What’s Coming This Year?

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Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].  2 Cor. 5:17 Amplified Version

A scripture verse takes on all new meaning when reading it in a different translation. What does it mean to be ‘in Christ’? It might be hard for any child of God to explain it apart from the more general context of what it means to ‘become a believer’. So what does it mean to be grafted in?

Valuable relationships are usually described as ones that enjoy a special connection. Those connections can’t be made without forming a relationship. The same is true when considering moving closer to Jesus. To be in Him, grafted, and connected to Him, there must be a relationship and He spells out what will open the door for that to happen. You and I must be joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior. It’s not enough to believe that He is a Savior. (Many are banking on that as evidence for their supposed salvation.) I must have faith in Him as my Savior. A world of difference between the two.

To look for a Savior means that I have come to realize that I am powerless to save myself. I do not have the skills, talents, innate goodness, to bring about the forgiveness of my sins. I am powerless to facilitate an intimate connection with God because I need a Savior to take care of my sin problem. I’m terminally ill, spiritually, with the disease of sin. Only a Savior, Jesus, can forgive, cleanse, justify, and change me into a person who can be reconciled to God. Without a Savior, I am disconnected and I am God’s enemy.

This year – devotionals will only make sense to the ones who have been reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit. I will be teaching through my repertoire of seminar topics, in small chunks, all year long. Each is a primer on how to live as one who is grafted into Christ. Each provides a piece of the manual on how to live as a daughter of promise. I’ve come to realize that I’ll never visit all churches, speak to all women’s groups, but the message can go out through this daily devotional to reach the 34,000 women who receive it. They, in turn, often forward it on to their small groups and bible study partners.

Jesus loved women. He elevated them in value. They funded His ministry ventures and were pivotal in early church leadership. Nothing has changed. He is invested in this ministry and in you ~ as you embark on this brand new year. Together, we will step onto the pathway that is reserved for the chosen ones. Though narrow, it is blessed. Though steep, it is graced with His presence and favor.

We are your daughters, grafted into You. We are reborn, restored, and renewed to follow You. This year, teach us how to live as your children, not orphans. Amen

Manger Preparation

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In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.  Isaiah 30:15

I was thinking this morning about the power of repentance.  Without repentance, my heart is dull and unreceptive to Jesus.   Repentance has become a ‘turn-off’ for many because society associates it with some red-faced pastors who yell about it.  The message God wants us to hear today is ~ repentance is our friend!

So, thoughtfully and slowly, I take in these truths.

God wants to bless me.

He longs to love me and watch me blossom under the umbrella of His affection.

He wants to share Himself with me and make my soul tremble with wonder.

What stands in the way for any of that to happen is unconfessed sin.  Sin clouds His voice, distorts my thinking, and damages my chances of living in blessing.  The most powerful thing I can do at the beginning of any day is pray ~ “Oh God, I don’t want to live distant from You today.  Show me my sin and the power of Your love and forgiveness.”

What does any of this have to do with Christmas?  I’m preparing for the coming of the Christ-child.  How did John the Baptist prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry?  By preaching repentance. “Repent – for the kingdom of God is at hand.”  To appreciate the arrival of a Savior, there must be an awareness of need.

The one who sees Jesus as beautiful is the one who knows they need Him.   A Savior is only embraced by those who know they need saving.  Repentance produces that.

The tender, holy God who asks me to repent is the one who knows that when I do, He’s finally free to give me everything He planned from before my conception.  I don’t want to become an old woman and have missed it.  So, why would I ever want to be defensive and self-deceived? Pathetic self-defenses are my enemy.

God, bring this message home. Prepare my heart for the manger scene!   In Jesus name, Amen

Journal Question:  The scripture says, “In repentance and rest is your salvation.”  How do you think the two postures help each other?  Ask God to show you what resting means and if anything in you is resistant to this quiet and composure.

It’s A Love Story

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For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

The Gospel is the grandest love story of all time.  And who doesn’t love a love story?How much better does it get than Mr. Darcy coming across the moors one misty morning to proclaim his love to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice.   It is heart stopping; just exquisite.

My favorite love scene of all is from the Sound of Music.  Maria, never thinking she would be a candidate for love, is approached in the garden by Captain Von Trapp.  The setting is a blue-green, surreal world at dusk ~ captured in soft focus in the movie. He approaches her tentatively, so as not to overwhelm her.  He speaks to her with a bit of a light hand.  “I thought I might just find you here!”  His playfulness disarms her and the rest is history.  As a young girl, I remember pretending I was her.  I had a lump in my throat and a knot in my stomach as their true feelings were revealed.

No matter who we are, we want to be the object of someone’s love.  We want to be the main character in the love story.  We long for a lover who will risk it all for us, who will throw reservation to the wind and go to great lengths to win our heart.  Most never know that it is Jesus they are longing for.

He gave up everything to come to us so that He could proclaim His love and rescue us from what would be impending doom.

Someone once said, “We come to the cross long enough to get saved but not long enough to get loved.”  The greatest tragedy is that churches are full of God’s children who have no idea how much they are cherished.

I used to wonder why I didn’t feel more love for Jesus.  Obedience was absolute drudgery.  God showed me that it was because I didn’t know how much He loved me!  I hadn’t opened my heart to receive everything He wanted to give to me.  And here’s the thing ~ God created me to be a responder.  “We love him because He first loved us.”  Once my heart is captivated by the love of God for me, I will spend it all on Him.  No price will be too steep.

Melt my reservations.  Every one.  Amen

Journal Question:  Jesus is approaching you.  He softly calls your name.  What is your reaction?  Run and hide?  Look up for only a moment before losing your nerve and looking away?  What is it you’re afraid of?  Tell Him.  He already knows.

A New Disclosure of the Face of God

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There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might. Jeremiah 10:6

Until the birth of Jesus, people only knew God in part. Jesus’ arrival, however, gave new disclosure of His Father. New names, names only hinted of in the Old Testament, took center stage and God was understood in a whole new way.

Names for God prior to the birth of Jesus were ones that befitted an all knowing and powerful God. He was called the God Who Sees, God Is My Banner, The God Who Hears, and many others. These were enough to give His people comfort and strength.

With the birth of Jesus, however, came new understanding. It was a knowledge of God born of new names. Immediately after His birth, the shepherds were told that He was Savior and Emmanuel. As He grew, He revealed Himself as the Bread of Life, the Shepherd, the Son of God, the Vine, the Lamb of God, the Lord of Glory, the Last Adam, and the Precious Cornerstone. Each one gave believers new eyesight into the complex and unfathomable depths of God. They experienced Him through His names because there was a new dynamic in their relationship. Intimacy.

The names of God that are the most precious to me are the names I’ve had to embrace out of great need. I’ve ‘grown into them’ experientially. There are still so many that I know in my head but I am not fluent about them yet. They are not as precious to me because I’ve not needed them like I’ve needed others. Isn’t it true that God is most valued where I’ve needed Him the most? Spiritual need is everything.

Jesus came and shook up the way people related to God. Someone who kept God at arms length had to adjust as they encountered God in the flesh. A face to face experience with the God-Man never left one neutral. There was a repelling or an attraction. For each who embraced Him, stunning revelations ensued. The names of God, old and new, had a deeper power and influence over their lives.

This morning, I’m making a list of God’s names and after the ones I’ve come to love the most, I’ll jot down the memory associated with it that made God more dear to me.

Thank you for every thing that has driven me to You.  Amen

Spiritual DNA

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…being made in human likeness.  Philippians 2:7

When children are born, parents quickly look for familiar features.  “She has my eyes!  Look, her mouth curves just like Grandpa’s.”  Children are made in the likeness of those whose love created them.  It doesn’t take too many years for us to also recognize that a child has our temper, our strong will, our sensitive spirit, or a bent toward the artistic.

If a DNA test had been done on the baby Jesus, what would it have revealed?  One thing is certain.  Jesus’ spiritual DNA was unlike anyone born before or since.  He was God.  He was perfect.  There were no temper tantrums and no sulking in the corner until he got his way.  Though he might have cried when he scraped his knee, or ached from the loneliness of adolescent rejection, or even felt heartbroken when he chose to overturn tables in a temple that had become commercialized, he never sinned.

We, who have been spiritually adopted into his family, are undergoing a metamorphosis.  We are being fashioned into the likeness of Jesus.  Our insecurities are being healed in His embrace.  Our shame is disappearing beneath the robe he placed around our shoulders.  Tempers are melting in the presence of the One we can trust to rule righteously.

We are learning to cry but not manipulate, feel angry but take no revenge, and ask for others’ companionship without becoming codependent.  Jesus is our brother.  He made His Father ~ our Father.  His royal blood is beginning to course through our veins and change the very nature of who we are.  Our spiritual DNA is transforming us in such a way as to transcend family traits and likenesses.

I want my spiritual adoption to change me in every way.  I want to act, think, and feel more like You.  Amen

Life-Saving Wounds

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See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand. Deut. 32:39

What exactly is a life-saving wound?  A life-saving wound is a wound with an intended loving purpose. A wound that is given by a friend – not an enemy. A wound inflicted that, when redeemed, will bring ten-fold joy in comparison to the agony once suffered.

The tragedy is that so few children of God recognize the wounds of their past as life-saving wounds. They define them as tragedies. ‘Victim’ becomes their permanent label. Deprivation creates their defeated mindset. God, who was, and is, sovereign over their past, is viewed as an adversary rather than a friend. They reason that only an enemy would inflict a wound. True, enemies strike in order to kill. But God wounds in order to save and bless. Never do I suffer anything that is not an installment to something glorious.

Children of God would struggle to admit this but in the dark places of the soul, in the places of their deepest pain, they are distrustful of God. They have backed up, unsure of Him, shy of His gaze. Because a theology of suffering is absent, some never come out of the corner to believe Him for their salvation, redemption, and restoration. They choose to live in the middle of their plotline ~ without hope ~ failing to believe God for a glorious outcome. How does this work, exactly?

  • A child who is never the object of someone’s affection grows up to bear the spirit of rejection. But the wound is life-saving when they discover that God is a seeking God. He woos them to the cross in order to adopt them into a place of favor.
  • A teenager who has been bullied because he is different grows up unsure of himself. He doesn’t realize that his uniqueness is really the mark of leadership. But the wound is life-saving when he discovers that God set him apart to think differently in order to lead a cause for the kingdom.
  • A woman who has, unexpectedly, been served divorce papers, feels torn apart on the inside. She does not feel she will ever recover from the betrayal. But the wound is life-saving when, driven to God, she experiences Him as her Bridegroom. Daily, He loves, whispers comforts, and provide

The foundation of every life-saving discovery does not begin and end with an understanding of theology but culminates in a childlike relationship with God. In faith, I must believe His proclamations of love and I must believe every promise He made to me.

What is the nature of your unhealed wound? And what is the need that rages as a result? Are you willing to consider that the need you’ve just isolated is life-saving if it takes you into the arms of a sovereign God who waits eagerly to redeem what was stolen from you? Look up. Believe. Live in the promises.

When I don’t believe, it is Your Word and Your Spirit that revives me. Amen

 

Imagine

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Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. Romans 6:13

I know that heaven awaits but Jesus came to announce that the kingdom is here now.  I am to spend my life asking the question, “What would heaven’s response look like in this situation?” That answer, determined by scripture, is my guideline for how to pray.  Specifically, this is what it looks like for me.

  • If Jesus were my husband, what would He say about this?
  • If Jesus could come in person today and talk to me about my child, what might He say?
  • If Jesus were to come and pastor our church, what might His first steps be?

These answers give me a glimpse into the prayer life of Jesus when He taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

To take this even further, which is what Paul is getting at in today’s scripture; I consider all the things a human body can accomplish.  What will my hands be doing when I get to heaven?  What kinds of things will my mouth say?  How will I reign with Christ and what does that leadership look like?  In a glorified body, I will be using all my members for righteousness.  As I imagine that (and I can because of all the pictures scriptures paint), I begin to see how I am to live now.

The kingdom is here now and I can begin to live in it as I will live in it – through the power of the Spirit.

Direct my imagination toward holy dreams.  I am yours. Amen

Praying the Lord’s Prayer

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen2 Comments

If Jesus, when asked to teach His disciples how to pray, composed this prayer out of the perfection of His holiness, is this not a perfect prayer?  Perfect in content, perfect in composition, even perfect in length?

How does it look for me to use this prayer as a template – expanding it as the Spirit leads me?  Today, it is this ~

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. I bow low, prostrate before Your throne.  You are my Father, holy, and perfect. I am nothing.  You are everything.  Unless You enter my world today, it will be of no value.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I see my need right now, Lord.  I see my family’s needs.  Your kingdom needs to come down to our little place on earth.  In Your kingdom, there is righteousness.  Thy kingdom come to us.  In Your kingdom, there is peace.  Thy kingdom come to us.  In Your kingdom, there is structure and order.  Thy kingdom come to us.  May Your will be done here, in every way, just as it is done in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. Give me hidden manna, Lord.  I embrace Your Word to my heart.  Open the eyes of my heart to see Your Word and understand it. Give me the grace to apply it.  May every member of my family today hunger for your daily bread.  Feed them so that they might live in Your abundance.  May we be a family who feasts on daily manna.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. I stand in the flow of Calvary.  Wash me clean, make me holy, that we may fellowship together without restriction.  I forgive those who will wrong me in any way today.  I put on Your forgiving Spirit as I live out my day.  I pray for every member of my family.  Mold each of them into a child of Yours who walks in Jesus’ lifestyle of forgiveness.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. I stand on Your promise that you will not give me more than I can bear.  The challenges, the sicknesses, the trials have all passed through Your sovereign hand.  Wherever I am assaulted, deliver me from evil.  Fight for me while I sleep, while I trust, while I do Your kingdom work.  Battle the unseen forces that I can’t see.  Make me battle ready to take every thought captive today, to put on the armor and stand in the victory You won for me at Calvary.

For Thine is the power, and the kingdom, and the glory forever, Amen.

A Personal Prayer For The Unbeliever

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What part did any of us play in our own salvation? None at all. We believed because God opened our blind eyes and allowed us to see. With so many aching for a loved one to come to faith, we need to know all over again that God is the only One who can command light where there is darkness. It will not happen with more preaching, cunning arguments, cajoling, even begging. Over the weekend, I was asking God about how to pray in a more focused, strategic way for someone who does not yet believe. I was led to one scripture after another about light/darkness.

I asked God to help me use these as a springboard to write out this prayer. Go ahead and insert the name of your loved one in each blank. May God shed His light across the landscape of their heart because of your investment, but even more, because of His great mercy.

PRAYER:

Lord, I remember that Paul said, ‘In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’ 2 Cor. 4:4 Oh Father, You see the one who burdens my heart so. The god of this world has blinded ______________ from seeing the light of the gospel of Christ. He/she sees Jesus but is just unmoved. They have no appetite for Him, only indifference, even revulsion.

So You are the Word. When you speak, things are created which do not exist. Your Scriptures say, ‘For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6 Unless you touch the darkness inside __________’s heart, they will never see Your light to understand the knowledge of Your glory. Just as You spoke it at the creation of the world, just as Your words created something out of nothing, would you speak again and enable belief where there is the vastness of unbelief? Have mercy on ______________.

Jesus, you said that ‘Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.’ John 3:19 I can see that ____________ loves unbelief and defends doubt. ________________ loves evil but can’t see that it’s evil. He/she is blind to depravity and numb to the consequences of sin. Enable __________’s heart to see Light and darkness and comprehend it.

Jesus, You told the crowd, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”   John 12:35-36 Allow ___________ to have a healthy fear and awe of You. Enable __________ to have a fear of the devil and his angels. Allow _____________ to see the condition of a corrupt world and realize the time is short. Woo _____________, Holy Spirit, so they hear Your call.

Thank you, Lord, for hearing my prayer, for loving ______________ enough to die in their place. Isaiah foresaw Your coming and spoke prophetically to Israel. He said, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1 I say to __________’s soul today, the same. Arise, Your light has come. Today is the day of salvation.

To You, Lord, belongs all honor, power, and glory. I praise You for your glorious plan to save mankind. May it be for ______________. Amen

When I’m Generous and When I’m Not

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Wealth and riches are in their houses; and their righteousness endures forever.  Even in darkness light dawns for the upright; for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.  

Psalm 112:3-4

We once had a family friend in the small town where I grew up who was quite wealthy.  My aunt and uncle took him in as a young man when he was destitute.  He never left.  His life’s goal was to amass a fortune and he didn’t care how he did it.  Was he driven by greed?  In his case, no.  Fear was his taskmaster.  He lived through the depression with a mother and several siblings.  Hungry, he had gone to work at seven years old to deliver papers in order to put food on the table.  As a child, he declared, “I swear I’ll never be poor!”   His entire life was shaped by those words.

With a vow so far from God’s heart, it’s good for me to think about God’s generosity. The biblical concept of generosity is this ~ Someone who loves to give and just can’t help himself.  He almost dances when the opportunity comes his way.  

There are many reasons why I don’t give generously.  Fear of deprivation, fear of giving away something that I’m attached to, fear that it won’t be received, or fear that I will get nothing back.  Greed is not always at the center of why a person withholds.  What is the cure?  One I might not expect.  Paul said, You will be enriched to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.  2 Cor. 9:11  God promises, through Christ, to make us so rich that we’ll give it away – confident that He will more than compensate.  And when we give recklessly, others won’t understand it and just might give glory to God.

If I’m not a good giver, it is only because I have not fully realized how much God has given to me and how much I have yet to claim.  How well do I know His promises?  There are many resources from heaven’s bank account that I’ve not yet drawn upon.  Only when I stop living like an orphan, looking to the earth to give me what I need and looking to my Father whose arms are full of gifts, will I be overwhelmed by His generosity.  I’ll know I’m on the right track when I am compelled to share it with somebody.  Until then, I’ve only just begun to realize what is mine in Christ.

I know some people who love to give.  I think they love to do it more than I do.  I’m looking hard at the reasons, Lord.  Amen