Casandra Martin

Did you ever hang upside down as a child? I used to climb up the swing set, looking at the world with my legs wrapped around the top bar and my long hair dangling toward the ground. Upside down, everything looked different. The sky stretched out like a blue field. The clouds looked like stepping stones into adventure. Even the grass and the dirt that now formed my sky looked wonderful and new upside down.

In many ways, God’s kingdom is an upside down kingdom. It stands in such complete contrast to the ways and values of the world that being a part of His kingdom is a call to live an upside down life. Here are ten upside down ways Jesus calls us to live.

1. Love your enemies.

2. Be humble.

3. Be a servant.

4. Last place can be the best place.

5. The surest way to live is to die.

6. There is victory in surrender.

7. Maturity means having the faith of a child.

8. Be still.

9. Live transparently.

10. There is more joy in giving than receiving.

My Jesus Resolution today is to live upside down. The world tells me that self-interest, power, possessions, and status are the goals to which I should dedicate myself. Jesus calls me to live so radically different from my culture that it will feel like I am looking at things upside down. But maybe, just maybe, when I live like Jesus wants me to live, I am looking at the world as it was really meant to be seen.

I need a heart transplant. My physical heart is beating fine, but the heart that makes up the heart of who I am is a mess. It is infected with sin, stuffed with selfishness, and weighed down with worry. My heart has open wounds inflicted by pride, greed, and personal ambition. Guilt and shame fill my heart, squeezing it in a vise of despair.

I have tried cleaning up my heart. I make resolutions, determining to work harder, be stronger, and make better choices. My will power, however, isn’t strong enough to overcome the darkness that has a grip on my heart. I try, fail, and hear that little voice telling me that nothing will ever change.

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 36:26

A heart transplant is the only answer, and that is exactly what God has promised to do. He knows that my heart is so infected with sin that it must be removed if there is any hope of saving the daughter that He loves. He takes out the heart that has become hardened and calloused, and replaces it with a heart that is tender to His touch, sensitive to His presence, and responsive to His will. It is the heart that I have always wanted, but could never have on my own.

My Jesus Resolution is to trace the scars that opened the way for my heart transplant. I don’t have a scar on my chest. The scars for this heart transplant are found on the hands and feet of my Savior. He paid for the transplant. By His wounds, I have been healed.

“And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” – Revelation 21:5a

I love this verse. The more I think about the promises contained in these simple words, the more excited and awestruck I am. My longing for heaven pulls my heart to see the brokenness of this world with new eyes. My soul aches with those who are struggling with broken relationships, broken spirits, broken bodies, and broken hope. This promise is a beacon of light in the darkness that often threatens to overwhelm us. No matter what today holds, there is going to be a time when our burdens will be no more and everything will be new.

Want to dream with me? Here are ten things that will be no more when we get to heaven.

1. There will be no more death, cemeteries, or grieving families.
2. There will be no more broken hearts.
3. There will be no more tears.
4. There will be no more worry.
5. There will be no more fear.
6. There will be no more pain.
7. There will be no more broken bodies.
8. There will be no more anxiety, depression, or unhappiness.
9. There will be no more guilt or shame.
10. There will be no more loneliness.

My Jesus Resolution today is to walk through today with new confidence. What is happening today is not the end of my story. The final chapter of my story is filled with no mores and brand news. The burdens, pains, and struggles of today can serve as reminders that a better tomorrow is on its way. I may have to struggle through some difficult things today, but with every step my Savior reminds me that someday these things will be no more.

What does it take to shake your world? There are tremors caused by unexpected bills, work problems, and relationship struggles. Our foundations shift when we receive the lab report, the phone call, or the letter in the mail. Things start to spin and tilt when the chair across the table is empty, when dreams crash, or when you find yourself flat on your back wondering how you will ever get back up.

When we feel shaken, fear becomes a constant companion. Panic steals our ability to take a deep breath. Worry creeps in as our confidence slips away. The shadows seem darker, the air seems colder, and isolation boxes us in. It is hard to see past the giant that is shaking the ground on which our souls stand. Our possibilities look small while our problems become magnified.

“I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand I shall not be shaken.” – Psalm 16:8

I can’t promise you that world-shaking moments won’t come. In fact, I can guarantee they will. But David’s words are the key to hanging on when everything around you seems to be falling apart. “I have set the Lord always before me.” Keeping our eyes on God will teach us that He is bigger, stronger, and more steadfast than anything that can shake our souls.

My Jesus Resolution is to hang on tight. He is at my right hand. I am going to take that literally today. I am going to wear a bracelet on my right wrist. Today it is going to remind me of how close God is to me. When I feel the ground shaking, I am going to look at my right hand and remember. When I find my heart quaking, I am going to remind myself of His promises. The world may shake, but God’s love for me never will.

Look for your name. You can find it on a soft drink bottle these days. The clever marketing campaign by one of the country’s largest soda manufacturers has people digging through the shelves, taking selfies, and buying soft drinks for their friends. The product in the bottle isn’t new. The novelty comes from finding the bottle that has your name on it.

Your name is important. It does more for you than differentiate you from the next person. Your name speaks to your identity. When someone knows your name, they know something about you. Your name comes to represent your heart, your character, and your focus. When you mention the name of a person, more comes to mind than just outward identification material. Say someone’s name and you will recall something about their attitude, actions, and the substance of their soul.

Finding your name on a bottle is fun, but did you know that your name has a holy residence? Isaiah 49:16a says, “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” Look at your Savior’s nail-scarred hands and you will find your name. He did it for you. He loves you so much that He inscribed your name on His hands. Jesus etched your name on His hands so that you could wear His name and live in His presence. This isn’t a summer marketing ploy. This is God’s deep desire and grace forged together so that you will know that you are known and loved.

My Jesus Resolution today is to look for my name. Every day God plants blessings and opportunities in my path just for me. They have my name on them. God doesn’t work generically. He knows my name and the number of hairs on my head. He also knows how to speak to the deep needs of my heart. I have to learn to look for how His hand touches my name. God is watching me with a father’s eyes. He loves me with a father’s heart. He reaches out to me with hands that are engraved with my name just so I can be reassured that I am never forgotten and never far away from the arms of my God.

My roses are looking kind of droopy. We have had a great summer – plenty of rain and not too terribly hot. A few weeks ago, my roses were thriving. Red and yellow blooms looked like jewels against a lush green background. Today the green has kind of faded and the blooms are gone. The rose bushes look a little beaten up, a little worse for the wear, and just a little sad. I pointed out the droopy roses to my husband. Looking them over, he said that they need a good feeding. Giving them the right nutrients would perk them up.

The roses are a mirror for my soul. Sometimes I am droopy. Just like my flowers, my heart needs the right nutrients in order to thrive. The right external circumstances are not enough. My soul needs to be fed, tended, and cared for if I want it to do more than survive.

Isaiah offers this invitation from the Lord. “Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live.” (Isaiah 55:2b-3a) God’s Word is the food that our souls need to thrive, soar, be joyful, and live in His abundance. When we are diligent about listening to God, it shows in every part of our lives.

My Jesus Resolution today is to enjoy God’s feast. I know how to savor a physical meal. I slow down. I am deliberate about tasting each bite. I let myself experience the food through all of my senses. The same principles hold true when we come to God’s table to delight in the rich food of God’s Word. I need to slow down, be deliberate, and enjoy every bite. When I do, my soul will radiate with life and reflect His presence and power. No more droopy for me.

“Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.” – John Ortberg

I get tired of waiting. Do you? I have tried being patient, looking on the bright side, and grinning and bearing it. Sometimes the time seems to drag, my heart hits a wall, and my spirit struggles to face one more day without an answer. I know God loves me. I know He is powerful, able to meet my every need. Why isn’t He moving?

There are no easy answers. The command I find myself struggling to surrender to is His call to wait and trust His goodness. The promise I am clinging to with both hands tells me, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24) The truth that gently touches my bruised heart reminds me that just because I can’t see God moving, doesn’t mean He isn’t at work.

Sometimes God works in very quiet, behind-the-scenes ways. There were four hundred years of silence between Malachi and Matthew. Many believed God no longer cared, that He wasn’t listening, that He had left them alone. Galatians 4:4 tells us, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Do you see it? In the fullness of time. We can look back at those four hundred years and trace God’s fingerprints as He moved nations, spread a common language, and built roads in preparation for the perfect moment to bring Jesus into the world. The people of the time only saw enemies conquering their land, their faith being challenged, and their hope dwindling with each invader. God was moving, just not in the way they were expecting. Maybe the same is true for you and me.

My Jesus Resolution today is to wait. Waiting isn’t something we do just to pass the time. Waiting is sometimes the most difficult part of transformation. Waiting requires me to surrender to a solution I have not seen because it is coming from a God who only gives me His best. There is nothing comfortable about waiting. There is nothing easy about waiting. God does work, however, in times of waiting to move me deeper into His love and His eternal purpose for my heart. Maybe that is the answer that I most need.

“It is staggering that God should love sinners; yet it is true. God loves creatures who have become unlovely and (one would have thought) unlovable.”

– J.I. Packer

If there is only one truth that you hold onto today, hold onto this one – you are loved. You are loved with a love that is so immense, so astounding, and so incredible that it is almost too much to believe. But please believe it. When you learn to live in that belief, you will changed to your core.

Here are ten truths about God’s love for you.

1. God loved you before you were even born.
2. You can’t earn God’s love, so stop trying.
3. You can’t lose God’s love, so stop worrying.
4. Your past won’t stop God from loving you.
5. Your future is secure because of God’s love for you.
6. God’s love for you is the most certain force in the universe.
7. God doesn’t love you generically. He loves YOU personally and intimately.
8. God’s love for you is an everlasting love.
9. The cross stands as the greatest monument to love the world has ever known.
10. God’s deepest desire is for you to love Him in return.

My Jesus Resolution today is to remember how much I am loved. The craziness of the world often makes me feel isolated and unnoticed. God’s love promises that I am never alone, that I am cherished and valued, and that He pays attention to the details that fill my life. Learning to live in His love allows me to be strong in the face of the world’s pressures, confident when confronted with the world’s chiding, and joyful even in life’s darkest moments. It is staggering that God should love a sinner like me; yet it is true. And that is a truth worth building a life on.

Our world loves to dabble in grays. White and black are either considered old-fashioned or self-righteous. In our society, truth is whatever makes you feel good. Evil is anything that doesn’t meet the current standard of political correctness. Our culture swims in shades of gray. Gray represents compromise, inclusion, and comfort. The extremes of good and evil are too narrow for a modern mind.

As Christians, we struggle with gray, even as God calls us to a life of truth, holiness, and purity. Gray allows me some wiggle room. It invites me to hold on to personal preferences and pleasures. It tells me that one small concession isn’t going to hurt anyone. Gray tells me that I deserve it. It questions why anyone else should have a say in what I read, or watch, or do. It entices me to take control and choose my own path.

Gray, in all of its shades, is a lie.

Gray wraps pornography up in a book cover, selling it as a guilty pleasure. Gray parades immorality in front of us, telling us love has many facets and shades. Gray packages manipulation, selfishness, and degradation in a movie trailer, expecting that we will hand over ten dollars apiece to watch lust come alive on a screen. Gray is arrogant. Gray is a bully. It is time to tell gray “no.”

My Jesus Resolution today is to live in one shade of purity. I don’t need many shades of gray. I need Jesus. He is the only one who can rescue me from the shame, guilt, and regret that gray brings to my soul. Today I am going to commit to telling gray “no.” No matter how much marketing, how much hype, how much pressure, or how much enticement gray throws out, it is time to stand up to gray and reveal His light. The shadow of the cross is the only shade my soul needs.

Meriam Ibrahim is a 27 year-old young woman from the Sudan. She made headlines around the world in May when she was sentenced to 100 lashes and death for refusing to recant her belief in Christianity in open court in the strict Muslim country. After intense international pressure, her death sentence was overturned in June. Western officials spearheaded negotiations to allow Meriam to leave the Sudan. She and her family will be arriving in the United States within the next few days.

Her story is both humbling and inspiring. Here is a young woman who clung so tenaciously to Jesus that the people around her viewed her as a threat to their way of life. Knowing that her actions were going to result in her being sentenced to death, she lived out the essence of the words of Paul who said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) Her refusal to give in to society’s pressure reminds me of the courage of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they faced the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol.

Meriam’s willingness to stand with Jesus challenges me to look at my own life. While here in this country we rarely face such extremes, the pressure to compromise our faith is very real. Our society doesn’t ask us to choose between Jesus and death. It invites us to give up just a little bit of Jesus in exchange for some pleasure, power, fame, money, or personal satisfaction. Our challenge isn’t that we face beheading, but slow suffocation of our faith.

My Jesus Resolution today is to imitate Meriam’s resolve. I want my commitment to Christ to be so strong, so vibrant, so true, and so real that others can see it clearly. I want to have the courage to stand up to my culture and choose Jesus without compromise. I want to teach my children to live their faith with resolve and steadfastness. Meriam wasn’t looking for the spotlight. She just looked at the darkness and chose to be the light God called her to be. What might happen if each of us would choose the same?