Category: Daily Devotionals

What Kind Of Kiss Is This?

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.  Mark 14:44-45

In some cultures, strangers greet one another with a kiss.  It’s a custom, not necessarily a sign of personal affection.  However, the kiss Judas gave Jesus was of the personal kind.  In Greek, it was a ‘phileo’ kiss ~ showing deep love, affection, covenant, and relationship.  Jesus wasn’t fooled.  He saw it coming and Judas knew Jesus saw through it.  It does reinforce, however, that betrayal is always personal or it’s not betrayal. 

Scripture says that Jesus ‘knew the hearts of men’ so even though the disciples didn’t see signs of Judas treachery on the horizon, Jesus did.  He’d always known.  Yet, Judas was hand picked anyway to fulfill the scriptures.  Judas probably believed he was autonomous in his mutinous decisions but he was a pawn in the sovereign will of God. 

Since none of us are divine, we don’t always see it coming.  We don’t know that the person we least suspect will hurt us so deeply.  Good behavior and their internal divided kingdom veil who they really are.  It is only as we look back that we can see signposts that posted a warning.  In the end, it is a journey of wisdom and forgiveness.

For any of you who are beating yourself up over past or present relationships, know that the nature of a wolf is to deceive.  If he/she weren’t good at it, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to warn us to be biblically street smart.  When we receive a Judas kiss, followed by betrayal, Jesus knows and His tears blend with ours as we grieve the loss.  What did He do for His disciples when Judas was revealed in the upper room?  He didn’t scold them for being out of touch.  He tended to their wounds and washed their feet.

As much as You knew Judas’ kiss was coming, it had to break Your heart.  I’m so grateful You are acquainted with all our griefs.  Amen

There’s A Better Question Than That

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

“Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.” Luke 11:44

Jesus words to the Pharisees made them angry. The lawyers among them were hostile and proceeded to question Him in private about His warning. It was obvious to Jesus that their status among the people was foremost in their minds and they couldn’t conceive that their hearts were really like tombs. Before God, they were unclean.

Jesus message was consistent with the prophet’s words. God looks at the heart. Mankind looks, and is obsessed with, exterior appearances. If we do things that make us look bad to people around us, it’s much easier to change our behavior than deal with our own sinful hearts.

If we are not careful, the church becomes little more than a catalyst for behavior modification. We can be consumed with asking the question, “What would Jesus do?” Then, gritting our teeth, we take on the challenge of acting like Him. While that can sound good, as evidenced by the millions of Christians who wore the bracelet that asks the question, our preoccupation needs to progress to an inward look.

I don’t want to just concern myself with doing what Jesus does. I want to think how He thinks. I want to feel how He feels. I want to love what He loves and despise what He hates. My sinful heart needs washing, then re-wiring. The water of the Word promises to do both but before I can walk in newness of life, I have to acknowledge the stuff in my heart that is not like Jesus.

I cannot butter you up and try to be the Teacher’s pet. You see right through me. I can dare look at my sin because You already died for it. I give up my defensiveness. Amen

 

The Moment Between Offense and Sin

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Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Hebrews 5:8

I wonder if I’ve been realistic when I’ve thought about Jesus’ perfection. I’ve always viewed Jesus as an adult in ministry. He was One who certainly had instant access to righteous thoughts and behaviors. He listened expectantly to His Father and never struggled with what He was asked to do. But how do I connect that picture with the scripture that says Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted? The two concepts are both true but to marry, there needs to be an adjustment.

There is a pregnant moment between an offense and a sinful response – whether a thought or a behavior. The offense happens, then comes the temptation, and then comes the pregnant moment of decision when the heart decides how it will respond. To ‘learn obedience’ is to learn how to handle the pregnant moments within that temptation time period. That’s where Jesus achieved victory. That’s where my victory lies.

Think of Jesus as a child and let’s consider a few pregnant moments.

  • He’s a toddler. He’s happily playing with a new wooden toy Joseph carved for him. A sibling or a friend takes it away from him. Mary encourages Jesus to share it. If Jesus were tempted as we are tempted, there is a pregnant moment where Jesus is encouraged by Satan (not His own nature – since He is holy) to hoard it, not share it. He’s like me. Temptation says, “The toy is mine. My father made it for me.” But Jesus chooses to share.
  • Jesus is outside playing with his friends and is having a good time. Mary yells from down the street that it’s time to come and help His father with the chores. There is a pregnant moment where He is tempted to ignore His mother’s voice. He’s having too much fun. But Jesus chooses to obey.
  • Jesus is a teenager and sees a group of friends plotting to cheat. He speaks up to expose their sin. They turn on Him and He is beaten up and bruised badly. There is a pregnant moment where He is tempted to disown their friendship and find a way to get revenge. Anger is hot and His body is sore from their beatings. Jesus moves through the temptation successfully and chooses a righteous reaction.

None of this was easy for Jesus. None of these pregnant moments are easy for me. As I think of Him in the throes of temptation, having to learn obedience, I am very aware that Jesus is my refuge when my temptations are too great and I fear that I will choose to sin. He knows. He is the perfect confidant. He is the One who lives to pray for me day and night – that I will learn obedience. He, from the inside of me, gives moment-by-moment grace to move successfully through the temptation phase to victory.

Open my eyes to Your struggle with Your humanity. You are a refuge for a soul in distress today. Amen

Can God Use Discord?

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“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” Matthew 23:13

Are you living around someone contentious? If so, you’re probably dreaming of deliverance – either for them or for you. You crave peace and harmony.   Perhaps the argumentative person is in your small group or in your Sunday school class. God’s grace is a stumbling block to them. That person sows discord by the many arguments he presents in favor of the letter of the law and God’s judgment. As a teacher, you wonder if he is hurting other’s faith. When class is over, you feel that he ruined everything that God was trying to do.

While I do believe that dissenters like this are under the influence of religious spirits, I am encouraged that they can cause many to think and study for themselves. People who experienced the tension are able to compare the appearance of a God who was presented as angry and unreasonable with the real God who shows mercy through Christ and forgives extravagantly. The discord was really more productive than destructive. The beauty of the Gospel was on full display against the backdrop of dead religion.

In this scripture, Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees for misrepresenting what was required to enter the kingdom. They were all about keeping the law, which in and of itself, wasn’t a bad thing. It’s just that they did it void of a relationship with God. They promoted self-serving obedience. They also added thing after thing to the existing law to make the whole package burdensome. Jesus’ words were strong and all who heard it felt the dissonance.

Was the discord productive? I imagine so. Suppose you were a bystander and you wondered who Jesus was. You had labored under the law and were tired of going through the motions of Judaism. Jesus’ rebuke would have shaken you to the core — a shaking that might have resulted in new faith and a new paradigm. Jesus’ scolding reinforced what you had already felt deep in your spirit. At that moment, in Jesus, you tasted something that made your heart feel alive.

If you are frustrated by the presence of one who promotes something other than the Gospel of grace, consider that God might have that person around for the purpose of providing comparisons. Sometimes, people learn what they want by seeing, firsthand, what it is they don’t want. For those in sincere search for Jesus, discord might propel them faster to the arms of the Grace-giver.

This just shows that I never know what you will use for Your glory. Open my eyes to see You at work, even in this. Amen

A Few Words For An Ocean Of Need

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“What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32

Kingdom seeds are so powerful when they are planted on earth, even the tiniest ones.  Whether giant or minuscule, every seed grows to reach its maximum potential because that’s what happens in God’s Kingdom.  Jesus gave an example of this when He talked about the tiny mustard seed. He told the story of how something so small grows into a ten foot plant.  His story underscores that great things often start small.  

How much do I really believe that scripture is a seed and that, if watered through prayer, it will be fruitful?  When a situation is dire, it can seem hopeless to sow the seeds of Scripture by personalizing a few verses and then speaking them, or praying them.  Will this really make a difference even when I don’t see immediate results?  Will reciting a few kingdom words over an ocean of need really impact it?  

My greatest mistake would be to be misled by earthly comparisons.  If I look at the probability of change like I look at filling up a beach ~ one grain of sand at a time ~ of course I’ll give up.  But that is not what happens when I consistently sow the seeds of heaven.  Because scripture is the spoken Word of the ‘one and only’ God, this agent of transformation is energetic and highly effective.  When, in prayer, God leads me to the Word I am to speak into my situation, the process of change begins.  How do I know?  Jesus said, “If you plant it, it will bear fruit.”  Whether I can see the change right away is immaterial.  God works in the deep, in the unseen and imperceptible.  He does soul surgery in masterful ways long before human beings can see the fruit.   How does all of this fit with free choice?  Am I advocating name it and claim it?  This will be tomorrow’s devotional.  But for now ~ 

What kind of seeds do you need to plant today?  Belief.  Joy.  Peace.  Unity.  Sobriety.  Pure sexual appetite.  Speak God’s Word.  Don’t just read it silently.  When declared, faith is ignited and spiritual forces are put on notice.  It is the legal equivalent of serving the enemy legal papers.  Oh, the cumulative effect of God’s spoken Word over time. 

I believe and I have seen with my own eyes my own transformation.  Amen

The Cry Of Every Heart

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Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John 7:38

A person’s deep emptiness will only filled by a relationship with Jesus.  Not only will it be satisfied but it will also overflow from the reservoir of life that Jesus pours in. It’s grievous to meet a person at the end of their lifetime and hear them say that their life has been wasted.  After all the self-effort to be happy, to love and be loved, they admit to having no idea how to fill the emptiness inside.  Such were the words, lately, made by the superstar, Neil Diamond.  I can’t shake the sadness from hearing one of his interviews several weeks ago.  He apologized to his multiple wives over and over again about how poorly he treated them and how easily he traded their value for his career.  He struggles every day with regret.

Though admittedly lost spiritually and a poor role model to our generation, I have nonetheless appreciated his God-given talent.  A classically trained and gifted musician, a poetic lyricist and a master at knowing how to sell a song, he wrote upbeat classics like Song Sung Blue and Sweet Caroline.  While these have been his most popular, I prefer his deeper material like Morningside ~ and his most famous self-portrait ~ I Am I Said.  His ballads are often begun with extensive string prologues to set the stage for the profound.  

I Am I Said is, by his own admission, a cry to be heard by someone who will really listen to his pain.

Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of being a king and then became one

Well except for the names and a few other changes, if you talk about me,

The story is the same one

But I’ve got an emptiness deep inside and I’ve tried but it won’t let me go

I’m not a man who likes to swear but I’ve never cared for the sound of being alone.

“I am” I said, to no one there

And no one heart at all, not even the chair.

“I am” I cried, “I am” said I

And I am lost and I can’t even say why

Leaving me lonely still.

Though admittedly lost spiritually and a poor role model to our generation, I have nonetheless appreciated his God-given talent.  A classically trained and gifted musician, a poetic lyricist and a master at knowing how to sell a song, he wrote upbeat classics like Song Sung Blue and Sweet Caroline.  While these have been his most popular, I prefer his deeper material like Morningside ~ and his most famous self-portrait ~ I Am I Said.  His ballads are often begun with extensive string prologues to set the stage for the profound.  

Father, You are still the beautiful answer to every cry of my heart.  Amen

‘You Poor Thing!’

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Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

Self-loathing plagues the church. Because I know that there was once a chasm between God and me, that shouldn’t erode my present view of myself. I shouldn’t wonder how God could, and will, love me if I have so far to go to be like His Son. That makes it all about me when it should be all about the nature and character of a loving God.

‘Poor in spirit’ does not mean pathetic. When someone we love suffers, we might say, “You poor thing.” We mean that they are laid low, downcast, and languishing. Is this the posture Jesus is advocating as a way of life?

No. To be poor in spirit is to know that I am completely dependent on God. I’m not arrogant. I’m honest with others and myself. I don’t inflate my abilities to look good. I don’t pretend to be perfect in order to rise to a position of spiritual leadership. I know that I struggle with my flesh and can freely admit it without injured pride. With great confidence, I cast myself on God’s grace.

The one who has never acknowledged his sinfulness and need for a Savior cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus made it clear that someone like the tax collector had it right, the one who beat his chest in the temple and said, “Be merciful to me, Lord, a sinner!” He would inherit the kingdom of heaven because he was poor in spirit.

Knowing that I am sinful and dependent on God for spiritual life is not the same as living with a nagging, low self-image. If a drowning man is rescued, does he live his life condemning himself for having nearly drowned? I think not. He’ll rejoice that his life was saved and extol the one who snatched him from the waters. He’ll be joyful that he was given a 2nd chance at life.

I am poor in spirit and I am grateful that You saved me. I live life loved with my head tilted to the sky. Amen

The Cry Of Every Heart

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John 7:38

A person’s deep emptiness will only filled by a relationship with Jesus.  Not only will it be satisfied but it will also overflow from the reservoir of life that Jesus pours in. It’s grievous to meet a person at the end of their lifetime and hear them say that their life has been wasted.  After all the self-effort to be happy, to love and be loved, they admit to having no idea how to fill the emptiness inside.  Such were the words, lately, made by the superstar, Neil Diamond.  I can’t shake the sadness from hearing one of his interviews several weeks ago.  He apologized to his multiple wives over and over again about how poorly he treated them and how easily he traded their value for his career.  He struggles every day with regret.

Though admittedly lost spiritually and a poor role model to our generation, I have nonetheless appreciated his God-given talent.  A classically trained and gifted musician, a poetic lyricist and a master at knowing how to sell a song, he wrote upbeat classics like Song Sung Blue and Sweet Caroline.  While these have been his most popular, I prefer his deeper material like Morningside ~ and his most famous self-portrait ~ I Am I Said.  His ballads are often begun with extensive string prologues to set the stage for the profound.  

I Am I Said is, by his own admission, a cry for someone to listen to his pain.

Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of being a king
And then became one?
Well except for the names and few other changes, if you talk about me
The story is the same one
But I've got an emptiness deep inside 
And I've tried but it won't let me go
I'm not a man who likes to swear but I've never cared for the sound of being alone.

CHORUS
"I am"...I said.
To no one there
An no one heard at all, not even the chair
"I am"...I cried
"I am"...said I
And I am lost and I can't even say why
Leaving me lonely still.

Most people don’t know that when they look up into the heavens and cry out in desperation, “Is anyone listening?” there really is.  It is not a redundant question.  Jesus is Life and the Life-giver.  He invites anyone to step into union with Him. 

I don’t mind telling you that I was encouraged to write Neil a long letter, talk about his music and his cries for connection, and share the Gospel.  I did.  I pray he held it in his hands and believe.

Father, You are still the beautiful answer to every cry of my heart.  Amen

Why Do You Want To Go Home?

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And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6

Ask a college student why they are eager to go home on Spring Break and all kinds of answers emerge.  Sleep in. See their dog. Eat their favorite foods.  Go to their favorite local places with friends.  What might be far down on the list is spending time with their parents. 

But heaven?  My Father is the center of my joy and the source of all other pleasures.  The feasting, prepared by God’s own hands, is depicted earlier in this Psalm.  Oil that runs abundantly over His child’s head is also described.  All of this portrays lavish hospitality in the Near Eastern culture.  This is a Father who satiates His children with unfathomable abundance. David says elsewhere, in his prayer to God, that he feasts on the abundance of God’s house and basks in the rivers of His delights.  

The word ‘delights’ is built from the same root word for Eden! Paradise restored, indeed.  Our ending is only a new beginning.  I shouldn’t be calling death the ‘end of life stage.’  It is the ‘embryo for new-life-stage.’  

It doesn’t feel good to go home and be treated like a guest; limits and a certain formality prevail.  I’m not free to roam and fully relax. I can’t get a drink or fix myself a meal without it being offered.  Or, I know I have to ask for it.  I will not be a guest in the house of the Lord.  I will be home.  God’s lavish hospitality is poured out on sons and daughters.

Someone once said, “As I travel along in this world, I’m in awe of many things, like the colors I see in autumn or the flowers that bloom in spring.  To me, there is no kind of awesome apart from what home can bring, like returning to wake in my old bed to hear the birds sweetly sing.”   We might assume that to experience nostalgia, we have to have known it from previous experience.  Ah, but that is the grand mystery of heaven.  We are going home and although we’ve never been there, it will feel familiar.  All along, this eternity was put in our hearts.  

I can’t wait, God.  Amen

Pursued

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Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.  Psalm 23:6

Stephen Lawson of Ligonier Ministries tells this story regarding goodness and mercy.  

Dwight L. Moody, a famous evangelist of the nineteenth century, was once approached by a woman who needed counseling. Two men, she claimed, were following her. Whenever she stepped onto the city trolley, they stepped onto it behind her. When she stepped off, they stepped off. With a nervous twitch in her neck, she insisted that she had even been followed to his office by these very two men.

Moody could easily detect that this precious woman was suffering from a mental delusion. There was no one following her. But to put her at ease, he told her: “Those two men following you are David’s men. Their names are Goodness and Mercy.” He turned in the Bible to today’s scripture and showed her, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life.” She was relieved and exclaimed: “That is wonderful. I have always wondered what their names are.” The woman left that day with peace of mind, comforted to know that it was goodness and mercy that were following her.

Is this reasonable to think that this is true?  If I look at ‘follow’ in Hebrew, the word if jirdepuni, meaning ‘to pursue.’The intent of God to bless us is so strong that it does pursue us.  Warmed to the core of my spirit, I think of this from Psalm 139.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

I can run from God, or try to, but I am pursued because I am His and He loves me.  His desire to bless me is what moves Him to go wherever I go.  He is not a stalker; a menacing presence.  He is the Shepherd who never, not even once, loses track of one of His sheep.  

God is Good.  God is Mercy.  Surely ‘Goodness and Mercy’ shall follow me.  Some of God’s children proclaim that they feel cursed, that trouble follows them.  Although there are times we are out of His will, we are never out of His care.

I will never be lost because You will never lose sight of me.  Love is my shadow.  Amen