And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit - Ephesians 1:13
Home is ultimately not about a place to live but about the people with whom you are most fully alive. Home is about love, relationship, community, and belonging, and we are all searching for home. - Erwin McManus
It was for my 50th birthday and I had never been in a tattoo shop before.
For a few years prior to my walking through that shop door, I had an image that had been moving through my heart that IF I ever got a tattoo, it would be this …
It all started with Lions. I’ve always loved them.
When I stepped into C.S. Lewis’s Narnia, I was thrilled that Aslan, the Christ character, was a great lion! I mean just look at them ... beautiful and terrifying… that about describes the Lion of Judah, Jesus. Beautiful to His friends, Terrifying to the kingdom of darkness and all the enemies of God… I mean really, "At the mention of His name, they shudder", and at the mention of His name we are at peace.
He loves with such majesty, and we are actually invited to get close to Him, this Lion, hug him by the mane, feel his power and be comforted by the experience that this King ...
He is with us and we are with Him.
Just to be clear, I believe He is terrifying, not because He is mean, but because He is holy, gracious, and powerful, and His enemies cower at His presence and shudder from His roar.
So, I brought my image to the artist in the tattoo shop. Showed him what I was thinking and when he looked at the picture, he responded, “Whoa … cool. What is the story, what is its significance to you?” I shared that the Lion in the crest of the shield belonged to Peter, a young king in The Chronicles of Narnia and that the Lion image was that of Aslan, the Great King over all of Narnia. He was impressed and went to work. A couple hours later, I was outwardly permanently marked with Christ, sealed as a reminder, identified that He is with me and I am with Him just as I am inwardly.
We are marked by God, and He is our home. What a beautiful way to describe our love affair with Him and His love for us ... a romance for the ages. I pray, like in any deep and loving relationship, you know God’s voice, sense His touch, experience home. How is the Lion of Judah, Jesus, loving you? Do you hear and feel his roar? His call to home? He is, you know. All the time, pursuing us. And like the children learned in Narnia … Aslan, He isn’t safe … but He is good.
In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit. - Ephesians 1:13 (AMP)
The Daily Prayer - Paragraph 3
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and choosing me before you made the world[3]. You are my true Father – my Creator, my Redeemer, my Sustainer and the true end of all things, including my life. I love you, I trust you, I worship you. Thank you for proving your love for me by sending your only Son, Jesus, to be my substitute and representative.[4] I open up my life anew to all of his Life and all his work, which you ordained for me.[5] Thank you for including me in Christ,[6] for forgiving me my sins, [7]for granting me his righteousness, [8]for making me complete in him.[9] Thank you for making me alive with Christ[10], raising me with him,[11] seating me with him at your right hand,[12] granting me his authority[13] and anointing me with your Holy Spirit.[14] I receive it all with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
An excerpt from The Daily Prayer Memory Verse Cards.
