February 2024

(Photo credit: Laura Ann Guerrier)

As followers of Jesus, we must be righted.

Many a ship sailing upon the sea has been tossed by the waves so that the ship will dip wildly to one side or the other. What a relief it must be for those aboard when the water is calm once more and the ship has been righted: fully level and upright, moving in the correct intended direction again. If a ship starts to list, that means it takes on water and begins to tilt to one side. If the source of water intake can be stopped early and a water log can be somehow drained, perhaps the ship can be saved. But many ships have gone down after they listed too far, never to be righted again.

The modern follower of Christ, especially in the west, is surrounded by cultural influences which urge us to “follow your heart” and claim that “my heart can’t possibly lie.” Yet God’s word clearly states otherwise. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” And 1 John 3:18-20 says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

If we do not have a heart being redeemed by Christ, we have nothing higher to guide us and no greater purifying filter through which to view life circumstances, emotional responses, personal choices, and inevitable pain. But when we start to desire His leadership in our lives, we want to trust Him more than we trust our fickle, tossed — and even listing — heart.

While we yet live in this world, in bodies still limited and broken, with souls being sanctified, we will wrestle with this.

But with our eyes on Jesus, we will see a truer reflection of how things really are. Then, we will come through each small and big storm of life to the peace of smooth waters and a righted ship.

Dear friends, trust Jesus to know and steer your heart.

And be righted.

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In Christ, we are whole.

Thinking about this, I reviewed the biblical accounts of the crucifixion and sketched out the simple art pictured above. And the result of what poured out from brain to fingers to pen to paper carried a double meaning when I gazed at the final product.

Through the crown of thorns (in the infinite circle shape), the wholeness of Christ is imposed on those of us who are sinfully fallen but who trust in His sacrifice.

And the stylized thorn lines also represent the cracks where He fuses our broken life pieces back together when He redeems us, heart and soul.

And then I was inspired to write the following short, untitled poem:

“Whole — the garment gambled on

Below His feet as He bled out,

His blood: His life; my heart: His prize,

The broken thing that He’d risk all

To heal. Oh, let me not forget

Nor fail to feel the wholeness

Of His pain, His goodness, and

My gain, when fused again,

Together, all my pieces hold a

Soul restored to praise His name.

Now let me wholly live for Him,

That I may one day share His crown.”

My brothers and sisters, be who you are.

Be whole.

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We who follow Christ are to be trustful.

I know some of you will say that trustful is not a word. Trustworthy, yes. Trusting, yes. Trusted, yes.

Well, I hope those words describe our identity in Christ as well. We must trust Him for initial salvation and also for stength to travel the rest of our journey with joy and hope. And as we are trusting Him, we must behave increasingly in ways that prove to others we are trustworthy, that we be trusted. Because we have in us this heart of Christ.

But today I use the word trustful to describe someone who is filled with trust.

FIRST, we think if a cup that is filled to near the top one drop or splash at a time. The filling is a process, it comes with time.

We have a hard time trusting God and trusting others. It is easy to project the way our trust was broken by this or that party in the past on to our present relationships. And even if we say we believe God is in control of all things, it can be easy to start doubting Him when we always think of what is right, good, just, and fair from our limited point of view. Yet, the more we try to consider His perspective and daily practice reflection and gratitude, the more surely the cup of our trust will become full.

SECOND, we think of that cup filled to the absolute brim to the point where the overflow naturally runs over.

When a person has negative and nasty things brewing in their heart, it might be more fitting to say that the overflow spews forth from them. But when the additional things bubbling up are nurturing and of the Spirit, they spill over and flow out. The latter is graceful, seamless, genuine, and attractive. It is undeniably noticeable to those around. A trustful soul is a soul full to the brim of peace and watchfulness.

We have all walked along in daily life and noticed women who were pretty, and even some who were stunning, in physical appearance. But it is not until we spend time with a woman, get to know her mind and spirit, see how she thinks about and treats others, and watch the way the view of her face is surpassed by the loveliness of her being that we can truly call her beautiful.

So it is with the trustful Christ-follower. Daily growth with Him, time spent reflecting on Him, and our reflection of His heart from our own outward to those around us: these are what mark us as trustful. Through the sweet moments — and even more so through the hard moments — our small cups will be filled to overflowing.

Be who you are. Be trustful.

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We are equally forgiven.

Forgiveness is only found through Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He provided through His death on the cross. But for those who accept His gift through faith and in God’s marvelous grace, every newborn in Christ is equally forgiven.

It doesn’t matter the age at which we repent and are saved. And it doesn’t matter what types of sins we had committed to that point.

The five year old new Christ follower is just as forgiven as the eighty-five year old new Christ follower. And the repentant murderer or rapist is just as forgiven as the repentant gossiper or glutton.

Such a thought is humbling.

It is not an excuse for us to abuse God’s mercy and continue in sinful patterns without a desire to grow in the Lord. We are called to equally encourage others in their growth as well.

And it reminds us that we must daily pray as Jesus taught us to pray: for strength to forgive others with the same equality and kindness we have been shown.

Today, study my piece of watercolor art pictured above and ponder this.

Then, be who you are.

Live as one (equally) forgiven.

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