Romans

Prayer & Trust

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

When you don’t get the answer you want

from God,

what is your response?

 

Is it anger?

Self-pity?

Turning away from Him?

 

Or do you Trust?

 

Trust that He is God?

 

Before you had this trial

you knew

 

that sometimes God says

“Yes”

 

sometimes

“No”

 

sometimes

“Later”

 

sometimes

“I have something better”

 

But does your trust in Him

reflect that?

 

Do you still praise and bless Him

when the answer is “wait”?

 

or “No”?

 

Or do you stomp your foot

as a demanding child?

 

You either have confidence in God’s sovereignty

or you doubt it

 

Prayer and trust

go hand in hand

 

It

is

Faith

In God who knows best

 

Don’t fall into the trap

of faithfulness to Him

only when the answer

is “Yes”

 

– Susie Stewart

 

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

– 1 John 5:14 (NIV)

 

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.

– Ephesians 1:18 (NLT)

 

Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. 

– Romans 12:11,12 (MSG)

 

Photo by Wade Callison

Escapism

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

There are places people go

in their hearts and minds

 

to escape real life

 

And those places

may look like other people’s stories

 

They may look like

a fantastical world

 

They may look like

hours before a screen or pages

 

And while it’s good to dream and imagine,

living a life that is not yours

 

can be dangerous

 

for the escape becomes

your god

 

It becomes more important

than anything else

 

it consumes

and dominates

 

and crushes

real life

 

I know,

because I’ve had times like that

 

I was drawn in

and obsessed

and out of touch

 

God was not on the throne

of my heart

 

May we who follow Jesus

be content where we are

 

relying on Him to walk with us

and not seeking escape

 

Come away with your Lord

for He will fill you

 

like no empty world of escapism

ever can

 

When your escape

leads to

Neglect

Obsession

and Avoidance

 

It’s time to get away with God

 

– Susie Stewart

 

…Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

– Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)

 

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in Him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

– Philippians 4:4-9 (MSG)

 

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

– Romans 12:1,2 (MSG)

 

Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

– 1 John 2:15-17 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

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Pride’s Barb

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

When it comes to pride

there are two sides

to the coin

 

One side

is arrogant

self-reliant

bold

 

The other side

is self-depricating

self-loathing

apathetic

 

BOTH are centered on SELF

 

And when it comes to God’s grace

freely given to all

 

Pride sets itself up

against it

 

You either think

you don’t need God

and rely on who you think you are

 

Or you see yourself

as a worthless failure

never able to approach Him

 

Both reject grace

 

missing the point of it

completely

 

and walk away

from God’s extended hand.

 

This need not be

 

Grace draws in

those who would humble themselves

 

before God’s divine,

sacrificial love

 

Grace is free

but you must lay down your pride

and accept it

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].

– Hebrews 4:16 (AMP)

 

Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

– Ephesians 2:7-10 (MSG)

 

And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.

– Romans 11:6 (NLT)

 

And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

– James 4:6 (NLT)

 

Photo by Arik Stewart

Invisible

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

My beautiful

Invisible

God

 

Sometimes I long

to see Your face

 

and Your invisibility

appears as a barrier

 

between You and me

 

But it doesn’t have to be

that way

 

There really is

no barrier

 

Only Jesus,

as the Way

 

Invisible God

You see me

 

right through to my core

 

And,

Invisible God,

you see the invisible people

among us

 

None escape Your sight

 

And while I still long

to see You,

Jesus

 

It doesn’t need to be a barrier

 

For You have made a Way

 

Communication with You

Creation Divine and serene

Your Word powerful and life-changing

Relationships beautiful

Love overwhelming

 

Life abundant

 

They show me You,

my invisible God   ❤

 

– Susie Stewart

 

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, He organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

– Colossians 1:15-18 (MSG)

 

We all live off His generous bounty,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made Him plain as day.

– John 1:16-18 (MSG)

 

But you may not look directly at My face, for no one may see Me and live.

– Exodus 33:20 (NLT)

 

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

– 1 Timothy 1:17 (NIV)

 

No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.

– 1 John 4:12 (NLT)

 

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

– Romans 1:20 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

 

 

Around Me

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

It’s good for me

to reflect on what it’s like

to be with me

 

I think so much

about what people do and say

and how they affect my life

 

But what about

how I affect them?

 

Does being with me

drain you

or

refresh you?

 

When I am around

are you affirmed

or torn down?

 

Do I make you

feel loved

or rejected?

 

And most importantly,

do people see Jesus

or self-focus?

 

All  people

 

It’s good to reflect…

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

…whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

– Proverbs 11:25 (NIV)

 

God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with Him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 (MSG)

 

So then, let us pursue [with enthusiasm] the things which make for peace and the building up of one another [things which lead to spiritual growth].

– Romans 14:19 (AMP)

 

Photo by Andy 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

The Most Important Blog You Will Ever Read

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

As your friend

I must tell you something

 

And maybe it’s kind of familiar

but read it carefully

 

for everything depends on it

 

Everything.

 

So here it is…

 

You will either confess Jesus

as your Lord and Savior here on earth

 

which will bring you salvation

 

Or you will confess Jesus

as the Lord and Savior before His judgment throne

 

which will bring you condemnation

 

forever

 

Either way

you WILL confess Jesus

 

Take the opportunity NOW

to turn to grace, life and love

 

for once your life on earth

is over

 

your confession

will only bring you death

 

And if you read this blog

and you disregard its truth

 

you can be sure

that you will think of my words

 

when you stand before God

ALONE

 

without an excuse

 

– Susie Stewart

 

 

So God raised Him up to the highest place
and gave Him the name above all.
So when His name is called,
every knee will bow,
in heaven, on earth, and below.
And every tongue will confess
“Jesus, the Anointed One, is Lord,”
to the glory of God our Father!

– Philippians 2:9-11 (VOICE)

 

For it is written, “As I live, so I promise,” says the Lord, “every knee will bow down to Me. Every tongue will confess to God.”

– Romans 14:11 (VOICE)

 

I have bound myself with an oath. A word has gone out from my righteous mouth that will not be recalled, “Every knee will bow to me and every tongue will swear allegiance.”

– Isaiah 45:23 (GW)

 

…He has planted eternity in the human heart…

– Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)

 

…each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment…

– Hebrews 9:27 (NLT)

 

I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before or against the Presence, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth. And then I saw all the dead, great and small, standing there—before the Throne! And books were opened. Then another book was opened: the Book of Life. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, by the way they had lived. Sea released its dead, Death and Hell turned in their dead. Each man and woman was judged by the way he or she had lived. Then Death and Hell were hurled into Lake Fire. This is the second death—Lake Fire. Anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire.

– Revelation 20:11-15 (MSG)

 

…when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from His glorious power.

– 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 (NLT)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

His Attention

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

Getting someone’s attention

can be difficult at times

 

Just to have them look you in the eye

and to be heard

 

is rare

 

But you have God’s attention

 

He always sees you

and always hears you

 

His love for you is eternal

His attention faithful

 

God is not distracted

when you talk to Him

 

He is not preoccupied

with items more important

 

So if you have God’s attention

why not engage with Him?

 

Or is the problem

that God does not have

your attention?

 

-Susie Stewart

 

My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in His presence, freely asking according to His will, sure that He’s listening. And if we’re confident that He’s listening, we know that what we’ve asked for is as good as ours.

– 1 John 5:13-15 (MSG)

 

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer…

– 1 Peter 3:12 (NIV)

 

The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and He will refresh your life with His love.

– Zephaniah 3:17 (CEV)

 

Those who fear God get God’s attention; they can depend on His strength.

– Psalm 147:11 (MSG)

 

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with Him, make us fit for Him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that He has already thrown open His door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

– Romans 5:1-3 (MSG)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart

Self-Examination

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

 

May I be a follower

who examines myself 

more than I examine others

 

May my eyes be on You, God,

with Spirit-led reflection

on how I’m doing

as your follower

 

For I want to hear You, Lord,

when You are calling for change

and growth

and turning

 

I don’t want self-obsessed introspection

designed to tear me down

 

I will avoid my own voice of self-degradation

originating with the father of lies

 

The only voice I want to hear

is Yours,

loving

and for my good

 

I want to examine my own heart

by Your Spirit

so that I take my stand against the devil’s schemes

 

and so that I may repent

of all that is against You

and Your plan for me

 

and turn my face

to the Light

and the Truth

 

Help me, Jesus,

examine myself

in Your way

 

leading me closer to You

 

– Susie Stewart

 

Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we’d rather the test showed our failure than yours. We’re rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn’t possibly do otherwise.

We don’t just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives.

– 2 Corinthians 13:5-9 (MSG)

 

If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget.

– James 1:23-25 (CEV)

 

Don’t take this opportunity to think you are better than those who slip because you aren’t; then you become the fool and deceive even yourself. Examine your own works so that if you are proud, it will be because of your own accomplishments and not someone else’s.  Each person has his or her own burden to bear and story to write.

– Galatians 6:3-5 (VOICE)

 

Now let’s search out our thoughts and ways and return to the Eternal.

– Lamentations 3:40 (VOICE)

 

As your spiritual teacher I give this piece of advice to each one of you. Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you all. For just as you have many members in one physical body and those members differ in their functions, so we, though many in number, compose one body in Christ and are all members of one another. Through the grace of God we have different gifts. If our gift is preaching, let us preach to the limit of our vision. If it is serving others let us concentrate on our service; if it is teaching let us give all we have to our teaching; and if our gift be the stimulating of the faith of others let us set ourselves to it. Let the man who is called to give, give freely; let the man who wields authority think of his responsibility; and let the man who feels sympathy for his fellows act cheerfully.

– Romans 12:3-8 (PHILLIPS)

 

Photo by Susie Stewart