Author: Christine Wyrtzen

Do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. Titus 3:12b

It’s easy to read scripture and color it with present cultural norms. When someone says they plan to ‘winter’ in a different city, it usually means that they have two residences.  One allows them to escape the cold by going to a warmer climate.  The other lets them escape the heat by retreating to a cooler place.  At first glance, I picture Paul wanting a winter’s vacation in some balmy Greek city, but this was far from his intentions.

Paul has just been released from prison.  He would benefit from some down time in a beautiful place.  But the city of Nicopolis is chosen because it’s an integral launching place for his end strategy for the planting of churches.  It is a port city, a place to board a ship to other major ports not yet evangelized.  Winter, however, is no time to travel the seas.  Paul knows that well from his experience with being shipwrecked.   He would go to this port city to ready himself for Spring. He would meet with Titus, Zenus (a lawyer in Jewish affairs), and Apollos (an eloquent teacher and apologist.)  They would conceive a comprehensive plan (while waiting for the storms of winter to pass), a plan that would take the Gospel to new places. 

Oh, but Paul never boarded a ship when Spring came.  This was the last winter of his life as it’s believed that he was arrested in Nicopolis, then taken back to Rome to be beheaded. 

Unless Paul heard from God directly about his impending arrest, he did not know how small a window he had to finish his life’s work.  Urgency, however, characterized Paul’s service to God.  How fitting that he would spend his last few months strategizing with three fellow servants regarding the best way to spread the news of Jesus.  Most likely, they spent time pouring over maps and making plans for Spring travel.  Each potential destination would have its challenges, but Paul had the best team assembled to prayerfully explore the best ways to move forward.  Zenas was a lawyer – specializing in Jewish law.  Apollo was an apologist – specializing in knowing how to present the Gospel amidst cultural objections.  And Titus was the experienced bishop of Crete – specializing in truth telling diplomacy when Christianity suffers corruption.  Paul brainstormed with them and then finished his course.  Soon he would step onto a new shore, see the face of the One for whom he had been brutally beaten, and hear the words ‘well done’.   

Most of Paul’s epistles end with interpersonal tidbits.  Not being familiar with the names and the nature of his relationship with them, it’s easy to skip over such verses.  This morning, I would have missed a lot  had I not spent a few hours thinking about four men, sequestered indoors, during the brutal coastal winter of Nicopolis. 

Lord, Paul didn’t choose to surround himself with clones.  Don’t let me shy away from friends who complement me and stretch me in good directions.  Amen

Then God said to Noah, “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.”  Genesis 8:16  ESV

God shut the door to the ark, bringing finality to Noah’s time on land.  When he would put his feet on solid ground again, it would be on a new and pristine landscape.  After 100+ days in the ark, everyone on board was antsy to get off.  They had been shut up in a windowless world, thrashing to and fro with extreme weather.

As anxious as Noah was to exit the ark, he knew he had to wait for God’s permission.  To leave the safety of his wooden haven was to risk living on an earth that wasn’t ready for habitation.  The seeds he would plant there would rot in muddy soil.  When the dove brought a branch, it was a sign that the earth was fruitful again.

There is not much of a harvest in my life either when I move ahead of God and force things into place.  Only God can prepare the way in front of me and show me when to move at the right time.  I have known the frustration of trying to make things happen on my own.  I produced one Ishmael after another, and utter frustration was the result.  So was nagging insecurity.  I knew that God hadn’t led me and could not bless my path.  Getting older has taught me to wait for Him to release me from unpleasant conditions.

Someone wants to be a truth-teller to a family member today.  The seed will not be received if God has not prepared the soil of their heart.  Another wants to step out of a stressful place and start fresh by forcing circumstances to work.  A heavenly rhythm will not accompany their efforts and striving will bring exhaustion and futility.  Someone else wants to implement a God-given vision that has been simmering for years.  Tired of waiting, they will bring their vision to a people not ready to understand it nor recognize its source as God.  Misjudgment will result, bringing pain and rejection.

We must not leave the ark of safety until there is divine release.  God is a gracious Father who will give many confirmations that it’s time to move.

Oh, how I’ve learned the hard way that striving is not your way.  If the axe falls at just the right part in the grain of wood, without much effort at all, the wood will split.  Show me holy rhythm and timing.  Amen

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.  John 1:18. NLT

The expression John paints of Jesus being near to the Father’s heart is not new to us.  Today, we use the same expression to describe a feeling for our children.  ‘Near and dear to our heart’ implies that the relationship is not like most others.  Encounters with them ~ we carry with us.  Words they speak to us ~ we hold dear.  Pain they express ~ we embrace and lift to the Father constantly in prayer.   

To be near to the Father’s heart literally means that Jesus was ‘in the bosom of the Father.’  A bosom is defined as three things.  We’ve already covered two.

1.) The bosom is part of the upper body between both arms.  If you face scary unknowns, God has you near to His heart.  

2.) The bosom is also the upper part of a loose garment where things are tucked away, carried with the traveler.  God has tucked you into His bosom for safe keeping.  

3.) Finally, the bosom is also a bay in a body of water.

God has promised to be a bay in the storm.  In the distance, I can see a u-shaped indentation in my voyage.  I recognize the calm waters that only a bay offers.  The mountainous waves roll past its opening while swimmers float near shore on glassy seas. God is offering me this harbor, anytime, and calls me to pull out of turbulent waters.  

How do I find this bay?  It’s wherever He is.  They rejoiced in the silence, and He guided them to the harbor they desired. Psalm 107:30

Draw me into the harbor of You.  Amen

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.  John 1:18. NLT

The expression John paints of Jesus being near to the Father’s heart is not new to us.  Today, we use the same expression to describe a feeling for our children.  ‘Near and dear to our heart’ implies that the relationship is not like most others.  Enco unters with them ~ we carry with us.  Words they speak to us ~ we hold dear.  Pain they express ~ we embrace and lift to the Father constantly in prayer.   

To be near to the Father’s heart literally means that Jesus was ‘in the bosom of the Father.’  A bosom is defined as three things. Yesterday, we highlighted the first.

1. The bosom is part of the upper body between both arms.  The heart, specifically.  I don’t know what you face today.  If you face scary unknowns, God has you near to His heart.

2. Secondly, the bosom is also the upper part of a loose garment where things are tucked away, carried with the traveler.  

God has also chosen to tuck you into His bosom for safe keeping.  No matter where He’s actively at work today, you are right there.  Just before my friend, Maryann, left for the Holy Land a few years ago, I lamented to her, “I wish you could tuck me in your suitcase.”  The sentiment is understood ~ If only I could see what you are going to see, experience what you will experience. God wants me to know that I stay with Him always, no matter where His Spirit goes.  When He has a heart for a remote region of the world, He will show me His passion for the people if I just ask.  When He is grieved by sin, I will feel His grief.  I am tucked into His cloak and it is wrapped around me securely. 

He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. Isaiah 40: 11

Father, draw me into the stillness of You.  Amen

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.  John 1:10

The Treasure that Israel had been waiting for was born in the middle of the night.   He was the Savior of the mother who delivered Him, the Teacher of the man God chose to be the father in their household.  He was the Rabbi in a manger who would know more than every other Rabbi he would meet.  He was the stone that the builders would reject, the Bread of Life for which His people would have no appetite. 

 From prophecy, Jewish people in Nazareth knew their Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. They knew He would be born of a virgin, and they knew Mary’s story.  Certainly, they had heard the stories of the shepherds who witnessed a glorious display in the heavens and the wise men who followed the brightest star for 400 miles with expensive gifts in tow.  They also knew from their people’s history that many of God’s chosen leaders came from obscurity.  God had anointed a shepherd fresh from the pastures to be their greatest king from thousands of years before.  Why, then, did the Messiah from Nazareth make them stumble? 

For the same reasons I stumble today.  More than any other generation, I know the history of Jesus.  I have more Bible teaching at my fingertips than any previous people group who has lived before me.  Despite all these resources, I struggle to believe the promises in front of my face.  I’m not hearing them secondhand.  I’m reading them for myself with full spiritual understanding.  

I need peace, but I often look elsewhere outside the Peace-giver.  I need composure, a moment to take a spiritual breath, but I often remain so worked up that anxiety overtakes me.  I need hope,but instead of raising my eyes to look into the face of the One who has planned my eternity, I’m spun up about the hopelessness of the times.  Oh, it need not be.  

Rabbi, teach me.  Put your hand on my head and bless me.  I am at Your feet.  Feed me from Your hand. Comfort me, hush me, like the Mother and Father I need.  You are exactly what I need, the One right here, right now.  Amen

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.”  Matthew 6:24-25

​Ever been in the middle?  It’s an awful place to be.  There are some whose role it is to be peacemaker. The anxiety of trying to serve opposites is tormenting because pleasing them both is impossible.  They are never fully satisfied because neither is winning.

​What does this have to do with the parable about worrying?  What I’ll eat?  What I’ll wear?  What others think of me?  Anxiety serves Master Satan.  Plain and simple.  To worry is to wonder if God is faithful.  Worry can lead to autonomy.  I take matters into my own hands to take care of myself because I believe God won’t do it. 

​Remember the daisy game?  ‘He loves me – He loves me not.’  Though it was childish, I do remember the bit of suspense as I neared the end of the petals.  Which way would it be?  Love me – or loves me not?  This is the stuff of serving two masters.  

​When the stakes are high, so is the battle.  ‘God loves me – He loves me not.’ Faith is put on the sidelines as I wage the options of trusting God versus taking care of myself.  God is unhappy because I fail to know the joy of childlike trust.  Satan is unhappy because I entertain the promises of my Father’s words.  How is this tug of war won?  How do I extricate myself from living between two masters?  Remove the power of the evil one.  

​Satan does not deserve an ounce of attention because he lies about the other Master.  John reminded me that he is a liar.  His very nature is to lie.  His default language is based on deceit.  So, I step out from the middle today and give him no attention.  When the first thought of worry emerges, I snatch it and kill it with the whispered assurances of a faithful Father.  

No middle, Father.  No torment.  Only a simple, childlike trust built on every single promise You have made.  I love how You take care of me.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly.  Psalm 40:9-10

What do you do when the person you’re counting on the most repeatedly lets you down?  You cry out in protest.  “Where were you?  I thought you loved me?”  But when these words do not move them to draw close, to apologize, you might stop talking altogether and turn the other way.

Such can be the case when I’ve perceived that God is failing me.  I’ve prayed for things I believed I needed immediately.  I believed that anyone who loved me wouldn’t withhold them.  When answers were delayed, I prayed harder. Now, when I spoke with friends, I made excuses for God, but the first signs of disillusionment had already been manifested in the core of my soul.  My inner testimony sounded hollow.  Armed with the lies of the devil, I stopped talking to God. 

Did you see today’s scripture?  David is speaking in glowing terms about God’s faithfulness.  If I had to guess, I’d say that God just came through for him in some huge way.  David is having a mountaintop experience.  But David is, in fact, in a place ofturmoil and is waiting on God.  His soul is ragged and desperate.  Although his eyes have not yet seen the saving help he needs from God, he is still talking to Him, still praying.  

This is the essence of faith.  In my disappointment, in my wilderness, I can still brag to others about God’s love and faithfulness.  I can encourage them to put their lives in His hands too.  All because the foundation of my life rests on the pillars of God’s promises!  God has not abandoned nor forgotten me. Even while I pour out my complaint in prayer,I speak of His glory in the sanctuary. 

My praise is not conditional, Lord. Amen