Category: Teaching Topics

Live In The Presence of God

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How do I engage with God as my storyteller?  1.) Live in the presence of God.  When you live with someone, you know them inside out.  You see, firsthand, their reactions to things as they happen.  You notice their body language when someone comes to visit.  You feel their joy over good news, their heavy heart over bad.  You discern their displeasure over certain things and pleasure over others. You might even predict their responses ahead of time.

Living in the presence of God through meditation and prayer offers the same personal insight.  I am near Him as I live out my story so that His ‘take’ on my life is perceptible.  I  sense His reactions to my thoughts, feelings, and events so that I have an accurate barometer for my own.

The concepts of meditation and prayer are so much a part of our everyday Christian language that they risk becoming cliches.  It’s hard to feel their great significance.  We say, ‘Read the bible and pray’ like we might say, ‘Don’t forget to say please and thank you.’  The impact is lost unless we spend our lives practicing them.

Living in the scriptures while being prayerful means that I am immersed and enlightened by His Word.  As I meditate on a couple of verses at a time, I will take  them in slowly. The Hebrew word for meditate is ‘hagah’ which means to savor.  I let them sit on my tongue.  I engage with the taste in every way possible before swallowing. The Spirit of God will unveil more and more as I chew on them throughout the day.  I will be able to discern His thoughts and feelings about life as it happens.  “Did you hear that, Jesus? “You see what I’ve been asked to do, right?  How should I approach this?”  With scriptures running as a backdrop, and with the posture of prayer ensuring my connection, I learn to live near the lap of God.  God’s voice is a rudder, revealing His version of events and correcting the other narratives I’ve always believed were true.  Scripture and prayer re-wire the ways I think.  They also align my feelings and slowly change me into someone who thinks, feels, and then acts like Jesus.

This is the lifestyle of one who sets God in a place to be their storyteller.  The Holy Spirit of the Rabbi has much to reveal.  His version of my story never ends in tragedy.  Senseless pain is never the last chapter.  While pain is a thread in the plot line, it is not the predominant theme.  Glory and redemption are what dazzles.  If I can’t see any trace of a redemptive plot, I know that I’m not yet seeing my life through God’s eyes.

I’m willing to believe differently.  Jesus, I’m willing to let go of the long standing family narrative.  Amen

The Hidden world of an Iceberg

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The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.  Proverbs 20:5

Perhaps the iceberg that fatally wounded the Titanic in the Spring of 1912 looked much like this one. By the time Murdoch spotted it, there wasn’t enough time to turn sharply enough to avoid it. When they hit, a jagged piece of iceberg, under the water, ripped part of the hull.

The part of any iceberg that’s shows above the waterline is not what’s most dangerous. It’s what lies beneath surface. The part visible to sea captains is usually minuscule in comparison to what is hidden below.  The size of what they can see is far less threatening than the massive piece of ice not visible.  Many have been fooled to their peril.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this picture.  Really, the part above the waterline has no freedom to do its own thing. It’s connected to what’s underneath, the part that catches the currents of the sea and takes the whole thing along for the ride.   Is this not a metaphor for our inner life? Beneath the surface of our exterior lies a massive underworld of beliefs, lies, disappointments, joys ~ which are embedded in our life’s story. These create a personal mindset that serves as the current that takes us on the ride of our lives.  What others see and experience on the outside (above the waterline) is a shallow, and often fake, representation of what is going on inside.

It is this extensive underworld that God wants to us to continually examine in the mirror of the Word.   Many who sit under Christian teaching are told that what is in their past is irrelevant.  They are new creatures in Christ.  While we are new creations, the flesh still plagues us.  Memories haunt.  Childhood labels direct our steps.  It is our past that defines us and it is the process of sanctification that requires we take each part captive, examine it, and deal with it under the direction of our wonderful Counselor.

Jesus, You are not surprised by anything I’ve pushed into the deep.  You are Lord over all of it and more powerful than any of it.  I want a beautiful next-chapter.  Amen

Who Are My Storytellers?

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Each of our lives is a story.  Some parts are happy, some are sad.  Consider the many people who have spoken into our lives. Parents, grandparents, teachers, a pastor, childhood friends, even foster parents.  The ones who have told us the stories of our lives wield great power.  They interpreted life’s events for us as things happened and, as children, we believed them.  That’s what children do.

Think about the many things each of us have heard.  “This happened to you because you asked for it.“  Or, “This is how life works, trust no one!”   Or, “If you were more like your brother, this wouldn’t have happened to you.”   Or, “You’re stupid, lazy, and doomed to fail.” These comments, made by our storytellers, shape our lives until we cease believing what isn’t true and start believing the narrative told by the grand Storyteller, God the Father.

Whose version of your story do you believe?  There are so many from which to choose.  1.) People are quick to tell us about ourselves whether we ask them to or not.  2.) We have our own version of life’s events.  3.) Satan has a version and is all too eager to interpret life’s events for us.  “This happened to you because God didn’t take care of you.”  But most importantly, 4.)  God has a version.

You might be asking by now, “How do I know which version I believe?  How will I know if it’s God’s version or not?”  That is the critical question and is the topic of the series we’re starting today.  We’ll be encouraged and equipped to identify the lies, and the truths, that have made up our view of ourselves.  Most importantly, we’ll be unwrapping the spiritual skills that enable us to hear God’s version of our story.  His is the only one that is entirely true.  HIs is the only one that counts.  And, His is the only one that is redemptive and has the perfect ending.

I can’t count how many times my parents would read The Three Bears to me, also Hansel and Gretel.  They were among my favorites and I would never tire of hearing them.  But, today, there is a more beautiful story to be heard and I need to hear it over and over.  Too many voices in this world attempt to nullify it.   So, climb up on God’s lap with me.  Hear the pages rustle.  The air is electric with the good news to come.

I will be challenged by Your story and will need courage to believe You.  Make me a child again…impressionable and teachable.  Amen

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I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.  Romans 7:17-20

If every true believer were asked which of the four soil types he preferred to have, every person would probably say they want the soil that allows seeds to thrive.  Yet, few of us have it.  We love what God loves and value intimacy, communion, holiness, love for the scriptures, etc.  So, why doesn’t our desire translate to possession?

The Apostle Paul spells out why. He admits that what he wants to do, he doesn’t do.  He knew that the obstacle was what was still so strong deep within him.  The flesh.

After reviewing this beautiful parable, my intense desire is stirred up again for fertile soil.  Yet, I know I can’t make it happen without God’s help.  I must admit my inability to grow righteousness through self-effort.  The sins of my flesh, resulting in bad soil, are never overcome without the Spirit.  With hardened soil, my flesh bends toward unbelief.  With stony soil, my flesh emotionally reacts passionately to the Gospel but can’t sustain it long enough to engage in the Spirit-driven lifestyle.  With weeds in my soil, my flesh worries and then take matters into my own hands.

Today, I cry out again for Jesus’ help to move beyond the desire for the right things to the pursuit of them.  God will give me the grace, and the grit, to take responsibility for my poor soil types, assess the reasons behind them, and then empower me to engage in true heart change.  The Spirit and the Word are the catalysts.  Scripture, blown across the darkened landscape of my heart, pulsates with new life.   Seeds of the kingdom germinate and before long, there is a hint of the harvest to come.  Once I taste of the fruit of fertile soil, I’ll never go backward.

Work the soil in me.  Break up fallow ground.  Make me ready for kingdom seeds. Amen

Download Parable of The Soils

A Foundation of Stones

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Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21

My husband’s best friend went to the Holy Land for the first time several years ago. One of the first things he related upon his return home was the challenge he faced when trying to walk in the Judean desert. He said, “It’s hard to concentrate on anything except the rocky terrain. If you take your eyes off your feet, you will fall.” But are these the rocks that Jesus is talking about in this parable?  Probably not.

In Judea, just beneath the depth of the plow’s blade, layers of limestone rock ruin chances of a successful crop. The seeds go into warm soil and germinate but when their roots hit the rock bed, they can’t go deeper. All the plant’s energy moves up. At the surface, all appears to be well as the plant grows at fast speed. The farmer thinks that it’s the best crop he’s ever had but shallow soil produces a weak plant. After a good first impression, the plant withers.

If I have a limestone foundation, spiritually, then I have a positive emotional reaction to spiritual things. I hear the truth, I’m even enthusiastic about the message, but in the end, they were just beautiful concepts. The roots didn’t go down deep because of bad foundations, such as ~

  • Major issues I preferred to ignore that choked out the Word.
  • Blind spots I was unwilling to see that made the message unpalatable.
  • Stumbling blocks toward God that arose under pain and suffering. Past pain unearthed some bad theology about God’s character and I chose to live in lies rather than truth.

What is the cure? Being willing to do what most children of God never do ~ allow God to expose spiritual limestone. Through prayer, study, and meditation, God shines His light on what has firmly embedded over time in my soul. That is why David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” Ps. 139:23 Oftentimes, I don’t even know what’s down there but God does. Though He may bring truth and conviction, grace comes on its heels. Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Psalm 85:10  

The deepest part of me, only You know. Move in, clean house, and then re-arrange me with freedom. In Jesus’ name, Amen

 

Bouncing Off the Surface

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

“A farmer went out to scatter seed. As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate it.  Whenever people hear the word about the kingdom and don’t understand it, the evil one comes and carries off what was planted in their hearts. This is the seed that was sown on the path.  Matthew 13: 3-4, 19

     If I bring some seeds from overseas back to this country, I’m able to plant them and grow things here that have never grown here before.  The fruits of another land will grow in our borders.  This is what happens when Christ, the great Sower, sows heaven’s seeds in men’s hearts through the words of scripture.  The seeds are powerful and high reproductive.  If they are planted in the right kind of soil, they will bear fruit.  But their fruitfulness is proportionate to how I hear.  Change and effectiveness is all about the kind of soil these powerful seeds encounter.

     When someone traveled through the countryside in ancient Palestine, they maneuvered through fields of crops.  Farmers didn’t want pedestrians walking through their plantings so they bordered each field with a foot path.  Consider what happened when many feet traveled those paths.  They became well worn, hardened, almost like concrete.  When a sower, carrying a bag of seed at planting time, scattered them in the air, some would inadvertently land on the footpath.  (hardened soil)  The chances of them penetrating, much less germinating, were slim.

     Jesus wants me to understand that this is the condition of men’s hearts.  Unbelievers always have hardened soil.  The seed of the Gospel comes and bounces off their heart that is calcified by spiritual blindness.  But, there are believers who can also have hard hearts.  What spiritual condition would cause the Word to bounce off the surface of my heart and fail to take root?  A heart of stone.

     Long ago, if I was raised in a violent home, if I suffered extreme criticism, if I knew at birth that I was unwanted ~ these things can cause me to retreat.  I know that it’s not safe for me to extend my heart.  I become accustomed to living behind a crusty shell of safety.  I don’t let people love me.  I can’t.  I even keep the love of Jesus out.  I believe Him to be unsafe and His claims too radical even though I am His child.  The seed of the Word comes but it’s too threatening for me to embrace it for my own sanctification.

     What is the cure for hardened soil?  God wants to melt my heart of stone and change it to a heart of flesh.  One that feels, beats, grieves, and celebrates.  “Is not my Word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”  Jeremiah 23:29   If I suffer from a hard heart, two things will soften it.  The Word of God and my willingness to allow God to dismantle the walls that I have built over time.  He’s not going to weaken my defenses overnight.  His pace is kind.  He takes me one step at a time.  He knows what caused me to hide and He builds the perfect bridge of trust, with just the right language, that will give me the courage to let Him in.

     Recognizing that I have a hard heart is the crucial beginning.  Choosing to trust Him is the next step.

Lord, I can know so much scripture and yet be so unaffected by it.  I bring my calcified heart to You.  Gentle Healer, come and find me.  I’m in here.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

The Sower and The Soils

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A farmer went out to sow his seed.  Matthew 13:3

For me personally, the most powerful parable is the parable of the sower.  In this story, a man goes out to scatter seeds during planting time.  They fall in four different growing environments.  Three of them fall in poor soil conditions and good results are impossible.  Ah, but the fourth produces something stunning.

Beautiful sunset over green fieldThis parable has spoken to me so powerfully for the past several years that the truth of the soil types is on my mind constantly. I’ve almost become obsessed by the fourth soil type and I’ve grown to covet its germinating environment.  Let’s take our time with each part of the story.

Jesus related this parable to a crowd in Judea.  As He spoke it, they sat on a hillside – probably watching people sow seeds because the hills around the Sea of Galilee were ringed with fields.  Jesus knew how to bring a point home by relating a story in a context people understood.  As they watched it, He would reference it, and then go on to make His kingdom analogy.  Can you picture yourself sitting there before the Storyteller?  Is your heart childlike to drink in the meaning?

Would you join me in asking God to open your heart to Jesus’ message? Because of my life’s story, I am often resistant to the teachings of the kingdom.  I can’t believe Jesus’ claims.  I stumble over His way of doing things.  The seed simply falls in resistant soil.  What has to happen for bad soil to be transformed into a pristine soil environment?  That’s the stuff of what’s coming in the next few devotionals.

I close my eyes and envision what happens when God’s Word falls in nutrient-rich, aerated soil.  I see it unfold in slow motion.  As soon as it lands, life springs into the seed and the miracle of growth begins.  Seeds burst and the damp environment nurtures it to begin its life.  Ultimately, the cumulative effect is that I will emerge into the tree in Psalm 1; breathtaking, spiritually graceful, with my boughs hanging over the riverbank.  My roots are dug deeply into the resources of Christ and bearing fruit is instinctive – not laborsome.  Bad storms will come and go, they will bend my branches but no matter the ferocity of the wind, the tree will stand.  What God plants, nothing can destroy.

You are my Gardener, my Husbandman. Assess the soil of my heart.     Diagnose it and give me the courage to hear it and then let you  work in me until it’s right.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

Encouragement Skill #11

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GIVE THE GIFT OF PRAYER

The most valuable of all gifts is the gift of prayer but it is the promise of prayer for others that leaves something to be desired.  ‘I’ll pray for you’ is often the quick go-to line when I need to make a quick exit.  It’s the believer’s equivalent to, ‘Have a nice day!’  Does everyone who says, ‘I’ll pray for you’ actually do it or is it just a cliche?

The person who needs it would be very discouraged if they knew that many who promised to pray didn’t do it.  It’s a good thing Jesus prays for us continually.  We are never in a position where we have no one talking to the Father about us.  Jesus sits at His Father’s side at this very moment and is praying for each of us with great detail, with sensitivity, and with divine knowledge.

How valuable is prayer?  The night of Jesus’ arrest, He showed us.  When He was preparing to say goodbye to His disciples for good, He broke into the longest prayer in the Bible.  (John 17)  It’s so weighty that I could spend years meditating on it and not scratch the surface. When my prayers sound like, “Jesus, please be near them and bless them”, I realize these are okay but at some point, there should be more content.  I must be in the Word so that I have food from my own reservoir to give to others.  Scripture fuels my prayers with substance and fire.

Guidelines are helpful. Here are a few from personal experience and from hanging around other intercessors.

  • Ask the one you are praying for, ‘What is it you need from God?’  Listen before praying.  It should never be guesswork.
  • Ask God to lead you to the right scriptures to undergird your prayers.  Put their names in the passage.
  • Write a note and share the scriptures directly with them. They will not only feel the strength but feel the love in the effort.
  • If possible, and if they’re open, offer to pray for them in person.  This is best!  Pray their story. Let them hear you verbalize to God why they need prayer and what they’re feeling.  Be sure to end your prayers with God’s promises!
  • Say their name throughout the prayer and if the relationship warrants it, touch them.  Hold their hand, put your hand on their arm or shoulder.  This is the only tenderness some will ever experience.

Finally, I am often curious enough to ask the one who has asked me to pray for them, if they are also praying for themselves.  It’s easy to peg someone else as the spiritual guru who will do what I’m too lazy to do for myself.  I may pose a similar question to someone who continually asks me for advice.  I’ll inquire, “What is God telling you about it?”  Corrie Ten Boom quote ~  “Dear Jesus…how foolish of me to have called for human help when You are here.”  

Lord, You know that effective prayer takes time. I give you the time I’ll spend praying today. How should I invest it?  I’m a steward of my days and I need help knowing whose spiritual soil is tilled and ready.  Amen

Remember, They Are In Shock

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen2 Comments

Isaiah said, “At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor.  I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see.”  You can relate, right?  If you’ve been through a tragedy, you know how Isaiah felt.  You think you must be dreaming and you’ll wake up to breathe a sigh of relief.  The truth seems surreal. It leaves you staggered, confused, bewildered. You say to yourself, “This just can’t be true.”

I remember the morning my mother died.  It came unexpectedly.  I was visiting home for the weekend with my daughter, Jaime. The night before Mom died, we had enjoyed an evening where she had unexplainable energy.  So much so ~ that we planned an outing for the next day.  The following morning, I was standing at the stove making scrambled eggs.  The english muffins were under the broiler, table was set, coffee was made, and Dad remarked how surprised he was that Mom had overslept.  He offered to go check on her.  I heard his footsteps come down the hall on his way back from her room and will never forget the look on his face as he said, “She’s gone.”  Immediately, I felt lightheaded. My ears were ringing. I couldn’t think clearly and his words sounded distant. It took days, even weeks, for me to feel somewhat normal again.  Such is the experience of living through a physical reaction to shock. God graciously made us this way because the truth of the moment is too heavy to internalize.  He will allow it to come in waves, a little at a time, so that our body, heart, and mind can adjust to a new reality.  I’m sure Dad was experiencing a similar fog.

I can forget this when I visit someone in a hospital after an accident or I remember how well I thought someone was doing at a memorial service.  “They held up well,” I’ll say as I recount how they stood in a receiving line and greeted everyone without breaking down in tears.  The truth was, they were operating beneath a shock system that would wear off long after the event was over.  Later on, when they really needed me, I had gone on with my life.  I had mistaken their initial composure for lack of need.  No one escapes grief.  No one is beyond needing others no matter how things may appear.

After a tragedy, be sure to reach out later on, three months later, even a year later.  Send another card, bring a meal, pay another visit.  Truth be told, the person may not even remember you being there in the first days of the crisis.  How can you start your conversation?  “I’ve been thinking of you so much. I know the months after an awful event can be harder than the first few weeks.  The adjustment must be, at times, overwhelming.”  This gives them freedom to agree and talk about it.

Joseph Bayly, an author, lost three of his seven children to leukemia.  He wrote in his book, The View From a Hearse, this ~ “We experience the death of loved ones, not at the funeral, but when we come upon a pair of their old shoes.”  Will you and I be there when future waves of grief come?  God gives them the gift of a shock system initially but then needs to comfort them through the hands of His comforters.  That’s us.  We have our own personal Comforter inside to guide us.