Author: Christine Wyrtzen

These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.  God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.  Hebrews 11:29-30 

The heroes of the faith, so many of them, lived when following God was so much harder than it is now.  They didn’t know God well.  They hadn’t seen the coming Messiah.  They had little history to review because the Jewish nation was still young.  And, scripture was also incomplete.

They had been given the law; ten impossible commandments to keep.  They held up a mirror to show them their sin problem.  So, what could be God’s plan?  That they would love and worship Him, follow His commands but know that when they failed, they could offer a sacrifice that would make atonement for their sins.  But in this process, they had no internal help with the sinfulness of their flesh.  There was no Holy Spirit to enable holiness, to whisper encouragement, to teach them individually and to write God’s Word on their heart.  Life was a cycle of worship, acts of faith, deeds of sinfulness, making sacrifices, then repenting and receiving forgiveness.

They did not know about a future event called Pentecost when believers would experience the indwelling of the Spirit of God.  Today, when my flesh is weak, I cry out to the Spirit to help me.  I do not need to offer a sacrifice for forgiveness.  The bloody ordeal was satisfied in Jesus.  I can rest in three things: 1.) In the finished work of the cross.  2.) In the sanctifying work of the Spirit and the sharing of Jesus’ divine nature.  3.) In the intimacy with God afforded to me because I’ve been justified and made holy.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  His diving power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.   Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.…  2 Peter 1:2-4

None of this did our faith heroes have.  Yet, their faith was stellar enough that it challenges even us.  How did they do it?  There must have been an Old Testament kind of grace that facilitated a spiritual energy to obey and to remain steadfast.  This a mystery held in the mind of God.

I have everything I need today to live a life of obedience and faithfulness.  Oh, thank you.  Amen

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:10

Every person knows some degree of persecution.  Feeling unwanted.  Scorned.  Left out.  Rejected.  God has a heart for you if persecution from others has been part of your story – even from birth.  But there is another kind of persecution.  Righteous persecution.  That means that I will suffer because of my association with Jesus.  When I love Him more than others, that will affect what I say and the choices I make.  To align with Jesus is to be misunderstood and unpopular.  I can’t expect otherwise.  When Jesus entered ministry, His first sermon incited a crowd to stone Him even though He’d only delivered a paragraph.  His words were so sharp that they pierced through the unrighteousness of the crowd like a sword.  The Light of the world caused others to shield their eyes for they loved darkness rather than light.

Until I became God’s child, I was homogeneous with my world.  My parents, family, and friends taught me how to think and view the world.  I loved harmony (as I’m a peacemaker) so I lived rarely making waves.  God turns this upside down, whether we are peacemakers or not, as He becomes our Father and re-parents us to think, feel, and act like Jesus.  Supremely, that is our life’s goal as a new disciple.  I can sing, “I have decided to follow Jesus. .” but then continue to think for myself.  Never am I more hypocritical and salt-less.

If I am an angry person and my words repel others, I will be persecuted.  But, this is not the kind Jesus refers to.

If I am a judgmental person and walk around with a disapproving demeanor, I will be persecuted.  But, this is not the kind Jesus refers to.

I can be a dark person and suffer the exclusion of others.  But, this is not the kind Jesus refers to.

I can be a controlling person and suffer the criticism of others and even though I might be right at times, this is not the kind of persecution Jesus refers to.

‘For righteousness sake’ means that when I speak and act like Jesus, in the way He spoke and in the way He acted, I will be persecuted in the same manner as He was.  Even though humble, I will be hated.  Even though I love, I will be rejected.  Even though I desire to serve, my offers will be refused.  Even though, before God, I have committed no crime except to live out the Gospel, I may be stoned and imprisoned.  But I am blessed by God.  The end of Hebrews 11 says that the world is not worthy of God’s children who walk in Jesus’ footsteps.

I will not hold a pity party.  You told me to expect it, forgive, and seek my comfort from You.  Align me where I’m out of alignment.  Amen

The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.  Hebrews 11:38

Oh, how differently God sees things.  The only thing that matters is God’s viewpoint.  His spiritual vision is uncluttered and there isn’t a trace of distortion; no cobwebs cloud his reasoning. His interpretation of people and events are right and true.  I shudder to think of some of the assessments I’ve made over a lifetime that were far from God’s appraisal.

Opposite viewpoints are the point of this scripture.  The world has regarded believers in Jesus one way – and in the time of the writing of Hebrews – they were expendable, worthless, stripped of all rights, and hunted down to be persecuted before being eliminated.  If I were able to interview the political leaders of that time and ask them why they despised Jesus’ disciples, they would have given an extensive list of reasons.  That’s the scary part.  Their minds were darkened by sin and rebellion.  God’s thoughts were far from their thoughts but still they were zealots of hatred.

While they considered disciples of Jesus worthless, God viewpoint was that it was really the other way around.  He said that the world was not worthy of their presence.  Such is the case for any child of God today who is being persecuted for righteousness sake.  (What is righteous persecution as opposed to self-inflicted persecution due to soulish behavior? That will be the topic of tomorrow’s devotional.)

For now, if you are certain that you suffer because of your love for Jesus, you are of infinite worth to God even though others believe you are contemptible.   It can be lonely to love Jesus more than the acceptance of others, more than you love family or a spouse, more than you love the praise of your children, and even more than you love the comfort of fitting in with others in ministry.  It is lonely to love God’s specific instruction and to walk in solitary obedience.

We are a peculiar people, and rarely will the world understand our way of thinking any more than it understood the peculiar stories and unique mindset of Jesus.  He interpreted his world in ways that could never have occurred to anyone else around Him.  He and His Father were one and that unity gave Him the discernment to make righteous judgements.  He said as much to the mixed crowd who were picking up stones to put a woman to death. He was alone as He forgave her.  They were united to condemn.  “I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”  John 8:26

Stop now and breathe in the favor of Your Father who, even now, might whisper, “Well done.”

Encourage someone right now is about to cave and feels they can’t take one more minute of feeling hated.  Even for Your sake.  Amen

Some men were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection, and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.  Hebrews 11:35-38

I would like to invite you to take in this paragraph by a pastor from the 1800’s, G. H. Morrison.  His messages were described as pastoral and devotional.  He reveled in obscure texts.  He wrote his sermons early in the week and set out, the rest of the week, to discover how simply he could present them.  His painstakingly careful, and Spirit led wording, is never more evident than in his treatment of this passage from Hebrews 11.  The back and forth comparisons make me think of the Ecclesiastes scripture about the times: time to build up, time to tear down, etc.

With you, I ask God for the wisdom to discover how faith should be expressed in my life today.

Teach us, Lord.  Amen

Quote: Faith is not just when it brings deliverance to a man, but sometimes, when deliverance is offered, it gives him a fine courage to refuse it. There are seasons when faith shows itself in taking. There are seasons when it is witnessed in refusing. There is a deliverance that faith embraces. There is a deliverance that faith rejects. They were tortured, not accepting deliverance—that was the sign and seal that they were faithful. There are hours when the strongest proof of faith is the swift rejection of the larger room^{.  G.H. Morrison}

Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,  David, Samuel, and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength after being weak, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.  Hebrews 11:32-3

It’s easy to assess a weak person as forever weak. They are often pigeonholed from their youth. When considering whom to choose for a position where strength is critical, the weak are usually not considered.  Natural strength and ability is prized but the assessment for who is qualified is sorely lacking.  I must remember that the weak are made strong as God showcases His strength through willing hearts.  The degree of their weakness is immaterial.  If they trust God, are fully dependent and expectant, then watch out!

The children of Israel were always outnumbered and yet, with God, their weaknesses were paired with God’s unparalleled strength. Gideon defeated the Midianites with fragile pitchers – just pieces of earthen pottery.  Samson slayed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey.  Historically, ill equipped saints were given beyond the natural to enable them to overcome incredible odds in the supernatural. Think of the widow and her son who were on the edge of starvation.  They had a handful of flour and a little oil left to make their last meal. God’s hand touched their meager amount of ingredients and there was an unending supply.

God’s tactical strategies do not include the assessment of a person’s strengths.  He takes a person who loves Him and trusts Him, and though they may be weak and without resources, He completes what is lacking to make them a supernatural kingdom force.

What battle are you fighting today?  I’m in one myself. The advantage, in the natural realm, is not mine.  I can see that.  It may not be yours either.  Put the equation on paper and a disastrous outcome is sure.  If you live with someone who prizes intellect, a scientific mind who thrives on logic and solid evidence, predictions of gloom will fill your home.  Faith must be fought for.  And fight, we must.  The battle can be against the arguments of faithless children of God. This should not be but it is.

God is for you.  Not against.  Stand up and expect a miracle.  Put it all on the line.  Offer Him what you have even if it’s far from enough.  I love J.D. Greer’s quote.  Our strength is more of a liability than an asset.  When God wants to use us, He often begins by weakening us.

The most important thing I have in my hands is helpless dependence on You.  Amen

By faith Rahab the prostitute received the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed. Hebrews 11:30

The story of Rahab is far bigger than her hiding two spies on her roof.  If I remember her only for this, it’s hard to fathom why she is in this Hebrews 11 lineup of faith giants.  I need to look at the bigger story.

• She embraced Yahweh before the spies ever came to her house. The fame of Israel’s God had spread throughout the land of Canaan.  Rahab was the only one who heard the stories and trusted God in response.  She left the Canaanite gods.  She changed sides.  I don’t know if her faith was public but it was heading that direction as her story continued.
• She disobeyed the king of Jericho when his henchmen came looking for the spies. She said that the spies had already left when, at that moment, they were still on her roof.  She knowingly acted against her king and her own people.
• She made a covenant with the spies, not only for herself but for her family. That meant that she had to convince her family to change sides too.  She put her life on the line.  Any one of them could have reported her.  Family does betray family on matters of religion after all.

The Hebrew word used to describe Rahab in Joshua 2 literally means “a prostitute woman.”  She might have been involved in cultic prostitution related to Canaanite religious practices.  Yet in spite of her past, her conversion was real.  God’s plan for her life was not thwarted by her life of sin. Her faith changed her destiny and her standing before God.

Finally, her message to the spies validated her faith and is legendary and instructive.  “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you.  For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan.  As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you.  The LORD your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below.”  Joshua 2:9-11

Here is the irony.  Rahab reveals that the stories about Yahweh were famous throughout the land of Canaan.  God, and His people, were feared.  Yet forty years earlier, Moses sent 12 spies to Canaan to see how easy, or difficult, it would be to take the land.  They were seized with fear over the giant-sized men and the seemingly impenetrable city walls.  Their fear incurred God’s wrath and He cursed them with forty more years of wilderness wandering. What a tragedy.  They feared the people who feared them!

This is my takeaway ~ The enemy we are often afraid of ~ is really afraid of us.

With You on my side, whom shall I fear?  Amen

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after being encircled by the Israelites for seven days. Hebrews 11:30

Looking foolish appears to be a theme within the narrative of scripture.  A great man like Naaman was commanded to dip into the dirty Jordan seven times for healing.  Noah was told to build an ark when rain was unheard of.  Jehoshaphat was told to abandon his military training to lead a charge with only a choir of singers.  And the Israelites were told to walk around Jericho for seven days in anticipation of the city’s walls falling down.  To obey God required the laying down of self-interest.  Naaman was humiliated by the order.  Jehoshaphat probably wondered if he heard such an outlandish command correctly.  Noah sustained ridicule for 100+ years as he labored to build a wooden monstrosity.  And while the Israelites didn’t have to march around Jericho for a hundred years, seven days is still a long time to look ridiculous.

Did each and every person who marched believe, with every step, God’s prophesied outcome?  I doubt it.  No more than I believe God every single moment when He leads me to do something scary.  I take a deep breath.  I obey.  I sustain some criticism.  Weakened, I go back to the Lord for renewed strength.  The process starts all over again.  Obedience is solitary and is usually way out of the realm of what is logical and predictable.

No wonder faith is what has to precede radical obedience.  Without faith, compliance is impossible.  The risk of looking foolish is real and is a faith-killer.  I must lay down my reputation and live for an audience of One.  Only His plan, and my obedience, matters.  I don’t need to know how things fit together to follow God’s lead either.  I may not know until glory.

Hebrews 11 chronicles the stories of a few faith giants.  They were heroes because they offered themselves to God for a mission that would grate against the mainstream.  People didn’t understand.  Way before Jesus, it had already been proven that the way is narrow for those who follow God.  The gate is wide, however, for conformists and rationalists who follow their own rudder.

The plans of men may impress a crowd of the like-minded and the wayward but plans of God only impress other children of God who walk by faith.  Trophies and adulation are given for temporal accomplishments but crowns will be given to those who sustain more than a little mocking from the throngs on the road to destruction.  Walk on with Jesus – if you bear the bruises of others’ words.  You are in good company.  Your former heroes are, right now, worshiping at the feet of Jesus.  They are in awe of God’s stunning story-line and how privileged they were to play a small part in the advance of God’s  kingdom.  Sense the cheering of this great cloud of witnesses.

Yes. Fathers. Mothers. Even brothers and sisters from centuries ago. Let their voices resound in my heart.  Amen

Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.  Hebrews 11:28

When God chooses a leader, He chooses him with great care.  Moses’ response to God’s instructions about the first Passover would mean the difference between life and death for every firstborn in an Israelite family.  With great detail, God gave instructions.  With great detail, Moses carried them out.  No carelessness.  No second-guessing about appeared to be important and what seemed to be of little significance.  He was not burdened down by the extent of God’s instructions.  If the details were important to God, the details were important to him.

Such is the essence of faith. When God speaks, I obey no matter what.  I do not sift through God’s commands and apply a value to what seems compelling.  I do not take shortcuts according to my own interpretation of God’s words.  By faith, I trust that every single thing He speaks is critical whether I understand it or not.

Moses could not know all that that was in the heart of God as he listened to God unveil the detailed instructions for his people.   He could not know that Christ would be our Passover and would one day be sacrificed for us.  He could not know that as each household chose a lamb without blemish, that the Messiah would also be a Lamb without sin.  He could not know that killing and roasting their lambs as God instructed would paint a picture of the suffering and killing of another perfect Lamb on a hillside outside Jerusalem.  He could now know that every detail of Passover instructions from Yahweh would correspond perfectly to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Yet in spite of what he did not know, Moses knew God.  His faith was built on awe and respect.  His faith bid him to obey God to the very last detail. Whatever God promised would come to pass and each seemingly insignificant element would hold remarkable symbolism down through the ages. In heaven, God’s plan of redemption will be celebrated and each facet of this first Passover will astound us all over again as we sing the song in Revelation chapter five.  Our voices will blend with the choir of angels.

“Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Hebrews 11:24-25

I’ve heard more than a few stories of people who come into a great deal of money and choose to leave their small-town acquaintances, and even their family behind, to live in the better part of town.  They are ashamed to associate with those who represent their humble beginnings.  But Moses?  He flips this on its head and does the exact opposite.  He leaves his life of privilege.  He publicly nullifies his adoption into the royal family and chooses to associate instead with a nation of slaves.

The writer of Hebrews wanted us to know that Moses did this when he was grown up.  Why is that important?  Because he was not young, naïve, or gullible.  He was forty years old; mature, well-educated, full of knowledge and experience.  He changed his life and identity in the most profound way possible in the prime of his life.  Who does this?  Who leaves honor and privilege to embrace a nation of outcasts?  Only one who has encountered God.  Moses, upon learning He was Jewish, could have considered it bad news and something to grieve.  But when he met God at the burning bush, a lot more happened than him getting a new mission.  He got a new heart.

It’s amazing what people do when their heart has been changed by an encounter with Christ.  Brilliant doctors with lucrative practices have given them up to go to the missionfield to build mission post hospitals.  College professors have given up tenure at major universities in order to go to seminary to become pastors.  Young women have given up the love of their life in order to go into fulltime ministry as single people.  Such choices make no sense at all to a world who watches.  It appears that they have thrown their life away, and for what?!  But they are living examples of the story Jesus told about hidden treasure.  The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.  Matthew 13:44

Jesus is the treasure.  Before discovering Him, we live with priorities and affections diverted elsewhere.  We value what the world values and we fit in.  Jesus turns it all upside down when He reveals Himself and opens our eyes to His glory.  Nothing and no one can equal His worth.  We become His peculiar people, choosing to be outcasts, singing all the way home as love-sick worshipers.

I am the singer of a new song about the real King in the only kingdom that matters.  Thank you!  Amen

And did God ever say to an angel, as he does to his Son, “Sit here beside me in honor until I crush all your enemies beneath your feet”?  Hebrews 1:13

Angels do not rest in the presence of God because they are working for Him.  Jesus, however, sits at the right hand of the Father.  Only He can rest.  Only He can sit in repose in God’s company.

We should never get too comfortable around high authority.

There is a story about a man named Lear who was hired to give Queen Victoria art lessons. Things went well, and Lear started to feel quite at home in the palace. He enjoyed standing in front of the fire, leaning on the hearth and warming himself in a relaxed manner, but every time he did that, one of the Queen’s attendants invited him to look at something on the other side of the room, causing him to move. No one explained it to him, but after a while he got the idea: good manners said it was wrong for a subject to have such a relaxed attitude in the presence of their Queen.

Have God’s children become so comfortable around Jesus that we’ve lost respect for His Kingship?  Sometimes, yes.  The balance between intimacy and deference must be preserved.  So, it is imperative that I keep company with believers who are intimate with Jesus, who appreciate that the veil in the temple was torn so that we could draw close to God.  But it is also imperative that intimacy never replace awe so I must also keep company with believers who are hushed by God’s mercy and their own sinfulness.  Intimacy should not take the privilege of proximity for granted.

Being a musician, I want to address worship and liturgy.  Praise and worship is multi-faceted.  Contemporary worship songs accentuate and foster intimacy.  Hymns from our spiritual ancestors accentuate and foster respect.  Liturgy, as in reciting the Nicene Creed, brings a weightiness to our view of God and accentuates and fosters humility. Liturgy reminds us that God is the God of heaven and earth and He is beyond our comprehension.  That kills narcissism.  I was made to worship someone else, not myself.

When I worship correctly, my heart is satisfied, and I am saved from self.  I kneel in respect when in the Throne Room and rest confidently when I’m tucked under His wings.

I draw close to You Jesus but begin on my knees.  Amen