Author: Christine Wyrtzen

Why Peace Is Far From Me

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee.  Isaiah 26:3

Under what conditions does Jesus promise peace?  This verse from Isaiah gives solid direction.  Those who are steadfast in their mind, who choose to trust, will be kept in perfect peace.  If I do not have peace, it is because my mind has taken a detour to a place of dis-trust.  I have allowed my interpretation of my circumstances to rule me, and subsequently, they have taken my emotions captive.  My beliefs are the problem, not Jesus’ inability to bring peace.

Jesus was the WORD and He grew to say many things.  My choice to dis-believe Him is what erodes a deep, inner calm.  I must be intentionally steadfast and resolved to trust Him implicitly despite the mounting evidence against His faithfulness.  He is God and He is always faithful, always loving, always true to His promises.  Upon these truths my life rests.  Period.  My theology can not be defined by circumstances.

To provide an illustration for how peace is found, here’s a personal example.

I once prayed over the course of a decade for God’s intervention in a certain area of my life.  During that time, I saw no evidence of His future provision.  I lived despairingly, but eventually, I believe the Spirit of God moved through me to confess this out loud:  “You are a faithful God who hears the prayers of Your child.  You answer every prayer with perfect love.  You hold Yourself responsible to meet my needs. I trust You and wait on You with full confidence that You will come and You will save.”  I confessed this often, many times a day.  Soon after, peace followed.  And soon after, so also did God’s deliverance.

I used to pray for peace as though it were all up to God.  I took no personal responsibility for laying the foundation of faith.  I let my mind wander where it wanted and my thoughts were often a cesspool of doubts and confusion.  I’m learning that peace of mind is always a two way street.  If I do my part, God’s promise of peace will descend upon my ragged spirit.

Oh Prince of Peace, I honor Your promises in every area of my life that still waits for Your deliverance.  Amen 

Peace – Take a Breath

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34

Devotion to Jesus can create chasms in relationships.  These words from Jesus are shocking if I cling exclusively to verses that speak of Jesus being the Prince of Peace.  Are these principles contradictory?  Not at all.  Jesus is Peace.  And He will bring peace to those in disharmony when they seek His face and embrace His truth in unity.  But there are just as many times when He will offend those closest to me.  When that happens, I must suffer for righteousness sake and Jesus’ words are an incentive for me to remain faithful.

Oppressors don’t have to be soldiers, beating down the doors of Christian households to take them away to be killed or tortured.  The ones who persecute can be family members, fellow employees, and even children who strain against a parent’s obedience to Jesus.

This devotional reaches out to you today if you are one who suffers in any way because you love Jesus.  When the fire of love and devotion cause you to walk upstream against around you, know that Jesus sees you and will reward you.  As a wife, you may suffer the scorn and ridicule of an unbelieving husband.  As a husband, you may experience the cold shoulder of a wife who wishes your values were more temporal.  As a child, you may feel disowned because your passion for Jesus alters the future your parents desire for you.  As an employee, you feel excluded by everyone around you who are all too willing to play corporate politics.  As a pastor, you feel that your job is in jeopardy because the majority of your congregations wants feel-good-messages rather than solid Bible teaching.

The Prince of Peace is in you and around you. Peace is promised and it can be yours even though His presence has disrupted the harmony of your relationships. Breathe deeply as the Spirit breathes over you today.  Do it, not once, but as a way of life.  

You had the peace of Your Father in the midst of disharmony with your family and religious leaders. Your Father promised peace but peace in Your troubled world. I follow Your example.  Amen

The Prince of Peace ~ The Advocate

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise.  Psalm 119:154

This very morning, someone is on their knees, weary from being battered, and is absolutely at the end of themselves.  Disillusioned by a trail of broken promises, confusion is crippling because their enemies are   clever and cunning. 

In times like this, each of us needs an advocate.  More often than not, there is not a human one to be found.  No lawyers wait in the wings to take up our case in court.  We need God.  Who better to argue for us, to plead our cause and sort out the cobwebs of controversy to administer justice.  Jeremiah even recognized God’s role as the heavenly attorney when Israel was oppressed and had no way out of captivity.  He said, “Their redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.”  Jeremiah 50:32

If fairness fails to be found on earth, I can assume my case has been lost and that will be the end of it.  How quickly I forget the promises in scripture.  The courts of heaven are engaged on my behalf.  The eternal advocate, Jesus, takes up the cause of his people.  He does it for people groups and He does it for individuals like me.  No cunning adversary will win in His courtroom.  No jury will be skewed.  No evidence will be misinterpreted.

If vindication is called for, I will come to see it in heaven’s perfect timetable.  Peace will come!  It may be swift, it may occur in the next decade, or it may happen one day when God judges the earth.  I can trust my advocate to know when.  In the meantime, I must believe that no one will get away with their evil deeds.  Though it may appear that peace is elusive, my peace really lies with the One who aligns Himself with me.

When your arguments have been silenced by deep fatigue, when it seems you’ve lost your way, remember this ~ You have an advocate and He is fighting for you.  Peace can be yours in the waiting.

Strengthen the one on her knees today, the one who cries out to you as her only hope.  Lift her head to see heaven’s courtroom.  Amen

Shalom Was Waiting

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.  Genesis 3:24  ESV

God drove them out of the garden and placed two cherubim angels at the garden gate.  Without an intervention of mercy, mankind would never again be in the presence of God.  We would never be stunned by His beauty and by His glory.  How heartbreaking this had to have been as they walked outside the garden, the streams of light and glory behind them.  As they looked over their shoulder, they saw an angel guarding the entrance to, what had once been, home.

We were born with the sting of this banishment written on our souls.  Sin held us in bondage.  God seemed far away.  We feared He was angry with us.  The pain of separation felt extreme and permanent.  The news was dire without the good news of the Gospel story.  As Adam and Eve walked away from the garden, God felt their plight and love overruled.  In fact, He had made a way for their restoration before He even created them.

 A merciful God, in the face of Jesus Christ, would come to end the separation between man and his Creator.  Until then, even in the temple, people would only worship God at a distance.  They could never go behind the curtain that separated sinful man from the holy of holies.  The curtain, made of blue, purple and scarlet threads, actually had cherubim embroidered into it, so significant were these angels who guarded God’s throne room.

When Jesus died, an earthshattering event occurred.  The curtain in the Jerusalem temple, 60 feet high, 30 feet wide, and 4 feet thick, was torn in two from top to bottom.  No man could have done this.  The moment Jesus died and the process of reconciliation was finished, the sound of ripping could be heard.

The way into the Garden of Eden is now open to any who have fallen into the arms of the One who bore their sins.  The pain of separation is over.  God’s wrath is non-existent toward those who embrace His Son.  The Father is love-driven and waits at the gate for a reunion. His blood has washed away the sins of Adam, we have been redeemed, and singing can be heard in the garden once again.

Help me start at the beginning when I share this story with others.  If I start with the cross, it’s incomplete.  How beautiful a story you’ve written – and each of your children are in the center of it!  Amen

Ownership Has Its Own Stresses

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.  Deuteronomy 10:14

Owning things can bring stress.  The more we have, the more there is to maintain.  Often, people ask to borrow our things.  Stress occurs when we lend something out – only to see it return far from the condition it left us.  It may be broken, or it may show signs of being carelessly mishandled.  When they return it without explanation or apology, we feel disrespected.  

Imagine what Adonai must feel as He sees how we perceive and care for everything that He provides for us.  Every single thing we have is a gift and is on loan.  We are stewards only.  Yet, I can often clutch the gift, even hoard it, and conveniently ignore whose it really is.  I might even feel that I’m the one who earned it and, therefore, I have every right to do with it what I want.  

The film Schindler’s List chronicled the heroic efforts of a German industrialist named Oskar Schindler. Through his unselfish activities, over a thousand Jews on the trains to Auschwitz were saved. After Schindler found out what was happening at Auschwitz, he began a systematic effort to save as many Jews as he could. For money, he could buy Jews to work in his factory which was supposed to be a part of the military machine of Germany. On one hand he was buying as many Jews as he could, and on the other hand he was deliberately sabotaging the ammunition produced in his factory. He entered the war as a financially wealthy industrialist; by the end of the war, he was basically financially bankrupt.

When the Germans surrendered, Schindler met with his workers and declared that at midnight they were all free to go. The most emotional scene of the film was when Schindler said good-bye to the financial manager of the plant, a Jew and his good and trusted friend. As he embraced his friend, Schindler sobbed and said, “I could have done more.” He looked at his automobile and asked, “Why did I save this? I could have bought 10 Jews with this.” Taking another small possession, he cried, “This would have saved another one. Why didn’t I do more?”

What is in my possession today that I’m prone to minimize?  I can’t imagine how it can serve the kingdom.  But God can, and will, use anything that is surrendered to Him.  Hot water, a tea bag, and an hour of my time can be life-saving to one who is despairing.  The Owner of all that we have just might expand our ministry today if we ask Him to show us why He’s blessed us with so much.  

We don’t clutch anything too tightly.  We’re more aware than ever that You have asked us to take care of Your things.  Show us what You had in mind.  Amen

Adonai, Adonai, Plus Obedience

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

Not every person who says, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 7:21

There are many who profess that Jesus is Lord and almost as many who will say, “Jesus is my Lord.”  But words can be easy to speak.  Actions are a far better indicator of sincerity.  Faith without works is dead.  

Matthew recounted the story of Jesus telling a crowd that words do not translate as real faith.  The kingdom is not set up to be accessed that way.  While that’s sobering, we know that to be true about words.  Words alone can’t build any relationship, let alone the one with Jesus.    

Consider when a relationship is broken.  Words will be important to save it but on their own, healing will be limited.  Promises may be made but the ‘proof will be in the pudding’.   Trust will be rebuilt with works of love and sacrifice.  It will be the behavior of a person that reveals whether their words can be trusted. 

In heaven, some will be turned away from entering heaven and the reaction will be one of shock.  They will protest when they remind Jesus of all that they did in His name.  They will defend themselves and say that they professed the words, “Lord, Lord”, or “Adonai, Adonai,” but Jesus will tell them that they never gave up their life to His lordship.  Goals remained self-centered.  Choices were made without Him in mind.  Gospel songs were sung in community but only out of a need to fit in.  The trappings of religious life gave them a false sense of security.  The message for us is this ~ words alone don’t translate to saving faith.

Jesus is the Master and Owner of all things He created.  He invites us to be His bondslaves – the role for which we were created.  Ironically, it’s the role where true freedom exists.  Never will I thrive more than when bowing the knee to Adonai.  And for any I know who say the words but fail to live the life, I pray for them.  

In all things I am to do today, I will discern their importance to You.  It is not my life, but Yours.  Amen

How I Feel About Ownership

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.  Exodus 3:15

Adonai means ‘lord, master, and owner.’   It is used 434 times in the Old Testament about Yahweh ~ and also refers to people in positions of authority.  

  • In I Samuel, David called Saul his ‘Adonai’ when he called him ‘my lord the king.’  
  • In Judges, it says that the Philistines had five lords ~ or five ‘Adonais.’  
  • In Genesis, Sarah referred to Abraham as her Adonai. 

Earlier in life, the idea of anyone owning us and having to refer to them as lord and master contradicted our valued autonomy.  Wanting our way, regardless of how we achieved it, was our default. Our desires were governed by soulishness. However, this was only because we didn’t know God well enough.  Eventually, we realized that we are only safe if He owns us.  Autonomous choices made apart from God’s wisdom will inevitably lead to disaster.  Only Lordship and our obedience guarantee a safe passage for our feet. 

We were born searching for where we belong.  Belonging means ownership.  Instinctively, we were crying out for an Adonai.  As children, many of us felt lost.  Childhood prepared us to seek someone to shelter and guide us.  Driven and stretching out our arms indiscriminately, we allowed others to control us.  We surrendered our autonomy.  Adonai was not ‘Jesus’ because we had long placed Him on the sidelines in search of counterfeit owners.

Oh, time reveals that there are no safe masters except Jesus.  Daily, I experience freedom when I open my hands, stop clutching what I’ve been afraid to relinquish, and give up rights to all areas of my life.  I turn over the deed to myself and everything I own.  When I cry “Lord, Lord,” … my profession of faith is matched by my deferment to His Will for my life.  I am joyfully His slave, and He is my safe and only Master. 

Oh Lord, I am owned by the One who fearfully and wonderfully made me.  How safe I am!  I praise You for such wonderful providence. Amen

Adonai

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

 The name of Adonai is a strong tower; a righteous person runs to it and is raised high above danger. Proverbs 18:10 CJB

Adonai is the plural form of Adon ~ meaning ‘Lord, Lord, LORD, master and owner.’ His name is a strong tower. Unless I understand the ancient context, I won’t appreciate the power that is here.

In ancient times, a strong tower was part of a city’s walls; a part of its fortification. This metaphor reveals that a child of God runs into an immensely fortified tower when they run to Adonai and stand behind His name. He is elevated high above any danger coming from below and that place is inaccessible to enemies. If ever I feel overwhelmed on all sides, I remember where I can run. I rehearse, out loud, to whom I belong.

Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! Proverbs 30:4

Adonai. Lord, master and owner. There is no one above His position. He can never be destroyed. No force, no matter how deadly, can affect Him in the least. He is the tower, afar off in the distance, which leads me home to safety. I fix my eyes on Him when I am assailed on all sides. The tower is a fixed point of reference and I never lose sight of it.

Adonai, and every other name of God, carries the power and authority to give me whatever I may need at any given moment. Jesus is also called Adonai and at his name, every knee will one day bow. There is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved.

You are the refuge for every one who makes You their Lord.  The best decision of my life.  Amen

Abba ~ My Soft Place To Fall

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10

When a child is scared at night, he runs to his parent’s room. When he is angry, he looks for them to hear what has upset him. When he is hurt, he expects a compassionate response.  But when he has no one to turn to, spiritual orphan-ness is formed.

In many ways, this was my story.  I learned that not many would emotionally be there for me.  I’d need to take care of myself.  It was terrifying to think of taking down the walls for anyone, even God.  But Abba’s voice  began to chip away at my fearful heart.  Knowing that Jesus turned to His Father for connection and comfort when no one was there for Him made an impact on me.  I understood that Abba’s arms were a soft place to fall and I could run into His name – for many reasons.

  • When life was chaotic and the stress was more than I could bear, I ran home to Abba. He calmed the beating of my heart until I could breathe normally again.
  • When my heart had been broken by unloving people, I ran home to Abba’s arms. He smoothed the ragged edges of disappointment and tempered my desire to withdraw from people.
  • When caring for others left me depleted, I ran home to Abba.  No matter how empty, He filled every crevice with the fullness of Himself.

There is absolutely nothing that can keep me from Abba’s invitation to run home. Always, in every situation imaginable, He is my soft place to fall.

Even when You don’t fix my circumstances, You stand behind the promises of Fatherhood.  Thank you!  Amen

A Name Reserved For True Children

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 3:5-6

I was born one way on March 16th, 1954, but many years later, I was re-born as a brand-new person.  I didn’t look that different on the outside, but I was completely transformed on the inside. The enemy could no longer see any traces of my sins.  All proof of his prior ownership ceased to exist. The chains fell away along with my sin-stained soul.   With confidence, I could cry out, ‘Abba Father.’ This new name of endearment was evidence that the curse of sin and death had been reversed. No one could use the name except for true children of the Father.

In that beautiful moment of my legal spiritual adoption, the Holy Spirit was poured out by Abba Father, seeping into my every spiritual pore.  My soul absorbed Him like a sponge, so thirsty was I for everything that He was.  You’re mine,” He said.  I came to life as He spoke each word deliberately.  His love became my new source of energy.  No longer would I have to generate a reservoir of gritty resolve to do right and live right. The power of love and my new identity overcame me, and flowed continually like a river.  

When we are born again and the Spirit enters us ~ and then impels us to cry the intimate family name “Abba! Father!” ~ we surely sense the climax to the redemption story.

There is more eloquence in the words ‘Abba, Father,’ than in all the orations of Demosthenes or Cicero put together! Martin Luther