Forgiveness

Refreshed

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

How refreshing

is Your forgiveness

 

How sweet

Your grace

 

How fierce

Your resolve

 

to save

and redeem

 

And how blessed am I

to receive this gift

 

of Light inside

my very being

 

where darkness

once ruled

 

And how blessed am I

to know

 

I am truly forgiven

by Perfection

 

and that I’m known

for the dust that I am

 

Yet loved beyond reason

 

Forgiveness takes the weight

from the accused

 

and Your forgiveness, Jesus,

took that burden hard

and painfully

 

on Your flesh back

 

so that I

could be refreshed

 

with redemption

 

~ Susie Stewart

 

 

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

– Acts 3:19,20 (NIV)

 

 

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
    nor will He harbor His anger forever;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is His love for those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on His children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him;
for He knows how we are formed,
    He remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him,
    and His righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep His covenant
    and remember to obey His precepts.

– Psalm 103:7-18 (NIV)

 

Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One, who grants us every spiritual blessing in these heavenly realms where we live in the Anointed—not because of anything we have done, but because of what He has done for us. God chose us to be in a relationship with Him even before He laid out plans for this world; He wanted us to live holy lives characterized by love, free from sin, and blameless before Him.  He destined us to be adopted as His children through the covenant Jesus the Anointed inaugurated in His sacrificial life. This was His pleasure and His will for us.  Ultimately God is the one worthy of praise for showing us His grace; He is merciful and marvelous, freely giving us these gifts in His Beloved.  Visualize this: His blood freely flowing down the cross, setting us free! We are forgiven for our sinful ways by the richness of His grace, which He has poured all over us.

– Ephesians 1:3-8 (VOICE)

 

 

Photo by Nicole Stewart

 

 

Light in Light

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

In Light

we see Light

 

In darkness

all is dark

 

So, Jesus, open the eyes of the blind!

Awaken them to Light!

 

For the dark

is a scary place to be

 

It’s hopeless…

 

But those who dwell in Light

recognize Your Light

 

and want it

for those in absence of it

 

Those who dwell in blackness

can’t see it

 

Loose them, Lord!

Unbind them!

 

Let us be Your Light

to our fellow-created

 

May Your Light

Pierce the darkness

 

that threatens to overtake

those You love

 

– Susie Stewart

 

For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.

– Psalm 36:9 (NIV)

 

How exquisite your love, O God! How eager we are to run under your wings, To eat our fill at the banquet You spread as You fill our tankards with Eden spring water. You’re a fountain of cascading light, and you open our eyes to light.

– Psalm 36:7-9 (MSG)

 

In Your house, they eat and are full at Your table.
They drink from the river of Your overflowing kindness.
You have the fountain of life that quenches our thirst.
Your light has opened our eyes and awakened our souls.

– Psalm 36:8,9 (VOICE)

 

But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.

– Luke 15:32 (GNT)

 

Light shows up everything, just as the Scriptures say,

“Wake up from your sleep
and rise from death.
Then Christ will shine on you.”

– Ephesians 5:14 CEV)

 

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins.

– Colossians 2:13 (NLT)

 

It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on His own, with no help from us! Then He picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

– Ephesians 2:1-6 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

Swift

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Your forgiveness

Lord

is swift

 

You take no time

to debate in your mind

whether we are worthy

 

You offer open hands

and warm embrace

without reservation

 

And I think about

how we often

are not quick to forgive

 

 

We make a choice

 

to mull over offenses

and severity

and deservedness

 

And sometimes

we never get to the forgiving part….

 

And the longer we wait

the more hardened we become

 

Instead of swift

we are feet dragging in dirt

 

getting scuffed up

in the process

 

What if

our forgiveness

was swift

 

like Yours God?

 

– Susie Stewart

 

But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.

– Mark 11:25 (NLT)

 

Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.

– Ephesians 4:32 (AMP)

 

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)

 

Love….keeps no record of wrongs.

– 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Together

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

I think we don’t take God seriously

about unity in the Body of Christ

 

We divide ourselves into denominations

and separate from one another

 

We look down on this group

or that one over there

 

And we quarrel with our brothers and sisters

not taking seriously that God is about forgiveness

 

and about reconciliation

and unconditional love

 

We take advantage of His grace

and feel justified in our bitterness

 

Because if you only knew what they did….

 

When all along it has been us, too,

holding onto judgment

and bitterness

and unforgiveness

 

How ironic

 

For in our minds

we are pointing out their sin

 

And we could all be put in a basket

a basket of people stained and broken

 

BUT that is not how God sees us!

 

His precious Son died so that we

could be reconciled to the Father

 

He bought us reconciliation!

 

Do you hear that word?

Reconciliation

 

And that is what we ought to be about

with one another

 

Reconciliation

 

After all, do you not know

that together we build

 

The Holy Temple of God?

 

Each one a brick

adding to the beautiful structure

 

Jesus, the Son of God,

is the Cornerstone of that temple!

 

It is important that we be together

Each having a place

 

Brick by brick

by brick

 

So, please, brothers and sisters

let’s not judge

and criticize

and hate

and draw denominational lines

 

God has called us to love

so that others outside the building

 

Will know of our Savior

 

What barrier have you erected

that the cross already demolished?

 

– Susie Stewart

 

People are incorporated into [Jesus Christ], and when He is raised to new life, a new being comes into existence, one in which people are one with Christ and one with each other in Him.  Grace not only connects us to God and Christ, it connects us to each other.

– Klyne Snodgrass

 

Jesus prayed:   “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent Me.”

– John 17:20-21 (NLT)

 

Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.

– Ephesians 2:20-22 (NLT)

 

God’s purpose and Christ’s achievement is a single new humanity, a model of human community, a family of reconciled brothers and sisters who love their Father and love each other, the evident dwelling place of God by His Spirit.  Only then will the world believe in Christ as Peacemaker.  Only then will God receive the glory due His name.  

– John Stott

 

And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple. What’s more, you are His holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the Scriptures say,

“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,
chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in Him
will never be disgraced.”
Yes, you who trust Him recognize the honor God has given Him. But for those who reject Him,

“The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.”

And,

“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.

“Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”

– 1 Peter 2:4-10 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

 

 

Forgive

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

If you are waiting for the offender

to be worthy of your forgiveness,

that time will never come

 

just like it never came for you,

before your righteous God

 

Unworthy, we came to our Savior

and humbly accepted His beautiful gift

of forgiveness

 

And we turn around

and we forgive people

 

Always

 

because we can’t receive forgiveness

and then not give it back out

 

This is not an option

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

– Matthew 6:14,15 (NLT)

 

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

– 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

 

But You, O Lord our God, still show us compassion and forgiveness even though we have openly rebelled against You.

– Daniel 9:9 (VOICE)

 

You see, God takes all our crimes—our seemingly inexhaustible sins—and removes them. As far as east is from the west, He removes them from us.

– Psalm 103:12 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Susie 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

Forgive

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

God pardons like a mother, who kisses the offense into everlasting forgiveness.

– Henry Ward Beecher

 

Most laws condemn the soul and pronounce sentence. The result of the law of my God is perfect. It condemns but forgives. It restores – more than abundantly – what it takes away.

– Jim Elliot

 

Forgiveness is the economy of the heart. Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.

– Hannah More

 

We win by tenderness. We conquer by forgiveness.

– Frederick W. Robinson

 

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

– Matthew 6:14,15 (NLT)

 

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

– 1 John 1:9 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Love keeps no record of wrongs…

– 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)

 

It is impossible to love somebody and think well of them and at the same time hold the bad things they may have done in the past against them like a register of unpaid debts.

– Richard Savage

 

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have someone to forgive.

– C.S. Lewis

 

But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

– Matthew 6:15 (NLT)

 

Only when we humble ourselves before God, recognizing what He did for us, can we truly offer that same forgiveness…

– Ken & Pam

 

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

– Colossians 2:13-15 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

What you deserve

/ 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

Thoughts

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

 

I went on a hike.

 

It was my goal to reach the bench,

to climb the hillside path,

to see the sunset.

 

I talked to God most of the way.

 

And thought about how I had failed….

 

Angry words had been expressed, never to be inhaled back in.

Loved hearts hurt.

 

And I was disappointed

 

in my decisions

in myself.

 

And I whispered confessions

to my patient Lord,

coming out in tired, hiking, breathless words.

 

And I reached that bench

but felt the urge to keep going

on this snowy, muddy path.

 

And so I continued upward

and reached another bench

as the sun went behind the mountains to the west.

 

And I was tired of treading in the mud

but had to keep going

to continue to process with God

the inevitable consequences of my loose tongue and poor choices.

 

When I reached the third bench

I stopped.

 

And I saw that the path had ended

with a gate.

 

And as I pondered the end, I said to God sadly,

 

“I’m at the end of ME!

I’m so over SELF!

I surrender all to You once again, God.

Please forgive me.”

 

And I finally sat down

at bench number three.

 

My eyes took in the majesty,

the beauty,

the splendor

of the mountains so far away

illumined with evening hues.

Those grand mountains,

unmovable but changing with light leaving.

 

And I still chose the heaviness of guilt.

 

And I pleaded, ‘Lord, please speak to me.  I want to hear Your voice.’

 

With comforting tone and loving presence,

I heard in my mind,

 

“I have whispered your name through generations.”

 

I gasped.

Tears flowed.

 

HIS words.

Words I could not have imagined on my own.

 

He thought of me?

Way before I was born?

He, God, spoke my name?

 

I was overcome.

 

Alone in my regret,

He met me there

with loving words

when I had chosen the opposite, time and again.

 

Undeserved love.

 

Unmerited forgiveness.

 

I had brought a shadow to His light,

but here on this third bench at the end of the path

He reminded me

that He is love

and He is mercy

and He is grace

and He is Teacher

especially in the aftermath of careless mistakes

and most of all,

 

unconditional love reigns.

 

Heading back down

before the sunset turned to darkness

my burden was lighter.

 

The climb,

the end of the road,

the voice of faithfulness —

all worth the journey.

 

Now it was time to seek wronged hearts,

humble myself,

do better,

and learn on this journey.

 

And I was thankful to find

that the same forgiveness I received on that hike

is the same forgiveness

that I was met with

by those offended.

 

Light begets Light.

– Susie Stewart

 

O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
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.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!

Psalm 139:1-19  (NLT)

Sunset Hike 2

 

Photos taken by Susie Stewart