Author: Christine Wyrtzen

I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. Psalm 119:101

The stories in the Bible span chapters. When reading, I’ll go from one to the next and never realize that there might be a lengthy ‘in-between’ before one ends and the next begins. When I read the story of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt for instance, the time frame is 400 years yet only a few chapters cover it. Between Malachi and Matthew is another 400 years. I often wonder what the spiritual life of God’s people was really like during His vocal absence. What percentage kept the faith?

Because I fail to realize that two decades or more transpired in the middle of a biblical narrative, the main characters appeared to be much more unstable than they really were. It seems that one minute they worshipped God and in the next scene, they built a golden calf. What gives? Between the two events were a myriad of small decisions. They strayed in small steps that spanned a significant chunk of time until they found themselves far from home.

It’s the in-between I also have to consider. Like my spiritual ancestors, I make daily choices. A year can seem like an eternity and much can change in so short a time. I have warm times with the Lord and also dry seasons. I take some detours along way – sometimes out of anger or disappointment. I also sin and can be lazy with my confessions. I’m reminded that when unrighteous choices accumulate over time, I can easily build my own version of the golden calf.

How can our life’s narrative not turn tragic? By staying astute during my ‘in-betweens’. Sin starts with a thought. It begins to blossom if I lack self-awareness. If I continue to feed the soul, it takes me somewhere I don’t want to go. But feed my spirit and my ‘in-betweens’ are fueled to stay on the paths of the righteous.

I don’t always recognize evil. I don’t see as many traps as You do. How I need Your Spirit to guard me on my journey. Amen

Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy… My soul waits for the Lord. Psalm 130:1

If you live near, or with, anyone struggling with issues related to mental illness, you know how painful it is for them and for their caregivers. It is difficult to know how to pray for them. We can often just assume the condition is permanent and is as immovable as a chronic illness. We believe we must just accept ‘what is’ and ask God to give grace for the challenges of daily life.

Since God worked in me to build the model that is called Personalized Prayer Mapping, I am continuing to understand the parameters around life issues; issues which include mental illness.

Since the Fall in the Garden of Eden, the enemy has been on the prowl as he looks for places of devastation where he can inflict total destruction.

Any crack in this cursed world provides him entrance and opportunity. I must be astute to realize that he will prey on any kind of weakness. Diseases, disabilities, disappointments, broken dreams, losses, relationship dysfunctions, and mental illness; these are all invitations for him to exacerbate what already exists and maximize pain. He taps into an active breeding ground with a design to grow the dysfunction. Oftentimes, to debilitating levels.

How does that relate to mental illness? Mental illness IS one of the breeding grounds. It is impossible to tell how much of what we experience in others is mental illness or the enemy’s swirling activity because of the platform mental illness provided. Is it 50/50? 80/20? I contend that we won’t know until we engage in spiritual warfare on their behalf. The real percentages won’t be manifested until the enemy is crippled and we can see what is left. The sobering reality is that the one suffering from mental limitations (whether chemical or situational) won’t experience the fullest of better times if the enemy is not dealt with in spiritual realms. It is a daily battle and the warfare must also be daily to give the person we love the best possible outcome.

While I have referenced ‘others’ in talking about mental illness, I am not excluding the times I was fragile and needed help. I remember what it felt like. Given enough time in the fire, we will all visit dark times and wonder whether we will pull out of it. Prayer and support is critical. So, what does a prayer like this sound like? While Prayer Mapping encourages language that is far more customized than what follows, this is a way to begin.

Father, you made this person. You see the mind, body, and soul. You know to what extent Satan is tampering with this person’s wellbeing. Because you have given me authority to pray for their soul and apply the victory of Calvary to their specific battle today, I hold them up in prayer. Because of Your shed blood, I ask you to cripple the enemy today – both inside and outside of my loved one. Bind spiritual enemies from acting out, from speaking, and from stirring up issues. Remove their influence from the mind of my loved one so that he/she is not spiritually impaired from hearing you and making sound decisions to think wholesome and true thoughts. Give them clarity today and make them of sound mind because of Your great love and faithfulness. Because of Jesus and in His name I pray, Amen

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.  Psalm 17:15

 People have many faces. Meeting a stranger, I can often tell a lot about them from an initial glance. Their face can be inviting, stoic, hard, relaxed, gentle, depending on their state of heart. Whether I’m aware of it or not, I read a total stranger’s face to know how to proceed with a conversation. If I can tell this much about someone I don’t know at all, how much more can I read about a person I know well? I often tell Ron, my husband, that I can tell what kind of day he had by the way he walk up the driveway.  I realize writing this that I have a habit of looking at the faces of all my loved ones as they walk to the back door. Our home is full of windows and I can see past their demeanor before they even touch the door handle.

God has many faces as well. The Hebrew word for ‘face’ is not singular but plural. Interesting, isn’t it? And this word is found in so many places where the English word ‘face’ is absent. In today’s scripture, the word ‘face’ is really ‘faces’. How does that work?  Well, whatever I need, there is a face to accompany it.

When I need a protector, God’s face is fierce. When I flirt with other first loves, His face is jealous. When I’m hurting, his face is tender. When I’ve lost my way, His face is strong. When enemies come against me, His face is angry. When I grieve, His face is streaked with tears.

Sometimes I will say that a certain person is complex. They are deep and have many sides to them. If this is so, how many are the faces of God! He is wild and unpredictable yet always driven by love and holiness. He cannot be second-guessed. Yet at the same time, I can depend on His love and goodness toward me.

Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” Translation? “He who has seen my faces has seen the Father.” Beautiful, isn’t it? And as an image bearer of my Father, the same is to be said about me. That is humbling enough to send me to my knees. Will the many faces I wear today, and the moods and thoughts behind them, lead others to experience the various faces of God? May it be by the power of God’s Spirit.

I love Your Word. The beauty of it, hidden in the Hebrew language, is a storehouse of golden nuggets. I crave to know and understand Your many faces.  In Jesus’ name, In Jesus’ name, Amen

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The insolent smear me with lies; their heart is unfeeling like fat.  Psalm 119: 69, 70

I often wonder how people can do what they do.  (That includes me when I sin.)   Here, at least in one instance, the answer is given.  The sin ~ someone concocted a series of lies about another person for personal payoff.   The cause ~ their heart was fattened by pleasure over time and ceased to feel remorse over the pain they caused.

Consider a rebellious child who acts out.  Others can give into him to stop the tantrums.  But without discipline, he will repeat the tantrums until they become a way of life.  The pleasure he feels when he gets what he wants will become his drug of choice and he will cease to regret the acts he commits in favor of feeling good.  Without Jesus, there will be no remorse.

If you’ve suffered at the hands of one who never said “I’m sorry,” you may have asked the question, “How could this person do this to me and not even feel badly that they hurt me?”  This scripture answers the question.  The pleasure they got by sinning against you numbed their conscience. They may have seen your tears, heard your pain expressed, but shrugged their shoulders.  You just couldn’t understand such coldness of heart.

God is our instructor today.  An unfeeling heart develops over time, never overnight.  It belongs to the person who has been fattened by the pleasures of his choices, even choices that have caused pain to someone he claims to love.

Only God can transform the heart of a sinner.  Only God can comfort the victims.  The sinner must love Jesus more than the payoff of self-gratification and the victim must love Jesus more than taking revenge.

Jesus, you knew the hearts of men.  You were not deceived.  Teach me to look beyond their behavior to the spiritual cause.  I need to pray for others’ spiritual disease instead of just asking you to stop their behavior.  Spirit, show me how to pray.  Amen

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This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Sometimes you know by 8:00 a.m. that your day is going to be difficult. Already, things have unraveled and your peace has gone south. Already, your day’s reservoir of patience has been used up.

I thought twice before picking today’s scripture. All too often, it has been used as a rod of correction on anyone who admits they’re struggling. Please, let’s not do that! Scripture is not meant to be a muzzle; an instrument to encourage denial. How many have stopped talking to put on a happy face after someone scolded them with God’s Word?  I’ve done it – just to fit in.

So what in the world can I rejoice over as I assess the mayhem of my morning? Certainly not the events I endured. Certainly not the temper of a family member who lost it at the breakfast table. But most certainly a faithful Father who will excel, once again, at fingering the ragged edges of my soul and mending them together. I rejoice (with a deep joy and comfort) that I didn’t live through it alone. I know that He saw it all and knows what it will take to help me regain my spiritual equilibrium.

I’ve noticed that I can often handle a crisis much better than an annoyance. It’s amazing what can undo me. The other day, I went to the basement to do some cleaning. One of my chores was to empty used cat litter into a garbage bag and bring it upstairs to put in the trash. It was heavy and as I climbed the stairs, the bag caught on a part of the railing bracket.

You guessed it ~ litter started running out the bottom through a large hole but I didn’t hear it because the stairs are carpeted. I reached the landing and the litter continued to drain out onto the hall carpets.  Still unaware, I continued on through the house.  It wasn’t until I reached the hardwood floors in our family room that I heard the sound of rain hitting the floor. I turned around to see a very long, and very deep, trail behind me. I was exclaiming out loud to myself ~ “What have you done, Christine? Oh, what have you done?!”  It got the best of me. I put the bag down, went to the piano and played 30 minutes worth of Mozart Sonatas to calm down.  (A childhood coping mechanism.)  Still not able to deal with the mess, I went on to a few other distracting chores before having the calm to start the clean up effort.

I’m embarrassed to admit, really, that something as mundane as that got to me. But it did.  I don’t know about you but I find that I can’t predict what it will be that will nearly undo me.

In ten years, when I’ve long forgotten the events of my morning, God will still be doing what God does ~ watching His children live their lives, engaging His children as they cope with the events, and soothing His children with just the right words. The only One who could possibly know just what to say is the One who knows the mental and emotional pathways that take me to my place of utter frustration and pain.

No matter how your day started, Your Father knows and has something to say that will make your heart feel resilient again.

So I say, “Lord, I am rejoicing in You. You are Lord of my day. In Jesus’ name, Amen”

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Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.  Psalm 119:115

In David’s courts, there would be men who would flatter him in order to secure their own place in the palace.  There would also be traitors who would try to get David’s ear and steer him in directions that would sabotage his effective leadership.  Discerning those with ulterior motives was as difficult for David as it is for us but the first line of defense is the recognition that such men exist.  Satan makes sure of it and oftentimes, God allows it, so that our spiritual senses can be sharpened and our wisdom increased.

For a seed to grow and develop, it needs good soil.  The toxic soil of bad company fails to give the seeds of faith the nourishment they need to thrive.  The weeds of bad language, bad advice, and a life of compromise lived out in close proximity, threaten growth.  With little refreshing rains, seeds of spiritual life will sprout, then appear sickly.  They will be a muted shade of green, bent over and withered, and fail to ever mature to bear fruit.

Spend enough time in the company of people who choose to walk with the world instead of Christ, and you will find it difficult to choose Christ. You will say to yourself, “Either I have to part company or my ability to follow Christ and fight for His kingdom will be affected.”

• If I spend most of my time with someone who hates Jesus, the spiritual friction will drag me down.  Emotionally, physically, and spiritually, I will see the vibrant edges of my faith wither.
• If I spend most of my time with a ‘technical Christian’, one who says they love Jesus but appears neutral by the way they live, my passion will be compromised.
• If I spend much time with radical, faith-filled, passionate believers, their faith will infect me.  My soil becomes rich as we treasure the Word, share our stories, and cheer each other on to greater ventures for the kingdom.

Whom I allow to have access to my ear, daily, affects me.  It is one thing to love the lost and reach out to the hurting with humility.  It is quite another to make them my confidants.  Many today need to make a critical decision to change their company.  Their spiritual survival depends on it.

Loyalty does not equal perpetuating a destructive affiliation.  Teach your church how to exercise discernment with humility.  Amen

Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Psalm 119:36

To ‘incline my heart’ means I’ve pitched my tent in His direction.

I’ve chosen to pack a few belongings, leave my home country, and go to the perfect camping spot where I can see the kingdom.  Every morning, the dawn of His love and faithfulness is in view.  I’ve detached myself from the world I’ve left behind.  It no longer consumes me.  I’m a sojourner with minimal stuff.  My focal point has become the  joy of His company.

I am in awe that He longs for a relationship with me.  I am surprised that He doesn’t tire of me after so much time together.  His desire for me only grows, not wanes.  I don’t really understand it because I know that if you spend enough time with just one person here on earth, eventually there’s a rub.  You want your freedom.  You crave alone time.  Not so with God.  When He’s my home, there are no quirks and habits to repel me. I want more of Him, not less.  He wants more of me, not less.

What inspirational thoughts but here’s the catch.  I can’t drive down the stakes of my tent in two worlds and expect to live at peace.  My heart can only have one home.  Unlike those who enjoy a winter home and summer home and divide their time between the two, God says that I must choose or risk being unstable. The two kingdoms, and those who rule them, are incompatible.  How can I be intimate with both rulers, live like a traitor, and enjoy well-being?

So I’ve made my choice.  I’ve pitched my tent toward glory and I realize that I’m on a journey to a new address.  My home will be wherever He is and while I make my way there, His Spirit is with me – guiding me through the minefields of battle – comforting me and healing the wounds I’ve sustained in the many skirmishes.  I know the final victory that is to come but in the heat of battle, His company is enough.  I accept that life will be imperfect until I experience the glory of perfection.

 I drive down the stakes of my tent deeper into the soil of You. Amen

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