Category: Daily Devotionals

What Is That In Your Hand?

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:16-17

Ron’s father, Jack Wyrtzen, was a well-known evangelist. His sermons were simple but powerful and memorable. The one I remember most was the one entitled, “What Is That In Thine Hand?”

He re-told the story of Moses holding a shepherd’s staff in his hand. God called him to become a leader of His people but Moses declared himself unqualified. God asked him what that thing was in his hand? He answered, “A staff.” God didn’t intend for Moses to leave his shepherding skills behind. Moses would use that same staff to lead people out of slavery.

Simon and Andrew were fisherman. It’s all they knew. Jesus didn’t tell them to stop being fisherman. They would keep fishing but would fish for men instead of fish. Their fishing skills would be translated into the kingdom counterpart. God gave them two decades of experiences related to fishing. He wasn’t going to waste their knowledge. He would expand it. Fishing is about timing. Fishing is about using the right bait. It’s about catching a few one day but then hitting a windfall the next. Doesn’t this sound like evangelism?  And isn’t strategy and timing also pertinent?

What was in my hand as a teenager? A piano and a flute. A love for telling stories. A love for hurting people. A love for creative language.  Instead of going into social work or attending music school to play the flute in a symphony, God called me to relinquish control of what I was grasping for myself. A ministry was born. Today, I use all the passions and experiences of my childhood in this ministry.

Perhaps you’ve wondered how your love for a certain ‘thing’ could have anything to do with ministry. Maybe you’ve felt like your past experiences (painful ones) were wasted. No. God doesn’t work like that.  Today, someone’s eyes (maybe yours) are flying open to put the puzzle pieces of their life together in a new way. In God’s work, even with suffering, there is joy and wonderment. What is in your hand?

You do all things well. I’ve seen 66 years of it. Amen

Division and Reconciliation

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Behind enmity of any kind, there’s always something bigger going on; something sinister in the spirit world that exacerbates seeds of discord. Satan loves division among people groups. He favors anything that God hates. God calls His children to unity; Satan calls his children to discord. God calls His children to love one another; Satan calls his children to kill and destroy. Whenever prejudice is not dealt with, it intensifies with each generation. Sin is never dormant. Left to itself, it will grow, giving Satan an opportunity to get even more mileage out of hatred.

Racism and prejudice are rampant and on full display.  Whites against blacks. Arabs against Jews. The North against the South. Old money against new money. The rich against the poor. But God would want me to personalize this even further. We are often born into homes with family prejudices. I was. There were feelings of animosity against a certain relative who, sadly, couldn’t do anything right to lessen the feelings of hatred. There was a prejudice against a neighbor who had acted foolishly years back. Their name couldn’t even be mentioned without the re-telling of their story of shame. It’s possible for us to hear family stories around the dinner table and feel a dislike for someone without a personal reason of our own. It’s in the blood, just as it was for Haman.

God is a God of reconciliation. Whenever prejudice can stop with us, let’s make this our holy ambition. Seeds of righteousness will be passed on to our children. A war, local or even international, might just be prevented if generational biases were healed at the foot of the cross.

It Was Nothing!

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. Genesis 29:20

This is one of the rare moments in the Bible where sentiments about romantic love are expressed. Does love at first sight exist? Yes. Is there such a thing as people just ‘clicking’ when they meet? I believe so. It happens in friendship. Why not romantic love!

Jacob so loved Rachel that working for seven years to acquire her as his wife was hardly a sacrifice. If we were to ask Jacob about it in today’s vernacular, he might reply, “It was nothing!” And we know what he means. When I love to do something, the time that expires as I engage in the activity is irrelevant. Hours go by as if they were minutes. This is how I feel as I do many things; record in the studio, engage in the graphic design of new marketing materials, organize drawers and closets, even explore colors, textures, and fabrics.

There are people that I love deeply and serving them also seems effortless. I wouldn’t think twice about sacrificing in some way for them. I love to see them happy no matter what it costs me.

What is Jesus asking you to do today that seems steep? There is a cost. He said there would be. It is cross-shaped. Paul said that it was love that constrained him to endure hardship. It is lack of love that causes many to abandon their faith. When things get difficult, there is no relationship to sustain them. Knowledge of God without experience does not build emotional and physical endurance in Christian service.

There are days each of us lose perspective. They are related to the moments Jesus spent in the garden asking His Father if He might be spared the cross. But one day, no matter what we’ve suffered, I believe we will all say something similar. “I loved Him so it was easy to spend my life.”

Internal pep talks fizzle out quickly, Lord. It is Your voice and the memories of our time together that give me supernatural strength. Amen

 

    Just a Drop in an Ocean of Need

    Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

      “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. Jesus gave an example of this when talking about the tiniest of seeds, the mustard seed.  Each one grows into a 10 foot plant. Great things always start small.

      How much do I really believe in the seeds of scripture? When a need is so great, whether in someone else or in me, it can seem hopeless to personalize a few verses. What difference is it really making when I don’t see immediate results? Does speaking a few kingdom words over an ocean of need even impact the void?

      My greatest mistake would be to be misled by earth’s odds. 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. These agents of the kingdom are energetic and highly effective. When inspired, and then spoken, they begin the process of change. How do I know? Jesus said, “If you plant it, it will bear fruit.” Whether I can see the changes 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.

      What kind of seeds do you need to plant today? Belief. Joy. Peace. Unity. Sobriety. Pure sexual appetite. I need to plant faith seeds ~ faith that God holds the answers to unanswered questions and is trustworthy.  So, I speak God’s Word outloud over myself.  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 – spoken over me – spoken over the earth.

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

      What Happens In Your Invisible?

      Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

      By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.  Hebrews 11:27

      What happened in Moses’ invisible world took him far.  He left his adopted family, forfeited his place in the line of royalty, and then took on the responsibility for leading over 603,000 children of Israel out of Egypt and across the desert to their new homeland.  He endured stresses most of us will never feel, suffered the love/hate relationship with a fickle people who worshipped God one day and Baal the next, and he did all this while enduring the many griefs of his own personal story.  What carried him through it all and gave him the strength to endure?  Connection with the One who was invisible.

      What happens in the unseen realm, in the life of every child of God, cannot be underestimated.  It’s what propels us into the line of fire, some even into martyrdom.  It gives iron to the weak.  A revelation of God, through Christ and through His Word, shapes things not visible to the naked eye.  Right now, as you are reading this, the Holy Spirit is working in your own invisible realm to guide your thoughts, personalize this scripture, and lead you to be different five minutes from now than you are now.

      As you and I interact with God and His Word today, here are just a few of things that will happen that are imperceptible to others.  God will reveal Himself and enlarge our view of Him.  God will disclose things to our minds, and hearts, that will bring inner change.  God will give me a word to speak that will plant heaven’s seeds on earth’s soil.  (It will prosper because His Word trumps all other forces at work.)  God will re-direct me when I am starting to wander off into wrong lines of thinking and feeling. God will revive me through a whisper when I sink under the pressures I can’t yet anticipate.  God will reward my obedience with peace and confidence.  All of this is invisible.

      Scripture speaks of God’s child residing in peace and safety.  Does God keep His promise when I look into my external circumstances and see turmoil and danger?    Let us not doubt.  Peace and safety are the bedfellows of any of us who keep our eyes on the invisible God.  Like Moses, we  are constantly changing in the presence of the Almighty.  We endure.  We do not fear.  We rise out of the ashes.  We think soundly.  We speak wisdom in the presence of the foolish.  And like Peter and John, we stand before others and give testimony in such a way that others perceive we have been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)

      Let these scriptures be our benediction.

       I solemnly charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and in the presence of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession before Pontius Pilate, to keep all His precepts without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal power and dominion! Amen.  I Timothy 6:13-16 AMP

      When I Hold Myself Responsible

      Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

      But they have not all obeyed the Gospel.  For Isaiah says, “Who has believed what they have heard from us?”  Romans 10:16

      How much does this passage reveal about the personal responsibility Paul felt for other’s rejection of Christ?  For any who open their mouth to share the Gospel with their heart fully engaged, there are minefields emotionally.  No matter how much you invest beforehand, there will be times when few respond. For the one who preached, that can be internalized as personal failure.

      This was my Achilles heel for many years. If I had worked hard to prepare to teach, if I had engaged others to fast/pray for me and for the group I was speaking to, if I had asked God for a fresh anointing before traveling, then I had an expectation of tangible, successful results.  When I didn’t see signs of the impact I had expected, I took it personally.  I concluded that something had to be wrong with what I had done.  I cited the examples from the New Testament when the apostles went out in the power of the Spirit and thousands believed but I failed to take into account that this was the exception.  More often than not, a few were converted but the majority rejected the Gospel.

      The Spirit of God had to set me free from this destructive stronghold in my thinking.  He worked within me to help me define ‘effective’ teaching.  He reminded me that Jesus was certainly effective, yet He told His disciples that the masses would walk the road to destruction while a few would walk through the narrow gate.  Regarding those who shrug their shoulders and walk away, I am not responsible.  God bears the burden and invites me to ‘shake the dust off my feet’ when the message is not received.  Bearing the burden for other’s spiritual blindness is a plot Satan has conceived.  Jesus is the lifter of our heads.

      Set other perfectionists free and use my story of failure, Lord.  Amen

      Getting Out Of Obedience

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      And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. Genesis 7:5

      This is such a short verse in the entire dramatic account of Noah; one could almost miss it.  Noah did every single thing that the Lord had commanded him. It’s not like God told him to do just one thing either.  God gave him 120 years of detailed instructions.  Noah didn’t deviate at all from the blueprint.  He didn’t take shortcuts when something got hard.  Who had ever built an ark or a ship of any kind?  There were no people to call on for advice.  His onlookers were only scoffers.  When stumped, Noah had God and the collective input of his family to figure things out.  That’s it.

      When it was time to make room for the animals, he did exactly what God said to do.  I’m one who can easily think, “I’m tired.  I’ll obey but I’ll do that tomorrow.”  I don’t see anywhere in this story that Noah rationalized and/or procrastinated.

      I won’t live 120 years.  In that span of time, Noah did every single thing God asked.  I’m half that old but in the span of time I have lived, I have failed to do a few things God told me to do.  I am absolutely struck by the stark comparison.  How many times did I sense God asking me to do something where I responded, “Really, Lord?  Am I hearing you right?”  Quite a few.  In 2019, when God asked me to do something I considered radical, I questioned it.  But, I sought His face over a long period of time for confirmations and made a choice to obey.  Oh, He has blessed me and my family because of it.

      At the end of my life, I pray it will be said that I followed God, though it has taken time for me to get it right.  As I understand more clearly why Noah is in the ‘hallmark of faith’ chapter in the Bible (Hebrews 11), I am deeply inspired.

      What can I say?  Though some might say I’m being too hard on myself, I don’t believe I’m being hard enough.  I vow to do better and give you instant, and exact, obedience.  Amen

        The Enemy Is An Editor

        Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

          He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:44

          My storytellers can be people around me but I can also be one as I process things with or without God.  Satan is also a storyteller and I will be lied to.  His default language is lies.  A default language is what someone speaks instinctively. Satan lives and breathes falsehood.  In our justice system, someone is considered innocent until proven guilty.  But with the devil, I better realize that he is always guilty. The paradigm is flipped.

          If he’s whispering his version of my own story in my ears, how will I know it?  He will say anything that puts me in bondage.  The most important thing on his agenda is to corrupt my trust in God.  The lies usually start with that goal in mind.  “See, your faith is in vain. God can’t be trusted. You’re foolish to believe His promises.  They’re not for you.”  On it goes.  If trust is breached, my relationship is fractured to the point where I am left completely vulnerable.  If I shut my ears to God, they’re wide open for someone else to fill them.

          If I want to know if I’ve succumbed to the enemy’s re-write of my own story, I need to look for the symptoms that point to the lies; despair, hopelessness, depression, unresolved anger, jealousy, futility.  If any of these have taken over my soul, I can be sure there has been an editor from the pits of hell interpreting my story.  I need to be on guard, take every thought captive, and remember that life is one sifting exercise after another.  Thoughts come in ~ I examine them ~ then I keep them or throw them away.

          I used to believe that certain events, or certain people, ruined parts of my life. It wasn’t true. Yes, they caused pain but it was my interpretation of the events and what I concluded about myself and God that put me in long term bondage. Jesus was never tormented about who His Father was.  He never stopped believing that He was God’s beloved Son.  He was never trapped by futility and despair.  Though He suffered more than any human being, He never believed lies about his pain.  He knew that everything He suffered was redemptive and would lead to glory.

          Each of us need to figure out where we’ve been lied to and renounce it.  We will have a list of things to discard.  We will be telling God, “I used to believe ‘that’ but I renounce it as a lie.  Now, I believe ‘this’.”  I state the lie and replace it with a truth-telling scripture.  The enemy’s stronghold is broken, legal ground is taken back, and abundant life and freedom become mine.

           The only version I crave, and will believe, is Yours.  Amen

          Adapting To Change

          Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

          God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?          Numbers 23:19

          Too many changes in one’s life, all at once, put a person in a fragile place emotionally. It seems too much to process. When I initiate the changes, it’s easier. But most change is what happens to me and I have no control over it.

          How do you handle change? Do you have a strategy? It’s easy to conceive man-made ones. 1.) Deal with today and don’t borrow tomorrow’s trouble. 2.) Lean on family and friends.  This is usually the best that we can initiate without God. If things are really hard though, these won’t sustain. Inner stability will deteriorate.

          There is a certain kind of personality that thrives on change but I contend that it’s change they control. No one likes an unexpected knock on the door that brings tragic news. I’ve had my share of seasons where someone brought bad news. I’ve found that difficult times rarely seem to last a year, but five years, twelve years, even twenty-two years. I’ve learned that I must draw close to Jesus and follow His lead to develop spiritual strategies.

          What did Jesus do when he felt the pressures of his life? He got alone with His Father to pray,  He reviewed the scriptures and His Father’s history. This is the prescription for any of us today who know that the only stability available to us is the foundation of our faith in God.

          • God knows all things future. He’s not wringing His hands over this change in my life.
          • God already knows the outcome and, if I’m willing, will lead me safely to the other side.
          • God is unchanging. Though my life shifts, He is always the same. I cling to Him and not temporal things.
          • God is still a righteous Judge even when it appears evil is winning.
          • God is faithful and true, and good.

          “It is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of life, there is One whom change cannot affect; One whose heart can never alter, and on whose brow mutability can make no furrows.” Spurgeon

          I Can’t Hold Things Together

          Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

          He [Jesus] upholds the universe by the word of his power.  Hebrews 1:3

          God is a God of order. Jesus, God in the flesh, holds all things in place. As the Word, He once spoke and all things came into being; perfectly connected, in perfect working order, one molecule perfectly connected to the next one.  There cannot be the slightest disorder in what God creates because He is perfect and everything He touches is perfect. 

          Because I am not divine, I can’t consistently hold things together nor can I speak anything into existence. I can’t orchestrate even one element of my life and make it run with perfection.  I can’t speak over people and cause them to change or to walk in a perfect state of sanctification.  I can’t even make myself do it! 

          I can’t make anyone love me who doesn’t love me.  You know the frustration and the pain of that, right?  Who doesn’t!  But the one whose love I need the most already loves me deeply and completely.  Just one small implication of today’s scripture is that God holds his love for me together and not one thing can break it, not even my disobedience. He declared His love, backed it up with the giving of His Son’s life and He will not, and cannot, end it.  The covenant He spoke into existence rules and upholds it. 

          How do I internalize this?  I am motivated, in a new way, to let the God who holds the universe together hold my life together by arranging and directing everything that pertains to me.  Anything I build on my own, as well planned as I think it may be, is flawed and fragile.  It is simply disordered because my mind and ingenuity have been touched by the fall.  I realize this morning that when I am in control of my life, never am I more insecure and vulnerable.

          God begs for my obedience because He longs for my world to be touched by kingdom order and divine security.  He tells me the kind of person to call a friend, the kind of person to marry. He tells me how to function in a business, or even how to live as a good citizen. He tells me how to exercise the power I have over others and even has a lot to say about how to exercise leadership within a ministry or organization. As long as I follow His lead, I know that His plans, done His way, will be upheld by the same hands that sustain the universe.  Today, my prayer is this ~  

          “Speak Holy Spirit.  Declare Your Word over me and the life You gave me. Amen”