Seeing Others (and Yourself) Redemptively

Greetings, Dear Friends!

Susie Larson here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way. Each month I give away a $10.00 Starbucks gift card to someone who posts on my blog. So leave a post, share an insight, bless lots of people, and just maybe you'll win a jolt of java for you and a friend!

Now on to my topic...

Do you have someone in your world that has made a decision about you, has you judged, and will not let you off the hook? Or maybe you have your mind made up about a certain person because of some of the things they've done. You have them pegged in your mind and you refuse to believe anything different about them.

What's a person to do? 

Let's look at Jesus.

In the Gospel of John, chapter one, we read about a time when Jesus went to Galilee and called Philip to come be His disciple. Philip went off to find Nathanael and told him, "We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!" 

What was Nathanael's response? 

"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" 

Even so, Nathanael went with Philip, and as the two men approached Jesus, here's what Jesus said about Nathanael: "Here comes an honest man. A true son of Israel."

If Jesus was petty, He could have taken an offense with Nathanael. But Jesus always looks at people redemptively. Rather than getting tripped up by our humanity, He sees the destiny written over our lives. He knows we are works in progress and uses us in profound ways though we still have such a long ways to go. 

If Jesus can extend us such grace, how is it that we can be so un-forgiving with one another?

Second Corinthians 5:16 reminds us, "So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view." 

We have to fight sometimes to get that eternal perspective on certain people, because that's our call as Believers. If we embrace an earthbound mindset towards another, our eyesight dims and we miss what God is up to in their lives.  The pure in heart see God (Matthew 5:8).

As Christ followers we must guard our hearts and minds from forming judgmental attitudes and solidified perceptions of people and situations. We may even be quite convinced that our perception is spot on; we may be partially right about what we see and still totally wrong about our conclusions. 

The God who can bring forth water from a rock moves on the prayers of His people. And though things appear a certain way and may even be a certain way, God actively moves on the prayers of His people. While we’re busy forming a judgment, someone else is interceding for that same situation with a heart like Moses, or like Jesus.

We think we have all of the information we need to assess a situation or a person, but there's always more to the story. And God always has a bigger picture.

Jesus is the One who knows things fully - and with all of our own dirty information at His disposal, He still loves us. No one can gossip enough to Jesus to make Him change His mind about us! Furthermore, we aren't afforded the luxury of holding on to past offenses against others because we think they owe us.

We’re nobody when it comes to judging others. In the whole scheme of things, our judgments hold no weight at all with God. In fact, it's just the opposite. He distances Himself from the prideful, judgmental person, and draws near to the humble, pure-hearted praying person.

When we judge others, we come to a conclusion about them. We arrogantly put a period at the end of a sentence that God is still in the process of writing! The very word conclusion is synonymous with: finish, close, and verdict. This is important: There's nothing redemptive about a wrong or limiting conclusion. We do great damage when we assume a conclusion when God is still busy, active, and changing lives every minute of every day.

Jesus is still working in and through all of us! He knows what it's like to be on the receiving end of wrong assessments and judgments. Even today many think He's nothing more than a figment of our imagination. Even so, He is God and He's coming back in all of His glory!

When Jesus died on the Cross, many thought the enemy had won. But there was more to the story.

When we judge others based on what we think we know, we sin. Thank the Lord; He knows there's more to the story.

When others judge us, we can hide in the shadow of His wing. We can embrace the refining work of the Lord in that safe and precious place. And we can trust Him - the One who has all of the information - to defend us. 

If someone has a snapshot of you when...and they've come to a conclusion about you based on a chapter of your life, refuse to let it weigh you down. They are accountable to God! Rise up and say, "The Lord isn't finished with me yet! He renews! He restores! And I am a work in progress. I'm not who I was. I'm not what I do. I am someone He enjoys!"

Be joyful in the fact that God knows you fully and loves you deeply.

Humbly embrace your own call to love others in the very same, deep and wonderful way.

Lord, forgive me for the countless times I've summed up others because of how they've affected me. Forgive me for forming judgments with only partial information. Forgive me for not pushing past my human tendency to judge when Your Spirit inside me calls me to love and to intercede, and to forgive. I want to be a clean vessel used for Your holy work. I want to live with a pure heart that I might see You in every person I meet, because, in one way or another, they were made in the image of God. Dear Father in heaven, make me more like You, Lord. Amen.

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:12).

PS ~ If you haven't signed up for my FREE Quarterly E-zine yet, you might want to. I'm doing a great book giveaway again. I write some devotional insights, great book recommendations, great quotes, and a prayer to send you on your way. The next issue releases on April 15th; here's the link:

Sign up for Susie's E-zine...

Standing Strong in Turbulent Times...

Happy Wednesday, Friends! Susie Larson here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way. Each month I give away a $10.00 Starbucks gift card to someone who posts on my blog. So share a thought, bless lots of people, and just maybe you'll win a jolt of java for you and a friend.

Now on to my topic...

Recently Deuteronomy 8 has been swirling around in my heart and mind. Let's read a passage from that chapter: 

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers.

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 

Many people are enduring times of testing time right now. In different ways, many of us are 'going without' things we are used to having or things we have taken for granted. For me, it's food. I'm very limited with the kinds of food I'm able to digest. So, 'manna' for me is God's grace to eat the same few foods day in and day out. And, sleep has come scarcely these days. But in my weakness, I know He is strong in me.

Maybe you're used to having more money than you do now; or maybe it’s more time or space; less stress; better health; stronger relationships; a greater level of respectability; a title; a strong sense that people understand you; a job; a marriage; a best friend; a church; a strong sense of God's direction.  

Read these powerful, important words from Hebrews 12:26-27:

When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.

Right now, what can be shaken is shaking, so that what cannot be shaken, can be clearly seen.

Money won’t save us. Politicians won’t save us. A good track record won’t save us. All of our comforts—as much as we love them—make a lousy foundation. Jesus alone is our only hope.

We are in a testing time as a nation. And Believers are definitely feeling the sifting in their souls. 

What does this have to do with the passage in Deuteronomy 8? Here's the parallel: Right now (much like the Israelites), I believe the Lord is allowing His people to go without certain things to test what is in our hearts. If we're honest, we will admit that certain things surface in us when we don't get our way. 

God knows what's in our hearts. He's showing us what's in our hearts. When we lose things we are used to having, we get a better sense of how mature our faith really is. Will we still obey the Lord? Will we continue to humble ourselves before Him? Not getting our way, tests our hearts, and reveals what's inside of us. It's a humbling process but God's grace is sufficient for us.

He wants His people to stand strong during these turbulent times. And if our security is a false one, we will stumble and fall. Now is not the time to be grabbing for quick fixes to fill in the gaps of what's missing in our lives. Now is the time to shift every hope onto the Rock of our Salvation. 

What's the manna for you and me? It's the daily mercy and grace God offers us. Whatever we’re missing in our lives right now, God's grace is more than enough to see us through. In fact, His grace is better for us than getting our way. His presence surpasses the surface satisfaction we enjoy when we get what we want; His Word actually delivers us from our earthbound tendencies and transforms us into people who are free and not bound by the things of this world.

And why is this important? Because we must learn in the core of our beings, that we don't 'get life' from getting our way or from having what we want. We as Believers live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 

We 'go without' so that we may learn to hunger more for Him. 

In no matter what we lack—there’s a promise available to us.

We need to remember when our attitude flares or anxiety ruffles us, that there's a WORD within God's 'every Word' that's specific to our situation. 

The solution then, is not to get our way, but to trust in the all-knowing ways of the Lord and to mine the Scriptures that we might find the inheritance verse that speaks to our situation. He tests us and refines us that we might, more and more, find our deepest needs met in the object of our deepest desire. Jesus Himself. 

He won't let us go. He's just teaching us to rely more on Him and less on the things of this world. He loves us so very much. 

Until next week.

Power In Obedience...

Greetings, Dear Friends!

Susie Larson here...

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

Each month I give away a $10.00 Starbucks gift card to someone who posts on my blog, so leave a post, share an insight or story, and bless lots of people! Maybe you'll win a jolt of java for you and a friend.

Now on to my topic...

I've been thinking a lot about the power of the will, God's will and ours. God's will is a powerful, raging river, full of grace and mercy, strength and provision. Our will is a disjointed, smooth path - easy to walk on, but leads us away from our appointed destiny. 

When God's will crosses your will, what do you do? What's your first response? Do you go your own way and do your own thing, or do you - in spite of your emotions and your feelings - jump in the river? 

God's Word reminds us, "I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me." We can. But so often, we don't.

Read this great excerpt from by John Henry Newman (written in the 1800's - taken from "Joy & Strength):

"Why is it that we in the very Kingdom of grace, surrounded by angels and preceded by saints, nevertheless can do so little, and instead of mounting with wings like eagles, grovel in the dust, and do but sin, and confess alternately? Is it that the 'power' of God is not in us? Is it literally that we are not 'able' to perform God's commandments? God forbid. We are able. We DO have a power within us to do what we are commanded to do. What is it we lack? The power? No, the will. What we lack is the simple, earnest, sincere inclination and aim to use what God has given us, and what we have in us." 

I've learned that obedience to God brings power to my faith. Every time I've forsaken the smooth path of selfishness that I might  jump in the raging, unpredictable river of obedience, I've gained momentum in my walk of faith, I've learned on a new level just how powerful God is, and I've learned to mistrust my selfish inclinations on a whole new level.

Even Jesus submitted His will to His Father in Heaven. He came to earth specifically to do the Father's will (See John 6:38). Likewise, we are here to do the Father's will. 

How is it that we so easily take the freedom He offers us, and use it to go our own way? All around me I see people walking away from their commitments to love and to forgive and to live as Christ-followers. Not that we can do anything on our own, but as we stay closely linked in fellowship with the Father, He will move in us to will and to act according to His beautiful purposes for us (See Phil. 2:13). 

What comes up when God crosses our will with a command to obey? All too often it's stubbornness, selfishness, entitlement, pride, excuses, explanations, etc. It's not easy to obey, but it's critical to our walk with Jesus.

What does God want us to do when faced with the opportunity to take the easy path or the raging river? He wants us to trust Him and jump in! May we leave our imagined rights and false security on the river bank and trust God to take us to that next place of purity, of promise, of provision. His ways are always best.

Every time I've chosen to obey - even when it cost me dearly - I came out the other side far more grounded and strengthened to stand in the next place God assigned to me. When we forsake the risk obedience often requires, and we choose our own comfortable way instead, we miss out on the blessing of this adventure of faith. And, we reap the consequences of our unbelief and disobedience.

We must not take our cue from the masses around us. Many are running down the path of least resistance. May we have the honor and the humility to trust God more than we trust ourselves; to love Him more than we love our personal comforts; and to submit to His will more than we do our selfish ways.

If we say we love Him but don't obey Him, we don't really know Him. If we say we follow Him but we repeatedly walk away from His invitation to jump in the river, we really aren't following Him. Even if we perform miracles in His name and are in the center of one supernatural act after another, but continue to disregard His will and voice, and refuse to obey Him, we will not enter the Kingdom (see Math. 7:21). 

We are saved by grace, but we are identified as His own when we listen to His voice and do what He says.

"My sheep listen to My voice: I know them and they follow Me" (John 10:27).

Want His will? Here it is:

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in ALL circumstances, for THIS is God's will for those who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thess. 5:16-18).

Obey Him today, even if you don't feel like it. God's will for you is always your best-case-scenario! And on the other side of that obedience waits blessing, power, and provision.

Be blessed!

Grace and Power...

Happy Wednesday, Friends!

And to those visiting, I say welcome! Susie Larson here…

I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way. Each month I give away a $10.00 Starbucks gift card to someone who posts on my blog. So share a story or an insight, bless lots of people, and just maybe you'll win a jolt of java for you and friend!

It’s time to announce the winner for February. Drum roll, please…Leslie Johnson, congratulations! To claim your gift card, just email me with your mailing address at: Susie@FaithRadioNet.com

Thanks, everyone for sharing your thoughts and insights!

Now on to my topic...

I am excited about what I have to share with you today! I hope I can convey in words what I have in my heart, because it feels like an important message for us all (namely me). 

If you are a Christ-follower, you know that grace and grace alone has saved you. You no doubt know or may have memorized this verse:

For by GRACE we are saved - through faith - not of ourselves, but is a gift of God, not by any works, so that NO ONE can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

Grace, grace, where would we be without grace? We would be lost. We'd still be orphans. We would not possess the identity and inheritance we do now. We get to feast at His table because He invited us, not because we were worthy guests. Thank you, Lord.

But unfortunately, far too many Believers think that's where grace stops. As if to say that grace gets us in the race, but then we take it from there. Saving grace is precious and priceless but there is more to grace, far more, in fact. 

Here is another verse to ponder:

And God is able to make ALL grace ABOUND to you, so that in ALL things, at ALL times, having ALL that you need, you will ABOUND in every good work (2 Corinthinans 9:8). 

Can I just say, that verse is bursting with the promise of provision! He gives us grace and more grace.

Around this time every year, I start to feel weary from my travels and in deep need of some rest and relaxation. But for me, those days do not come until about late May. The other morning during a powerful prayer time with my husband, I asked God for grace and more grace to carry me through - and not just to get through - I asked for abounding grace to propel me into a place of abundance during my spring speaking tour and my book deadline. 

As I boldly asked God to fulfill the promise of 2 Corinthians 9:8, He gave me a picture in my mind of something that surprised me at first. Let me explain. And stay with me, because this is important. 

In my mind's eye I saw a picture of the main level of a house, but as I began to boldly pray, my perspective rose above the main level to a hidden upper room so to speak. In this upper level every thing was bigger, more bountiful, and oversized. In comparison, the lower level looked like a Barbie-doll house. The lower level furniture was tiny, like little toys. The 'upper level' was in every way, superior. 

The more we prayed, the more I sensed that the upper room represented that place were grace and power fuels us; the place where we function closest to Jesus and where we draw on His strength. When we go at it in our own strength, or we take a God-given assignment and turn it in to striving, we end up on the lower level, where the fruit, the furniture, the sense of perspective are like little toys compared to what we produce when we are in step with Jesus and totally connected to the Vine.

Our Pastor friend Mark Spencer used a candle as an analogy for operating in the grace and power of God. He said, "When a candle burns the wax as it should, you see a constant and steady flame. But when the candle starts to flicker, you know the flame is burning into the wick." It's the difference between burning out and burning brightly.

Are you experiencing a steady flame in your life right now? Or are you burning the wick and is your flame starting to flicker? Are you where God wants you to be right now? Or are you running your own race? Maybe you started out with a God-given assignment but now you're grinding it out on your own strength.

It may be time to pull back and seek the Lord. Ask Him for grace and power. Ask Him to redirect your steps so you can find that sweet spot of service in step with Him. Take some time to rest in Him that He might strengthen you and refresh you. Most of all, get a vision of what that upper room, of what that higher level is supposed to look like for you.

How would your life look different with an abundance of grace and power flowing through the work of your hands? What kind of results would seem supernatural to you? I tell you what, that's what God wants for us and from us - a supernatural, exponential return on His investment! Ask God to fulfill this promise in your life. Ask Him to speak to you about life-adjustments necessary in order to function from that place of abundant grace. 

As we draw on the Lord's strength for the Lord's specific call on our lives, we will find our greatest joy, our greatest strength, and our greatest results. His highest will for us is our best-case-scenario and the place where we most love to serve. May we all live and function from such a sweet spot. 

So sorry for the extra long post. Have a blessed, grace and power-filled week!

~Until next week...

God Brings The Increase (At Just The Right Time)...

Happy Wednesday, Everyone! Susie Larson here!

And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way. Each month I give away a $10.00 Starbucks gift card to someone who posts on my blog. So share a thought or an insight, bless lots of people, and just maybe you'll win a jolt of java for a friend!

Now on to my topic...(this one is a little longer than usual, but I think it's an important word for some):

Lately I've been in awe of God's divine intervention and attention to detail. In years past, I've had a number of specific desires in my heart that I longed to see come to pass; things that only God and my husband knew about, and, well maybe a few close friends. But as with anything worth having, readiness and preparedness take time. God can do anything in an instant, but we are the ones - with our free will and all - that need time to be readied, strengthened and prepared. 

We need time for our faith to grow. When we plant seeds, we can't repeatedly dig them up and pull them out of the ground to see if they are growing. We have to leave them in the ground. Those planted seeds (that we can no longer see) need to be watered by our faith. During the process we must learn to be content with seeing nothing while knowing that God holds everything in His hands, and that He moves on every act prompted by our faith, as the Scripture says.

The truth is, things just take time. Even 'suddenly-moments' take a while to spring forth. One thing I learned about waiting on God is this: He is always good. He always has our highest and best interests at heart. And when we trust Him enough to give Him room to work, He does His best work on our behalf. Truly, His loving attention to detail will woo any heart that loves Him!

Right now, today, I am walking in some of the most detail-specific answers to prayers of faith, prayed back then - years ago - when such things seemed non-existent and impossible. As I am sure is the case with you, the journey to this particular place of promise had its battles of refinement and pain. For a while, God stationed me to the sidelines as I watched others run full boar into their divine calling. And I felt jealous; which was why I was on the sidelines. God intended on extracting from my soul the very things the enemy intended on using against me. God, in His infinite love, knew why I needed time. He is an ever-protective Father, no?

The amazing thing is, at their core, these desires of my heart were not selfish prayers, they were Kingdom motivated. And yet, our flesh is all too quick to lay hold of that which only belongs to God. He shares His glory with no one, and that's the way it is. The very fact that we get to be used by Him is mind-boggling, wouldn't you say? It's a glorious thing to lay hold of God's promises and to participate in the Divine Nature of Christ. Nothing on earth compares. 

Our hope is not in people; not in our bosses, or even in the next elected politician. Our hope is in the Living God who daily establishes His purposes for us! The Bible says that it's in His hands to make great, in fact, He stoops down to do so (see Psalm 18:35). He sets some on high for a season, while He sets another aside for a season; but, He makes all things beautiful in His time.

A.W. Tozer penned these wonderful words:

"What God in His sovereignty may yet do on a world-scale I do not claim to know. But what He will do for the plain man or woman who seeks His face I believe I do know and can tell others. Let any man turn to God in earnest, let him begin to exercise himself unto godliness, let him seek to develop his powers of spiritual receptivity by trust and obedience and humility, and the results will exceed anything he may have hoped for in his leaner and weaker days." 

Trust Him with your dreams and your heart's desires. Refuse to manipulate your circumstances or to posture yourself with certain people. Your hope is in God. He is the one who will lift you up and establish you at the most divine time and in the most divine way.

Blessings to you this day!

~Until Next Week~