Category: Daily Devotionals

It’s No Contest!

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?”  Romans 8:31

Who is against me?  The enemies of Christ – which are the world, the flesh and the devil.  All three appear formidable.

I am valued by God.  He has given me gifts to use.  Yet real enemies in the form of the world, flesh, and devil undermine me on a daily basis.  I am caused to question my value and my gifts are ridiculed, minimized, or ignored.  Can they defeat God’s purposes for my life?  Sometimes it appears that they do and if I doubt God’s power, I fear that they are winning.

The world (who rejects Christ) is also against me because I love the One they stand against.  Those who are really offended by Him are also afraid or offended by me.  I have extended family members, still unbelievers, who bristle at any mention of Christ.  When with them, there are no questions asked about Daughters of Promise, my work, my heart, and what I may be reading or learning.  I can be loving and attentive to them and their needs but Christ stands between us no matter how gracious I may be.

The flesh is also my enemy; the flesh in me and the flesh in God’s other children.  When I love what God hates and want my own way, my own flesh becomes the enemy to God’s best plans for my life.  When others love what God hates and want their own way, their flesh becomes the enemy to God’s best plans too.  Many churches have attempted to destroy a righteous man because their flesh took over.

The devil is also my enemy.  He is a scheme-weaver; ever busy trying to undo the potential of God’s children at work for the kingdom.

If I take the world, flesh, and devil and put them all together – and weigh them against the person and power of God, there is no contest.  If I ever feel that people have destroyed my life or have ultimately kept me from God’s purposes, I can rise up to hear good news today.  Nothing and no one can win against God’s sovereign purposes for my life.  If I am following Christ, am prayerful and trusting, even the greatest setback is not going to ruin my future.  Though it appears like I have been defeated, God is working behind the scenes to accomplish what I was born to do.

When Satan wages his best, thinks he’s succeeded and dusts his hands off and declares, “That’s that!” ~ I can know that God is preparing a word, an intervention, and a series of events that will bring a stunning new reality into view.   I remember that the cross appeared to be Satan’s greatest moment of victory.  In reality, the cross was God’s idea and Satan was a pawn in the greater plot of redemption.

I rest in the cradle of your power.  Amen

We Just Aren’t Naturally Attracted

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And those whom he predestined he also called.  Romans 8:30a

I do believe in predestination but not in limited atonement.  Christ’s death on the cross was for everyone.  The call is universal and it is sounded out to all men and women.  Jesus showed us the way to heaven, revealed that He is the door, and then announced that He is the Light of the world, but men have always loved darkness rather than light.  Instead of the Light being attractive, we are repelled by it.  Christ is just not desirable to us.  His light is too bright and we shield our eyes from His brilliance and turn away.

So, who will believe if all people love darkness?  The ones God specifically calls; the ones whose eyes are opened to see His glory.  Ah, this call is personal.  This call came to us by name.

Whenever God speaks a word, it is effective.

God spoke a Word and this dead planet began to pulsate with life.  What once looked like Mars began to grow green.

God spoke a Word to a dead man, a decaying man, wrapped up like a mummy, and this man came to life.  His body regenerated.  “Lazarus, come forth!” was the call.  God’s Word produced life out of death.

God spoke a Word, called my name, and I was awakened out of spiritual death.  The call prompted me to turn and look into the face of Christ.  I understood His message of salvation and believed.  If He hadn’t spoken to me and opened my eyes, I would have continued on my death march.

Nobody knows whom God will call.  Because of that, my heart reaches out to God in prayer for those who haven’t yet heard their name spoken by God.  Now, Christ is still unattractive to them, even repulsive. Once God calls their name, they will never be the same.

The call is powerful like an exposing.  It transformed a brutal murderer into a zealot.  The Damascus road was the place it happened.  Paul was the man.   I know this transformation, too.  Don’t you?  The longer I live near Jesus and soak in His Words, the more I cease to know the old me.  You’ll never know how many times I read old journals and respond out loud, “What was your problem, Christine?” 

The call is to a new life.  Run, don’t walk, to Calvary if you are hearing your name whispered in your soul.

Oh, always speak, Lord.  I love how You speak to me.  Amen

What Is Really Promised Here?

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Under what conditions could I say to someone who hurt me, “Don’t be upset with yourself because you hurt me. God’s wonderful plan eclipses all of it.” Oftentimes, I can see some good that God has brought out of brokenness but I still want the one who inflicted harm to remember and live in regret!  Joseph, though, had a kind of mercy that wanted his offenders to know joy after remorse.   (And remember that Joseph first tested them to know if remorse was present.)

Perhaps I don’t really understand what it means when God promises that all things will work together for my good. My good is supposed to be synonymous with His good. I have been called according to His purpose. Joseph wasn’t brought to power to compensate for the pain he suffered. The story wasn’t about Joseph but about God’s plan to save His people. Joseph was privileged to play a part in God’s redemptive story. Joseph’s goal was not to receive validation from old family biases.

I am considering the largest wounds of my life. I can think of two. Has God worked things together for good? Yes. But have I interpreted Romans 8:28 to include my own vindication? Or, do I see that the wounds I sustained were for God to bring about a larger plan of redemption?  I can edify the church.  I can bring wisdom to the next generation in my family so they can secure their spiritual calling. The possibilities are limitless for what ‘called according to His purpose’ means.

I must love God more than myself. I must realize that I’m not the point of my own story. I will wait forever to see things work together for good if I think God is going to reward me now for what I’ve suffered, if I believe that God is going let me see justice now for the evil done against me, and/or if I feel entitled to vindication now. Today, yet again, I offer Him my story for inclusion into the narrative of the kingdom.

The miracle of Joseph’s story was not that he was promoted to power in Egypt. It was the stunning work of grace, humility, and wisdom brought about as he waited for redemption. Not visible to human eyes, Joseph and God dialogued, wrestled, communed, and birthed a faith that not only forgave a family of wrongdoing but also made it possible for them to live in the joy of God’s extravagant mercy.

In whatever ways my perspective needs more truth, bind my mind to Yours, Lord. Amen

Winter Of The Soul

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For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  Romans 8: 20-21

In The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe, Narnia was under the control of the wicked witch of the North and the land suffered from a state of perpetual winter.  Spring never arrived until Aslan died and rose again.  Finally, the ice of winter melted and eternal spring was brought into existence. 

Plants, animals, and even the hidden life of our planet were subjected to futility at the Fall.  We are not alone in longing for freedom from corruption. Earth, in this present state, is cursed. Each of us feels the ‘winter of the soul’ in different ways and in varying degrees. 

Some of God’s choicest servants knew little external joy.  Ruth, King David, and Job; they knew periods of depression, persecution, serious illness – these very things have visited most of the heroes of our faith down through the ages.  In what seemed like perpetual ‘winter’ however, they were not deceived.  None of them ultimately believed that their suffering was an expression of God’s disfavor.  They understood that this was just ‘life’ here on earth.  God subjected the earth to this state of decay and one day He would make it right again.

The Spring of Eden is on the horizon.  Our momentary afflictions (and yes – they can be crushing) are blinks in the context of eternity.  We lament like the Psalmists because winter affects us! But Jesus comes with power to deliver us. Though externally oppressed, internally, we live without eyes toward the kingdom, beholding it with great joy and hope. One day, what our eyes currently see and what our spirit currently experiences will be one and the same. Some of those we have loved the most already live there!

You cursed this earth it and You will deliver it. You also cursed mankind but not without a cure. You came and were cursed for us and to offer us restoration. Let this good news touch the lives of those who only know winter.   Let them see Your face in my joy. Amen

Can An Unbeliever Please God?

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For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  Romans 8:7-8

I once witnessed a live panel discussion in Minneapolis where the theologian, John Piper, was asked, “Is it possible for an unbeliever to do anything that pleases God?”  John thought a minute and started enumerating wonderful things that people can often do; people even outside of Christ.  Charitable acts of compassion and kindness, sacrifices a parent makes for his children, and generous philanthropic outreaches.  Many are given with an open heart, are not  self-serving, and are even costly to the person who gave them.

So, does God see any of them as good?  Is He moved by them?  Does He acknowledge that we were created in His image  and, therefore, we are capable of genuinely demonstrating love for others?  And finally, isn’t there really such a thing as a good person and would God let someone like this really go to hell?

There are two inherent problems in this kind of thinking.  1.) The only thing that matters to God is what we do for His glory, with Him at the center of our motivation.  2.) And, a life comprised of many stellar gestures towards humankind does not fix the sinful nature that person inherited from Adam at his birth.  The curse must be reversed.  His sins must be  forgiven at the cross. He must acknowledge God as his personal Lamb, the One who takes His sins and promises to give back undeserved righteousness.  What ushers in this event?  Repentance and an admission of sinfulness, not goodness.

The best of people still sin and fall short of the glory of God. Consider the nicest unbeliever you know.  Put his wonderful deeds for others aside for a moment.  Try to picture how he might handle the rest of God’s precepts.  Would the ways of the kingdom even appeal to him?  Would living by the Spirit make sense to him?  Would he find joy in submitting to what is, to him, upside down?  To live, I must die to self.  To lead, I must first be a servant.  To get back at my enemy, I must love him and pray for him.  This is why Paul says that those who live by the flesh can not submit to God’s law.  That person is repelled by what his sinful nature cannot understand.  The nicest person will still live by his flesh and will perish eternally because of it.

The cause for such blindness is revealed by Paul.  2 Corinthians 4:4  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.   

 Give us all eyes to see what’s behind Satan’s clever arguments, the ones that make us see you as one not worthy of our trust.  Amen

The Nagging Question

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen2 Comments

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  Romans 8:5

Many believe that a person is in one of three spiritual conditions; he is an unbeliever, he is a committed follower of Christ, or he is backslidden. I have always followed this line of thinking but after wrestling with Romans, perhaps there are only two categories; believers and unbelievers.  Those who live according to the flesh are unbelievers.  And, those who live according to the Spirit are believers. 

Could it be that simple?  We either follow Christ or we don’t.  The notion of God’s church being largely comprised of lukewarm, backslidden people could mean that we will all be surprised one day to witness ‘too whom’ Jesus says, “Depart from me.  I never knew you.”  It is worth asking the question ~ “Are we either followers of Jesus (with our minds set on the things of the Spirit) or are we hostile to Christ (having our minds set on the things of the flesh?) In just a few verses past today’s scripture, Paul will say that those who have their minds set on the flesh are hostile to God. He doesn’t call them backslidden.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that if I sin today, I am not God’s child.  I am going to sin – and I have already sinned even though it’s yet early in the day.  The question I must ask myself is this ~ “Did I sin with no regard whatsoever to the heart of God?  Did I sin without a conscience?  Will future sins follow today for which I will feel no tinge of remorse?”  The reason King David was called a ‘man after God’s own heart’ was not that he never sinned. It was because, when he did, his heart was pierced with remorse.

If I am a disciple, I will be ever conscious of the One I embraced as LORD.  If He never crosses my mind, then how, by definition, can I say that I gave my life to Christ?

God, please make things clear. If your child sins, He will think of you and be miserable. If someone else sins and does not think of you at all, is he simply lost? Bring me understanding. Teach me. I am your child. Amen

    Build The Bridge Of Friendship

    Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

      ‘Build the bridge of friendship strong enough to support the truth.’

      Jesus said, “The world will know you are my disciples if you have love one for another.” When unbelievers see us loving each other when it’s costly, when there is little appreciation, when the journey is long and complicated, they sit up and take notice. We become aware of what it meant when Jesus spoke of being ‘salt’ and ‘light’. It’s more than saying the right words. While that’s important, our speech has to lay against the backdrop of love.

      Those who watch us love others like Jesus have to admit that this kind of love is unnatural. Who loves like that? They reason, most likely, that God may be alive and well after all. They simply can not explain the consistency and grace as someone being a really nice person. Especially if they see example after example and it’s coming from within a community of believers. And if they are the ones receiving our supernatural love and care, what an open door to lead them to the perfect love of Jesus! Love constrains. It is not God’s power and might that draw sinners, it’s His love. God could easily force people to worship Him, and one day He will, but for now ~ it is His love that reaches and draws us close. If we prioritize the spiritual skills we intend to strengthen this year, learning to love others well would yield the highest return for our labor. With our acts of love, we build a bridge that will support the truth. When it comes to loving unbelievers, they are never more open than when they are broken. The window of opportunity may be short. Which of the twelve skills might be the right one for today? Personalize. Apply. And always pray first.

      * Would you like a PDF of this entire series? Perhaps you’d like to have it for a printout – to share with others. Here is a link.

      reaching-the-hurtingDownload

      Encouragement Skill #12

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      REMEMBER THE ORPHAN’S POSTURE

      Imagine yourself receiving this news. The paperwork for the child your family has been waiting to adopt from overseas is finally finished.  Your new son is from war-torn Sudan.  He lost both his parents in the relentless bombing and desperately needs a new home as soon as possible.  Elated, you fly to the country and make plans to visit the orphanage where he has been living for the past year.  You have brought a couple of presents to give to him and you stop to pick up some balloons that morning to commemorate this wonderful occasion.  When you arrive, the director of the orphanage takes you aside.  “You will have to re-think the way you are going to greet him,” she says.  “All he has seen are the ravages of war.  He trusts no one and rarely comes out of the corner of his room.”

      This is the posture of the orphan.  Withdrawn, suspicious, distant.  How will you adapt your plan to meet him?  You will pray a lot.  You will hold back the balloons, maybe even the gifts initially.  You will slower your pace, call his name softly, kneel down to eye level.  You will try to encourage a moment of eye contact so he can see the love in your eyes.  You will pray for God to give you some kind of tender gesture to build a thread of credibility.  You know it’s going to be a slow process.  Much time will pass before you will have a child who knows how to receive love. Normal life is quite far off.

      Why do I have you imagine this scene?  Because many of us will be called upon to care for someone severely wounded and/or in a condition where they can’t speak.  For some, their life-story has been such that they feel they are only safe if they stay away from people.  They have been tucked away behind a wall of mis-trust.  Or, others are in ICU, in and out of a coma, on life support, and can’t speak.  They may look at you now and then but there are no words.  How comfortable will you be in their presence?  The learned ways you use to reach everyone else will not be effective for this person. Cards, flowers, or a phone call will not do it.

      It’s time to re-assess.  Coming to sit with them, praying their story, respecting their fear and being willing to make slow progress, these are some of the things required.  God will help you customize efforts to win trust and impact their heart.  He knows how they are made, knows their story, and He is the only One who knows perfectly how to build a bridge. He excels with non-verbals.  “I’ll pour robust well-being into her like a river.  You’ll nurse at her breasts, nestle in her bosom, and be bounced on her knees.  As a mother comforts her child, so I’ll comfort you.”  Isaiah 66:12-13  These are all gestures that don’t require talking.  Nestling, bouncing, nursing, comforting.  There are times when words aren’t enough but God is not limited in love language.  Nor are we.  Though we may be initially uncomfortable, love carries us through the discomfort.  God will show us how to do what so few are willing to do.

      Some of your most powerful miracles with people didn’t involve words.  Breathing on your disciples, urging Elisha to lay on the dead child of the Shunamite woman.  I am willing to reach out and be unconventional for the sake of someone who needs You.  Use me, Lord.  Amen

      Encouragement Skill #9

      Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

      ASK GOOD QUESTIONS

      “Where are you?”  It was the first question posed in the history of our world.  God was the one was doing the asking.  While a question is usually asked for the purpose of finding an answer, it was not true in this case.  God sees all things and knows all things.  He knew right where Adam and Eve were but perhaps they needed to admit they were hiding and why.  God continued to ask questions on and off throughout the Old Testament.  Seventy questions were posed to Job alone; heart wrenching questions that, in the end, brought perspective to his despair.

      When Jesus lived here, He asked over three hundred questions but when others inquired of Him, He only answered a handful because a good number of questions were traps.  Jesus’ asked someone a question for the purpose of self-revelation.  There was something a person needed to discover about themselves by digging deeply.

      Jesus asked Philip, while they looked out over a hillside dotted with hungry people, “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?”  Would Philip answer with a statement of faith?  “There’s no food here but that’s not a challenge for You, Lord!”  Instead, he felt the stress of a problem too big to be humanly solved. Faith was absent.  I also remember Jesus asking the cripple at the Pool of Siloam, “Do you want to be well?”  To him, it must have sounded like a foolish question but it was one that reverberated with meaning in depths of his soul.  Was he really ready to have his identity changed?  Did he want to relate to others as someone independent rather than needy?  Was he ready to give up the attention he was accustomed to?

      When I am hurting, it’s easy to get stuck in my own head.  The events of my life swirl round and round and hold me captive.  “Are you having a good day today?” is unhelpful for it invites a one-word answer and does nothing to help me find any relief.  I may need to talk but have no idea where to start.  Most of the time, people are shy of someone who hurts.  The darkness is intimidating and they feel the pressure of thinking they have to have answers.  The real gift is expressing a love that is interested enough to ask the question.  It’s often the only time someone who is afflicted is invited to say what desperately needs to be said, to admit what they have borne alone, and to reveal what has tormented them but has never before found words.

      A good question is not one that can be answered with a simple yes or a no.  It is one that opens the soul.  i.e. How are you handling this?  What’s the most difficult part of this journey?   Most of us want, and need, to tell a part of our story to someone who loves us, someone safe and wise.  Our experience is that few either care enough to ask or are not equipped with enough experience to know that heartfelt questions can be so extremely helpful.

      Lord, help me discern the questions you might ask that would bring relief and spiritual breakthroughs.  I am your servant. Amen

      Encouragement Skill #8

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      VALIDATE!  DON’T HUMOR!

      Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances.  Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.  Proverbs 25:11-12

      Jesus was a truth teller and Jesus didn’t sugar coat it.  He told it the way it needed to be told.  But He was Truth and He was also Grace so He knew perfectly how to marry the two.  I can call myself a lover of truth but, then in situations where my gift of mercy goes askew, I sometimes tone the truth down so that it isn’t more painful than it has to be.  In some cases, like in the following story with my mother, I could have easily invalidated what was true.

      My mother had been battling cancer for more than a year.  She was painfully thin.  Nonetheless, on a weekend when our family was able to visit, she insisted on making the effort to go to church with us.  My mother, not a complainer about anything and prone to suffer silently to a fault, surprised me when she blurted out in frustration.  She had put on her favorite dress, looked at herself in the mirror and then said to me, “Look at me!  I’m a bag of bones in this dress.”  I wanted so much to protest.  “No, no, Mom.  You look beautiful in the dress.”  I caught myself before answering poorly.  I said, “I’m sorry you don’t look like you want to look in the dress.  These changes have to be horribly painful and I’m so sorry.”  

      A believer in the midst of a very painful journey usually has a clear vision of this world.  What was once murky gray has become black and white.  What is frivolous doesn’t appeal.  What is most important becomes most precious.  And in the process of seeing life more clearly than most everyone else, they make truthful statements about life, Christianity, people, and religion that are usually true.  Their statements sound blunt and stark. Our first reaction is to protest, to soften it, thinking we are lessening the pain of what they’re vocalizing.  However, in protesting, we are not helping.  We are making it worse by accentuating their feelings of isolation.  Even if the truth was said in anger, there are ways we can validate them without matching their angst.  Not without prayerful wisdom though.  Jesus will give us words that smooth their ragged edges with grace.

      God values truth and I should value truth and affirm it when it is spoken.  At times it will make me squirm.  It will challenge the common everyday deception that stares me in the face that I don’t see yet because I haven’t walked in their shoes.  Their statements will most often depict the hopelessness of this world, the futility of living life poorly, and can sound like the ‘last word’ of the day.  But after listening, after offering empathy first before words, after giving a creative gift, and laying a foundation of true friendship, there will be a time for me to frame their truthful words with the ‘hope that lies before us.’

      Lord, I don’t want to fill the air with my words.  I want apples of gold to come forth – truth with grace, truth with mercy.  Amen