Writing

Light!

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Lit-heart,

what darkness will you walk into today?

 

And are you keenly aware

of the Holy Spirit fire

that resides in you?

 

Do you remember that

light overcomes darkness?

 

So why do you fear

the dark places

the dark faces?

 

The blackness slinks to the darkest corners

when light is present

 

So walk into that dark place

where you are the only light-bearer

and know that His flame

burns in you

 

And boldly speak to the ones

who does not know what Light looks like

 

yet….

 

And know without a doubt that

HE is that flame that cannot be extinguished

and you are empowered by HIM

 

– Susie Stewart

 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

– John 1:5 (NLT)

 

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 1:4-6 (MSG)  

 

A light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazes through murky bottoms. It cannot and will not be quenched.

– John 1:5 (VOICE)

 

You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

– Matthew 5:14-16 (MSG)

 

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

– John 8:12 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

Tug-O-War

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

I’m in a tug-o-war,

a fierce competition

 

Only, it’s not a game,

but a battle

 

On the one side,

pulling me one direction,

is my longing for God,

my heaven-ward focus

 

And on the other,

the pull of the world

of distraction

of selfishness

 

And I feel that pull

that tug

that struggle

 

every.  single.  day

 

It’s not a horizontal battle

but a vertical tug o war

 

upward

and downward

 

and I want You, God,

yet….

 

I am pulled

by so much

 

electronics

my own thoughts

busyness

the enemy

 

the list goes on and on

 

But

in the middle

of that taut rope

is a tied piece of ribbon

 

and I see that red cloth

as

my choices

my focus

my will

 

It is me taking my thoughts captive

to make them obedient to Christ

 

or me allowing defeat thoughts

to overtake my hours

 

It is me choosing prayer

over mindless hours of screen time

 

or me letting entertainment

step on creative, full living

 

It is me deliberately serving

and honoring my King

 

or me procrastinating

what He has asked me to do

 

Choices bringing my ribbon

ever upward

or yanking me downward

 

And I see that the anchor

of the heaven-ward side

is God Himself

 

always drawing me in

and looking for my eyes to fix on Him

not on the competition

 

and I decide which side

I want to be pulling on

for my own soul

and because I am called to more

than downward

 

– Susie Stewart

 

The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

– 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (MSG)

 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

– Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

 

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

– James 4:7 (NLT)

 

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

– 1 John 4:4 (NLT)

 

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

– 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NLT)

 

Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, He does.

– 1 Peter 5:8-11 (MSG)

 

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

– 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

 

Online photo

 

Ponder Love

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

The very thought of God, to a man who truly loves Him, is ecstasy! If my eternity could be spent in a dungeon with my heart full of love to God, it could not be an unhappy experience to live so!

But, at the back of this, there comes a far greater thing. Brothers and Sisters, we know that God loves us. I never dare to try to speak about this great Truth of God—it is a thing to think over rather than to talk of. I like to get away quietly in a corner and just try to roll this sweet morsel under my tongue, to suck on it till I draw the very essence out of it—God loves me—or, as the hymn puts it—“I am so glad that Jesus loves me.”
For God to think of me is something. For Him to pity me, is more. For Him to help me practically, is still more. But for Him to love me—this is the greatest wonder of all! You know how you, being evil, love your own children, but your Heavenly Father loves you far more! You husbands know how you love your wives, yet there is One who loves His Church far more, for He gave Himself for her! God loves you, my Brother. God loves you, my Sister, if, indeed, you have been brought to believe in Jesus. And to know this great Truth of God is to have an “exceeding great reward,” because, if God loves us, everything must be right!

– Charles Spurgeon

 

So if you, who are sinful, know how to give your children good gifts, how much more so does your Father in heaven, who is perfect, know how to give great gifts to His children!

– Matthew 7:11 (VOICE)

 

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

– Romans 8:38,29 (NLT)

 

To be loved

now

and forever

by God

is everything

– Susie Stewart

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Loving Yourself

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

Jesus shares the the two most important commandments – to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.

I think we probably remember the love the Lord part.

And we likely remember the love your neighbor part, too. But that as yourself part—those are the words we forget…

Jesus knew that our self-care wasn’t just about us. Loving ourselves has a positive ripple effect on our families, our neighbors, our communities and the world.

We are the body of Christ. We belong to one another and desperately need one another’s love. But that starts with the way we love ourselves.

Just think of what the world would look like if we really embraced Jesus’s commandment.

If we started exercising and took control of our eating habits.

If we made time to be creative.

If we spent time in the Word.

We would be healthier.

We would be happier.

We would love our neighbors better.

We wouldn’t neglect our friends when they are going through painful seasons, too wrapped up in our own busyness.

Instead, we would be able to radically love the way Jesus has called us to do.

This new year is already looking different for me. I chose the word SLOW as my word for the year and I am embracing it deeply.

I have turned down work opportunities and not over-scheduled myself.

I have made room for a Bible study and book club.

I have already had lunch with three different friends, and several more dates are on the books.

And while slow might be my word, that doesn’t mean days aren’t going to be full and sometimes messy.

That’s not how life works—all of us know that firsthand. Three kids to parent, 9-5s to report to, meals to make, laundry to fold and the list goes on.

Yet, in each day, fringe hours can be found. Those bits that might be missed or wasted all together can be redeemed for beautiful, soul-filling hobbies and habits.

When we redeem those hours, life-change happens. Beauty is found. Friendships are nurtured.

We are the best versions of the people God created us to be.

– Jessica Turner

 

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

 – Mark 12:30-31 (NLT) 

 

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

– 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

 

Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.

– 3 John 2

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

You Focus

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

What’s it like

to live with you?

 

How is it

to work with you?

 

When people see you

in public,

what kind of person do they encounter?

 

Good questions

 

So many of us are thinking about

and concentrating on

how the people around us

don’t measure up

 

And that judgmental spirit

can be so subtle

that we may not even realize it’s there

 

But what if our focus

were actually on how we can BE the person

who is a blessing to live with

a joy to work with

a pleasant face in a crowd?

 

What if our inward focus

was not rooted in how we’re better

but how we can be better

for the people we come into contact with?

– Susie Stewart

 

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

– Matthew 7:1-5 (MSG)

 

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.

– John 13:35 (NLT)

 

Photo by Gracie Oertli

Unwavering Trust

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Is your trust

swayed with your emotion?

 

Is your trust

in a wave-like motion?

 

Up and down

up and down

up and down

 

Or is your trust

grounded and firm?

 

Based on truth unwavering,

solid?

 

Set your eyes, your mind, your heart

on the God who does not change

 

and let not your circumstances

lessen your trust

 

He will still those waves

if you only surrender

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life.

– Psalm 143:8 (NIV)

 

If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get His help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

– James 1:5-8 (MSG)

 

Late that day He said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” They took Him in the boat as He was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused Him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?”

Awake now, He told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, “Quiet! Settle down!” The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?”

They were in absolute awe, staggered. “Who is this, anyway?” they asked. “Wind and sea at his beck and call!”

– Mark 4:35-41 (MSG)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

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

Abandoned

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

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

 

Gracious

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

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