Author: Susan Smith Bennett

Susan lives in Florida, USA, and is the mother of three grown children, two stepchildren, and five grandchildren. She and her husband Charles attend St. Andrew's in Sanford, FL. Susan is a recent graduate of the Master's Program for Marital and Family Counseling from Stetson University. She is also a Nationally Certified Biblical Counselor through ACBC and counsels at The Jonathan Project in her community. Susan has served the Lord for more than 40 years as a Christian in various ministries and positions such as Bible Study Fellowship and Young Life. She currently serves as Women's Ministries Coordinator at St. Andrews Chapel. Her passions are the people of God and the Word of God.
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Majesty’s Mercy

My Dear Sister,

Recently my Bible study took me to the book of Hebrews where I read from chapter one, in particular from verses 2-4.  How wonderful it was to take some time and to move the focus off of myself (my needs) and to instead gaze into the wonder of who my Jesus Christ is.  Let me share it with you:

(God) “…has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds: who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power; when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Sometimes I am forgetful of how great and majestic our Holy God is.  Just now admitting that caused my heart to lurch with sadness.  Because, I have also found that when I prayerfully consider how great and awesome God the Father is I am humbled by the Truth that the One True Living God, who created all things and upholds them (keeps them in place) and that includes every soul which has ever been created; I am unashamedly in awe of His mercy towards me!!!  These truths of how great and Majestic God is and how small and in need I am gives me a greater perspective which in turn causes my heart to tremble.  I want to fall before my King with a grateful heart that He who is so great would bestow upon me who is so lowly His Majesty’s Mercy.  Sister, it gets even better.  He does not just dribble a little bit of mercy my way as  I pass quickly by with the masses.  No, He has and continues to pour out His mercy towards me everyday and He knows my name and He calls be me by my name until my heart overflows with joy.

David understood this perspective which is why he so often wrote about the greatness of God, His loving kindnesses and our need for Him.  I am in awe of how the above passage speaks of how great and beautiful Jesus is and yet He is at the right hand of “Majesty”.  Majesty being God and Jesus is the express image of God, the brightness of His glory! Wow! Again, I can feel my knees trembling.  God has chosen me to be His own, He has called me and justified me and He is sanctifying me.(Romans 8:29)  Why? If I continue on in the book of Romans it says that it is because He wants to conform me into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.  But Jesus Christ is the express image of God!!? Whoa!  I become speechless, except to say; Mercy me!

So, I am writing to you today to encourage you to take the time to prayerfully consider the Beauty and the Holiness of our God.  So that in turn your heart would recognize His Majesty’s Mercy toward you and that praises would fill your heart today for your Wonderful Savior by which ALL of this is possible. Do not miss this opportunity dear sister!  Here are some passages that will help you consider your Father in heaven (Majesty) and His mercy:

Psalms 19; 21;23;24;29

My prayer for you is that upon this consideration that you will rejoice with Thanksgiving and that His mercy will overflow from your heart into the lives of those around you.  Be blessed by the knowledge of His mercy, and go bless another along the way today (after all when it is received it is required to be given as Kayla and Colleen wrote to us about)! May His goodness and Mercy follow you all the days of your life (Psalm 23).

Blessings upon blessings from our King,

Susan

 

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Sailing with the Spirit

My Dearest Sister,

I am writing to you at a time when my daily schedule is so full that one small blip and it throws the whole thing off kilter.  At this same time in my life I keep hearing about the necessity to be “flexible”.  Well, I never was one that was much good at doing two things at once. But I can tell you that there was a time when if I had a schedule in my hand…watch out, things were going to get done that seemed impossible.

It used to be so easy- sailing through the day with a schedule in front of me, when lo and behold someone or something would come along (usually a small child with a problem to solve, or homework to do, or a game to get to) and blow me off course from that schedule.  I didn’t seem to mind if the day required lowering my sail and tacking in order to catch  a breeze and take off on a different course. Because some times that new direction, that burst of wind would grant me the adventure of something exciting, like flying a hull! Those were the days!

At my age I’m looking for that steady wind which will carry me from the moment my toes touch the floor next to my bed until my head reunites with my pillow at the end of the day.  I’m not sure if you can tell yet, I’m a bit miffed!  I have been praying for relief from this sense of constant “readjusting” for weeks- not to mention the disappointment that comes when I realize that all the tacking, all the rearranging of my sails, is getting me absolutely nowhere with regards to my goal for the day.

So while I sat one day, sweating out one of those stalls in my sails (literally sweating by the way, which also comes at this age) something dawned on me. That something was: a good sailor knows  when to tack, when to lower and when to raise the sails.  How does a good sailor know?  As I contemplated this it hit me! Kinda like the boom will if you’re not careful! A good sailor WAITS!  WHAT?? As this thought came to me I said, “No! There is no time for waiting in this sailor’s log.  How does someone wait when the pressure is on to turn that boat around, catch that next breeze and blow out of here?” A good sailor will practice self control.

“Wait on the LORD and be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the LORD!” Ps. 27:14

I must confess, and admit that after years of being a redeemed child of God embraced by His amazing grace, I know that there is more power, more clarity and wisdom in waiting on the LORD for one split second than there is in hundreds or thousands of minutes rushing ahead or plowing through with my agenda, simply because I must.

Colleen has reminded me that to practice self control is to actually take self right out of the picture.  To be fruitful with self control means letting go of the self and being controlled by the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is far wiser and more powerful than I could ever pretend to be.

I am so grateful to God for graciously gifting me with His Spirit.  In all of my flailing about with my thoughts I am assured of the life preserver which He has already given me.  The more I commune with Him, the deeper I go with Him in my heart the full-er my sails are, the more constant the breeze that fills those sails, and the dearer the waiting becomes to await a new  course, even if it wasn’t in my plan of the day. I must remember to record in my sailors log that when I am filled with the Spirit, I am controlled by the Spirit.

This sailor is going to sail into and through this day with my heart set on practicing Spirit control, waiting for Him to direct my course when it needs readjusting.  I hope dear sister that you too will be encouraged to humbly and gratefully use what God has already supplied to sail away into and through your day!

Because of His Grace,

Susan

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Compelling Compassion

My Dear Sister in Christ,
I am acutely aware that it has been a long while since we last sat down together to share our hearts, whether that be our joys or our sorrows. Nevertheless you have been on my mind. The trials which you are enduring have been what I mostly think of and I must admit it causes my heart to become heavy as I think of you in this trial. The Holy Spirit has graciously reminded me that my thoughts are to be taken captive by my Savior. So, with the acknowledgement that He is far greater than I, and with the submission to His wisdom rather than my own, I am praying for you.
My prayer is that you will know the compassion of Christ as you did when you were first given faith to believe. Your heart was enlarged and stirred by the compassionate Savior who gave you a new heart. A heart that melted at the very thought of His love, which in turn gave you the power to practice your faith.
This same compassionate Savior remains in you today. He knows you are weary and He has not forgotten you. This compassionate Savior has promised to never leave you or forsake you and He has also promised to complete the good work in you that He began! (2 Corinthians 16-18; Philippians 1:6) How glorious is that?
As you rely on Him dear sister, and His compassion for you, the peace that passes all understanding will be yours and His glory will be made known through you. Through this trial His compassion will be your compassion so that you may have compassion for those He ordains to come into your life. His compassion compels us to be compassionate to others so that His glory is revealed like that of a spark that catches fire and spreads quickly. (2 Corinthians 4:15)
This is one of the most blessed truths of Christ and how it takes place over and over again in the lives of believers is truly amazing. “And His praise goes on!” as a song once said.  May your compassionate Savior powerfully evoke His compassion within you!

Your Sister in Christ,

Susan

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Watch out for that rut!

My Dearest Sister,

I wanted to tell you about the recent trip I took to visit Ike and Lauren.  The weekend had so many variants that it actually reminded me of the texture of a fine fabric.  The different people and personalities, the arrival and departure of the different parties of people, the laughter had by everyone, the smiles and affectionate hugs that were spread around, the sheer excitement of seeing Isaac doing what he has dreamt of doing since he was a little boy, and watching the little kiddos toddle about soaking in the love by anyone who would take the time to interact with them, made it the memorable time that it was.  This mom’s heart was so full, and quite content I might add!  So much so, that when it was time to say goodbye the tears came and my heart began to sink into discontentment.  I think you know what I am speaking of; that muddy rut that you and I get stuck in every once in a while.  That rut that says, “It’s not enough! You must have more!”

I am happy, not to mention thankful, to tell you that on the long ride home from Alabama I became unstuck from that pitiful rut.  I didn’t do it alone.  No, it took something, indeed someone, far greater than me to get me out of that place.  I had the help of the Wonderful Counselor, the Holy Spirit.  He was so gracious to restrain my heart from the nose dive it was taking into that rut.  His word was like a crane that lifted me up and out of that wicked rut of discontentment and redirected the path that my heart was taking me.  The Lord led me “onto a path of righteousness for His name’s sake”. (Psalm 23:4)

God’s Word reminded me that, as Jeremiah Burroughs once put it, my “contentment is not by addition, but by subtraction”.  It is when my “desires” decrease that I become satisfied or “content” in Christ alone.  How strange, it is that when I take away all of my “I wants” which is a subtraction, that I gain!!! I think I have heard this before.

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”  I Timothy 6:6

So, sweet sister, I gained so much from this visit with Ike and Lauren and I wanted to share that with you! I wanted you to know that God was merciful to me in exposing to me what ruts lie in my heart and that by His grace I was lifted up out of that rut and put a right onto the path of contentment in Christ my Savior.

Well, enough of looking back, now I must look ahead so that I might not fall into another one of those ruts!  I will pray that this letter helps you to avoid the ones that lie in your heart as well.  I will pray that your contentment will be in Christ alone.  Which is the greatest gain of all!

Your Grateful Sister,

Susan

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Gentle Rains

My Dearest Sister,
I sat outside on my front porch the other day and watched as the rain fell softly upon the lawn. The rain fell so lightly that it sounded like the stroke of an artist’s brush upon their canvas. Closing my eyes for a moment to enjoy that sound, I felt the slightest breeze which then blew some of those rain drops my way. Instantly my face went from being dry to being wet with the rain. I smiled at the thought of it being so gentle, yet so effective at changing my dry thirsty skin to that of being quenched.
The Lord Jesus came to my mind and like the rain on my face, I was refreshed! I thought of the accounts in God’s word of His gentle touch to the hurting world in which He lived, especially to those in real need of compassion. Yet, how powerful his gentle spirit was! Sitting there pondering all of this my heart was filled with gratitude that I was to be able to think on these things, and yes even to the slightest degree begin to comprehend them! Without Him it would not be possible to do so!
What a simply amazing thing it is, dear sister of mine, that Jesus would leave His gentleness in the hearts and hands of those who follow Him, including me. His spirit living within us produces in us the supernatural power of gentleness! What a gift!
However, just as my spirit began to soar with this blessed truth my heart lurched with disappointment at the thought of how many times I have ignored this precious jewel within my breast. Even worse, how often I have covered it up with criticism and judgmentalism. “Ah, blessed forgiveness! Wash away my sins and set my heart aright dear Lord”, I prayed.
I did not want to leave the porch at that moment. I wanted to somehow be sure that the Truths I was so lovingly reminded of would not be forgotten. Forgotten in the mad rush of living! I wanted my heart to soak up this Living Truth within me, like my lawn soaked up the rain. He was gentle and so, I too, am called to lean upon Him and to be gentle. So I got up from that place of joy and contentment and moved off of the porch and back into my house where the clanging and demanding of life was on the other side of that door. The place where He has called me to walk in His Truth, to be gentle, so that those He has given to me will be refreshed by His Spirit living within me.
I write all this to you my sister that you too might be refreshed by our Lord Jesus and renewed in His strength to “let your gentleness be made known to all men.” May your heart absorb the loving Truth that His gentleness lives within you too.
Your Loving Sister,
Susan