Casandra Martin

“Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.” – Luke 8:40

Waiting is not on anybody’s top ten list of fun things to do. We live in a go-go-go society that views waiting as unproductive. We tend to see waiting as a waste and feel guilty in the moments when we are not in the middle of a whirlwind of activity. We worry about not doing enough, going faster, or filling our time with enough stuff. We have bought into the world’s idea that busier means more valuable.

Time is a precious commodity, perhaps even our most valuable resource. That is why investing it in waiting for Jesus is such a powerful thing to do. Waiting prepares our hearts for His presence. It adjusts our vision, realigns our perspective, and focuses our priorities. Think about what the crowd in Luke 8 had to do (or not do) in order to commit themselves to waiting for Jesus.  Waiting for Jesus was so important to them that they let the everyday cares of the world take a backseat in order to have the opportunity to meet Jesus in the moment.

Waiting involves anticipation, preparation, and sacrifice.  It changes our eyes as we lift them from the cares of the world, anticipating His presence. It softens our hearts as we prepare to praise Him, thank Him, and bow before Him. Waiting loosens our ties to this world as we sacrifice what is physically urgent for what is spiritually important.

My Jesus Resolution today is to wait for Jesus. Think of the joy and excitement that erupted among the crowd in Luke 8 as eyes searched the horizon, fingers pointed to His silhouette, and voices echoed with the news that He was here. What joy do I give up because I am too busy, too proud, or too unaware to wait for Him? Today I am going to set my eyes and my heart to waiting even as I move through all the tasks of the day. Somewhere along the way I am going to meet Jesus. I want to be ready to welcome Him.

One hundred eighty one million. That is how many blogs researchers say were available on the internet at the end of 2011. That is up from thirty-six million in 2006. At a growth rate of twenty to thirty million new blogs each year, blogging has become an important and powerful social platform.

Blogs celebrate the truth that each person’s voice is important. Blog writers share their thoughts, opinions, encouragements, complaints, and perspectives to an audience that is growing exponentially every day. It provides a forum to start a conversation and, in some small way, to influence the tide of societal thought. A blog can be used by anyone. You don’t have to have a degree, title, or any special qualifications – just a desire to share your thoughts and open your heart.

Paul didn’t write about blogs exactly, but he did write about living life as an open letter to the world. “You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3) A blog is an electronic letter to the world. Here Paul reminds us that our lives are to be messages about His Son posted by God for the world to read.

My Jesus Resolution today is to be a blog. Every day people observe my life, my actions, my words, and my attitudes. What are they reading? Are they learning about Jesus from the way I interact with my children, how I drive, what makes me laugh, and how I spend my time? I want my life to be a singular message about the love of Jesus, the grace of God, and the power of the cross. Blogs are powerful tools that can be used for encouragement and the spread of truth and joy. The way you live your life today has the potential to teach somebody about Jesus. Ready to post?

I need help. Those words are harder to say than I imagined. I don’t like having to depend on others, reveal vulnerability, or admit that I can’t do it. I have to confess that my pride has gotten in the way of practicality more than once. But I am learning how to ask for help and accept it with grace. Here are a couple of lessons that I have learned as I am learning to ask for help.

First, nobody cares. I don’t mean that in the negative way. Nobody cares that I need help. They are fine with lending a hand even as I struggle with asking for one. People are less judgmental than I thought. The people who really matter don’t see weakness, imperfection, or someone who doesn’t measure up. They just see me, where I am in this moment, and love me in a way that embraces the good and the difficult.

Second, kindness abounds. More people are willing to help than I imagined. And not just family and friends. Complete strangers are kind and generous too. One lady told me about being in the airport and needing to walk across the terminal to the restroom. She looked at the distance and knew she couldn’t make it on her own. She tapped the hand of the man sitting next to her and asked for help. He took her arm, walked her to the door, and waited for her to come out.

Third, asking for help is helping me look more like Jesus. Being divine, Jesus didn’t need anything, but He still asked for help. He sat in the desert by a well and asked for a drink of water. Crowds saw tears roll down His cheeks. He let people make Him dinner, watch Him sleep, see Him struggle in prayer, and wrestle with sorrow. Jesus allowed others to serve Him and provide for His needs. Jesus was transparent. I need to follow in His steps.

My Jesus Resolution today is to ask for help when I need it. It is hard, but so many blessings flow out of laying down my desire to have it all together and just admit I need a hand. I am seeing with new eyes. My heart is softer and more humble. I appreciate the safety that comes from being honest. I have met some neat people and been overwhelmed with gratitude. I always want to be someone who extends kindness. Now I am learning that receiving kindness is its own special kind of grace.

Magnets are cool. Because of the complex and intricate way God designed the earth, magnets have the power of attraction. When iron is magnetized, it can pull other pieces of metal closer. Magnets even have the power to transform metal that is not magnetized into something that attracts other metals.

Magnets have two poles. One pole will repel while the other pole attracts. When you play with magnets, you can feel its power. The invisible force either draws or resists efforts to join it to another magnet.

In many ways, the world is full of magnets – things that pull at our hearts, attract our attention, and attempt to draw us in. In order to resist the world’s pull, we have to be remagnetized. Our hearts need to be transformed so that they are no longer attracted to what is worldly, but to what is good and godly. The remagnetization process begins when there is contact between the magnet and the object being changed. At the atomic level, the substance of the metal is reorganized in order to reorient it and make it magnetic. Now it is attracted to the magnet that powered its transformation.

My Jesus Resolution today is to hold a magnet and let its power draw me to Jesus. I don’t want my heart to be attracted to the world, to be stuck to selfishness, pulled by comfort, or drawn to convenience.  I need to undergo a remagnetization process that will transform what my heart finds appealing. I need to be in such constant contact with Jesus that the world loses its pull on my soul. I want my faith to be so magnetized by Christ that it resists the temptations that try to pull me in, but is instead drawn straight into the presence of God.

Are you courageous? Most of us don’t think of ourselves as particularly courageous. We live ordinary lives and do everyday things. There aren’t many lions’ dens, armed giants, or massive walled cities to conquer amid the laundry, dishes, deadlines, and carpool trips that fill our days. Courage, we believe, is for big moments, bright spotlights, and blinding pressure. We hope we will have it when we need it, but common and courage are rarely used in the same sentence.

The dictionary defines courage as the power to deal with or face danger, fear, difficulty, or pain. It finds its origin in a root word that means “heart.” It is an inner strength to face what lies before us.

You are more courageous than you think. When you choose to look like Jesus in the regular rhythm of your day, you reveal a heart that has been touched by God. Choosing kindness when treated with rudeness requires courage. Choosing service instead of selfishness demands courage. Choosing to speak up when it would be easier to be quiet invokes courage. Choosing graciousness instead of self-pity in the face of a difficult diagnosis or outcome necessitates courage. It takes courage to step out, get up, face your fears, carry your burdens, walk into the unknown, trusting God to lead the way.

My Jesus Resolution today is to pray for common courage. I need courage to face the ordinary challenges that fill my day. I want to recognize God’s presence, depend on His power, and walk in His steps no matter what today holds. I want eyes to see and celebrate the courage that surrounds me every day. I witness more acts of common courage than I realize. I want to recognize God’s fingerprints on those moments. I don’t want to take courage for granted or lose sight of the courage it takes to reflect Jesus in my small corner of the world.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed. Life comes at me like a train. Struggles swirl and storm around me. Deadlines push, laundry piles up, and my to-do list feels more like a chronicle of the impossible. Instead of worrying about what isn’t going to get done and how much is falling between the cracks, I am going to make a Just For Today list. Life may be crazy, but just for today…

1. I am going to find one thing to be thankful for every hour.

2. I am going to stop and breathe in grace rather than drown in guilt.

3. I am going to give a compliment rather than complain.

4. I am going to hug my children extra tight.

5. I am going to sing “Jesus Loves Me” out loud.

6. I am going to look at my messes and count the blessings.

7. I am going to reconnect with a friend.

8. I am going to be quiet for five whole minutes.

9. I am going to remember that Luke 18:27 is absolutely true.

10. I am going to measure His faithfulness rather than my flaws.

My Jesus Resolution today is to live in the moment. Really live. Not just pass through. Not just get by. Just for today I want to open my eyes, open my heart, and open my soul to what it means to fully live today with God. Too many times, I just try to put my head down and muddle through, hoping tomorrow will be better – only to do the same thing again the next day. I don’t want to waste any more time being so busy I miss awe, rush past glory, or stumble over significance. The really important, big stuff is tucked into the cracks of the ordinary. So, just for today, I am going to do life differently and watch how it changes my tomorrows.

We have a cactus that sits in a pot outside our front door. We call it Spike. It is everything that you would imagine a cactus named Spike would be. Tall, straight, green, and covered with inch-long thorns. Spike came to our house as a two inch little souvenir that my son brought home from an adventure to New Mexico with his grandparents. It had its own little plastic cup, and my son was delighted to bring home a piece of the desert to our humid city dwelling.

Today Spike is almost two and a half feet tall. He stands like a sentinel in his big, heavy pot. Lately, I have been watching an appendage grow straight out of Spike’s side. It started out as just a bulge, but this new piece of cactus is now almost twelve inches long. It is growing fast. Its base doesn’t touch the soil. It has no roots of its own. It depends on Spike, Sr. for all of its nutrients and water. Spike, Jr. is teaching me about Jesus.

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4)

Spike, Jr. is growing and thriving because it remains anchored in Spike, Sr. That connection is a picture of how my heart needs to be anchored in Jesus. The cactus doesn’t fret about being able to do it on its own. There is no streak of independence that challenges it to set up its own pot and handle matters by itself. There is no discontentment about having its identity flow from outside of itself. Life, growth, fruitfulness, and purpose flow from being connected to the Source.

My Jesus Resolution today is to abide. I love that word. Abide means to stay close, hang on, invest oneself, and find strength in. It is a connection word. Abiding in Jesus is my primary responsibility. If I try to set out on my own, I will falter. If I try to come and go from His presence, I will become unfruitful. Only by fully abiding in Him can I find the sustenance my soul craves, the purpose my life needs, and the future my heart desires.

You feel the familiar knot form in your stomach as you look across the room. Nobody has to say a thing for you to hear the voices start whispering to your soul. “Look at her.” “Why can’t I be like that?” “I’ll never have it all together the way she does.” “Her children, husband, house, or outfit (fill in the appropriate blank) are so perfect.” “I wish I had her life.”

There is an old saying that contains some very wise words: Don’t judge your insides by somebody else’s outsides. I am not sure where the thought originated, but the truth of its words resonates loudly in my heart today.

When I look at others, I see life from the outside. I don’t see most of you before you take a shower, before make up, or before your first cup of coffee. Most of us manage at least a bit of spit and polish before we face the world. But “before” is when I see myself. I know what I look like unmasked, unprepared, and unpolished. I know the truth behind the cape I try to wear, the smile I hide behind, and the image that I try to hold together. That is when the whispers start. Whispers that shout of inadequacy, fearfulness, and doubt. When I measure my insides by somebody else’s outsides, I will always come up short.

God calls us to look at others and ourselves with different eyes. “For the Lord sees not as a man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b) Standing around the cross, we are all grace-covered, mercy-drenched, love-soaked sinners saved by Jesus. We all need. We all fall short. We all struggle. We are all loved. We are all claimed. We are all in the process of being transformed.

My Jesus Resolution today is to look at others from the inside out. I want to offer kindness to the hurting. (We are all hurting.) I want to extend peace to the fearful. (We are all afraid.) I want to hand out hope, give away joy, and open my arms in friendship. (We all struggle, weep, and feel lonely.) I don’t need to compare myself with you, nor you with me. Uniquely made, deeply loved, God empowers us to be exactly who He created us to be in Him.

Your words are powerful. Read that sentence again. Do you believe it? Most of us don’t believe that. We think that we have small voices, little to say, and that no one is listening. We believe that what we have to say doesn’t matter, can’t make a difference, or will be lost in the flood of words that flow through our noisy world. Here is the truth. Your words matter. They mean something. They resonate with power, strength, and purpose. Use them wisely.

Today your spouse needs words of grace. Saturate your words with love. Immerse them in appreciation and rejoicing.

Today your children need words of blessing. It doesn’t matter if they are four, fourteen, or forty, they need to hear that you pray for them, praise God for them, and are proud of them.

Today your grandchildren need words of delight. Grandparents stand in the unique position of pouring confidence and unconditional love into the next generation.

Today your friends need words of appreciation. You can’t say “thank you,” “I love you,” or “you make a difference” too often.

Today your neighbor, a coworker, or a stranger needs a word of notice. So many people feel unseen and invisible. A simple word of kindness can make a profound difference in someone’s day.

It is no coincidence that Jesus is called the Word. It is through this Word that walked among us that God spoke His words of grace, blessing, delight, love, and notice to the world. Two thousand years later those words, that Word, still have the power to change lives and impact hearts for good.

My Jesus Resolution today is to use my voice. My words don’t have to be profound or eloquent to make a difference. They just have to be touched by grace, defined by love, and saturated with hope. Words have the power to encourage, bless, and inspire. They also have the power to crush, wound, and defeat. My voice is a part of my legacy. The words I speak today will ripple out from this moment and touch tomorrow. I want my words to echo with the voice of Jesus.

Are you a bath or a shower person? If you got to choose where to relax and wash away the day’s stress and grime, which one would you choose? There is nothing quite like the luxury of a warm bath or shower to wash away the stress and grit of the day. The gentle streams of water renew us. Water is refreshing. It cools, cleans, hydrates, and has a quiet power that we often take for granted. Running water, over time, has the strength to erode mountains and reshape the landscape. We live on a blue planet. A good percentage of our own bodies are made up of water. It is one of the most basic necessities of life, and every drop should point us to Jesus.

Physical water has the power to help us understand the Living Water that flows only from Christ. A dry mouth is meant to awaken our thirst for Him. Our deep sigh when we sink into the bathtub or stand under the shower jet is designed to immerse our souls more deeply in the ocean of His delight. God wants us to live lives drenched in His grace, saturated with His presence, and soaked in His purpose.

My Jesus Resolution today is to see Jesus in every drop of water. When I take a shower, I am going to let His grace cascade over me. When I wash my hands, I am going to marvel at the way His blood keeps me clean. When I scrub dishes, I am going to be thankful for the way that He makes the pieces of my life new and useful for His glory. When I brush my teeth, drink a cold glass of water, or turn on the washing machine, I am going to pause and soak in the picture of Jesus that God plants in every drop of water.