Category: Daily Devotionals

When I Feel Nothing

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things our of thy law.  Psalm 119:18

Believing eyes are able to behold the wonder of the kingdom.  A spiritual truth is sought after, it is recognized as having more value than anything on this earth, and it is often so stunning that the one reading it sees it through eyes filled with tears.  Unbelieving eyes see nothing of its beauty.  The Word speaks a different language.  It is not attractive nor understandable.  Most of it sounds outrageous, and at the very least, foolish.

Oftentimes, on the days when I need His Word the most, I am blinded by my own pain. I have unbelieving eyes.  Emotions run hot and I only see words on a page.  What pierced my heart a week ago doesn’t speak to me today.  Trials can be numbing.

I might lack eyesight because of an illness in my body.  When the flesh is out of sorts, the beauty and luster can be obscured.  The worst thing I can do in either of these cases is chalk it all up to a bad day and shut out the scriptures.  When I’m numb to my need, my need is the greatest!  When I’m incapable of connecting, God wants nothing more than to help me.

Woman with hair blowing in the wind breathing deeply and looking up wearing a leather jacket with a blurred nature background

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Immature Obedience

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My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly.  Psalm 119:167

I don’t think any child wants to obey.  Fear and respect keep his behavior in check.  In that moment when he decides what he’s going to do, fear of consequences and respect for authority will cause him to adhere to the rules.  That is immature obedience but obedience nonetheless.

boythinking

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When Is An Apology Sufficient?

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Great is your mercy, O Lord.  Psalm 119:156

When I’ve wronged someone, how many times do I have to say “I’m sorry” for mercy to be shown?  In this world, the greater the offense, the more times a repeated apology is necessary.  Restitution can be steep as the other party decides what it’s going to take to make them happy.  It’s usually something that, in their eyes, equals the severity of the crime.

Jesus paid my debt to God.  His death was saying to His Father, “I’m sorry”, on my behalf.  Sorry for rebelling, for glorifying myself, for spurning His love.  All I have to do to access God’s merciful response is acknowledge my sin and ask for forgiveness.  Then, it’s mine.  No reservations.  Nothing given piece-meal.  God does not require a repentance that is steep enough to match my crime.  Jesus already gave that. God forgives when I ask the first time and washes the condemnation away.  The memory of my offense is out of sight and behind His back.

Is. 30:18 “The Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy toward you.” What about the times I’m a prodigal?  What of the times I go off and really blow it with God?  The offense is so bad that I dread the thought of ever being in God’s presence again.  Surely, I will be struck dead.  I’ll feel a sense of His displeasure for years to come, right?  Because look how badly I sinned.  Satan writes and directs this mini-movie that plays out in the hearts of the afraid.  God is portrayed as the angry, spurned Father who will never truly be satisfied with a simple, sincere apology.

My Father is just waiting to be gracious to me.  He has mercy in His hands.

Helping a friend in need

On the tip of His tongue is the cry for a party to be given to honor my homecoming.  For any who have transgressed, then come limping home, we testify to the great love of the Father that envelopes us the moment we repent. In the presence of so great a love, we wonder why in the world we waited so long to find our way home.

There aren’t the words to truly convey what your mercy is like.  Show us and send our preconceived ideas packing.   Amen

When It Feels Like a Broken Promise

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Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.  Psalm 119:38

The human soul can be so tossed about by trouble that a once confirmed promise from God is shaken loose from its foundation.  God gave it, even confirmed it initially, but now the words feel hollow.  The promise has little effect on a heart full of fear and uncertainty.  There is no rest in the Word because there is little trust left.  Pain has eroded it.

Close up of crossed fingers behind a woman's back
Close up of crossed fingers behind a woman’s back

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God-Estrangement

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I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.  Psalm 131:22

A big blowup in a relationship is not what usually kills it. People argue. Some fight passionately. But if both are committed to the each other and also committed to truth, there is understanding and restoration. What is deadly to any relationship, however, is a gradual deadening of the heart. A slow death is much more difficult to turn around.

You’ve heard the phrase, “I feel like I don’t know you anymore.” A ‘foreigner’ is a good description. It is saying, ‘You are acting so strangely that I don’t even recognize you. You may as well have come from a foreign land.’

 Amazing that what can be intimate can grow so deeply estranged. In a spiritual sense, this is what happens, more than not, to the children of God toward their Heavenly Father. No wonder there are so many songs about returning to your first love, about stirring the cold embers of your heart. Erosion can happen so slowly that the gradual decline is inconspicuous.

To make sure that it doesn’t happen to me, I want to think about this more intently this morning. What would happen that might show I’ve turned my face away from God to tiptoe in the other direction?

  • I fail to take the sins of my heart seriously.
  • I keep the reading of the Word technically and intellectually.
  • I lose the lump in my throat when I talk about Jesus.
  • The mercy He showed to me becomes a casual thought.
  • God’s wooing is easily ignored.
  • I play it safe to live in unbelief instead of by faith.

 I used to believe that some ‘thing’ would happen that would kill my faith. I guess I was wrong. Nothing can do that for me. Isaiah says that God’s children have turned themselves back into foreigners. Circumstances don’t make or break a relationship. It’s whether two people choose to walk together or not. It’s commitment. It’s nurturing the love that exists and never allowing any other priority to eclipse it.

Oh, that I might always say that we are intimate. Amen

Demonic Glitter

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.  Psalm 20:7

David compels the people of God to turn away from counterfeit powers.  Horses and chariots were plentiful both inside the kingdom and outside.  Kingdoms of the east were also very wealthy and gold and silver abounded. Satan often rewarded idolatry with temporary abundance but David was adamant that true power begins and ends with God.

Most people are drawn to the light. That’s the good news. But there are two kinds of light and one is fake. That’s the bad news. Satan masquerades himself as a god of light because he knows that if he shows us his true identity, we will be seized with fear. He must disguise himself into whatever he knows will appeal to his victims.

This is why I often encourage true believers to address this problem in prayer when praying for their families. They can restrict the enemy, with the spiritual authority they have in Christ, from putting on a demonic glitter that makes his way addicting. Oh, the stories associated with this kind of praying! Sons have, all of a sudden, seen a girlfriend for who she is and broken up with her. Middle school children have, all of a sudden, seen the true nature of their ‘bad’ friends, and walked away from danger. A husband has, all of a sudden, seen the kind of woman he’s having an affair with and ended it. Once the demonic glitter was removed, loved ones stepped back, gasped, and came to their senses. None of us need be under the spell of false light.

Counterfeit-Gods-Concept2

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Who Can You Count On?

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.  Psalm 16:6

Have you ever been denied what is rightfully yours?  Perhaps inheritance issues have divided your family and humanly speaking, you came out on the short end.  The pain of broken promises can turn the nicest hearts into bitter ones.  Twisted old men and women were once young dreamers.  Hurt upon hurt chipped away at their trust and their optimism and the face of cynicism was slowly revealed with the years.  With nothing and no one to count on, they threw up their hands and resigned themselves to get nothing.  They tested everyone in their life; “they love me…”, “they love me not….”  Those who had a relationship with them felt the pressures of the relationship and got weary of jumping through hoops to prove their love.

Last-Will-and-Testament

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Seasons of Taunting

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Let your steadfast come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise; then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your Word.  Psalm 119:41-42

If the promises of God are coming true in my life in the form of answered prayers, then I do have a plan when others taunt me.  Constant harassment will be crippling unless the arrows that come flying in my direction bounce off the confidence I enjoy from answered prayer.  When the heavens are open and God is blessing me, I can sustain the attacks and stand tall.  Oh, but when the heavens are silent and fellowship with God is broken, I lose all gut strength.

Arguing-couple

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When Prayer Doesn’t Bring Me The Relief I Seek

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Hear me, LORD, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer– it does not rise from deceitful lips.  Psalm 17:1

Prayer can be confusing.  I know that I’m asking for good things.  Even noble things.  I assume that these will be the kind God loves to answer quickly and with a ‘yes’. Then, there’s nothing.  The heavens appear to be shut.  These are the mysteries of prayer that are the hardest for God’s children to understand.  If my prayers are God-honoring, why wouldn’t God love to say ‘yes’?

IMG_7190_p

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When There’s One Loss Too Many

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When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? Psalm 56:3 

How long can you keep going under pressure before giving up? How many losses would you sustain before you find that a particular one seems too much to bear? The threshold of abdication is different for each of us. So, also, is the particular issue that defeats us. I’ve known parents who lost one child to cancer and they never recovered. They live in a perpetual suspension of emotions and they are internally numb.

But, I also know a woman who lost one child in childbirth; another in a custody battle. She lived childless. Both of her parents died when she was young and she was raised by surrogate parents who severely mistreated her. Though she visited the valley of hopelessness many times and flirted with total despair, she leaned on God for the grace and grit to get up. Now in her later years, she is a wise old soul who gives the gifts of compassion, advocacy, and wisdom to those who have no one to understand their pain. Her eyes search for those lost in themselves. She’s able to look deeply into their eyes, see their soul and call them out.

Closeup of senior woman's hands on bible, folded in prayer.

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