love

Relentless

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

I thought that maybe God begrudged the business of transformation—that He had to fix me so He could love me more. As if the ultimate goal was for me to be perfect like Jesus so God could love me like He loved His own Son.

Without me being cleaned up, it would be impossible for God to love me—I was just too messed up.

But I started to wonder if I had it all wrong.

What if transformation wasn’t about God making me more perfect so He could love me more, but instead was about changing me so I could experience His love more perfectly?

…In our cheaply made, throw-it-away culture, we have a hard time wrapping our minds around the fact that God doesn’t assess our inherent worth based on our perfection (or lack of it).

He finds us completely worthy just because we are —because He made us.

God doesn’t love us any less because we’re broken. In fact, the care and time He takes to restore our lives is just another way He shows how much He loves us.

He wants us to flourish for our sake.

His desire is for us to have more of what is most important—more peace, more joy, more love.

God has gone (and still goes!) to great lengths to repair us because He wants us to experience this abundant life.

He is pursuing His creation with a relentless love and His method is not to retaliate, it’s to rescue.

As we say “yes” and partner with him, He will transform every part of lives; our fears and anxieties, jealous tendencies and the source of our sadness, our pettiness and pain— they will all be uncovered, excavated and healed.

God’s endgame is for you and me to be completely and utterly able to live in the most intimate, unencumbered union with Him.

– Christa Hesselink

 

But think about this: while we were wasting our lives in sin, God revealed His powerful love to us in a tangible display—the Anointed One died for us.

– Romans 5:8 (VOICE)

 

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

– 1 John 4:16 (NLT)

 

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 8:38,39 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Full

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

Guilt

Shame

Sin

Judgment

 

make us feel empty

hollow

lacking

condemned

 

and our souls echo back

the sound

of hopelessness

 

But You, God

You are FULL

 

You are everything

You are abundant

You are plenty

and overflowing

 

Your Fullness

replenishes us

with grace

upon grace

upon grace

 

because we need it, Lord

 

We need the Full

that You give willingly

to the ones You created

 

 

Our empty

is met

with grace

accepted

 

and we become beings

overflowing with the love

that You gave us

 

Fully

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.

– John 1:16 (NIV)

 

The heart overflows in the words a person speaks; your words reveal what’s within your heart.

– Luke 6:45 (VOICE)

 

When I think of the greatness of this great plan I fall on my knees before God the Father (from whom all fatherhood, earthly or heavenly, derives its name), and I pray that out of the glorious richness of His resources He will enable you to know the strength of the spirit’s inner re-inforcement—that Christ may actually live in your hearts by your faith. And I pray that you, firmly fixed in love yourselves, may be able to grasp (with all Christians) how wide and deep and long and high is the love of Christ—and to know for yourselves that love so far beyond our comprehension. May you be filled though all your being with God himself!

– Ephesians 3:18-20 (PHILLIPS)

 

For God in all His fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
and through Him God reconciled
everything to Himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

– Colossians 1:19,20 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Closer

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

The closer I get to You

Lord

the less I desire the praise of people

the less I desire to please them

the less I am offended by them.

I gaze at You

and all the empty spaces are filled up.

 

– Susie Stewart

 

One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.

– Psalm 27:4 (AMP)

 

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?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

 

 

Photo by Gracie Oertli

 

Steady

/ Susie Stewart / 3 Comments

Steady gaze
Upon Your face
Steady eyes
Drinking in Your grace
Steady ears
Anxious to hear
Steady arms
Knowing Your near
Steady thoughts
Of You and Your life
Fragrancing my heart
Perfuming the strife
Steady gaze
Constant abide
Walking with You
Right by my side.

– LeeLee Dart

 

. . . this one committal, this one great volitional act which establishes the heart’s intention to gaze forever upon Jesus. God takes this intention for our choice and makes what allowances he must for the thousand distractions which beset us in this evil world. He knows that we have set the direction of our hearts toward Jesus, and we can know it too, and comfort ourselves with the knowledge that a habit of soul is forming which will become, after a while, a sort of spiritual reflex requiring no more conscious effort on our part.

Faith is the least self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence. Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied on the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves — blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do.

– AW Tozer

 

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

– Hebrews 12:2 (NLT)

 

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.”

– John 15:5 (NLT)

 

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

– 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NLT)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

Worth

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

It takes a profound conversion to accept that God is relentlessly tender and compassionate toward us just as we are — not in spite of our sins and faults (that would not be total acceptance), but with them.  Though God does not condone or sanction evil, He does not withhold His love because there is evil in us.

– Brennan Manning

 

We cannot accept love from another human being when we do not love ourselves, much less accept that God could possibly love us.

– Anonymous

 

Our courteous Lord does not want His servants to despair because they fall often and grievously;  for our falling does not hinder Him in loving us.

– Julian of Norwich

 

Many Christians…find themselves defeated by the most psychological weapon that satan uses against them.  This weapon has the effectiveness of  deadly missile.  Its name?  Low self-esteem.  Satan’s greatest psychological weapon is a gut level feeling of inferiority, inadequacy, and low self-worth.  This feeling shackles many Christians, in spite of wonderful spiritual experiences and knowledge of God’s Word.  Although they understand their position as sons and daughters of God, they are tied up in knots, bound by a terrible feeling of inferiority, and chained to a deep sense of worthlessness.

– David Seamands

 

But God loves who we really are — whether we like it or not.  God calls us, as He did Adam, to come out of hiding.  No amount of spiritual makeup can render us more presentable to Him.  As Merton said, “The reason we never enter into the deepest reality of our relationship with God is that we so seldom acknowledge our utter nothingness before Him.”  His love, which called us into existence, calls us to come out of self-hatred and to step into His truth.  “Come to me now,” Jesus says.  “Acknowledge and accept who I want to be for you:  A Savior of boundless compassion, infinite patience, unbearable forgiveness, and love that keeps no score of wrongs.  Quit projecting onto Me your own feelings about yourself.  At this moment your life is a bruised reed and I will not crush it, a smoldering wick and I will not quench it.  You are in a safe place.”

– Brennan Manning

 

…love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8 (NLT)

 

A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

– Isaiah 42:3 (NIV)

 

Father,

My worth

is tied beautifully to Your complete worthiness

and Your love for me.

 

Let me not slip into

corrosive thoughts self-degrading

preoccupied

with my failures.

 

But keep me in

the place

where I know

I’m completely dependent on You

and loved beyond reason.

 

 

Surrendered to grace

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

 

Love Never Fails

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Love never fails.

– 1 Corinthians 13:8 (NIV)

 

Love is the river that flows through. Love is the arms that are holding you. Love is the place you will fly to. Love never fails you.

-Brandon Heath

 

You stay the same through the ages. Your love never changes. There may be pain in the night. But joy comes in the morning.
The wind is strong and the water’s deep. I’m not alone here in these open seas cause Your love never fails.

-Newsboys

 

Higher than the mountains that I face. Stronger than the power of the grave. Constant in the trial and the change. One thing remains.
In death. In life. I’m confident and covered by the power of your great love.
My debt is paid. There’s nothing that can separate my heart from Your great love.
Your love never fails. It never gives up. It never runs out on me.

-Jesus Culture

 

Love never fails.

 

Everything else

Everyone else

may fall away

but God will never fail

you

 

He is the Love

the Constant

you are searching for.

 

– Susie Stewart

 

This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him.

– John 3:15-17 (MSG)

 

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Love Always Hopes

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Love always hopes…

– 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)

 

Love is hope when reason despairs.

– Jack Hyles

 

If you’ll quit moaning and crying, I’ll use the things to make you into someone I can use in the lives of others to show them that no matter where they’ve been, no matter how deep the hole, no matter how painful the trial, there’s hope. There is victory.

– Kay Arthur

 

Love always points to a brighter day ahead. Love is the lifeline that the hurting can hold on to.

– Philip Ryken

 

Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

– Romans 5:2-5 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Love Always Trusts

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Love always trusts…

– 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)

 

In other translations – “love believes all things”.

Believes – Greek pisteuo = faith, trust, belief. In context it implies that love sees the best in others or gives the other person the benefit of the doubt, choosing to believe the best about them, not the worst…Paul is not saying that love is gullible and believes everything and does not exercise qualities such as wisdom and discernment…love will believe well of others unless convinced otherwise.

-Bruce Hurt

 

When love has no evidence, it believes the best. When the evidence is adverse, it hopes for the best. And when hopes are repeatedly disappointed, it still courageously waits.

-Robertson & Plummer

 

I’m thankful that my parents trusted me as a teenager; it made me want to live up to that trust. One of my friends had parents who did not trust him, and he lived up to their distrust! Sometimes you will get ripped off when you trust, but love persists in trusting.

– Steven Cole

 

You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

– Isaiah 26:3,4 (NIV)

 

People are not always trustworthy.

God is.

 

Instead of mulling over broken trust from the past,

and approaching every person with a leery eye,

may I seek to be trustworthy

and love people with openness,

believing that my God

Who is faithful

will guard my heart

and wants me to trust.

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Photo by Nicole Stewart

Love Always Protects

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Love always protects…

– 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)

 

Love protects in many different ways. Love protects from the harm of gossip from our own mouths or others’. Love protects physically, even to the point of giving up our lives for our loved ones if necessary -there is no greater love. Love protects by praying spiritual, emotional, and physical protection over a person. Love seeks to protect one’s marriage. Love steps up to protect the vulnerable. When dating, love protects the virtue of the other person. Love covers over a multitude of sins.

– Susie Stewart

 

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

– Psalm 46:1 (NIV)

 

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

– John 15:13 (NLT)

 

You are my hiding place. You will keep me out of trouble and envelop me with songs that remind me I am free.

– Psalm 32:7 (VOICE)

 

He who takes refuge in the shelter of the Most High
will be safe in the shadow of the Almighty.
He will say to the Eternal, “My shelter, my mighty fortress,
my God, I place all my trust in You.”
For He will rescue you from the snares set by your enemies who entrap you
and from deadly plagues.
Like a bird protecting its young, God will cover you with His feathers,
will protect you under His great wings;
His faithfulness will form a shield around you, a rock-solid wall to protect you.
You will not dread the terrors that haunt the night
or enemy arrows that fly in the day
Or the plagues that lurk in darkness
or the disasters that wreak havoc at noon.
A thousand may fall on your left,
ten thousand may die on your right,
but these horrors won’t come near you.
Only your eyes will witness
the punishment that awaits the evil,
but you will not suffer because of it.
For you made the Eternal [your] refuge,
the Most High your only home.
No evil will come to you;
plagues will be turned away at your door.
He will command His heavenly messengers to guard you,
to keep you safe in every way.
They will hold you up in their hands
so that you will not crash, or fall, or even graze your foot on a stone.
You will walk on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the lion and the serpent underfoot.
“Because He clings to Me in love,
I will rescue him from harm;
I will set him above danger.
Because he has known Me by name,
He will call on Me, and I will answer.
I’ll be with him through hard times;
I’ll rescue him and grant him honor.
I’ll reward him with many good years on this earth
and let him witness My salvation.”

– Psalm 91 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Sam Magumba

Love Does Not Delight in Evil But Rejoices In the Truth

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.

– 1 Corinthians 13:6 (NIV)

 

True love rejoices in what is right and good. Anything that covers up sin or seeks to justify wrongdoing is the polar opposite of godly love. Love does not try to find ways to get away with bad behavior, and it does not put up with injustice. Instead, it treasures truth, celebrates good behavior, and promotes virtue. True love has nothing to hide.

– Philip Ryken

 

Think about a time that someone reaped a consequence of their own actions and you delighted in knowing that they got what was coming to them. Love, instead, would mourn that the person had made an unwise choice…love would seek to bring the person to righteousness through truth.

– Matthew J. Cochran

 

My beloved friend, I pray that everything is going well for you and that your body is as healthy as your soul is prosperous. I was thrilled when the brothers and sisters came and told me stories of your faithfulness as you continue to walk in the truth. The greatest joy in my life is hearing how my children are walking in the truth.

– 3 John 2-4

 

Photo by Susie Stewart