Scripture

Consequences

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

You are wading,

trudging,

struggling,

in consequences

 

The consequences of your choices

 

And you know that you’ve found freedom

in the confession

 

But the consequences…

 

The result

of your choices

 

they are heavy

and far-reaching

and inevitable

 

and you must wade through

 

the heavy murkiness

that tugs at you

even as you are enveloped in God’s forgiving grace

 

Be strong in Him

keep taking responsibility for the pain caused

and accept that consequences are real

 

We all must face them

 

Except when it comes to our Savior

 

He took our consequences

 

All the consequence of our sin

weighed heaven and earth-sized on His shoulders

and He trudged through the murky waters

until there was

one

last breath

 

and He had drown

in our consequences

 

Thank You, dear Lord.

 

Dear friend, when you find yourself

knee-deep in consequences

 

stop and thank the Lord

 

that He will not leave you stuck in sin,

that He gives grace to the humble,

that He died for you

and

that He truly brings freedom

 

And know that because of HIM

you will not drown in your consequences

– Susie Stewart

 

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

– Isaiah 43:2 (NLT)

 

And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

– James 4:6 (NLT)

 

If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].

– 1 John 1:9 (AMP)

 

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

– Romans 6:22,23 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Good & Trustworthy

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

The God Jesus reveals would never do anything to harm us.  He has no malice or evil intentions.  He is completely good.  And the fact that God is also all-knowing and all-powerful makes His goodness even better.  I can trust God even if things look bleak.  It does not matter that God is all-powerful or all-knowing if He is not all-good.  If He isn’t all-good, I will never be able to love and trust Him.

– James Bryan Smith

 

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

– Psalm 125:1 (NIV)

 

He is the Rock; His deeds are perfect. Everything He does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright He is!

– Deuteronomy 32:4 (NLT)  

 

But as we come to know the good and beautiful God that Jesus knows, our struggles take on a whole new meaning.  If God is truly good and is looking out for our good, then we can come to Him with complete honesty.  We can practice honesty when we pray – baring our soul and confronting those hurts that make us doubt God’s goodness by handing them over to Him for healing.

– James Bryan Smith

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

The Pursuit

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

…the goodness and mercy of God isn’t just following after me placidly. The goodness and mercy of God pursues after me passionately…

God is so bent on blessing, He chases.

God’s not out to get you — He’s out to give to you.

And God’s blessings don’t pursue temporarily — but relentlessly.

It’s right there in His Word: His goodness and mercy pursue me not just some days — but all the days of my life.

When I’m in a wilderness, His mercy and goodness run after me.

When I’m hurting, His grace hunts for me.

When I’m plagued by problems, His goodness pursues me.

No matter where I go, He hasis two blessing men right there in hot pursuit: goodness and mercy, and no shadow of death can overshadow the goodness and mercy that shadows the child of God.

Even the discipline of the Lord can be a grace of the Lord and all the interruptions of a day can be the intercessions of Christ.

I whisper it to myself when it’s noon on the first day of the week and everything is closing in on me and I am already behind:

Whatever is chasing you — no matter what it looks like — it’s grace.Whatever is chasing you — no matter what it looks like — it’s grace.

And grace isn’t what makes us feel good: grace is all that makes us more like Jesus.

I can breathe deeper. I could smile. I don’t have to feel anything pressing on my chest — I could live relieved. Like I can re-live.

Because the real truth is: God wants to bless more than we want to be to be blessed. So why run from whatever God is giving? It’s only got to be for my ultimate good and His ultimate glory.

We don’t live in pursuit of a better life — it’s the blessed life that’s in pursuit of us.

It’s there on the counter, that open journal where I count gifts, and it may feel like I’m looking for goodness and mercy, but it’s grace and mercy that finds me.

No one chases grace — but grace chases everyone.

– Ann Voskamp

 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

– Psalm 23:6 (ESV)

 

Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.

– Psalm 23:6 (AMP)

 

Certainly Your faithful protection and loving provision will pursue me where I go, always, everywhere. I will always be with the Eternal, in Your house forever.

– Psalm 23:6 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

Abandoned

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Abandoned,

is one of the worst

ways to feel

 

Alone

Forsaken

Forgotten

 

And we are tempted

to believe God would do that

to us

 

because people do

 

But His timeless words

speak assurance

into our wounded souls

 

“I will never leave you”

 

Never

 

“I will never forsake you”

 

Never

 

And enveloped in that

constant care,

that unending Divine presence,

the question really becomes,

 

“Have I abandoned Him?”

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Those who know Your name trust in You,
for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

– Psalm 9:10 (NIV)

 

…For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

– Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT)

 

Is it possible for a mother, however disappointed,
however hurt, to forget her nursing child?
Can she feel nothing for the baby she carried and birthed?
Even if she could, I, God, will never forget you.
Look here. I have made you a part of Me, written you on the palms of My hands…

– Isaiah 49:15,16 (VOICE)

 

Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.

– Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

 

Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God…

– Deuteronomy 8:11 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

Priorities

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…in the good things of life, you should try not to lose the important things.  Show me your calendar, and I will show you your priorities.  How you schedule your time, as well as your resources, reveals what is truly important.

If you are not spending time cultivating your relationship with the Savior, it is not because you don’t have the time.  It is because you don’t prioritize the relationship.  Whatever is first in our life, you will find the time to do.

– Tony Evans

 

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in Me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are My true disciples. This brings great glory to My Father.

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved Me. Remain in My love. When you obey My commandments, you remain in My love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

– John 15:5-11 (NLT)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

Gracious

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Your God-sized graciousness

can’t wait to shower

it’s refreshment on us

 

You long for us, God,

to experience the freedom of grace

the depth of grace

the weightlessness of grace

 

and You wait

and You wait

and You wait

 

and while You wait

we carry the weight

 

the weight of guilt

the weight of shame

the weight of the ungraciousness of people

 

and You long to show us

love

and

compassion

 

You wait patiently

for the laying down of our pride

 

and You are quick to fill

when we finally surrender

to what we needed all along

 

beautiful grace

 

 

– Susie Stewart

 

So the Lord must wait for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for His help.

– Isaiah 30:18 (NLT)

 

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!

– Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)

 

He is a rock. What He does is perfect. All His ways are fair. He is a faithful God, who does no wrong. He is honorable and reliable.

– Deuteronomy 32:4 (GW)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Brilliant!

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

I didn’t miss it, Lord

 

I noticed

and pondered

and soaked in

 

Your brilliance

 

It was all around me

and in me

 

but I almost missed it

because the day was busy

and my thoughts were all over the place

 

but then you drew me in

to the green earth

and the blue sky

and the love of family

and the truth of Your Word

 

And Your brilliance

BURST

before my eyes

and in my heart

 

Let me not miss

for a single day

brilliant YOU

 

for life is dull

existing only in the shadow

of distraction

 

– Susie Stewart

 

God, brilliant Lord,
Yours is a household name.
Nursing infants gurgle choruses about You;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.
I look up at Your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?
Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us Your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.
God, brilliant Lord,
Your name echoes around the world.

– Psalm 8 (MSG)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

Love Sees

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

You look at me

and see

my flaws;

I look at you

and see

flaws, too.

Those who love,

know love deserves

a second glance;

each failure serves

another chance.

Love looks to see,

beyond the scars

and flaws,

the cause,

and scars become

an honorable badge

of battles fought

and won –

(or lost)

but fought!

The product,

not the cost,

is what love sought.

 

– Ruth Bell Graham

 

God help us see

beyond the now

to the before,

and note with tenderness

what lies between

– and love the more!

 

– Ruth Bell Graham

 

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

– Romans 12:9 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Grief & Grace

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

But in thinking about love and grief we must be careful not to confuse either with that sentimentality which is part of cheap grace.  The kind of loving grief I’m talking about involves acceptance of the precariousness of life and that we will all die, but our wholeness is found in the quality rather than the quantity of our living.  Real love, between man and woman, friend and friend, parent and child, is exemplified for us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who offered us and still offers us the wholeness of that costly grace which gives us the courage for healthy grief.

We live in a time where costly grace is what makes life bearable; more than bearable – joyful and creative, so that even our grief is part of our partnership in co-creation with God.

– Madeleine L’Engle

 

For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

– Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NLT)

 

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

– Psalm 24:18 (NLT)

 

God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

– Matthew 5:4 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Warrior

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Do you know

that your King

is also your Warrior?

 

He fights for YOU

 

The fiercest battles

are the unseen

 

And because you are His

He will defend you

 

Almighty Warrior

Savior

Defender

Rock

 

Surrender to Him

and He will fight for you

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior….

– Jeremiah 20:11 (NIV)

 

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

– Exodus 14:14 (NIV) 

 

You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

– 2 Chronicles 20:17 (NIV)

 

For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’

– Deuteronomy 20:4 (NLT)

 

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