Author: Christine Wyrtzen

The Rhythm Of A Sheep’s Life

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The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23:1

In the daytime, sheep are put out to pasture.  They graze, nap in the sun, even play.  At nighttime, they go back into the sheepfold to sleep in safety. Day after day, and night after night, their way of life is unchanged.  Their familiar routine offers security, abundance, and relationship.

The rhythm of a Christian’s life, the person who knows Jesus, should also be one of resting, grazing, and working.

  • When threatened by wild animals, I run back to my shepherd, and to the safety of the fold.  My heart may be beating wildly but nothing can hurt me outside of His will if I stick close to Him.  Restorative rest is a promise He gives me.
  • When following the Shepherd, I enjoy abundant spiritual food.  The Word of God is a pasture, always green.  It must surely resemble the lush green landscapes of New Zealand, the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen.  Take a back country road and what you see around every turn is another pasture of sheep.  Each view is a postcard.  The food Jesus provides for me, meditatively and instructively, is the likings of the finest pastures.
  • When I have eaten sufficiently, work awaits.  The work is not abusive.  It is not laden with high expectations without the foundation of proper nourishment and proper equipping.  The shepherd has given me both.  He has fed me, He has tutored me, and He has trained me.  My work is the culmination of His promise.  “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Work in the context of a relationship is the key to a joyous calling.

When this rhythm exists, the rest of the Psalm makes sense.

Your pastures are so green and satisfying, Jesus.  I have rested, I have eaten, and now I will work.  In Jesus name, Amen

Savoring The Upward Climb

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For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  Roman 8:14

Isn’t everyone who lives on planet earth God’s child?  Many think so and refer to the human race as children of God.  It is a warm, fuzzy concept but untrue.  Everyone who lives on planet earth is God’s creation but not necessarily His child.  The dividing line is what each one does with Jesus.

In John 8, Jesus told a few Jewish people, including its leaders, that the only ones who were really disciples were the ones who followed Him.  Those who didn’t accept Him as the Messiah and follow His teaching were slaves of sin.  The Jews were indignant, insisting that they were related to Abraham and were not slaves to anyone.  Had they forgotten that they had been slaves of many nations during their long history?  And even while they were saying this to Jesus, they were under the domination and authority of the Roman Empire?  Pride does obscure the naked truth!

It is not possible to be led by the Spirit of God if I have not embraced Christ. Why? Because the Spirit of God will lead me to think and act like Jesus. His Words and His actions will challenge my own thoughts and actions most every moment I am alive. His Spirit will call me to do what is against my old nature. Submitting to the steep climb will not be possible without loving the One I follow. It will be too hard to sustain the pace without the fuel of love propelling me upward.

Another paraphrase of today’s scripture is this, from Jesus’ teaching.  All who love Jesus will prove it by listening to and obeying His Spirit. Deferring as a way of life defines sons and daughters of God.

Even now, the thought of following you in the hard things makes me feel alive. There is an ache to walk the path of Your Spirit.  Amen

Sorting Out This Mess

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On Saturday night, I lay in bed and stared into the darkness. I was weary, worn out by the continuing drama that is unfolding across our world. I’ve heard it said that all of us should limit our exposure to the news to just one hour a day. We simply aren’t made to handle more than that lest the stress impair us on many levels. We were made for the Garden, not for this. We were created to thrive in an atmosphere of perfect holiness and exhilarating worship, not to have to strategize on how to survive in growing chaos.
 
As I continued to lay there, I was aching to pray but I didn’t know what exactly. Slipping out of bed, I went in the other room and said to Father God, “Don’t let me get dull. Don’t let me numb out to the most important things. Don’t let me get more worked up about the headlines than I am worked up about a world not knowing you. Don’t let me care more about who wins the election in November than I care about storing away your Word in my Spirit.”
 
It’s easy to look for things that will take us away from our present realities. For Ron and myself, it’s plunging into the History channel. We are tempted to binge on WWII documentaries and movies on Winston Churchill. We love them and they take us to another time. Nonetheless, the benefit of escaping the present is shortsighted if streaming programs eclipses what I would have gained if I’d taken half that time to fill my spirit with the only thing that matters, the Word of God. When life is over, it won’t matter to me – or to any of us – what unfolded with COVID, or the election, or the lawlessness in the streets of Portland or Washington, D.C. What will thrill our souls then, and now, are the scriptures that promise to tremble in our hands if we cry out to the Spirit to awaken us to the Divine Life they carry, Jesus ~ the Word.
 
So starting now, I am going to spend the next month in the greatest chapter in all of scripture. Romans Eight. Not only will I live in it, but I am determined to memorize it. Undoubtedly, it will mean writing it out many times over to make it stick but in the end, I will take Romans 8 with me wherever I go. I won’t need to have my Bible or any smart device to recall the verses because the chapter will be inside of me. Simmering. Working. Changing me. Focusing the eyes of my spirit.
 
Will you pray about joining me? Will you step out of the madness into the calm, out of the chaos and into the perfectly ordered world of the Spirit. The Father is setting the table. His Spirit is crafting strategic arrows that will speak to each of us. There will be a word from God and our private worlds will shake with the implications. If ever we needed to see with spirit eyes into heaven’s realm, the one to which we belong, it’s now.

Spiritually Prosperous Teaching

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The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable.  Proverbs 15:2

A gifted teacher is hard to find.  Many who feel called to be a teacher do little more than just share information.  Their words may fill the air but how much of what they say is empowered by the Divine and goes straight into a man’s spirit?  Sometimes, very little.  That’s because knowledge is more than just passing on factual information.

  • To teach successfully, I must have wisdom.  That means, personally, I have come to the end my myself and recognized how desperate I am for God’s wisdom.  Not only has God imparted it, but I learned it through obedience.
  • To teach successfully, I must know people.  I must understand the heart of a man and how he thinks, moves, and breathes with (or without) God. This begins with knowing myself.
  • To teach successfully, I must be in tune with whether or not others are connecting with me.  Blank stares, napping, and shifting in their seats…are not good signs.
  • To teach successfully, I must know when the hearts of my listeners are ready to hear the message.  There must be fertile ground for the seeds of truth to take root.  A message delivered prematurely, even though it may be expertly crafted, will be wasted.  I may as well have curled up at home with a good book.
  • To teach successfully, I must know how to hear the voice of God’s Spirit while I’m teaching.  As one who used to be chained to my notes, convinced I needed to have every “t” crossed and every “i” dotted, I am learning that God sometimes wants to tweak my messages during the actual delivery.  If I don’t know how to hear Him and don’t have the guts to follow His lead, I will live in the bondage of perfectionism and forfeit the thrill of  becoming larger than myself.
  • Finally, to teach successfully, I must have passion and urgency.  A relaxed and casual approach about critical spiritual matters don’t compel anyone to take them seriously.  I must be more than a collection of casual anecdotes.

“You make Scripture come alive,” is one of the greatest comments a teacher will ever hear.  God is looking for those who are willing to do their own rigorous heart preparation before ever taking the podium.

Becoming a Bible-scholar can not be a replacement for spending time with You, allowing You to teach me and mold me.  No agendas other than Yours, Lord.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

Well-worn Loopholes

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For all who have sinned without the law will perish without the law, and all who have sinner under the law will be judged by the law.  Romans 2:12

Unbelievers are stuck on issue of whether or not God is fair.  Is He capable of sending someone who has never heard the Gospel to eternal condemnation because they failed to accept Jesus as their Savior? Wrestling with that issue, they are distracted from the reality that they have heard the Gospel and are without excuse.  It’s as if they look for a reason to discredit God so that their own rejection of Him is justified.

Paul gives the answer here to the question of God’s ultimate fairness.  Each man is judged according to the revelation of God he has received.  Those who have lived without knowledge of the law are still without excuse.  Those who have heard the Gospel are also without excuse.  In the previous chapter, he explains.  God has revealed himself in nature and in the moral code of mankind, no matter the culture, to cause man to worship Him and seek His face.

Every person, in every culture, has God’s moral code written on their heart.  They are warmed by love and appalled by hatred.  They embrace honesty and feel violated when lied to.  The punish treachery and applaud fairness.  Even the most hardened atheist will cry out over the injustice of being wronged yet conveniently fail to explore why he has a strong internal opinion at all about the fact a wrong was committed.  By whose standard was the ‘wrong’ considered wrong?  Mankind was made in the image of God and we have enough conviction in us about right and wrong, even with a carnal conscience, to know that God exists.

Why does this issue matter to me today?  God is not easily understood.  He is full of mystery.  Because of that, my faith can be threatened by seeming inconsistencies. I can be tempted to bend toward unbelief.  Instead of looking for loopholes today which, I believe, might absolve me from putting all my trust in Him, I stand on what I do know.  He is just, fair, loving, and longsuffering.  If a particular mystery in scripture appears to put any part of His character in question, I know it is only because I have partial eyesight.

Whatever I don’t understand makes me move closer to You, by faith, instead of farther away.  I guard my faith with a vengeance.  Amen

Rhythm of Pasturing

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I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out to find pasture. John 10:9

In the daytime, sheep are put out to pasture.  They graze, nap in the sun, even play.  At nighttime, they go back into the sheepfold to sleep in safety. Day after day, and night after night, their way of life is unchanged.  Their familiar routine offers security, abundance, and relationship.

The boredom which has plagued the American church is waning for a small segment of the church.  While we are seeing the ‘great falling away’ of the masses, there is revival among those who have chosen to walk the narrow way with Jesus.  This next generation burns with a fire that is unprecedented in recent history.  They know what so many of their parents never learned.  Christianity is not about a religion, it’s about a person.  Knowing the Bible, reciting the Apostle’s Creed and The Lord’s Prayer, ‘does not a Christian make!’  Christian education without knowing Jesus will cause Jesus to say one day, “Depart from me.  I never knew you.”

The rhythm of a Christian’s life, the person who knows Jesus, should be one of resting, grazing, and working.

  • When threatened by wild animals, I run back to my shepherd, and to the safety of the fold.  My heart may be beating wildly but nothing can hurt me outside of His will if I stick close to Him.  Restorative rest is a promise He gives me.
  • When following the Shepherd, I enjoy abundant spiritual food.  The Word of God is a pasture, always green.  It must surely resemble the lush green landscapes of New Zealand, the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen.  Take a back country road and what you see around every turn is another pasture of sheep.  Each view is a postcard.  The food Jesus provides for me, meditatively and instructively, is the likings of the finest pastures.
  • When I have eaten sufficiently, work awaits.  The work is not abusive.  It is not laden with high expectations without the foundation of proper nourishment and proper equipping.  The shepherd has given me both.  He has fed me, He has tutored me, and He has trained me.  My work is the culmination of His promise.  “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Work in the context of a relationship is the key to a joyous calling.

Your pastures are so green and satisfying, Jesus.  I have rested, I have eaten, and now I will work.  In Jesus name, Amen

So, When Will I See It?

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But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.  Hebrews 10:12-13

The enemy of God is the god of the anti-kingdom.  He does not war silently.  Peter says that he is like a lion and his roar is ferocious.  In the plains of Africa where lions roam, I’ve read that a lion’s roar can be heard five miles away if there are no competing noises.  I can picture what happens with the sound, can’t you?  Every potential prey stops what they’re doing to listen and discern how close, or how far away, their predator is.  Every living thing is on edge.

While there are certainly periods in my life that are peaceful, they are short lived.  I feel the enemy’s breath on my cheek.  His roar is the bedfellow, and the precursor, of spiritual attacks.  He customizes devastation to hurt as much as possible.  He targets my areas of weakness.  He waits for my vulnerable moments.  Where the ground is shaky beneath my feet, he lies in wait for the perfect moment to gain the upper hand.

I dream of the day when I will see consistent evidence that every enemy is under God’s feet. The picture is that of a Ruler who wins the battle against an opposing king.  Victorious in battle, he puts his foot on the neck of the enemy as a sign of conquest and subjugation.

As a child of God, I am waiting for the time when every spiritual enemy of Christ will be visibly under the authority of King Jesus.  Victory has already been declared now but I do not see that sweeping defeat as a reality.  Not yet.  There is still fighting and while I engage in the battle, where is my King?  Seated at God’s right hand in a position of rulership.  Where are His enemies?   Already beneath Him.  Look how Satan’s kingdom is described as ‘levels of rule and authority, power and dominion’ and Jesus is above them all.

 God seated Jesus at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.  And He put all things in subjection under His feet.  Ephesians 1:20-21

At this present time, and from my earthly perspective, I am unable to see that reality.  But one day I will.  Until then, I must know who my Victor is.  I must believe that He has authority, and has conferred that authority upon me, to rule over our spiritual enemies on His behalf.  Satan will continue to act as though he still has all the power if I let him.  The Word of God is my sword and God will show me when and where to speak it, to impose limits and parameters to the activity of the anti-kingdom.  During this brief period when Satan is still allowed to roam the earth and wield some destructive powers, the church must battle and look forward to the day when every enemy will be vanquished, put under God’s feet, and then eternally subjugated.

Without You, I’m no match for them.  With You, and in You, there’s no contest.  The victory is Yours and the victory is mine.  Amen

What’s On The Other Side?

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The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.   Genesis 8:4

As I sit and listen to the noise of the natural world outside my office windows, I’m aware of all that lives outside in the open air.  Noah and his family witnessed the killing of every living thing outside the ark and were given no instructions from God about what would happen on the other side of the flood.  Their lives were taken up with building the ark and surviving catastrophe.  As the ark came to rest and the floodwaters receded, they had no blueprint.  The rest and the quiet were gracious surprises.

God provides rest and blessing after the storm.  While I am being tossed about, I am so taken with surviving that the thought of rest and reflection on some future day seems out of reach.  I’ve learned that I cannot know what blessing will look like.  God fashions it, that ‘new thing’, and no amount of curiosity will be able to paint a scenario that resembles what God will create.

For the storm, there was warning and detailed instructions for survival.  For the new world, there would be daily grace and spiritual intuition.  Once the mountain peaks were visible, Noah would know to send out a raven, one who could gather food from the carnage that rested on exposed land.  On another day, he would decide to send out a dove, one who would search for new foliage.  None of this was spelled out by God but all of this was put into the heart of Noah because he walked with God.

The nature of a storm is such that it takes all mental and emotional faculties to stay afloat.  There are no resting periods to reflect on the past nor dream about the future.  It’s inconceivable and doubtful that there will be a future.  But God is not bound by time.  While the winds of heaven howl, the certainty of future blessing is as much a reality on God’s timeline.  In the midst of the uncertainty between Egypt and Canaan, God spoke to Moses.  “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest.”  Exodus 33:14

Make me a victor in Christ and prepare me for ruling and spiritual rest.  Amen

Want To Go To The Secret Place?

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He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Oh, how beautiful is the picture of this spiritual reality. ‘Secret place’ in Hebrew is mistar ~ ‘a concealed place where treasures are stored.’  Don’t you want to go there?  Don’t you want to discover it?  This place is actually ‘in Christ’ and the treasure ‘is Christ’. This hidden place is both positional (doctrinal) and experiential (a living reality).

I grew up in the church and heard the phrase ‘secret place’. It was a charming thought but no one ever really explained it as something a child of God could experience. It was sterile dogma. If only I’d heard that God had a heart and I could draw close to Him to experience it.

The secret of my hiding place is that there is spiritual power there. It is resident in Christ and when I am near Him, He is eager to let me experience all that He is.  And He promises to share it with me so that my heart beats like His. What that means is this ~ I can rest in my spirit though I’m physically stressed. I can be strong like steel even though people around me expect me to break. Though all hell unravels, I can be of sound mind and possess unshakeable calm.  You have been a place of safety for the poor and need in times of trouble. Brutal enemies pounded us like a heavy rain but you were our shelter. Isaiah 25:4

So, why do I temporarily leave this place? Because life throws me a curve I didn’t anticipate and I focus on my circumstances. Or, a faithless person talks me out of my peace and I cave to their flawed logic.  The outcome?  I sink like Peter in waters way over my head.  For every child of God, there is a secure fortress. There is no storm too furious.  No foe too mighty.  No tragedy too hopeless.  No grief too consuming.  I am a child who runs home continually, reminding my enemy all the way ~ “Wait till I tell my Father.”

I’m going to believe you, Lord. Every foe today is already defeated. They are very well aware of their end and are pretending to wield a power that isn’t theirs. I’m not fooled and with Your Word, I call their bluff.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

When God Interrupts Life

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About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.”

The story of Joseph is one of the predominant stories in Genesis. Abraham’s descendants were saved when Joseph assumed a place of political power in Egypt. If Jacob and his sons had not fled to Egypt in a time of famine, the line of Abraham would have ended.

But the puzzling thing is this ~ Why, in the middle of the story of Joseph, does God bring in the story of Judah and Tamar? Isn’t it out of place? This tiny story is really the stunning focal point of the whole book. Here’s why.

Through Tamar’s offspring would come King David’s ancestral line. Without her pregnancy, Judah’s line would be extinct. In essence, Joseph’s rise to power made a way for Tamar’s child to get to Egypt! Perez, her son, was able to live outside of famine and grow to prosper. Ten generations after him would birth a shepherd boy who would become King.

How well do I handle God’s interruptions? When He leads me on a detour, or so I believe it to be, how willing am I to trust Him? For all I know, the detour provides the next doorway to my future. God hasn’t laid down His sovereign rule over my life; He has exercised it. Just because I can’t see the value of His interruption doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Getting older yields many gifts. One of them is the privilege of looking back at a large chunk of my life to see the fingerprints of God. The places of pain that I thought were wasted were really invaluable. Some of the places that God took me (and I mourned all the way there), were places of blessed connections. How well I remember God’s words in Hosea. ‘I’m calling you to the desert to speak tenderly to you there.’ Desert equals disruption if I look at it from my limited viewpoint. But desert really equals a life-defining moment when God is there to speak into my life.

Against what are you straining today? Perhaps your trust in the Shepherd has eroded because of the place he’s taken you. What appears to be a meaningless detour never is when God has you by the hand. Do the very thing I failed to do so many years ago. Embrace the place you are in, by faith, and ask God to give you eyes to see the treasures under the rocks.

You don’t make detours. I’m on Your path and always secure. Amen