Author: Christine Wyrtzen

A DANGEROUS PRAYER

Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.  Psalm 119:37

Do I really want the idols in my life exposed for what they are?  Do I want their glitter removed?

I remember how eye-opening it was to sell our last house.  While we lived there, the blessing of God was over our home.  It felt like a haven of peace stepping into it.  If there were cracks in the wall or peeling wallpaper, no one seemed to notice because of the pervasive sense of God’s presence.  Once everything was packed up and rooms were empty, I felt like the spiritual veneer peeled off the walls. Continue reading “A DANGEROUS PRAYER” →

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.  Psalm 119:34

“Why do you do what you do?”  A legalist answers, “Because God said so.”  He struggles with an explanation beyond that because there is little or no relationship with his Father.  Without relationship, there is no revelation and no understanding.  God wasn’t disconnected and dispassionate, deciding to give his children a handbook (the scriptures) full of rules, ordering them to keep them as best we could.  Head obedience is a bankrupt way to live.  It does nothing positive for the heart but, instead, leads it to a root of bitterness.

God promises understanding and wisdom for me if I’m His child.  He personalizes each of His precepts and unveils their beauty and meaning as I walk in them.  It is His love for me that makes me hunger for them. With each precept comes the promise of understanding.  That comes through other scriptures which shed light on it and through the experience of obedience.  Once understood and embraced as mine, God helps me keep them.  “Keep” means to watch over and preserve something of value.  How will I desire to preserve something if it is just a burdensome duty?  I will feel no attachment to the ways of Jesus.

David knows that understanding (in the context of a loving relationship) leads to preserving the law when it’s belittled, passing down the law as a treasure to his children, and observing it with his life with his whole heart engaged.

I want that kind of understanding for the many kingdom choices that will intersect my life today.  As I obey when it seems difficult and inconvenient, I bend my spirit toward Christ to know the supreme value of making choices that He would make.  I want my heart engaged.  Marking time with a disconnected heart is not an option so I echo David’s prayer.  I long to walk with my hand in God’s; fully alive intellectually, fully alive emotionally, and fully discerning spiritually.

I guard your ways with my life.  I live your ways with all my heart today.  Amen

SOARING ON THE WINGS OF LOVE

I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart.  Psalm 119:32

Plodding along, grinding out obedience to God is not any way to live.  I did it for more than three decades.  It’s exhausting and it’s hollow.  One can sustain the pace for quite a while as long as life stays relatively trouble free.  Let the trials come and things come crashing down pretty quickly. Continue reading “SOARING ON THE WINGS OF LOVE” →

DELIBERATE CHOICES

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set your rules before me.  Psalm 119:30

Following Jesus must be a deliberate choice.  Faithfulness to Him, to our love relationship, will not be possible unless I set His Word in front of me.  I must keep my eyes set on the path, heart set on the Word.  Just because I have His Spirit inside of me doesn’t mean that I don’t have to do my part. His Spirit deeply desires to influence my every decision but that won’t happen without some spiritual grit. Continue reading “DELIBERATE CHOICES” →

AM I THE MASTER OF MYSELF?

You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.  Psalm 119:21

David had been slandered by a king, betrayed by his friends, even scorned by his family.  He had seen firsthand what happens to those who are so attached to the ways of their own heart that they choose that path over the ways of God. Continue reading “AM I THE MASTER OF MYSELF?” →

A PRAYER

Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.  Psalm 119:17

Lord, forgive me for just assuming that another day will be mine.  For years, I just expected that I would awaken as always; alive, healthy, and the world would be what it had always been.  I did not see that it is your mercy that keeps earth on its axis.  If it were just one degree off course in its rotations, I would be burned alive or frozen to death. Continue reading “A PRAYER” →

CAN’T FORGET WHAT IS LIFE SAVING

I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your Word.  Psalm 119:16

I’ve read many things in the past week that were interesting to me, but most of them I no longer remember.  They were just tidbits, not life-saving pieces of information critical to my existence. Continue reading “CAN’T FORGET WHAT IS LIFE-SAVING” →

HELP!   IT’S NOT MY TREASURE

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.  Psalm 119:14

    I value what is useful to me.  A book of poetry, sitting on a shelf, even though it may be hard bound and ornate, will not be valuable to my everyday life.  However, a book that is dog-eared from use, highlighted and marked up from repeated readings, is invaluable.  Why?  I have taken its truths, lived by them, and found them to be golden.  Continue reading “HELP! IT’S NOT MY TREASURE” →

PUTTING IT WHERE IT COUNTS

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  Psalm 119:11

Sinning is way too easy.  If I don’t do something sinful, then I’ll think something sinful.  Sinning is as natural as breathing.  Look at me the wrong way on a bad day and I’ll have a soulish response that was conceived in a flash.  God offers me another way to live.  He says that if I store His word in my heart, it will be a deterrant to sin.  How does that work?  I certainly know what doesn’t work.  Continue reading “PUTTING IT WHERE IT COUNTS” →