Opening Up To A Fool

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

Leave the presence of a fool, or you will not discern words of knowledge.  Proverbs 14:7

            If we spend too much time with the wrong people, our inner world is adversely affected.  Our parents said it this way, “Choose your friends wisely.”  They knew that playing soccer together was one thing but hanging out by the hour and talking was another.  It’s the latter that has the potential to defile.  Spend enough time with a person and there will be hours of sharing.  First, there will be an intellectual exchange. Eventually, we could feel comfortable enough to disclose more personal things and lose our objectivity about what should come out of our mouths.

            Many of us have given our heart to a fool.  A fool is one who scoffs at God’s ways and charts his own course.  Perhaps the fool is in our family.  How do we act on Solomon’s advice and guard our hearts?  Perhaps the real message today is – Keep your wits about you.  Stay sharp on acknowledging who follows God and who does not.  Don’t seek personal advice from someone who does not know God well.  Their ‘wisdom’ is not wisdom.  Trusting the words of a fool, in any respect, is like playing Russian roulette with your life.  Continue reading “Opening Up To A Fool” →

The Enemy’s Narcotics

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

THE ENEMY’S NARCOTICS

I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor should be in vain.  I Thess. 3:5

We weren’t created for pain, but for the garden.  Adam and Eve loved God and life was absolutely perfect.  Their world was utopian!  Then, the serpent spoke, they listened, and their first introduction to heartbreak occurred.  God judged their sin and they felt shame, remorse, and other emotions that had no fix.  Life was never the same again. Continue reading “The Enemy’s Narcotics” →

Will I Get Away With It?

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

WILL I GET AWAY WITH IT?

For at the window of my house, I looked out through my lattice and saw the naive, a young man lacking sense, passing through the street near her corner; and he takes the way to her house.  Proverbs 7:6-8

            A young man sets out to conduct his business in town but it just so happens that he takes the route that allows him to pass by the house of the prostitute.  There is another way but at the juncture where he must choose, he turns from the safer alternative.  And so, the decision to pass her way gets easier with each passing day.  After all, nothing bad has happened on previous days.  The conclusion he makes is that flirting with temptation won’t hurt.  Continue reading “Will I Get Away With It?” →

Admitting That I Don’t Know Something

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

ADMITTING THAT I DON’T KNOW SOMETHING

Every prudent man acts with knowledge.  Proverbs 13:16

            “She’s blowing smoke.” “She’s full of hot air!” Both comments, when said about us, bring humiliation.  It’s as if we’ve been exposed as imposters. The shame is profound and causes us to wonder, “Do we pretend to know what we have no knowledge of?”

            No one likes a know-it-all.  I know I don’t.  No matter what the subject, he has to rise up to act like he’s an authority on the topic.  Those who listen to him steal the floor and expound at length as if he’s been asked to ~ can usually tell if there’s real knowledge and experience behind his words. It’s pretty clear whether or not he’s credible or just likes to hear himself talk.  Continue reading “Admitting That I Don’t Know Something” →

When My Soul Comes Up Empty

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

WHEN MY SOUL COMES UP EMPTY

What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted.  Proverbs 10:24

            A self-fulfilling prophecy is a frightening phenomenon.  I know, for I experienced one after another for the first forty years of my life.  I structured my life to do whatever would get approval, love, and respect.  While I received good measures of each, it was never enough. The feeling of ‘full’ eluded me. Emptiness, the thing I feared most, became my companion.

            If I want another person’s affection so badly that I will do anything to get it, the person I target starts backing up from me.  He senses my unbalance.  I wear the severity of my needs on my sleeve even though I might think I’m clever enough to conceal it.  He instinctively knows he cannot (and should not) feed such an insatiable appetite.  He knows his personal boundaries are being threatened.  He perceives that I am about to feed off his very soul.  What is the outcome?  Unless he has the need to rescue, there will be a painful backing away. The rejection I fear will surely come upon me. Continue reading “When My Soul Comes Up Empty” →

God’s Wisdom ~ You’ve Only Begun

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

YOU’VE ONLY BEGUN

I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches from secret places, so that you may know that I, Yahweh, the God of Israel call you by your name.  Isaiah 45:3

I see your faithfulness, how you have made your home in Me.  Though the depth of your experiences may not be apparent to the ones who claim to know you so well, I see how you have abandoned yourself to my Spirit.  I am flooding you with My presence, pouring out my blessings upon you, though it is not always evident outwardly.  The gifts I give begin on the inside when I take Your spirit to a place of joy that you have never known before.  I am the only One who can take you to a place where your tongue falters.

Do you not remember that I have promised you the treasures of the darkness?  According to your need, is My supply.  According to your searching, is My revelation.  Oh, that you would know that you have hardly begun to see what I am planning to show you.

I Have Three Parents

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

I HAVE THREE PARENTS

Observe the commandment of your father, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.  Bind them continually on your heart. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will talk to you.  Proverbs 6:20-22

            I have three parents; the father and mother I was born to and my Heavenly Father.  Of the three, my Heavenly Father takes priority.

            Solomon advises me to observe the ways of my father and mother.  If a trait is godly, then I am to observe it and bind myself to it.  The problem is, without intention to do otherwise, I will naturally embrace all their ways.  I walk their paths by default. Is that a good thing?  Only if I embrace the good and discard the bad.  I must love God more than I love the ways of my parents!

            My father, now in heaven, was a man with a huge heart for God.   He counseled, taught the scriptures, walked out his faith beautifully and, in the process, was revered for his wisdom.  He lived in a small New England town where he is still talked about with reverence by those who knew him.  As I remember him, I hold his good traits close to my heart and they guide me.  But at the same time, I discard the bad.  My dad was consumed with worry and was driven to avoid criticism at all costs. I inherited these tendencies and lived crippled by them for many years.  It wasn’t until I severed my attachment to his sinful ways that I was free to follow my Father in heaven.     Continue reading “I Have Three Parents” →

God’s Wisdom ~ Alive To Me

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Alive To Me

Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  Ephesians 5:2

Be diligent to explore and experience my death and resurrection.  Enter in fully to the journey of my crucifixion, burial, and victory over death.  Why?  Because in any ways this earth has defined you, you are now dead to them and alive to me.

I created every part of you.  All your gifts.  All your bents.  Though people may have ridiculed and rejected a part of who you are, I have celebrated it.  You are my masterpiece and I indwell you.  All of you.

To be fully alive to me is to allow me to live through every bent of my design.  This will take courage but there is no fear when you learn to live in my love.  You may not always be popular but you will be filled with my glory if you submit your whole self to me in obedience.  This will bring you joy unspeakable and breed a confidence no man can shake.  Step out of the tomb into the light of resurrection life.

An Illusion of Power

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

AN ILLUSION OF POWER

The wicked are overthrown and are no more.  Proverbs 12:7

        Those who practice wickedness often look formidable but their feet are unsteady.  The least bit of trouble brings them down.  The power they possess makes us tremble but it’s really an illusion. Though their behavior is intimidating, we don’t realize how easily they could crumble.  Here’s what else I’ve learned. The ones who look the strongest can be the weakest!

            A woman wrote to me this week to tell me this story.  An angry brother had controlled her for many years.  Though he lived several hundred miles away, he had a way of controlling the entire family network.  For the past year, she has been bringing her fear of her brother to God and He has been healing her.  So much so, that at a recent family reunion, she laughed out loud when she saw him for the first time.  He seemed several inches shorter to her.  That is not uncommon.  I have heard others say that once God showed them the true stature of the person they feared, they appeared smaller. The big bully became a stubborn two year old. Continue reading “An Illusion of Power” →

Lifting Up What Is Nearly Dead

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

LIFTING UP WHAT IS NEARLY DEAD

Hagar said, “Let me not look on the death of my child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”  Genesis 21:16-18

         Hagar held her nearly dead child in her arms.  Voice weak, completely dehydrated, half starved.  No water or provision of food was in sight.  She smelled death but refused to succumb to what seemed to be the inevitable.  She poured out her complaint to the God of Israel.  Where did she learn this?  From the very ones who forced her out of their presence.  Oh, the irony.

         I’ve cupped my hands around things, and people, who appeared to be dying.  Dreams, health, ministries, faith.  From all appearances, hoping was foolish.  Death was staring me in the face.  All options were gone.

         Hagar, the least likely ministry leader, shows each of us the way to glory.  She prayed, listened, cast her hopes on God, and then obeyed.  She lifted up her boy to the God who breathes life into dead souls.  She could not know that a thousand years later, Ezekiel would watch God breathe over a whole valley of corpses and bring them to their feet.  By the breath of His mouth, He would transform skeletons into warriors.

         Has God been true to His promise? Did he make Ishmael the father of a great nation?  Yes.  Many Palestinians have, and will, trust Christ.  When they meet their Lord, how passionate they are!

         Will God hear me when I take what is weak, infirmed, perhaps even dead, and lift it toward heaven?  Yes. Hagar was told to lift Ishmael up and hold him fast with her hand.  Instead of laying him down in defeat, she embraced him in heartfelt prayer.  And oh, what an outcome.

I’ve laid some things down prematurely.  I’m picking them up again.  You defeated death and long to breathe over all things expired.  Amen

Journal Question:  Hopeless talk infects an atmosphere of faith.  What have you recently declared hopeless?  Pick it up.  Cup your hands around it.  Lift it up to feel the breath of a life-giving God.