For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. [Psalm 139:13-14 (CSB)]
Today’s socks tell me, “I am perfectly made” and remind me of Psalm 139’s affirmation that, “I have been remarkably and wondrously made.” All of my low-cut athletic socks have pithy affirmations woven into the toes. Depending on what pair I choose, I’m reminded that I have hope or that I’m loved, brave, strong, grateful, kind, powerful, blessed, or thankful. My favorite pair, however, tell me, “I am with you always!” It may seem silly, but there are times, especially during difficult days, when I recall the day’s affirmation on my feet and I stand a little more assuredly.
What we say to others matters, but what we say to ourselves matters even more! The way we speak to ourselves determines how we relate to everything and everyone else! Affirmations replace the negative talk we hear from others as well as the trash talk we say to ourselves! Shifting our minds toward the positive can change the direction we’re taking and lead us to a better destination!
I thought of my socks during church last week when the soloist sang Megan Woods’ lovely song, “The Truth.” The song opened with the sad words, “How many times can you hear the same lie before you start to believe it? The enemy keeps whisperin’ to me… Lord, I don’t wanna listen to the lies anymore.” The negative words we hear our heads are gifts from the enemy—Satan, the Father of lies. He might say that we’re not pretty enough, capable enough, or good enough. He’ll whisper that we’re too young, too old, too fat, too skinny, too tall, or too short. His words tell us we can’t when we can and we shouldn’t when we should. When we pray, he murmurs that God’s not there. Telling us we’re worthless sinners, he claims our past defines us, we don’t deserve happiness, and that we’re unworthy, unlovable, and unforgiveable! The enemy with his lies is camping out rent-free in our heads and his scorn, disparagement, and belittling can make quite a ruckus in there.
Our best defense against the enemy’s lies is keeping God’s truth in our hearts! While my affirmation socks can be found on Amazon, the God’s truth is found in the pages of our Bibles! It is filled with affirmations of who we are in Christ. Instead of socks telling us we are loved or have hope, we have Jeremiah 31:3 telling us that God loves us with an everlasting love and Psalm 62:5 telling us our hope comes from God! While my socks may say I’m strong, Romans 8:37 tells us we’re more than conquerors through Christ! When the enemy tries to take up residence in our minds, let’s remember that Scripture tells us we can stand against his schemes because we’re clothed in the armor of God (Eph 6:11). Our socks don’t need to say, “I am with you always,” because God promised He will never leave nor abandon us (Deut 31:6). God’s word reassures us that we have the peace of God guarding our hearts and minds. (Phil 4:7)
The Bible tells us truth—we are God’s beloved children! He lived and died for us! Never forget that we are God’s workmanship and God doesn’t make junk! Indeed, we are “remarkably and wondrously made.”
The truth is I am my Father’s child
I make Him proud and I make Him smile
I was made in the image of a perfect King
He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing
The truth is I am truly loved
By a God who’s good when I’m not good enough
I don’t belong to the lies, I belong to You
And that’s the truth!
[Jeff Pardo/Matthew West/Megan Woods]
Found in almost every Roman Catholic church (and some Protestant and Orthodox ones), are the Stations of the Cross—a series of fourteen icons or carvings on the walls—each of which depict a moment in the Passion of Christ. Created to help people contemplate the events leading up to Christ’s crucifixion, they start with His death sentence from Pilate and end with His dead and battered body being laid in the tomb. Because Good Friday and Jesus’ death aren’t the end of the story, some churches have begun adding the resurrected Christ as a 15th station.
“Alleluia” (or “Hallelujah”), like “Amen,” is a word familiar throughout Christendom. Meaning “Praise the Lord,” it is the transliteration of the Hebrew hallel, meaning to shine, be boastful, praise, or rejoice and Yah, an abbreviated form of the name of the Lord: YHWH (Yahweh/Jehovah). Although two distinct words, they were consistently written as one (halleluyah). In the Old Testament, this extraordinary word occurs only in Psalms. Usually found at the beginning, halleluyah was an imperative call to praise or boast in the Lord—a call to shine a light upon Him! Whether we spell this beautiful word the Latin way as “alleluia” or the Greek way as “hallelujah,” the meaning is the same. Many modern translations simply translate it as “Praise the Lord!”
What would you do if you were six and your father said that your mom is in the hospital because she finds it hard to be happy and “did something stupid”? That question is answered in Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s one-act play, Every Brilliant Thing. In their play, that boy, now a grown man, tells the audience that he made of list of everything that was “brilliant” about the world—everything worth living for—and left it on his mother’s pillow. Reflecting a six-year old’s priorities, the list included ice cream, Kung-Fu movies, laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose, burning things, construction cranes, and “me.” Although she returns the list with its spelling corrected, the boy’s mother never comments on it. Nevertheless, he keeps adding to his list. Although his mother eventually takes her life, the narrator tells how his list took on a life of its own and eventually saved him from his own depression and suicidal thoughts.
Unfortunately, much of our Advent season is not spent joyfully looking forward to celebrating the birth of the Christ child. In hope of finding the perfect gift for everyone on our list, we pore over catalogues and search for sales and coupons. Either we fight for parking spots at the mall and spend hours standing in line or spend those hours sitting at the computer while shopping on line! We then fret and fuss over wrapping those gifts, mailing packages and Christmas cards, hosting and attending parties, baking cookies, making travel arrangements, decorating the house, preparing holiday dinners, and paying the ever-mounting bills. When we say, “Merry Christmas!” we might find ourselves mumbling a Scrooge-like “Bah! Humbug” under our breath! Instead of looking forward to Christmas with anticipation, there are times we can’t wait until it’s all over and done.
In Letters to Malcom, C. S. Lewis wrote, “We, or at least I, shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest. … Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are ‘patches of Godlight’ in the woods of our experience.”
Devotions of the Heart 