I will never experience Resurrection Joy until I die to the fact that I can grasp it intellectually.
I cannot.

With my head, I’ll not comprehend it. Only in trusting is Resurrection Joy reality.

Joy was the topic for the one day women’s event “Refresh” at our church. After Lisa kicked off the day with a message on joy, the women chose three different workshops to attend on the topic. I had been asked how I experience joy and to lead one of the workshops.

I struggled. I’m embarrassed. Really should it be that hard??? Where do I find joy? What should my joy topic be?

I do experience joy in my friendship with God, in spending time with Him. But would that be scratching where the ladies are itching? Possibly, yes … but I was feeling insecure.***

A few weeks later, I sent an affirmation text to a friend I had recently visited. Her spiritual growth had been delightfully obvious. I wanted her to know I noticed.

She responded, “Thank you Sue!! I am definitely a VERY different person from a decade ago. (And I sure like it! :-))”

Her response was an affirmation to me. I too am finding great joy in who God created me to be. Okay, I admit, I’m in my 70’s. Why did it take me so long to rest in this joy?

Finding joy in God’s creation of me, of you. That would have been my joy topic. And I bet it would have scratched where many itch.

My friend’s response, and my acknowledgement is not pride, it’s humility. Being who we were did not result from years of self-effort or ladder climbing. It was acknowledging and trusting God’s resurrection power in our live. There is great joy in recognizing and living out who God created us to be. Allow trust to lead to joy. My heart is to spread this gospel joy.

“I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20

“… you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
… my soul knows it very well.”
Psalm 139:13, 14

“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.
To write the same things to you is not trouble to me
and is safe for you.”
Philippians 3:1 (italics mine)

* The Pasqueflower is usually the first perennial of the season to bloom, often around Easter. The word pasque derives from the French, paschal which means Easter. It’s purple signifying dignity, grace, nobility, rebirth, renewal. This photo was snapped by my friend Linda Blanch.

*** This ended up being a moot question. Bill and I were out of town and I was not able to attend.

Copyright: Sue Tell, March 2024

Cross-Shaped Love has dominated my thoughts this Easter as once again I’ve been pondering the Resurrection

I have been overwhelmed by the”breadth and length and height and depth” (Ephesians 3:18) and God’s amazing creativity and ability to communicate his love to me.

Knowing intellectually about God’s love is important.  Experiencing God’s love personally makes it real. But to cement his love in my heart, I need to remember.

The cross, the resurrection, and Peter, Mary, and Thomas who were there that first Easter help me remember.

I need to remember Peter who knew God’s love; he experienced it first hand as he walked with Jesus; but, like me, sometimes he forgot.

God is omniscient and he knows faith is fragile. In his love, he says to Peter, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” (Luke 22:32) Peter was about to walk into the biggest test of his faith yet. God knew, Peter didn’t.

In a way I’m like Peter; in a way I’m not. Like for Peter, God knows what is ahead for me, I don’t. I find great comfort in the truth that the Spirit is praying for me too in my fragile faith. (Romans 8:26)

Initially Peter denied that his faith would fail. His relationship with Jesus was tight; wouldn’t that stand the test of the trial? “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” (Luke 22:33)

How would you respond if you heard God saying he was going to be praying for you that your faith would not fail? I think I would know that I needed that prayer. God’s love for Peter and for me is evident in his prayers.

I know the message of Jeremiah 31:3, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” I need to experience it and I need to remember the experience especially when like Peter my faith fails.

I need to remember Mary Magdalene. She stood outside the empty tomb crying, and through her tears didn’t recognize Jesus standing right by her; she assumed he was the gardener. Gently Jesus initiates toward her, “Mary”. He called her by name and she recognized him. (John 20:11-16)

How many times in the presence of my tears do I not recognize Jesus standing right by me?

I’ve memorized I John 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” I know the truth of these words and I want to experience and remember the Father calling me by name every day.

I need to remember the story of Thomas, one of the twelve, encourages me. He knew Jesus; he had traveled with Jesus; he was a personal witness to his many miracles. But he struggled with the Resurrection. “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails … I will never believe.” (John 20:25)

Jesus, in his great love for Thomas, knew and met him on his turf inviting him to touch him; and again with gentle words, “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” (John 20:27)

He desired Thomas to not only have a memory of knowing him, he wanted him to again experience his presence, and be reminded of his love.

God desires that I know his love,
that I experience his love,
and that I remember his love.

As Lent draws to a close and Resurrection Sunday is upon us, our church family will celebrate communion together Friday evening, Good Friday. And in the very real grief of Jesus’ death on the cross, there is also the reminder of the hope of Easter. Jesus’ cross-shaped love is as real for me, for us, as it was for Peter, for Mary, and for Thomas.

“Do this in remembrance of me.”
Luke 22:19 (italics mine)

Blessings to you as you celebrate Easter,
Sue

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, originally April 2019

 

 

 

I was caught up short, convicted. Is it really my story? Is it really your story? Or is it Jesus’s story?

“You yourselves bear me witness, that I said,
‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’
The one who was the bride is the bridegroom.
The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.
Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.”
John 3:28, 29 (bolding mine)

John the Baptist understood his purpose. The above words are his response to his disciple’s worrisome observation about all the people going to Jesus for baptism.

John knew his story. He embraced his purpose. His story was really Jesus’s story.

“It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.” Patrick Rothfuss, author.

As a believer, my story … your story should be about Jesus. As image bearers, we should be reflecting Jesus; we should be reflecting truth, reflecting the glory of God.

John used the illustration of the bridegroom and the one who stands with the bridegroom (the best man, in our modern understanding). The best man hears the bridegroom’s voice, I do. He hears the promise; and he rejoices WITH the bridegroom.

Not only does he recognize the joy of the bridegroom, his joy is also now complete.

Is that what my story sounds like?
Is my story telling Jesus’s story?
I am experiencing joy in my story?

And that’s where my journals come in. Have I told you about my journals? They are an integral part of my devotional time.

Yup, I regularly keep two journals. The spiral bound one with the picture of the bird will get used up in about six months. This journal records my miscellaneous thoughts. Some of those thoughts will journey into this blog some day (see the colored tabs).

The other is my leather journal, my scripture journal, my prayer journal, my most important journal. This is the journal where I make space for God and I hear his voice. This is the journal that offers God’s perspective. It gets used, not used up.

This journal turns my story into Jesus’s story.

It’s divided into sections, each containing scriptures that lead my prayer life: my identity, my purpose, the lies I tend to believe and God’s truth, the scriptures I pray for my husband, our sons and their wives, our GRANDS.

“… Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John 3: 29, 30

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, March 2024

 

 

 

 

Life is hard. Sicknesses. Physical ailments. Relational disruptions. Death. Emotional distances. Losses abounding. Sufferings all around. Faith tested.

God’s love seems to be hiding … at least from my human perspective.

The camper was hooked to our car. Our two young GRANDS were safely strapped in their car-seats. We were on our way to Mueller State Park and their first camping experience. Just before our last turn to the left, the road was blocked. The police informed us that a semi truck had turned over and was blocking the entrance to the park. Our camping trip was over before it started.

Three year old Jack querried , Does God know about the truck? Does God know it’s blocking where we want to go?

Isn’t that the question we’re all tempted to ask? Does God know? God, where are you?

“Abba” is the Aramaic word for Father. It was the everyday language that Jesus uses. It conveys the idea of authority and the intimacy of a loving Father’s care. (ESV study Bible, Matthew 6:9) It’s how Jesus came to God in the Garden of Gethsemane. “And he (Jesus) said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Mark 14:36.

 

Earlier this spring I found myself crying Abba Father, take this cup from me. God, do you know? Your love seems hidden.

I knew the answer. God knows.

This new hard wasn’t a blip on the radar of God’s love.

This new hard was an invitation to pray.
This new hard was an invitation to trust.

At first, my prayers centered around the new hard, my current blip, take this cup. At first they didn’t move me to the yet not what I will.

It was the yet not I (in some versions, nevertheless) that drew me back to God. It was trusting the truth of his Word that brought the peace and calmed my heart.

God was not hiding!

Trust unlocks love.

My prayers changed. God’s Word tells me that his love is steadfast. My question changed. God, what would it look like for me to trust what your Word says today; trust in the midst of this new hard. I want to experience your love. Amen.

My new hard is still hard. I continue to pray that God will take this cup away. And I will continue to remind myself to trust his love even in the midst. Trusting his love looks different each day.

 

These words, these truths and the rest of Psalm 121 are anchoring my trust.
“My help comes from the LORD,” (verse 2)

Love is not hiding. God is not hiding.

 

 

 

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, March 2024

 

These pre-schoolers are demonstrating my dancing skills. The last time Bill and I danced together — well except square dancing — was at our wedding.

I am not musical!
I can’t carry a tune.
I don’t stay on key (whatever that means).
And Bill claims he’s not musical either. Hmmmm!

And therein is the problem.

“He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.”
Psalm 40:3

My heart’s desire is that God uses me to introduce others to him — for my friends to put their trust in the Lord. But if it depend on my song? YIKES!

“It is clear to us, friends,
that God not only loves you very much
but also
has put his hand on you for something special …
Something happened in you …
Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, …
you’re the message!”
I Thessalonians 1:4-9, The Message rendition, bolding mine

It’s not about my musical ability, singing or dancing. It’s not about what I cannot do.
It’s about who I am, who God created me to be. It’s about the heart he gave me and the desires he birthed in me. It’s about what God can do.

God will take his work of art (me) and allow it to bless others (you) — even if I’m not musical!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book, LIfe Together, encouraged me. “Speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19). Our song on earth is speech. It is the sung Word.” page 59.

Will I let go of my understanding of the “song” God gave me?
Will I say, like Mary, “Let it be to me”? Will I embrace the “song” he did give me?

“Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the godly!
Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King?
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation.”
Psalm 149:1-4, bolding mine

“Just keep dancing!” were the words the elderly couple shared with the newly weds at their wedding. So much wisdom. Thank you to Katie for sharing her story and prompting these thoughts.

How do you see God taking pleasure in you?

Copyright: Sue Tell, February 2024

 

 

 

I’m starting a new practice on Echoes of Grace. Every so often I plan to share three quotes that have ministered to my heart without explanation. My prayer is that you too will hear from God in these words. And please comment. Allow your thoughts to minister to others.

 

 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

 

“Only when you know yourself as unconditionally loved — that is, fully received — by God can you give gratuitously. … When you know yourself as fully loved, you will be able go give according to the other’s capacity to receive, and you will be able to receive according to the other’s capacity to give.”  Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love, pages 65,66.

 

“Though still insufficient as an illustration, I picture this access as akin to receiving an invitation to dinner at the White House. You can’t get in unless you’ve been granted an invitation. You must access that invitation by receiving it, opening it, RSVPing for it. But once you accept the invitation and show up for dinner, you don’t need to continually flash your invitation; you’ve gained access, and your place is secure.” Ruth Chou Simons, When Strivings Cease, page 134.

 

“But to all who did receive him,
who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God,”
John 1:12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FMA,
Sue

 

 

 

A small group of friends were together one evening enjoying friendship and conversation. We know each other fairly well and so decided to share an affirmation exercise. We drew one name out of a hat and she was chosen. Then each of us in turn made eye contact with her and shared what we observed and appreciated about how God created her. We all had stories to back up what we shared. Once in a while she broke eye contact.

Affirmation is sometimes hard to receive.

Another friend spent an evening at an art gallery with her friends creating this lovely welcome sign for their new home. She posted this picture on Facebook. Didn’t she do a great job?! I could respond and say, Janet, this is beautiful. I love how you integrated the dragonflies with the foliage. Or I could say, Janet, I love how God created you with the eye of an artist, an eye for beauty, an eye for color. And I love your heart for sharing it with others. It shows not only in your painting, I also see it in your writing.

My first response was a compliment. The second an affirmation.

A compliment is a polite expression noticing what someone has done. It highlights their work.
An affirmation acknowledges the source of their doings. It calls out God’s work in their lives.

Compliments seem to be more common in our culture than affirmations. I want my compliments to be ensconced in affirmations. Do you remember my word for 2024? Click here.

In life, we almost naturally live out who God created us to be. Others notice the applications of our identity and often compliment it. I’m challenged to consider where those applications originated and acknowledge it.

Affirmations are often harder to accept than compliments. We don’t know what to do with them. Or we down-play their significance. In the past, several times I’ve been affirmed on my gift of hospitality. For many years, my response was, Oh that’s easy. I like hospitality. To me, other things were important, hospitality was not. I didn’t accept that hospitality was one of the ways God created me.

A few friends have noted that I am wise. Really??? Wisdom does have a higher ranking in my human mind than hospitality. But I still had a hard time believing it.

So how do I respond?

It leads me to dependence, to prayer.
God, how can I continue to mature into who you created me to be. Amen.
Affirmations never lead to pride; they lead to humility, recognizing God’s work.

Could it be that the affirmations of another are God’s messages to me?
Could it be that their words are something I need to trust, to develop, to grow into?

If another doesn’t know how to respond to affirmations, does that mean that I stop giving them?
BY NO MEANS, to quote Paul in his letter to the Romans. I do need to back up my affirmations with stories. Affirmations are not empty words. Affirmations are transformational. Affirmations invite me to join God in noticing his creation of my friends.

My responsibility is not their response.
My responsibility is to continue to develop as an affirming person.

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, February 2024

 

 

 

I was one of the 11 million who watched Superbowl LVIII. And, yes, I was glad for the outcome. I was rooting for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

But the story that captured my attention circled around Brock Purdy, the 22 year old San Francisco 49-er quarterback.

In the 2022 NFL draft, Brock Purdy was the last pick and earned the moniker, Mr. Irrelevant, the nickname referring to his place in the draft.

It had nothing to do with him as a person, it had everything to do with the place the NFL decided he fit.

Ouch! But I wondered, do I often let the decisions of others affect how I see myself? Do I sometimes think of myself as a Mrs. Irrevelant?

“When you believe and act with courage, you can achieve things others find unattainable. You are only limited by what you believe to be possible.” Brock Purdy.

I think he is right. I am limited by what I believe.

I can allow myself to believe truth or to believe what I think the circumstances are telling me.

Theologian, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, has said, “Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself.”

Or, my unhappiness is under-girded by what I believe, what the circumstances are communicating, and by failing to speak truth to myself!

Lies are self-limiting beliefs
reinforced by the filters through which I see life.
They tend to control and manipulate.

“No-one is more influential in your life than you are, because no-one talks to you more than you do.” Paul David Tripp

“Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not … go astray after a lie!”
Psalm 40:4

Brock’s story served as a reminder. I am not, Brock is not, you are not irrelevant. As believers, God formed us, knew us, and consecrated us with purpose before we were even born. Jeremiah 1:5. Ephesians 1:5. As believers we have the DNA of godliness.

I love ministry. But ministry is not what I do, it is who I am. My life echoes the master’s words. I Thessalonians 1:9-12 in The Message rendition communicates this truth so well.

I am, Brock is, you are, the work of His hands …
not so that we have a platform,
but so that He might be glorified.
from Isaiah 60:21

Thank you Brock Purdy for your story and the reminder.

“The seventy-two returned with joy …
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this …
rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus, Luke 10:17 & 20

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, February 2024

 

 

I re-joined our church’s lady’s Bible study this semester. It has been so good to be back with old and new friends on Thursday mornings. We recently finished going through Titus and talking about what are bridges and what are barriers to living missionally, to living out the gospel of grace in our context … like Paul commissioned Titus to do by sending him to Crete.

Bridges don’t always look like I expect. Sometimes challenging situations are the bridges God intends. This was true for me last weekend.

Saturday morning brought a major snow storm to our neighborhood. By the end of the day there was 14″ of heavy white snow blanketing our yard, our driveway, the trees, and everything else outside. It was beautiful … but …

My husband started having symptoms that said, go to the ER, check this out! Drive through the snow. NOT my favorite activity!

I slipped our 4WD vehicle into 4-LO to get out of the driveway and off we went … slowly!

We got there. There were lots of tests, one overnight for observation, and he was discharged. The symptoms probably a result of his December bout with Covid. We exhaled.

But in those 30 hours, Bill and I experienced bridges of the gospel lived out on our behalf.

*** The ladies in my Bible study (I’m still putting names with faces) and several others faithfully prayed.
*** Our Splendid Friends (couple’s group) made sure I got back to the hospital Sunday morning. Our car was imprisoned in the snow.
*** Neighbors and some of the men in S.F. plowed out our drive.
*** There are some difficult situations in our extended family. They all evaporated in their concern for Bill.

 

“Bear one another’s burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Galatians 6:2

What wonderful gifts we received last weekend, a picture of gospel bridges.

Some of those gifts came because I initiated. I asked for help. I texted a neighbor to see if he could plow our driveway. I texted a few to ask that they pray. I needed to let our need be known and be a receiver. The word spread. More and more people came to our aid.

I needed to let my friends cross the bridge on their terms. I needed to accept according to their lead, their abilities to help. I was thankful for the understanding of my sister-in-law who had walked a similar path. I needed her story. Some of the gospel bridges surprised.

Last week, in an unrelated situation, I also experienced gospel barriers. I was sure that sharing that story (different from what I just shared) would be a bridge. It wasn’t, it was a barrier. I’m thankful she was honest and let me know she didn’t want to hear those stories.

Sometimes life is like walking a gospel tight-rope.
What will be a bridge; what will be a barrier?

So I’m learning.
1.  Let them lead.
2.  Accept on their terms.
3.  Keep asking. Be a receiver.
4.  Barriers are like yellow flashing lights, not stop signs. Look for another way.
5.  Keep praying. God, what does the bridge look like in this situation?

“… so that in everything they may adorn the gospel…
For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all people,”
Titus 2:10,11

 

Copyright, Sue Tell, February 2024

 

 

 

God, what does it look like for me to trust you today?
Amen.

That is the prayer I offer to God almost every morning.

I’m trusting God FOR his answer.
I’m also trusting God WITH his answer.

Two little words — two BIG different realities.

And those realities are often beyond my human imaginings.

Philippians 3 talks about the SURPASSING WORTH of knowing Jesus. (verse 8).

The fruit of knowing Jesus invites me to experience the fruit of the Spirit, those qualities described in Galatians 5:22 and 23. Each of those qualities can be defined in big, surpassing terms. Truly, the fruit of the Spirit surpasses my human understanding. I’m learning that God’s answers to my daily prayer offer big surprises. My prayer life is challenged!

LOVE – Ephesians 3:19 says that God’s love SURPASSES knowledge.  So the only way I can know if I’m trusting his love is if I experience it. That leads me to a new request, God please let me be aware of your love. What in my experience is showing me your love today?

JOY – Gabriel announcing the gospel in the familiar scripture, Luke 2:10, calls it GREAT joy. Almost daily I pray for 10 different friends who are battling cancer.  Can I trust that God’s answer  is providing great joy for them and me in trusting him with his will.

PEACE – “And the peace of God, which SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7. Again that word “surpassing”. Trusting God with his answers is trusting that in my humanity I’m not going to get it.

KINDNESS – Titus 3:4 & 5 shed light on God’s kindness.  It is LOVING kindness and it is a result of his mercy. Mercy, God has no obligation to offer it.  He shares his loving kindness because he is sharing his character. When I pray,  God what would it look like to trust you today, I am humbled. He is answering because of loving kindness motivated by his mercy.

PATIENCE – Paul speaks of God’s patience displayed in Jesus as PERFECT patience.                            I Timothy 1:16. As I type, I’m sitting on an airplane soaring home to Colorado. I should have prayed this morning to trust God with patience as I connected with different air travel realities. My patience was far from perfect.

GOODNESS – Zechariah 9:17 also calls God’s goodness GREAT, “For how great is his goodness…” I often struggle with understanding God’s goodness. Is it good that two of my friend’s children are struggling with Epilepsy? It sure doesn’t seem so.  But as I pray for Luke and Anna, I’m asking God to show his great goodness.

FAITHFULNESS – Psalm 91:4 describes God’s faithfulness as a SHIELD. A shield offers protection.  In praying to trust God FOR his answers and WITH his answers,  I’m praying for his faithful protection.  I need to be reminded.

GENTLENESS – Jesus describes himself GENTLE. “I am gentle”, Matthew 11:29. The root of Jesus’s gentleness is his inherited nature.  In being gentle, he is being himself. And his gentleness leads to rest. Trusting leads to rest.

SELF-CONTROL – Throughout the gospels, Jesus demonstrates self-control. Or possibly another way to say it is, he is trusting God’s control. Matthew 4 is the best example. Jesus is in the wilderness. Satan is testing; Jesus is trusting. His trust led to angels ministering to him.  He rested in God’s truth.

Trust is resting in God’s character which always surpasses my human comprehension.

“Let us then with confidence
draw near to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help, in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16

My prayer life is changing. What about yours?

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, January 2024