Casandra Martin

He called before ten o’clock in the morning and you could hear the tension in his voice. Ice covered the sidewalks at his school, and this morning it got the best of him. Three times he felt his legs slip out from underneath him. Three times, he fell with a hard thud to the ground. Shaken and bruised, he struggled to get back up and keep walking. The distance to his destination seemed to get longer and longer as the ice stretched out on the path before him. After a close encounter with a car slip-sliding on the ice, he reached his class and called home.

He needed some reassurance. He needed to share his fear, embarrassment, and worry. He was anxious about slipping again. We talked for a few minutes and then he went on to class. In the process, he taught me a lesson.

His phone call reminded me of the power of confession. We all slip. Sometimes on ice, but more often on sin, temptation, and unholy habits. We hit a slippery patch and go down. It hurts. It is dangerous. We are shaken and bruised and struggle to get back to our feet. Confession helps us find our balance. When we open our hearts and share our failures and fears, it resets us on firmer footing. It reassures us that we are not alone, that grace is our true reality, and that holding Jesus’ hand is the best way to walk in this slippery world.

My Jesus Resolution today is to embrace confession. Confession is hard. I have to admit that I slipped. I have to say out loud that I can’t walk by myself without falling flat on my face. But confession reassures me that God is on my side. It opens the door so that others can encourage me, lift me up, help me walk, and cheer when I make it. Confession is the remedy for the bruises I get from bumping into the struggles of this world. It showcases the beauty of grace, the faithfulness of God, and the transformation He is working in me for His glory.

Can you define the word integrated? Integrated is one of those interesting words. It means “to bring together or incorporate parts into a whole.” As a society, we talk about integrated technology – technology that is woven into every area of our lives. Educators discuss integrating curriculum and learning disciplines. Health providers talk about the need to integrate wellness and preventative care into the healing process. When we integrate, we stop looking at something as individual pieces and fit them together to work as a whole.

The transformation that God is working in us is all about integration. It is about bringing all of the different pieces of our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths under the authority of Christ. Integration comes from the root word integer, which means “whole.” That is what God wants for us. He wants us to be whole. Not broken. Not fractured. Not falling to pieces. Not flying off in a million directions.  Whole. Complete. Full. Put together in Him.

My Jesus Resolution today is to surrender to integration. I want every part of my life to line up with Jesus. My inconsistencies reveal where I need more integration. My faith needs to be as much about living a God-centered life as it is about speaking God’s name. I want Jesus to be integrated into my conversations, my choices, my motives, my attitudes, and my actions. Integration is the harder, longer, requires-deep-obedience, abundant, joy-filled path. It demands daily dying to self and learning to live in Him, through Him, with Him, and for Him.

I want to be a dreamer. Dreaming opens up vistas, pushes back boundaries, and frees us to imagine that something bigger than what we can see today is possible. Dreaming is important. If we never take time to dream, we can never see beyond where we are right now. We can end up in a rut of the regular, routine, and repetitive. Dreaming fuels the hard work that it takes to make tomorrow brighter than today.

Dreaming is more than wishful thinking. Dreaming is the launching pad for real and practical change. It is what inspires us, energizes us, and keeps us heading in the right direction. The mechanics of realizing a dream are rarely easy. They require discipline, commitment, and a willingness to believe that the dream is worth the price that must be paid to make it a reality.

The world encourages us to dream our own dreams. Pick anything, work hard, and make it your own. As a society, we like people who follow their dreams. We make movies about people who risk everything, give everything, to make their dreams come true. Our world is not as comfortable with people who live out God’s dreams. God’s dreams are bigger, more encompassing, and more penetrating than dreams we could ever dream for ourselves. God dreams of igniting light in darkness, love amidst hate, generosity in a world defined by greed, and sacrifice among people prone to selfishness. Living in God’s dreams has the power to shake the foundations, rock our realities, and change the world.

My Jesus Resolution today is to dream. I don’t want to dream just any dreams. I want to dream dreams bigger than the ones I can dream for myself. I want to dream God-shaped, God-sized, God-designed dreams. I also want to be committed to allowing God’s dream to take form in me. This is where it gets hard. In order to live in God’s dream, I have to give up my own. I have to surrender, obey, and trust that the cross-shaped, Christ-reflecting, resurrection-empowered life He dreams for me can be a reality when I walk, and dream, with Him.