Going begins with giving.
All that you are.
All that you have.
All that you hold close.
Is that intimidating to you? It used to be for me. Some days it still is, except this kind of giving has the power to change my heart.
It changes how I think. It changes what matters to me. It changes how I see people and how I seek God.
I used to the hear the words, “denying yourself,” and because of the culture that I live in it has a negative vibe. It feels legalistic, or that it might lead down a road that isn’t grace-based.
Jesus denied himself from day one. He set his face toward Jerusalem at the age of 30 and didn’t look back. He knew there was a cross and suffering at the end of his journey. He often tried to explain this to the disciples (Luke 18:31-34), but they didn’t get it.
There’s a moment in the Garden where we get a glimpse of just how heavy this burden felt.
And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:44 (NIV)
Every step that he took toward the cross, he denied himself for us, and he did it willingly.
I don’t have self-denial down to an art and I never will. I don’t think it works that way. We come to that moment where we realize that it’s not about us, or that somehow pain or suffering or not getting our way is part of His plan.
This thrusts us into the crossroads.
Will I go with what makes me feel comfortable, or will I follow Him?
Self-denial is not self-induced. That’s important to remember. Jesus never asked us to punish ourselves or punish others, because He took our punishment on his own shoulders.
Instead, we are invited to ask the Holy Spirit to weave through our daily lives, our daily encounters, and when we feel that nudge to follow Him over our own desires or wishes or emotions, to deny ourselves in that moment to discover where Jesus is leading.
Self-denial is not a dead-end road; it’s a path to change.
I wish that I could say that I take that road instinctively, but my instincts almost always want to take care of Suzie first. I’m not alone in that. It’s something we all wrestle with, according to scripture.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:17 (ESV) Emphasis added
The last part of this verse is what has the power to set us free.
When we deny ourselves there is more room for Jesus.
My faith emerges over my emotions, and I discover the things that I can do as I become the person I was meant to be.
I’m still me. You are still you.
It’s just the God-self version as we allow Him to show us deeper waters ahead.
Suzie
It’s our last day in the Come With Me study.
Can that really be possible?
Will you do me a favor? If you know of a ministry (prison, small group, women’s shelter, college campus, etc.) or a church or Women’s Ministries department that is looking for study material, will you share this link with them?
My prayer from the beginning was to invest in women all over the nation, especially those who may not have access to free quality resources and videos and content.
As you help me spread the word, let’s pray together that women all over the world stand shoulder to shoulder to step into this beautiful invitation Jesus issues of, “Come With Me.”
Suzie
Suzie I first started listening to you when I was in the darkest hours of my life ! I had started one of your books and a bible study with our ministry leader Michelle Viscuse .She saw I was hardly able to make it sometimes to the bible study but kept loving me by sending me info and saying kind things to me and checking on me . She never pushed me but just kept praying fior me and loving me like Jesus ! A true Godly leader if ever I have experienced in a church setting! I use to listen quietly last winter when you were doing a bible study on periscope and at first I just listened and sat quietly listening to you on my phone ! Those days I was so deep in depression and despair I could not get out of bed ! You and Michelle were sometimes the only voices I would hear sometimes during the week ! One day as I listened to you; I finally got the courage and finally figured out how to put my username Iin the place on periscope! 😀 ! The next Tiuesday I got the courage to say hello I and tell you thank you for what you had said that day had blessed me ! Again , some Tuesday’s I would not log in and then one day I got to the periscope before anyone else and logged in and you saw my name and started to say hello to the others that were listening and all of a sudden with real sincerity and warmth and kindness you said , “Hello Blessedmimi it is so good to have you here today ” I actually was frightened and a little shocked at first; but responded back to you and really do not remember what I said ! The reason Suzie I tell you all this is because something happened in my soul deep down in it a stirring , it was you that spoke I know but it was if I felt for the first time in a long, long time that Jesus loved me and my Father in heaven really loved me ! I know it was your voice but it was so real and it began to pierce my heart and I do believe that was the beginning of the true healing process that I am still going through today but it was a beginning for me and gradually I begin to want to read the word of God and wanted to read God’s word more and to truly understand how and what God was saying to me personally and many hours of taking to him in prayer and just understanding that I could talk to him ! One day I came to a loiint in my life that I liked at all my circumstances. and was truly able to say to myself ” , And if not , then you are still good God ! ” You love me and you God and your son can be enough for me to want to survive and that was the start of many more bible studies and being brave enough to reach out and begin to be in community slowly but surely with other women. It was not easy but today I have done two of your other books and the bible studies with them and I even had enough courage last night to ask the ladies in my bible study to pray for me and shared a few things with them; not really a testimony yet! They prayed and anointed me with oil and a year and half ago you would not have found me in church anywhere but now Jesus Christ is my everything and my life is far from perfect! I am healing and getting braver and I want you to know I now have done ” Come with me ” twice and could still do it again ! See , I am finally understanding that God does not expect me to have it all together to serve him !u know and want others to know that it does not matter what you have been through or where you have been or where you are at right now ! God loves you so much that He gave his only Son to die just for you ! Our Father wants you just as you are whether you have known him many years as lord or just met him ! ; God loves me and all of us and just wants us to want to know him the way he wants to know us! ! He longs to love us and show us all He can and be with us always . I am totally longing to be used by my Lord and I know he has got me and I continue to want to be that 13 th or. 14 th disciple or whatever number He might give me ! 😍 One more quick thing Suzie ; I want anyone that has read this to know that I did not share the bad stuff to look pitiful or sad but to give my Father in heaven all the glory and praise for digging me out of the pit I had been in for many long years of pain, fear and suffering . ! You and Michelle and the books and ladies of my bible study and many other people God has put in my life have helped me to hear that still small voice of Jesus and maybe at the time I did not know that soon he would say to me , ” Come with me ‘ but I now know that I will continually give what he ask even if sometimes it is hard to do because the peace and his presence like I have now in my life , I cannot live without nor do I want to be without his presence and this peace that only Jesus can give, Suzie ! Thank you for all of your books and studies but most of all thank you for reaching out to the women of Christ and teaching us and showing us what his truest will is for each of us and that we are to love others the way Jesus did ; not just the people that look safe or do not have scars or baggage or sins because we all have scars , wounds and sins of our own that only Jesus can heal ! I pray for you and your family and all the ladies of your group at home and your people that help you ! My prayers are with you daily ! Mimi
Mimi, you may have been writing to Suzie, but you blessed me by your testimony. Thank you, dear woman, for sharing how the Lord touched your life through Suzie’s online studies, through her Periscope teachings, and through the power of her sharing God’s Word. The Lord is so sweet! He knows us so intimately. He knows just what we need, when we need it. Your testimony is powerful. God bless you, sweet sister!
Dear Teresa ,
I am so humbled by your words and a couples of years ago I could not have written what I said but I would not or could not have written you back ! Yes, I have dealt with excruciating depression most of my life but the Lord also has shown me how as low as I was I also had tremendous pride and that pride was keeping me from knowing my Jesus ! I will pray for you and please pray for me as I continue to heal . It is a process and letting God renew my mind and heart and soul ! ! I also saw your blog and will begin to read it as I love to hear the stories of others and how God is teaching them and helping them in their circumstances and walk with him . Your. Words encouraged me so much and from a grateful heart thank you for that encouragement ! ❤️🙏🏻😍 mimi
Mimi, this is such an encouragement. There was one woman in The Mended Heart study that God whispered, “If you did it for Claudia, then that would have been enough.”
Now He’s graciously showing me another. Thank you. Your words matter.
Suzie, I’m another that was forever changed by your words in The Mended Heart.
❤️
Dyana
Sorry for some of my typos ; I am not use to writing things like this so please excuse the mistakes in anyway ladies 😀🙏🏻❤️ Lovingly and prayerfully , Mimi
Thank you Suzie for blessing my life with this study.
What a beautiful testimony, Mimi. Thank you for sharing.
Suzie, I will be sharing the Come With Me link with women’s leaders and other women. You might be interested to know that the first book of Come With Me that I purchased, God had me give it to someone else. I bought another book because I wanted to read it. He had me give it to someone else. I went back to Amazon for the third time and thought, “I’m going to buy two books so that this time I can read it.” I felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit, “Then you better buy three books.” 🙂 It still makes me giggle. I had to buy four books before I could actually read it – I got my book just in time for this study. You have a special place in my heart and I pray that this book will spread like wildfire as women not only talk about what God is doing as result the content, but as we take action and change whatever part of the world God sends us to – whether it’s another country, another state, or whether we’re spending time with co-workers, neighbors, family, or writing a letter, etc.
Thank you Suzie for this amazing book, and study, for sharing your heart in the videos. It has changed my heart and enriched my walk with Jesus.
I love this prayer on page 166: “Thank You for being in the boat with me, Jesus. You and Your Word are my anchor. Hold me fast, Savior. Speak to the winds on my behalf. SHOW ME THE POWER OF YOUR WORDS!!!!”
Blessings,
Anna
The thirteenth disciple
Thank you, Suzie! It’s been a wonderful journey together. We are Blessed to Bless! I pray to more fully “live with my ear toward HIS voice”.
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful book and this study. I have loved walking with you, the women here and the desciples as we have all journeyed with our glorious savior, Jesus.
It’s amazing how God reveals Himself. Last night at Bible study (we’re doing a study on the testing of our faith), I got three insights. Your article today takes me another step forward. God unwraps His glory little by little, when we’re ready to understand…