Luke

Beauty

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

I think it’s interesting that so many who are confronted with extremely difficult circumstances – cancer, loss of a spouse or child, a natural disaster, imprisonment in a railcar – seem to find wonder in the simplest things. And those of us in seasons of comfort and ease seem to have such a hard time seeing the beauty around us.
– Matt Heard

 
When we experience beauty, we feel called. The Beautiful stirs passion and urgency in us and calls us forth from aloneness into the warmth and wonder of an eternal embrace. It unites us again with the neglected and forgotten grandeur of life.
– Elaine Scarry

 
From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance.
– Psalm 50:2 (NLT)

 
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display His craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make Him known.
– Psalm 19:1,2 (NIV)

 
Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.
– Luke 12:27 (NLT)

 
… I fight to nourish my mind and heart with beauty. Yes, it’s a fight, because the world is fallen. But it’s still a world that has its Creator’s fingerprints all over it, so I open the eyes of my heart and behold His beauty. And the greatest reward of the journey is growing closer to the Author of all the beauty….My intense hope for you – and me – is that we’ll start uttering, ‘That’s beautiful,’ more often and more deeply than we ever have before. And that we, as men and women created in the image of the Creator Himself, will experience the freedom of using our unique and creative abilities, whether we call ourselves artists or not, to generate more beauty on the canvas of our relationships, our careers, our stories, and our culture.
– Matt Heard

 

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

Cover Up

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

You seek to cover

that which is wrong

 

To hide sin

and secrets

and lies

 

As if a thick layer of deception

will do the trick

 

And what is really needed

is a blanket of grace

 

A covering of God

 

Humility, repentance, a turning

from that which you want to cover

 

Rip the blanket off your sin

and accept the robe of righteousness from Him

 

He sees all

and all will be exposed

 

Choose your cover this day

 

– Susie Stewart

 

What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their evil deeds in the dark! “The Lord can’t see us,” they say. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!”

– Isaiah 29:15 (NLT)

 

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible.

– Ephesians 5:10-14 (NLT) 

 

Hidden things will always come out into the open. Secret things will come to light and be exposed.

– Luke 8:17 (VOICE)

 

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

– John 1:16 (NIV)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Freedom

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

I am a slave to no one

and nothing

 

especially to sin

 

It does not rule over me

 

Christ set me free

and I am free forever

 

I am no slave to fear

to people’s opinions

to shame

to evil

 

I conquer

through Christ

 

in fact, I more than conquer

 

The victory is mine

 

And no matter what,

I am free

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

– Galatians 5:1 (MSG)

 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free.”  ~ Jesus

– Luke 4:18 (NLT)

 

Doesn’t it make sense that if you sign yourself over as a slave, you will have to obey your master? The question before you is, What will be your master? Will it be sin—which will lead to certain death—or obedience—which will lead to a right and reconciled life?

– Romans 6:16 (VOICE)

 

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us].

– Romans 8:37 (AMP)

 

Photo by Andy Stewart

Ready

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

– Luke 12:35-38 (NLT)

 

I’m looking up, Lord!

I’m waiting for You!  

 

I don’t live my life perfectly

and I don’t have it all together

 

But I’m gladly expecting You

Perfection, my Salvation

 

You promise to come for me

and I’m ready when You are

 

My Bridegroom, my Savior

The Reason I wait with joy

 

Come, Lord Jesus, come

 

– Susie Stewart

 

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died[a] will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

– 1 Thessalonians 3:16,17 (NLT)

 

Everyone has to die once, then face the consequences. Christ’s death was also a one-time event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever. And so, when he next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet him is, precisely, salvation.

– Hebrews 9:28 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

#1

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Many of us believe we have as much of God as we want right now, a reasonable portion of God among all the other things in our lives.  Most of our thoughts are centered on the money we want to make, the school we want to attend, the body we aspire to have, the spouse we want to marry, the kind of person we want to become…  But the fact is that nothing should concern us more than our relationship with God;  it’s about eternity, and nothing compares with that.  God is not someone who can be tacked on to our lives.

– Francis Chan

 

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?

– Luke 9:25 (NLT)

 

Physical sickness we usually defy.  Soul sickness we usually resigned ourselves to.

– Mark Buchanan

 

We disgust God when we weigh and compare Him against the things of this world.  It makes Him sick when we actually decide those things are better for us than God Himself.  We believe we don’t need anything Jesus offers, but we fail to realize that slowly, almost imperceptibly, we are drifting downstream.  And in the process we are becoming blind, being stripped naked, and turning into impoverished wretches.

– Francis Chan

 

But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!

– Revelation 3:16 (NLT)

 

God, let me not be enticed to believe

that any thing in this life

compares with You

 

This life, my life,

is nothing

without my beautiful Creator

 

Keep me from love

of this world

to the neglect of my love

for You

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Dirty Little Secret

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

You have a dirty little secret

 

Your life that people see

is not what they don’t

 

Your outward

is not the same

as your inward

 

God and people

are not truly honored

behind closed doors

 

Lies and deception

are disguised as piety

and truth

 

And people are hurt by secrets

especially the one doing the hurting

 

Because what you don’t realize

is that the one who truly has

a dirty little secret

 

is the enemy of your soul

 

He has you in his grip

and you thought you were in control

 

of the facade

 

Nothing is truly secret

Except the way you are being deceived

 

– Susie Stewart

 

There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. There is nothing kept secret that will not come to light.

– Luke 8:17 (GW)

 

Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!

– Luke 12:3 (NLT)

 

For God will judge every action—including everything done in secret—whether it be good or evil.

– Ecclesiastes 12:14 (VOICE)

 

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the one to whom we are accountable.

– Hebrews 4:13 (NLT)

 

* Disclaimer — This is not written about anyone within the walls of our home. Friend, if your life inside your home does not match up with your life outside your home, if you are putting on a facade, if you are being deceived by the enemy into not living out God’s grace and honor toward the people you are closest to, please wake up!  Your enemy prowls and looks for those who he may devour.  Don’t be deceived, God is not mocked.  Bring all into the light and let God’s Spirit cleanse and mend.

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

My Need

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

Needs and wants

can be so muddled in my head

 

And, God, I pray to You

for that which I think I need

 

But really,

in this world of pain

of happiness

of joy and sorrow

 

only YOU really know what I need

 

It is not health

or prosperity

or well-being

as some may think

 

One thing is needed

 

Only ONE

 

It is to sit at Your feet

and listen

 

Only this is truly needed

 

All else is unmerited blessing

 

Cultivate contentment

in me

For Divine Vision

sees my singular need

 

– Susie Stewart

 

As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

– Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)

 

Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!
Fear the Lord, you His godly people,
for those who fear Him will have all they need.
Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.

– Psalm 34:8-10 (NLT)

 

For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
from those who do what is right.

– Psalm 84:11 (NLT)

 

This is a comprehensive promise, and is such an assurance of the present comfort of the saints that, whatever they desire, and think they need, they may be sure that either Infinite Wisdom sees it is not good for them or Infinite Goodness will give it to them in due time.  Let it be our care to walk uprightly, and then let us trust God to give us everything that is good for us.

– Matthew Henry

 

“No good thing will He withheld,” but how is this true, when God oftentimes withholds riches and honors, and health of body from men, though they walk never so uprightly;  we may therefore know that honors and riches and bodily strength, are none of God’s good things; they are of the number of things indifferent which God bestows promiscuously upon the just and unjust, as the rain to fall and the sun to shine.  The good things of God are chiefly peace of conscience and the joy in the Holy Gost in this life;  fruition of God’s presence, and the vision of His blessed face in the next, and these good things God never bestows upon the wicked, never withholds from the godly, and they are all cast up in one sum where it is said, “Blessed are the pure in heart (and such are only they that walk uprightly) for they shall see God.”

– Charles H. Spurgeon

 

For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

– Matthew 5:45 (NLT)  

 

Photo by Andy Stewart

 

 

All About Him

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Jesus has many who love His Kingdom in Heaven, but few who bear His Cross.  He has many who desire comfort, but few who desire suffering.  He finds many to share His feast, but few His fasting.  All desire to rejoice with Him, but few are willing to suffer for His sake.  Many follow Jesus to the Breaking of Bread, but few to the drinking of the Cup of His Passion.  Many admire His miracles, but few follow Him in the humiliation of His cross.  Many love Jesus as long as no hardship touches them.  Many praise and bless Him, as long as they are receiving any comfort from Him.  But if Jesus withdraw Himself, they fall to complaining and utter dejection.  

They who love Jesus for His own sake, and not for the sake of comfort for themselves, bless Him in every trial and anguish of heart, no less than in the greatest joy.  And were He never willing to bestow comfort on them, they would still always praise Him and give Him thanks.  

Oh, how powerful is the pure love of Jesus, free from all self-interest and self-love!  Are they not all mercenaries, who are always seeking comfort?  Do they not betray themselves as lovers of self rather than of Christ, when they are always thinking of their own advantage and gain?  Where will you find one who is willing to serve God without reward?  

– Thomas Kempis

 

Whoever does not carry his own cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow after Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] cannot be My disciple.

– Luke 14:27 (AMP)

 

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by Him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.

– Philippians 3:7-9 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Place With Purpose

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Notice God’s unutterable waste of saints, according to the judgment of the world.  God plants His saints in the most useless places.  We say – God intends me to be here because I am so useful.  Jesus never estimated His life along the line of the greatest use.  God puts His saints where they will glorify Him, and we are no judges at all of where that is.

– Oswald Chambers

 

Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer.

– Luke 2:36-38 (NLT)

 

And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

– Acts 20:22-24 (NLT)

 

There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!”

So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.

– Acts 9:36-41 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Darkness

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Spiritual darkness is the absence of God’s truth in our hearts and lives.  We can have an education and still be in darkness.  We can study philosophy and religion and still be in darkness.  We can go to church or do social work in our community and still live in darkness.  We can be sincere or be tolerant of others and what they believe and still be in darkness.

Darkness is unbelief.  Darkness is deception, keeping us from the knowledge of God.  Darkness is separation, keeping us from the fellowship of God.  Darkness is isolation, keeping us from the presence of God.  Darkness is something we should treat as an enemy, yet when we are in sin, we treat it as a friend.  We like darkness – it hides us from being exposed for who we really are.  The sin in us runs deep and the darkness is our cloak.

Although we may be hiding from Him, He is not hiding from us.  Jesus seeks us out in our darkness.  He is standing near us, clothed with white garments…covered with glory…reaching out with arms of mercy…inviting us into the marvelous light of His forgiveness and love.

– Roy Lessin

 

Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.

– Luke 1:78,79 (NLT)

 

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all.

– 1 John 1:5 (NLT)

 

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

– 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NLT)

 

…Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’

– Acts 26:17,18 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart