Category: Daily Devotionals

The Psalms in 2026

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen2 Comments

In 2026, I’m going to be writing from the Psalms because they give language to what many of us sense but can’t always express, such as desire, grief, longing, or wonder. For us who live deep and love hard, the Psalms are a sanctuary. They are a place to pour out our hearts without performing, to let God meet us in the hidden places, and to come out more grounded than we went in.

These songs keep us honest in prayer. Empathy and concern can turn into intercession. Overwhelm can turn into honesty. And inner turbulence can culminate in worship.

Daily, we will each be invited to rest yet again in the faithfulness of the One who shelters us.

The best part is that we will be together for another year. I’m grateful for your company.

Around The Corner and Couldn’t Be Bothered

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When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” Matthew 2:2-6

Herod knew who to ask about a new baby King, the one he feared would threaten his throne.  He went straight to the Jewish priests and scribes who knew the scriptures.  When asked, they immediately quoted this passage from Micah about the Messiah being born in Bethlehem.  These men didn’t need to consult with each other for an answer.  It was on their tongue.  They knew the scriptures.

So where were they at the birth of Jesus?  We don’t read that any religious leaders came to bow down and worship.  Jerusalem was only seven miles away from them.  (The Magi traveled a thousand miles!)  The gate is wide for those who reject the Messiah and narrow for anyone who seeks Him out.  Never was this more clearly seen than in the scarcity of worshippers at Jesus’ birth.

Knowledge and passion can be mutually exclusive.  I can know my Bible as well as a Pharisee and easily become as callous as they were.  They lived around the corner from Mary and Joseph, and they were also the ones who weren’t spiritually alive enough to see if Jesus was the One they had been longing for throughout their entire Jewish history. 

Jesus, You are the end of my quest.  Whatever it takes to journey to You is worth any effort and any sacrifice.  Amen

It Was A Death Mission

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Why would God send His Son on a death mission?  Because you and I were under a curse.  As macabre as Walt Disney’s plots are for children, as high as the suspense is after the hero drinks poison, is cursed and sent to a dark land, our plight was much worse. We had no possible way out of our predicament after the Fall.  There were no loopholes, no one making us a promise that if we did this or that, we could leave the land of banishment.  Paradise was lost.  The once lush, evergreen landscape of our beginnings became as gloomy and as ravaged as an abandoned house falling in around itself.  If not for Jesus, we would live and die there.

So, I consider Jesus. He saw His Father’s tears when the curse was explained to Adam and Eve.  He foresaw the implications of the curse and all that it would bring about, things that Adam and Eve could never know.  He saw the great chasm between His Father and the whole of creation under His wrath. There was only one way to save them.  The wrath that fell on them must be lifted off and borne by someone else.  The person would have to sacrifice himself, but that person had to be perfect to do so.  That disqualified every single candidate except one.  Jesus.

Jesus didn’t hesitate.  Within the omniscience of the Trinity, this had been foreseen.  Jesus had weighed this decision way before the earth ever felt the breath of the Spirit upon its cheek.  He knew He would be the Lamb as His Father whispered it across the empty spaces of time.

Every time I am overwhelmed by my past, I consider my High Priest who signed up to remove God’s wrath and offer me brand new mercy. I enjoy the wonder of a clean slate every single morning I awake.  When I am pierced by the sins of others, I consider Jesus, the One who was pierced for my own sins.  There is nothing too dark, too tragic, too hopeless, too confining, too defeating, that can define my life or my future.  Paradise has been restored.  The curse has been lifted.  My inner landscape, once eaten up by the twisted vines of a darkened forest, is now a stunning landscape. 

All things flourish, and the song of Paradise is the song I sing.

Completely Overtaken

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen2 Comments

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. John 14:9

God speaks and things materialize where there was once nothing.  God pushes galaxies around with the tip of His finger. He breathes over a silent, colorless world and it wakes, breaking out in green and light and birdsong. Such power cannot be measured or managed; it is limitless, uncontainable, beyond the reach of our imagination. And yet this same God wrapped Himself in skin, took shape in the hidden darkness of a virgin’s womb, and stepped into our timeline as a fragile, crying child. He did not simply reflect the image of God the way we do; He was—mysteriously, wholly—God Himself in human flesh.

Jesus showed us what happens when God lives through a person. Jesus restrained His power with wisdom, but when it was unleashed, the dead were raised, storms ceased, and the blind were made to see.  His power was not limited because of the effects of the Fall and the cancer of sin.

I am limited, however.  I am narrowed and weakened by the effects of the Fall, marked by the slow corrosion of sin. And yet, as one made in the image of God and redeemed, washed by the blood of the Lamb, I have become a dwelling place for the Spirit of God. His presence lives in me. Is there evidence of that indwelling for others to see? Is there a shimmer of His glory in my words, my choices, my way of moving through the world?

When He prompts me to speak, am I willing to open my mouth and let words of healing and truth come out, trusting His power to move through my frail frame? Or do I shrink back, forgetting that I am not empty—that I am, in fact, inhabited? Perhaps my hesitation reveals not humility, but amnesia: I have forgotten that I can be possessed, fully and beautifully, by the Holy Spirit.

Help me fully understand what Your incarnation means for me. It’s so loaded with implications and I know I haven’t begun to grasp it. Amen

Little Shepherd and Overseer

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For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.  I Peter 2:25

When an ancient king planned to journey through a desert landscape, the way was prepared beforehand by his advance team.  The road was inspected, repaired where needed, and all that would obstruct his journey was addressed.

Jesus was our advance team.  He came to prepare the way for us to walk the path to His kingdom.  The infant Shepherd who napped in the manger was also the One who made crooked paths straight.

And not only is He the little Shepherd but He is also the little Overseer of our souls.

That means He is the caretaker of our inside world.  He exposes sin and inspires repentance.  He encourages us to examine each crooked place in our hearts so things can be made straight.  He saves us from painful detours.  He cheers us on when we limp. He picks us up when we’re lame.  He helps us when we’re emotionally and spiritually feeble.

We have a deep desire to be known by One who loves us and has earned our trust.  Because we were wired for this divine connection, our souls strain to be under the care of One who sees it all, the good and the bad. We want to belong to the One who can craft an environment where we will thrive.  But there is a caveat ~ we must first give up our lives to Him in surrender.   

You are the perfect Shepherd and perfect Overseer.  I’m going to let you define what is best for me without limiting Your influence.  Amen

The Little One Who Reversed The Curse

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Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. … When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing.  Galatians 3:13

Jesus wasn’t born to be just a teacher, or to just tell stories about the kingdom, or just to perform miracles, or even to be king of Israel.  He was born to reverse the curse pronounced in the Garden of Eden. 

The curse came upon Adam and Eve when they failed to believe God about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  When they fell for the serpent’s deception and sealed it with an act of disobedience, they ushered in immense consequences for them and every one of us who descend from them.  Is it any wonder that Jesus grew up to say, “Whoever believes in me, though He dies, yet shall He live.”  Unbelief brought the curse upon us.  Belief in Jesus would free us from it. 

The sin of unbelief was carried out in a garden.  Thirty-three years after little Jesus was born, He would enter another garden to deal with the weight of our curse.  He knew what it would mean to die in our place.

Everyone who embraces this Savior and believes in Him, with their life, is no longer cursed ~ but blessed.  The theme of our life is not ‘paradise lost’ but ‘paradise restored.’  Barren landscapes, once brown and decayed by sin, are now lush and green.  In kingdom places, we dare walk barefoot in tender grass without fear of cutting our feet.  We dare drink water from any pond or water source without fear of contamination.  Wherever God is ~ is paradise, and this little Savior, who slept in the hay, shook our world to lead us there.  Condemnation was instantly banished with His words, “It is finished.” 

I still believe You and choose to live by faith every day of my life. Amen

When You Remember Moments

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And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. Luke 2:9

The shepherds were doing their ordinary work in the dark, watching sheep on a hillside, when the unmerited favor of God intersected their story, giving them an experience they would carry with them for the rest of their lives. Nothing in their future would ever eclipse the night when the heavens opened, and for a brief moment, the veil over their spiritual sight was drawn back.

Are such defining moments still possible today? Yes. Not because we can demand them, but because the same God still delights to reveal Himself. There are days that become spiritual mountaintops, places that become a personal Bethel. We are not meant to settle into a gray monotony of going through the motions. We treasure yesterday’s manna, but we shouldn’t live on memories alone. We seek Him in His Word, we listen for His Spirit’s whisper, we pursue Him with a steady hunger, and in His timing, often when we least expect it, the glory of the Lord brushes close.

An ordinary day can be turned upside down when the eternal breaks into the ordinary: a conversation, a car ride, a quiet room, a hospital hallway. In a moment, His presence falls and everything changes. Others around you may not notice anything unusual. They may keep scrolling, talking, and rushing. But you will know. Inwardly, you will slip off your shoes because you recognize holy ground.

For a while afterward, you may move through your routines with a kind of spiritual disorientation, caught between this world and the one you just tasted. You will find yourself returning to that moment when you remember the God who came so close.

Lord Jesus, make my heart like those shepherds. I want to be awake in the ordinary, ready to be interrupted by Your glory. Amen

When Gifts Must Wait To Be Used

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After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. Luke 2:46-47

Was it difficult for Joseph and Mary to give Jesus a normal upbringing? Was he a normal villager’s kid? In this one account from Luke, Jesus goes to the temple when He is twelve, asks a few questions, offers some insights in response, and the scholars are amazed.

How do you hide the Light of the world in a dark and oppressive Roman society? In Nazareth, there very well could have been stories among the villagers about Jesus. Though His first public miracle was at the wedding at Cana, did things happen earlier that could only have been explained by the word ‘miracle’? We’re not told but I find it interesting that Mary turned to Jesus at the wedding and casually asked if He would do something about the wine that had run out.

I wonder if the presence of God, resident in Christ, caused cataclysmic reactions at various points in His childhood. Surely something extraordinary happened in the temple when Jesus was twelve. His divinity was on display that day.

Thirty years of age is a long time for Jesus to wait to be released into public ministry. In God’s wisdom, there were thirty years of preparation for three years of ministry.

You and I may be aware of spiritual gifts that lie in waiting. We strain to exercise them and second-guess God’s wisdom of how long it will be until the door of our calling is opened. Could there be a lifetime of preparation for a few short years of ministry? Yes. John the Baptist was a flash of Light for a very short time, but never, according to Jesus, did anyone burn brighter.

I submit to Your wisdom and timetable. Amen

Prophets And The Present

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Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised before hand through the prophets in the holy scriptures. Romans 1:2

Nearly every time Paul stood to defend the gospel, he did not begin in Bethlehem with a manger. He began in Genesis, in Abraham, in Moses. Speaking to Jewish leaders, he was intent on showing that Jesus was not an unexpected interruption to their story, but its long-awaited fulfillment. The Torah they loved and knew by heart had already whispered His name. The law they cherished, the sacrifices they offered, the prophets they revered—all of it was preparing the way.

Why was this so important for the Jews to grasp? Because it is hard for any of us to walk away from what is familiar, even when God is clearly moving us forward. Yet in truth, they were not being asked to abandon their story, but to see it fulfilled. In the Torah and through the prophets, they already possessed a partial revelation of Christ. To believe in Jesus was not to betray Abraham, but to stand where Abraham stood: looking ahead for the Lamb of God and finally recognizing Him in the face of Jesus.

God is the consummate storyteller. The cry of a newborn in Bethlehem was not a random beginning; it was a long-promised chapter in a story that started in Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned, a promise was planted of a Seed who would crush the serpent’s head.

In God’s plot line, there is no such thing as ‘wasted’. Not even our mistakes. Though we know the end of the story revealed in Scripture, the redemptive twists and turns take us by surprise. May I not be like the Jews who failed to recognize Jesus when He stood in front of them. As He orders the events of my day, I ask for the eyesight to see His fingerprints.

In God’s plot line, nothing is wasted—not even our failures. The redemptive twists and turns still take our breath away. He weaves glory through what we thought were only ruins. The danger is to be so bound to what I already know, or to be so absorbed in my own pain, that I do not recognize Jesus standing right in front of me. I do not want to miss Him because I expected Him to come in a different way.

I bless the storyline You have written for me. I see now that my life is not a collection of disconnected episodes, but a thread woven through Your larger story. Amen

Lock Your Eyes!

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Wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who was born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:1-2

Scholars disagree on the length of the wise men’s journey to Bethlehem. The shortest calculation is forty days. The longest, and the one most everyone agrees upon, is approximately two years. Whether a 40-day journey or a 2-year voyage, it took considerable planning.  

Had they always been looking for the star that appeared in the night sky? How did they know its significance?  How could they be sure it wasn’t something of lesser significance? But they knew.  And as they traveled, they would have recalibrated continually to ensure they were still on track. Eyes fixed, they were led safely to their destination.  

Symbolically, each of us embarks on a similar journey. We see the glory of God revealed, not in the skies, but in the face of Christ. That event means more than what we can convey in a dinner conversation. It holds such significance that we are willing to stop everything, count the cost, and embark on a journey that takes a lifetime. Ultimately, we won’t arrive in Bethlehem to see a baby but in heaven to see a risen, glorified Jesus. Along the way, we need to keep our eyes fixed. We need to recalibrate. If our gaze remains on Jesus, the north star, we follow a direct path home. 

Jesus understands the sojourn. He made it Himself. Eyes fixed on His Father, He was led safely to glory. 

Jesus, I’m looking at the horizon and not at my feet. Amen