How’s Your Wall?
When Nehemiah received word that the wall around his hometown of
Jerusalem had been torn down, he made the journey home to repair
it.
It was an actual physical wall that surrounded Jerusalem.
This protected the residents from enemies and bad influences.
I’ll talk more about this actual wall in our December 4 devotional.
But right now I’d like us to think about our own wall.
Just as God desired to protect Jerusalem with a physical wall,
He wants to help us build a strong spiritual wall around our lives.
How can we do this?
#1: Lay a solid foundation.
Make sure your identity, your trust and your focus is grounded in
Christ.
#2: Be extremely selective of the bricks with which you choose
to build your wall.
Instead of grabbing a brick of astrology, a brick of deception and a
brick of gossip, choose instead bricks of Scripture, faith and total
surrender.
#3: Maintain your wall.
Take time to pray daily. “Die to self” daily. Read the Bible daily.
These are strong elements of mortar around the bricks of your wall
that will keep it strong, stable and secure.
How’s your wall?
Thoughts?
I have an open calendar now until mid-January.
While I will enjoy this time of renewal, it’s always a faith-walk
during the holiday season with no income from speaking.
If God leads you to make a financial donation to the ministry which
He has called me, you can send a check my way and I’ll mail you a
contribution receipt for your tax files because I’m a 501-C non-profit
organization and have the authority to do this. It’s the same thing as
giving tithe or offerings to your local church and receiving a
contribution receipt from them.
Susie Shellenberger Ministries
7012 N. Lake Front Drive
Warr Acres, OK 73132
Thank you so much for your prayers!
Love,
Susie
Boiled in Salt
Ever eaten a salt potato?
Syracuse salt potatoes are boiled with so much salt,
they come out covered in white crust.
By adding a really really really large amount of salt (two cups of salt
for every eight cups of water) cooks in central NY create a white-
crusted creamy potato.
It’s easy to take salt for granted.
But during Roman times, salt was so valuable soldiers were paid with
salt. It was extremely valued.
In fact, that’s where the saying, “Are you worth your salt?” came from.
Having salt was considered a sign of wealth.
We get the word salary from salt.
Jesus knew the importance of salt, and He referred to it in His
sermon on the mount:
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness,
how can it be made salty again?” (Matthew 5:13 NIV)
Let’s look at this same Scripture from The Message paraphrase:
“Let me tell you why you are here.
You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors
of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste
godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the
garbage.
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing
out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept.
We’re going public with this.” (Matthew 5:13-16 The Message)
Our heavenly Father wants to use US to bring out His God-flavors
and His God-colors!
Wouldn’t it be great—if like the potatoes boiled in so much salt that
they come out white-crusted—WE would be so saturated with the
Holy Spirit that we are God-crusted each day?
In other words, we abandon ourselves in such a way to Him,
that after spending time with Jesus,
we come out drenched in Him . . .
ooozing His Spirit . . .
saturated in God-colors . . .
acting and reacting in God-flavors to those around us!
Thoughts?
I just finished speaking at a non-denominational ladies conference in
Cannon Beach, Ore., and God truly blessed our services. Thank you
so much for your prayers. He is so faithful!
An Unexpected Surprise
In many German restaurants you can find what may look like an
unusual item on the menu: Spaghettini.
Chefs create it to look like a plate of spaghetti, but it’s actually
an ice-cream delicacy.
Vanilla ice-cream is served in thin strands that resemble
spaghetti noodles, and strawberry puree is poured on top that looks
like marinara sauce. You’ll even find coconut flakes on top to mimic
parmesan cheese!
May I state the obvious?
Although it looks like one thing on the outside, it’s completely
different once you taste it.
The same is often true of us, isn’t it?
We profess Christ on the outside.
We easily lift our hands in praise on Sunday mornings.
But when someone cuts in front of us on the road . . . do our
insides match our outsides?
Aren’t you grateful that God is patient with us?
Each one of us is still a work in progress.
Ephesians 5:1 tells us to copycat our heavenly Father:
“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do. . . .” (NLT)
Let’s continue to allow God to break us and reshape us in His
holy image as we walk with Him.
Thoughts?
I just returned from speaking to pastors and wives at a state-
wide ministers retreat in Alaska. God was faithful and blessed in
wonderful ways. I’m excited about speaking in Alaska again June 1-8,
2019 on the Susie Shellenberger Ministries cruise. I’d LOVE for you
to join me! This will be an amazing spiritual retreat complete with the
adventure and wonder of Alaska’s beauty! If you’d like more
information, please send me an email (not on this website, but
through my email address): susieshell@comcast.net