Called to Obedience

Susie Caroline Hooks Vandervoort

October 20, 1935 – March 5, 2013

“Any Old Drain Pipe Will Do”

Susie Vandervoort coined phrases that caught our attention and stuck in our memory. She said, “Any old drain pipe will do.” “Keep it clean.” “If I don’t have to fight you, I can fight for you.” “Give me your diamonds.” When she spoke, whether the imagery was drain pipes or diamonds, the subject of her lessons was always the same: Father God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and our relationship with Him.

Susie spent her life pursuing intimacy with God. Susie read and studied the Word of God daily. She read devotionals and books written by Christians, who truly knew God intimately. She learned to get alone with God, be still and listen to His voice. Throughout her life, the Lord taught Susie about Himself.

Susie saw herself as a drain pipe for “living water”, which is a phrase Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit. As Jesus poured out His Spirit, His very life, into Susie, she made herself available to be His conduit so He could pour into the lives of other people through her. In recent years, Susie kept hearing Him say,” Do you love Me? Feed My sheep!”, so she took every opportunity to teach others what she had learned from Him.

In a letter to Susie, Meredith Colbrunn wrote,

“(Susie,) I believe that God has gifted you with the gift of wisdom and encouragement. You know better than anyone I have ever met how to come alongside a woman, right where she is, and speak the truth of God into her life. You know how to love her through her failures. You know how to encourage her to persevere (through her trials). And you know how to identify with her heartbreak.”

Meredith captured in words what so many of us experienced as Susie mentored, discipled and befriended us. Susie made herself available to anyone, who wanted to know Jesus more intimately. We were so blessed to have her “do life” with us! She listened with generous time and attention to our hearts and our hurts and then she directed us with 100% consistency to Jesus Christ as the only solution to each and every challenge and struggle in our lives!

Lauren Smith spoke for many of the ladies that Susie discipled when she said,

“One of the most important things Susie gave me was unconditional love without expectations. Susie let God do that through her. That’s what I want to do in my life. I think that’s what Susie would want. She taught me to get rid of expectations. It is the most freeing and the most difficult thing to do. Once there was a Bible Study Fellowship question that asked,” Who in your life has displayed Jesus?” I instantly thought of Susie because the love she gave me and my child was the love of Jesus!”

Donna Londot echoed these same sentiments when she added,

“I start every morning by asking God let His will be done, not mine today, just like Susie told me she did. Her meekness and honesty was what made the experience so rewarding and helpful. Her walk with God was daily as ours is and she was always searching for more, with God’s guidance, to be all He wanted her to be.”

Julane Lamkin offered thoughts that many women shared:

“Susie was willing to be transparent and vulnerable in her mentoring of me, which made such a difference in my willingness to be vulnerable with her and caused increased growth in my walk with Jesus. Susie wasn’t afraid to ask the difficult questions or call me up on my misguided beliefs for which I am so thankful.”

Laurie Vanderburg shared,

“She gave me the truth about who I was and who God was. By taking me through CTO she taught me how to appropriate the word of God in my life and use it as a filter. She gave me the tools to live biblically and to teach it to my children…. Now daily, as I go to my prayer times, I cannot help but remember her and how she taught me the importance of prayer each day before our Abba Father. Her example of daily prayer will forever be instilled in my heart. It wasn’t just what she said but what she did.”

And finally, Trinette Keffer so eloquently shared,

“Susie was God with skin on. She took the commandments to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…and your neighbors as yourself VERY seriously. Susie simply LOVED Jesus and everything else about her was a reflection of that….She was a gracious lady, but she was a bulldog. She told the truth and demanded I face the truth. She was affectionate in the way she spoke and she never half listened to you. You always had her full attention….I think she was the only woman who could give a bear hug across a wireless connection. And when she told you, “Love you BIG”, she meant it.”

Lord Jesus, thank you for Susie! She was a spiritual sister, mother or grandmother to so many of us! When we remember her, Susie would want us to give all the glory to God! She would want us to apply the Truth to our lives each day, and teach these truths to our children and to others who want a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus. And Susie would want us to always remember that she loved us BIG!

Treasured Sayings

Love you BIG!

Keep it Clean!

“If I don’t have to fight you, I can fight for you.”

Give me your diamonds!

Any old drain pipe will do!

Never put anyone on a pedestal!

Take and say “Thank you”!

Stop your stinkin’ thinkin’!

Somebody has to get in there with compassion!

Don’t forget to remember!

I nearly came undone!

I got out of it before we got into it!

All of that and all of them are kept out so nothing is between me and Him!

Until next time!

Lessons Susie Taught Us

Some of the many lessons Susie taught us are included on the following pages. Remember and give all the glory to God! (These lessons were recorded in Susan Moyle’s Journal from 2008 to 2013.)

Our Relationship with God

Love for, dependence on and obedience to God- that is all we are responsible for. God will do the rest!

We have the opportunity to walk before Him in total dependence and obedience. That’s having a perfect heart. A clean heart, pure heart, whole heart, undivided heart, and a perfect heart in the bible all mean the same thing. To have this heart, you have to be still a lot! On the days He sets you apart to be quiet, it is time to listen. Walking before Him does not mean walking with Him. It means being before Him all the time as one goes before a judge.

God, You are unseen, unknown and unheard. You want to be seen, known and heard thru me!

After God made man, He saw all that He had made and thought it was very good because He saw Himself, His image and likeness in man. Really, only God pleases Himself because He is perfect!

Give God enough time,

so you can hear enough,

so He can teach you enough,

so that you will know enough,

so that He can use you!

It is as though the Lord says, “At the start of the day, go into your closet and be intimate with Me. Then go out and enjoy your day. It will be different because you’ve been with Me. Let me satisfy and fulfill you!”

It is so relaxing to let Jesus be in charge of my entire being!You are unseen, unknown and unheard. You want to be seen, known and heard thru me!

God, You are unseen, unknown and unheard. You want to be seen, known and heard thru me!

In the bible, God describes Himself as our Father, our brother, our friend, the lover of our soul, and even the bridegroom. He compares every intimate relationship there is on earth to His relationship with us. He says it many different ways so we will get it! We are made for Him! Only He will satisfy and fulfill us!

We are His bride. Is He enough? Is He rapturous? We commit adultery every time we allow something or someone else to be the source of our anything. That is why God will take our idols again and again!

Would you change anything about your day? When you say, “Absolutely not!” you listened to the Holy Spirit!

I am just a suit of clothes that Jesus wears.

Spiritual Food

Bethlehem means the House of Bread.

The Bread of Life was born there.

To the Israelites wandering in the desert, God gave manna.

As a Christian today, God gives you the whole loaf every day, not just manna or a wafer.

The loaf of Bread is not stale, not day old.

You can have as much as you want.

You can have the whole loaf, all of God!

You can be filled to the full.

You are what you eat.

Just keep eating on Him!

Just keep partaking of the divine nature! My nature is dead and I replace that with the divine nature, Jesus Christ’s nature.

Am I His Bethlehem today?

The Word of God is spiritual food. We need to prepare it and serve it to our families so it is appetizing. Serve up a banquet for them every day!

We can only grasp so much at a time. We have to digest it and it causes us to grow. Then, we eat again. Be a partaker of the divine nature. Jesus says, “Eat on Me. Just keep eating on Me.”

Prayer

When you pray, your posture before God matters. Take off your shoes. You are on holy ground. Kneel before Him. You can kneel on your knees or in your heart.

Get alone with God, be still and listen for His still, small “voice”. Throughout your day, listen for His voice prompting you in the little things and the big things. Teach your children to hear His voice, too! We all learn the same way. Ask the Holy Spirit to tell you any sin in your heart so you can confess it to Him in prayer and ask Him to forgive and cleanse you. Then listen with your brain, not your ears. The first thought that comes into your mind that is a different “tone” or is not your own thought is the Holy Spirit’s response. Remember that “voice” because it is the voice of God! Listen for that voice and you will hear Him talking to you often.

When you have lost something and can’t find it anywhere, use it as an opportunity to practice hearing God’s voice. This is so simple even a little child can do it. God knows where everything is all the time, so stop looking and ask Him to please tell you where it is. He won’t answer you until you have stopped looking and stopped thinking about where the lost item could be. When you are depending on Him completely, and when He is ready, He will answer your prayer.

When you pray, get as clean as you know how to get! (Forgive others, confess your sin in prayer to God, and reconcile with anyone against whom you have sinned.) Next, consider how you are going before the throne of God. Are you going before Him as an adult? Instead, go before the Lord as a little child, totally dependent on Him. Remember He is your Abba, Daddy! See yourself as one or two years old, before you could talk. Or imagine your own child at that age and remember how he or she toddled up to you with outstretched arms, unable to articulate his needs yet trusting you fully to provide whatever was needed. You figured it out and fed, clothed, changed, or put him down for a nap, etc., at just the right time! Go before God like that, totally dependent! Remember, you are a child of God and children are dependents!

Before you go to sleep at night, talk to Jesus and thank Him for 10 simple things like 10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 eyes, 2 ears, running water, electricity, indoor plumbing…. You get the idea. Do it every night and over time see how many things you can thank Him for before you fall asleep!

When you see “clouds” forming on the horizon of your life and you know a “storm” is coming, instead The Ballof flinching and thinking “Here comes something awful!” say to Jesus, “Great, this is another opportunity to see You work!” Depend on Him fully! Ask Him to act on your behalf! Trust and obey Him and see what He will do!

I just keep hearing Him ask, “Susie, do I satisfy you? Am I enough for you?” I answer, “Yes, Lord.” Then I hear, “Do you need your child walking with Me before you are satisfied?” I answer, “No, Lord, You are all I need.” Then He asks, “Do you need your spouse walking with Me before you are satisfied?” I answer, “No, Lord, You are all I need!” If I need Jesus plus anything else, I am coveting. Don’t covet anything! Coveting is feeling displeased with what God has chosen to give me. I am saying to God, “You are not enough for me.” Instead start saying, “Jesus, You are all I need. You are enough for me.”

When there is a spiritual battle, Christians have to “settle the matter” once and for all, meaning that we have to decide to depend 100% on Jesus and NO ONE ELSE including ourselves, and our spouse. Once we REALLY are 100% satisfied and fulfilled by Christ and only Christ, He moves out and undertakes for us that which we need. So when an answer to a significant prayer is not forthcoming, examine yourself. Are you 100% satisfied and fulfilled with Jesus Christ or do you need Jesus plus the answer you desire? Be satisfied with just Jesus! When Jesus is all you want and all you need, He will move out and you will see His answer to your prayer! It is His character and He cannot deny Himself!

Cardinal Story Prayer:

Lord Jesus, live in me and thru me today. Stretch out into my whole body.

What do You want to see thru my eyes today, Lord?

What do You want to hear thru my ears, Lord?

What do You want to say thru my mouth, Lord?

Who do You want to hug with my arms, Lord?

What do You want to do with my hands, Lord?

Where do You want to go today, Lord? I will take you there!

Keep It Clean

Forgive immediately, repeatedly and from the heart!

Every relationship begins with forgiveness because that is where our relationship with Jesus begins.

Forgiveness is the power!

God is so serious about forgiveness, confession and reconciliation - complete cleanness of the heart – so we can hear Him!

Any old drain pipe will do, as long as it is open on both ends!

I am a big zero. Nothing I am or have ever done makes me useful to God. Not my upbringing, my education, my success at work, role as a spouse, parent, or my ministry - nothing! But, if I let Him clean me up so I am a clean zero, He can fill me and live thru me! Now He becomes my value! He can do His work thru me!

We don’t forgive ourselves for anything. We receive His forgiveness as a gift. He gives it as a gift and we open that box and enjoy it fully!

Marriage

Jesus must be my first love. He must be my everything. Then, I will love my spouse as myself thru Jesus. God is still the main entrée. Everything else is a cherry on top, including my marriage.

Give your marriage to God and rest. How big is your God? He can make this into something wonderful! If you give it to Him for safe keeping, don’t take it back. Entrust him with it. He is big enough for the job!

Originally, Adam was Adam and Eve. He originally had full capacity for both emotion and logic. Then God took Eve out of Adam. He took the “emotional side” out of him and put it in her. She was designed to be his “helpmete”. She grows an emotional side to him. He grows a logical side to her. If she is stuck in emotion and he is stuck in facts, they can be at war. Take it as a gift instead of a fight!

Ministry

There is a direct connection between the time you spend with the Lord and your ministry. Ministry is the fruit of your intimate time with Him. If you don’t take any time with Him, there isn’t any fruit. Our children are fruit. Raising children to know and love God is a very important ministry.

Go where you are sent. Stay where you are put. Give what you've got.

Many people are waiting for their important ministry so they have their “foot on the accelerator” raising children”. Actually, raising children to love, obey and depend on God is the important ministry God has given them.

There are two kinds of people. When you invite the first kind to a bible study, or offer them a Christian book, they say,” No, thank you.” On the inside they think, “I’m fine. Don’t try to fix me.” The second kind knows that something is wrong with them! They know they are sinners! So when you invite them to a bible study or offer them a Christian book, they say,” Yes, thank you!” May we always be teachable!

When I want another person to know Jesus more deeply and intimately with no concern for myself, that is loving another as I love myself.

When praying for another person to grow spiritually, pray this prayer: “God, show him who You are and then show him himself! Draw him to Yourself.

Suffering

When suffering, realize God is sovereign. Everything that has happened is in His sovereign plan for me. When our suffering has not been caused by other people, we can still use the 1-2-3-4-5 Forgiveness Outline without step # 3, because we never forgive God for anything.

1. Remember God has ordained this challenge in my life.

2. Thank Him for this trial.

3. (Skip forgiving because we don’t forgive God.)

4. Ask, “How can I obey You, Lord? How can I glorify You, Lord?”

5. Ask, “What are You trying to teach me?”

This is childlike dependence. Jesus gives me all I need. Once I get everyone and everything out from between me and Him, look out! Watch what I am thinking all the time. Keep everyone in their right place. Keep Jesus the only one I need.

Everybody needs a reason to get up in the morning. Is mine Jesus?

My free will gives me the choice of how to respond when suffering. The correct response is abiding in Him. As His child, I choose to abide and rest. Have you seen a child resting in a parent’s arms? Have you seen a child struggling to get down while the parent continues to hold him? Make a choice to be the resting child! We don’t need to ever struggle anymore. Free will can lay there on His shoulder or free will can struggle to get down. Remember, without Him, you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Thank God, more and more and more! The more we thank, the more He gives! Have a thankful attitude regardless of what is happening. Just keep thanking Him!

Understanding Biblical Terms

In the Bible, the heart means a person’s mind, emotion and will. So what you think, put with an emotion results in what you will do. In the Bible, the words heart and soul mean the same thing.

“Diamonds” from Scripture

We are miners mining in the Word of God for precious gems. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires! Give me your diamonds!

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” This means when I am prideful, God isn’t on my side or just neutral. He is opposing me! He’s saying, “Susie, if I don’t have to fight you, I can fight FOR you! This is repeated three times in Proverbs 3:34, James 4: 6, and 1 Peter 5:5! This is a spiritual law, which is just as real and absolute as the physical law of gravity!

David fought Goliath and won! Who is your giant? It could be yourself if you are proud or arrogant.

God is a fighter. He loves a challenge and He always wins. “For the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him….” 2 Chronicles 16:9

Psalm 139 teaches us that God knew all of our days including the day of our birth and the day of our death before even one of them occurred. Susie said, “There is a lot of freedom in that! Live in that freedom!”

Sometime later, God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”” Genesis 22:1-2

What is my Isaac? Is it my child or children? My husband? My wife? My loved one? God is testing me to see if this gift He has given me is going to come between me and Himself. Once He has tested me, He will provide as He provided the ram to die in Isaac’s place. God’s son, Jesus, is the provision. He provides for me what I thought I needed to get out of my Isaac. I must give my Isaac to Jesus for safe keeping. I must entrust Him with his or her safe keeping and not take it back. He is big enough for the job! I must put my child, my spouse, or my loved one in His arms. Thru this testing, God is building mercy and compassion in me for others. Then, when I let God give me all of Himself and He satisfies and fulfills me, everything else is just the cherry on top!

As long as I am thinking and believing, “But God, I need this relationship to be fulfilled”, the idol is still there. God asks, “Am I enough?” I have to answer, “Yes!” But God sees my heart. He knows if there is still an idol filling His rightful place.

Sometimes I want something good but it is withheld. Is there a snake in the motive? A snake is a wrong motive. Maybe I want my child to act a certain way or I want a certain kind of husband or wife. When I am “dead” to all of that, I will be truly content with God alone. Then I will give that child or that spouse compassion and mercy.

David fought Goliath and won! Who is your giant? It could be yourself if you are proud or arrogant.

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:16

Redemption.

What does it mean? Does it stop with being bought out of slavery to sin by Jesus Christ and a promise of going to heaven when I die?

Redemption is more, so much more. It is like I am back in the Garden of Eden. I can walk before God all day long like a happy child! It is just Daddy (God the Father) and me.

As His child, my purpose is to glorify God, reflect God, and enjoy him forever. I am a mirror. He’s being seen by the world through me. He’s enjoying me and I’m enjoying Him forever. Talk about delight!

Other people around me may be miserable. Why? God reveals Himself to me and others in difficult circumstances, which cause stress. God likes this stress because He can be seen as the Prince of Peace.

When I depend on Him 100% like a little child depends on a loving father, Jesus fights for me. He does not fight as fleshly men fight. He comes with words of encouragement and admonishment. He fights with truth whereas the world slanders. When He begins to fight, He says “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

He’s the Prince of Peace but He comes with the sword of the Spirit of Truth. He performs surgery on the heart. Those he cuts make a choice to heal or become angry with God. Being angry or dissatisfied with God is like an infection in the person’s soul.

Why does God choose to use difficult circumstances in my life? If I had sweet peace all the time, it would cause me to become independent of God. He uses stress or battles to keep me in the “foxhole” right next to Him.

Many times, He uses my own family. God says family members will be pitted against each other, but he does not include husband and wife because God hates divorce. So we learn that God does not cause stress in marriage.

The Battle Ground of the Mind

Do you preach to yourself?

What do you talk to yourself about? Do you remind yourself that Jesus lives inside of you? You may ask, “Why can’t I remember this all of the time?” We get up in the morning and think about Jesus being inside of us and then something happens: a problem occurs, the phone rings, someone says something to hurt our feelings, etc. Do we remember to ask Jesus to take care of each thing for us? And do we trust Him to do it? Or do we just let that problem get inside of us and start thinking all about the problem and the people causing the problem? Do I think, “I have to take care of this!” Once I do that, Jesus’ “life flow” in me is on hold. How do we get the “sap” to start flowing again? Come back to Jesus!

The battle ground is your mind.

It is in your thoughts. What are you thinking? Are you having a conversation with Jesus? Or are you thinking about all the things you have to do? Or worse are you thinking about the people and things that have been said to hurt you? This is stinkin’ thinkin’! Stop your stinkin’ thinkin’! Remember, Jesus is there!

Start talking to Him in your mind. If you will think about Him and depend on Him each time you have a need and even when you don’t, He will act for you! Remember, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) If you think about the problem- how bad it is, how hurt you feel, how awful and unkind that person is, how you can’t do this or that – Jesus is waiting for you to come back to Him!

Susie’s “ReadList"

A list of some of Susie’s favorite books follows. She read and reread these books!

“The Saving Life of Christ” by Major Ian W. Thomas………..….ISBN 0-310-33261-3

“They Found the Secret” by V. Raymond Edman……………………ISBN 0-310-24051-4

“My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers………….……ISBN 0-929239-57-1

“His Victorious Indwelling” compiled by Nick Harrison…....ISBN 978-0-310-21849-4

“The Indwelling Life of Christ” by Major Ian W. Thomas……..….ISBN 1-59052-524-8

“The Secret of God’s Presence” by Andrew Murray………………ISBN 0-88368-563-9

“The Power of the Blood of Jesus” by Andrew Murray…………ISBN 0-88368-234-6

“The Holiest of All” by Andrew Murray………………………………….ISBN 0-88368-523-X

“Absolute Surrender” by Andrew Murray……………………………..ISBN 9781611043211

“The Calvary Road” by Roy Hession………………………………………..ISBN 0-87508-788-4