Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start. A new day to rise and be prepared to follow Christ wherever that means.

One conversation that I have with Jesus alot is simply, “I trust You.”

When I don’t understand what’s happening all around me, I tell Him,

“I trust You Lord.”

When the storms are blowing and the waters rising, I tell Him,

“I trust You Lord.”

When I wonder about the future, I tell Him,

“I trust You Lord.”

When I am afraid, I tell Him,

“I trust You Lord.”

There was a time that I was walking through a living nightmare and I would hold my steering wheel white knuckled as I drove. There would be tears running down my cheeks and I would declare again and again and again,

“I trust You Lord.”

These four words can get me through anything, because if I trust Him, then I know no matter what happens to me, He will be there. He will deliver fully on every promise. And ultimately this life is just wisp compared to all of eternity.

We will have trouble and struggles, Jesus even warned us. But He followed it up with, “Don’t be afraid. I’ve conquered the whole world anyway!”

In the darkest hours, tell Him. “You’ve encouraged me not to be afraid because You have already overcome this world. I trust You.”

He also warned His followers that following Him would mean sacrificing things on this side of heaven. There would be parts of their life that they were called to put down in order to pick up the cross of Jesus and follow Him.

Crosses were huge and heavy. Larger than a person, and so to carry a cross means that everything else would have to be put down. You can’t carry a cross while holding anything else. So, to carry the cross and follow Jesus means that you are putting everything down of this world so that you can follow Jesus.

You cannot cling to the ways of the world and also try to fit Jesus in. From Genesis to Revelation, following God has always involved submitting over to a whole new way of living. And it meant and still means giving God your whole heart. Whole heart. Whole heart means nothing held back and no compromise. If you follow Jesus, you also follow His ways, His kingdom principles, His instructions. You desire the eternal things of the kingdom over temporary things of the earth. You desire His ways over your own. You desire to allow Him to sanctify your life and drive out the parts that are counter to the Kingdom of God.

Here are red letter words from the gospel of Mark. They are the direct Words of Jesus.

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:34‭-‬38 NKJV

You don’t have to look far to know that the times are evil. What is blatantly evil is called good and what is good is called bad. The bible prophesied that this would happen.

Just to stand for the life of babies can get people so angry. How in the world did we swing so far into the dark that the life of a child that the Lord has chosen to be conceived is up for political negotiation?

And I share this as only one example of the darkness of the times. Jesus said clearly that we must lose our life for His sake and that we must not be ashamed of Him. I believe that includes speaking for the truth in love always.

We cannot be silent and partner with evil and also be carrying our cross at the same time. We can only serve one: Jesus or the world. He will not have it any other way. We cannot be ashamed of His teachings. We have to be bold and courageous and always filled with love.

And so how? How do we take up our cross? What does it practically look like?

We run to Jesus. We confess that it feels hard and there are temptations around every bend to put the cross down.

We invite our helper, our advocate, the Holy Spirit to anoint us afresh to be obedient sons and daughters of Christ.

We accept the free gift of grace which equips us to do the very things that seem impossible.

Following Jesus is about walking in truth. Truth frees you, it doesn’t hurt or condemn or make you feel shame. Truth doesn’t mean a list of rules or don’ts. Truth means walking fully in the light of day holding Jesus’s Hand and telling Him at every bend and turn,

“I trust You Lord.”

If you fully trust God, you’ll be willing to lay it all down as you follow Him. One of the noticeable things about His disciples is that as He called each one, the bible is clear that they left everything behind to follow Him. This was a whole life changing commitment. God is still looking for disciples who are willing to leave everything behind to follow Him.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Where You go, I’ll go. What You say, I’ll say. What You say will go in my life. What You ask me to lay down, I’ll put down. What You ask me to pick up, I’ll pick up. I will listen for You. I will speak of You. I will allow Your love to flow into me and then onto others. I won’t be silent about Your ways, but I also won’t be silent about the incredible LOVE You have for Your people. I won’t be ashamed to declare myself a follower of Yours. Lord, I trust You.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

I pray you experience many blessings as you bravely and boldly walk in truth.

Vanessa Lynn