Author: Christine Wyrtzen

When Things Are Heated

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen2 Comments

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.   Psalm 34:19

The words of Jesus brought divided opinion.  He was righteous and he was afflicted, even among the religious.  Not many things are more heated than religious arguments.  Some were willing to consider that He was divine; others called him demonized.

Jesus predicted this kind of polarization.  “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.” Luke 12:51 It is better for people to be divided over Christ than for both parties to continue in sin and unbelief.

The chasm between a believer and unbeliever is wide.  And when it involves an intimate relationship, there are constant sparks when the ways of heaven and the values of the kingdom of darkness collide.  Clashes come numerous times a day.

Business partnerships can be at odds; divided on ethics, divided on styles of leadership.  Jesus promotes servant leadership.  This repels the one who seeks to use his power to further himself.

Marriages can be at odds; divided on financial priorities, divided on parenting styles.  Jesus asks parents to raise their children in such a way that when He calls them, they respond.  A parent who is obvious in his disdain for Christ is not willing to have his child serve a God who asks them to lose their life for Jesus’ sake.

Many of you who are reading this right now know the loneliness of walking beside a person where you share more differences than similarities.  At times, you may grow weary of speaking up so you cave in to behaviors that grate against your spirit.  Perhaps the lack of peace haunts you and you wonder if this can possibly be of God.  Jesus would answer with a resounding ‘yes’.  God’s children must not love peace more than they love truth or else we will relinquish our convictions for a sense of false harmony.  Peace at any cost is not Jesus’ way.

My natural bent is not to fight – but to cave to others’ pressure in order to gain peace.  You didn’t do that.  You were willing to be quiet and you were also willing to create heat so that people would have to choose truth or error.  Lord, I have a lot to learn from You.  Amen

The Past May Repeat Itself

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.  Psalm 119:50 

I saw a quote earlier. “Your past is not God’s future for you.”  Many would argue that. They say that so much of what they have suffered continues to visit them over and over again. They continue to get sick. They continue to sustain disappointments. They continue to get fooled by people. They continue to face losses. They continue to work with challenging financial parameters. They experience life as a cruel cycle and the abundant life seems nothing but a dangling carrot.

This fallen world will continue to be fallen until Jesus comes or I die and step into His presence. My ultimate future will look nothing like my past or my present. Praise God! But until then, my circumstances here will continue to be challenging, if not cyclical. Life will continue to present set after set of problem solving exercises, but in the midst of that reality, the kingdom is also here now with respect to my internal world.

How am I to regard my life when painful things keep repeating themselves? I have to remember that from the outside, things are often the same. But the inside is to be in the process of continual change. Here’s an example. When my mother died, I was thirty years old. I did not have a strong connection to God. I had no idea how to draw close to Him to weather the trauma. I floundered, grew depressed and inconsolable, and my faith suffered for another decade. Much further down the road, my father died of cancer. My relationship with God was alive. Scripture had driven my root system deeper into the person of Jesus. I knew how to live in hope, draw strength from my Savior, and put scripture into practice. Everything was different even though cancer had once again re-appeared in my life in the death of a parent.  Same circumstances. Different internal world.

My past is not my future. Right now, my internal world can resemble eternity with Jesus.  In Christ, God has made it possible for my soul to live in paradise.

You walk with me and talk with me. You tell me I am your own. That changes today entirely no matter how ongoing my affliction. Amen

    When Love Is Right In Front Of You

    Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

      I will never walk alone for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.  Psalm 26:3

      Everyone wonders what their future will hold.  Good times or hard times?  Healthy or unhealthy?  Married or unmarried?  Financially secure or living with meager provision?  Surrounded by those who love us or mostly alone?  We aren’t granted a clear picture of tomorrow but any of us who know God as our Father can know for certain one thing about our future.  In spite of uncertainty, David says that God’s love is ever before us.  Perfect Love is always and forever in our tomorrows.

      If times are good, God will join me in my celebration.  If times are difficult, He will offer open arms.  If times are rewarding, He will still remind me that heaven will be better because He will be there.  If times are tragic, He will assure me that this time of tears is short in comparison to an eternity of joy.

      Picture a groom, on his knees proposing, and he says in a deep and meaningful tone, “Spend your life with me.  I can’t promise you that it will always be easy but however it unfolds, I promise to be there with you and love you.”  It’s exactly what she needs.  Love.  Companionship.  Commitment.  And for any who have not known this in their human experience, Jesus is the Bridegroom who offers what is supremely better than that.  A perfect love without the imperfection of the flesh within mortal marriages.  There is perfect companionship as the groom knows His bride completely.  And there is  perfect faithfulness as this Groom never backs away.  No matter how well or how poorly the bride loves, His love is constant and true.

      Your love is here now.  Your love has always sustained me.  Your love waits for me in all my tomorrows.  You are timeless and I can rest that You have traveled ahead of me.  I’m so comforted.  Amen

      When Scripture Is Dull

      Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

      Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight.  Psalm 119:143

      When a person hears bad news, he often loses his appetite.  He feels sick to his stomach and what once appealed to his senses holds little value.  Friends and family encourage him to eat something to keep up his strength.  One of the first questions we ask someone in fresh grief is, “When is the last time you ate something?”

      Pain can do that to my spiritual appetite, too.  If I am seized with anguish and doubled over in pain, it doesn’t seem possible that my soul could delight in anything.  Yet, in the midst of sorrow, God promises to feed me a banquet from his table.  Even in the presence of my enemies, the table is laden with spiritual food.  God doesn’t scale back the meal with the equivalent of a bowl of soup when His children are bent low.  He only enlarges what we will consume.

      You might be asking, “What if I’m not hungry?  What if I have no desire to consume Living Bread today?  What if I’m in such a hopeless place that a bunch of words on paper don’t appear to me to be any kind of banquet for a ravaged soul?”  My answer comes from experience.  “Force feed.”  Never am I in greater danger of the effects of spiritual malnutrition than when God’s spiritual provision has lost its appeal.

      So is the Word of God the spiritual meal?  Am I just given a bunch of words to hang onto?  Is this all I can anticipate when it feels like life has fallen apart?  I forget that God IS the Word.  He IS the meal.  It is He who speaks His Word into my ear.  It is He who holds me tenderly as He does.  It is He who can multi-task; comforting me in a seeming suspension of time while,  simultaneously, working behind the scenes to work my pain for my good and His glory.  I can’t see what He’s doing yet but that’s okay.  I’m lost in the sound of His voice and the soothing promises that bathe my soul in His peace.

      In whatever ways I have shut down from life, stir my heart to experience the delights You have promised.  Keep the pains of this life from dulling my spiritual appetite. Amen

      I’ll Not Give Up On Him

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      His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:4

      Two people are traveling together.  One is severely wounded and can no longer move.  He must stay behind while the other goes for help.  The one who leaves promises to return but you know that this promise will be tested with time.  As the situation deteriorates and there is no sign of his coming, the one in peril thinks to himself, “It doesn’t look to me like I’ll be saved!”  There is mounting evidence of a broken promise but ultimately, love and trust wins.  The one who waits perseveres because, in spite of the odds, he knows that the love and loyalty of his partner will not fail.  Sure enough, when things are most desperate, help arrives.  The one who has hung on whispers, “I just knew you’d come!”

      Jesus is good for every promise He has made, including the one where He promises to come back for me.  The better I know Him, the more confident I am of that He is trustworthy.  I will not withdraw and distrust him when things gets hard.  As this world deteriorates, trust in His heart and His promises sustain me.  The harder the times, the more my faith is tested and the more my faith thrives.

      What is causing you to draw back today?  Where are you scared to trust?  Where do you taste death instead of life?  You need not succumb to defeat.  Faith can win.  It begins and ends with a review of God’s promises and God’s character.  Shun the love-killer and all of his lies.  Life can be yours right now – at this very moment.  He will not only come for you, He’s here now.

      Let Your daughter perceive You. Open her eyes to see You.  Open her ears to hear Your whispers.  Speak to her in the deep places of her soul and bring life to the places where life is tenuous.  Amen

      Yes, Jesus Is More Than Enough

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      Give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Psalm 107:1

      Nothing stirs up our flesh like family rivalry.  The personality and gifts of one child can be celebrated more than the uniqueness of another child.  Or, a mother favors one while the father favors another.  From birth, affections and privileges can be divided.  It would appear that harmony among children is often doomed from the start.  Even in old age, the stuff of youth is rehearsed.  Childhood offenses seem like yesterday.   A brother or sister can be despised all the way to their deathbed because of something that was done or said during their teen years.  Because our past replays vividly on the jumbo screen of our heart, the wounds stay fresh.

      Love, respect, favor, and wealth?  How can life-long prejudices dissolve?  Someone new must arrive on the scene to offer something that is greater in value than what we lost.  Someone has ~ and His name is Jesus.  Healing for severely fractured families is possible but only as they come together to love and worship Jesus.  As each one’s appetite is transformed by beholding the beauty and glory of Christ, the stuff that comprised their arguments seems miniscule.  Every family member comes to realize that what they had been fighting over is a trinket compared to the gifts Jesus freely offers.  And, He is no respecter of persons.

      Perhaps I have a life-long angst regarding other members of my family.  All I have to do is think about that person and my insides are churning.  Being loved by Jesus and becoming emotionally engaged with my spiritual birthright melts away resentment.  What I seek, I already have in Christ.  It may be hope deferred but it is real and it is mine.  If it doesn’t seem like enough to my heart, I must ask God to open my heart to incomparable gift of Him!  Is He not powerful enough to transform my affections?

      Open my spiritual eyes to see the value of You and everything You long to give.  Help me re-orient my soul so that my hands are clutching You instead of things that perish. In Jesus name, Amen

      The Great Difference

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      Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. Psalm 6:2

      Everyone lives with the effects of the fall. We suffer unjustly at the hands of ungodly men and women. We are all vulnerable to disease. The many hurricanes that have plagued our southern states have devastated Christians and non-Christians alike. Yet, God says that we can tell the difference in how we handle adversity.

      • A child of God experiences peace in dark times. The unbeliever flounders without a compass.
      • A child of God exerts his authority over the dark forces at work. The unbeliever is captive to them.
      • A child of God is able to hear the voice of His Father, the voice that comforts him. The unbeliever is desperate for consolation.
      • A child of God has his eyes set on home. The unbeliever lives with a nagging fear of death.
      • A child of God knows the power of prayer to affect his life. The unbeliever is limited by his own problem solving skills.
      • A child of God looks for the supernatural redemption of his pain. The unbeliever finds pain senseless.

      Which one are you? Oh, if you don’t yet know the a luxury of being a child of God, I pray that, even now, God is setting your heart, mind, and will free to hear the Spirit of God calling you to faith so that you, too, may find your home in Christ. Because You will have a Father to call upon, who will be gracious to you, peace and comfort are within reach of His arms.

      Thank You for taking up residence in me. There begins the distinction. Oh, how great is Your love. Amen

      When Questions Plague Us

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      I have seen a limit to all perfection, but Your commandment is without limit. Psalm 119:96

      Children grow up in the same home, with the same parents, in the same spiritual environment, and some choose to believe, yet others don’t.  Is a child’s departure from the faith the parent’s fault?  Not always. Not any more than it was Abraham’s fault when some of his offspring descended into wickedness.  It is a mystery why righteous kings in the Old Testament had wicked offspring. Just as puzzling is why wicked kings were often followed by a righteous heir.

      While not perfect, we are to keep God’s covenant, train our children in the Word, and teach, by example, what it means to live by faith. Some of our children will choose God’s path, but to our great disappointment, we may watch another reject everything. 

      Unfortunately, it is a human tendency to carry the weight of our children’s and grandchildren’s choices.  We lament that we weren’t perfect parents, but God didn’t demand perfection. That dream died in the garden.  That’s why a Savior and Redeemer was written into the story. One day, we will be perfected but for now, we are imperfect parents. We are loved and forgiven by Jesus. We are providing an environment that offers the greatest possibility of spiritual success for each child but what that child does after that rests entirely on their shoulders. 

      The road to destruction is wide and most travel on it, even our children.  The way of the cross is narrow, only a few find it, and we rejoice when it’s our children. It’s a beautiful thing when families worship together but how painful when the clash of spiritual kingdoms is felt at our own dinner tables. Only God’s grace and compassion can keep us tenderhearted, forgiving, doing whatever is necessary to fight on our knees for their souls.

      Grace and comfort, Lord, for all the parents who need this message.  Amen

      Time For A Mediator

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      The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

      Have you ever feared a meeting with a certain person? Tensions between you were high and over the years, you could think of little else when your soul was quiet. The strained relationship weighed heavily upon you. To test the waters, you asked someone who was in good standing with them to speak of you. After their visit, you knew whether it was wise or unwise to restore the relationship.

      A mediator is oftentimes needed. When judgments have been made, fairly or unfairly, softening the heart of the estranged is difficult. When God was misunderstood, He sent Jesus to show us His heart, personality, and character. Jesus softened our hearts and paid a great price to restore the breach in our relationship.

      Jesus is still a mediator, not only between His Father and us but between us and anyone else with whom we suffer a distance. When a foundation of prayer is laid, He goes ahead of us to work on a hardened heart. Nothing is too hard for our Mediator. He can give them a dream, speak to them in the night, cause them to remember a story about us that they had forgotten, or make sure they cross paths with someone who can speak about us in a way that makes them softer.

      Not only are the hearts of kings in God’s hands, but so is the heart of our nemesis.

      You, Lord, are the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Amen

      Why Has God Shown You This?

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      You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night. Psalm 17:3

      God never gives divine insight for mere intrigue. He discloses His thoughts to someone so they can figure out why they were given such information. Are they to pray? Are they to speak an encouraging word? Are they to expose? Seeing is proactive.

      The gift of divine sight, and the spiritual understanding that accompanies it, is built on the culmination of life experiences. God shapes a servant through years of practice runs. The gift is sharpened most through suffering. If you are a prophet who can prayerfully discern the mind and heart of God about a person or situation, you will agree that your gift has been personally expensive. But consider this too ~ the gift of divine eyesight is usually paired with another strong gift. 

      • God often reveals a dream for His child to conceive a wise solution.
      • God reveals danger so that His child can pray.
      • God reveals the root of a problem so that truth can be discovered, embraced, and sin uprooted.
      • God reveals the broken heart of another so that compassion and encouragement can arise.
      • God reveals where people perish for lack of knowledge so that a teacher may arise.

      What has God been showing you about a person or a situation? Perhaps that revelation has been painful, has arrested you in place, and you are confused. Assess your giftings and ask God to show you how you are to use the revelation as a catalyst for His glory and the advancement of the kingdom. God, in your story, has prepared you for such a time as this.

      I have been tormented by what I see. Give me Your action plan. Amen