Photography

God-Man

/ 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

Created

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

So many of us are marveled by His majestic power via His nature; the nature that He created and called “good”, but we so often fail to have that same sense of awe with each other…. He created all of us and called us “VERY GOOD”.  The best of all that He created!  Besides His Spirit that He gave us, WE, ALL HUMANS (no matter race, socioeconomic boundaries, culture, religion, or anything that we have done nor will do), are the closest thing we have to experiencing God Himself. That’s a priority changer huh?  Yes, it’s wonderful and perfectly rigtheous to glorify God by marveling at His nature, but there is so much beauty we are missing in our neighbors, people we pass by every day, and we even miss it in our spouses, family, and best friends.  Convicting huh?  I do it all the time, and if you’re honest with yourself, you do to.  We are made in the VERY LIKENESS OF GOD, let’s start treating each other that way (even if they aren’t perfect like He is).  Yes, I know a tree doesn’t talk back to you, drive slow on the freeway, or act selfishly, but a tree also doesn’t have the capability of deep meaningful conversations, loving you, building you up when you’re down, or making you cheesecake either. People are more AWEsome than we give each other credit for.  Be marveled at someone today because God has already said they are VERY GOOD, and afterall, we ARE made in His image.

– Taylor Bodin

 

The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

– Job 33:4 (NIV)

 

Then God said, “Let Us make human beings in Our image, to be like Us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

So God created human beings in His own image.
In the image of God He created them;
male and female He created them.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Genesis 1:26-28 (NLT)

 

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.

– Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)

 

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

 

Faith Work Out

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

I recently read an article about the fattest people on earth, people weighing well over a thousand pounds, people who are eating themselves to death.  At a certain point, they lost the ability to walk.  Eventually, they were bedridden and depended on others feeding them because they could no longer even feed themselves.

It reminded me of a lot of people I find in the church.   They are fed more and more knowledge every week.  They attend church services, join small group Bible studies, read Christian books, listen to podcasts – and are convinced they still need more knowledge.  Truth is, their biggest need is to do something.  They don’t need another feast on doctrine.  They need to exercise.  They need to work off what they’ve already consumed.  Some have become so used to consuming the Word without applying it that you wonder if they can.  These are the spiritually bedridden, resigned to spending the rest of their lives studying the Word without ever making disciples or tangibly caring for others.

– Francis Chan

 

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

James 2:14 (NLT)

 

How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

– James 2:20 (NLT)

 

…Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.

– Philippians 2:12 (NLT)

 

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

– James 1:22-25 (NLT)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

Victoria

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe. You have approached even the smallest details with excellence; Your works are wonderful; I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.

– Psalm 139:14 (VOICE)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

Rest

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

To every toiling, heavy-laden sinner, Jesus says, Come to me and rest. But there are many toiling, heavy-laden believers, too. For them this same invitation is meant. Note well the words of Jesus, if you are heavy-laden with your service, and do not mistake it. It is not, Go, labor on, as perhaps you imagine. On the contrary, it is stop, turn back, Come to me and rest. Never, never did Christ send a heavy laden one to work; never, never did He send a hungry one, a weary one, a sick or sorrowing one, away on any service. For such the Bible only says, Come, come, come.”

– Hudson Taylor
My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.
– Exodus 33:14 (NIV)
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

– Psalm 62:1,2 (NIV)
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

– Matthew 11:28, 29 (NIV)
Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

– Psalm 116:7 (NIV)

 

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

Best News

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

Jesus’ apostles were beaten and murdered for their bold witness, and they rejoiced to suffer for the name of Christ.

What was my reason again for not opening my mouth to speak the Good News?

– Susie Stewart

 

 

They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go.

The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”

– Acts 5:40-42 (NLT)

 

He preached without fear in the name of the Lord. He talked and argued with the Jews who spoke the Greek language. They kept trying to kill him.

– Acts 9:29 (NLV)

 

They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead.

– Acts 14:29 (NLT)

 

Always think about Jesus Christ. He was brought back to life and is a descendant of David. This is the Good News that I tell others.  I’m suffering disgrace for spreading this Good News. I have even been put into prison like a criminal. However, God’s word is not imprisoned.  For that reason, I endure everything for the sake of those who have been chosen so that they, too, may receive salvation from Christ Jesus with glory that lasts forever.

– 2 Timothy 2:8-10 (GW)

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The Best News

must be shared

 

boldly

passionately

graciously

lovingly

 

for it is not by your own power

that you speak this News

 

but by the power

of God’s Spirit

 

He will quicken your mind

give you discernment

make you strong

and give you compassion

for those lost

and in bondage

 

You are the witness

to something glorious

something amazing

something unheard of

 

Sacrifice

Grace

Forgiveness

Heaven

 

Forever with God

The Best News

 

Sharing what He has done

for you

is a privilege

 

Speak

 

open up your mouth

and speak

 

trusting that when you do

regardless of the outcome

you have been obedient

and you have spoken

Hope

 

You are not a proselytizer

but an enthusiastic messenger

with the Best News

– Susie Stewart

 

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Photos taken by Susie Stewart

Truth

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

We’ve all been in a position like this at one time or another, haven’t we? We thought for certain God was telling us something specific. We knew it. We were sure of it. The only place we got a little fuzzy was when we tried squaring it with what we knew of Scripture, or when we tried explaining our thinking to a parent or friend who lived on intimate terms with God. Then it took a lot of mental effort and self-styled logic to try holding all the loose ends together. The voice we thought we’d heard from God didn’t fare so well in the light of His Word. We were left to determine: Will we count on God’s Word as truth? Will we choose to conform to His true character despite what we are feeling?
– Priscilla Shirer

 

When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth..

-John 16:13 (NLT)

 

 

Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.

– Psalm 25:4,5 (NLT)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

 

Humility

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Humility disappears when God is neglected. True humility is total trust in God.  The Holy Spirit tells us to cast all our anxieties on God and that means we trust Him totally. If we don’t give Him those worries, it means we’re lacking humility.

~ Jay Oertli

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Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though He was God,
He did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, He gave up His divine privileges;
He took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When He appeared in human form,
He humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

~ Philippians 2:3-8 (NLT)

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So bow down under God’s strong hand; then when the time comes, God will lift you up.

~ 1 Peter 5:6 (VOICE)

Photos taken by Susie Stewart

 

Worship

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Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness, the nourishment of the mind with His truth, the purifying of the imagination of His beauty, the opening of the heart to His love, the surrender of the will to His purpose.

~ William Temple

 

It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men.

~ C.S. Lewis

 

Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and He won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

~ Hebrews 12:28 (MSG)

 

But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

~ John 4:23 (NLT)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart