Casandra Martin

I saw it on a church sign – “Protest sin. Occupy our pews.” Playing off of the media focus on the Occupy Wall Street and other protests meant to spotlight the inequity of corporate wealth, fiscal irresponsibility, and the need for greater social justice, this sign reminds us that there is a bigger battle to fight and more at stake than the size of a CEO’s bank account.

The idea of protesting sin is intriguing. The Christian life, by its very nature, should be a protest against sin. When we walk with Jesus, we reject the way of the world, turn our back on its values, and shut our ears to its voice. Light shines in the darkness revealing the sordid character of selfishness and the twisted tricks of temptation. The aroma of Christ penetrates the stench of sin, offering an invitation while also laying out an indictment. Salt cuts through the rancidness of rebellion, revealing the distastefulness of doing what is right in our own eyes.

On a personal level, I need to protest sin in my own heart. Too many times I am content to shrug my shoulders and let sin coexist with the seed of God’s Word. I need to be offended by its presence, commit myself to cutting it out of my life, and be willing to take whatever steps are necessary to change the landscape of my thinking, attitudes, motives, and desires.

The best protest against sin is to occupy the kingdom of God. We need to live in His presence, rest in His mercy, position ourselves in His faithfulness, and set up camp around the cross. We need to move under the canopy of His grace, and let our knees bend before His sovereignty. When we occupy the kingdom, we let the King occupy us.

My Jesus Resolution today is to become a protester and an occupier. I don’t often think of myself as a radical or a rebel, but following Jesus means doing things differently than the ninety-nine percent. Today I am going to protest the sin that fills up too many places in my heart. I am going to set my stake at the foot of the cross, determined to camp there until the borders of the kingdom fully encompass my life. The best way to change the world is to let Jesus change me.

It was a snapshot moment. I drove past a lush green field. Wooly sheep covered the landscape. Playing near its mother, a young lamb took tentative steps. It was like something out of a storybook. The lamb was perfect –fresh, snowy white, and innocent.

Lambs hold a special place in the story of God. From the earliest days, lambs were the animals sacrificed for sin. Their blood was spilled in the place of the life of the sinner. Shed on altars meant to direct hearts in worship and dedication, the lamb became the substitute. God’s mercy flowed like a river as the lamb’s blood covered the altar.

Sheep also hold a special picture of our relationship with God. We are the sheep of His pasture. He cares for us, protects us, nurtures us, loves us, and guides us to the places where we will flourish and grow. We live under the Shepherd’s tender care, watchful eye, and protective heart. We learn to listen to His voice, answer His call, and live in the shadow of His presence.

The most amazing portrait comes together when these two pictures merge. The Shepherd became a sheep in order to be our substitute. Jesus wrapped Himself in the skin of a man in order to live among the sheep. He slept where we slept, walked where we walked, ate what we ate, and experienced life as we live it. He showed us how to extend grace, walk in mercy, love without reservation, and live fully in the kingdom of God.

John the Baptizer looked at Jesus and proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The cross was never far from Jesus’ mind. He came to be your substitute. He came to take your place on the altar of sacrifice. He came to pay for your sin. He came to shed His blood so that you might have life.

My Jesus Resolution today is to bow before the Lamb. That is what those in heaven are doing right now. Worship, honor, glory, and praise belong to Him because of who He is and what He has done for me. But I want to remember the picture in the field. The perfect lamb, white, fresh, and innocent taking steps on wobbly legs so that He can say, “I understand. I have been there. Live in my shadow. Walk with me.”

Driving with a GPS is a lesson in faith for me. I turn off the familiar path, following a voice that gives me directions that will take me to my destination. For me, this is an exercise in trust, and it highlights exactly where I struggle in my walk with God. I want to know the ins and outs of every road I am going to take. I want to call the shots about where to turn. I want to make decisions about my direction.

This day found me driving in an unfamiliar part of town. I left the main road, listening to the instructions about where to turn, what path to follow, and when to make lane changes. I was just trying to stay on course when the GPS announced that it was time to turn onto Grace Street.

I couldn’t help but smile. It was a God moment. My thoughts while driving had been overwhelmed by the similarities between driving with a GPS and walking by faith. Now He showed me the blessings of trusting His direction. Follow His lead, and I will always end up on Grace Street.

Grace Street is both our destination, and the road on which we travel when we go with God. It is a place where mistakes are forgiven, wrong turns are corrected, leaky hearts are mended, and flat souls are reinflated. It is a place with room to grow, transformation to be experienced, and wonder waiting around the corner. When we walk in the Way, we will discover that the home for our hearts is located on Grace Street.

My Jesus Resolution today is remember that I live on Grace Street. If I take a wrong turn, I can turn around and find my way back home. I can rest in all that it means to live in a place defined by grace. I can tell others my address, and invite them to come and stay. I am going to trust His lead, follow His direction, and walk in His steps. I may struggle with wanting more control, but I am going to set my heart to listen to His voice and match His moves. A GPS can sometimes send you in the wrong direction, but God’s compass is always set toward Grace Street.

She is one of those beautiful women. In her eighties, she walks a bit more slowly than she used to, but her heart is soft and tender as it bows in surrender to her King. She greets me every week with a smile and a hug. She is delighted to be in worship, and looks forward to the times when she can celebrate all that Jesus has done for her.

I like listening to her stories. She has lived a rich, full life of service and consecration. She knows much about the landscape of God’s character, the rhythm of His heart, and the depth of His grace. Her words are laced with the wisdom that flows from a lifetime of walking with the Lord.

It was the grin on her face that caught my attention this morning. I went from being intrigued to humbled in the space of a few seconds. She wanted to tell me something new she had learned about Jesus during the week. Her eyes grew big as she explained how she was seeing Him in new ways, discovering His presence in ordinary moments, and hearing His heartbeat as never before. Her willingness to be teachable, to find joy in learning, is an extraordinary lesson.

Too many times I miss the opportunity to learn something about Jesus. I get busy, and let the lessons rush past me. I am noisy, and miss His quiet whispers. I think I already have the answers, and so I turn my attention elsewhere. Being teachable means that my heart is always ready to learn.

My Jesus Resolution today is to be more like my friend. I want to be a learner. The classroom of His grace is always open. Sometimes the lessons are found in quiet, unusual, or unexpected places – in the questions of a child, the kindness of a stranger, or in the eyes of someone sitting next to you. God has something He wants to teach me today. The question is – am I ready to learn?

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10

God is invested in you. You will find His fingerprints on your DNA. His attention to detail shows up in your eyes. Your soul is a reflection of His very own image. From your very first moments, God has been knitting you together, weaving your cells, sinews, muscles, and bones into the frame that will carry His greatest masterpiece into the world.

When we enter into Christ through the new birth of baptism, God unveils His greatest creativity. We become His workmanship – the product of His love. Held within the word workmanship is the idea that we are God’s masterpiece, His poetry. Think about what that means. God uses you to express His beauty to the world.

The same fingers that placed each star in the velvet night sky touches your soul with His power. The same voice that called the mountains to rise and ordered the sea into its boundaries calls you to walk by His side. The same breath that brought Adam to life lives inside of you. All of the beauty we see in the sunrise, the wonder we witness on a mountaintop, the power we experience in the ocean currents, the exquisite attention to detail evident in the butterfly are just road signs to help you grasp what He can do in you.

The masterpiece that God is creating in you is the image of Jesus. Stroke by stroke, His artistry is being revealed in your life. Line by line, the poetry that expresses His infinite love and matchless grace is being written on your heart. Note by note, a symphony that rises in praise to the King is being composed in your soul.

My Jesus Resolution today is to appreciate His beauty. I want to surrender the canvas of my life to the Artist. I want Him to paint His masterpiece in every corner of my heart. I long for His poetry to be written across the pages of my days. Too often I look in the mirror and see a mess. God sees a masterpiece in the making. He calls me to look at my reflection through His eyes. When I do, I can see the outline of Jesus taking shape in me.

Do you take vitamins? Vitamins are nutritional supplements. They are designed to help us bolster our immune systems, plug in the holes in our diets, and ensure that we have all the nutrients we need to stay strong and healthy. Every day I take a multi-vitamin because I want to take care of my body.

A young mom told me the neatest story. On her kitchen table, she has two jars of vitamins. One bottle holds the basic, regular body vitamins. The other jar holds her family’s spiritual vitamins. The spiritual vitamin jar is filled with Bible verses. She writes pieces of scripture on slips of paper, placing them in the bottle for her family. Each morning at breakfast, her children take their multi-vitamin, and then read their spiritual vitamin for the day. At dinner, this family talks about how the wisdom they read in the morning covered their hearts during the day.

There is profound wisdom in having that jar of spiritual vitamins on the table. She is teaching her children that taking care of the spiritual is as important as taking care of the physical. Every morning she arms them with a shield for their souls. She bolsters their hearts, encouraging them to take God’s Word with them into their days. Every night they talk about how God protected them, guided them, and blessed them because they planted His Word deep within their hearts.

My Jesus Resolution today is to look at my Bible differently. It is nutrition for my soul. It has the power to help me be healthy, strong, vibrant, and alive. Making it a part of who I am will blunt the things that want to attack my spirit, help me keep my balance, and give me more spiritual energy during the day. If I take my spiritual vitamins, I might find that I sing more, worry less, sleep better, smile bigger, pray deeper, see farther, love quicker, and look more like Jesus.

Hearts are funny things. They can soar, be weighed down, be light, be heavy, be broken, be mended, be empty, or be so full that you feel like you are going to burst. We talk about people ripping our hearts out, giving someone the keys to our heart, or expressing heart-felt emotion. On Valentine’s Day, we might tell someone that we love them will all of our hearts.

How careful are you with your heart? Proverbs 4:23 tell us, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Our hearts hold the essence of who we are. It is the spring from which the rest of our lives flow. Our hearts define us, guide us, and shape how we walk in the world. What we love speaks volumes about our priorities, our perspective, and our possibilities.

God wants our life springs, our hearts, to remain pure and crystal clear. It is amazing how we cringe at the idea of drinking polluted water, but let the world’s muck cloud the waters of our hearts. What fills our hearts affects the rest of who we are. It impacts our choices, determines our direction, influences our vision, sways our satisfaction, and defines our relationships.

If we want to look like Jesus, it must begin with our hearts. The very best way to keep your heart safe is to give it to God. He will protect you, love you, fill you, and cover your heart with His immense power and unlimited faithfulness. He will seal your heart with His Spirit, live inside your heart, and guard your heart with His peace.

My Jesus Resolution today is to give God my heart. Every day I get to make the choice about what to put in my heart, where to let my heart rest, and who I will give the key to my heart. I can give the world unlimited access to who I am, or let God be the gatekeeper of my heart. If I want Jesus to flow out of my heart, I must daily make the decision to let Jesus fill my heart.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Plato

We walk in small worlds. We all tend to move through life with eyes that only extend out to the edges of our own little worlds. We don’t mean to only see so far. We want to have hearts that take in the hurts, wounds, and troubles of others, but our own struggles take on a life of their own and keep us tightly focused.

Kindness is an innocuous word in our society. It is a nice thing to extend to animals and small children. Kindness doesn’t get much attention. It is seen as something pleasant to do or be if you can, but it will get you run over if you go too far.

God’s kindness is not just a pleasant gesture. It is an extension of His grace, an element of His love, and evidence of His faithfulness. His kindness is an incredibly powerful force. Because it is a part of His character, God calls for it to be abundant in the hearts of His people.

In kindness, we notice. We see another’s heart. We pay attention, and see what is in someone’s eyes or below the surface in their hearts. In seeing them, we give them room to grow, learn, love, and hurt. When we are kind, we help someone breathe in grace.

We are all struggling. We all wrestle with fears, doubts, worries, and anxieties. We all have baggage. Some of us try to hide it. Others try decorating it, advertising it, or burying it. But Plato is right. Everyone you meet today is fighting some kind of battle. You may not see it, or ever know what it is, but the battle is still there. Being kind gives them a chance to glimpse God on the battlefield.

My Jesus Resolution today is to be kind. I am going to be deliberate about looking in the eyes of the people I meet today. I am going to pay attention to the opportunities I have to extend a little grace, offer some hope, and do something kind. Kindness never seems like a big deal to the one offering it, but to the one who receives it, it is something extraordinary.

We decided to remodel our bathroom. It was time. We had a leak in the shower, and since we had to fix that, we determined that it would be a good time to redo the whole room. We ripped everything out, taking the room down to its shell. It was a mess.

We slowly rebuilt every part of the room. We installed a new shower, refinished the cabinets, and put up sheetrock. Friends came over to lend their expertise. The kids got a first-hand experience in demolition and construction, and we all grew to appreciate the luxury of having more than one working bathroom for a family of five.

Finally we were ready to move on to the finishing touches. We picked out paint and chose trim to make it all look warm and inviting. Looking at the blank sheetrock reminded me of Deuteronomy 6:9, where Moses instructs the people to write God’s Word on the doorframes of their houses. That gave me the idea. I gave each child a marker and asked them to write their favorite Bible verse on the wall. I explained that it would all be covered with paint and by the trim, but we would always know that it was there.

Wide-eyed and wondering about mom’s sudden leniency toward writing on the walls, my kids stepped into the bathroom. They each took a turn writing God’s Word in the room. My husband and I added our own verses, and we all crowded into the bathroom to take a look. Scriptures about love, grace, transformation, and courage covered the walls.

We painted and finished out the room. Covering each word made us smile. We were embedding it in the framework of our house. We prayed that each time one of our children went into the bathroom, they would think about the words that they had written on the walls, and write them once again on their hearts.

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” – Psalm 119:11.

My Jesus Resolution today is to write His Word on my heart. I want His Word to leave an indelible mark on my life. I want it etched into the core of who I am. I want it to be so much a part of who I am that it is written into the framework of my being. When we hide His Word in our lives, it grows and blossoms. It stretches us as it expands our souls. It sends its roots down deep, displacing the old and securing the new. Today I am going start with one verse, and write it in big, bold letters on the wall of my heart.