by Suellen | Successful Living
Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, All ye lands
Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing!
Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God. It is he who has made us, and not we ourselves (and we are His)!
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful and say to Him, bless affectionately praise His name.
For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting,
His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.
It is amazing what a thankful heart does for us.
This is a time when we look around and see so much pain. Personally all of us have issues with which we are dealing. Money issues, family issues, health issues, and issues concerning the state of the world.
But in the midst of the trouble, we can look to our God for help, refuge, and strength. He is our deliverer, our healer, and our provider.
As we begin to praise Him, we are reminded of all of these things. He makes a table for us in the presence of our enemies. He anoints our head with oil.
The joy, which is our strength, bubbles up within us. Our faith rises up and we begin to see the way out. God’s plan is coming forth.
I am so thankful today to our God and His faithfulness to us. He is the greatest!
by Suellen | Successful Living
We woke up early today. Mickey has a men’s breakfast meeting in a nearby town, then church, and finally he will be speaking at an area Thanksgiving service. Whew! Busy day.
As I brewed my cup of coffee, I glanced out of the kitchen window, and was awed by what I saw. It was the same view I had admired often, but this time it was different. This time it seemed to speak to me.
I love sunrises – even more than sunsets. It’s, of course, the beauty of the swath of color, but it’s more than that. It’s announcing something – a new day. A new chance. A new breath. New. New. New. I love the message.
Maybe it’s because I never live up to my own expectations, but I’ve always loved new beginnings. Yesterday is gone, and you get to get up and go again. You don’t know exactly what the day will bring, the people you may meet, the opportunities and challenges you will face, but you are ready to “do it again.”
It’s as if God planned our lives in segments – segments we could handle. He wants us to value each segment and live it wisely. That’s all we get, really. One day at a time. Whether we are doing big things or little, we do them one day at a time. When we master that concept, we master many others.
Today is important. Today is someone’s birthday and another’s funeral. Today people will come to know Jesus. Today people will get engaged or married. Today new babies will come into the earth.
Today is also the day we need to diet, if we are going to. Or exercise, if we are going to. Or read the Bible and pray, if we are going to. Or forgive that person, if we are going to. Or stop drinking, if we are going to. Today is important.
When we “get this” concept, our lives change. It’s so easy to think that tomorrow we will accomplish what we dream about, but today doesn’t matter. But it does. That’s all we have – one day at a time.
As I look at the beauty of the dawn, something else comes to mind. Lamentations says that God’s love is “new every morning.” God’s faithfulness to us is symbolized in the fact that He never misses giving us a new day – not until the time we go to our next life. One more chance – and I’m going to take it.
Oops, I’d better get going. I need to face the day.
Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
by Suellen | The Church Awakening
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.” Proverbs 29:2.
Today is the day to make your voice be heard in our great democratic republic. Sometimes people may think that their voice doesn’t count.; it’s just one of many. But throughout history elections have been won by a few hundred votes. Remember the 2000 election? A virtual handful of votes in Florida decided the outcome. Just think if those few hundred had not voted, what would the outcome have been?
I have included some great historical quotes furnished by http:www.wallbuilders.com. They will inspire you to fulfill that great public trust we have been granted.
Pray and choose well. Then vote!
John Adams
We electors have an important constitutional power placed in our hands; we have a check upon two branches of the legislature . . . the power I mean of electing at stated periods [each] branch. . . . It becomes necessary to every [citizen] then, to be in some degree a statesman, and to examine and judge for himself of the tendency of political principles and measures. Let us examine, then, with a sober, a manly . . . and a Christian spirit; let us neglect all party [loyalty] and advert to facts; let us believe no man to be infallible or impeccable in government any more than in religion; take no man’s word against evidence, nor implicitly adopt the sentiments of others who may be deceived themselves, or may be interested in deceiving us.
[John Adams, The Papers of John Adams, Robert J. Taylor, ed. (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1977), Vol. 1, p. 81, from “‘U’ to the Boston Gazette” written on August 29, 1763.]
Samuel Adams
Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual – or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.
[Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907), Vol. IV, p. 256, in the Boston Gazette on April 16, 1781.]
Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust be men of unexceptionable characters. The public cannot be too curious concerning the character of public men.
[Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907), Vol. III, p. 236-237, to James Warren on November 4, 1775.]
Matthias Burnett
Consider well the important trust . . . which God . . . [has] put into your hands. . . . To God and posterity you are accountable for [your rights and your rulers]. . . . Let not your children have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and prostrating those institutions which your fathers delivered to you. . . . [L]ook well to the characters and qualifications of those you elect and raise to office and places of trust. . . . Think not that your interests will be safe in the hands of the weak and ignorant; or faithfully managed by the impious, the dissolute and the immoral. Think not that men who acknowledge not the providence of God nor regard His laws will be uncorrupt in office, firm in defense of the righteous cause against the oppressor, or resolutly oppose the torrent of iniquity. . . . Watch over your liberties and privileges – civil and religious – with a careful eye.
[Matthias Burnett, Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Norwalk, An Election Sermon, Preached at Hartford, on the Day of the Anniversary Election, May 12, 1803 (Hartford: Printed by Hudson & Goodwin, 1803), pp. 27-28)
Forever Upward,
Suellen Estes.
![Signs Of Our Covenant]()
by Suellen | Successful Living, The Church Awakening
In the days to come, I am going to be talking about our covenant with God through Jesus. That is something that many people either push aside or don’t understand. As Christians, we are in a “spiritual agreement” with God which opens up doors for us to live above many negative circumstances which come our way.
This covenant has been compared to a will which might have been left for us. If you are a beneficiary of a will, you don’t receive the inheritance until the will is probated. If you don’t know the will is available, you might go through your life without receiving your inheritance.
Our inheritance from Jesus is much the same. If we don’t even know that we have this covenant with Him, we may go through life without ever receiving all that He paid for. So what is in our covenant? Many things, and I will be talking about these in the next posts.
To give a picture of this inheritance, I want to bring attention to a study done by a man named Richard Dugdale in 1877. His study addressed the lineage that goes with righteous heritage. There has been much discussion about the details of the study, but there are enough undisputed facts that it seems that definite conclusions can be drawn.
The first man was Jonathan Edwards, who was born October 5, 1703. At age 13, he entered Yale University and graduated with honors. Entering the ministry, Edwards was largely responsible for the Great Awakening that swept across America, uniting the colonies prior to the Revolution. His famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” was sent across the land, bringing repentance to many. Later, Edwards became President of Princeton College.
Jonathan Edwards married Sarah Pierrepont, and according to A Study in Education and Heredity by A.E. Winship (1900), their descendants were incredible. They included:
1 U.S. Vice-President
3 U.S. Senators
3 governors
3 mayors
13 college presidents
65 professors
30 judges
80 public office holders
100 lawyers
100 missionaries.
This same study examined a family known as “Jukes.” In 1877, while visiting New York’s prisons, Richard Dugdale found inmates with 42 different last names all descending from one man, called “Max Jukes.” Born around 1720 of Dutch stock, Max was a hard drinker, idle, irreverent, and uneducated. He would spend many days not working, but drinking and fighting. Dugdale considered this man an atheist.
His descendants included
310 paupers
50 prostitutes
40 “physically wrecked by indulgent living”
7 murderers
60 thieves
130 other convicts.
The “Jukes” descendants cost the state more than $1,250,000.
Now some people will look at this and conclude that education, hard work, and good morals contributed to the stark contrast in the two families. I agree that those things contributed, but I see the source of those attributes coming from God Himself. When people honor God and His word, they will be hard working, educated, moral, – and blessed.
Now am I saying that when your family has problems you are not being blessed? Absolutely not! Everyone has problems, but as we continue in our covenant with God, we will be able to overcome the problems. And we will see God’s hand on our children and grandchildren.
It’s something to think about, isn’t it?
Forever Upward
Suellen Estes
![Signs Of Our Covenant]()
by Suellen | Young Intellectuals
David has to be one of the most remarkable personalities of the Bible. We know him as the great king of Israel during some of it’s most glorious days. Yet he didn’t start out as an heir to the throne. In fact he started as a most unlikely candidate.
The full story surrounding David’s early years and his choice as king may be found in I Samuel 16. In the first verse we see God speaking to Samuel, the prophet, who is mourning over the fact that Saul had sinned and was rejected by God for continuing his kingship. God prods to Samuel to stop mourning and get on with His next choice – to go to Bethlehem and anoint “one of Jesse’s sons” to be the next king.
We would probably be just like Samuel if we were called to this mission. We judge by our senses – by what our eyes see and ears hear. So when Samuel arrived at the city, with anointing oil in hand, he called for Jesse and his sons to come to the sacrifice he was performing. As the oldest son arrived, Samuel was certain that this was the one God had chosen. He was tall, handsome, and looked very kingly. However, God spoke a stunning word, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
After all of the sons have been rejected by God, Samuel asks Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” And Jesse replies, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” Samuel then sent for David, and the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one.”
Now think about this scenario. Think of all of the rich, intelligent, good-looking, well dressed guys God could have chosen to be king of Israel. Surely that’s who He would choose! But He didn’t, and as always, God had great purpose in his choice. He chose a young shepherd boy, who was handsome and intelligent, but so unlikely for the job that when Jesse was supposed to bring all of his sons, he didn’t even think about bringing David. He was just a boy who stayed with the sheep. Nobody thought about him, but God. God seems to love going to the unlikely candidates who nobody notices.
The search, however, wasn’t just for someone whom no one noticed. God saw David’s heart. While he was alone out in the field, with no one even paying attention to him, David was worshiping His Creator. He was playing praise songs on his harp, and saturating himself with the beauty of nature which surrounded him. The young boy also was very diligent in fulfilling his duty to protect the sheep. Later in Samuel, we discover that at different times, a lion and a bear had attacked the sheep. Yet David had been able to chase the predators, kill them, and deliver his flock. His bravery had come from his trust in God’s strength and protection.
Now, centuries later, God is still looking for the David-type heart. The David-type heart is one that, first of all, praises God and trusts in Him. If you want to get a clearer picture check out the Psalms. Most of those were written by David – and many of them speak of the beauty of creation, the greatness of our God, and the trust David has for God’s protection, deliverance,and provision. Then the David-type heart is one that is diligent. He perseveres in his duty, faithful to fulfill his mission – even if it seems small and insignificant. Thirdly, the David-type heart is brave, not cowardly. When obstacles presented themselves, he plowed through the barriers with faith that God was on his side – and God was on his side. Again and again he had the victory.
So you may think that you are insignificant and that no one is noticing you. Well, I promise you that God is noticing. He knows your thoughts, your desires, and your attitudes. He wants to show Himself strong on your behalf, if your heart is right. If you have David’s heart, you have a promising future. Just keep praising God, maintain your diligence, and be brave in the causes He brings your way. In time, you will see God’s plan for you unfolding. There is no greater joy than that which comes from being in God’s perfect will.
II Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to His.
You can be a recipient of this benefit. As you pray, ask God to help you have a heart toward Him – loyal, full of praise, and brave. You won’t be disappointed.
Forever Upward!
