Author: Christine Wyrtzen

TAKE THE FIRST STEP!

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac.  And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.  Genesis 22:3

         I am a worrier.  I admit it.  I obsess over things from every angle, especially in the night, and work myself up into a crisis.  So when God is clearly leading me down a path of pain, a path of difficult obedience, my history has been this ~ I have tried to take in the whole journey and everything I will experience along the way, and then I end up declaring that it’s all too much.  I can’t do it.  It’s overwhelming.  Such were the laments of a woman who needed wisdom.

         Abraham knew the ultimate test that awaited him at the top of Mt. Moriah.  Isaac would be sacrificed.  There were many steps before placing his son on the altar, beginning with making preparations for the trip.  He took the first step by saddling his donkey, getting his team together for the trip, cutting the wood, and saying goodbye to Sarah.

         God gives daily manna.  Not enough for the week or the month.  I can’t collect enough wisdom and grace to last the breadth of a journey; only what I need today.  For today’s challenges, the wind of the Spirit will blow across my path and strengthen me.  I will find coping resources outside of myself as God faithfully infuses me with the faith of His Son, Jesus.

         What has God told you to do?  Like Jonah, are you running because you are considering the breadth of your entire faith pilgrimage?  Dear daughter of God, it is too much.  You cannot carry the load of all your tomorrows. Take the first step.  What is it?  Then, harness your mind against thoughts of the future.  This is the recipe for the way of the cross.

Oh Lord, I breathe deeply of You.  I’m packing my bags for the journey. Amen

Journal Question:  Imagine this.  Your child tells you on the first day of school that he can’t handle the final exams next June.  He’s having nightmares about them and wants to quit school.  Write out what your advice would be.  Can you hear God speaking to you about your own faith journey?

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS BLIND OBEDIENCE?

He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  Genesis 22:2

         When God calls me to a difficult act of obedience, because there appears to be great risk involved, I label it ‘blind obedience’.  But, is it really?

         There is nothing more difficult than what Abraham was told to do with Isaac.  To obey was agonizing.  Yet, I contend that his obedience wasn’t blind.

• Blindness is not having any idea where to put your feet.  Abraham walked each step toward Moriah on the foundational stones of God’s character.
• Blindness is not being able to perceive what is ahead.  When I obey God, I know what’s ahead; the blessing and spiritual prosperity that comes with following God’s instructions.
• Blindness involves the fear of falling and causing great personal injury.  Abraham knew the God who held him fast and had already experienced His supernatural protection and provision.
• Blindness involves great risk.  But ‘risky’ usually means foolish.  God is not careless with His children.  There is no risk when I walk in the purposes God has always had planned for me.  Though pain will be part of it, the joy of eternal purposes being fulfilled far outweigh it.  No risk involved.

Obedience is not blind.  With my faith in tact, there are so many things I can count on and see with my spirit-eyes.  In fact, there’s 20/20 vision.  God’s history, recounted in the pages of scripture, show me the outcome of those who remember God and walk in His ways.

         What has God told you to do.  You’re fainting, perhaps.  Frozen in place.  You were told to leave a family business.  Start a new ministry.  Confront a family member.  Stay in a marriage where you are not loved.  Without faith in God’s character, courage will not come to you.  Please know that you can embark on this journey to Moriah with a full backpack.  Love, promises, a solid history of the One you follow, future blessing, and perfect companionship.

Silence the voice of the accuser who reminds me that the stakes are too high.  The only voice I want to hear is Yours, Lord, urging me to follow You and live!  Amen

Journal Question:  Make a chart.  On one side, list all your objections and fears.  On the other, God’s promises and spiritual benefits.  Which side of the list will characterize your life?   What will you risk losing if you play it safe?

WHO’S TALKING?

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs.  Eph. 4:29

         Don’t you wish people were consistently encouraging with their words?  I can carry one nasty comment with me for years, but my future can also be shaped for the good by a few words of praise.

         Oftentimes the negative things I hear from others confuse me.  When do I know if I’m hearing the truth about myself?  I need a grid for sifting what goes into my ears before it enters my heart.

         How about some initial questions I can consider before just owning another’s words and setting myself up for a painful detour:

• Who’s doing the talking?
• Does this person really care about me?
• Would this person be happy if I succeeded in life?
• Does this person have the reputation for being a cheerleader or someone who discourages?
• Is there anything this person can gain by putting me down, such as power or control?
• When I see this person coming, do I think, “Oh no, now what will I hear from her, or him?”

        

Continue reading “Who’s Talking?” →

EXPECT SPIRITUAL SPARKS!

At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.”  Genesis 21:22-23

         Why would a king with an army be intimidated by a traveling herdsman and his family?  Because he saw evidence of the presence of God.  God calls the poor and inadequate, shows them His favor, surrounds them with His presence and power, and even kings will tremble.

       God’s people have always been outnumbered.  Kingdom mathematics never make sense on paper.  Gideon drove off 135,000 with only 300 soldiers.  Samson killed 1000 men with a donkey’s jawbone.  God predicted these incredible odds.  He said, “Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand – your enemies will fall before your sword.”  If I put the two fractions side by side – then one hundred should only defeat two thousand.  But God promises ten thousand.  I ask my king, “Such blessing is really mine?”  Yes.  I can rely, as God’s child, on kingdom mathematics.  The effect of the presence of God on my life is intimidating to my spiritual enemies.

Paul wanted each of us to know that when we put on the spiritual armor our Father has provided to us for our protection, we are really putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.  The effect of ‘wearing’ Christ like a cloak around our shoulders has cataclysmic kingdom effects.  There will be sparks and I should not be surprised by them.  The greater the oppression in the person I’m facing, the greater the friction.  I will see this person act out aggressively out of fear.

      Clothed in spiritual power, I am to be bold when Jesus would be bold and humble when He would be humble.  I must wear my power lightly and never as a ‘Barnie Fife’ kind of authority.  Prayerful, faith-filled leadership is my template.

Clothed in Your power, I ask that You make me gentle as a dove but also wise as a serpent.  Jesus, You are my example.  Amen

Journal Question: From whom have you run, and then said, “That person doesn’t like me, Jesus.  Poor me.”  Could it be that they were reacting to Jesus, the Living Cloak around your shoulders, and not really to you?  How would Jesus respond to them instead of retreating?

REMEMBER AND REVIEW

I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man.  I Timothy 1:13

         One of the prevailing themes of Scripture is ‘remember and review.’  Remember where you came from.  Remember what you were like before you knew God loved you.  Remember and tell your children.

         Are any of you ashamed of what you used to be?  If so, do you hide your dirty laundry in the closet, wanting to never reveal the extent of your brokenness?  It’s a desire we all fight.  If anyone had reason to be ashamed of his past, it was Paul.  Yet he did not give in to the urge to make himself appear better than he was, which is a temptation for all of us.

Continue reading “Remember and Review” →

GOD IS NEARER STILL

But you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are true.  Psalm 119:151

    When someone is outside the house, on your property, meaning to do you harm, you want the policeman on the inside of the house with you.  Safety would be closer in proximity than harm.  No matter where the threats are today, trouble can not separate me from God’s presence.  He is around me.  He is inside of me.  And with Him comes not only comfort, but aid.

Continue reading “God Is Nearer Still” →

INTO THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love; that you always think kindly of us.  I Thessalonians 3:6

The one who preaches the full counsel of the Word to us, the one who is not afraid to address issues like our sin, submission to authority, and absolute obedience to God, can often be despised for daring to rock our boat of self-obsession.  If we are out to indulge in the pleasures of life and suffer minimal risk for the kingdom, we will resent not only the message, but the message bearer.  What makes or breaks such a pastor is whether the truth is brought in humility, in the context of a loving relationship with his people.

My ministry for several decades has been to encourage women to build a sure foundation for their faith by exploring the unwavering love of a Heavenly Father who calls them His beloved.  I have been passionate about defending, and then highlighting, God’s character.  Daughters of promise have been encouraged to live in the kingdom and learn how to sit, daily, at the feet of the Rabbi .

Over the past five years, my calling has changed to include expansive teaching. I bring a deeper message that says, “Now that we know we’re loved, here’s what God is asking of us.”

Continue reading “Going Deep Into The Gospel Message” →

HOW CAN I BE WHOLE?

The Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land because there is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.  Hosea 4:1

Truth, mercy and knowledge are all three connected.  When there is no knowledge of God, truth and mercy are non-existent. Truth has to be rooted in something more than personal opinion and mercy goes beyond self-interest.  In this post-modern society, and a biblical illiterate society for the most part, each person is left to define truth as he perceives it to be.  Whatever he thinks is right, is supposedly considered right for himself.  Feelings and logic determine his own brand of truth.

Without a plumb line for morality, immorality abounds.  Lawlessness begins to permeate a society and God takes issue with a nation that defies His law.  People to whom truth and mercy are foreign are also personally lost.  On difficult days, they’re angry and disillusioned.  On good days, they party hard and are dissociated from their soul’s cry for meaning.

Knowledge of God is always more than just information.  It is a ‘knowing’ as in the context of intimacy.  Technically, I can become intellectually informed about the person of God and say I have rubbed shoulders with truth. Continue reading “How Can I Be Whole?” →

SEEING JESUS UNDER PRESSURE

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.  Romans 16:13

         Rufus was the son of Simon of Cyrene.  This is the same Simon who carried Jesus’ cross through the streets – to the hill of Golgatha – when Jesus was too weak to do it himself.  Simon was a Jew and would have grown up despising the Romans who oppressed them.  To be commanded by Roman soldiers to carry the cross of a condemned man must have been bitter.  He had to comply without a fight.

         But on that journey, Simon saw Jesus under the greatest pressure of his life.  There was no swearing.  No vows to get even.  Even in agony, Jesus was full of grace.  There is no way to view a man’s darkest moments and not get a sense of ‘who and what’ he is really made of.  There is a saying, “Who a man is under pressure is who a man is.”  Continue reading “Seeing Jesus Under Pressure” →

GOD MUST OPEN MY EYES

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy, and he grew up.  Genesis 21:18  ESV

         I’ve had the experience where I’ve accused someone of not being there when I needed them.  Later, I found out that they had not been absent at all.  They reached out, they did something anonymously, and I just didn’t know.  I have learned, quite humbly, to be slow to point the finger.

         Hagar, while praying for water, couldn’t see the provision of God though it was right in front of her.  God had to open her eyes to it.  She was too overcome with grief to see the well of water that would save their lives.

         While physical provisions are often necessary, what I need most are the provisions God offers in Himself.  Wherever I feel deprived, I grieve, but there stands my Father with His arms out.  He is everything I’m longing for but my eyes can’t see Him.  His Words are empty because spiritual blindness keeps His intimate disclosures from penetrating my soul.

         My greatest need is to see God and experience the power of the Word.  Both are right in front of my eyes but I can’t see them without God helping me.  He must open my eyes to the spiritual treasures found in Himself.  I am a victim of the Fall and my flesh continually limits me without the salvation of the Lord.

Perhaps the very thing I need today is right in front of me, Lord.  I stop now and ask You for spiritual sight.  Amen

Journal Question: How would you answer the question, “I know God says that He is _____________, but I never feel it.”  Ask God to touch your heart, open your eyes, and cause You to feel the warmth of His presence and His power.