Happily Ever After

November 16, 2017 / Susie Stewart / 3 Comments

When you were young

did you dream

of your Happily Ever After?

Did you imagine your life

would look different

than the reality that has unfolded?

Your road has been

so much bumpier

than you wanted, hasn’t it?

And happily ever after

seems only a dream…

It is true

that in this life

you will have many troubles

You are a survivor

in a broken world

wrought with battles unseen

But, friend, your joy in between

is unmistakeable

For the beautiful parts of your life

are attributed to Him

who created that beauty

And you walk in His presence

in the midst of the turmoil

and the disappointment

You trust His promises

and you cling to His robe

for dear life

He is the Rock

the Fortress

the Shelter you need

And you know

without a shred of doubt

that your happily ever after

is coming

and it will be eternally yours

forever

and

ever

– Susie Stewart

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone.

It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

– Ephesians 1:11-14 (MSG)

It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, He saved us from all that. It was all His doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with Him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.

– Titus 3:3-8 (MSG)

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have Him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

– 1 Peter 1:3-7 (MSG)

Photo by Susie Stewart

How Do You Do Life Without Him?

March 6, 2017March 6, 2017 / Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

He sustains

He carries

He rescues

He loves

and He is strong enough

to create and carry

the whole world

So, I wonder

how anyone does life

without Him?

Any burden

He asks us to cast on Him

During our trials

He promises to be there

And when we are stuck

He provides a way out

In this life

if you don’t have God

What

you

have

cling

to?

Everything and everyone

can be gone at any time

Almighty God offers Himself

freely and forever

even to the point of death

Don’t do life

for one more minute

without Him

– Susie Stewart

Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am He, I am He who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

– Isaiah 46:4 (NIV)

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.

– Psalm 68:19 (NIV)

Cast your cares on the Lord
and He will sustain you;
He will never let
the righteous be shaken.

– Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

I cling to you;

your right hand upholds me.

– Psalm 63:8 (NIV)

Photo by Arik Stewart

Live Today

October 29, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Life is a choice

for you today

Blessings are a choice

for you today

For you can choose a death day

or a life day

And I think you know what I mean

For truly living

is a choice

Blessings toward others

are a choice

“Come follow Me,”

Jesus says

And following Him today

will open your eyes

to His goodness

His blessings

His love

His plans for you

this day

Choose to follow

and choose to LIVE

For a daily death is a slow

and sad

way to exist

Choose to Live

And look Up

to find the beauty

and the reason to truly live

– Susie Stewart

I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to Him, firmly embracing Him. Oh yes, He is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

– Deuteronomy 30:19 (MSG)

Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with beauty and truth. Meditate on whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy.

– Philippians 4:8 (VOICE)

…choose today whom you will serve.

– Joshua 24:15 (NLT)

As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you: Live a life that is worthy of the calling He has graciously extended to you.

– Ephesians 4:1 (VOICE)

…I came to give life with joy and abundance.

– John 10:10 (VOICE)

Photo by Susie Stewart

October 11, 2016 / Susie Stewart / 6 Comments

When my life

was threatened

I learned

that I truly love You, God,

more than my life

When I gave up meals

to fast and pray

I learned

that I truly want You, God,

more than food

When I denied myself

and I wanted to be first

I learned

that I wanted You above all, God,

more than myself

And when I surrendered my will

bowing low

I learned

that I long for Your plan, God,

more than mine

And the longer I walk with You, God,

the more I want to be near You

The more I know of You, God,

the more I want to know

The more I see of You, God,

the more I want to be wide awake

to You

– Susie Stewart

In the same way, if you want to be My disciple, it will cost you everything. Don’t underestimate that cost!

– Luke 14:33 (VOICE)

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.

– Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

…man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

– Deuteronomy 8:3 (NIV)

Then Jesus went to work on His disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with Me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?”

– Matthew 16:23-25 (MSG)

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

– Matthew 13:44-46 (NLT)

Photo by Arik Stewart

Worthship

July 13, 2016July 13, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Lord, I feel as if I’m learning

all the time

what worship of You

looks like

It is all-encompassing,

a life poured out and in awe of You

A wide awake observation

It is my everything

bowed to You

expecting and obedient

It is surrender

humility

recognition of You

as God of all

It is discipline

heart focus

clarity

Light

It is words

and listening

singing

speaking

quiet

Worship is open eyes

open heart

open mind

open, redeemed, learning soul

Worship is gratefulness and reverential wonder

You are the object of my worship

Yours is the grace that brings me here

– Susie Stewart

It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before Him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.

– John 4:23-24 (MSG)

In prayer we are occupied with our needs, in thanksgiving we are occupied with our blessings, but in worship we are totally occupied with God Himself.

– A.P. Gibbs

Worship is not a repetitious exercise of rituals and formulas. These create a veil that actually prevents us from enjoying the presence of the Lord. Worship is the heart poured out in gratitude and awe, expressing our appreciation of who He is and what He has done for us by His grace through Jesus Christ.

– Dave Hunt

Worship is the path to experiencing the presence of God, the way to face-to-face intimacy.

– Linda Dillow

Photo by Arik Stewart

Breath and Beat

May 27, 2016 / Susie Stewart / 4 Comments

Stop for a moment

and notice each breath you take

Put your hand on your heart

and feel it pulse

Life within you

given by God

Each breath a gift

each heartbeat His to give

You are alive

Are you alive in Him?

Or are you merely existing?

Does His heart beat in you?

Does the Life-Giving Spirit breathe in you?

– Susie Stewart

His speech shaped the entire cosmos.
Immersed in the practice of creating,
all things that exist were birthed in Him.
His breath filled all things
with a living, breathing light—

– John 1:3,4 (VOICE)

…in Him we live and move and have our being…

– Acts 17:28 (NIV)

God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!

– Genesis 2:7 (MSG)

For the Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

– Job 33:4 (NLT)

He Himself gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need.

– Acts 17:25 (NLT)

I will give them a new will—an undivided heart—and plant a new spirit within them; I will remove their cold, stony heart and replace it with a warm heart of flesh.

– Ezekiel 11:19 (VOICE)

Photo by Susie Stewart

Are You Dead?

May 18, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Are you dead?

You may be,

and not even know it

Because until you reach out to Jesus

and place your life

into His hands

the Bible says

you are dead

You need His Spirit

living inside of you

to be alive

You will think you are alive

but you are not

You are a shell,

with a soul wanting

So humble yourself

before God Almighty

and accept His beautiful gift

of LIFE

in His Son

May you know

salvation from your sin

light for your heart

and freedom for your aching soul

Trust Jesus

and wake up from death

– Susie Stewart

As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.”…

When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, He saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music. “Get out!” He told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at Him. After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up!

– Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25 (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)

God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

– Ephesians 2:4,5 (NLT)

Life

March 21, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

God is not far

from any of us

He made us

and in Him

we live and move

and have our being

We exist because

of Him

He gave us breath

and movement

and life

Our being here

is because

of Him

Our living

should be

for Him

Living out loud

in light of who He is

– Susie Stewart

“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, He doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve His needs—for He has no needs. He Himself gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need. From one man He created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and He determined their boundaries.

“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him—though He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to Him. For He has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man He has appointed, and He proved to everyone who this is by raising Him from the dead.”

– Acts 17:24-31 (NLT)

Photo by Susie Stewart

Word

February 25, 2016February 25, 2016 / Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through Him,
and nothing was created except through Him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and His life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:1-5 (NIV)

Jesus,

You are

the Word.

The Logos.

Perfect Revelation

Glorious Hope

Life and Light

for us.

And though it may seem

that darkness reigns,

it has not overcome.

Your light

backs up

the darkness.

The Word,

overcomes

the world.

And we stand

unafraid

and unapologetic

for believing in

and shining

Your Light.

Jesus

The Word

spoke the world into being

and will not be extinguished

by the darkness in it.

– Susie Stewart

So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

– John 1:14 (NLT)

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

– John 16:33 (NLT)

The Lord merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.

– Psalm 33:6 (NLT)

He sent out his word and healed them,
snatching them from the door of death.

– Psalm 107:20 (NLT)

Forever, O Eternal One,
Your word stands in heaven, firm and resolute.

– Psalm 119:89 (VOICE)

He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

– Psalm 147:15-18 (ESV)

Grace To You — Why Does John Refer to Jesus As The Word?

Photo by Susie Stewart