Susan’s Blog

“Jesus,” Name Above All Names

What’s in a name? Ever heard that expression? I want to realize the fullness of the power in the name of Jesus. I want to life up the name of Jesus on high. I want to think about Him the way I should and live the Christian life the He desires.

How? By His grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that we are all changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord:

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18

Paul the apostle even asked… “You, having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3).

Well guess what that answer is? “NO! We are NOT made perfect by the flesh.” It is a wonderful work by the Holy Spirit of God.

So let’s give it up for Jesus. Let’s praise the name of Jesus! Let’s lift up the name of Jesus.

Sarah Palin: Faith, Family, Country

“Susan has been chosen to write a Sarah Palin biography. I have found that Susan’s
dedication to prayer and prayer for the nation and world, makes this a good choice.”
–Congressman Steve Pearce, Founding Member Congressional Prayer Caucus.

“I can’t think of anyone who could do a better job of writing about Sarah Palin than Susan. She is a real patriot and truly dedicated to our troops and their families.”
–Andrew Carroll, bestselling author, editor of “GRACE UNDER FIRE: Letters of Faith in Times of War.

How is this book different from others coming out?
• A biography that answers the questions other books have left hanging
• Exclusive interviews with Sarah Palin’s mom and dad, Todd’s aunt, Todd’s cousin,
Sarah’s basketball school friend.
• Interviews with business owners in Wasilla, Alaska that know Sarah Palin personally
• Exclusive family photos!

http://www.bridgelogos.com
http://www.susanparr.org

Product Specifications:
ISBN: 978-0-88270-861-4
Format: TPB
Retail: $13.99 ALSO available for Kindle in digital format.
Release Date: October 10, 2008

Author Bio:
Susan Sherwood Parr is the Founder and President of Life to the World Ministries, Inc., a non-profit missions and educational organization.  Susan is a frequent guest speaker on national television, author of 7 Steps Out of the Humpty Dumps—a book for those who struggle with grief and depression (published by Bridge-Logos), Battlefield Prayers, written to encourage people in the armed services, and other books. Susan lives with her husband, author Monte Parr, in New Mexico.

The book will available Oct 10 and now for preorders now by contacting Bridge-Logos Tel: 1-800-631-5802  Fax: 1-800-935-6467.
It is also available on amazon.com in Kindle format.

Get a Grip! Get Out of the Dumps!

From the new Bridge-Logos release: 7 Steps Out of the Humpty Dumps
By Susan Sherwood Parr

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall… All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again…

Leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:24 (All Scripture NKJV )

Get a grip. Hold it! Stop for a moment! Do you feel like Humpty Dumpty—broken in pieces and unable pull yourself together again? If you do, you are not alone. Many of us have experienced pain, battles, frustrations, disaster, loss, and grief. You and millions of others suffer pain, and many don’t know what do about it. Remember, Humpty couldn’t put himself back together and neither can we. What do you do when you don’t know what to do? What happens when you’ve tried everything? That’s exactly what this book is about. The first thing you need to do is stop trying to understand what is happening and just stop for a moment. I’m not telling you to “turn off pain.” No. But I am telling you to stop what you think (And if possible, how you feel) long enough to reconsider a few things. Here’s what I want you to do:

Stop thinking about the pain. Stop complaining or blaming. Stop wondering “Why?” There is hope…there is help! Being born again in Christ into God’s family is our greatest gift! The next greatest thing in existence is the relationship we can have with our God. There is nothing to compare with it. God cares…about you. Soon we will be taking you to the Father in Jesus’ name to help you to pray about your troubles…about your pain. You may already have prayed about what you are experiencing, but that doesn’t matter. We have a few things to get out of the way before we get to that! Even though you have probably asked God to cleanse you of any sin, I still want you to briefly take a look at forgiveness: Forgiveness of others, and forgiveness of yourself… even forgiveness of God. Some people have erroneously blamed God for their problems, pain or loss. We can release all of this. He is “Not Guilty!” And neither are you.

The Soap Opera
• I am in pain.
• I have tried everything and I still hurt inside.
• I am unable to function.
• Is there something I have done?
• Is God doing this to me?
• Did I take a wrong step somewhere, and because of it am suffering like this?
• What do I do next? I have prayed and I still hurt. I’m not sure what to do now….

Take Action
One: Stop for a moment. Take a deep breath.
Two: Stop looking at yourself as a failure.
Three: Stop blaming everyone else for your feelings or for where you are in life. It may be your fault or fault of someone else. That doesn’t matter. Getting help now matters. God didn’t do it! Four: No matter what the case is or was, God is able to help you where you are. He is able to heal you, you above the feelings by His grace, and change things.

The Cure

Forgiveness…
How can we ask for forgiveness if we refuse to forgive (See Luke 6:37 and 17:3)?
I have discovered that all God desires me to become can be accomplished by His grace.
If I feel like I can’t forgive, I pray something like this: “God, I can’t forgive, but I ask You to love and forgive those who have offended me and through me by Your Holy Spirit. Please give me the grace, in Jesus’ name.” The Enemies of Answered Prayer The following is a list to consider and pray about. Once you’ve worked through it, you will be more likely to recognize these things as hindrances in your walk with God. You will want to take each of them to God, pray about them, and ask Him to remove these obstacles from your life as soon as possible.

Some of the enemies and roadblocks to answered prayer:
• Unforgiveness (Matthew 5:24)
• Hatred (Matthew 5:24)
• Doubt (Matthew 17:41; Matt. 21:21; Mark 9:1429)
• Fear (Matthew 14:30) The above list contains sins that we need to confess. Read Isaiah 59:2, which describes how unconfessed sin blocks God from moving on our behalf.

Begin Your Freedom
1. Confess: After you examine yourself, ask God to forgive and to cleanse you. If we confess our sins, is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

2. Accept forgiveness and cleansing, by faith. Now you are ready to walk in faith with a conscience void of offense toward God. Let us draw near with true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22

Medical University Study on Forgiveness
I came across a medical study in Stanford Medicine. I thought it was so helpful I want to share some of it with you.

The Art and Science of Forgiveness
If you feel good but want to feel even better, try forgiving someone. —Frederic Luskin, Ph.D.

For centuries the world’s religious and spiritual traditions have recommended the use of forgiveness as a balm for hurt or angry feelings. Psychotherapists have worked to help their clients to forgive and some have written about the importance of forgiveness. Until recently, however, the scientific literature has not had much to say about the effect of forgiveness. But that’s starting to change. While the scientific study of forgiveness is just beginning — the relevant intervention research having been conducted only during the past 10 years — when taken together, the work so far demonstrates the power of forgiveness to heal emotional wounds and hints that forgiveness may play a role in physical healing as well.

What is intriguing about this research is that even people who are not depressed or particularly anxious can obtain the improved emotional and psychological functioning that comes from learning to forgive. This suggests that forgiveness may enable people who are functioning adequately to feel even better. While the research is limited, a picture is emerging that forgiveness may be important not just as a religious practice but as a component of a comprehensive vision of health. Stanford University is the home of likely the largest intervention study to date on the training of interpersonal forgiveness. The Stanford Forgiveness Project, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, is evaluating a six-session 90-minute forgiveness-training program that I developed for my 1998 dissertation study. This study demonstrated that normal college students could become significantly less angry and hurt, feel more hopeful, spiritually content and self-efficacious about managing their emotions and also become more forgiving after a six-hour training session. Moreover, the psychosocial gains were stable over a 10-week follow-up period. The new study, with Stanford University professor of education Carl Thoresen, PhD, as principal investigator, will allow us to measure the effect of the forgiveness training on a broader range of psychological variables and some physiological variables as well. It will also investigate what influence, if any, religious affiliation and spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation have on the participant’s willingness and ability to forgive.

Published studies on forgiveness have shown the importance of forgiveness training on coping with a variety of psychologically painful experiences. Studies have been conducted with adolescents who felt neglected by their parents, with women who were abused as children, with elderly women who felt hurt or uncared for, with males who disagreed with their female partners’ decisions to have abortions and with college students who had been hurt. These studies showed that when given forgiveness training varying lengths and intensities, participants could become less hurt and become more able to forgive their offenders. The frontier for forgiveness research is to look at what effect forgiveness may have on a subject’s physical health and well-being. To date, there have been no scientific studies that conclusively demonstrate that forgiveness improves or worsens physical health. However, the initial results of some studies funded by the Templeton Foundation (which has launched an initiative to investigate forgiveness) suggest that when people experience forgiveness, there are positive changes in measures of participants’ cardiovascular and nervous systems. While there is no direct evidence, there are a number of lines of research that suggest that learning to forgive can be predictive of improved health outcomes. There are some studies that show that mismanaged anger and hostility is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In both my dissertation study and the study on men whose partners had abortions, the forgiveness training resulted in a significant lowering of anger levels. What was interesting about the dissertation study was that the participants were able to significantly reduce both long-term and short-term anger levels even when the baseline levels were in the age-adjusted normal range. One explanation for why forgiveness may be beneficial for physical health is that it deepens and promotes interpersonal relationships. Another possibility is that forgiveness is a form of religious expression or may be an indication of a positive spiritual experience. There exist a number of studies that attest to the beneficial effect that positive relationships and good social ties have on indices of physical health. There are other studies that implicate social support with decreased mortality.

There also a group of studies that demonstrate that people who have strong religious affiliations, or use religious coping, have de-creased mortality. Forgiveness may be viewed as an analogous example of the ability to see one’s life through a positive or healing lens. While the research is only suggestive, it may be that all of us could benefit from training in managing life’s inevitable hurts and using forgiveness to make peace with the past. In this way, forgiveness may be, as the religious traditions have been claiming all along, a rich path to greater peace and understanding that also has both psychosocial and physiological value. Frederic Luskin, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, serves as director for the Stanford Forgiveness Project.

Receiving Forgiveness
Forgiving others is powerful. Receiving forgiveness is even more powerful. Think about having a clear conscience and the peace of mind that it brings. God can give this to us. Good advice: Forgive, and be forgiven. Humpty’s Workbench After you examine your heart and life, confess all sin. Make sure you are willing to forgive. Now you’re ready!

What Is My Part?

1. Stop everything. Remove all limits to what you think God can do. Today is a new day. This moment a new moment.

2. Decide to change your thinking. Enlarge your view of God.

3. Stop complaining, blaming, and worrying.

4. Look forward to what God can do. You may have been trying to do this, but I’m going to give you some information in this book that will do a new thing in your life.

5. Get the attitude, “God can. I can’t, but God can. I’m going to start fresh and see what God can do.”

6. Thank God and praise Him for what He is going to do according to His will.

What Is God’s Part?
God is faithful. He loves you and He is interested in you.
God cares for the lilies of the field and He cares for you (Luke 12).
His promises are true and they belong to you (2 Corinthians 1:20). His Word is true (Rom. 3:4). God’s Word will accomplish what it set out to do (Is. 55:11). Don’t doubt it! Let’s ask for God’s help out of the dumps!

The Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, I ask you to have mercy on me and to look upon me in my hurt, my pain, my need. cannot heal or help myself. I commit everything into Your hands: The reasons, the source, the answer. Heal me and bring me out of this pain and trouble, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Think About It
There is joy in knowing that God is alive and well and that He is interested in you! He wants to answer your prayers. Did you know that in two of the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life it says, “Everyone who asks receives” (Matt. 7:8, Luke 11:10)?

Jesus said that His disciples had not yet asked for anything. He encouraged them to ask so they would receive, that their joy be full (John 16:24). That goes for you and me as well.

Promises to Cherish
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? Jeremiah 32:27

‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. Jeremiah 32:17

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:8; Luke 11:10

Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes. 2 Chronicles 19:7

For there is no partiality with God. Romans 2:11 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Colossians 3:25

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4-19.
For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 2 Corinthians 1-20.

………………………………………………………………………………
“Believers wrestle with issues like, ‘Is God doing this to me?’ and ‘I’m in pain and I feel like I can’t function.’ In that wrestling, God wants to bring peace and make us whole.” The book offers an uplifting, practical, step-by-step approach to dealing with painful situations in our lives.

The article here is Chapter One of 7 Steps Out of the Humpty Dumps, 2008 Bridge-Logos
The full book is available on amazon.com and bn.com and more.

http://www.prayerworkshop.com

A Sunrise Day

Want to feel better today…to think better today? Well here are a few tips to get you going on your way…

As the sun rises on the horizon, so too a new day rises upon you…upon your life. Throw away your negative, depressing and discouraging thoughts. Follow the advice of God Himself:

Isaiah 43:18: “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. 

You can take His advice. If you think you can’t, then aske for God’s help. Let’s pray about it:

Dear heavenly Father, please  forgive me of all my sins, grant me the grace and healing touch to have a new outlook and a new start this day. I can’t do this. I can’t turn away from looking at my life, dissappointments, failures on my own. I ask for your mercy and help and grace right now, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Word of God says that He hears and will answer everything that is according to His will. So guess what? It is His will for you to have a new start, a healthy and promising outlook. It is His will for you to have healing and grace. I’ll prove it with these promises from the Scripture:

1 John 5:14-17

14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Matthew 7:7-11

7 ”Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Luke 11:1-13

1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” 2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven,   Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.  Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”  5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 9 ”So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Depressed? You only think you are…

Funny title? I think so. I remember years ago, I entertained thoughts like: “God…just take me out of here. Is this all there is to life? Take me.”

A short time later, I had gone shopping in North Carolina, which was about 20 miles over the boarder of Georgia…where we lived way back then.

A snow storm had started, and I mean a SNOW STORM. Cars were half off the road, parked, wrecked, and on the winding short 20-mile road, it was time to pull over.

I had tried to start up a hill, and there was crusted ice on the road. The car I was driving, kids in it and all, started to slide backwards. It barely stopped on the edge of a cliff with about a 100 foot drop. “Oh my God! Careful kids…out on the right!” I slowly and carefully opened up the driver’s side door, and out we slid.

There I was with my kids as we, crouched close to the ground and scooting, made our way to safety. At that prime moment, the Lord reminded me: “I thought you didn’t want to live.”

So here’s the blatant truth. I only THOUGHT I was depressed. You aren’t really depressed…it’s possible you only think you are. So after you have a good laugh at yourself, rejoice in Who God is and how He is able to do what you can’t do, bring you through what you can’t go through yourself. But He IS able.

Ephesians 3:20-21 is one of my favorite Scriptures:

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Just remember to talk to Jesus about your troubles. Did you ever hear of the old Gospel song that goes… “Now let us have a little talk with Jesus, let us tell Him all about our troubles. He will hear our faintest prayer and He will answer all our cares…”

Pretty great, isn’t that?

Take heart…Get a new start…Today!

Get Out…Get Going

Bored? Stop it! Okay, it’s time to brainstorm

Things to do:

Go to the mall and walk…then…

Get a tea or coffee while you are at the mall.

Something else to do:

Go to a movie; go to the library.

Something else to do:

Read a book; read some online news and mag articles.

Make Some Plans

John Tesh make a comment on one of his shows recently that gave those suffering from depression some new hope…

Did you know that he takes interesting topics, and adds the related points into the scheme of his music shows? It really makes for a great program. On this particular show, he discussed some findings from his research.

If you feel depressed, try making some plans with friends, family, or new people…findings are that there is a 72% improvement overall. I think that’s great. It really does make sense.

I remember in Bible college, I ask a guy who was single… “Are you ever lonely…?” His answer was not expected: “Never,” he said. “I make plans and stay busy…and therefore I’m never lonely.” Wow…I didn’t expect that for an answer.

Another thing I did once: I asked a woman if she was ever disappointed about her kids or grandkids not saying “thank you” when she did something for them. I was again surprised and the answer: “I never expect anything. Then, when something good happens, I am happy and thankful.” I was amazed. What a lesson.

I have to tell you…a long time ago I found that I am always learning. I am so appreciative of the above lessons. Aren’t they profound?

Start living anew today! Get up…Get out…Get going!

Susan Sherwood Parr

The Day Before January 1st

Everything Is New Tomorrow

Think about it…60 seconds ago doesn’t exist. Eyes forward. Do you see anything. Look ahead. Go on…do it. don’t look back.

Let Jesus lead you. Did you know that the Word of God says the following?

1. “I will lead you in paths you haven’t known.”

2. “I will make darkness light before you.”

3. “It is God Who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

4. “When you receive the Word of God, you received it not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the Word of God which works effectually in them that believe.”

Think about it… Jesus Christ your saviour helps you to have the right desires, creates in you His pleasure… and gives you the grace to do it….! Wonderful!

Welcome…

Consider Jesus…consider you…consider your relationship to Him.

This New Year

Get involved in a sound Bible-teaching church. Don’t just attend, but get involved. You will find that you feel better as a person.

John Tesh read a study on the radio this last year…and said that those who were depressed, when they made plans there was an over 70% improvement.

I heard a woman say…”I never expect anything…then, when something good happens I appreciate it.” Rather than looking at what isn’t…look at the good.

Ask God for help if you don’t know how or don’t seem to have that ability within yourself. Who does have abilities within themselves? I know NO ONE.

THE ANSWER?

“Every good gift [INCLUDING YOUR SIMPLE ABILITIES] and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

John 1:17

SO…pray about what you aren’t…what you are not like, and what you want to be able to do or be…