Two Sides of the Same Coin: The Real Journey of Following Christ

Accepting Jesus is only the beginning—following Him daily is where the real transformation happens.

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The One-Sided Gospel

If you picked up a coin and found that only one side was printed, you’d know it was fake. A post currently circulating on social media discusses only one side of Christianity. But the life of following Christ is a two-sided coin. One side is accepting Jesus as Lord; the other is following Him daily. In church-talk, these sides are called justification and sanctification.

The post warns that many people are fooled into thinking being good will get them to heaven. It leaves readers wondering if they’re going to heaven or hell—because there seem to be so many ways to get it wrong. It also suggests that those who do good are simply trying to earn salvation, implying that once we say “yes” to Jesus, we can go back to life as usual since being good is pointless.

But here’s the thing—there is truth in that post. We cannot earn our way to heaven. If we think we can, we are deceiving ourselves. Yet, that’s where the truth ends.

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The Danger of a Half-Truth

The unintentional message sounds a lot like “turn or burn, then carry on.” But that kind of “get-out-of-hell-free” mindset is dangerous. It ignores the beautiful journey we’re invited into—walking and talking with God each day.

If you believe you can say a quick prayer, shout a “hallelujah,” and then carry on as before—think again. You may have stamped your ticket to heaven, but if that’s your only motivation, you might be surprised. Time and time again, Jesus pointed to the motivation behind our actions. Motivation matters.

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Life More Abundant

Yes, Jesus came to seek and save the lost—but His mission didn’t stop there. He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly—a life surrendered to becoming more like Him, loving others with selfless abandon. And when we live this way, it shows. To some, it might look like striving to earn heaven, but in truth, it’s the natural outflow of gratitude.

Transformation is the evidence of a heart surrendered to Jesus. It’s part of the walk. When we live in daily surrender, change is inevitable.

James 2:14–17 (NIV)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

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Surrender and the Helper Within

When you prayed that prayer, you made a commitment to surrender. You chose to transfer ownership of your life. You gave up your right to call the shots and instead became the hands and feet of Christ in this world. Of course, we can’t do this in our own strength. That’s why God sent a Helper—the Holy Spirit—to live within us and guide us.

But His voice can easily be drowned out by the noise of everyday life.

To hear Him, we must be still and know that He is God.

Be still.

Again—be still!

We have to quiet our racing minds and tune in to His voice. There are many ways to practice this, far too many for one post. But a great resource is How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People by Pete Greig. Listening to God requires patience, focus, and time. It isn’t easy—we are imperfect people trying to hear a perfect God—but it’s worth it.

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The Reward of Listening

When we persist in listening and surrendering, we begin to find Him. The more we know Scripture, the more we recognize His voice and His character. We begin to see His deep love for us in everything. The more we seek, the more we find. And as our faith grows, that nagging worry about whether we’re “really saved” begins to fade.

So, what’s in it for us?

We already have that ticket to heaven, right?

Ah—there it is again. Motivation.

What’s in our hearts when we seek Him?

Are we going through the motions, or are we falling in love with our Savior?

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Undone: From Ashes to Beauty

Is it possible to be undone and then put back together in a better way? Yes! I know this can happen. 

Here is my story. 

I was raised as a church-going, straight-walking, clean-talking Southern Baptist girl. (Okay, maybe not that clean-talking.) I went to church at least three times a week from birth. I fell in love with Jesus while in my youth group at my church. My whole life was among my Christian circle of family and friends. Until…

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My Stupidity and Stubbornness Caught Up  with Me

At the young age of 18, I made a series of bad choices and ended up locked into marriage to a guy who had no love for me. After we were married he said he didn’t love me and showed this in many non-physical yet gut-wrenching ways. Because I messed up, I figured I deserved this, and because I was brought up to believe that marriage vows were never to be broken, I was looking at a life sentence in this sad existence. I lost contact with all my people. I could longer could go to church or family for solace, and I began to see church looking in from the outside. 

Every day for seven years I pleaded with God to heal my marriage. I went to a year or two of Christian counseling, and yet while I repeatedly grasped at any snippet of hope, nothing really ever changed. I was trapped and alone, and there was no way out that my belief system would approve. 

Then one day my husband told me he was leaving me and my two girls. Even though I was heartbroken at the time, I will be forever grateful to God for this. Within one week, I felt the cool, fresh breeze of relief. I no longer had to try to entice him to love me. I no longer had to hopelessly strive to earn his love. Just like that, a seven-year burden was lifted from my shoulders. I felt mental and even physical relief. God answered my prayer in that He used this evil for my good. Even now, over 40 years later, there isn’t a day that goes by that I am not grateful for this second chance at life and love. 

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D.I.V.O.R.C.E. is a Four Letter Word???

But divorce went against the teachings of my upbringing. A close family member strongly suggested to my parents that they should disown me for this. Thank the Lord, my parents did not disown me. However, I was ashamed of the pain and embarrassment this caused them and I never asked them for any help,  even though I sorely needed it. I would not and could not lean on them for support. I found that lack of child support and digging through the couch for money to buy the next gallon of milk was easy compared to living with someone who didn’t love me. 

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Let Me Be Clear 

Life on earth is not for wimps. When the Bible says God uses all things, those things are not all good things. Much of what I endured was born from sinful choices of myself and others. But all difficulties are not caused by bad choices. Some things happen because there is an adversary, and many horrible circumstances are straight from hell. And sadly, injustices happen, but there is nothing that can’t be turned around and used for the glory of God. 

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Undone and Redone

It was the isolation that was the biggest challenge. This is the experience that undid me. Part of this isolation was because of my shame over my bad choices and how they affected my innocent children. I built a wall to protect myself from others. With the eyes of an outsider, I saw the looks and heard the false rumors about me. Because of this treatment, I began to question everything I once held as truth.

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What God Did

It is difficult to confront your own misguided beliefs, realizing much of what you held as truth was really self-reliance and rule-following. In the Bible, dogmatism is referred to as being stiff-necked. I asked that I learn to never kick another while they are suffering. This truth-seeking process brought about a tenderness and understanding that were not a part of my DNA. It was like learning to walk again. But it resulted in freedom! It is for freedom that Jesus forgave me and set me free! God took my rigid, legalistic ideas and exchanged them for love and understanding. He put me back together better than before. It was Susan 2.0.

So off I went with a joyful new spring in my step. I moved my girls to a new town where I had my first full-time job teaching. Times were tough, but God provided over and over again. I was leaning into Him because He was all I had to carry me through the next day. And carry me, He did! I’ll say it again. God’s love, mercy, and gift of peace were in this difficult time of my life in a palpable way. 

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Here is a picture of the day God gave me a second chance at love. God is so good!

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When I look back, I see the good that God brought about from living through other low blows life has given me. It is from these difficulties that I grew up and learned. I often wonder, if I hadn’t gone through this, would I have ever softened? Without this learning opportunity, would I have been destined to become one of those opinionated old church ladies? I am a witness to God’s using all things to work together for His good. From each bump in the road, God brought about a closer relationship with Him. And if He did this for me, He can do it for anyone. In fact, I hope that you can look back at a point in life where you blew it. It is a pathway to leaning into the Father. 

Here is a very fitting song. Scars by I Am They

Hoarding Toilet Paper and Winning the Lottery

 

Why do people hoard toilet paper and why do we buy lottery tickets? When Covid happened we all went into a hyperdrive of scarcity. People immediately started hoarding for themselves, forgetting that other people were out there who might need what we shoved in one of the many closets of our houses. I believe it all comes from a mindset. There is a mindset of scarcity and there is a mindset of abundance. Here is a link to a reminder of what each looks like. 

https://images.app.goo.gl/hSjcd7nQ8AFEPs548

This scarcity mindset is the same mindset behind wanting to win the lottery. Only it is the flip side. We recognize the chains of scarcity, in fact we are sick of it, and we are trying to resolve this issue by winning the lottery. We think, “If only I had abundant winnings I would be generous, powerful, loved, sought after, respected, and listened to”. This is our solution to end the slavery of scarcity we deal with daily. Imagine if we could shed these chains without winning the lottery. Imagine living in a world where there was abundance. Imagine what Christ followers would look like if we truly believed God would supply ALL of our needs. 

Philippians 4:19 NIV – And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 

This mindset of abundance is the Kingdom mindset of Christ. Imagine being so confident God will provide what we need that we have no reservations about sharing our time, attention, applause, or wealth. Imagine being able to free ourselves from being a slave to scarcity. Imagine never worrying about getting ahead, about getting enough love and attention, about getting enough worldly goods so that we could freely share. We, as Christ followers, would definitely stand out in this world rather than blending in unrecognizably.

I’ll say it again; this mindset of abundance is the Kingdom mindset of Christ. Imagine being confident that God will provide our every need, even toilet paper! Imagine being able to free ourselves from being a slave to scarcity. Imagine never worrying about getting ahead, about getting enough love and attention, about getting enough worldly goods so that we could freely share. 

It seems to me that the mindset of scarcity is earthly and the mindset of abundance is heavenly. Jesus demonstrated this for us. He never was rushed or worried. He didn’t even get riled up when his disciples reported the competition of someone driving out demons in His name. Imagine rejoicing when someone else is getting the applause, the attention, the credit. Imagine giving without worrying if there was enough for ourselves. Imagine welcoming those seeking a safe place to call home. Imagine seeing fellow sinners with the eyes of Christ and no judgement. This would indeed turn my world upside down. Jesus was the author of the upside down world. 

How do I break this vicious thought pattern of scarcity? The first step of change is always the same: to become aware of my need and desire to change it. Do I really want to change? Until my heart is transformed into desire for a Kingdom mindset, I will not change. And transformation comes by seeking Christ in prayer and scripture daily. 

We as Christ followers must choose a hundred times a day which mindset we will use to view our world. Christians are heavenly bound, Spirit filled bodies trapped on a foreign planet of opposition. We were born with that earthly mindset and must remember every moment of our day to see our world through that heavenly mindset of abundance because in Christ, we have won the lottery! So maybe it is time that we live into that reality of a world of infinite abundance. No jealousy, no competition, no hunger, no poverty. We would look out for the other guy because we know that our father, the King of the Universe, provides generously and abundantly for us.

Gratudis: A Pill for Health and Happiness

 Here is a quote from the Mayo Clinic on gratitude: Expressing gratitude is associated with a host of mental and physical benefits. Studies have shown that feeling thankful can improve sleep, mood and immunity. Gratitude can decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease. If a pill could do this, everyone would be taking it. Dec 6, 2022

Side effects of daily doses of “Gratudis” are peace, patience, kindness, and contentment. For best results take it with your coffee every morning, with your lunch, dinner and before you go to bed. If you skip a dose, double it the next day.

As I grow older, I am convinced that the practice of gratitude is lacking in our everyday lives and the implications are far-reaching beyond anything we can imagine. I believe that gratitude leads to peace as well as many other life-changing benefits. I am not talking about a Pollyanna approach to life nor am I talking about a fake-it-till-you-make-it practice. I am talking about a deep-seated attitude change rooted in gratitude to God. It is developing a relationship with God starting with gratitude.

I wish developing gratitude was as easy as taking a pill. There are some people who were raised to be grateful. Their parents constantly pointed to the blessings, small and large, in their day. Consequently, they grow up to be joyful adults. I have a feeling though, that most of us were not taught gratitude while young and impressionable. Like me, most of us only hear about it in November every year near the Thanksgiving holiday and it seems warm and fuzzy but we forget it while vying for a parking spot on Black Friday.

So how do we begin to learn a lifestyle that wasn’t modeled for us as children? I am convinced that the first step is to develop a thirst for gratitude. Seek it. Convince yourself that you need gratitude like oxygen. For starters, try Googling “benefits of a grateful heart”. Study how gratitude is a practice that will answer the deepest longing of your soul. Then tell God of this desire. Ask God for it like you are asking for water at the end of a marathon. He is the source of all good things. He will give us whatever we ask in his will. Asking for gratitude is most certainly asking for something that God wants to give us.

And how many times should we ask Him? As many as it takes. It should be asked in sincerity of heart and not forgotten. If you are like me, you will need to take measures to remember that you asked God for this. In my experience, God usually has tipped his hand and given as he sees fit for the day. And when I am ready for more, he gives more. Although I have no doubt that he can, he does not usually zap me to fix me. He teaches me in small increments. He is a patient teacher at heart.

Learning something new is not easy for an adult. Just ask anyone over 70 how they feel about technology. And change won’t happen if we don’t cooperate in the process. We have to be willing to change habits. After developing a desire for gratitude and asking God for this gift, we must be willing to put away old practices that God shows us are detrimental to gratitude and begin new gratitude-nurturing practices. He will show us what these are but we must pay attention. He might lead us to sit with Him at an appointed time daily and list points of gratitude. He might ask us to limit time with those who constantly complain and spend more time with people who have a joyful attitude. He might prompt us to fill our minds with stories of those who lived a life of gratitude like the Apostle Paul or Corrie ten Boom.

How do we recognize it when God has answered our prayer? Because change is slow, most often I see God’s work in my life when I look back over several years time. Give Him your cooperation and patience and he will change your heart.

Here is a final comment from the Apostle Paul:

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Never, Ever Give Up

 Prayer is such a mysterious thing…until you see an answer.

Luke 18:1-7 NIV Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!' ” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

Sometimes I think my prayers are unimportant or that maybe I’m praying wrong or that the answer is no and I’m not listening. But if Jesus bothered to tell a story instructing us to persist in prayer, and under divine protection this story has been passed along for over 2000 years, who am I to stop battling for people I know in prayer? And the most important part is that yes, I have seen my prayers answered. They are seldom answered instantly (although that has happened too). Some answers have taken decades. And it is a glorious thing because I know my Creator has heard and responded to my prayers even though I don’t deserve his attention.

Never, ever give up in prayer.

Photo by Laurissa Noack

The Best Kept Secret of Sharing Our Faith

 Recently there was an unusual situation where my heart burned to talk to someone about Christ but was not able to in this particular situation. I won’t go into the details here, but it was quite challenging to speak truth over desperation without referencing words from my faith. It made me wonder how people share their faith in places where they can’t freely quote scripture or speak the name of Jesus or God. Is there an effective way to preach the goodness of God and use no words?

It is said that living out your belief is so much bigger than mere words. And this isn’t said to chain us to rule-following performance. Performances are just that. They have an end. We can behave ourselves for only so long because we are easily broken and our real heart eventually shows. We are simply clay vessels. So how can clay pots show Jesus to a broken world other than rule-following and scripture quoting? How can we be transformed from clay to the embodiment of Christ so that we naturally reflect his glory? This scripture from Paul to the Corinthian church teaches how this is done. I love this translation by Eugene Peterson in The Message Bible.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 MSG. Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are-face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

We must develop a closeness to God to reflect his glory. We cannot show Christ-likeness by that old constricting, rule-following lifestyle. And that is such a relief! That is true freedom! To me, this says that the only thing we need to do is to encounter God personally and frequently in a relationship. Also note that this change from clay to Christ-likeness is gradual, not a one-and-done thing.

How do we encounter God? It is really quite simple. If we know how to make friends, we know how to encounter God. And just like making friends, we have to push past the awkward and put ourselves out there. Unlike people, God never rejects those who want to be with him. To develop any relationship, we must let go of some things on our calendar and schedule regular time to be together. If we give God our precious time we will have the privilege of a growing relationship with him.

There are many books written about ways to encounter God but the most noted way is solitude and Bible reading. One thing is for sure: there is no specific place, time or method to experiencing God’s presence. If your mind is on things above, you are opening the door to let God in.

I have noticed that by removing hurry from my life’s equation there are so many more chances to encounter God. And the best way to do that is to schedule in “margin”. Margin is time in your day with nothing scheduled. Margin can also be one lovely day of the week where you ditch all your obligations. This isn’t a new concept. You will find it in those Ten Commandments. (We often think of it as nine commandments and one Sabbath suggestion.) It is the one commandment we feel free to break without being fired from our job or reprimanded in any way. Jesus often took the time to retreat to a quiet place to talk to His Father, yet he accomplished changing the world in three short years so surely we could take ten minutes a day in our busy schedule to be still. And in addition, maybe we can learn to take one day a week without work or phone obligations.

We think to become more like Christ we must add to our calendar. But in reality, we were never asked to check items off of a list to become like Christ. Counterintuitively, we must let go of our perfect performance to reflect his glory to a broken world. To become a vessel of Christ, is to relax and take time to encounter Him.

Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face.

The Message

 

Humility Redefined

We don't have the English word we need to describe what the Beatitudes called meekness. However, I saw an example of humility or biblical meekness the other night while listening to a a rock/country singer-songwriter, Jelly Roll. He obviously didn’t live a privileged life like mine but found his way to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry singing a song called “I Need a Favor”. The line from this song that caught my attention goes like this:

I only talk to God when I need a favor
And I only pray when I ain’t got a prayer
So tell me, who the hell am I to expect a Savior
When I only talk to God if I need a favor?

These words contain honesty, transparency, relationship and not a hint of entitlement. In the act of making this statement there is freedom and strength. This expresses a level of humility that Christ would have us aspire to learn.

I find it fascinating that the Bible, a collection of books penned by so many different people across so much time, has unifying themes that run from Genesis to Revelation. The theme that has caught my attention lately is humility, also called meekness. It is pointed out over and over as a quality that God wants in us. But I feel like our culture has no clue what this important virtue is and has filed it under “niceties that no one cares about”. Yet it is held in high esteem in the narratives in the Bible.

Mother Theresa and Fred Rogers are examples of those who lived a life of humility. I have heard it said that if a person is truly humble, no one around them is aware of it during their lifetime. If you Google examples of humble people it will give you examples of famous people who fly economy class or had small private weddings rather than big extravaganzas. We all know humility is so much more. It is such an important concept and sadly, we don’t even know the correct definition of it. So how can we ever aspire to something about which we know so little?

The Webster definition of humility is freedom from pride or arrogance. I think Mr. Webster nailed it. I really like the “freedom” part of that definition. In humility there is great freedom! It is humble transparency that leads us to this freedom. Transparency is not being secretive or ashamed but being open about who you are and what is in your past. If you are transparent you don’t hide information that you feel would cast you in a bad light. Humble people don’t worry about what others think about them because they aren’t focusing on themselves. So humility knows its flaws and deeply regrets them and doesn’t try to hide them. If we daily accept the forgiveness Jesus offered us, we find such freedom! So I believe humility goes hand in hand with transparency and in this, there is definitely freedom.

Because its ego is not puffed up, the humble are not easily deflated. And because they do not focus on themselves, they are not easily deflated like those who are seeing only themselves and what they lack compared to others. Because of this, they are not fragile like the rest of us. The best kept secret of meekness is that there is great strength in it.

I have noticed the humble are secure, selfless and unhurried. Picture Mr. Rogers singing and slowly putting on his sweater. Humility doesn’t watch a clock because its focus is on others and not on a schedule. Humility believes it is owed nothing in this life and lives gratefully. It is delighted with any good thing that comes its way and sees blessings all around them. The humble are joyful. As created beings, this is the only stance we should take. We had nothing to do with our creation but we were amazingly designed. We cannot get puffed up about it but we can’t curse it either. We are totally dependent on our Creator. In this, there is honesty and no entitlement.