Sinking

January 18, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Sink into His love today

up over your head

deep

Let the weightlessness

take your worry

your pain

your heaviness

Let the quiet

take all that speaks loud

and shouts at you

and distracts

Let the Living Water

refresh

and cleanse

and hydrate parched places

His love is a vast ocean

of hope and grace

Let go

and be enveloped

Sink not into despair

but into His love

– Susie Stewart

…with all of Your people they will have the power to understand that the love of the Anointed is infinitely long, wide, high, and deep, surpassing everything anyone previously experienced. God, may Your fullness flood through their entire beings.

– Ephesians 3:18,19 (VOICE)

Photos taken by Susie Stewart

Voice of Authority

January 17, 2016 / Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

– John 10:27 (NLT)

When the Holy Spirit speaks, His voice comes with power and authority. It hits you deep. It grips you. Your heart burns. It’s Him. You know it….When God speaks, His voice is noticeable by its resonance, depth, and impact. It pulses with a calm, steady force that makes a clear impression on your soul….you are moved to stillness as you reflect on what you’ve seen and heard….Truly, you can distinguish the voice of God from any other voice by the powerful influence it carries in your soul.
– PriscilIa Shirer

They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
– Luke 24:32 (NLT)

Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

– John 8:47 (ESV)

But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord
or speak in His name,
His word burns in my heart like a fire.
It’s like a fire in my bones!
I am worn out trying to hold it in!
I can’t do it!
– Jeremiah 20:9 (NLT)

“Does not my word burn like fire?”
says the Lord.
“Is it not like a mighty hammer
that smashes a rock to pieces?”
– Jeremiah 23:29 (NLT)

Photo taken by Arik Stewart

What you deserve

January 16, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Next time you are tempted to allow yourself

to be weighed down by forgiven sins,

remember that Jesus already got what you deserved.

He reminded me of that recently.

I was walking my dog Larry and started to slip on some sidewalk ice. I didn’t fall down and the thought popped into my mind, “I probably would have deserved that”.

I had been hashing over some past regrets. Not a healthy way for me to be spending my time on this beautiful dark evening under the stars with Larry and God.

As quickly as that downgrading thought entered my mind, I then also heard in my mind, “I GOT what you deserve.”

Such a swift response. It took my breath away.

Yes, my Jesus! You paid the ultimate price for all the sins I’ve committed and instead of me getting what was coming to me, You, my beautiful Savior, took the punishment I deserved.

You paid the ultimate price for me. And You have forgiven me. You continue to forgive me.

You didn’t deserve that. I did.

And I want to consciously and graciously accept the forgiveness You give,

and move on.

Because that’s what You desire.

Moving on.

Turning the opposite direction.

Doing better.

Being free.

“I GOT what you deserve.”

Regret and sin

need to be left in the past

– Susie Stewart

“Forget about what’s happened;
don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,
rivers in the badlands.

– Isaiah 43:18,19 (MSG)

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

– 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

– Philippians 4:23,14 (NLT)

…this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.

– Matthew 26:28 (VOICE)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

Equip

January 15, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20,21 (NIV)

The God of peace

our promise-keeping

covenant God

Who brought our

Life

out of the grave

He will equip us

with everything good

for doing what He intends for us to do

today

and work in us to reveal

what pleases Him

It is all through Jesus

our Shepherd who leads us

Glory to God

– Susie Stewart

May God, who puts all things together,
makes all things whole,
Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
up and alive from the dead,
Now put you together, provide you
with everything you need to please Him,
Make us into what gives Him most pleasure,
by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
All glory to Jesus forever and always!
Oh, yes, yes, yes.

– Hebrews 13:20,21 (MSG)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

Chocolate Truffles & Bacon

January 14, 2016January 14, 2016 / Susie Stewart / 4 Comments

Chocolate truffles and bacon

That’s all it took

for me to fall into the ditch

from my higher road

Resolved to eat better,

I was on my way

less sweets

less carbs

more exercise

The usual song and dance

for many a New Year enthusiast

only 13 days in…

But it had been a rough day

and I really wanted to eat bacon

and I really wanted to eat truffles

and I jumped in

with both feet

Not just a little

but a lot

and man it tasted good!

Then

the after…

the feeling crummy

the regret

the guilt

the sigh

Isn’t it that way with sin?

Without vigilance

we can find ourselves

up to our necks in it

Sin can be so tasty

But there is always the after

and in Jesus

we are free from those chains!

Sin reigns no more in us

because of Christ!

So when we choose to sin

it’s like bacon and chocolate truffles

It is blatant

it’s because we haven’t taken up our armor

Something is slipping

and I have left myself exposed

without a piece of my armor

Flesh exposed

And I’m not just talking

about the supposed “biggies” of sin

How often do we know

the Holy Spirit is pricking our hearts

when we start to speak gossip about another?

And we know we should stop

but we’ve already started

so we jump in deeper

because we’re already there

Run from sin’s snare!

Christ will fight for us

We need to surrender to Him

Don’t be burdened with slavery

free Warrior

– Susie Stewart

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

– Exodus 14:14 (NIV)

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

– Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

– Ephesians 6:10-18 (NLT)

Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 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 6:12-14 (NLT)

Photos taken by Susie Stewart and Arik Stewart

Not Safe

January 13, 2016January 13, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

We are not all called to go to El Salvador, or Moscow, or Calcutta, or even the slums of New York, but none of us will escape the moment when we have to decide whether to withdraw, to play it safe, or to act upon what we prayerfully believe to be right, knowing that with all our prayers we may be wrong, and knowing that we will probably be punished by those who do not want universe-disturbers to stand up and be counted. Perhaps what we are called to do may not seem like much, but the butterfly is a small creature to affect galaxies thousands of light years away.
– Madeleine L’Engle

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow Me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed Him.

A little farther up the shore He saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And He called them to come, too. They immediately followed Him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
– Matthew 4:18-22 (NLT)

Life is short, hell is hot and eternity is forever!!! The world has NEVER been impacted by Christians who spend their whole lives in a car seat and beg God to never let anything bad happen to them!

Ask HIM to set you on fire with HIS plans…and THEN GO FOR IT!

– Perry Noble

My biggest fear, even now, is that I will hear Jesus’ words and walk away, content to settle for less than radical obedience to Him.

– David Platt

Photo Taken by Arik Stewart

His Love

January 12, 2016January 13, 2016 / Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

“I have trouble recognizing and absorbing God’s love for me,” my husband shared as we were eating leftovers together.

“Tell me more,” I said.

“Well, you know how the Bible tells us over and over about how much God loves us? I don’t know. I just have trouble applying that to myself.”

A good, honest assessment.

“Sweetie, think about how much you love your kids, and how they make you so proud, and you love to be with them, and how that video on Youtube about daughters growing up made you cry the other day?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, God sees you that way. And He loves you even more than you love those kids.”

Pause…. He’s thinking…

I go on.

“And what if I responded mechanically and business-like to your love for me? How would you like that?”

“I’d hate it.”

“Well, I don’t think we should be responding to God’s love like that either.”

Thinking some more….

“You need to let God love you and let it make you smile. Really smile! And respond to His love.”

I think things started to sink in for Mr. Logical. And I so appreciate that he has always been a good listener.

He knows what love for others feels like.

He knows he doesn’t want to receive a mechanical or distant response from the people he loves.

And he also knows how good and encouraging it feels to be loved by people.

God put this love in our hearts.

We can’t see Him

but He loves us extravagantly

in so many ways

not the least of which was the ultimate sacrifice –

Life.

Soak in His love!

Notice Him loving you through people

notice Him loving you through nature

notice Him loving you through the Bible

notice Him loving you through “coincidences”

even notice Him loving you through difficulties

and discipline.

Notice Him

and love Him back.

There is nothing better in this life

than to know that God loves you and to love Him in return.

– Susie Stewart

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;

and,

Love your neighbor as yourself.

– Luke 10:27 (NIV)

Love must be sincere..

– Romans 12:9 (NIV)

Photo taken by Nicole Stewart

Infinite

January 11, 2016January 13, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

I feel the tug

the Martha in my head

pressuring me to go

to do other things

to leave

And my heart longs

to sit here at Your feet

to gaze into Your beautiful eyes

to hear You

to learn and grow

to connect

So many distractions

pulling me away

an infinite amount it seems

And yet

what my heart and soul truly want

is You

Jesus

truly Infinite

truly Fulfilling

truly the Better

place to be

at Your feet

May the seemingly infinite

distractions

be overruled

by my desire to connect

with my Infinite God

– Susie Stewart

As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

– Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

– Galatians 5:16,17 (ESV)

Brothers and sisters, because of the blood of Jesus we can now confidently go into the holy place. Jesus has opened a new and living way for us to go through the curtain. (The curtain is his own body.) We have a superior priest in charge of God’s house. We have been sprinkled with his blood to free us from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with clean water. So we must continue to come to Him with a sincere heart and strong faith.

– Hebrews 10:19-22 (GW)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

Remarkable Existence

January 10, 2016January 13, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

O Lord my God, how great You are!
You are robed with honor and majesty.
You are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
You lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot;
You ride upon the wings of the wind.
The winds are your messengers;
flames of fire are your servants.

You placed the world on its foundation
so it would never be moved.
You clothed the earth with floods of water,
water that covered even the mountains.
At your command, the water fled;
at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
Mountains rose and valleys sank
to the levels You decreed.
Then You set a firm boundary for the seas,
so they would never again cover the earth.

You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to set.
You send the darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals prowl about.
Then the young lions roar for their prey,
stalking the food provided by God.
At dawn they slink back
into their dens to rest.

O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
teeming with life of every kind,
both large and small.

May the glory of the Lord continue forever!
The Lord takes pleasure in all He has made!
The earth trembles at His glance;
the mountains smoke at His touch.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
May all my thoughts be pleasing to Him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.

– Psalm 104:1-9, 19-22, 24, 25, 31-34 (NLT)

It is absolutely illogical to believe that nothing produces something, or that profoundly intricate designs have come into existence by self-generation. The more simple and natural conclusion is that there is an immeasurably great Creator and Benefactor back of all the remarkable existences which we observe and experience.
-Gordon Olson

Photo taken by Andy Stewart

God-Man

January 9, 2016January 13, 2016 / Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Jesus was touchable, approachable, reachable. And, what’s more, He was ordinary. If He were here today you probably wouldn’t notice Him as He walked through a shopping mall. He wouldn’t turn heads by the clothes He wore or the jewelry He flashed. ‘Just call me Jesus,’ you can almost hear Him say. He was the kind of fellow you’d invite to watch the Rams – Giants game at your house. He’d wrestle on the floor with your kids, doze on your couch, and cook steaks on your grill. He’d laugh at your jokes and tell a few of His own. And when you spoke, He’d listen to you as if He had all the time in eternity. And one thing’s for sure, you’d invite Him back.
– Max Lucado

Christ Jesus… being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!
– Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV)

Jesus is like us in every respect—human body, heart, mind, and will—except for sin.

How amazing that the divine Son of God would not just take on part of our humanity but all of it—and then take that true humanity all the way to the cross for us.

Jesus took a human body to save our bodies. And he took a human mind to save our minds. Without becoming man in his emotions, he could not have saved our emotions. And without taking a human will, he could not save our will. In the words of Gregory of Nazianzus, “That which he has not assumed he has not healed.”

He became man in full so that he might save us in full. Hallelujah! What a marvelous Savior!

– David Mathis

For this reason He had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.

– Hebrews 2:17 (NIV)

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin.

– Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart