Persistence Pays...

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 and encourage you along the way.

Many of you know that prayer is a significant part of my life. Some of the most profound blessings in my life are a result of tenacious, unrelenting prayer.

I often think of the example Jesus gave us when teaching on how we should pray. In Luke 18 we learn about a widow and an unrighteous judge. The woman pleaded with the judge for justice against her adversaries. The judge neither feared God nor cared about the woman, but because she wore him out from her asking, he granted that which she requested.

Isn't it interesting that Jesus used such an example for us as His children?

He is not an unrighteous judge; He is our Beloved One.

In Luke 11 Jesus gives us another example of how to lay hold of the things we need from Him. Jesus paints the picture of a friend who knocks on the door of another friend at midnight. The friend standing outside needed some bread but the friend on the inside had already gone to bed and tucked his kids in for the night. Jesus explains that the friend-in-need, got his needs met, not because the "inside friend" was a friend, but because of the boldness of his request.

While evil prevails in our day, we must learn the secret Jesus is trying to teach us here.

We must not think for a minute that Jesus wants us to get good at begging. On the contrary. When we are in Christ, we are no longer beggars; we are His Beloved.

We are no longer orphans, we are royalty.

Jesus wants us to learn courage, boldness, and persistence because when we move into laying hold of the things God has promised us, we will encounter opposition.

The enemy of our souls will not simply back up and let us take hold of the abundant life God has promised us.

John 10:10 says, "The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come that you might have life; and life more abundantly."

Make no mistake about it. The devil knows your name and he wants to take you out. He knows about your hopes and dreams and especially your weaknesses.

He is camping on the assumption that you won't know and believe all you possess in Christ. Because if you are unaware of who you are and what you possess, you'll be easy to steal from; easy to destroy.

An important and essential component to persistent prayer is the understanding of your "rights" as a child of God. You can't really persist in believing for things that you don't know have been offered you. But once you get God's Word into the core of your belief system, you can weather the storms because you know what's on the other side for you.

I think we are going to get to Heaven and see how many times we gave up just before the breakthrough. With one foot in front of the other, we must persist in the things God has promised us.

His Word is true and He is good all the time.

What "next breakthrough" are you believing God for? To what are you applying your faith?

Jesus asks us this question, "When I return, will I find faith on the earth?" (See Luke 18:8).

Will He?

Without faith, it's impossible to please Him.

We can approach His throne room with boldness and confidence.

He smiles when we believe.

We live in a day when passivity must be put under our feet and a holy grit must take its place.

Like my pastor says, "Satan is just a dog on a leash. When we turn away from his bark to listen to the voice of God, we will have victory every time."

Have a blessed week.

Room to Grow...

Greetings, 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.

With two kids in college and one in high school, I frequently catch myself pondering the past or musing about the future.

I feel happy about the things I did right as a parent, and I wince when I think of my mistakes.

One day I asked my oldest son this question, "Jake, what was the one thing I did most right in raising you? And what was my biggest mistake?"

His reply surprised me. "Mom, you were the best mom in the world to me. You had a super high standard in the things of faith, integrity, and respect. And yet, you gave us room to breathe and didn't expect us to be perfect to make you look good. Your biggest mistake? Well, I would say it was the way you beat yourself up when you made a mistake. Mom, we love God, we love each other, and we really love you and dad. We have everything we need. We've had a great life."

He was right. My problem was never in admitting my mistake, it was more so in my capacity for condemnation.

Not always, but sometimes it took me longer than necessary to let myself off the hook and accept God's gracious forgiveness for the times I'd blown it.

God makes provision for our weaknesses, which is a blessed, wonderful thing.

Just as He is perfectly happy to give our kids room to grow, He also gives us room to grow.

Most of the time we learn from our mistakes and we're better because of them.

As our kids approach their teen years, they also need some room to grow, room to breathe, and room to make a few mistakes that they might learn some valuable lessons while they're still under our care.

While we can get away with controlling our toddler (and we should); trying to do the same thing to a teenager will surely backfire. I'm convinced that our kids will actually lose their confidence if we insist on controlling every choice they make.

As parents of teens, we need to be more involved than ever, but our strategy must change.

When they're young, it's important to carefully guide our children in the matters of right and wrong.

When they're older, it's still important, but they have to be allowed to feel a few consequences while they are still under our roof.

Read on...

These are great things to learn while still living at home:

~If I stay up too late, I am exhausted the next day.

~If I don't study for a test, I will probably fail.

~If I eat all the wrong things, I will feel toxic and crummy for a couple of days.

~If I spend my money on something useless, I won't have it when the right thing comes along.

~If I dent up the car, I have to pay for it.

~If I am continually late for work, I'll eventually get fired.

I know these are tough lessons to step back and let our kids learn, but what a powerful learning tool life experiences can be!

God's always gracious, abounding in love. He does not repay as us our sins deserve. He forgives our sins and lifts us up again. Wide is the path of grace beneath our feet and abundant are His promises. There is no condemnation for us because we are in Him.

Whether you are a parent of teens or simply someone who needs a reminder: It's true that God will not be mocked. What we sow is what we will grow. If we consistently make wrong choices, our lives will be consistently messy. But if we are sincerely following after the Lord, He will establish His purposes for us.

When we make mistakes, we'll find grace; we'll find forgiveness.

When our kids make mistakes; we extend the same thing to them that we've received from Him.

When we parent our children the way God has parented us, we are as effective as we can be.

Have a blessed week~

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...