"But these things I plan

won't happen right away.

Slowly,

steadily,

surely,

the time approaches

when the vision will be fulfilled.

If it seems sow,

do not despair,

for these things will surely come to pass.

Just be patient!

They will not be overdue a single day!"

(Habakkuk 2:3 The Living Bible)

"We are pressed

on every side by troubles,

but not crushed and broken.

We are perplexed

because

we don't know why things happen as they do,

but we don't give up and quit.

We are hunted down,

but God never abandons us.

We get knocked down,

but we get up again

and keep going"

(2 Corinthians 4:8-9 The Living Bible).

Hi, Girls!

Some of you are asking about the online global sisterhood and when it will begin.

We really wanted it to launch in September . . .

but it looks like it will be October.

We do have some of the new "skin" up on our Web site:

susiemag.com

but it's just taking a while to get the sisterhood all put together.

It's amazing, though.

I just finished a three-hour photo shoot for it today.

You'll get some video-devotions from me,

a column from Obie,

a bunch of new stuff,

and best of all—

you'll be able to interact with the sisterhood:

other girls around the world who are also

plugged into SUSIE Magazine.

We're creating something really cool—

a symbol—

that we'll print inside the magazine.

And you'll hold it up to your computer

camera

and it will immediately take you inside.

It's hard for me to explain,

because I'm so tech illiterate,

but it really IS cool!

And if you don't have a camera

on your computer,

you'll still be able to make it work.

So if you have friends who haven't yet subscribed

to the printed magazine,

please get them signed up quickly!

This would be a great b-day gift

for you to give your friends.

I love you, Girls!

Susie Shellenberger

I've LOVED your responses on the two questions:

1. What's your wall of protection around your life?

2. Is there anything in your life that needs a "holy destruction" as described in Deuteronomy chapter 3.

The foundation for a solid wall of protection

around your life

is, of course, a strong

growing

intimate 

relationship with Jesus Christ.

Your parents can also provide a strong wall of protection—

and some of you mentioned that.

Youth group,

Bible study,

and

church

are also great sources that provide

a strong wall of protection.

But the wall begins

with our relationship

with Christ.

Now about that "holy destruction"

we talked about. . . .

We read a sobering story

about a holy destruction 

gone bad

in 1 Samuel 15.

It went bad

because Saul only halfheartedly

attempted the holy destruction.

He didn't carry it through

with 100%.

Here's the recap:

God spoke to Saul through Samuel the prophet saying,

"Destroy the Amalekites—

the people who snuck up behind you

and attacked your weakest

and most feeble when you were

wandering in the wilderness." 

(See Deuteronomy 25:18 for that part of the story).

"Make sure you destroy 

every man,

woman,

child

and

beast.

Leave nothing behind."

So Saul gathered 200,000 footmen

from Israel

and 10,000 footmen

from Judah,

marched on the Amalekites

and utterly destroyed them . . .

all except for one.

He kept Agag, king of the Amalekites,

along with some sheep.

As Saul returned victorious to Israel,

he saw the prophet Samuel in the distance.

"Blessed be the name of the Lord!" Saul said.

"I have obeyed all of His commandments!"

"Really?" Samuel said.

"Then how come I hear the sound of sheep bleating."

"Oh. Well . . . uh . . . we saved the best of the sheep

and the oxen 

to bring back as a sacrifice to Jehovah!" Saul declared.

Samuel looked at Saul and said,

"To obey is better than sacrifice.

Rebellion is as bad as witchcraft and idolatry.

And who's he?"

(Wow. Rebellion—disobeying God—is as bad as

witchcraft and idolatry? Rebellion—disobeying God—

is serious stuff!)

"And who's he?" Samuel asked.

"This is Agag, king of the Amalekites. 

I brought him back as a trophy," Saul answered.

Samuel grabbed a sword and hacked Agag into pieces

right there on the spot,

threw down the sword in utter disgust

and said, 

"Saul! You have disobeyed.

No longer will you be king—neither you, 

nor your descendants.

The kingdom is taken from you."

Pretty harsh, you may be thinking.

Saul was rationalizing.

He was trying to make wrong make sense. 

We do the same thing, don't we?

Instead of completing a holy destructionwith 100% effort . . . 

we only half-heartedly take a whack at it.

 But I can make it make sense! 

Surely God wouldn’t want me to destroy the BEST sheep! 

God doesn’t always make sense. 

He's the One who says:

• The Last shall be First.

• Wanna be great? Learn to Serve!

You see, it's not our job to understand God.

Our job is to simply OBEY Him.

OK, maybe I can understand the need to kill the animals, but what’s wrong with bringing Agag back as a trophy to march in the victory parade?

At the very end of 1 Samuel, and in the first chapter of 2 Samuel, 

we see Saul 20 yrs later on Mount Gilboa fighting the Philistines. 

Wounded in battle, he heard the voice of his attacker behind him.

 “Who are you?” Saul cried out.

 “I am an Amalekite,” came the answer.

 GASP!

You see, the period between the time Saul brought Agag back until the time he talked to Samuel was probably less than a week, but in that time, Agag must have escaped and fathered a son.

Now, 20 years later, he appears and attacks Saul.

We THINK we have sin under control, 

but whenever we keep a little trophy hanging around 

to show how powerful we are, we’re playing with fire.

“R-rated movies used to be a problem” you may say. “Romance novels used to be a problem. Drinking used to be a problem. But I have it under control now. No need to block it completely out of my life. I can turn it off, stop doing it, whenever I want. Partying? I can handle it."

Watch out!

You are not as strong as you think you are.

When God says, "This needs to be destroyed"

DESTROY IT!

 

That’s why a Father who loves you says, “Destroy completely every Amalekite. If something is wrong, if something is tempting, if something is pulling on you carnally, if something is attacking you from behind, annihilate it. Don’t play around with the Amalekites, because if you leave even one, he’ll come back and get you!

I'm asking the question again, Girls:

Is there anything in your life that needs

a holy destruction?

Love you!

Susie Shellenberger

 

I'm reading in the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy.

I'm intrigued with chapter three.

God has told the children of Israel

(I like to call them "the world's largest backpacking group")

to destroy certain cities, kings and people.

As you know . . .

before Christ came 

and paid for evil 

with His death,

God often dealt with evil

by obliteration.

(Remember the world in Noah's day?

And Sodom and Gomorrah?

God dealt with the evil

by obliterating it

with death.

A clean wipe-out.)

Back to Deuteronomy chapter three.

God is instructing the children of Israel

to deal with those who 

defiantly

and

willfully

oppose Him

by wiping them out.

"So God, our God, also handed Og king of Bashan

over to us—Og and all his people—

and we utterly crushed them" (Deuteronomy 3:3 The Message).

And we read a little further . . .

"There were also numerous unwalled villages.

We totally destroyed them—a holy destruction" (Deuteronomy 3:4 The Message).

Wow.

A couple of strong things to notice here:

1. unwalled villages

If a village didn't have a strong wall

to surround it

and protect it,

the city and its people

were an easy target.

We need a strong wall of protection

around our lives!

2. a holy destruction

Are there some things in your life that need

a holy destruction?

Check out Deuteronomy 3:11. 

Catch this description of King Og's bed:

"His bed, made of iron, was over thirteen feet long and six wide."

Why do you suppose

God wanted a description of a king's bed in the Bible?

Maybe God wants us to know

that the quality of stuff we have

doesn't matter—

if it's evil . . .

or if it's causing us to do evil things . . .

He wants to perform

a

holy

destruction.

You see, God doesn't want ANYTHING

to come between us and Him.

And if it does?

We need a holy destruction.

I have a few questions for you:

First . . .

about unwalled cities that were easily destroyed.

—Do you have a wall of protection surrounding your life?

If you don't, you'll be an easy target for Satan.

If you do have a wall or protection surrounding 

your life, tell me about it. 

Second . . .

—Is there anything in your life

that needs a holy destruction?

Would you be willing to ask God?

Here's a prayer to get you started:

Dear Jesus,

Is there anything in my life that's not

right with You?

Anything I'm connected with 

that needs a holy destruction?

If so, Jesus,

will You bring it to my mind?

Help me think of it.

When You show it to me,

I'll destroy it

in obedience to You.

In Your name I pray,

Amen.

How do you know if something

needs to be destroyed?

Well . . .

if that "something" is in disobedience to God

or

if that "something" is pulling you away from God,

those

are 

signs that they need to be destroyed.

I'll write more later.

But first I want to hear your answer to these two questions:

Again:

—Do you have a wall of protection surrounding your life?

 and

—Is there anything in your life

that needs a holy destruction?

You are loved!

Susie

What Does God's Voice Sound Like?

Let's look at 1 Kings 19:11-3. 

The Old Testament prophet Elijah

had just defeated

450 prophets of Baal.

The evil queen Jezebel was after him,

so he fled for his life.

He'd experirenced a great victory,

but now he was hiding in the mountains.

While he was there . . .

God spoke.

"Go out and stand before me on the mountain," the Lord told him.

And as Elijah stood there the Lord passed by,

and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain;

it was such a terrible blast 

that the rocks were torn loose,

but

the

Lord

was

not

in

the wind.

After the wind,

there was an earthquake,

but

the

Lord

was

not

in

the

earthquake.

And after the earthquake,

there was a fire,

but

the

lord

was

not

in

the 

fire.

And after the fire,

there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

When Elijah heard it,

he wrapped his face in his scarf

and went out

and stood at the entrance of the cave."

(1 Kings 19:11-13 The Living Bible)

Elijah knew God's voice was in the whisper.

It wasn't in the tornado,

the earthquake

or the fire.

It was in the whisper.

How well do you know the voice of God?

Do you know it so well

that above the screams and cheers

at a football game,

you'll hear  His voice

in the whisper

if He chooses to speak to you?

How can I learn God's voice?

By spending time with him.

When your best friend calls,

she doesn't have to identify herself.

You know it's her as soon as you hear the first utterance of her voice.

You've spent enough time with her,

you just know.

It works the same way with God.

The more you talk with Him,

the more time you spend together,

the more you read His letter to you,

the easier it becomes to hear His voice.

As you're heading into school . . .

think about all the times

God may want to speak to you.

It may be in the middle of a teacher's lecture.

Or in a crowded hallway heading to the next class.

Or by your computer as you work on home-school lessons.

When He speaks, will you hear His voice?

Get to know the voice of God!

Love you!

Susie 

More thoughts on the disciples asking the wrong question

found in Matthew 18:1.

If you've missed a few blogs, please see the past three postings.

Let's do a quick recap on the scripture:

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'

"Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said,

'Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.'" (NKJV)

Seems strange, doesn't it?

That Jesus would tell His disciples

they had to be converted?

I mean, they'd already accepted Him

as their Savior.

Their God.

Their reason for living.

Their hope for eternity.

They'd already left everything

to follow Him.

What was He talking about?

It's tied in with what He did.

He called a little child to Him, didn't He?

And He told the disciples to become as a child.

Notice:

Jesus didn't say "Act like a kid."

To understand what Jesus meant,

we have to step inside the sandals

of the Jews around Him.

We have to see with their eyes.

And hear what Jesus said with their ears.

When Jesus said, "Become as a little child,"

what those around Him heard was:

"Give it all up!"

You see, in Jewish culture—in those days—

children had no rights.

A child was simply a piece of property.

Need more money?

Sell the kid.

Need some work to be done?

Make a kid do it.

Children were expendable.

They had no rights.

They were nothing.

What?!?

Jesus, You want me to become expendable?

No rights?

That's it!

That's the key.

Unless there's a deep

internal

conversion

of 

our

will . . .

a dying to self . . .

a surrender of the total essence 

of me . . .

Jesus says we're not getting into heaven.

Yes, the disciples had walked away from everything

to follow Him.

But they were still full of themselves.

Each of them wanted a position of greatness 

in God's Kingdom.

Jesus was saying, "It's so not about that, guys.

It's so about emptying yourselves.

Dying to your rights.

Becoming putty in My hands.

Getting yourself off the throne.

Surrendering ALL to me."

And if you're thinking, 

Yeah. That's what I want.

I'm all Yours, Jesus. 

I'll sing for You.

or

I'll dance for You.

or

I'll model for You . . .

then you're still not getting it.

You see I can't even be in the picture.

It's not:

I'll do this for You, Jesus.

And I'll do that.

Rather, it's

"Dear God,

where can I bleed

and

sweat

and 

serve

and

die

for You?

To whom can I give

who can't give back?"

That's a surrendered life.

I have no rights, Jesus.

It's no longer, "me first."

or

"I deserve."

or

"I can . . ."

It's all about YOU.

It's YES, LORD

to whatever.

wherever.

whenever.

It's YES, LORD

to anything

anytime

anywhere.

 . . . are you getting it?

This deep inner conversion

involves

a 

death

to self

and talent

and what I want.

It's becoming converted

through dying to self

and becoming totally surrendered to

and totally saturated by

Jesus Christ.

He is Lord.

May we place ourselves

in His hands--

may we say, "Break me, Father.

Remake me in Your holy Image."

Amen.

Love,

Susie