love

Love Each Other Deeply

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Above all your needs

above all your desires

above all your plans

above all your aspirations

above all your comfort

 

above

your

very

life

 

love people deeply

 

for that is what you are called to

 

Loving deeply

and genuinely

 

It is intentional

and Spirit-driven

 

It is heart

and head

and will

 

It is vast

and wide

and long

 

People know

if it is real

 

They know if it is shallow

or deep

 

They know whether it originates

with your God

 

-Susie Stewart

 

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)

 

I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

– Ephesians 3:16-21 (NIV)

 

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

– Romans 12:9,10 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Confident

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

What give us confidence

to approach Almighty God?

 

He does

 

If it weren’t for God’s

mercy

grace

love

and goodness

 

we could not approach Him at all

 

And the thought of Him

providing the means to our confidence

before Him

 

proves even more

His beautiful heart toward us

 

And so, because He tells us

we can be confident in our approach of Him

 

we can!

 

What a gift that is

 

Righteousness

and peace

and confidence

 

because He sits on a throne

of grace

 

-Susie Stewart

 

But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

– Jeremiah 17:7 (NLT)

 

…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

– Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

 

And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

– 1 John 4:17 (NLT)

 

This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us.

-1 John 5:14 (AMP)

 

In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

– Ephesians 3:12 (NIV)

 

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

– Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

 

And this righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever.

– Isaiah 32:17 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Gifts Multiplied

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

For those who have accepted

the beautiful gift of grace

 

our words should be gracious

 

For those who have accepted

the unmerited gift of mercy

 

our actions should be merciful

 

For those who have accepted

perfect love unconditional

 

our love should should come without strings

 

For those who have accepted

redemption from darkness impenetrable

 

our attitudes should reflect intense light

 

What precious gifts, these!

 

Who we are in Christ should be a gift

to those we come into contact with

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Whoever loves a pure heart and whoever speaks graciously has a king as his friend.

– Proverbs 22:11 (GW)

 

Pleasant words are like honey from a honeycomb— sweet to the spirit and healthy for the body.

-Proverbs 16:24 (GW)

 

Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!

– Luke 12:48 (MSG)

 

Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand Him better.

– Colossians 3:10 (CEV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

How Do You Do Life Without Him?

/ 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

do

you

have

to

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

 

Jesus First

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Take note

of what distracts you

from Jesus

 

We say

“Love the Lord your God

with all your heart

and all your soul

and all your strength

and all your mind.”

 

and then we start the day

without talking to Him

 

we ignore His prodding

to love people practically

 

and we end the day

soaking in more distractions

 

with a token prayer at bedtime,

if that

 

Lord, I want to love You

with everything I have!

 

as a brand new lover

who can think of little else

 

Jesus, You saved me

with Your love!

 

with Your love…

 

I want You to know

that I recognize that and I’m grateful

 

and I see this

as a reciprocal relationship

 

I want to love You

MORE

each day

 

and I want people to see

that You

come

first

in me

 

I  want You to know

without a doubt

that I love You

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.

– Luke 10:27 (NIV)

 

One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in His answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”

Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”

– Mark 28:27-31 (MSG)

 

So I am not the one living now—it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He is the one who loved me and gave Himself to save me.

– Galatians 2:20 (ERV)

 

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

– Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)

 

– Photo by Susie Stewart

 

Truest Love

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

 

In this life

there will never be

a truer love

 

than Jesus’ love

for you

 

You may have an attentive sweetheart

You may not

 

Regardless,

Jesus is matchless

in the way He focuses

 

on your life

on your heart

on your ways

 

His love surpasses

all others

 

Vast beyond measure

Deep calling to deep

 

Aware

On purpose

Romancer of your spirit

 

Jesus,

the truest

of Loves

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

– Psalm 36:5 (NLT)

 

God’s love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.

– Psalm 36:5,6 (MSG)

 

Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

– Psalm 42:7 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

Steady in the Flow

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

You, Lord,

are unpredictable

in many things

 

But Your love

is sure

 

Even when we don’t understand

Your ways,

We rest in who You are

 

Variable in how You answer

wise in Your sovereignty

steadfast in Your compassion

 

All-knowing

ever mindful

of all circumstances

 

The definition of Love

acting

 

Ebb and flow life

Solid God

 

– Susie Stewart

 

To say that God is faithful or consistent is not to imply, however, that He is predictable. Much bitterness toward God results from a misconception of this. Too often we speculate and try to guess the actions of God and, therefore, develop expectations. Through our limited and often perverted reasoning, we determine the “best” for our lives and then consider God’s only reasonable response to be one of quick and complete fulfillment.

– Bob LaForge

 

…God is love.

– 1 John 4:8 (NIV)

 

God keeps His word even when the whole world is lying through its teeth. Scripture says the same:

“Your words stand fast and true;
Rejection doesn’t faze You.”

– Romans 3:4 (MSG)

 

Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give Him advice or teach Him?

– Isaiah 40:13 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

 

 

 

The Real Love

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Love

gets exhausted

when it is always expecting something in return

 

Love

gets amnesia

when it remembers only wrongs

 

Love

gets disappointed

when it always keeps score

 

Love

is meant

to give

 

with giving in mind

 

Love

freely

 

Love

unconditionally

 

Love

like Jesus

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

– 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (MSG)

 

We have experienced and we have entrusted our lives to the love of God in us. God is love. Anyone who lives faithfully in love also lives faithfully in God, and God lives in Him.

– 1 John 4:16 (VOICE)

 

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

– Romans 12:9-10 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie 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

 

Forever

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

God hath given to man a short time here upon earth, and yet upon this short time eternity depends.

– Jeremy Taylor

 

 

Forever

is a long time

 

and there is no one

I’d rather spend forever with

 

than You,

my beautiful God

 

Uninhibited praise

will be Yours

 

Untainted cherishing

will be ours

 

And I long for the eternity

that my mind can’t fathom

 

even as I walk

through time

 

And then I realize

that now

is part of always

 

Time is swallowed up

by eternal

 

All is present

 

And even as I wrestle

with the dust

 

I will still seek to praise You

uninhibited

 

And I will choose to cherish You

every day

 

As I look up with,

“Come, Lord Jesus, come.”

 

– Susie Stewart

 

With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God’s trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life. Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. From that time on we will all be with the Lord forever.

– 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 (CEV)

 
For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.

– C.S. Lewis

 

I will be there to greet you personally and welcome you home, where we will be together.

– John 14:3 (VOICE)

 

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy., the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

– C.S. Lewis

 

When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.

– John 14:3 (NLT)

 

I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing:

Salvation to our God on His Throne!
Salvation to the Lamb!
All who were standing around the Throne—Angels, Elders, Animals—fell on their faces before the Throne and worshiped God, singing:

Oh, Yes!
The blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,
The honor and power and strength,
To our God forever and ever and ever!
Oh, Yes!

– Revelation 7:9-12 (MSG)

 

 

Photo by Susie Stewart