The Truth and the Lie...

Greetings, Dear Friends!

And to my new visitors, I say welcome. I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to bless and encourage you along your way...

I've been thinking a lot lately about the power of the lie.

The enemy of our souls is the father of lies and when we believe his rubbish, he can step back and watch us single-handedly destroy our own lives.

You see, to hold on to a lie means to let go of the abundant life and powerful destiny that God made available for those who believe Him.

Someone once said, "The devil lies to you, God tells you the truth, but you are the one who casts the deciding vote."

I've seen young girls give themselves away because they believed the lie that they were worthless. I've seen spouses walk away from a beautiful family because they believed the lie that the grass was greener somewhere else. I've seen godly Christians give in to selfish ambition because they believed the lie that if they're successful "here", they can be successful anywhere.

If we believe a lie, all of our choices will be in effort to retrieve for ourselves, in our own way, that which we think is lost or owed to us. Our underlying goal will be to rescue our sense of self worth and to grab what we think we deserve.

When we choose to believe the voice of the enemy, we give him (and spiteful people) a landing strip into the deepest places of our souls where only Jesus should be. We hand our precious value to the world on a silver platter with the invitation, "Here, you tell me what I'm worth, because I really don't know."

Though the lie isn't true, it often feels true, and because it feels true, we tend to believe it.

But then, there's the truth...

Oh, how I love the truth!

Please don't ever let these words become a cliche' in your mind:

The truth will set you free!

I've seen women bound by fear, condemnation, guilt, and shame, set free in a moment's time, simply by daring to believe that what Jesus says is true! Before my very eyes, I've seen the countenance of women changed after praying with them. These are Christian women who have made mistakes or who have endured intolerable pain, or have been bound by insecurity. Just as if someone flipped a light switch, these women decided to stop looking down and look up instead. They believed Jesus and there lives were never the same after that!

I remember praying for a woman at one of my events. She came in to the conference with a face contorted with anger and attitude. I didn't think I would get a great evaluation from her! She looked ready to challenge me at every turn. But something happened during the meeting. When she came up to talk with me at the end of the session, her whole face glowed and the deep creases in her face were gone. She made no effort to wipe way the tears that flowed freely from her eyes. She said to me, "I'm not angry any more! God met me today. I understand His love and I finally believe Him!" Her friend nodded excitedly and said, "This is my friend! And she's leaving here different than she came in!"

The Bible tells us that it's both our privelege and our responsibility to know the love of Christ. When we deny His love, we deny Him.

First John 2:22 says, "Who is the liar? It is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ."

When we believe the truth, we refuse to believe the lie, even if that lie feels truer than anything else at the moment.

I think it takes great courage and grit to look a lie square in the "face" and say, "Though you try to tell me that I am worthless, and though I may feel unsteady at the moment, I choose to believe the words of my Beloved! In fact, since you take the time to lie to me, I will assume the opposite is true! If you say I am nothing, I will embrace the TRUTH that I am everything to Jesus! If you say I am going nowhere, I will declare to the world the TRUTH that God has a mind-boggling plan for my life! If you say that things will always be this way, it's only because you see the Heavenly troops mounting on my behalf and you fear that my breakthrough may be on the horizon! God is for me so who can stand against me? And can anything ever separate me from His precious love? No! Nothing!"

A good way to discern the truth from the lie is to pay attention to what it produces in your life. Do the words coming your way compel you to look up and say, "How great You are, God!" or do they make you look down and feel like a putz? Do they ignite peace and passion? Or do they make you believe in yourself more than you believe in God?

Always, God's words to us should make us tremble, make us bow low, fill us with peace and joy and hope, and make us believe that we are ever and always under His divine care.

Read the Gospels this week and count how many times Jesus says, "I tell you the truth..."

You are His beloved one and He surrounds you with tender mercies...and that's the truth.

Until next week...

PS - Drop me a note. I always love to hear from you~

Life vs. The Law

Greetings, Dear Friends!

To my new visitors, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to provide you with some soul nourishment that you may be energized to be about the things God has called you to!

I was reading in the book of John this morning and I was impressed again by Jesus' tenacity of purpose in spite of the constant opposition He faced.

In Jerusalem was a pool surrounded by five covered colonnades. A great number of disabled people spent a great amount of time there, hoping to be healed. A certain man had been disabled for thirty-eight years!

Surely he was hard to miss. If you lived in Jersualem at the time, you no doubt saw this man spending time at the healing pool.

Jesus, the healer, walked up to the man and asked him if he wanted to get well. Instead of shouting, "YES!" the man explained why he hadn't been healed up to this point. Even so, you can't have an encounter with the Living One and remain unchanged. The man was healed.

And how did the "religious" ones respond to this miracle?

I imagine them narrowing their eyes, tapping thier lips while saying to the restored man, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." (John 5:10)

Talk about making a mountain out of a mole-hill!

Read this verse, it's pretty amazing:

"So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted Him" (John 5:16).

There's no emotion around that verse, but think of what that must have been like for Jesus!

He heals a man who has suffered for thirty-eight years and is treated with hostility as a result. What a backwards world He came to save.

But I love His response in verse 17: "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working." It's as if He is saying, "Think what you will, but I came to impart life. If it doesn't fit in your box, well, I guess that's too bad. I will go where people are more intent on my presence than on their religious program. Though you all need me, I came to save and heal those who know they need Me."

Here lies the difference between those after religion, and those after a relationship with Christ:

With an eagle-eye on the law, one points out every little deviation from what they understand the law to be...while the other runs after Jesus, rises up with eagles wings, and pursues the LIFE Jesus came to give. Jesus said, "I've come that you might have LIFE - and not just life - life overflowing - life to fullest - a free and powerful and impacting LIFE" (my paraphrase of John 10:10b).

The law shows us our need for Jesus.

Instead of being the "law police" and bashing every one who steps outside the lines - let's be a people who are far more earnest about going after anything that would hinder the presence of God in our midst.

Let us be quick to repent of our own sins of arrogance, judgementalism, and unbelief. And if someone runs after Jesus in a way that makes us feel uncomfortable, may we bow low and ask God for a renewed sense of passion and insight.

Francis Frangipane wisely said, "The Pharisee honors what God has done, but rejects what God is doing."

Until next week...

Listen to Him...

Greetings, Dear Friends!

And a special welcome to any new visitors! I post every Wednesday and my whole purpose is to bless and encourage you along your way.



The Bible says that DAILY the Heavens pour forth speech. Daily, God is speaking to us, wooing us to His side, and leading us in the way we should go.

So, what do you suppose is one of the enemy's greatest tactics against us?

Busy-ness!

Take a minute, pour a cup of coffee, take in a deep breath and exhale.

Take a moment and rest in His presence...

Our whole purpose for walking this earth is to continue what Jesus started.

I've shared this before but my life verse is Psalm 116:9 - "And so I walk in His Presence as I live here on earth."

In His presence there's power, there's favor, there's provision, and there's direction. In His presence there is clarity about what really matters and there is an awareness of the storehouses to which we have access. In His presence insecurity is swallowed up by Holy Confidence that allows us to hold our heads high because we were made for Heaven. In His presence, pride is swallowed up by Humble Dependence because we begin to understand that we are nothing without Him.

To walk in His presence as we live here on earth is to bring a sense of God's love and power with us wherever we go. It's to leave people and places better than we found them. It's to approach tomorrow with more faith than we did today.

To walk in His presence is to have an ear bent toward Heaven as we go about our business. it's to welcome daily detours as Divine Interruptions because we are aware that we belong to Him and He gets to decide how our day goes.

Daily the Heavens pour forth speech. Daily God is talking to us! And yet we miss it when we race through life with our eyes on the ground and our minds either bound by the past or burdened by the future.

Our past mistakes and sins, when confessed and entrusted to the Redeeming work of Christ, are covered, forgiven and forgotten. We must leave them there. Our future is in God's hands. We must believe His Word that says, He charts the course ahead of us and He establishes His purposes for us. He precedes and follows and places His hand of blessing on our heads (Psalm 139:5).

And since all of that is true, we must also embrace our PRESENT which is FILLED with POWER! We lay hold of a powerful present by listening to the One who is always speaking to us. Jesus, who loves us so much, is hoping we'll slow down long enough to be filled, assured, and redirected by His voice.

Over and over again we read in the Bible these words, "This is My Beloved Son, this is Jesus...listen to Him."

Until next week...May the Lord bless you and keep you; may He make His beautiful face to shine down upon you and give you peace; and may you slow down many times throughout your day and listen to what He has to say. His desire is for you.

Fear of Man...

Greetings, Dear Friends!

And to those visiting for the first time, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my purpose is to nourish your soul and inspire you to live a powerful life on earth.



I remember one day, many years ago, when during a time of prayer, the Lord whispered across my heart, "Susie, I want there to be a bigger gap between how people affect you and how I affect you. My opinion should far outweigh the opinions of others."

I realized right then and there how bound I was by other's opinions of me.

In Proverbs it says, "The fear of man brings a snare, but the fear of God brings safety."

When our thoughts are consumed with others' thoughts towards us - we are walking in the fear of man.

When our day goes south because we feel slighted by a comment or a cross look - we are walking in the fear of man.

When we feel the need to get others on our side by speaking ill of another - we are walking in the fear of man.

When our goal is more to impress than to bless - we are walking in the fear of man.

Fear of other's opinions doesn't just show itself through insecurity - it's also revealed through pride (which is another form of insecurity, I suppose).

There's no winning the battle of other's opinions. It's a trap and we will be its slave if we reduce our lives to a series of actions that will please others and give them a momentary favorable opinion of us.

However, when we walk in the fear of the Lord - when we love Him enough to do what He says - we will be safe.

Not that other's won't gossip - they will - but when they do, He will be our defense.

To walk in the fear of the Lord is to say, "Help me not to gossip, Lord. Help me to make choices from a place of fullness, not emptiness. Help me to believe that I all I could ever need or want is found in You."

When we sin and we are quick to repent to both God and man - we are walking in the fear of the Lord.

When we are considerate of other's feelings without giving them the power to decide our value - we are walking in the fear of the Lord.

When we are willing to step out in faith to places that are beyond our reach - regardless of the cynicism of others - we are walking in the fear of the Lord.

When we pursue a holy, obedient life and entrust our reputation to the Lord Almighty - we are walking in the fear of the Lord.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!

We will be blessed with wonderful relationships along the way. We will be hurt by divisive people along the way. No matter. We love people and we hope in God.

Have a blessed week~

No Condemnation...

Greetings, Dear Friends!

For those of you visiting I say welcome! I post every Wednesday.

My goal is simply this: to nourish your soul so that you may have a deeper life in Christ and a more powerful life on earth.

I love this picture. My sisters, my sisters-in-law, my mom, my niece and I sat down where the current was the strongest. We laughed, giggled, and sang songs. It was a great time.

The river of God flows with power and forgiveness and provision.

We will never enjoy the fullness of what God has for us until we jump in the river with full assurance that He owns the river and He wants us free; free from fear, self-hatred, and doubt; free to take hold of all He has offered us.

What keeps most of us from taking hold of the powerful life God promised us?

Unbelief, to be sure. But a close second has to be condemnation.

Many of us have a hard time letting ourselves off the hook.

We recount, rehash, and rehearse our mistakes and they re-injure us all over again.

How do we get past our mistakes? How do we get to the place in our faith when after we've blown it and repented, we are able to sit down where the current is the strongest and laugh, and giggle, and sing?

It's to this, we were called!

Currently I am reading Bill Johnson's book, "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind" and he made a point that confirmed something I've always pondered.

First he describes the scene in Genesis where Sarah laughed at the thought of bearing a child in her old age. Johnson wrote,

"She didn't just give an embarrassed giggle. The Hebrew word for laugh tells us she was mocking what God has said. Not only that, she lied about it when God confronted her. But Hebrews 11:11 says of this same woman:

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

Wow! The record sure sounds different than the reality! This tells us something precious; the book of remembrance doesn't have record of our mistakes. Genesis 18 was recorded for human benefit, so you and I could identify with those who followed God in the past. But Hebrews 11 is how it's recorded in the book of remembrance. Once the blood has been applied, there is no record of sin anymore. God brags all over heaven about Sarah, and He does the same about you and me. Maybe you had a bad week, but you stirred yourself to worship God anyway. That was recorded in the book of remembrance."

Isn't this a powerful thought?

I know I feel that way in regards to my own sons. I know them inside and out. I am aware of the weak spots in their character and I understand their strengths. I know when they try hard, and I know when they just do enough to get by.

When they stumble and fall and their hearts are broken, mine is broken too. But when they brush themselves off and look to heaven once again, I am overwhelmed with love, admiration, and gratefulness that they belong to me.

How much more is God's capacity to feel this way towards us?

To refuse forgiveness, fresh mercies, and a chance to begin again, is to refuse the message of the Cross.

It takes great humility and faith to jump in the river, and to sing, and laugh and play. In spite of where you've been or what you've done, if you've confessed your sin and accepted His forgiveness, you have no reason for condemnation, only praise.

Daily proclaim, "Because of Jesus' work on the Cross, I refuse condemnation. I embrace forgiveness and I will live out the number of my days in freedom! Jesus died that I might be free!"

Until next week...