt the loss of time in the place I dreamed to go.  Each site, recorded in the Bible, I wouldn’t see.

We were scheduled to leave on Tuesday, and with such a large group, we now are scheduled to leave on Friday.

Days lost…

And I felt peaceful and I felt ok with it all.  Until last night.  All I felt was sad and disappointed.

 

All our preparations

all our planning 

 

are really subject to the brokenness

of this world

 

and the guiding hand

of Almighty God

 

Those plans sit in our heads

and sometimes

 

that’s where they stay,

never to come to fruition

 

And we learn to say

“It is well with my soul.”

 

When I woke up this morning, sharing my heart with the One who knows me best, He reminded me about something I said to my husband at the airport on Tuesday.

“When you are in love, you are content to be anywhere as long as you can be with that person.”

I want to be in Israel today, but I’m at home.  The sadness is real and the disappointment is real.  But I know I don’t have to sit in that place.

God gives perspective.

 

My Love dwelled in the Holy Land

walking among us

 

And now He dwells here with me

in my heart

 

and I am blessed

 

He is teaching me

contentment

in Him

 

Lord-willing, I look forward to sharing with you about our experiences in Israel.  I bow my plans to my Sovereign’s nod.

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

 

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

– John 1:14 (NIV)

 

A person may plan his own journey, but the Lord directs his steps.

– Proverbs 16:9 (GW)

 

For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope.

– Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP)

 

Don’t be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come.  And know that the peace of God (a peace that is beyond any and all of our human understanding) will stand watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus, the Anointed One.

– Philippians 4:6,7 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Advantage

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

You’ve been through so much

and it hurts

 

But can you imagine

going through your pain

without Jesus?

 

Truly alone,

is no place to be

when you are hurting

 

But for the Christ-Follower,

alone is not an option

 

Your God never leaves you

 

And never is a long time

 

Your God never forsakes you

 

and never is a long time

 

Your God is there

and His Divine advantage is yours

in the struggle

 

Comfort,

spirit-deep comfort,

is yours

through Him

 

Just think…

you could be going through all of this

without Him

 

But you’re not

 

And that makes all the difference

in the world

 

– Susie Stewart

 

…the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

– Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

 

…Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are Mine.
When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

– Isaiah 43:1-3 (NIV)

 

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

– Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

 

You, too, are being completed in Him, the One who has dominion over all rule, all authority.

– Colossians 2:10 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Investor

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

If you were to have the title

of Life Investor

 

hired by God

in the here and now

 

What would He observe

about your investment practices

and priorities?

 

Would He say

that He observes you investing your life

in the valuable?

 

Or would He say

that He observes you investing your life

in that which doesn’t last?

 

Is all your energy spent on yourself

and getting ahead

in worldly success

and mindless pursuits?

 

Or is it invested in people

in your relationship with your Creator

in glorifying Him

and in the deeper things of life?

 

Is your life invested in bigger, better, and prestigious

or

in the smallest, poor and broken?

 

Do you know which one God prioritizes?

 

He is the authority

on what matters

 

We are given only one life

to invest in the eternal

and in the things He values

 

May we invest wisely

for we never know

when God will retire our position

 

for the afterlife

 

– Susie Stewart

 

The kingdom of heaven is like a man going on a trip. He called his servants and entrusted some money to them.  He gave one man ten thousand dollars, another four thousand dollars, and another two thousand dollars. Each was given money based on his ability. Then the man went on his trip.

The one who received ten thousand dollars invested the money at once and doubled his money. The one who had four thousand dollars did the same and also doubled his money. But the one who received two thousand dollars went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The one who received ten thousand dollars brought the additional ten thousand. He said, “Sir, you gave me ten thousand dollars. I’ve doubled the amount.”

His master replied, “Good job! You’re a good and faithful servant! You proved that you could be trusted with a small amount. I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master’s happiness.”

The one who received four thousand dollars came and said, “Sir, you gave me four thousand dollars. I’ve doubled the amount.”

His master replied, “Good job! You’re a good and faithful servant! You proved that you could be trusted with a small amount. I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master’s happiness.”

Then the one who received two thousand dollars came and said, “Sir, I knew that you are a hard person to please. You harvest where you haven’t planted and gather where you haven’t scattered any seeds. I was afraid. So I hid your two thousand dollars in the ground. Here’s your money!”

His master responded, “You evil and lazy servant! If you knew that I harvest where I haven’t planted and gather where I haven’t scattered, then you should have invested my money with the bankers. When I returned, I would have received my money back with interest. Take the two thousand dollars away from him! Give it to the one who has the ten thousand! To all who have, more will be given, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have much.…

– Matthew 25:14-30 (GW)

 

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

– Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

 

This is my last gift to you, this example of a way of life: a life of hard work, a life of helping the weak, a life that echoes every day those words of Jesus our King, who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

– Acts 20:35 (VOICE)

 

…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
    He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.

– Isaiah 58:10,11 (NIV)

 

Photo By Susie Stewart

 

 

 

 

 

To Be With You

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Jesus,

You have been loved by your Father

 

Forever

 

And how thankful we are

that You want to share that love

 

Welcoming us in,

the adopted

 

into the intimacy

already there

 

How blessed

are the Children of God

 

And You not only welcome us

but You long for us

 

You want this great big family

of loved ones

 

How encircling is Your heart,

my Lord

 

I can’t wait to be with You

where You are

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Father, I long for the time when those You have given Me can join Me in My place so they may witness My glory, which comes from You. You have loved Me before the foundations of the cosmos were laid.

– John 17:24 (VOICE)

 

But for all who did receive and trust in Him, He gave them the right to be reborn as children of God

– John 1:12 (VOICE)

 

And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for Him when He appears, ready to receive Him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when He arrives.

– 1 John 2:28 (MSG)

 

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)

 

Father, I want those you gave Me
To be with Me, right where I am,
So they can see My glory, the splendor you gave Me,
Having loved Me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known You,
But I have known You, and these disciples know
That You sent me on this mission.
I have made Your very being known to them—
Who You are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that Your love for Me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.

– John 17:24-26 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

All Is Grace

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

All

is

Grace

 

It covers

and infiltrates

 

and should flow freely

 

from the ones who have received it

from God

 

 

Grace has a way of bringing

a sigh of relief

 

to those in it’s presence

 

Grace loves freely

and without a catch

 

It doesn’t dwell on the failures

and the wrongdoing

 

Grace can’t be anything

but gracious

 

and it heals and mends

in this broken place

 

All is grace

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

– Ephesians 2:7-10 (MSG)

 

Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
 
-Romans 6:14 (NLT)
For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].
-John 1:16 (AMP)
Photo by Susie Stewart

YOU

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Do you long for someone

to really KNOW you?

 

Do you wish someone

understood you completely?

 

The One and only God

who shaped you inside your mother

 

knows you

completely

 

And He knows you so well

because He made you the way He did

 

for reasons and purposes

eternal

 

He breathed life into you

and gave you your own unique

you-ness

 

Personality

Spirit

Strengths

Gifts

 

and they could only come

from our Creator,

our Spirit God

 

He knew

that when He made you

 

It was good

 

So when you are tempted

to feel alone

and misunderstood

and less than

 

KNOW your unique place

in this God Story

eternally told

 

and let yourself be encouraged

by intimacy Divine

 

Love deep and sincere

 

for YOU

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for My holy purpose…

– Jeremiah 1:5 (GW)

 

…I have called you by name; you are Mine.

– Isaiah 43:1 (NLT)

 

O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
    You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too great for me to understand!

I can never escape from Your Spirit!
    I can never get away from Your presence!
If I go up to heaven, You are there;
    if I go down to the grave, You are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there Your hand will guide me,
    and Your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
 but even in darkness I cannot hide from You.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to You.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in Your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

 How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God.
    They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
    they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
    You are still with me!

– Psalm 139:1-18 (NLT)

 

 

 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

– Genesis 1:31 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

You’ve Been Played

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

I say to you

and I say to myself

 

Don’t get played

 

Don’t walk into the trap

the enemy has set for you

 

He is slick

and he is sneaky

 

He doesn’t play fair

 

And before you know it

you’re caught up in the same old stuff

 

You can’t get over

how clueless the people around you are

 

You grab hold

of those old vices

those addictions

those escapes

 

You stray from truth

and become complacent

 

You forget the now

and that being offended is a choice

 

You forget that grace should reign

in you

and through you

 

And you’ve been played

 

By the one who seeks to divide

who seeks to destroy

who wants you bitter

who desires your downfall

 

And when you realize you’ve been played

you don’t hesitate

 

You run back

to Solid

to Grace

to Authentic

to Alert

to Unity

to Love

 

You embrace your Father

and thank Him

 

for opening your eyes once again

 

to the true enemy

 

– Susie Stewart

 

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].

– John 10:10 (AMP)

 

When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit,  so that satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

– 2 Corinthians 2:9-11 (NLT)

 

He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

– John 8:44 (NLT)

 

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.

– Hebrews 2:14 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Bold

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

Whisper not

the name of God

Speak it boldly

for He is all

Hide not

your inner Light

for it is exactly

what they need

Tame not

your worship of the King

for your audience

is Him alone

Hide not

your story of saving grace

for it is precious

and important

Stand confidently

worshipper and witness

in the strength and power and goodness

of your great God

– Susie Stewart

I have seen You in Your sanctuary
    and gazed upon Your power and glory.
Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
    how I praise You!
I will praise You as long as I live,
    lifting up my hands to You in prayer.
You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
    I will praise You with songs of joy.

I lie awake thinking of You,
    meditating on You through the night.
Because You are my helper,
    I sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.
I cling to You;
    Your strong right hand holds me securely.

– Psalm 63:2-8 (NLT)

It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts Him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God’s way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: “The person in right standing before God by trusting Him really lives.”

– Romans 1:16-17 (MSG)

Paul lived for two years in his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. He urgently presented all matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open.

– Acts 28:30, 31 (MSG)

Photo by Susie Stewart

Saved For More

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Your soul has been saved

by Jesus

 

Saved from eternal condemnation

and suffering

 

But do you think about how far

that salvation goes?

 

When Jesus died for you

and was resurrected

 

and you accepted that

beautiful gift

 

He not only saved you from hell

but redeemed your life in the here and now!

 

His salvation in your life

is far-reaching

 

It saves you from

a pointless existence

sin’s grip

a futile focus

slavery’s hold

meaninglessness

fear of death

people dependence

darkness rule

hopelessness

being alone

conjured joy

the enemy’s grasp

man-made religion

blind living

 

…from yourself

 

The moment you accepted Christ

you were made new

 

and your salvation travels with you

into each day

 

Don’t forget

all that He has saved you from

 

and walk in confidence

of the Light He placed in you

 

-Susie Stewart

 

 

…I’ll give you a long life,
    give you a long drink of salvation!

– Psalm 91:16 (MSG)

 

No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you… I will not fail you or abandon you.

– Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

 

…He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

– Titus 3:5 (NIV)

 

There is no one else who can rescue us, and there is no other name under heaven given to any human by whom we may be rescued.

– Acts 4:12 (VOICE)

 

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew He was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.

– 1 Peter 1:18-21 (MSG)

 

Sin ruled by means of death. But God’s kindness now rules, and God has accepted us because of Jesus Christ our Lord. This means that we will have eternal life.

– Romans 5:21 (AMP)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart