Category: Daily Devotionals

Yeshua ~ Savior and Deliverer

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Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the worst sinner of all. I Tim. 2:15

Parenting is hard work and though it’s so very rewarding, it can be painful at times. Ask God. He created, fathered, and sacrificed, only to see the majority of His creation use His name in vain, shake their fist at Him, and chalk up His character as mean, stingy, and vengeful. I’ve heard more than one person say, “What has He ever done for me?”

If you’ve been a parent, it would be like crawling on your hands and knees from San Francisco to Maine to prove your love to your child.  But you arrive, only to have your child say, “You’ve never done anything for me!” With knees still bloody from the journey, you wouldn’t believe your ears nor begin to fathom such blindness to sacrificial love.

Yeshua means ‘savior’.  Jesus came to save. Dying for our sins was His response to the wounds He sustained in the Garden of Eden. The pain was severe. God does grieve. God does weep. The plan of redemption came as a response to our alienation from Him. He asked His Son to leave glory, put on mortal flesh, suffer rejection and persecution at the hands of those He created, and then die the worst death possible to buy us back with His blood.  And yet, the gift seems like a trifle to so many. I contend that, for me, the cross is not just central to Easter, it’s central to every day. At the epicenter of something so gruesome was a love so exquisite that I’ll never be able to fully internalize the power of it.

In closing, here’s another picture. After completing your San Francisco/Maine journey, you see your child waiting for you over the finish line. He is cheering, arms open to receive you, and his face is stained with tears. Today, I offer grateful tears  to Jesus, Yeshua. I cheer Him as being my Savior and Deliverer.

For the many years I treated You casually and the cross recklessly, forgive me. Amen

Who I Was and Who I Am Now

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[Jesus] who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.  Titus 2:14

I was not created to love evil.  Quite the opposite.  If Adam and Eve had never sinned, I wouldn’t know what evil was.  I’d be walking in Paradise, communing with God in the evening after an enjoyable day at work.  Instead of pondering my regrets of the past 24 hours, I’d be savoring the beautiful moments on God’s perfect earth.  Instead of brainstorming on how to keep my soul safe from unsafe people, I’d be soaking in the beauty of perfect intimacy, one without any reservations whatsoever. 

But that’s not how the storyline unfolded.  A knowledge of good and bad opened.  Acquaintance with evil came into view, and with it, an incapacity to understand the breadth of wickedness.  It is still too shocking for the human mind.  Too horrific to grasp.  Yet, before we came to Christ, we had an appetite for what it might be like to explore the edges of the canyon of evil desires.  One taste after another put us deeper into the pit with an enemy who never intended to let us go.  Once in his web, he lured, tormented, condemned, and maligned the only Savior who could rescue us.

Praise Jehovah Tsidkenu – that’s not the end of the story.  Nothing could stop His plan of redemption.  Jesus came to snatch us from the fire, to give us a new nature, one that would no longer want to sin.  Wickedness would repel us.  Dressed in His garments of righteousness, we would dance in our new identity.  We would forever stand in awe of Jesus’ shed blood, for by it, we have been purified and perfected. 

There is Paradise in my soul now.  But Paradise for my body – coming later – is still a sure thing.  Even so come Lord Jesus.  Amen

How The Righteous Live . . .

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I will not execute my fierce anger. I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst. Hosea 11:9 

God stood on the brink of executing judgment. When He looked upon His people, His heart was filled with waves of love. He controlled His anger instead of executing it. It’s as if He couldn’t stand the thought of the pain they would experience. He explains the reason for such holy restraint. He is God and not man. 

Because God is God ~ He did not leave me to die in my sins without any chance of being saved. He sent a Savior, even though it meant sending His Son for sacrifice.  He did not send me to eternal judgment, even though I deserved it. He credited all my sins to His Son’s account, the Son He loves. How humbling!  He forgave me for every wrong thing I did and I was made perfect when Jehovah Tsidkenu clothed me in His Son’s righteousness.

I am now His image bearer. I cling to righteousness and not to the ways of the anti-kingdom. God’s nature is being fully formed in me and I am perfect in my Father’s eyes. This affects every decision I make today.

A lover of righteousness ~ I can restrain my anger and redirect with love and good deeds. I can withhold what someone deserves and give grace instead. I can suspend making a list of wrongs done against me and offer someone a clean slate in its place.  And, I can pray for my accuser instead of delivering a pointed speech. Restraint, prudence, purification and redirection. These are the hallmarks of a child of God. 

I am Yours, dressed in Your perfection. I make different choices as I live by Your Spirit. Amen

But He’ll Be Faithful ~

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He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.  I Thessalonians 5:24

We are each called to do something outside our ability to produce it.  To escape the pressure, we will play it safe, engaging in the areas of our natural giftedness.  We will rely on the results of the spiritual gifts tests we’ve taken, but even those can be exercised in the flesh.  Though my natural talents may be admired by others, and though it might appear that I’ve done significant kingdom work from man’s viewpoint, I will have achieved little that is supernatural.

When God sets us apart for kingdom work, we faint at the call.  Knowing we’re in over our heads and feeling inadequate, we cry out to God for help.

When someone asks a person to take on a ministry opportunity, they will often say, “Please do it.  You’d be so good at it.”  But no one should ask another person to sign up for a kingdom endeavor without asking them to pray about it first!  And no one has any right to agree to a request without a season of prayer!  Natural giftedness all too often replaces an anointing on one inadequate.

Jesus said, “He who believes in me, from His innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38  ‘Innermost being’ is the phrase for womb.  Each of us is to birth something for eternity that will produce living water.  It should begin with divine conception and then ~ obedience through faith ~ in a faithful God..

Forgive me for the times I’ve engaged in ministry like it was busy work.  Amen

Looking In God’s Mirror

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He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness.  I Pet.2:24

When someone has hurt me, seeing them reminds me of what they did.  Even after I forgive them, I can still remember when I see them across the room.

When God forgives me, he separates my sin from me.  I no longer wear it when He looks at me.  One of the words for ‘forgive’ is to ‘send away’.  This is what Peter meant when he said, “He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness.”  I Pet.2:24  God took that ‘thing’ for which I repented, took it off of me and put it on Jesus.  Jesus died for it as if He was the One who committed it.  And in turn, Jehovah Tsidkenu clothed me with His own righteousness.

So why wallow in past failures?  Why let my one huge mistake weigh down my spirit?  Jesus took it from me, paid the penalty, and justified me.  When He looks at me, He sees His own perfection.  

I echo David’s words to himself in Psalm 42. “Why are you so downcast, oh my soul?”  Satan is the author of a self-punishing lifestyle.  He takes every failure, magnifies it by a thousand, records it like a movie and plays it over and over again in my head.  He rejoices when I am hard on myself.  He encourages payback and self-hatred.  Unlike Jesus, he offers a heavy robe of guilt and it can appear to fit just right.  Right color.  Right size.  Right length.

When I can’t hold my head up, I remember that I am not my sin!  Christ wore my sin, once and for all, on a cross.  Then He declared, “It is finished.”  Sin, forever removed.  So, who am I?  A forgiven, justified, righteous, child of Jehovah Tsidkenu.

Do I really understand justification yet, Lord?  Write this on my heart.  Amen

The Great Exchange

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The righteousness of God is revealed for faith to faith.  Romans 1:17a

When God’s holiness is revealed to an unbeliever, sin is exposed and a crisis of shame becomes evident.  He realizes that he can not show his face to a righteous God.  No matter how much good he’s done, the shame and guilt of his sin can not be erased.  Most, at this point, run away.  Ah, but a few are grieved by their sin and want peace with God.  They want to talk with Him as Adam and Eve did before the Fall .  They wonder if it’s possible for God to ever accept them.

And this was my angst as a seven year old.  I had just heard a Gospel message from the evangelist, Jack Wyrtzen.  I felt the great weight of my sin and the painful separation from God.  Heavy hearted, I went back to our vacation cottage with my parents and couldn’t sleep.  My dad knelt by the bed with me and I prayed the sinner’s prayer.  I realized that someone had paid for my sin.  Someone righteous.  Jesus.  Though I had little theological grasp of all that took place when I repented and asked for forgiveness, this outcome was certain ~

I was emptied of my sin and Jesus gave me His righteousness.  He took my sin as though it were His and gave me His holiness in return.  It was such an unfair exchange and I will forever be aware of my debt.  I am dressed in Jesus’ righteous perfection but only because Jesus was willing to exchange what He had for what I didn’t have.

Who dies for an enemy, pays for His worst sins, and offers the best of Himself?  Only a Savior whose love is outrageous.  The Gospel is such extravagant good news that every person who has experienced this great exchange struggles to find a language that adequately tells the story.  The love that prompted it can not be grasped.  The best poetry falls short so we try to tell the story with our lives.

I often lose my words when something is too painful.  I also lose words when I try to explain what Your love is like and what You’ve done  for me.  The great exchange was our beautiful beginning.  Amen

Jehovah Tsidkenu

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Now this is His name by which He will be called: Jehovah-Tsidkenu”. Jeremiah 23:6

Adam and Eve were created with God’s righteous nature but when they sinned, they corrupted it. Their righteous legal standing with God was nullified and we who were born after them suffer the same corruption.

This scripture is the only place where Jehovah Tisdkenu is referenced. Jeremiah foretells that there will be Messiah who will be called ‘The Lord our Righeousness.’ The Hebrew is specific in its use of the pronoun ~ ‘our’. This name not only means that Jesus is righteous but that He is also our righteousness. The legal standing Adam lost is restored when we put our faith in Christ.

For the next four days, I will share the deep and rich implications of righteousness being gifted to us through Christ. Though it can be a heavy handed doctrine, it is also simple enough for a child to explain. A five year old might say, “My heart was black with sin but Jesus washed it white as snow.” Never will there be a more stunning explanation of this great exchange ~ i.e. I give God my sin and He gives me His righteousness.

This week’s name may seem daunting to unwrap. It is not. Join me in asking God for childlike understanding. When He answers our prayer, we will know it because we will grasp the beauty of this truth. We will then praise Him. And we will tell others about it with breathless wonder. Only God can change the spiritual nature of a sinful man and make him holy.

Lord, I remember Your words to Your people. ‘I am God and there is none other.’ This is my testimony and affirmation in prayer today. Amen

El Roi ~ The God Of The Small

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He will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great.  Psalm 115:13

Our world prizes the strong, the noble, the talented. But our God is different. El Roi dispenses special graces to those who are bruised and ready to break. He infuses spiritual energy into those whose light is faint and the fear of being extinguished overtakes them. He does not fear that they will be lost because He never takes His eyes off of them. He sees that hope has become, for them, a distant memory. He knows that it takes time for His Word to become an anchor for their souls.

If that is you, God has not forgotten you. He has always been a defender of the weak; a refuge for the needy, a protector of the frail. The greater your need, the greater will be your deliverance and the greater will be the glory of the Father.

There is something unique to each of us which could potentially threaten our strength. God watches it all. He views the events, externally, from every possible angle. He views how we’re coping, internally, and can predict how we’ll process what’s happening. He knows what conclusions we’ll make, the judgements we’ll render about ourselves, other people, and most importantly, about Him. Some will be accurate but many will not. Sorrow skews our vision! Lies breed further frailty.

God knows each small pathway, every detour, that has taken us down. His arrival to save is never late. He strengthens with a word, a song, a picture, a dream, a memory, a confirmation; such simple things which have great power to resurrect what appears to have died. Only He can customize a language of encouragement made for our ears. Whatever He communicates, even if just a single word, is a life preserver which pulls us into the land of the living.

My encouragement for today is a review of the many times I knew I’d break in two, but I didn’t, and it’s only because of what You did for my heart. Thank you. Amen

Far From Home

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Luke 15:3-5

In this parable, the one of great value is the one who has strayed the farthest from home, the odd one of the hundred, the one for whom no one is looking. Quickly forgotten, he is left to question his own worth as he realizes no one is pursuing him. What an awful discovery as he looks over his shoulder and dreams of unconditional love calling his name from behind. How devastating to realize that the ninety-nine are happy without him.

Like God’s heart for Hagar, Jesus’ heart is for the one far from home. Our Savior goes to any length to look for him in order to pick him up and carry him home.

It is easy for us to value Christian-looking people. They are respectable in appearance. The one we believe is farthest from Christ can be one who repels. Tattoos, piercings, Goth style clothing, a past that makes us blush, and language that downright intimidates ~ all of these are attached to those for whom Jesus is looking.

The heart of God is one that seeks ~ not waits ~ for sinners to come home. God sent Jesus to ‘seek and to save’ those who are lost. Are they also equally important to me?  If I don’t seek them out, they will assume that God is no more interested than I am since I call myself His disciple. I teach others how to perceive God and that is a sobering reality.

El Roi has them on His heart today.  They are in His sights.  He aches for us to care and be His arms to carry them home.

A compassionate search party. Make us one as Your church. In Jesus’ name, Amen

The Mother of Arab Nations

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And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” Genesis 16:11-12  ESV

Yesterday, we saw that Hagar is the one who called God El Roi. The power of God was on full display in her story, just as it was in the story of Abram and Sarai.  This mother of Arab nations is often thought of as the subject of some side plot in Genesis.  Oh, but that is a mistake.  There are some astounding things to consider in God’s encounter with Hagar.

Though God told Hagar to return to Abram and Sarai and, under difficult conditions, resume her role as their slave, her son Ishmael would grow to become independent of the clan of Abraham.  He would be the father and ruler of 12 princes, paralleling the 12 tribes who would descend from Isaac.

God had compassion on Hagar, an Egyptian slave girl who had been a pawn between powerful men.  King Abimelech of Egypt had passed her off as a gift to Abram. As a slave, Sarai had passed her off to Abram to be used as a surrogate mother.  She was without power in a world where women and slaves had no rights.  When no one else had kind regard for her plight, God did.  God is a kind champion of women!

The promises of God, spoken through the Word of God, stand for all time.  There are things that He speaks today that will be true thousands of years from now.  I am learning that my heart is time-bound.  I am consumed with the fulfilling of God’s promises for the immediate, not the long run.  That’s because pain is short-sighted.  I want relief, resolution, and deliverance today.  What happens a thousand years from now doesn’t feel as important to me as what will happen this afternoon.

Nevertheless, my heart takes notice that I belong to a God whose Word is powerful enough to transcend time.  There is nothing that can nullify what He has spoken.  No power will come against me to erase God’s plans.  However badly things may look for me on a given day, once God chooses to pour out His favor on the oppressed and forgotten, a blessed future commences and remains.  No threat, no arrow, no scheme, even perpetrated by the kings of this world, can undo what God has put in motion.

Though the hands of time move slowly and I don’t see the fulfillment of Your promises in 24 hours, the future course of blessing is set on a servant who obeys.  Amen