Author: Christine Wyrtzen

A GOD WHO GETS MILEAGE OUT OF GIVING

And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  Genesis 15:6

         God loves to give.  He is not stingy, but extravagant! Even though I did nothing to deserve His love, His nature is to bless.  And when He gives a gift, it always means more than I can understand at the time.  If God has blessed you recently with something unexpected, be prepared to see many tentacles materialize.  God may appear to be giving one thing but that ‘one thing’ brings ‘many things’.

         God told Abram in Genesis 13:6 that his descendants would be as numerous as grains of dust. Now, He tells him that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars.  Are these descendants one in the same?  Not on your life.  The blessing God speaks over Abram keeps increasing exponentially.  The descendants related to the earth are the Jewish people who will come after him.  The descendants related to the stars are his spiritual seed; those who will embrace Jesus globally over the course of time.  Could Abram understand what all this meant?  No way.  All he could see was a Jewish line of descendants.  Even this taxed his faith since he and Sarah were no longer of childbearing age.

         There are so many personal stories I could share with you of how God gets mileage out of gifts He gives.  Here’s just one example.  In 2008, God spoke to me in prayer and told me to start training twelve women at a time in Prayer Mapping.  I really questioned Him to make sure I heard right.  How would teaching twelve be better than teaching large groups? Wouldn’t I be minimizing impact?  Yet God persisted in His message to me and gave many confirmations, even reminding me that He changed the world with twelve!  So I began to schedule several retreats a year with openings for only twelve to register.  This was done by faith since this also did not appear to be an economically sound decision for the ministry.

         What happened?  This small intimate group was impacted in a way that would not have happened in a large group.  The teaching was interactive and the women shared their lives authentically.  The breakthroughs they experienced, every single one of them, left me on a spiritual mountaintop the likes of which I had rarely experienced.  I left praising God for His blessing, not realizing that I had only just begun to see what the blessing involved.  Over half of that group of twelve went home to sponsor their own Prayer Mapping event.  The ministry of strategic prayer increased exponentially because when God gives a gift, He gets mileage out of it.

         What may God be asking you to do that makes no sense to you?  It looks like you will lose instead of gain?  Take this advice from a spiritual sister.  I have gone on to sponsor many events for twelve and each of them has had exponential results.  So, run and do what God asks.  Trust His nature.  He longs to be gracious and His arms are full of gifts just waiting to be released into your future.

Lord, the stories I am telling today aren’t even the end of all You still plan to give me.  I know You.  Each act of obedience brings an open ended blessing.  There is no King like you.  Amen

SO MUCH FOR PARADISE

So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.  Genesis 14:11-12

            What looks good to me may not be good for me.  When I choose something based on eye appeal, without the wisdom God offers, I will be a casualty of my ignorance.

            Abram had been generous.  He and Lot had stood overlooking the vistas of new land and a new future and Abram gave Lot first choice of where he’d like to settle.  Lot was not prayerful, did not seek God, and did not seek Abram’s advice either.  He grabbed the greenest and most promising land to the East (Sodom) and settled there.  He did not know the folly of making such a critical decision without prayer.  In just thirteen years, enemies would come in, conquer the land, and then take Lot and his family captive.

            Seeing how this story turned out, I can over-correct in the flesh and do the opposite thing.  I vow to pick the lesser of two choices, as a rule, to self-protect.  That is equally foolish.  The problem was not the lush land of Sodom.  The problem was Lot’s heart and his casual disregard of God.

            The take-away is this.  I must not let anything temporal control me. I can enjoy beautiful things but should hold them loosely.  Enjoy the things but worship God.   When presented with a job offer, one lucrative and one modest, I know that I will naturally be drawn to the one that promises wealth.  That being true, I also know that I can’t trust myself.  Only God knows if that option is good for me.  What I really want is His choice lest I become the likes of Lot whose perceived good fortune led him into slavery.

            What choices are you weighing today?  Who to marry, where to move, what job to take, where to move a parent with special needs, what church to attend…  The choice that seems obvious may be the wrong one.  The one without the glitter may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.  God is all too willing to reveal His secrets to any child who comes acknowledging that he is void of wisdom.

            One final thought.  Lot knew God had spoken to Abram and promised him a blessed future.  Leaving Abram at all, preferring to live anywhere else, was his greatest mistake.  I continue to make my company with those who walk closely with God and are under His blessing and favor.

I make such a mess when I live by my senses.  I can’t tell what I’m looking at, even though it’s pretty.  Oh God, protect me and lead me.  Amen

PLEADING THEIR CASE

I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. [About Sodom and Gomorrah] And if not, I will know.” Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  Genesis 18:21,23

            To be the father of many nations in whom many will be blessed is surely a wonderful thing.  Who wouldn’t want the favor that comes with the calling!  But what it has required of Abraham has been far reaching.  The responsibility of becoming a well-rounded leader will take him, over and over again, out of his comfort zone.  He is about to become a mediator, like Jesus, for the righteous living in Sodom.

            To be a spiritual leader means, among many other things, to live a life of prayer.  It is to see another’s suffering and intercede.  The Holy Spirit will enable me to know how to pray for others.  Sometimes, I will sense that they need to be delivered altogether from pain.  Other times, there will be prayers asking God to make the pain productive.  And as in Abraham’s case, there will also be prayers for mercy, asking God to withhold deserved judgment.  Can God’s mind be changed?  Apparently yes.  Scriptures proves that in many cases, God’s hand was about to strike and inflict punishment because of sin and rebellion but He ended up withholding it because of a righteous man’s intercession.  A man or woman of God knew their place as a mediator.  They stood between the sinner and God and pleaded their case.  They repented for the sins of others and asked God to have mercy.

            Prayers take on profound overtones when I realize that I can pray for my family, my church, and even my nation in this way.  “Lord, stay your hand of judgment.  Give us more time.  There are more than ten righteous in our land.  Purify us.  Give us boldness so that we will draw the line of truth in the sand and bring others into the kingdom.  Please don’t judge.  Not yet.”

            Is this subversive praying against the will of God?  I don’t believe so.  Psalm 106 recounts an act of mediation made by Moses.  “They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.” 

            My prayers matter.  Your prayers matter.  Perhaps someone you love is about to enter a time of disciplinary action by God.  Consider today that we are all priests, able to mediate on their behalf.  We can be the catalyst to stay God’s hand, restore the breech, and prevent catastrophic consequences.

You set things up to need my prayers to intervene in the world.  Help me see the weight of my intercessory role today.  Amen

WHAT WILL WE DO WHEN IT HAPPENS?

Unless the Lord watches over the city [or nation], the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Psalm 127:1

         Many things have transpired that have caused me to write this today.  I’ve been dreaming all week about God’s judgment.  I’m weary and shaken.  I’ve also been reading headlines and watching the news.  I’m heartsick over the state of things and though I’m a Bible Teacher and have refrained from getting into anything that smells of politics, there is a line where the moral degeneration of society, propelled by the policies of government, reach a height that will bring nothing short of God’s judgment. Is it imminent?  Or will it be in one hundred years?  No one knows but God.   It sure ‘feels’ imminent enough that I’m asking myself, “What will I do when it happens?”  Here are a few things that are haunting me from just this week.

• Cindy Gallop is crusading to show sex in a softer light through her movement called Make Love Not Porn.  Her goal is to provide a website where children and teens can see real people, in relationship, making love. Children can ‘see it all’ and her crusade is seen by many as morally lifesaving.  (Watch the clip on ABC News)
• Thousands took to the streets in San Francisco after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for gay marriages to resume.  To see who was celebrating was sobering.
• We have a president who, as an Illinois State Senator, was passionate about the legality of killing babies born alive after botched abortions. He fought for it tirelessly.  (This is the procedure that led to Dr. Gosnell’s recent conviction of first-degree murder.)
• A recent poll showed that 80% of children between the ages of 8-12 have seen a significant amount of hard-core pornography.

         Such a short list but isn’t that enough to make one grieve?

         I can tell you that there is a growing number of people, Christian leaders included, who are hand-copying scriptures, preparing for the time when we may have Bibles confiscated.  Continue reading “What Will We Do When It Happens?” →

REWARD SYSTEMS

The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.  Romans 13:14-15

         Abram deferred to Lot out of sheer grace.  “Of all the land in front of us,” Abram said to Lot, “pick where you’d like to live!”  Lot chose with his eyes and picked Sodom, in the Eastward direction, because it was lush and green.  What happened next is so staggering that I can only gasp at the generosity of my Father.  God immediately spoke to Abram and told him that He would give him all the land in front of him; north, south, west, and east.  Hadn’t Abram just given the east to Lot?  Yet God is telling him that it will eventually be his.

         Why would I ever whine about how hard it is to follow God?  Why does He have such a bad reputation among His children for requiring unreasonable obedience?  Continue reading “Reward Systems” →

WHEN SOMEONE ELSE WANTS YOUR BLESSING!

And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” Genesis 13:5-9

               There is no way to write about Abram’s dealings with Lot without displaying the entire scripture passage which tells the story.  I know it’s longer than usual but would you take the time to read it now so that the rest of this devotional has a context?  It’s critical to spiritual understanding.  Thank you.

**********

               Abram did what goes against the grain of every human being.  He gave preference to the ones who wanted his blessing.  Abram and Lot were never unified in mission.  There had been friction from the beginning.  Now, conflict between them arises to the surface again.  The land is too small for both of them and all their flocks.  Their herdsman are fighting over pasture land and who should have rights to it.

Abram knows God has promised him the land and the blessing of prosperity.  But, instead of hoarding it and enforcing the blessing, instead of rising up to play God, he defers to Lot.  He lets him be the first to choose what part of the land he would like to make his own.  Abram showed a lack of self-interest.  Why would he be so generous?  Because he believed in the sovereignty and promises of God.  Deferring to Lot would not threaten what God had promised.  Abram didn’t need to fight for what God said was his.  That battle was God’s and Abram rested in future provision.

God has given each of His children a calling and a host of promises to accompany it.  No one can steal it.  God may be invisible but He is not inactive.  I do not need to come apart when it appears that I’m about to be crowded out of the picture.  I can defer, give another what they think they need to feel significant, or what they think they need to prosper, because a sovereign God is still pulling strings and ensuring my future.  I can step aside and be gracious, even to the unrighteous, feeling no need to fight for what God said is already mine.  I can choose to live in the confidence of God’s promises rather than the fear of being without.

From the time we are small, we cry when another takes away our toy.  When it is ripped from our hands, we cry out, “Mine!”  The sense of injustice takes over our emotions.  God’s ways are difficult and it takes the grace of God to choose to react differently in adulthood.  Like Jesus who laid aside glory to become a servant, we can choose to serve our enemies, too.  His future was not threatened even though it looked like it was for a time.  Today, He sits in His rightful place of rule and authority.  The supposed threats are dead and gone and virtually nameless.  So it is if we choose to follow Jesus.  Deferring is not losing.  Deferring is an act of faith and the pathway to the blessing and inheritance that can not be taken away.

When I’m clutching and hoarding, speak to my fearful heart.  Amen

 

WHAT DO YOU DO AFTER HUMILIATION?

And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4   to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.  Genesis 13:3-4

         What do you do after you’ve been humiliated?  After you’ve fallen from grace?  Perhaps you’ve wronged someone deeply and the thought of facing them again is too painful.  Instead, you go into seclusion and avoid them.

         Uncertainty plagues anyone about to give an apology.  History proves that not all are forgiving.  The propensity to hide is well founded as past apologies haven’t gone well.  Some people never let you make things right and forever hold your sins over your head.  Even if you’ve made restitution, they’ll be quick to remind you who you were twenty-five years ago.  This is emotional cruelty.

         It’s difficult to separate God from this mix of fallen humanity.  Does God forgive every time, even after repeated failures?  Yes.  Does God get weary of sincere apologies?  No.  Does He get as excited to see me return to Bethel and call upon the name of the LORD as He did the first time I built an altar?  Absolutely.  No matter how many times people have failed me, God’s loving-kindness remains is never in question.  In spite of how hard I try, I cannot fathom the love my Father has for me.  I must embrace scriptures about His love and ask Him to write them on my heart.

         After Abram’s disgrace in Egypt with the Pharaoh, he doesn’t decide to throw in the towel.  He travels back to Bethel, the place where he met God the first time and built an altar.  This is the site of his spiritual homecoming and he is quick, upon arriving there, to call upon the name of the LORD.  There is no record of shyness.

         I must separate the actions of people from the actions and character of God.  I must if my faith is to survive.  People’s love is imperfect.  I have many scars to prove it.   I still have a scared heart where certain people are concerned.  I know they are judgmental and immovable, even certain Christians, unfortunately.  But God is not like that.  No matter where I’ve gone, no matter what I’ve done, no matter how long I’ve been gone, I can always go back to Bethel.

On the other side of repentance, You will never keep reminding me of my sins.  I can live in the joy of forgiveness.  No one loves like You.  Amen

WHAT MAKES THE NEWS?

But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?  Genesis 12:17-18

         When I act in a way that is different than my reputation, I become a topic of conversation.  If a gracious friend turns on me one day with venom, I will say, “I can’t believe it.  I’ve never seen her act like this!”  If a man leaves his wife after thirty-five years of marriage, a marriage others perceived as solid, people around them will be shocked.  “He would be the last man I would ever believe could abandon his family.” This is the stuff that makes headlines; when people act out what is opposite of their reputation.

         So when Abram, famous throughout our Christian history for his faith, distrusts God and lies to a king in order to save his family, we can’t believe it.  “Abram did that,” we ask? 

         In most cases, the places where I sin are not surprising to me.  I know my weaknesses.  I have a history of struggle in these areas.  Those who know me well also know the chinks in my armor and pray for me.  What can take me by surprise though – is a fall in an area I think I’m immune.  I don’t see the temptation coming, perfectly customized by an enemy who knows how he has to present it in order to appeal to me.  He crafts it, shapes it, times it, and when it appears on my radar, the sin feels like it was made for me in every way.  It feels so natural to partake that I can’t imagine not doing it.

         On Abram’s great journey of faith from Ur to the Promised Land, he was momentarily unfaithful.  He will be tested again.  He will fail over this same issue a second time but he will, by God’s grace, succeed later in one of faith’s greatest tests.  Though he couldn’t know it at the time, he will go down in history as the one who modeled faith in such a way that God credited him with being righteous.

         Is it important to remember that I am not above any sin?  Oh, yes.  But what is also important is to know the nature of a forgiving God.  He is still ‘for me’ while I’m sinning.  He is still in covenant with me.  He can still restore and redeem what I’ve broken.  The lessons I’m learning today through failure are providing an arsenal of wisdom and strength for the future.

I remember my sin and I shrink in humility.  I remember Your forgiveness and can’t portray you well enough in all Your glory.  I’m trying though, Lord.  Amen

SPEAKING TO A KING

I will speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame.  Psalm 119:46

Here’s yet another message about the mouth, about speaking truth in difficult situations.  Many leaders have been in a position where they’ve been forced to listen to God’s wisdom from a person of lowly means.  In most instances, the messenger was despised.  But not always.

Am I willing to be the messenger, knowing the odds?  How can I be sure of success, of gracious receptivity?  I can’t.  Only God knows who will listen.  Yet, I must realize that any benefit of speaking God’s words will not just be for the intended audience.  It will benefit me as well.  When my words are stuck in my throat, they can be released through  frequent practice into a speech a statesman makes for the kingdom.  It transforms me from one who trembles and retreats into one who trembles but advances.

Who is my king, my potentate, who enjoys the power I’ve abdicated to him to shut my mouth?  It doesn’t have to be a president.  It can be whoever is in a position of power over my life; Continue reading “Speaking to a King” →

HOW A TRUTH IS REVEALED 

Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”   So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.  John 8:58-59 

If the intensity of a conversation could be graphed, this announcement from Jesus would be at the peak.  Tempers flared as the Pharisees heard His proclamation of deity.  Jesus was not calling Himself a mere prophet, or even just the Messiah, but God Himself.

This truth was not revealed at the beginning of this scene.  There were other conversations.  Jesus was intuitive and knew how to engage them to build toward this certain key point.  When He reached the climax and stated that He was God, unfortunately there was disbelief instead of saving faith. Continue reading “How a Truth is Revealed” →