Month: July 2017

Stop Fighting Me!

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

The focus of our church this summer is Psalm 46. Our pastor has strongly encouraged all of us to memorize it ~ even to the smallest child. He has not required something of us that he is not willing to do either. This past Sunday, he recited it at the front end of his sermon. He didn’t make a big deal out of it. It was a quiet, thoughtful delivery. We all knew that he was moved by what came out of his mouth.

He made some extensive comments on the famous verse, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ My view of that scripture changed. He first recited it as if it were coming from a God intending to soothe and lull His child to sleep, like whispering in a child’s ear. He admitted that this is what he always believed to be the context; like comfort for the fearful. But in studying, he discovered it was not meant to be a whisper to soothe the soul.  Rather, it was a rebuke. What?

So, I went digging for myself. Sure enough. In the chaos and confusion, in the heat of battle, in the striving and fury of activity, God is telling His children to stop fighting Him. They are playing God. They are trying to control what He controls. The cry for them is to be still, to surrender, and to remember who is God. Now, that changes everything, doesn’t it?

Surrender is the hardest thing to do until I’m out of strength. Before I’m willing to lay down my arms and trust God, I have this need to fix things myself. I want to put everything in place so I can feel secure. Only when I’m spent and out of options do I turn to God. Oh, that my initial response would always be surrender! When I acknowledge God at the beginning of my day, at the beginning of my crisis, and when I remember who has the power, then I will be confident and peaceful.

I put my whole trust today in a God who so easily moves things around with His finger and a puff of air.

Many of us are hearing you say today, ‘Stop what you’re doing! Surrender!’ We lay down our arms and relinquish control. Amen

Hippies

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Some of the teachers of the Law of Moses were Pharisees, and they saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors. So they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard them and answered, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn’t come to invite good people to be my followers. I came to invite sinners.” Mark 2:16-17

Many were upset about the company Jesus kept. The Jewish elite had become ingrown. They were blind to their own spiritual need but pretended to know the spiritual needs of others. You would think that would have sparked their compassion but it didn’t. Jesus went where they were unwilling to go. He went to where the sick could be found.

Though I grew up in a country Baptist church, my parents were not stereotypes. My mother reached out across our community of 900 with acts of mercy. Nurturing, baking, sitting with the dying; these defined her ministry. My dad broke the mold as well. He was a principal, then guidance counselor, in our local public high school. (Yes, my sister and I couldn’t get away with anything.) He watched the emergence of the hippie movement. I was a teenager at the time. Moved with compassion instead of judgment, he found a way to reach out to them after school hours. He went a couple of times to their local meeting place, an abandoned house in the middle of town, and spent time talking to them. After they called him ‘cool and groovy’, he asked if they’d like to learn the book of John from the Bible. They were accepting to the idea and considered that a ‘cool and groovy idea’ as well. For a year, he met with them weekly. A few came to love Jesus and they walk with him to this day. One is a pastor in Boston. They are all in their 60’s now. Many live locally and still tell stories of how this cool principal came to find them.

Have you ever noticed that when one believer breaks the mold, he leaves the warm acceptance of the fold? Just like Jesus. He entered a no man’s land. The religious elite wasn’t comfortable with him nor did his lifestyle match the sinner’s lifestyle. Nonetheless, He was willing to be solitary and take the Gospel where it was needed.

Dad did it right, too. He didn’t draw attention to his ministry. He didn’t scold others in the church for not caring. He went about his life quietly. When his outreach cut across the grain of others’ pride, I never remember him lashing out. He was a gentle soul.

Today is my day with my grandsons. The day started sitting at the kitchen table with my grandson, Andy.  He asked me if I knew what hippies used to say. (I was surprised he had heard of them.) I asked, “Hmm, what did they say?” He answered, “Groovy!” I laughed. That sparked many stories from my adolescence, including the story of my father teaching hippies the scriptures in their local hangout. Andy sat wide-eyed. My father’s legacy lives on and challenges descendants he never even got to meet. How ‘cool and groovy’ is that!

Let Dad’s generational legacy live on, Lord. Make Andy a fisher of men, casting his net among the spiritually sick. Amen

The Physical Impact of Words

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

“Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He walked with us?” Luke 24:32

Does my heart burn when Jesus speaks? Does it burn with conviction, but more often, does it burn as having been affected by a supernatural influence? Have I known a series of life-changing moments when the heavens opened and all became clear?

On the very day that the tomb of Jesus was found empty by Mary Magdalene, two men walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Both disciples of Jesus, they were in deep discussion about the report that Jesus was alive. Incredulous, they couldn’t imagine it was true. At that moment, Jesus appeared and walked with them though they didn’t recognize Him. He challenged their unbelief about the resurrection and began to remind them of Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah’s life, death, and rise to glory. His words were so dynamic that when it was time to leave them, they begged Jesus to stay longer. Later, when He broke bread with them, their eyes were opened, and He disappeared from their sight.

Then they had this conversation. “We should have known. Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He walked with us?”

When Jesus speaks, His words are potent. I’m stunned. A bit dissociated. Unable to connect with the mundane. Sleepless due to the excitement I feel. Voraciously hungry for more. Convicted of my sin. More alive than I’ve ever been. Wordless to describe the experience. This is the aftereffect of hearing the Rabbi’s voice.

Like the old hymn, “He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.” Any given day could be an ‘Emmaus Road’ day. There are seasons of revelation. Sometimes Jesus gives me an ‘open heaven’ day and other times He is silent. I must live off the memories of His last visit. But one thing is for sure ~ His words bring physical, emotional, and spiritual impact. David knew. “My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned.” Psalm 39:3

What is the most important spiritual skill I can cultivate? To hear the voice of God. If I live the breadth of my Christian life trying to model the principles of the Bible as if it were a self-help book, not only won’t it be exciting but it won’t sustain me when storms hit. Oh, this is not how it’s supposed to be. I am to feast on true companionship. I’m praying that you will have a ‘burning moment’ today, a supernatural appointment with the Spirit of God. Set your heart in listening mode.

I don’t even have to wait for You to show up on my journey. You’re inside. My heart is ready. In Jesus’ name, Amen