Casandra Martin

He begged. I resisted. Technology and I are not best friends, but my son, who is spending the summer in another country, pleaded with me to download a program that would allow us to video chat. Email is good. Talking on the phone works well, but video calling would allow him to see our faces.

I wasn’t convinced, but yesterday we had our first video chat. It was wonderful. There is so much more that you can capture in a conversation when you can watch someone’s eyes, witness their smile, and match their voice with their expression. He was right. It was worth it.

His desire to share this face-to-face time made me hungry for more. And it offered me a mirror for my soul. Worship, Bible study, and prayer are excellent connection points with Jesus. They allow us to interact with His Spirit, listen to His voice, and open our hearts to His purpose. But they are supposed to make us hungry for more. Hungry to be in His presence and see His face.

When John describes heaven, he describes a place of indescribable splendor, unimaginable riches, and sublime perfection. Heaven’s intense beauty, however, is overshadowed by one singular, amazing reality – we will get to see His face.

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” – I John 3:2

My Jesus Resolution today is to be like my son. I want to have a deeper longing for home. I want to develop a hunger that can only be satisfied by seeing His face. We are God’s children and seeing His face should be my most aching desire. I can catch glimpses in His Word, the people who shine with His likeness, and in worship and prayer, but I don’t want to settle for a glimpse. I want to lock my focus on the cross until I can look into His eyes.

Tomorrow is Flag Day. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the flag made by Betsy Ross as the official flag of the United States of America. On that day, the flag only had thirteen stars and the country was a new dream. Today, we fly a flag with fifty stars and stand in a nation whose freedom shines as a light around the world. Flag Day is a day to celebrate the flag and all that it represents as a symbol of our nation and its ideals.

While as Americans we honor the flag that defines our nation, God’s people can celebrate the banner that marks us as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. The banner is not a piece of cloth, an ensign, or a particular set of colors. The banner that marks the presence of the kingdom of God is God Himself. In Exodus 17:15, Moses tells the people that “The LORD is My Banner.” He is the standard of our lives, our victory in battle, and the focus of our hearts.

The Song of Solomon 2:4 gives a picture of what our banner looks like. “And his banner over me was love.” The multi-faceted beauty of God’s love is the banner that flies over our hearts. It marks His presence, announces His claim over our souls, and declares the sovereignty of His rule in our lives.

My Jesus Resolution today is to stand proudly under my flag. I want the world to know where I belong. I want to honor the presence of God in my life. I want to display the fullness of God’s love in the way I walk in my day. Like other flags, the banner that flies over my life defines where I live, how I live, and the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship. Unlike other flags, our banner is no mere symbol. God Himself is my banner, and that is something to celebrate.

When you think of a throne, what comes to mind? Do you imagine sparkling jewels, glittering gold, and regal royalty? Thrones are places of stability, sovereignty, and strength. They are built to highlight the majesty of the king, and to let the world know that here sits a ruler worthy of our attention and loyalty.

Psalm 22:3 paints a dramatic picture of a throne. “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” Close your eyes and capture the importance of these words. Our praise creates a throne for the Holy One. Our worship builds a structure in which He chooses to dwell. He inhabits the praises of His people, lives within its adoration, and makes His home in the hearts that call on His name.

I will be honest. This verse caused me to stop and take a hard look at myself. If God is enthroned on my praises, what kind of throne is it? Is it one rich with gratitude, framed with surrender, strong in joy, and infused with humble wonder? Have I offered God a throne worthy of His majesty or something thrown together with leftovers? How many times have I offered Him songs sung by rote, prayers lifted without focus, and scripture heard without surrender? Too many times, I am ashamed to say.

My Jesus Resolution today is to build a throne. God doesn’t need my praises to be King. I need to praise Him, build a throne for His majesty, so that He can reign over every part of my life. The more I invest in the praises I offer Him, the more access I give Him to my heart, the more I allow Him to establish His rule in my character, and the more I open myself up to His transformation. The way I worship declares to the world the place the Savior holds in my life.

It echoed as a quiet whisper in the middle of the night. An email with one sentence – where did you see God?

The ability to see God moving in our days, in our activities, in our hearts, and in our circumstances is one of the essential keys to learning to be like Jesus. Jesus looked at fields full of crops and saw the Father. He noticed sheep lying in a pasture and saw God. He observed seeds growing, watched children playing, ate His meals, slept in a boat, caught fish, and with every step, every breath, saw His Father at work. Everywhere He looked, He saw a world permeated with the presence of the Loving One. He calls us to learn how to see with His eyes.

Some days it is hard. The question whispered in the dark didn’t flow from doubt or disbelief. Sometimes our vantage point makes it difficult to see Him.  We need others to help us trace His hand, feel His touch, and spotlight His movement.

But here is the catch – it takes vulnerability to ask. It means that we have to be willing to admit that we can’t see. There is transparency required in learning how to open our eyes. We have to risk exposing our weakness in order to see His glory.

John the Baptist understood. Imprisoned by Herod, John sent messengers to Jesus. Are you the One or should we look for another? I am having trouble seeing, he admits. Where is God? Do you see Him?

My Jesus Resolution is to be like John. When it is hard to see, I am going to ask for help. I love Jesus’ answer. “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” (Matthew 11:4) John risked asking, and Jesus sent him people with stories – stories of the lame walking, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, and the dead rediscovering life. John also reminds me not to keep my God stories to myself. Someone out there may be asking – Do you see Him? Your story may be God’s answer.

Today is the anniversary of D-Day. D-Day marks the day in which 160,000 allied troops landed in Normandy, France on a mission to overthrow Hitler’s stranglehold on Europe. Under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, troops from the United States, Canada, and England initiated an assault on German troops on five beachheads. This day marked the beginning of the end of World War II.

D-Day is the day in which the allied resolve to answer the evil of Nazi Germany overflowed into action. Men died, blood was shed, and the light of freedom began to glimmer in war-torn Europe. D-Day is often referred to as Decision Day. It is in that picture that we see our path.

We all need a D-Day. Decision Days turn our resolutions into reality. They mark the moment in which our good intentions take concrete first steps. We start moving in the right direction, making the right decisions, and being deliberate about transformation.

On June 6, 1944, the battle wasn’t over, but victory found its first voice. D-Day doesn’t mean Done Day. It is Decision Day. But Decision Day is a necessary first step to being done. If we don’t start, we can’t finish. If we don’t begin, nothing will change. The victories we celebrate later find their roots in our D-Days.

Eisenhower said, “The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice — their choice.”

My Jesus Resolution today is to make today D-Day. I am going to make the decision and take the first steps into God’s purpose for my life. I want to be willing to sacrifice to move ahead. I am going to step onto the beachhead and confront the enemy. I am going to stand by Jesus’ side as He wages war on the sin that holds me in a stranglehold. I am going to celebrate the truth that victory begins with my choice to surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

He was walking through the streets, taking in all the wonders that come with settling into a new place. Our oldest son is being blessed with the opportunity to spend some time this summer in another country. He has already seen one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, served soup to refugees living in makeshift tents, wept with a mother fearful that her daughter had been captured by human traffickers, and stood humbled as a new Christian from Iran explained how he will be killed when he goes home, but is filled with joy because he has Jesus. Today it was a homeless child who opened his eyes and shifted his perspective. A pickpocket to be exact.

He called us very early in the morning to tell us that his wallet had been stolen. Everything was gone – ID, money, bank cards. He had taken the precautions, but still got taken by a thief. It wasn’t the missing stuff that was breaking his heart. Thinking back through the moments around when his wallet went missing, he remembered a small group of homeless children swarming around his group. Malnourished bodies, filthy clothes, the stamp of poverty and hopelessness etched deeply on their little faces. “I would have given them the money,” he said. “All they had to do was ask.”

That is my son. He has a bottomless heart. I wish I was more like him. Instead, I see myself in the pickpocket. How many times do I think that I have to steal blessings, grab my own joy, stuff myself with stuff, and run around frantically to fill an emptiness that scares me because it reveals my broken desperation? Our world teaches us to seize, grasp, snatch, and steal because if we don’t take care of ourselves, no one else will.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8

My Jesus Resolution today is to ask. I am going to slow down, mute the world’s whispers, and turn my face to God. He is full of compassion, overflowing with mercy, and rich in love. Too often I try to solve my own problems, answer my own questions, and fill my own emptiness. Today I am going to ask, waiting for the richness God longs to pour into the deep crevices of my soul. I am going to seek His purpose rather than trying to live out my own agenda. I am going to knock, anticipating the moment today when I will see Him reach into His pocket and fill me Himself.

She handed me a piece of paper, and began telling me a story about her mother. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered the beautiful woman who continues to touch her even today. With a smile, she told me about receiving her mother’s Bible after her death. A special treasure and reminder of the faith she had so actively seen displayed in her mother’s life.

She choked up a bit as she pointed to the piece of paper. One day, many months after her mother’s passing, she was looking through the Bible and a small orange slip of paper fell out from between the pages. She had never seen it before. Her heart broke as she read the words –

GOD IS NOWHERE

She couldn’t imagine what had led her mother to write these words and tuck them into her Bible. She stared at the paper, and in a moment of understanding, the meaning of her mother’s words became clear.

There are two ways to read these words – God is nowhere, or God is now here. It is all a matter of focus, of what we choose to see, of how we let God guide our eyes. That little orange sheet of paper was a reminder that our perspective makes all the difference.

My Jesus Resolution today is walk with open eyes. GOD IS NOW HERE! He is waiting for me to notice. Longing for me to see. Too many times, I go through my days with the blinders of busyness on and miss Him. I get frustrated, worried, or distracted and fail to see what should be obvious and plain to a heart that is seeking His face. Perspective is a product of priorities and practice. Today I am going to let His presence fill my vision, and live with the reminder that everyday my perspective needs to be fine-tuned by His grace.

Today is Memorial Day. It is a day to remember – to allow sacrifice, love, devotion, loyalty, selflessness, and honor deeply impact your heart. It is a day to be thankful, to be humbled, and to let quiet tribute fly in the sky and in our imaginations.

Somewhere today a soldier is walking a perimeter. His eyes scan the horizon, senses alert to the movement of the enemy. With each step, he makes the daily decision to stand in the gap, allowing freedom room to grow and change the world. Pray for him.

Somewhere today a family sits with an empty chair at the table. A father, mother, son, or daughter is on active duty, out of sight, but never out of mind. A wife misses her husband, a mother misses her daughter, and a child misses a parent. Theirs is a silent sacrifice that deserves our honor and recognition. Pray for them.

Somewhere today grieving hearts walk through rows of white and green, reading names until one stops them in their tracks. They remember, holding their hearts in pictures and letters. Pride and pain spill over onto their cheeks. Pray for them.

Somewhere today the Commander in Chief wrestles with decisions that will affect us all. He carries a heavy burden, has to make impossible choices, and lives with the pressing reality that he leads the nation with the greatest blessings and deepest responsibilities on earth. Pray for him.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…” – Psalm 33:12a

My Jesus Resolution today is to pray. I am going to pray for the soldiers who protect our homeland, for the families who give their hearts in deep service, for the loved ones whose hearts ache and whose cheeks are wet, for leaders who make the heavy decisions about where to stand and how to protect our country. I am going to pray for the people who are gathering today around grills, in backyards, and with friends. I am going to pray for revival and a renewed sense of God’s presence and purpose in our land. Remember today, and pray.

“…the seriously devout Jews of today still giv[e] thanks to God one hundred times a day.” – Ann Voskamp

I was reading – one of my favorite things to do – and came across this observation. One hundred times a day. I stopped and pondered the magnitude of thanksgiving that pours from lips committed to gratitude one hundred times per day. Do I give thanks that much? Could I? Would I?

One hundred times a day seems overwhelming. It would require a focus and dedication that would occupy the mind and the heart throughout the day. I realized that might not be a bad thing. Gratitude instead of grumpiness. Worship in the place of worry. Jesus occupying my thoughts, shaping my words, and sharpening my vision instead of the television, the radio, or my own misshapen perspective. One hundred times per day.

I decided to do the math. Taking out seven hours for sleeping (probably more a dream than a reality), there are seventeen hours left in the day. Giving thanks one hundred times per day would require gratitude to bubble to the surface six times per hour. Once every ten minutes.

How would I be different if I stopped and gave thanks for the blessings I had experienced in the last ten minutes, every ten minutes, all day long?

My Jesus Resolution is to give thanks one hundred times today. It is a risky challenge, living out I Thessalonians 5:17 so literally. “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I can only imagine how my eyes will be different, how my heart will be softer, how my spirit will be more attuned to His presence, how my worship will be reshaped, how my soul will be transformed. Do I dare give thanks one hundred times a day? Do you? I dare you.