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Susan Alexander Yates

Susan Alexander Yates

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Good News: Growing as a Christian is Not About Trying Harder

by Susan Alexander Yates

This week I’m sharing a devotional over at Club31Women about spiritual growth. Here’s an excerpt.

Growing as a believer is not about trying harder. It’s about letting go of control and allowing God to do the work in you.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9)

The summer before my junior year in college I had an opportunity to travel to Europe with my 3 best friends. We sailed on a ship crammed with 1500 college students for 10 days. Yes, it was one big “party boat” followed by 2 months of riding trains, hitchhiking, mountain climbing, youth hostels, and eating on $5.00 a day. OK, this was in the “old days” when travel was safe and food cheap. Cheap food meant bakery shops. I gained 10 pounds on our slim budget!

Paris bridge at night with streetlights.

Photo by Léonard Cotte on Unsplash.

It was a glorious summer, a dream come true —  yet the most significant event for me was a decision I made to ask Christ into my life. Although I had grown up in a believing home, my faith was more of an inherited faith than a personal faith. On the ship, I met 2 guys who shocked me by asking, “Susan, are you a Christian?” What a weird question, I thought, and these guys are cute!

I responded, “I think I am. I hope I am. I believe in Jesus.”

What was obvious was that I lacked the assurance of my salvation and what became clear was that I needed to ask Christ to come into my heart personally (Revelation 3:20). I did this silently as my friend prayed aloud on my behalf. (It felt too awkward for me to do it out loud.) For the first time, I felt I could say that I was a believer and that I knew that one day I’d go to heaven, not because I was good, but because I was forgiven. And I had the assurance that Jesus would never leave me. (Hebrews 13:5)

Click here to continue reading at Club31Women: Why “Trying Harder” Cannot Make You a Better Christian

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January 25, 2023 · Leave a Comment

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Hello, I’m Susan.

Susan Alexander Yates

I’m a wife (of more than 50 years), mom to five children (including a set of twins), and grandmother to 21 (including a set of quadruplets!). My favorite time of the year is when all my kids and grandkids are together for a week of “cousins and family camp” in the foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia.

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One Verse:

“The eternal God is your dwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
And he thrust out the enemy before you
and said, ‘Destroy.“ (Deuteronomy 33:27)

One Thought:

God I love it that you gave your children simple pictures to understand complicated truths. Thank you for your everlasting arms that are under me, under _____ right at this moment. Place this picture in the front of my mind as I live this day.
Did you know that we can't succeed at spiritual gr Did you know that we can't succeed at spiritual growth on our own? We can't just grit our teeth and make ourselves more like Christ? ⁣
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This was a surprising lesson for me as a new believer!⁣
⁣
Read about it in my devotional on @club31women this week. Link in bio, or go to club31women.com/devotional/
One Word: Broken One Verse: And he took bread, One Word: Broken
 
One Verse:

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19

One Thought:

There is so much brokenness in our world. I am broken. So is _____. One thing all humans have in common is our brokenness. Jesus, you are intimately familiar with brokenness. Your body was broken for me, for _____. You understand the pain of brokenness but it is in your brokenness that we can begin to experience wholeness.
Recently I’ve been thinking about a new personal Recently I’ve been thinking about a new personal discipline I want to adopt in this new year. I want to do one thing every day for someone else. It’s a practical application for loving our neighbors as ourselves. It also enables us to get our focus off our selves and onto someone else and this brings us joy. It might be a text or email or postcard or call or cookies left on someone’s front door. This joy of giving fills our cup. It’s also a great thing to involve your whole family in. It helps our kids learn to be other-centered rather than self-centered. Two special friends just sent me these flowers and they have brought me great great joy. Thank you for choosing to bless me. I have learned from your generosity.
One Word: Mystery One Verse: “To them God ch One Word: Mystery 
 
One Verse:

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27
 
One Thought:

You are a God of mystery. It’s a glorious mystery. I can’t explain you even though sometimes I want to. Your mystery is part of what makes you so much greater than man. Thank you that you, with all of your glorious mystery, have chosen to dwell in me.
It’s so much fun to give away some of our old tr It’s so much fun to give away some of our old treasures! I just gave my old Girl Scout badge sash to my young friend Helen, who is a Girl Scout. It brought both of us so much joy and reminded me of how special it is to give things away. I  highly recommend it.

#girlscout #girlscouts
I received this pic and note from one of my nieces I received this pic and note from one of my nieces last week:⁣
⁣
'Your post on thank you notes this morning validated all of my efforts this week!! Look what's sitting on my kitchen counter. Only one more child to go!  Thank you for the good reminder of why we do this!'⁣
⁣
Have your kids gotten their notes done?⁣
⁣
I know it's work to get our children to write thank-you notes, but it's so important! Check out my blog this week for the reasons behind this and some ideas to help make it happen.⁣
⁣
Link in bio or go to susanalexanderyates.com.
One Word: Shows ⁣ ⁣ One Verse:⁣ ⁣ “But G One Word: Shows ⁣
⁣
One Verse:⁣
⁣
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8⁣
⁣
 One Thought:⁣
⁣
If you, God Almighty, would send your Son to die for me in my own wickedness, then how much more will you show me how to make the decision I need to make.⁣
⁣
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#oneword #onewordcards #christianwomen #christianfaith #bedeeplyrooted #womenintheword #shereadstruth #womenoftheword #belovedlife #womenoffaith #gritandvirtue #choosejoy #lampandlight #biblestudy #shepaintstruth #bibleverse #bibleverses #bibleverseoftheday #scriptureoftheday #scriptureart #bibleverseart #dailyverse #dailydevo #dailydevotion #dailydevotional #dailydevotionals #verseoftheday #biblequotes #illustratedfaith #scripture
It’s that time of the year… Do you struggle to It’s that time of the year… Do you struggle to get your kids to write thank-you notes? This week in my blog I'm sharing WHY it's such an important thing to teach our children. And some ideas to make it fun!

These are photos of my laundry room, where I keep some of my favorite notes I've received over the years. ❤ 

Check out the blog -- link in bio, or go to susanalexanderyates.com.

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Calligraphy by Jessica Blanchard · Paintings by Christen Yates
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