Psalm

Fear

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.
Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.
– Proverbs 9:10 (NLT)

 

A life of worship

is a life of fear

 

And it sounds strange

to say so

 

For fear

brings thoughts of scary

and terror

and angst

 

But Abba calls us to fear Him

with awe

and reverence

and joy

 

He calls us to see Him

in everything

 

He tells us not to fear people

or circumstances

or spiritual darkness

 

But to stand bold

in His Spirit

 

and this leaves us

with only the fear of HIM

 

But it couldn’t be further from the word we know

 

For this fear

dances in His presence

 

And brims over with joy

 

And seeks Him passionately

 

This fear is amazed at

and respecting

all-knowing

all-seeing

all-important

God

 

It is the beauty

of Father and child

 

It is

Fear

and fear not

 

– Susie Stewart

 

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

– 1 John 4:18 (NIV)

 

Fearing God has been a term I’ve wrestled with and longed to better understand. I know it means to have a deep level of reverence for God. But I love what a friend of mine who studies language root words to better understand biblical terms recently shared with me. After much study, she now defines a person who fears God as ‘one who sees the hand of God in everything.’ There are several Hebrew words for the word ‘fear’, but let’s look at two of these closely. One is ‘pachad’, which means terror. That’s not the one used in this passage about the fear of the Lord. The word used is ‘yirah’, which means being in awe of God. That deep sense of reverence where we truly desire to look for the hand of God in everything.
– Lysa Terkeurst

 

Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him.

– Psalm 33:8 (NIV)

 

Let all people stand in awe of the Eternal; let every man, woman, and child live in wonder of Him.

– Psalm 33:8 (VOICE)

 

The Fear-of-God is a spring of living water so you won’t go off drinking from poisoned well.

– Proverbs 14:27 (MSG)

 

 

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

– 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

 

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

– Joshua 1:9 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Heart Trust

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

 

Has a person

broken your heart?

 

Crushed you

deeply?

 

And as a result

have you determined

 

that you can’t possibly

trust your heart

to God?

 

Secretly

you guard your heart

 

for fear

that He will disappoint

 

just like people have

 

But He calls out to you

as a faithful lover would

 

A faithful lover

 

He pursues you

consistently

 

And you gently learn

that your circumstances

 

don’t determine

His love for you

 

And that God,

your faithful One,

will hold you

 

in those circumstances

 

That He does not leave

nor forsake

 

And you find

that in trusting Him

with your heart

 

 

that He is the One

who wraps you

in His sheltering arms

 

When people

can’t be trusted

with your heart

 

– Susie Stewart

 

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.

– Psalm 28:7 (NIV)

 

Our hearts erupt with joy in Him because we trust His holy name.

– Psalm 33:21 (VOICE)

 

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
He’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give Him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
don’t sulk under His loving correction.
It’s the child He loves that God corrects;
a father’s delight is behind all this.

– Proverbs 3:5-12 (MSG)

 

Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; He won’t leave you.

– Deuteronomy 31:6 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

A Whisper

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Your life is a whisper

 

It is a mist,

a breath

 

Your lungs take in the breath of God

at birth

 

And no matter how much time you are given

 

Your life is still

as fog that quickly dissipates

 

Eternity envelopes

and swallows up

your existence in flesh

 

Your spirit is everlasting,

solid

 

And so many are aimless

and unaware of the brevity

 

of Life

 

So precious

so short

 

But we are reminded

in this moment

 

that loving

on purpose

thriving

on purpose

worshiping

on purpose

serving

on purpose

forgiving

on purpose

 

Is vital

in so little time

 

to really live

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

Humans are like a passing breath; their time on earth is like a shadow that passes over us during the day and soon is gone.

– Psalm 144:4 (VOICE)

 

…What is life? You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears.

 – James 4:14 (PHILLIPS)

 

As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades.”

– 1 Peter 1:24 (NLT)

 

We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.

– 1 Chronicles 29:15 (NLT)

 

He was mindful that they were human, frail and fleeting, like a wind that touches one’s skin for a moment, then vanishes.

– Psalm 78:39 (VOICE)

 

My days go by like a long shadow—stretched thin and disappearing…

– Psalm 102:11 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Gracie Oertli

 

 

Delight

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

To know that YOU

delight in me

 

Is almost too much

for me to fathom

 

Delight?

In me?

 

And I choose to believe You

and not overthink it

 

For delight is not demanding perfection

 

And You smile

at me

 

I am undone

by my Beloved

 

For I delight in You too

my Father

my Jesus

my Holy Spirit

 

My Love

 

And where there is mutual delight

there is an understanding

 

A heart-deep smile

A stirring

 

For in each of our heart’s,

 

God’s

and mine,

 

there is a special place

that only the other can fill

 

No one else

 

– Susie Stewart

 

The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in His love He will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.

– Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

 

the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.

– Psalm 147:11 (NIV)

 

Take delight in the Lord…

– Psalm 37:4 (NLT)

 

Then I will go to God’s altar with nothing to hide. I will go to God, my rapture; I will sing praises to You and play my strings, unloading my cares, unleashing my joys, to You, God, my God.

– Psalm 43:4 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

No Fear

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

– John 14:27 (NIV)

 

You have a will

over your fears

 

It is possible to not

let

your heart be troubled

 

It is possible to choose

not

to be afraid

 

And God is there

to strengthen

and enable

and affirm you

 

in your not-fearing

and your resolute mind

 

Giving you what you need

as you do battle with fear

 

His Spirit will bring you

the courage you need

 

– Susie Stewart

 

When struck by fear, I let go, depending securely upon You alone.

– Psalm 56:3 (VOICE)

 

You see, God did not give us a cowardly spirit but a powerful, loving, and disciplined spirit.

– 2 Timothy 1:7 (VOICE)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

 

 

Entitled

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

We have the great privilege

of coming to God with our requests

 

We ask Him for what we want

and He chooses to answer the way He wants

 

And we get into a dangerous place

when we only see Him as good

 

When He answers the way we think He should

 

The fact is,

we either trust His sovereignty

His wisdom

and His omniscience

 

Or we don’t

 

When we meet God’s “No”

with the stomp of our foot

 

We in essence are showing a lack of trust

and a sense of entitlement

 

Santa Jesus would hand us whatever we ask for

and therein we would develop no faith

 

We would have no need of an all-knowing God,

for whenever we exercised our will of asking

 

Santa Jesus would give us

whatever we want

 

This is not what we should expect

 

May our prayers be ones of great faith

and trust

 

In our great God

who knows best

 

– Susie Stewart

 

He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. God knew what He was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Him. After God made that decision of what His children should be like, He followed it up by calling people by name. After He called them by name, He set them on a solid basis with Himself. And then, after getting them established, He stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what He had begun.

– Romans 8:27-30 (MSG)

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…

– Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)

 

But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

– Mark 5:36 (NLT)

 

They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

– Psalm 112:7 NIV)

 

Photo by Andy Stewart

Drawing Me In

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Your love, God,

it pulls me in

to a warm embrace

 

Your kindness

leads me

to repentance

 

Your goodness

pursues me

as a friend

 

Your mercy

settles

my anxiety

 

Your faithfulness

holds me

tenaciously

 

Your patience

encourages

my walk with You

 

Your grace

brings hope

to my soul

 

Your love

encompasses my life

in parental care

 

No wonder I run to You

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

Over time I realized that when we love God, we naturally run to Him — frequently and zealously.  Jesus didn’t command that we have regular time with Him each day.  Rather, He tell us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind.”  He called this the “first and greatest commandment” (Matt. 22:37-38).  The results are intimate prayer and study of His Word.  Our motivation changes from guilt to love.

This is how God longs for us to respond to His extravagant, unending love; not with cursory “quiet time” plagued by guilt, but with true love expressed through our lives.

– Francis Chan

 

What a stack of blessing you have piled up
for those who worship you,
Ready and waiting for all who run to you
to escape an unkind world.

– Psalm 31:19 (MSG)

 

Do you take the kindness of God for granted? Do you see His patience and tolerance as signs that He is a pushover when it comes to sin? How could you not know that His kindness is guiding our hearts to turn away from distractions and habitual sin to walk a new path?

– Romans 2:4 (VOICE)

 

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

– 1 John 3:1 (NIV)

 

 

Photo by Andy Stewart

Spirit to Spirit

/ Susie Stewart / 4 Comments

Spirit

to

Spirit

 

The connection Divine

 

Unbroken

 

For You have taken up residence

inside my heart

 

I think about You

and I speak to You

and even when I do neither

 

Your Spirit knows

the worship that is all for You

 

In the mundane

I know I am heavenly connected

 

to Your God-Spirit

always there

 

– Susie Stewart

 

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

– Psalm 42:7 (NIV)

 

There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we can be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs.  But deep within, behind the scenes at a profounder level we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.

– Thomas Kelly

 

I will be in my kitchen cooking for missionaries or writing at my desk, my mind on “outward” things, but when I turn inward, where my Lord resides, it is as if I’ve never left.  I am aware that worship has been going on from my spirit to Him who is Spirit while I was cooking and writing!  Oh, it is so beautiful to be aware of the continuous connection, spirit-to-Spirit.

– Linda Dillow

 

Blessed are the people who know how to praise you. They walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.

– Psalm 89:15 (GW)

 

This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in Him, and He in us: He’s given us life from His life, from His very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent His Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

– 1 John 4:15-17 (MSG)

 

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)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

He Is There

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Are you looking?

 

Are you listening?

 

Are you searching?

 

God is there

 

He is there!

 

He is communicating to you,

the child who He loves

 

He is conveying His

Mercy

Comfort

Love

Forgiveness

 

Himself!

 

But you’ve got to quiet yourself

 

Intentionally

 

You’ve got to look

to listen

to search

On Purpose

 

For all that entangles

and distracts

and pulls you away

from His loving presence

 

Will drown out the whispers

and the shouts

of God

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you;
collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;
set your heart on a life of Understanding.
That’s right—if you make Insight your priority,
and won’t take no for an answer,
Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold,
like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;
you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God.

– Proverbs 2:1-5 (MSG)

 

DEMONSTRATE Your ways, O Eternal One.
Teach me to understand so I can follow.
EASE me down the path of Your truth.
FEED me Your word
because You are the True God who has saved me.
I wait all day long, hoping, trusting in You.

– Psalm 25:4-5 (VOICE)

 

But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep respond to His voice. He calls His sheep by name and leads them out of the pen. After He has brought out all his sheep, He walks ahead of them. The sheep follow Him because they recognize his voice.

-John 10:2-4 (GW)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

The Wait

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

When it comes to waiting on God

you can either wait with your hands on your hips

or you can wait with your hands outstretched in worship

 

Which do you think is the wise way

to wait on Almighty God?

 

Rest in His agenda

 

– Susie Stewart

 

At the end of the four hundred and thirty years, to that very day, all the hosts of the Lord [gathered into tribal armies] left the land of Egypt.

– Exodus 12:41 (AMP)

 

I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.

– Psalm 27:13, 14 (AMP)

 

But as for me, I trust [confidently] in You and Your greatness, O Lord;
I said, “You are my God.”
My times are in Your hands…

– Psalm 31:14, 15 (AMP)

 

One caution:  When we bring our questions to God, we need to wait for His answer.  We must not throw our questions at Him and then go to a friend and complain, “I can’t understand what God is doing to me.”  Such actions constitute unbelief.  So after you bring God your questions, hold your ground, even if you are still in the dark about why you are waiting or about how long you will wait.

– Linda Dillow

 

Photo by Susie Stewart