Author: Christine Wyrtzen

EVERYTHING GOD STARTS ~ HE FINISHES

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.  Genesis 2:1

         God finished what he set out to do.  No detail was left undone.  No outcome was disappointing.  He rested, not because He was weary, but because he was satisfied with what He had created.  When God begins to create, He finishes.  He does not abandon a project because things get too complicated.  He is never disappointed by limits or inadequacy.

         While I may try my hand at things and discover that something is too hard, too complicated, just plain impossible, or find that it was a mistake that I embarked on such a venture, God never experiences any of these realities.  What He begins, He finishes.

         When the project is me, or someone I love, or my calling, I can rest in such a wonderful truth.  Paul had another way of saying that God finishes what He starts.  “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”  Phil. 1:6  God cannot fail.  God cannot retract a promise.  God cannot change His mind.  I am His creation, just like planet earth, and every single day, He is crafting me and everything having to do with my life.  If He called me to ministry, He will work behind the scenes in things that are totally out of my control.

         Can I hasten or slow down His plans?  This is where I have to tread carefully here.  I believe I can affect the speed of the outcome due to the free will God gave me.  God’s original intention was for Adam and Eve to enjoy a life of perfection in the Garden of Eden and they wrecked it by their choices.  For four thousand plus years, it might have appeared that they ruined God’s plan but God still accomplished a way to restore Eden by the death of His Son.  Jesus came, crushed the head of the serpent who instigated their mutiny, and made a way for the redemption of mankind.

         I press in close to my Christ today and yield every part of my life.  I bend my will to His so that His creation of my life, in every area, will quickly reach its intended outcome.  God dreams, God creates, God works, God battles, and He finishes everything pertaining to my life.  Then, He spends an eternity resting in satisfaction.  We will join in the party where we praise Him for a job well done.  His sovereignty is flawless and worthy of every celebration.  We can begin today, by faith.

I will not be anxious about my life.  You are my King.  Amen

RULING MY GARDEN

And God blessed them.  And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.  Genesis 1:28

          Adam was told to subdue the earth.  That was ‘to rule and bring it under subjection.’  Subjection to what?  The laws of the Creator.  He was to take the principles of heaven, the ones God revealed to Adam as He walked with him in the garden, and bring them into effect on the earth.

As children of God, as ones who walk and talk with God intimately, our mandate is the same.  We are to have the mind of Christ, learn the ways of heaven intimately, and bring those spiritual laws into effect in the world.  When we encounter obstacles, we put on our soldier’s uniform and take care of it.

I was surprised several years ago to discover that when God formed the church, the very Greek word for church, ‘ekklesia’, is the word for ‘legislative body’.  What is the church legislating?  They are God’s corporate agent to rule and bring the kingdom of heaven to the earth.

I have a garden to rule, a sphere of influence to affect.  Through prayer, through the use of my spoken words, through the speaking of scripture, I radically change my environment to be conformed to something that bears the imprint of how things run in heaven.

Jesus, as the last Adam, showed us how to rule.  He lived in prayer.  Constant prayer.  He never moved, traveled, healed, spoke – without asking His Father what to say or do next.  And when He spoke, He quoted the scriptures.  Isaiah 49 says that He was born to speak the Word and His mouth would be a sword.  Talk about affecting your environment!

Adam, through sinning, abdicated his authority.  Jesus won it back on the cross and has, through the great commission, given it back to His disciples.  Today’s agenda is set before me.  Rule and subdue the earth.

I can’t pretend to know what to do unless I get on my knees and soak in the Word.  Fill me with Your message and set my feet to rule.  Amen

WHAT WERE WE LIKE WHEN WE WERE HOLY?

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”  Genesis 1:26a

         Man is made in the image of God.  He has full understanding of divine things.  There are no flaws or mistakes in his thinking.  He has intense desires to walk God’s path without a trace of misgiving.  He is able to see God, hear Him speak, and walk with Him in friendship in the cool evening hours.

         Heaven and earth are in Adam.  He has a body made of earth and a soul made of heaven.  He is perfect.  Holy like his Creator.  He is communicative, creative, trustworthy, and a righteous administrator of all God asks him to govern.  He is the perfect husband; Eve the perfect wife.

         But Adam and Eve will lose it all.  They will rebel and bear the guilt of creating mutiny against the God who gifted them with perfection.  Mankind still groans under the burden of fallenness.  Creation is in mourning; weeping for what was lost.  Some Christians break under the sadness of the times, under the curse of sin that eats away at their psyche like cancer.  Can I ask?  Do we not know our future?

         All is not lost.  Jesus came as the last Adam to redeem what was lost in the garden.  He died in order to give me the chance to, once again, be holy – as He is holy.  I am invited into a re-parenting process by His Father to be a perfect image bearer once again.  Daily, through my willingness to own what is flawed and then repent, God sets me apart from the curse of the fall to be like the last Adam.

         And when I die, that full restoration will happen instantaneously.  I will be with God, walking in the cool in the evening.  I will know what it’s like, firsthand, to have divine thinking.  I will be in the prime of life, healthy and energized, to enjoy kingdom life to the fullest.

         There are moments that are perfect here on earth, ones I’d like to freeze-frame.  When they are over, I can be tempted to live depressed.  Those perfect moments will not be interrupted in heaven.  We will all be glorified, living in the presence of God where color, creativity, and communion will exceed any perfection we have ever known here.  Life’s promise and the kiss of heaven did not end in Eden.  It was paused.  Then, it was restored again at Calvary.

How much I bear Your image today is my choice.  Rule in me today.  Conquer sin and death.  Live in me as You did in Adam.  Amen

HE MADE IT HOME

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gather together into one place.  Let the earth sprout vegetation.  Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens.”  And God made the two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night.  And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth. 

Genesis 1:9-17

         I think of the homes we have purchased over the years.  When we toured each of them with a realtor, we either liked a feature, or disliked it, according to what would be ideal for certain members of the family.  When we saw our first kitchen, it was large, with an island, and immediately we knew it would accommodate the cooking I like to do.  Now, years later, there are pictures to prove it.  Both of our kids, at different times, were perched on the island helping me make something.  A spatula in their hand and a smudged face revealed what they were licking.

         This is what we do when we buy a home.  A certain bedroom will be ideal because it gets morning sun, or it’s near the bathroom, or it’s large enough to contain a certain piece of furniture.  We picture our loved ones in that space and think, “Yes, this was made for them!”

God did the same with Earth.  He made it for His creation.  Before He created Adam, He held the Earth in His hands and mused what it would require to make this place home for those He loved.  He knew we’d need to breathe, that we’d need water; water to drink and salt water to be suitable for the aquatic world.  We’d need nighttime for rest and daytime for work and pleasure.  The planning required divine omniscience and then the power to create it all.

         When He was finished with every phase, our Creator said, “This is good.”  Surely it resembled what we say when we make a place our home, paint the walls, re-arrange the space, move in our belongings, and then stand and behold it with satisfaction.  We realize that it’s just right.

         After the sixth day, God beheld the world He had made, declared it good, and prepared to create mankind.  This was the point of it all in the first place.  Making a planet a home for those He wished to love and bless.

When my roses bloom, when I grill fish for dinner, when the warmth of the sun warms my world, I realize again how personal You are.  You made earth my home and though we have polluted Your planet, You will touch it and make it new again one day.  I long to see Eden.  And I will.  Amen

WITH US IN MIND

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.”  And it was so.  Genesis 1:11

         My God didn’t create a fruit-bearing tree just to make something interesting.  It wasn’t a science experiment.  It wasn’t a test in creativity to see how many different kinds of vegetation He could create.  He had a purpose for all fruit, vegetation, and seeds.  He has us in mind when he created all of it.  How can we know that?  And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit.  You shall have them for food.”  Genesis 1:29

         I know how good fruits, vegetables and seeds are for me.  I can tell you many of their benefits and which vitamins they contain.  I can even tell you of their anti-cancer properties.  So can you, most likely.  Why is that?  Many think that natural foods just happen to be good for us.  Mother Nature is given the credit.  But there is no coincidence here.  They are good for me because my Creator made them just for my body.  God designed the positive chemical reactions between them and me.

         Yet, we eat too many genetically altered foods.  We consume so-called food that has been so dramatically altered from its natural state that it no longer has the beneficial properties that we need.  As a society, we are dying from mal-nutrition.

         A diagnosis of cancer in my immediate family has challenged our household to take a second look at God’s original design for mankind; to shop the outer aisles of the grocery store and let God’s creative bounty make up at least 75% of our dinner plate.

The bottom line to this is ~ God does all things well.  He loved me before I was created.  From before the foundation of the world, He knew me intimately and planned my life down to the last apple seed I would plant and then consume.  No wonder I say grace at meals.  He planned the meal from before Genesis.  Why?  To sustain my life so that I might glorify Him and take part in the redemption storyline of mankind.  If I’m sickly due to neglect of His provision, how can I be an effective minister?  And isn’t this a de-glorification of God?  I am starting to believe so.

A new kind of ‘saying grace’ is on my lips as of today.  Amen

TO ORDER AS HE PLEASES

God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.  And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.  Genesis 1:5

         God decides.  He creates.  He decrees the parameters of what He has created.  In heaven, there will be light with no trace of darkness.  In hell, there will be darkness with no trace of light.  No one in hell will have a say if they want the darkness transformed.  They have no power, never had, except for the power to choose or reject the One who has all power.

         God not only has the power over all physical light and darkness but rules over spiritual light and darkness as well.  He decides what is righteous and unrighteous, not only because He is powerful but because He is holy and defines what is righteous.  Against such power, who can stand!

         God divided the light from the darkness; the nature of each and when one would arrive and when one would end.  He also defines the boundary lines of spiritual light and darkness.  He is clear with his instructions to let me know when I’m walking in the light and when I’m dangerously close to stepping over the line into the darkness of sin.  I have the Word with all its warnings and imperatives and I have the precious Spirit of God inside of me, wooing, warning, and physically reacting when I’m in danger of grieving Him.

         God is clear that light and dark do not mix.  One is not like the other nor can they have fellowship with the other.  Who am I to mix them?  Who am I to make alliances and vows with unbelievers and try to co-exist through compromise? Should any child of God try to marry an unbeliever and think that somehow it can work?  The conflict will center on much more than a Sunday morning quarrel about whether to attend church.  Loving Jesus involves hundreds of decisions a day.  The rub between heaven and hell will be substantial between them.

         At the end of this discussion is really a decision about whether to trust a Creator God.  He made the earth my feet walk on.  He made me.  He is the foundation of everything.  Will I trust His Word or not?  I must know that much is at stake.  If I obey, I will be blessed.  If I disobey, I will end up in the captivity of darkness.

And for every place I’ve blown it and acted foolishly, you have redeemed on the other side of my repentance.  Oh, the wisdom You give from my mistakes.  I hold it in my hands like precious pearls.  Amen

CREATED, THEN SEPARATED

And God saw that the light was good.  And God separated the light from the darkness.  Genesis 1:4

         God created.  Then He divided light from darkness.  This is how God works and develops His creation.  He divides and starts new things.  Throughout Genesis, in the physical, God will separate one thing from another to complete His intentions for creation.

         In the spiritual, He does the same.  The Hebrew word for ‘separated’ means ‘set apart.’  He chose Israel, created a people, and then separated them from other nations.

         The most miraculous act of separation is what God does in a human being like me.  He created new life in my once darkened heart and then separated me from the world.  I am saved, not unsaved.  A believer, not an unbeliever.

         The process of separating light from darkness, setting me apart, will continue for the rest of my life.  His Spirit will show me right from wrong.  The Word, which brings light, will expose evil around me.  When I see it, it should cause a combustible reaction.  I am repelled, see it for what it is, and deal with it as God leads me.  I either speak against it, pray about it, or walk away from it.

         His light also reveals wisdom from foolishness.  Wisdom is knowing what to do when there is no biblical precedent.  These are the kinds of decisions that keep me up at night.  There is no chapter and verse for what I’m facing and I want to do the right thing.  What is it?  God causes light to shine in my heart and separates my path.  There is a light path over a dark path; a way of prudence over folly.

         God is One who creates, then develops.  He’s never finished with us.  Once His child, He doesn’t walk away and leave us to figure things out on our own.  When we are born again, we have only just begun to be ‘created’ in the image of God.  Sanctification begins and the creation of abundant life in the soul of God’s child is the greatest miracle of all.

Until I am with You in heaven, my heart will suffer the effects of my own darkened soul.  Create in me a clean heart, O God.  Amen

WHEN GOD SAYS “LET THERE BE…”

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  Genesis 1:3

         For any human being to attempt to write about the power of God is, in some ways, absolutely useless.  We can’t comprehend Him or the power of His spoken word.  But this morning, my soul is just struck with wonder over a God who can say, “Let there be light…” and whatever He declares just appears.  Who can compare to Him?  I can say, “Let there be light…” for the next 20 years and nothing will come of it.  (unless I speak and pray His Word – which is the meaning of using my God given authority.)

         The God who can speak something and make it come true is also the God who cannot lie and the One driven by goodness.  Such power, restrained and released by love, can be trusted.  What is it like for me to have a relationship with someone who could, if He wanted, end my life with a breath?  Is it safe for me to be intimate with power like this?

         The same one who said “Let there be light..” is the same One who has declared that light will shine in my heart, through Christ.  “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  2 Cor. 4:6  The same One who declared it in Genesis has declared it over my own heart.  God does not speak carelessly.  None of His words are empty.  If He said it, I can stand in it and experience security.

         When I saw Jesus, repented of my sin at the foot of the cross and believed, light was declared over my darkened heart.  That light was really a spotlight on the person of Christ, the Creator in Genesis, so that I might sit here on a morning like this and have all my fuses blown.  The light is bright but because of my mortal limitations, I have just a small window of the knowledge of the glory of God.  Yet, it is enough for today.

         If I can trust one spoken declaration of God, I can trust them all!  He said I am a new creation.  He said I am forgiven.  He said He’s coming back for me.  He said I am the apple of His eye.  He said I am His adopted daughter.  He said that His Word holds power over my sin.

         What God has spoken, no one and no thing can tear asunder.  God’s Words are as good as vows spoken at the altar.

The words You spoke that put the earth on its rotation in space are no more powerful than the words You speak over me through the power of Your Spirit.  Now, I just need to walk in all of them because they are all a certainty.  Amen

NOT AN ARTISAN BUT A CREATOR

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1

         When I make something, I begin with pre-existing pieces.  Make a cake and I have a list of ingredients that already exist.  Fashion a piece of pottery and there is clay to mold.  I don’t make the clay.  While I am only an artisan, God is a Creator.  He made the earth out of nothing.  There was nothing there for Him to work with except omnipotent power.  If He wanted water, He made water where there had been nothingness.  Water had never been and didn’t even have a name!

         This is what makes God ~ God.  This is where He excels.  He has not changed with time.  His power has not diminished.  This same creative God of Genesis spoke again through the prophet Isaiah and said, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”  Isaiah 43:19  Once again, something out of nothing.

         Throughout my life, I have stood (and am standing) on this powerful truth in prayer. My Father can bring something about when I see absolutely no evidence that such a thing could ever exist.  He can bring reconciliation when there is hatred.  He can bring repentance when there is stubborn rebellion.  He can bring opportunity when others haven’t yet thought of it.  He can bring provision when cupboards are empty.  He can bring hope to the hopeless and honor to the shamed.

         The expanse of this year is in front of us.  Ask boldly – but with the mind of Christ and for the glory of His name.  What needs to be created that, as of now, doesn’t exist?  If we are God’s, His power and promises are at work over the expanse of our lives, over the deep and unseen.

You love to create.  I just look at the world and see the glorious detail in all You have made.  Speak Your Word over my life and bring into existence what is not yet there.  When it appears, I will fall to my knees in worship.  Amen

ANCESTRY.GOD

In the beginning God… Genesis 1:1a

         Knowing where we come from has become of paramount interest in recent history. Ancestry.com has grown in popularity and I know many people who have spent years constructing their personal genealogy. I can’t count how many meals I’ve shared with people who love to talk about their discoveries. Their eyes are alive and their voice is animated as they tell from whom, and from where, their family emanated. Questions about themselves often disappear as they discover that they are not alone and, in fact, are quite like their ancestors. They are relieved and feel validated. Some are also enlightened as to the depravity of their family lines.

         I know of only one person who claims that she can trace her family line back to Adam. I didn’t ask how but I found it pretty incredible that such a long history could be documented on paper. Continue reading “Ancestry.God” →