Who Do You Run To?

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

And Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her home. Luke 1:56

When Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit, she picked up her things and went straight to Elizabeth’s house. When Elizabeth saw her, she knew something momentous had taken place. She immediately prophesied over her, and provided a place for Mary to spend the most tenuous time of any woman’s pregnancy – the first trimester. When Mary experienced the most severe symptoms of morning sickness, she was safe in Elizabeth’s care. When Mary first deliberated the cost of carrying the son of God, she was with one who was safe for her spiritually. When Jesus’ life was the most fragile, his mother cared for him best by securing the best possible environment.           

Have you ever been pregnant with God’s calling? The first days and months, even years, after God has spoken to us is the most critical time for us to be guardians of that ‘new thing’. That is the time when we are prone to question what we heard Him say and because of that, we are the most vulnerable to others talking us out of it. Until His Word is established in our hearts and has fully taken root, we must be diligent to keep company with the likes of Elizabeth. We must secure an environment of safety where His Word can be confirmed, not questioned and destroyed.          

Solomon said, “Walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.” The ‘righteous’ does not always describe every child of God, only one who is also able to hear and obey the voice of God no matter the cost. This bears out with the story of Elizabeth. She was also pregnant with a child who would bring great controversy. (John the Baptist) She was one who also knew what it was like to be visited by the Spirit of God and called according to His purpose. Who better to nurture Mary in her most vulnerable time than another woman who was also pregnant with God’s call!          

I choose my company wisely and guard my heart against any whose cancer of unbelief might spread to undermine what I have been called to do.

 I love to hear Your voice – but oftentimes it stretches me and I second guess that I heard correctly.  Show me how to guard what is so precious. In Jesus’ name, Amen

No Wasted Plotline

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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 gave a defense for the Gospel, he didn’t start with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.  Since most of his accusers were Jewish leaders, he was intent on showing them that Jesus was connected to their scriptures, the fulfillment of their law.  The Torah, which they embraced and knew front to back, had predicted his coming.  God was not only the Alpha and Omega, but the God of the in-between.  Nothing was random, nothing was haphazard, but each event in history was a meticulously conceived plan according to the wisdom of a Sovereign God.

Why was this important to the Jews?  Because it’s hard for any of us to completely leave everything familiar and embark on something new.  And it wasn’t necessary where the Jews were concerned though it might have felt like that.  They held the Torah in their hands, the writings of the prophets, the revelation of Jesus Christ.  To believe on Him was to complete their faith, to be as Abraham looking ahead for the Lamb of God and finding Him in Jesus.

God is the consummate storyteller.  The revelation of Jesus in Bethlehem was connected to the plot line in Eden when Adam and Eve sinned.  Everything in between followed God’s storyline.  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 plotline, there is no such thing as wasted.  Not even our mistakes.  Our lives, like those of our heroes in scripture, are messy and unpredictable.  Though we know the end of their stories, the redemptive twists and turns still take us by surprise.  We are encouraged that God was there in their victories but also still there in the parts of their stories that were less than stellar.  No dark thread is rejected for the finished tapestry.

After all these years, I am beginning to love my storyline because it is woven into Yours.  Amen

Jesus Came To Model Pilgrimage

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Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  Genesis 12:1

Jesus said that no one could follow him unless they were willing to leave father and mother, brother and sister.  Did He speak theoretically, or did He know, personally, the price of leaving kindred and the comforts of home?  Yes.  Jesus knew that following His Father’s voice would prove to be stressful for family dynamics.    

Yahweh had divine rights to Jesus.  He shaped His identity.  He established parameters and boundaries.  He set future goals for Him, culminating in paying the price for sin on a cross.  He guided and encouraged Him all the way there, and then all the way home from the confines of a tomb.  

Obedience and honor were the responsibilities of this Son of God.  As Jesus modeled pilgrimage, there was stress. He set off on a course for which He had no roadmap.  He trusted God for the next step on His journey.  He never knew what the next day would bring.  It unfolded as He listened and obeyed.  He had to learn obedience.  It wasn’t hard-wired.  He knew intimately the stresses of following His Father’s voice.  

The call of Abram to leave parents and family, to establish a new allegiance, was extended to Jesus and is still extended to every son and daughter of God.  When I was born into God’s family, I left the authority of my earthly father for my heavenly Father.  God’s commands took precedence over all other influences.  I submitted to His authority as He shaped me, established parameters, set goals, and corrected and encouraged me.  Obedience and honor are my responsibility, just as they were for Jesus.

The call of God will be cataclysmic, at times, when people who love me criticize, when family loyalties are threatened, and when Christian friends think my steps are too radical. That’s because the only one who hears the call is the one to whom God speaks.  Jesus knew the disdain of His parents and siblings.  When at its worst, his family thought He was mad.  On that occasion, Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were waiting to see Him outside a ministry venue. He made it clear to those delivering the message that even mother and brothers had no personal advantage because they were related to Him.  They, too, had to hear the call and set out on their own pilgrimage. 

This life of solitary obedience is not for the fainthearted.  It wasn’t for Jesus and it isn’t for me.  But strength, direction, and endurance come to every pilgrim who knows he is a child on an adventure, holding the hand of the Father every step of the way.  In this kind of simple childlike dependence, Jesus modeled it perfectly.  

When my obedience is tested with famine, breathe over me Your encouragement.  As you did for Jesus, feed me with the manna of heaven.  Amen

Where Were They?

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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 whom to ask about this new baby King, the one he feared would be a threat to 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 religious leaders didn’t even need to consult with each other nor ask for a window of time to go search the scriptures for the answer.  It was on their tongue.

So where were they at the birth of Jesus?  We hear no accounts of any religious leaders coming to bow down at the manger to worship.  Jerusalem was only seven miles away whereas the Magi, if they came from Persia, traveled a thousand miles.  This baby would grow up to reveal that the gate is wide for those who reject the Messiah and narrow for the few who actually seek Him out.  Never was this more exemplified than in the scarcity of worshipers at His birth.

The message is clear.  Knowing a lot of truth and actually being engaged with the heart are two completely different experiences.  When both are present, when my quest for knowledge is love-driven, it is a beautiful thing.  But what a tragedy when knowledge and passion are mutually exclusive.  I can easily become as callous as those who lived around the corner from Mary and Joseph but weren’t spiritually alive enough to see if Jesus was really the One they had been longing for throughout their entire Jewish history.

Jesus is the end of my quest.  Whatever it takes to journey to Him is worth any effort and any sacrifice.

I am challenged, every day, by what it means to walk the narrow way.  I will stay on my quest to search for You with my whole heart.  Amen

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The Little Reconciler

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All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:18

What a package of explosive potential lay in the manger.  He was the little Lamb and the little Shepherd, each one offering life altering implications for those who needed a Lamb slain for their sin and for those who were lost and needed a shepherd to show them the way home.  

Baby Jesus could do far more than that though.  He was also the little Reconciler who had the power to bring together two enemies and make them, not only compatible but, intimate.  Reconciliation rarely has such stunning outcomes.  It is one thing to bring together two parties who are at odds over an issue.  It is quite another thing to cause two people, far apart in every way, to eagerly join hands and become one in their thinking and feeling.  

Oh, how deep was the fracture in the Garden of Eden.  God had made man perfectly.  It was he who wanted more, who bought the Serpent’s lie, and then opened his mind to evil.  It was a world he was not created to understand nor be compatible with.  Yet, evil corrupted him and he began to choose everything that God wouldn’t choose and to think all things God wouldn’t think. Alienation ensued and the two were separated by a great gulf.  Holiness could not reconcile with sinfulness without a miracle.  God’s answer?  Send a Reconciler who could also be the Lamb to forgive sin and restore the sinner to what he once was ~ holy before God.  That would be the game changer.  The perfected nature would not want to sin and would indeed hate sin.  His mind would be washed completely of defilement to think and feel like the indwelling Spirit who inhabited him again.  

The baby didn’t automatically reconcile enemies at His birth.  God’s timetable moves slowly.  It took thousands of years for God to send this Lamb.  It would take thirty-three years more for the Lamb to die for the sins that separated creation from His Father.  But how necessary the three decades were.  The only way for people to trust the Lamb and forsake their sin would be to know Him.  They would watch Him live and hear Him speak. They would experience God’s love, grace, and mercy through direct interaction.  His Light would woo the sinner and warm up their icy relationship.  Light would either draw men to His Father or repel them.  Not all would come to hate their sin and mourn their estrangement.  Most would not, in fact.  

Ah, but for the ones who did, for them it would be different.  The great gulf that separated them from their Creator would break their heart.  They would own their sin that caused the breach and trust the Lamb to bring them to the foot of His cross.  His blood would wash them clean and present them faultless to His Father. Complete compatibility. Impeccable restoration. Perfect reconciliation.  

If there is tension in our relationship, it can be fixed now.  Thank you, Jesus. Amen

An Unpredictable Lineage

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The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [Messiah] comes. Genesis 49:10

If I look for a human being to emulate, Joseph is always a good choice. His fidelity to God amidst great suffering has inspired us down through the ages. Of all of Jacob’s sons, Joseph gets the most attention. Yet, it is not from the line of Joseph that Jesus was born. The extremely flawed sons of Jacob didn’t mess things up so badly that God disqualified them from the promise.  God’s covenant prevailed over sin.

What was the purpose of Joseph’s life? To save Judah and His descendants. If Joseph had not assumed a place of power in Egypt, he could not have brought his father and brothers to a place of abundance. Jacob and all of his descendants would have perished in the great famine. It’s hard for us to grasp that Joseph was really used by God to save a brother who had sold him into slavery. It seems twisted to our sense of justice.

God is wild and wonderful. He is also unpredictable. He exalts the likes of Judah. He blesses adulterers like King David. He forgives betrayers like Peter. He saves persecutors and murderers like Paul. Judah, at the end of his life, offered to give his own for the life of another brother. His father, Jacob, lived long enough to see Judah choose righteousness. The common thread in all of these stories was a heart of repentance. God’s forgiveness was, and is, so radical that an entire past is put under His atoning blood.

No family is perfect.  I’ve talked with so many over the years who tell me that they have not seen their grandchildren in years.  Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ relevant to them? Is it relevant to us in the very places we long to see the righteousness of God revealed in the lives of our family members? Oh yes.

This Christmas, as we hear the Christmas story and are tempted to zone out at the reading of the lineage of Jesus, let’s wake up and sit on the edge of our seat. When Judah’s name is mentioned, we can rejoice that God works in family messes. No one is out of His reach. We should never stop praying for forthcoming repentance. God is good for every promise He has made.

For every family ‘Joseph’, there are tears of joy. For every family ‘Judah’, there are tears of faith. You are God over every family drama that is brought to your feet in prayer. Amen

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It Depends On Who He Is To You

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But who can endure the day of his coming? He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.  Malachi 3:2

‘Refiner’s fire and launderer’s soap’ is a line right out of Handel’s Messiah. It’s not exactly poetic to put to music and yet, how magnificently George Frederick Handel did it. With Christmas coming, you’ll probably hear these words again if you listen to the entire Messiah.

Refining fires will be experienced by everyone. Now, it’s the saints who are being purified through suffering. When others behold the lives we live, they see Jesus. Without the fire, the image is never developed. But one day, the unsaved will also face the fire of His holiness. While we are now drawn to the One who is holy, they will stand in dread of Him on judgement day. Same God ~ two opposing reactions because of the relationship or the lack thereof.

If you are God’s child, the thought of standing in the vicinity of the glory of God is thrilling. If you want nothing to do with God, you are either nonchalant as you think about it or simply terrified. It depends on who He is to you, Savior or enemy.

If you are God’s child, you are thrilled by what happened on the mount of transfiguration. The thought of Jesus taking on His full glory, dressed in dazzling white, makes you long to have seen it for yourself. If you don’t care about Jesus, the mere idea is bizarre and repelling. It depends on who He is to you, Lord of glory or good teacher.

If you are God’s child, you long to be holy. You long for God’s glory to purify the earth and wash away all remnants of the Fall. If you don’t care about Jesus, you are content in Babylon and see no need for change. It depends on who He is to you, Righteous Restorer of paradise, or a characterization of a religious myth.

Malachi’s pen must have trembled in his hands as he pictured the words the Spirit birthed.

Make sure my reaction is related to His, Lord. Amen

History Plus Experience

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And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.”  Luke 1:35

My biggest mistake would be to read God’s Word like a storybook and fail to see the stories as personal insights in how God might relate to me.  Can I have a burning bush experience?Can I know a Pentecost moment?  Do men and women still dream dreams and decide, upon waking, that God is sending them a personalized message? Yes.  My faith is not built on history alone but on a present day experience with Jesus Christ.

God’s Spirit hovered over Mary and she conceived.  Nine months later, she gave birth to the Son of God.  This intimate gesture of overshadowing ushered her into her most holy calling as the mother of Jesus.  But the Spirit of God must still overshadow the saints today if they are to give birth to their most holy callings.  There can be no conception of a call without this act of communion.  For years, I thought I was in touch with God’s will for my life, and in fact, I prayed for it earnestly but what was missing was intimacy with God.

Jesus said, “He who believes in me, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.”  The word for innermost being in the original language is ‘womb’.  Through every child, God wants to birth something for the kingdom.  Something holy is to proceed from their spiritual womb.  What is it?  There is something about the redemption of our story that is unique.  Out of our individual brokenness, and out of the way He speaks His healing Word to those desolate places, our calling will emerge.  When He reveals it to each of us, it immediately resonates.  Praise, worship, and unspeakable joy are the result; our versions of the Magnificat.

To discover my purpose and to know how to walk in it, I must be intimate.  To transcend the challenges that come with a calling, I must be intimate.  Any kingdom work done without intimacy is powerless.

Overshadow my life.  I am your handmaiden. Amen

Finding The ‘Thank You’ In My Heart

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen3 Comments

 I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.  Psalm 9:1

Thanksgivings, like any holiday, can be wonderful or imperfect, in varying degrees.  During the push to get ready for the big family dinner, feelings can get put on a back burner.  The days following, however, are often difficult because we re-live what was missing.

Life is all about perspective.  We know that.  But when things get difficult, God’s children struggle to find a perspective that means something deeply wonderful.  There is a list to encourage us to think thoughts that go upward instead of outward.  Looking up alters discouragement.  How does it work?

  • When loved ones will be missing from my table because of distance, I  will still be thankful that God hears every prayer I pray for them.  He will be near them though I will be far away.
  • When normal holiday sentiments get stuck in my throat because times are difficult, I will be thankful that glorious eternal sentiments are mine no matter the circumstances.  I am God’s child.  He is my Father.
  • When I see the faces of those I love around my table, I will be grateful that my love for them is just a little glimpse of the great love the Savior has for each of us.
  • When thoughts of the future overwhelm me, I will be grateful that it is only the immediate future, not my eternal one, which may be challenging.  For every difficulty, God will take me by the hand and walk me through it, smoothing the way.
  • Many of my family are in heaven and will be missing from my Thanksgiving table.  I can give thanks that we will sit together at another banquet table, one that eclipses the most beautiful gathering on Thursday.  Jesus will be the One serving us.
  • If, by chance, I have to look into the face of one who has not loved me well and I find there is pain with the memories, I will give thanks that I belong to One who is not like that.  Anything I need, He is.  He is the great ‘I am’.

Thanksgiving is not confession made through gritted teeth.  God does not force children to be polite little robots.  Instead, He encourages thanksgiving for what He has already given us and what is yet to come.  If I’m short on a list because of the imperfections of yesterday, I need only open the scriptures and put my name in the meta-narrative of redemption.  Every stunning promise is mine.  Every beautiful thing awaits me.

With tear filled eyes, I will thank you!  Amen

Beginning Again

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       God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Genesis 35:1-2

Oh, what a mess of things I can make. A series of bad choices can eventually result in a train wreck. With everything in shambles, it appears as if it’s too late to have a clean start. I believe I’ve passed the point of no return.

Jacob knows how that feels. This is where he is in his family’s story. They have narrowly escaped assimilation into a pagan society. Intermarrying would have destroyed the line for the Messiah. His sons have tricked the men from Shechem and then they murdered them in cold blood. The covenant with God is certainly null and void now, right?

But God appeared to Jacob with instructions for a new beginning. His prescription for starting again is quite simple. Identify (and gather) all your foreign gods, bury them, purify yourselves, put on clean garments, and renew your vows to God in a holy place. The message for me is this ~ I can’t mess things up so badly that God can’t redeem it.

If it’s this easy, why don’t more do it? Why aren’t there more Christians at the altar bringing the shambles of their lives to Jesus? What is keeping them from the exhilaration of this new beginning?

While God’s instructions are simple, the heart has to be willing. I have to own my mistakes, consider where I went astray, and then see my choices from God’s perspective. I need to own my rebellion and not justify my sin. Owning blame is for the humble. This is where most people forfeit God’s invitation to start again. Pride that resides in over-inflated and fragile ego resists being wrong.

God continued to speak this same message throughout history. Joshua will tell God’s same chosen people, in Shechem…. “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.” Joshua 24:23 How ironic. The descendants of Jacob will have to hear the exact same message again, in the same place, so that they can experience the cleansing the precedes a new beginning. Is there a limit to the number of times God offers a clean slate?   No. His mercy knows no boundaries.

I want to make the practice of exposing idolatry and asking for forgiveness so familiar to me that I see all traces of rebellion disappear. Let my repentance be instinctive. Amen