Keeping No Account...

Hi Friends!

Susie Larson here...

So sorry I missed you yesterday but I am glad to have something to share with you today!

To those who are visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday (99% of the time...) and my goal is to encourage your faith and nourish your soul along the way.

In order to be successful, we have to keep pretty good records. Our filing system needs to be somewhat consistent and user friendly. We save time and get more done when we write things down and put them in their proper place.

This statement makes me sound so organized and efficient, doesn't it? Well unfortunately I am only moderately organized and it's time for my office and files to be overhauled and updated.

I suppose that's why this topic is at the forefront of my mind right now.

While it's great to be able to quickly pull up of list of things you've done and the dates with which you completed them, it's destructive to keep such records of the the things you've done for others. It's even more destructive to keep a detailed account of ways other people have offended you but we'll address that topic another day.

We love, because God first loved us.

We're good to others, because Jesus has been so good to us.

We forgive others, because we've been so graciously forgiven.

We humble ourselves, because the Savior of the world humbled Himself to the point of death.

How do we know if we are keeping an account of the good things we've done?

When someone is offended by us, and our instinctive response is to pull the "good-things-we've-done" list out of our back pocket and recite it to ourselves and maybe to them, then we know we're keeping account. If our first concerns are that they would know they really have no right to have an issue with us, because all of the good things we've done for them far outweighs any bad thing we could have done to irritate them...then we are most likely keeping an account.

When we keep account of all of the ways we've extended patience and forgiveness, and blessing, and sub-consciously consider it our get-out-of-jail-free card, we've lost sight of why we as Believers do the things we do.

We love and give and forgive others, because it's this kind of scandalous love that's been poured out on us.

As tempting as it may be to recite our list of rights-done in the face of criticism, may we be humble and confident enough not to do so.

We do the right thing as an offering of thanks to God, not as a future pass for ourselves.

We have enough of Jesus in us to bravely stand and behave like Christ without needing to rely on our past "goodness."

Besides, if we want to go that route, we will have to reckon with the "wrongs done" list we've also accumulated. And unfortunately that list is usually the longer one.

Choose grace instead. Grace for your accuser, grace for yourself.

Our Heavenly Father keeps the best kind of records. He removes confessed sin from His hard drive and remembers it no more. And yet He considers every kind word, every smile, done in His Name, as a deposit into His Kingdom.

When we live for Him, He defends us. He takes care of us.

What a great concept.

Peace, Be Still...

Greetings, Dear Friends.

Susie Larson here...

What a friend we have in Jesus.

How sweet it is to be loved by Him.

Where would I be without His love?

Um, let's see how many more songs I can think of to express to Him my love and gratitude.

Yesterday I was desperately sick; so sick that I considered going to the hospital.

Many of you know that I have severe food allergies.

The day before yesterday I ate my soy yogurt for breakfast and my coleslaw salad for lunch (these are daily staples for me). For dinner I tried a microwave gluten-free meal. Unfortunately I think the label was supposed to read, "gluten-FULL."

By the following morning I was writhing in pain and could barely get out of bed.

And though my body was sick, my heart was assured of God's great love for me.

Deep in my soul was a peace that stayed with me all day long.

I know I've mentioned Psalm 91 on occasion, but I need to return to that powerful passage once again.

Here's verse one:

(S)he who dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High God, will REST in the Shadow of the Almighty.

One of the reasons God wants us close is so He can assure us of His presence when the storms hit.

He Himself spoke to the storm, "Peace, be still."

God tells us He is our Prince of Peace.

God tells us to "Be still and KNOW that He is God."

During times of favor it's easy to loosen our grip and rely on our own wit and wisdom. When the storm comes and the ground shakes beneath our feet, we become disoriented and wonder why peace seems so far out of reach.

The beautiful thing is that though we wander or look the other way, peace is only a prayer away.

When Peter stepped out of the boat, he walked on water. He walked on water.

Not only was Peace his friend, Peter got to walk out a miracle.

He took His eyes off of Peace because he was distracted by the storm and what happened as a result?

He was no longer held up by Power, he was weighed down by worry.

Here is an important point: we can never walk out the Kingdom principles offered to us if we give more weight to the storms than we do the One whom the storms obey.

Peter cried out to Jesus, and Jesus lifted him up and gave him peace.

We all know that the storms will come, and then they'll pass.

But what a beautiful thing it is to be so closely identified with Jesus that we are able to quiet our souls - like a still small child - and rest with Him.

Equally wonderful is that when the storms threaten us, we can cry out to Jesus and He will give us peace; and He will eventually calm the storm.

Yesterday was a both terrible and tremendous.

Curled up in a ball, I could barely stand the pain, and yet in my heart of hearts, I knew peace and assurance and it was a glorious thing.

Wherever life finds you today, be still, and know that He is your God.

He is in you, for you, and with you.

Have a blessed day, my friend.

Guard Your Yard...

Greetings, Dear Friends!

And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post a devotional blog every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way.

This morning during my prayer time I stumbled across this verse:

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many (Hebrews 12:14-15).

Proverbs 4:23 exhorts us to guard our hearts with all diligence, because out of our hearts flow the issues of life.

I've said this on numerous occasions but it bears repeating here. Whenever we speak, we plant seeds. Picture seeds spilling out of your mouth and dropping to the ground every time you speak. We plant things with our words. The question is, are we planting weeds or things that nourish and foster life?

Two things jump out at me in the verse from Hebrews.

1.) See to it that no one misses the grace of God.

2.) See to it that no bitter root is allowed to grow up and thus, defile many.

We are reminded from this verse that our choices never stand alone. Even our inner most thoughts affect the lives of those around us and because of this, we as Believers, are accountable for even the smallest seeds of bitterness we plant in our lives.

This is not to say we won't have thousands of legitimate reasons to be irritated or bitter.

We will.

In the latter days, the Bible says the love of most will grow cold.

What happens in the absence of love? Every wicked thing.

Love builds up. Love restores. Love secures. Love redeems. Love reminds. Love forgives.

If love is far from the majority of the people, and we are committed to hanging on to love, we will need a certain amount of spiritual grit to stand, to forgive, to guard our hearts, that we might enjoy the abundant, powerful life God has offered us.

Now back to the two things I noticed in this verse.

See to it that no one misses the grace of God: - This is a powerful insight for us. When you are scraped by an abrasive person, remind yourself of their need for grace. And fact, see to it, that they don't miss out on grace as far as it concerns you. When someone has betrayed you, put yourself in their shoes and determine to give the grace you would so desperately need (not to say that you fully trust them again, but bring their sins against you to the Cross and nail them there with your own).

When we see ourselves as God intended us - to be a flow through account of His nature and blessings - we take a higher road when it comes to handling offenses. We have a higher call, a higher road to take, and we operate from a higher perspective than what's normal for most.

Freely you have received His grace. Freely give it.

See to it that no bitter root is allowed to grow up within you, and thus, defile many: - This passage is sobering to say the least. What we gripe about in the privacy of our own homes actually comes with a consequence. When we repeatedly rehash old offenses in our mind, it's like going to bed with a sticky piece of candy in our mouth. We, by our own choices, allow a cavity to develop. We give room in our lives for decay which in time, if not dealt with, will over take what's healthy in our lives.

As Beloved Children of the Most High God, we don't have the luxury of harboring offenses against other people. As deserving as they are of our attitudes (but then again, maybe we are the ones who are wrong), we have to humble ourselves, forgive our offenders, and guard what we allow to grow in our lives.

I once did a study on Proverbs 4:23 (mentioned above) and I was interested to find that the word "guard" had a very strong translation. We are to guard our heart like a man who is guarding his land and his family against intruders.

If we are serious about our walk of faith we must be serious about immediately dealing with offenses.

What's wonderful of about this practice is it keeps us on our knees in constant reminder of our own need for grace and mercy. When we regularly bring our wounds and offenses to Jesus, He regularly restores and redeems every lost thing.

And He will deal with our offenders when we are quick to let Him deal with our own heart.

Guard your yard with all diligence.

You have mighty things to do in this life.

Be blessed and Be a Blessing!

A Door of Hope...

Hello, Dear Friends!

Susie Larson here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome!

I post a devotional blog every Wednesday and my purpose is to nourish your soul and encourage you along the way.

This morning I talked on the phone with one of my mentors about some recurring health issues I've been battling. I was blessed to be on the receiving end of one of her powerful prayers.

She prayed something to this effect: "Dear Lord, May the power of Susie's past be broken that it may not affect her future. May she be delivered from all of the effects of past sin, sickness, and wrong beliefs. And may her todays and tomorrows be marked only by Your promises."

Is that not a powerful prayer?

A writer from the 1800's (so sorry, can't remember his name) wrote, "Our past is forgiven. Our future is bright with hope. Our present is filled with power."

Psalm 103:1-5 tells us that God forgives, heals, ransoms, crowns, satisfies, and renews us. If we've taken our sin to the Cross, God has forgiven our past. He wants to heal and restore us. And yet we often drag our baggage with us. We hang on to old fears, age-old debts, and paper thin opinions others have of us.

We can look at those things, we can continue to walk forward while looking over our shoulder, but eventually, we'll fall on our faces. Which isn't such a bad place to be if it makes us remember the Cross once again.

At some point, though, we have to look up. We have to look forward. We have to shake the dust off our past - all of the bad stuff that is - and dare to place our feet on the next place of promise.

Not that our past is a waste. It isn't. On the contrary, when we give our ashes to the Lord, He forms them into jewels fit for a crown.

How do we diminish the negative effects of the past, that we might embrace God's mighty power for our future?

Read on...

The only way to give more weight to God's power than we do our past, is to spend more time looking up to Him than we do looking over our shoulder.

God wants to woo us into a divine and intimate relationship where we are at home in His presence. He wants us to be so assured of who we are to Him that every lying voice fades into the background.

Sometimes He allows us to wander through the wilderness; sometimes He leads us there. But we never have to be afraid.

He knows we are but dust. He knows what it would take to take us out of commission. He is the One who is able to keep us from falling. Therefore we can also know that every trial, every battle is a winnable one.

He will never forsake us. He will always be there for us. He will take every tear and give us back a gift worth more than its weight in gold.

We cannot out-give God. When we give Him our worries, and our past mistakes, and our old injuries, He will give us more of Himself.

We must see our trials as opportunities to be strengthened and to be blessed.

Just this morning I declared once again, "I will be strong! I will live out the number of my days in health! I will not relent because GREATER is He that is in me than he that is in the world! God is FOR me, who or what can stand against me! NOTHING can ever separate me from His love. EVERY pain and heartache is an opportunity and provides a door of hope for God to restore and bless me. Surely I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!"

Read this wonderful passage from Hosea 2:14-15...

Therefore I am now going to allure her. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards and will make the valley of (pain and heartache) a door of hope.

There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the days she came up out of her captivity.

Develop a heart of faith that expects God to be good. Know that He wants to speak tenderly to you. Faithfully and expectantly wait for Him to give restore what you've lost. Look up and believe that your valley of disappointment will become a door of hope.

God is good, all of the time.

Until next week...

Listen and Do...

Hello, Dear Friends!

Susie Larson Here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my purpose is to bless you and nourish your soul along the way.

My son Luke was home visiting from college this weekend. He filled the entry way with his dirty laundry, backpack full of books, and music equipment (guitar, amplifier, speaker, sound board, etc.).

I love having him home even though he brings all of his belongings with him every time he comes home for a visit. I love all of who he is, the musician, the son, the computer techie, and the follower of Jesus. I treasure this boy.

Slowly but surely Luke carried all of his equipment up to his room and the entry way looked somewhat normal again.

The next day was a writing day for me (because I am racing towards a deadline). "Luke," I asked, "would you please unload the dishwasher for me?" He kindly and happily said, "Sure."

I went back to work and spent the next six hours writing.

When I came up for air I noticed that Luke not only unloaded the dishwasher, he loaded the dirty dishes, he washed the big pans and bowls, and he wiped down the counter.

My heart did a little flip inside. He not only listened to my words, he responded sweetly. And he not only responded sweetly, he did what I asked. And he not only did what I asked, he went above and beyond my request.

I wanted to give him money, bake him cookies, and wrap him in a big bear hug.

When we listen to God and do what He says, His heart swells with excitement over our obedience. And though this isn't our motivation, when we do what He says, He pours out His blessing on us!

This morning I read this verse in James, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

Just how do we listen to the word, and then deceive ourselves?

Read on...

We talk about prayer (because Jesus tells us to pray about everything), but we rarely actually pray.

We tell people we will pray for them and then we don't follow through.

We feel good that we've articulated our belief in the power of prayer, but we neglect our time alone with the Lord and live power-less lives as a result.

We read great biblically based books on marriage, but we rarely apply what we learn.

We discern areas of weakness in our spouse and instead of using our strength to build them up, we use our knowledge to tear them down.

Just because we see something amiss doesn't mean we've been faithful with what we know.

When we don't do what God tells us to do, we deceive ourselves.

We read God's Word where it tells us to be at peace with others as far as it concerns us, and we ponder those words, but still we carry around with us age-old grudges against people who don't even know they've offended us.

Jesus tells us to love our neighbor but we don't even know their name (God, forgive me).

God's Word tells us to love Him with our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to let His love in, that we might identify ourselves as someone He cherishes.

God delights in us with great affection and yet, we put more faith in our frailties than we do the idea that Jesus sings over us.

Forgive me, Precious Father, for the countless ways I have heard You, but have not done what you've asked. Thankfully there is no condemnation for me because I belong to You. It's your grace that strengthens my heart and so I open my hands and receive Your mercy and Your grace for this hour. Help me to earnestly seek after you and listen to what You have to say. Heighten my conviction to listen and to obey. Help me to walk in a manner worthy of my calling. To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to do Your will. Amen.