Breathing Room---Part 2

Happy Sabbath Everyone!

Today at church I had an opportunity to watch Part 2 of the "Breathing Room" presentation by Andy Stanley.  I was very blessed by this presentation, just as I had been by Part 1 of this series, so wanted to share the link here so anyone who might be interested could also watch it.  It will be well worth your time spent watching, I promise!

This message today is especially meaningful to me, as I have a dear friend whose young adult son is at this very moment fighting for his life in the hospital as his body tries to fight the leukemia which has come back.  If you are reading this and wouldn't mind saying a prayer for "J" and for his family, I would much appreciate it and I know the whole family does too.

I hope you are enjoying a blessed Sabbath, and have been able to spend beautiful time with your Creator and with your loved ones.

~Susan

http://findbreathingroom.org/time/

Lilla Rose Sale time!

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to let you all know that the Lilla Rose company is having a summer sale right now--for two days only.  This sale will go quick!  They are having 10% off of EVERYTHING, plus free shipping if your order is $40 or more.  There are SO many pretty hair things to choose from on the site--these are my absolute FAVORITE hair items EVER--both for myself as well as for my daughter.  In fact, we both love them so very much that I became an independent Lilla Rose consultant!  Which basically means I get to buy things all the time on a discount--yea--and I do earn a small percentage off of anything that a person orders through my Lilla Rose web site.  I ONLY recommend these because I love them and personally wear a Lilla Rose hair item almost every single day!!!

The company has also released their special July Flexi-of-the-Month a bit early, so it is available to order NOW.  You can see the picture of what they look like below--Alison and I both think they are adorable!  Flexi-of-the-Months are normally only available for THAT month, and when they sell out they are gone, so if you are at all interested don't hesitate to order.  Trust me--I have waited before, and then they were sold out of the size I wanted.  :(

Anyway, if you are looking for pretty hair things for yourself or as gifts, feel free to follow the link over to my site and see all the pretty items Lilla Rose has.  And yes--drooling IS allowed!

http://www.lillarose.biz/SusansSpot/index.html?id=6SBw6hd5


Hope you are enjoying a wonderful, summer day!

~Susan

I am the Vine--verses 7 & 8

Photo credit:  Austin Menzmer

Good Morning Everyone!

I had hoped to post about this week's verses yesterday--but life is crazy around here in the summer time!  All school year long, as my hubby is a teacher, we keep telling ourselves that when summer comes, we will get "X" done--whatever "X" is.  Well, by the time summer is here, our list is long enough to keep us busy for several summers, at least!  And since house projects usually need some help or thoughts from me (if I want to have a say in paint color, or things like that anyway--and I DO want a say in such things!!!) then it means that my regular routine can change at a moments notice as soon as my sweet hubby says he is ready to do a project.  Anyway, yesterday we got ceiling fans up in both children's bedrooms--yea!  But I didn't get time on my computer!

Anyway, such is life!  I have learned that I must be flexible with my schedule in the summers if I want my "honey" to do anything on the "honey-do" list.  :)  But back to our memory verses. . .

We are still marching through John 15 at the rate of two verses per week.  I have to admit--this last week with verses 5 & 6 have been the hardest for me to memorize.  I am not sure why, but I just had to admit that they have been.  They are not particularly difficult verses or anything.  But with my reviewing, it just seems like I was able to "get" verses 1-4 down pretty easy, pretty quick with my study and review methods.  And I have realized that I do NOT feel ready to move on to new verses this week.  But I also know that there were times I felt this same way when I was memorizing Isaiah 55.  And now I can look at that chapter and it just seems to flow out my mouth naturally.  So I am going to trust that with constant review, I will eventually "get" verses 5 & 6 in this same way.  And I know myself--I can so easily stall out on things like this when I pause.  So I am going to move ahead anyway, and keep to the original schedule for John 15.  When I get to the end of it, I may not have it memorized word-perfect.  But I KNOW I will have learned a whole lot more for spending time attempting to memorize than I would have gained if I had never even tried.  So on we march!

Our verses for this week's memorizing are verses 7 & 8.

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."

My favorite part of these verses is right at the beginning--"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you."  It makes me stop and think--what does it look like when God's words are abiding in me?

Did you ever have a favorite T.V. program when you were a kid?  All you had to do was hear the first notes of the program's theme song, and immediately your mind KNEW the rest.  You knew what was coming next, even before the notes were played.  That song had become a part of your permanent memory.  Even today, there are songs I have not heard for over 25 years--and yet it doesn't take much for a note or two played in a store to bring that song back to my mind.

THAT'S what I want with God's Word.  I don't want the T.V. song in my mind (though it is there anyway).  I want God's WORD in my mind.  If I look at a vine--or a bird--or the hills, I want my mind to instantly connect with what God has said about these things.  When I realize that I am feeling anxious about something, I want to instantly have Philippians 4:6 & 7 come to mind.

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."  John 15:7

This is not a lucky rabbit's foot that we rub when we want something (did you ever think anyway that the foot wasn't so lucky for the poor rabbit?).  God is not some big gum ball machine that if we put our quarter in He HAS to give us what we asked for.  If we are abiding in Him, and His words are abiding in us--then that is exactly what is in us--God's words!  His thoughts.  His desires.  His love.  If I am filled with Him, then the only things I will desire or want are going to be what He would desire or want.  I will be looking at the people around me through the eyes of Jesus--and seeing the value in them like He does.  THAT becomes my thoughts, my desire, my prayer.  This is what is promised that it shall be done for me.

I ran across this quote in my study on these two verses this week.  This is from the SDA Bible Commentary, Volume 7A, p. 1144:
"What is it to bear fruit?  It is not all comprised in coming to meeting once a week, and bearing our testimony in prayer or social meeting.  We are to be found day by day abiding in the Vine, and bringing forth fruit, with patience, at our home, in our business; and in every relation in life manifesting the Spirit of Christ.  There are many who act as thought they thought an occasional connection with Christ was all that was necessary, and that they can be accounted living branches because at times they make confession of Christ.  But this is a fallacy.  The branch is to be grafted into the Vine, and to abide there, uniting itself to the Vine fiber by fiber, drawing its daily supply of sap and nourishment from the root and fatness of the Vine, until it becomes one with the parent stock.  The sap that nourishes the Vine must nourish the branch and this will be evident in the life of him who is abiding in Christ; for the joy of Christ will be fulfilled in him who walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

This is my desire.  I fail so often--taking my little branch self and running ahead in the direction "I" want to go.  And then I wither.  But I know that I can "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Philippians 1:6  So God answers the distress cry from this little withered branch, and reconnects me with Him.  And then I bear much fruit.

Have a FRUITFUL week with Jesus, your wonderful Savior! 

~Susan

Happy Juneteenth!

Happy Juneteenth!

I hope all of you are having a GREAT time in your Juneteenth celebrations--wait!  You mean you don't KNOW what Juneteenth is celebrating????  Well, as they say, "You aren't going to learn any younger!" so you better take a minute (o.k., so it's actually six minutes) and watch this little video explaining the Juneteenth holiday which my wonderful son made.  :)

I don't want to give away any secrets here, so instead of my continuing to talk, go watch the video. :)

And have a wonderful day with your Saviour!

~Susan

False Teachers

Good Morning Everyone!

Ran across this little devotional thought this morning, and thought others might appreciate it as well.  The writer is Janet Pope, author of "His Word in my Heart," a book which I have read recently and was very blessed by.  Hope you find this to be a blessing as well!

http://www.janetpope.org/recognizing-false-teachers/

Have a beautiful day with your Beautiful Saviour!

~Susan

I am the Vine--verses 5 & 6

Good Morning Everyone!

Here we are--ready to tackle verses 5 & 6 of our John 15 memory project.  I can't believe how fast time is going--and not only do I want to learn the new verses each week, but I know it is super important to keep reviewing the old verses as well, so I will be able to put them all together in the end!
So far, none of the verses have been really difficult. . . but my real concern is how in the world I am going to keep all these "vine" verses straight!  Without mixing them up with one another!  Opps!  I see I have done it again.  Just look at that concern expressed a few sentences back.  Do you see it?  There it is--big as life.  That little word "I!"  The truth is, "I" am NOT going to be able to do this memory project.  But "He" can!

So here we go--these are our new verses:

Verse 5:  "I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

Verse 6:  "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned."

One of the main words that I see in these verses is the word "branches."  When Jesus was saying these words, He would have specifically been referring to His disciples.  They were the ones who were with Him.  They were being nourished spiritually by His words.  And as time goes on, you and I also become "branches."  If we are abiding in Him, then He is our Vine and we are a little scraggly branch.  Yet because of the Vine, we can bear MUCH fruit.

When I think about what "fruit" would be, a couple of things come to mind.  Some people may feel that "fruit" is baptisms, and while I wouldn't argue this I would say that I feel "fruit" means more than numbers on a church roll book.  Much, much more.  "Fruit" would be any good thing at ALL that comes from us--as our sinful natures are naturally bent towards evil.  The Bible talks about the "Fruit of the Spirit," so love, joy, peace, self-control, etc. are all part of the "fruit" we bear when we are abiding in Him.  This is what I want in my life--I want fruit!

When I see someone fall, may I help them up.  If I hear someone express a discouraged thought, may I speak a word of hope to them.  If there is a mess, may I help clean it.  If someone is hungry, may I help feed them.  And if they just need a hug, may I be Jesus' arms around them.

I read something in my study on these two verses that I wanted to share with you here.  I guess one reason that I really like what I am about to share is because I do not believe that Jesus wants us to give up our individuality in order to come to Him.  He does not want us to stop thinking and to just "go along with the crowd."  Even "good" things can sometimes not be the right thing to do--we shouldn't be baptized just because our friends are doing it.  We are all unique, and God made us that way.  Yet--at the same time--while we are separate, we are also to be hidden in Him.  Anyway, here is what I read--I hope it speaks to your heart the same as it did to mine:

"The branches of the vine cannot blend into each other; they are individually separate; yet every branch must be in fellowship with every other if they are united in the same parent stock.  They all draw nourishment from the same source; they drink in the same life-giving properties.  So each branch of the True Vine is separate and distinct, yet all are bound together in the parent stock.  There can be no division.  They are all linked together by His will to bear fruit wherever they can find place and opportunity.  But in order to do this, the worker must hide self.  He must not give expression to his own mind and will.  He is to express the mind and will of Christ."  E.G.White, Bible Commentary Vol. 7A p.1143

Staying "me," yet hiding self.  Expressing the mind and will of Christ.  Having my heart so filled with Him that my actions are all what He would do if He were here, physically, on this earth.

Bearing much fruit.

This is what I want in my life!

Have a beautiful week with your wonderful Jesus!

~Susan

I am the Vine--verses 3 & 4

Photo credit:  Austin Menzmer

Good Morning Everyone!

Today is the day we add the next two verses onto our Bible memory work.  So our verses for this week are John 15: 3 & 4.

"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you."
"Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me."

One of the first words that jumped out at me as I studied these verses was the word "Clean."  "You are already clean because of the word. . . "  This brought to my mind the image of God's Word being the thing that cleans us. . . that when we are reading and studying the Holy Scriptures, they are constantly washing over our minds and hearts, smoothing off rough edges, washing away sin.  Did you know that the book of Revelation actually starts out with stating that people who hear it and keep what it says will be blessed?

"Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near."  Revelation 1:3

So God's word cleans us--and we are blessed because of it!

In my research in my study Bibles I discovered that the word "clean" is from the same Greek root word as "prunes."  It said that the words of Jesus nurtured the disciples but also "pruned out" Judas from among them.

"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  John 3:18-21

Moving on to looking at our second verse for this week--John 15:4--the key word that spoke to me was the word "abide."  To abide means to stay put--to remain, to continue.  No one can grab us out of Jesus' hand, but we are free to leave if we wish.

I found this statement in the book "Desire of Ages" by Ellen G. White, p. 676:
"Abiding in Christ means a constant receiving of His Spirit, a life of unreserved surrender to His service.  The channel of communication must be open continually between man and his God.  As the vine branch constantly draws the sap from the living vine, so are we to cling to Jesus, and receive from Him by faith the strength and perfection of His own character."

THAT's what I want!  I want the communication to always be open between God and I.  I want to cling to Jesus.  If I am only doing that--I know anything that I face in this life will be alright.

Have a beautiful week with your Jesus.  Happy memorizing!  And above all, cling to Him!

~Susan

Breathing Room

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful day today!  We had a wonderful Sabbath day, filled with lots of special things.  :)

One thing that I wanted to share with all of you is a seminar video that our church is showing.  They have showed others by the same person, and they have all been excellent--but today they started showing a new series on "Breathing Room."  The message was EXCELLENT--something every person in our world today can benefit from I feel, as we are ALL over scheduled and stretched too thin!  Anyway, this first seminar talked all about how we need to have breathing room in our lives and in our schedules.  And towards the end of the talk, the speaker said these messages are available free on-line if you need to hear it again!  I was really surprised to hear him say this, because I knew our church had had to purchase this DVD series.  Anyway, this message was so good that I wanted to share it with all of you here--so I hunted around and found the site the speaker was talking about.

So--if you find yourself too busy (just like me!), go ahead and click on the link below.  It will take you to the first program in this series.  I promise that you will be blessed!

~Susan

http://findbreathingroom.org/ex-squeeze-yourself/

Perfect Peace

Good Morning Everyone!

I am guest posting today over on Janet Pope's site.  Follow the link to read what I have learned about "Perfect Peace" and my very exciting I-hope-this-never-happens-again experience! :)

~Susan


http://www.janetpope.org/share-your-story-friday-susan-from-tn/

I am the Vine--verse 1 & 2

                                                            Photo credit:  Austin Menzmer

Good Morning Everyone!

It's here--our starting date for embarking on the memory project of John chapter 15.  I have been waiting excitedly for this day--and dreading it--all at the same time!  Remember John 15 has twenty seven verses?  Well, they have been taunting me.  Sending doubts into my mind.  Telling me that I'll never make it.  It's too hard.  Others might be able to but not me--my brain is too out of practice, I am too busy, I will probably fail and then what will others think of me?  It would be better to not even start--then I won't give up, right?  WRONG!

Oh, I would still say that all those things above are probably in reality still true.  It probably IS too hard for me.  My brain IS too out of practice.  I AM too busy.  I WILL probably fail.  But all these things are only looking at me.  And the whole purpose of this is to look at Him.

So here I go.  Jumping into the deep end of the pool.

But even if I have to call it quits and get out of the pool, I will have still spent time focusing on Him.  And seriously--what better thing could I be doing than looking at and studying my Creator and Saviour?  Than spending time beholding Him, so that I might be changed just a bit more in His image?

I can't promise to do this throughout the entire chapter, but as I can I will try and blog about my verses for that week.  This week the schedule is John 15: 1&2.

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."  John 15:1&2 NKJV

I have spent a little time reading in several different study Bibles about these verses, and simply thinking about them.  One of the first thoughts that I had was that if Jesus is saying He is the "true vine," that must mean there are "not true vines."    Things that are not good for us.  Things that we should NOT be attached to. . .

"Every branch in Me. . . "  We belong to God, because Jesus purchased us with His blood on the cross.  Jesus paid the price, and we belong to Him.  This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 6:19 & 20 which says "you are not your own,"  and "you are bought with a price."

So what does "bearing fruit" look like?  When we look at the beauty of Jesus, we are changed into that same beauty.  When we abide in Him, we have His sweetness, His fragrance, His light.
He is the light of the world, and if He is shining in our hearts, His light will be shining out of us.  Wherever we go, that popular but very true question will be ringing in our minds--"What would Jesus do?"  This may have become so common we don't even think about it much any more, but there is so much depth in that question for us to ask ourselves.  In my home this morning--with my responsibilities and my children--what would Jesus do if He were here?  What things would He view as most important to get done?  Wouldn't He prioritize people over projects?

One of the study Bible's that I was reading in stated that "If we are indifferent and do not acknowledge Him as our Saviour, we bear no fruit.  If we are not bearing fruit, worldly influences take us away from Christ."  This made me think--it is not that God doesn't want us.  He wants us enough to send Jesus to die for us!  But we ourselves allow other things to sweep us away.  How important to be grounded FIRMLY in Jesus!

A different place I read stated that "a grapevine has only two uses:  either it produces food and drink or it must be cut down to provide fuel."  This statement really impressed me in it's truth.  It makes me think--am "I" a live part of the growing vine, or am I dead wood?  While I may not like the sounds of God "pruning" me, I would by far prefer that than to be cut off and lose Jesus.  No matter how painful the walk, if it is the path God has asked me to take it is the only safe path for me.

Well, there you have it--my random thoughts on these verses for this week.  I hope you enjoy a wonderful week with your Jesus!  And thank you so much to those of you who have left positive comments and encouragement--I appreciate it so much! :)

~Susan