Author: Christine Wyrtzen

TURNING A NO TO A YES

How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to your Word.  Psalm 119:9

Because of my fallen nature, I am resistant to authority.  When a toddler understands the very first rule in his house, you can be sure he will resist.  It was within our nature to break rules.  One thing is certain, if we are allowed to break rules within our families, then when we grow up, we will break God’s rules too.  We will have little respect for authority and obedience. Continue reading “TURNING A NO TO A YES” →

KEEPING A PROMISE

I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!  Psalm 119:8

Have you ever signed up for something and known that when you gave your word, you were in over your head. Continue reading “KEEPING A PROMISE” →

LEARNING, THEN PRAISING

I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.  Psalm 119:7 

    Children who master a new skill are constantly saying, “Mommy, Daddy, look at me!”  As a grownup, I can still be childish and crave attention when I’ve learned something new.   Continue reading “LEARNING, THEN PRAISING” →

INTERPLAY BETWEEN CONFIDENCE AND SHAME

Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes.  Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.  Psalm 119:5-6

    Satan lied to our first set of parents, Adam and Eve, about the importance of keeping all of God’s statues.  He encouraged them to question.  “Did God really say that?”  In doing their own thing, which was really Satan’s thing, they were filled with shame and went to hide.  Shame destroys our confidence with God.  We no longer have the guts to stand before Him, look Him in the face, and engage in the relationship.  Sin clogs the line of openness and what was once free and easy is now full of cobwebs.  Continue reading “INTERPLAY BETWEEN CONFIDENCE AND SHAME” →

CORNERED

Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” John 10:23-24

The ESV version reads that the Jews ‘gathered round him.’  In the English vernacular, that sounds harmless enough.  Isn’t this something a family or group of friends does to hear a good story?  However, in the original language, “gathered round him” comes from “closed in around him.”  In other words, the Jews surrounded Jesus, trapping Him, attempting to once and for all pin Him down with their questions. Continue reading “CORNERED” →

NON-EXCLUSIVE OFFER 

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  John 10:16-17

    When previously speaking of the sheepfold, the door, and false shepherds, Jesus has been speaking about the fold of Judaism.  He revealed that He will lead many out of the fold of Judaism into His fold.  Like the blind man who was excommunicated from the temple and embraced by Jesus as one of His own, Jesus would lead many of His own people to leave the law and find the new covenant in Him as Messiah.  Continue reading “NON-EXCLUSIVE OFFER” →

SELF-INTEREST OF THE HIRELING

I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.  John 10:11-12

Ministry and self-interest are not good bedfellows. In countries where religious freedom exists, ministries can be great business ventures.  Money can be made; popularity achieved without a stigma.  Becoming a worship leader at a prestigious church can be a coveted position for the creative musician.  One can apply for this upscale job without a bona fide call into the ministry.  Self-interest reigns. Continue reading “SELF-INTEREST OF THE HIRELING” →

MOMENT OF RECOGNITION

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  John 10:3

In every love story, there is a moment of recognition where one soul sees into the soul of another and finds a place to rest and call home.  For many, it can be on the very first meeting.  A look, something said, the sound of a voice, it’s familiar and the stirring is deeply felt. It was that way for Jesus and many of His followers.  Someone would hear His call and leave everything to follow Him.  Like all love stories, these moments are personal, characterized by tenderness.

Matthew was a tax collector.  While in the middle of a work day, sitting at a tax booth, he looked up to see Jesus stop in front of him.  He said, “Follow me!”  Matthew got up from the table and never looked back.  There was instant recognition of the shepherd’s voice.

On another occasion, Jesus walked down a road and called up to a man in the tree.  He called this lone sheep by name.  Zacchaeus.  The surprised man in the tree responded instantly and received Jesus joyfully into his home.

Jesus also went in search of certain sheep.  One day, He went into Galilee to find a man named Philip.  The call was the same, as was the result.  “Follow me,” Jesus said.  And he did.

Mary, at the tomb of Jesus, didn’t recognize Jesus until He called her by name.  “Mary.”  Her instant response was, “Rabboni.”

When my last breath is drawn on this earth and I open my eyes on the shores of heaven, the thing I look forward to most is hearing Jesus welcome me home – by name.  None will have said it quite like him.

Your voice can be heard in Scripture, deep in my spirit in prayer, in the sounds of nature.  Oh Lord, even now, your voice fills my soul with rest and assurance.  I am yours.  Amen

THIEVES IN THE SHEEP PEN

“Truly, truly, I say to you, He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”  John 10:1

This conversation with the Pharisees took place after Jesus spat in the dirt, made a small portion of mud, and used it to cure a man’s blindness.  The religious leaders He was addressing had just demonstrated their heart, or lack of, for this blind man who had not seen a thing from birth.  They denied Jesus’ validity, attempted to point the man’s faith in the opposite direction, and then threw him out of the temple for his testimony.  It was clear that they had no heart for him, a sheep in their fold.  This man believed Jesus and came to  know his true shepherd’s voice. Continue reading “THIEVES IN THE SHEEP PEN” →

SINNING INTENTIONALLY

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.  John 9:41

It’s a humbling thing to look back into your past, see the ways you sinned, but then say…”I didn’t know better.  Oh God, forgive me.”  Though there was sin, there was not the guilt of knowing the truth and intentionally turning the other way.  Intentionality incurs a more severe responsibility.   Continue reading “SINNING INTENTIONALLY” →