Matthew

Forgive

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

God pardons like a mother, who kisses the offense into everlasting forgiveness.

– Henry Ward Beecher

 

Most laws condemn the soul and pronounce sentence. The result of the law of my God is perfect. It condemns but forgives. It restores – more than abundantly – what it takes away.

– Jim Elliot

 

Forgiveness is the economy of the heart. Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.

– Hannah More

 

We win by tenderness. We conquer by forgiveness.

– Frederick W. Robinson

 

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

– Matthew 6:14,15 (NLT)

 

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

– 1 John 1:9 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Risenness

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

A hard day, yes.  Rattled and unglued, yes.  Unable to cope, no.

How does the life-giving Spirit of the risen Lord manifest Himself on days like that?   In our willingness to stand fast, our refusal to run away and escape into self-destructive behavior.  Resurrection power enables us to engage in the savage confrontation with untamed emotions, to accept the pain, receive it, take it on board, however acute it may be.  And in the process we discover that we are not alone, that we can stand fast in the awareness of present risenness and so become fuller, deeper, richer disciples.  We know ourselves to be more than we previously imagined.  In the process we not only endure but are forced to expand the boundaries of who we think we really are.

Hope knows that if great trials are avoided great deeds remain undone and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted.  Pessimism and defeatism are never the fruit of the life-giving Spirit but rather reveal our unawareness of present risenness.

– Brennan Manning

 

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.

– Colossians 3:1 (NLT)

 

God wanted His people throughout the world to know the glorious riches of this mystery—which is Christ living in you, giving you the hope of glory.

– Colossians 1:27 (GW)

 

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called—His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe Him…

– Ephesians 1:18,19 (NLT)

 

I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.

– Matthew 28:20 (AMP)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Foundation

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What is your foundation, friend?

 

At the bottom of everything in your life

what is your security

your strength

your purpose

your reason to live?

 

Maybe all you know

is to believe in your self.

 

And what happens when you fail?

Every self does.

 

Is your foundation crumbling?

Or is your foundation secure?

 

Because the only foundation

that will not crumble in the end

is Rock

 

My Rock is Jesus

 

He will not fail

He will not crumble

 

And because I am secure in Him

in His Truth

in His Word

in His Love

 

when I fail

I know He won’t

 

And we all need a foundation

 

for the walls we build

the walls of knowledge

of good works

of family

of purpose

 

will fall

without The Foundation

 

What a gift,

my Foundation

in Him

– Susie Stewart

 

Those people who are listening to Me, those people who hear what I say and live according to My teachings—you are like a wise man who built his house on a rock, on a firm foundation.  When storms hit, rain pounded down and waters rose, levies broke and winds beat all the walls of that house. But the house did not fall because it was built upon rock.  Those of you who are listening and do not hear—you are like a fool who builds a house on sand.  When a storm comes to his house, what will happen? The rain will fall, the waters will rise, the wind will blow, and his house will collapse with a great crash.

– Matthew 7:24-27 (VOICE)

 

Therefore the Lord God says this, “Listen carefully, I am laying in Zion a Stone, a tested Stone, A precious Cornerstone for the [secure] foundation, firmly placed. He who believes [who trusts in, relies on, and adheres to that Stone] will not be disturbed or give way [in sudden panic].

– Isaiah 28:16 (AMP)

 

Come to Him [the risen Lord] as to a living Stone which men rejected and threw away, but which is choice and precious in the sight of God.  You [believers], like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house for a holy and dedicated priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

– 1 Peter 2:4-6 (AMP)

 

Jesus Christ is the Stone on which other stones for the building must be laid. It can be only Christ.

– 1 Corinthians 3:11 (NLV

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Extraordinary

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Since our heavenly Father’s goal is to help us reach our full spiritual potential as believers in Christ, we will be challenged by the things He calls us to do. Sometimes really challenged…This is God’s way. Putting extraordinary tasks on the plates of ordinary people so that ordinary people can see what an extraordinary God can do through them…what He’s saying to you may sound impossible. But if you’ll just follow Him in stunned, submitted obedience, stepping out of your cozy comfort zone, you’ll find you’re leaving the realm of your natural abilities behind and entering the realm of His supernatural ones.

– PriscilIa Shirer

 

I replied, “I’m not a good speaker, Lord, and I’m too young.”
“Don’t say you’re too young,” the Lord answered. “If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don’t leave out a word! I promise to be with you and keep you safe, so don’t be afraid.”

– Jeremiah 1:6-8 (CEV)

 

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”

– John 14:12 (NLT)

 

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

– Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Love keeps no record of wrongs…

– 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)

 

It is impossible to love somebody and think well of them and at the same time hold the bad things they may have done in the past against them like a register of unpaid debts.

– Richard Savage

 

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have someone to forgive.

– C.S. Lewis

 

But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

– Matthew 6:15 (NLT)

 

Only when we humble ourselves before God, recognizing what He did for us, can we truly offer that same forgiveness…

– Ken & Pam

 

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. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

– Colossians 2:13-15 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Love Is Kind

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Love is kind…

– 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)

 

I shall pass this world but once. Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

– Henry Drummond

 

God, You are all-powerful, yet You are humble of heart and kind – something that will always, always amaze me and continually cause me to be grateful that I am a recipient of Your Divine love and relationship.

– Susie Stewart

 

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

– Matthew 11:29 (NLT)

 

I choose kindness…I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God treated them.

– Max Lucado

 

Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning.

– Frederick W. Faber

 

The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay upon the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to Him is not to believe that He loves you.

– John Owen

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Enemy

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Our natural tendency

is to despise

to mock

to wish the worst on

 

our enemies

 

And when they fall

it seems like it should feel right

to be glad

they got what was coming to them

 

Satisfaction, right?

 

But that supposed satisfaction

only leaves a bittersweet taste

in our mouthes

 

We might do well to remember

that Jesus said,

“He who is without sin,

cast the first stone.”

 

David in the Bible

he was the rightful king

 

But Saul

the actual king on the throne

feeling very threatened

 

spent much of his time

and energy

pursuing David

and trying to kill him

 

for years

15 years

 

David had logical reasons

for retaliation

to hate

to fight back

 

even to gloat

with smug satisfaction

when his enemy

died

 

But he wept

 

He wept over the violent end

that came to Saul

 

and not only for him,

but for Saul’s son Jonathan

David’s best friend

 

He wept over the death of his beloved friend

and he wept over the death of his hateful enemy

 

and there was no satisfaction

for Saul getting what was coming to him

 

only sadness

 

For this king

was a foreshadowing

of a greater King

 

who would look on a whole race of people

who should have gotten

what was coming to them

 

and He wept

 

and He died

 

and the enemies

were saved

 

and they were loved

 

– Susie Stewart

 

In lament, David ripped his clothes to ribbons.  All the men with him did the same.  They wept and fasted the rest of the day, grieving the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, and also the army of God and the nation Israel, victims in a failed battle.

– 2 Samuel 1:11,12 (MSG)

 

Yet it was our weaknesses He carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for His own sins!

But He was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.

– Isaiah 54:4,5 (NLT)

 

Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.

But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

– Romans 5:7,8 (NLT)

 

“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives His best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

– Matthew 5:43-48 (MSG)

 

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

 

 

What you deserve

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Next time you are tempted to allow yourself

to be weighed down by forgiven sins,

remember that Jesus already got what you deserved.

 

He reminded me of that recently.

I was walking my dog Larry and started to slip on some sidewalk ice.  I didn’t fall down and the thought popped into my mind, “I probably would have deserved that”.

I had been hashing over some past regrets.  Not a healthy way for me to be spending my time on this beautiful dark evening under the stars with Larry and God.

As quickly as that downgrading thought entered my mind, I then also heard in my mind, “I GOT what you deserve.”

Such a swift response.  It took my breath away.

Yes, my Jesus!  You paid the ultimate price for all the sins I’ve committed and instead of me getting what was coming to me, You, my beautiful Savior, took the punishment I deserved.

You paid the ultimate price for me.  And You have forgiven me.  You continue to forgive me.

You didn’t deserve that.  I did.

 

And I want to consciously and graciously accept the forgiveness You give,

and move on.

 

Because that’s what You desire.

Moving on.

Turning the opposite direction.

Doing better.

Being free.

 

“I GOT what you deserve.”

 

Regret and sin

need to be left in the past

 

– Susie Stewart

 

“Forget about what’s happened;
don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,
rivers in the badlands.

– Isaiah 43:18,19 (MSG)

 

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

– 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

 

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

– Philippians 4:23,14 (NLT)

 

…this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.

– Matthew 26:28 (VOICE)

 

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

Katy

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

Matthew 6:25-34

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

I thought of my friend Katy as I read through these verses this morning.  Katy is a college student and has been working through college to pay for her education.  She is dependent on herself and no one else.  Back up.  It would appear that she is dependent on herself, but her hope for her future and for funds comes from a deep trust in God.  It’s not always easy to trust, though.  Jesus even says at the end of the above passage that each day has “trouble”. Katy struggles to know if she will be able to pay the bills, what she will do when she graduates soon, whether she can pay her school loans….

This very-familiar passage above intrigues me.  As I put the words of Scripture into my own words on paper, I asked Jesus, the one who said these things, “What do you mean by this?  You say ‘do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.’  Those are kind of essential things.  We need to eat.  We need to drink water.  We need to cover up.  Can’t get much more basic than that.  Seems like people should be concerned with those kinds of things…”  Jesus points out that He feeds the birds and “clothes” the flowers beautifully.  He says, “Are you not much more valuable than they?”  So, Lord, we are valuable to You.  This I believe deeply.  We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and You “knit us together”.  We have value because of the value You placed on us.  Not because of anything we did or hope to do.  But here I go, off into a side subject.  Back to worry.  I don’t believe Jesus’ point is “who cares about whether you eat or drink or wear clothes or pay your bills or get a good job…”  His main point seems to be right at the end of this passage in verse 33.  “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus understands.  He not only made us, so He knows what our thoughts and emotions are regarding the stresses of life, but He also experienced them while here on earth.  If you jump ahead to Matthew 8:20 you see that He didn’t even have a bed to call His own.

Katy works hard to provide for herself and to get an education.  Money is tight, but her eyes are focused where they should be, on Jehovah-Jireh.  That’s Hebrew for “God our Provider”. That’s why she asks me to pray for her needs.

Some of you may be thinking, “Americans are the richest people in the world!  What do they have to worry about?”  Well, it’s our tendency as humans from any walk of life to worry when things don’t look so promising.  Even when things DO look promising, we can gravitate toward worry.  But I’ve seen Africans with virtually nothing lean into God’s loving arms of providence for their daily bread.  They are seeking Him first.  He provides.  I’ve witnessed wealthy people who are completely bankrupt emotionally and spiritually because they chose to seek wealth first, instead of God.  We all need to remember that it could all be gone instantly.  None of it is worth holding in a tight fist.

I encourage those of us who know God to make our relationship with Him priority over our stuff and even over our needs.  “All these things will be added to you.”  And how about we all make ourselves available to be used of God to help others who need food, water, shelter?  Being used of God is a blessing and a joy.  Ask Him what you should do to help.  He’ll show you.

Love you, Katy!  I’m proud of you.  ❤

– Susie Stewart