Lamentations

Know New

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

The enemy of your soul

would like you to believe

that new is not possible

 

He would like you to believe

that you are stuck

 

with no way out

 

He would like you to believe

that you are

your sin

 

and that condemnation weight

cannot leave

 

BUT

 

The Lord wants you to know

that He makes all things

NEW

 

He wants you to experience

His mercies in the morning

 

He wants you to see

all that He is doing in you

 

and to believe

that you have

a new day in Him

 

New life

New mercies

New day

New you

 

Renewed and redeemed

over and over and over

 

that is your destiny

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].

– 2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP)

 

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

– Revelation 21:5 (NIV)

 

Let me hear of Your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting You. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to You.

– Psalm 143:8 (NLT)

 

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.
Great is His faithfulness;
    His mercies begin afresh each morning.

– Lamentations 3:22,23 (NLT)

 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

– John 10:10 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

 

 

 

Creation Speaks

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

The morning sings joy

and mercy

 

Do you hear it?

 

The noonday sun radiates righteousness

and truth

 

Do you see it?

 

The moon and stars whisper peace

and wisdom

 

Do you perceive it?

 

The whole earth

and all of creation

speak of Divinity

 

Listen well

and walk

in the morning joy,

the noonday truth,

and the nighttime peace

 

with your Creator

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

The whole earth is filled with awe at Your wonders;
    where morning dawns, where evening fades,
    You call forth songs of joy.

– Psalm 65:8 (NIV)

 

He will spread out righteousness for you as a sunrise spreads radiance over the land; He will deliver justice for you into the light of the high sun.

– Psalm 37:6 (VOICE)

 

The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
    which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.

– Proverbs 4:18 (NLT)

 

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to Him who alone does mighty miracles.

His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to Him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to Him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to Him who made the heavenly lights—
His faithful love endures forever.

the sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.

and the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love endures forever.

– Psalm 136:1-9 (NLT)

 

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.
Great is His faithfulness;
    His mercies begin afresh each morning.

– Lamentations 3:22, 23 (NIV)

 

At every time and in every place— from the moment the sun rises to the moment the sun sets— may the name of the Eternal be high in the hearts of His people.

– Psalm 113:3 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

New Day

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Yesterday was hard

and I was losing hope

 

but this morning

You were there, Lord

 

You awakened me with Your love

and the encouragement

 

of a fresh, new day

 

Your mercies rose

with the sun on the horizon

 

I am being made new

over and over

 

And it’s a good thing

for the hard press of this world

 

leaves me low sometimes

 

But each dawn

there You are

 

I wake up to YOU

 

Waiting to instill new hope

and renewed purpose

 

Thank You, Jesus

 

– Susie Stewart

 

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

– Romans 15:13 (NLT)

 

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.
Great is His faithfulness;
    His mercies begin afresh each morning.

– Lamentations 3:22,23 (NLT)

 

And now, God, do it again— bring rains to our drought-stricken lives So those who planted their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest, So those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.

– Psalm 126:5,6 (MSG)

 

Photo by Victoria Stewart

 

Self-Examination

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

May I be a follower

who examines myself 

more than I examine others

 

May my eyes be on You, God,

with Spirit-led reflection

on how I’m doing

as your follower

 

For I want to hear You, Lord,

when You are calling for change

and growth

and turning

 

I don’t want self-obsessed introspection

designed to tear me down

 

I will avoid my own voice of self-degradation

originating with the father of lies

 

The only voice I want to hear

is Yours,

loving

and for my good

 

I want to examine my own heart

by Your Spirit

so that I take my stand against the devil’s schemes

 

and so that I may repent

of all that is against You

and Your plan for me

 

and turn my face

to the Light

and the Truth

 

Help me, Jesus,

examine myself

in Your way

 

leading me closer to You

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we’d rather the test showed our failure than yours. We’re rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn’t possibly do otherwise.

We don’t just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives.

– 2 Corinthians 13:5-9 (MSG)

 

If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget.

– James 1:23-25 (CEV)

 

Don’t take this opportunity to think you are better than those who slip because you aren’t; then you become the fool and deceive even yourself. Examine your own works so that if you are proud, it will be because of your own accomplishments and not someone else’s.  Each person has his or her own burden to bear and story to write.

– Galatians 6:3-5 (VOICE)

 

Now let’s search out our thoughts and ways and return to the Eternal.

– Lamentations 3:40 (VOICE)

 

As your spiritual teacher I give this piece of advice to each one of you. Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you all. For just as you have many members in one physical body and those members differ in their functions, so we, though many in number, compose one body in Christ and are all members of one another. Through the grace of God we have different gifts. If our gift is preaching, let us preach to the limit of our vision. If it is serving others let us concentrate on our service; if it is teaching let us give all we have to our teaching; and if our gift be the stimulating of the faith of others let us set ourselves to it. Let the man who is called to give, give freely; let the man who wields authority think of his responsibility; and let the man who feels sympathy for his fellows act cheerfully.

– Romans 12:3-8 (PHILLIPS)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

Far Beyond Tolerance

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

If we were called

to just tolerate one another

 

would it not be

so much easier?

 

Bearing with each personality

different from our own

 

with a stiff upper lip

and a grit of our teeth?

 

Tolerating…

Enduring….

People?

 

But we are called

to more

 

to Love

 

And it would seem

impossible

 

if not for the example

set before us

 

Christ would not

have rescued us from ourselves

 

if He only tolerated us

 

No, He loved us

with everlasting love

 

The Trinity

sacrificed much

 

for Love

 

We are not consumed

by fires’ wrath

 

because of love

 

And because He made the first move

we are called to the same

 

And it would be impossible

if not for righteousness imparted to us

 

God’s Spirit loves

the unlovable through us

 

Can we not see

that is what we can be  — unlovable?

 

Nonetheless

we are eternally cherished

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.

– Lamentations 3:22,23 (NIV)

 

I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

– Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

 

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

– John 13:34 (NLT)

 

We love because He first loved us.

– 1 John 4:19 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

 

A New Day

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

God can give you

a new day

 

in the middle of your moment

in the middle of your day

in the middle of your life

 

He’s all about new

 

He refreshes

He restarts

He renews

He begins

 

What was broken

can be repaired

 

What was torn apart

can be mended

 

What is tired

can be made alive

 

Jesus

can bring anything

to new life

 

After all,

He specializes

in death to life

 

You can count on Him

for a new day

 

But you’ve got to turn to Him

in humility

for all things new

 

 

We can be stuck

and stubborn

and unrelenting

 

preventing new

 

He wants us free

He wants to bring new

 

We need to let Him

 

– Susie Stewart

 

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

– 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

 

Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

– Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

 

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is His faithfulness;
His mercies begin afresh each morning.

– Lamentations 3:22,23 (NLT)

 

…You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you.

– Ephesians 4:20-24 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Wait & Hope

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

Waiting is hard for me.  It’s not my forte.  I like to get things done quickly.  Boom.  Done.  My writing, too, is usually short and to the point.

But the Lord has called on me to wait.  And wait.  And wait some more.  This is often His way.

I find myself wanting to sprint out ahead of God.  To take things into my own hands.  He lovingly grabs ahold of my “suspenders” from the back and places me behind His lead.  He is my teacher.  And on Him, I need to wait.  He sees eternally into the future.  And His wisdom is beyond my comprehension.

Waiting and trusting and hoping –  all wrapped up in the package of obedience. To this, He has called me.

– Susie Stewart

 

But as for me, I will look expectantly for the Lord and with confidence in Him I will keep watch; I will wait [with confident expectation] for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

– Micah 7:7 (AMP)

 

Like the faith diggers do every day. We bury our swollen prayers in Him who’s raised from the tomb.

We lay our hope, full and tender, into the depths of Him and wait in hope for God to resurrect something good.

Good always necessitates long waiting.

Every tulip only blossoms after cold months of winter wait. Every human ever unfurled into existence through nine long months of the womb waiting. And the only kingdom that will last for eternity still waits, this millennia-long, unwavering-hope for return of its King. Instead of chafing, we accept that waiting is a strand in the DNA of the Body of Christ.

That this waiting on God is the very real work of the people of God.

– Ann Voskamp

 

I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

– Psalm 27:13,14 (NIV)

 

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)

 

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

– Lamentations 3:25,26 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Voices

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

If you are beginning this day

with the weight of how you’re not enough

with a forboding

with condemnation accusing

 

Know that this is not

the voice of your King

your Savior

your Lord

 

Your life is hidden in Christ

your sins are paid for

your day is new with His possibilities

 

and you are loved unconditionally

 

Know it

believe it

soak it in

 

And when you get to the end of this day

with the weight of how you weren’t enough

with regrets

with condemnation accusing

 

Choose instead

to hear the voice of God

who loves you

and does not condemn you

 

Choose to listen to the life-giving voice

of Truth

from beginning to end

and then start again

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

– Romans 8:1 (NIV)

 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.

– Lamentations 3:22,23 (ESV)

 

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.

– Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

Wait with Hope

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Right now you may be waiting for something from the Lord.  Matter of fact, most people I meet are in some sort of holding pattern.  (I Certainly am!)  They have something on the horizon that they’re trusting God for.  (I certainly do!)  And their hope is not misplaced.   He is good to those who wait for Him.  He is good to those who seek Him.  We have nothing to fear.  And we certainly have no reason for living each day crushed by guilt or shame…

Contrary to popular opinion, God doesn’t sit in heaven with His jaws clenched, His arms folded in disapproval, and a deep from on His brow.  He is not ticked off at His children for all the times we trip over our tiny feet and fall flat on our diapers.  He is a loving Father, and we are precious in His sight, the delight of His heart.

– Chuck Swindoll

 

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?

– Romans 8:31,32 (NLT)

 

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

– Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

 

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young
to stick it out through the hard times.

– Lamentations 3:25 (MSG)

 

Those who do not hope cannot wait; but if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

– Charles Spurgeon

 

Photo by Gracie Oertli

Love is Patient

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Love is patient…

– 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)

 

It seems that when I write about a certain subject, it is that very day that I am tested in that very area of my Christian walk.  I fail miserably at times, and walk in my God-given freedom from sin at others.

Sanctification, the process of growing to be more like Jesus, is an ever upward thing in which I press on, and He is at work.  There are unfortunate moments when I am not reflecting Him, and it is those moments when I am exceedingly grateful for my patient Heavenly Father, and that He is refining His children through their ups and downs.

God is love.  And love is patient.  Today is a new day.  And with forgiveness, that new day may start right in the middle of your day.

– Susie Stewart

 

We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.
– Helen Keller

 

The times we find ourselves having to wait on others may be the perfect opportunities to train ourselves to wait on The Lord.
– Joni Eareckson Tada

 

Wait on God and He will work, but don’t wait in spiritual sulks because you cannot see an inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our spiritual hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told.
– Oswald Chambers

 

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

– Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)

 

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is His faithfulness;
His mercies begin afresh each morning.

– Lamentations 3:22,23 (NLT)

 

Photo taken by Susie Stewart