The Importance of Quiet

March 12, 2017 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

You must rest

and reflect

and meditate

to hear the most important things

I want to teach you

A whisper can’t be heard

in noise

Truths cannot take root

in chaos

Hear Me

in your quiet

See Me

through eager eyes

Come and taste

and hear

and see

– Susie Stewart

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.
Worship God if you want the best;
worship opens doors to all His goodness.

– Psalm 34:8,9 (MSG)

This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: “Call to Me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.”

– Jeremiah 33:2,3 (MSG)

That is why we ought to pay even closer attention to the voice that has been speaking so that we will never drift away from it.

– Hebrews 2:1 (VOICE)

Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.” A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.

– 1 Kings 19:11, 12 (MSG)

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

– Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)

This is what the Almighty Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: You can be saved by returning to Me. You can have rest. You can be strong by being quiet and by trusting Me. But you don’t want that.

– Isaiah 30:15 (GW)

Photo by Susie Stewart

Escapism

March 3, 2017 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

There are places people go

in their hearts and minds

to escape real life

And those places

may look like other people’s stories

They may look like

a fantastical world

They may look like

hours before a screen or pages

And while it’s good to dream and imagine,

living a life that is not yours

can be dangerous

for the escape becomes

your god

It becomes more important

than anything else

it consumes

and dominates

and crushes

real life

I know,

because I’ve had times like that

I was drawn in

and obsessed

and out of touch

God was not on the throne

of my heart

May we who follow Jesus

be content where we are

relying on Him to walk with us

and not seeking escape

Come away with your Lord

for He will fill you

like no empty world of escapism

ever can

When your escape

leads to

Neglect

Obsession

and Avoidance

It’s time to get away with God

– Susie Stewart

…Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

– Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in Him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

– Philippians 4:4-9 (MSG)

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

– Romans 12:1,2 (MSG)

Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

– 1 John 2:15-17 (MSG)

Photo by Susie Stewart

–

The Lion & The Lamb

February 26, 2017 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

The Lion of Judah

and

The Lamb of God

are One

Gentle

and thunderous

Mighty

and Meek

Your power is perfect

in Your whispered voice

Your humility is evident

in Your boldness

You are quiet

and You are loud

and I ask You, God,

to make me more like You

Bold as my Lion

Gentle as my Lamb

Evidence of You

– Susie Stewart

For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

– Revelation 7:17 (NLT)

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

– Revelation 5:11, 12 (NIV)

Whenever this happens, my heart stops—
I’m stunned, I can’t catch my breath.
Listen to it! Listen to His thunder,
the rolling, rumbling thunder of His voice.
He lets loose His lightnings from horizon to horizon,
lighting up the earth from pole to pole.
In their wake, the thunder echoes His voice,
powerful and majestic.
He lets out all the stops, He holds nothing back.
No one can mistake that voice—
His word thundering so wondrously,
His mighty acts staggering our understanding.

– Job 37:1-5 (MSG)

Put My yoke upon your shoulders—it might appear heavy at first, but it is perfectly fitted to your curves. Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. When you are yoked to Me, your weary souls will find rest.

– Matthew 11:29 (VOICE)

Photo by Susie Stewart

Jesus First

February 23, 2017 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Take note

of what distracts you

from Jesus

We say

“Love the Lord your God

with all your heart

and all your soul

and all your strength

and all your mind.”

and then we start the day

without talking to Him

we ignore His prodding

to love people practically

and we end the day

soaking in more distractions

with a token prayer at bedtime,

if that

Lord, I want to love You

with everything I have!

as a brand new lover

who can think of little else

Jesus, You saved me

with Your love!

with Your love…

I want You to know

that I recognize that and I’m grateful

and I see this

as a reciprocal relationship

I want to love You

each day

and I want people to see

that You

come

first

in me

I want You to know

without a doubt

that I love You

– 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)

One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in His answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”

Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”

– Mark 28:27-31 (MSG)

So I am not the one living now—it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He is the one who loved me and gave Himself to save me.

– Galatians 2:20 (ERV)

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 Susie Stewart

Love Obedience

February 21, 2017 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Self-righteous

rule-follower,

what is your motive?

Don’t you know it’s impossible

to please God without faith?

Fruitless are the actions

of religious law-abiding

Righteousness is not righteousness

by adherence to the rules

Righteousness is imparted

to the humbled and surrendered

Jesus’ perfection

rubbing off on His children

The righteous live by faith,

not the flesh

Faithless obedience

is only religion

Pharisaical

Empty

Live by faith

in the Son of God

and obey out of love

and true conviction

Obey out of love

and faith

– Susie Stewart

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.

– Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)

What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.

– Matthew 23:27 (NIV)

Jesus said to His disciples: If you love Me, you will do as I command.

– John 14:15 (CEV)

The test of the genuineness of our love for God’s family lies in this question—do we love God Himself and do we obey His commands? For loving God means obeying His commands, and these commands of His are not burdensome, for God’s “heredity” within us will always conquer the world outside us. In fact, this faith of ours is the only way in which the world has been conquered. For who could ever be said to conquer the world, in the true sense, except the man who really believes that Jesus is God’s Son?

– 1 John 5:204 (PHILLIPS)

Photo by Susie Stewart

Is Your Truth Relative To Your Culture?

February 18, 2017 / Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

Is your morality

a hodgepodge

of your own autonomous ideas?

Does your truth change?

Many people today

are picking and choosing

their own “truth”

They are like ships

tossed about

by the waves of societal trends

They embrace relativism

like trying to grasp an ever-moving object

in a culture going downhill

How confusing it must be

to choose your own truth

But you don’t have to!

God has laid the foundation

in His Word

He never changes

and His Words to us never change

Solid Truth

Security

is what you feel

when your foundation for Truth is secure

You will never feel secure

when your finite and fallible brain

gets to decide

I stand on Biblical truth

– Susie Stewart

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

– Hebrews 13:8 (NLT)

The grass withers, the flower fades; nothing lasts except the word of our God. It will stand forever.

– Isaiah 40:8 (VOICE)

What you say goes, God, and stays, as permanent as the heavens. Your truth never goes out of fashion; it’s as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up. Your Word and truth are dependable as ever; that’s what You ordered—You set the earth going. If Your revelation hadn’t delighted me so, I would have given up when the hard times came. But I’ll never forget the advice You gave me; You saved my life with those wise words. Save me! I’m all Yours. I look high and low for Your words of wisdom. The wicked lie in ambush to destroy me, but I’m only concerned with Your plans for me. I see the limits to everything human, but the horizons can’t contain Your commands!

– Psalm 119:89-96 (MSG)

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your teachings are reliable.

– Psalm 119:142 (GW)

“My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”
by Edward Mote, 1797-1874
1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

3. His oath, His covenant, and blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

Photo by Susie Stewart

This Man

February 5, 2017February 5, 2017 / Susie Stewart / 10 Comments

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your Word.

– Psalm 119:9 (ESV)

I knew a young man

who loved Jesus

He sought to ground his life

on biblical truth

He was unique from others,

different from those who followed the crowd

A young man to be respected

because of his integrity

So I married this young man

He wasn’t perfect

but was set apart

Grounded

Honest

Kind

Faithful

A man after God’s heart

Every morning I would find him

with his breakfast and his Bible

And when we had our first child

a son to call our own

I was grateful that my man was a man

my boy could be proud of

and was a support to the boys

who didn’t have that example

As our young boy grew to be a young man

I saw in him his father

Grounded

Honest

Kind

Faithful

Every morning he had seen his dad

breakfast and Bible before him

It made an impression

For that had been

and would continue to be

the foundation of my man’s day

The foundation of his life

Living according to God’s Word

How does a young man

and his dad keep their way pure?

By living according to God’s Word

– Susie Stewart

…do everything you can to present yourself to God as a man who is fully genuine, a worker unashamed of your mission, a guide capable of leading others along the correct path defined by the word of truth.

– 2 Timothy 2:15 (VOICE)

Photos by Todd Versaw, Bob Karraker, and Susie Stewart

Invisible

February 2, 2017 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

My beautiful

Invisible

God

Sometimes I long

to see Your face

and Your invisibility

appears as a barrier

between You and me

But it doesn’t have to be

that way

There really is

no barrier

Only Jesus,

as the Way

Invisible God

You see me

right through to my core

And,

Invisible God,

you see the invisible people

among us

None escape Your sight

And while I still long

to see You,

Jesus

It doesn’t need to be a barrier

For You have made a Way

Communication with You

Creation Divine and serene

Your Word powerful and life-changing

Relationships beautiful

Love overwhelming

Life abundant

They show me You,

my invisible God ❤

– Susie Stewart

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, He organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

– Colossians 1:15-18 (MSG)

We all live off His generous bounty,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made Him plain as day.

– John 1:16-18 (MSG)

But you may not look directly at My face, for no one may see Me and live.

– Exodus 33:20 (NLT)

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

– 1 Timothy 1:17 (NIV)

No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.

– 1 John 4:12 (NLT)

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

– Romans 1:20 (NLT)

Photo by Susie Stewart

Around Me

January 31, 2017February 2, 2017 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

It’s good for me

to reflect on what it’s like

to be with me

I think so much

about what people do and say

and how they affect my life

But what about

how I affect them?

Does being with me

drain you

refresh you?

When I am around

are you affirmed

or torn down?

Do I make you

feel loved

or rejected?

And most importantly,

do people see Jesus

or self-focus?

All people

It’s good to reflect…

– Susie Stewart

…whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

– Proverbs 11:25 (NIV)

God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with Him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 (MSG)

So then, let us pursue [with enthusiasm] the things which make for peace and the building up of one another [things which lead to spiritual growth].

– Romans 14:19 (AMP)

Photo by Andy Stewart

Dark Pit

January 29, 2017 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

How dark is your pit?

How deep your valley?

How far down have you gone?

Into sin

Into grief

Into regret

That hole of darkness,

is it so all-encompassing

that you think

you’ll never see the light of day

again?

Even there

God will come for you

As long as you are alive

here on planet earth

you will never be so low

that Jesus’ light cannot penetrate your darkness

This darkness,

it blinds

Wake up

to White Light

And He will bring you out

of that pit

– Susie Stewart

I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in Me won’t have to stay any longer in the dark.

– John 12:46 (MSG)

Everything was created through Him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without Him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.

– John 1:3-5 (MSG)

I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in Me.

– Acts 26:17, 18 (MSG)

Through the heartfelt mercies of our God, God’s Sunrise will break in upon us, Shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, Then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace.

– Luke 1:79 (MSG)