Tag: bible

Prayer For Restored Trust

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

PRAYER FOR RESTORED TRUST

Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.  His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.  How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.  Psalm 146:3-5

Hope ~ expectation or desire for a certain thing to happen.

*************

Lord, You have been teaching me where hope is misplaced.  This has been the lesson of my life.  There are so many around me who claimed to have solutions for things that distressed me.  Sometimes they did.  Most times they did not.  There are even a few others who claimed to ‘be’ my salvation, my answer for whatever I was lacking.  They were not.  They became an idol as I placed all my hopes in them.  As their humanness surfaced, I was angry, then depressed.

Your lessons were hard at first.  You pushed the idols off my pedestal and exposed them.  My hope in them grew faint instantly.  Hope trembled and then became a phantom.  All that was left was You.  All along You were there.  In You my hope is never misplaced.  In You I can take refuge no matter what the threat.  In You I have a defender against all accusers.  In You I have a caretaker for all those who are fragile around me.  In You I have a refuge for the storms that loom on the horizon of the earth.

In every way my hope in You may be unbiblical, show me.  I do not look to You to make me wealthy, or to relieve my painful circumstances when I believe I need the rescue.  My hope is in Your promise that You rule righteously and do all things well in my life.  My hope is in Your steadfast love for me and Your sustaining grace.  My hope is rock solid even when I don’t understand Your answers to my prayers.  My hope is in You and all that You offer me in covenant love.  Amen

Remembering Who I Am

Published on by Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

REMEMBERING WHO I AM

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.  Romans 13:14

         I live in the ‘now but not yet’ as a Christian.  I am seated with Christ in the heavenlies but I also live here.  I was made holy at my conversion but I am told to be holy.  Satan was defeated on the cross but He won’t act like he’s defeated until He is judged at the last day and thrown into the lake of fire.  I was clothed with Christ when I made Him my Savior but Paul reminds me to put on Christ daily.

         This is the battle.  Truth must be reviewed, embraced, and intentionally lived out every day.  This morning, I remember who I am.

  • I am adopted, not an orphan.
  • I am free, not a slave.
  • I am forgiven, not condemned.
  • I am dead to sin, not trapped by former habits and sinful thought patterns.
  • I wear His robe of righteousness, not a tattered robe of shame.

I see the day ahead of me.  I review my new status as a child of God and decide to live like it.  Knowing I can’t do it by myself, I call upon the Spirit of God inside to rise up and enable spiritual life.  I ask Him to flood my desires with His desires.  I ask Him for the grace to be who I am.  I put on Christ like a cloak and it is not a heavy overcoat.  It is lightweight.  It fits perfectly.  I feel ten feet tall when I wear Him.

         Since I am a child of the ‘narrow way’, I know that I will stand out like a sore thumb.  I won’t be making the choices of the majority.  I won’t be thinking like the masses.  I will be peculiar.  I will confuse.  I will draw criticism.  And for that, the Spirit is ever close to comfort and encourage.  I won’t be tripped up by other’s rejection.  I expect it and won’t abandon the way of the cross when false expectations attempt to entrap me.  To ‘put on Christ’ is to live His life; fraught with miracles, glory, but also scorn and rejection.  Every step into the dark was redeemed on Calvary and glory awaits every child of God who lives for the ‘not yet’.

In spite of the challenges, wearing You is my deepest joy.  Amen

Jesus Taught Me How To Relate To Abba

Published on by Christine WyrtzenLeave a comment

Jesus taught me how to live as a child of God. He was a Son; I am a daughter. If I want to know how to relate to Him, I follow His example.

Jesus made no autonomous decisions. The Son is able to do nothing of His own accord; but the Son is able to do only what He sees His Father doing. Jn. 5:19   His choices were often surprising. He chose only one man to heal at the at pool of Bethesda though many dreamt of it. The rich young ruler departed from Jesus’ with a sad heart  yet Jesus didn’t go after him. Jesus wasted no steps because Abba ordered them.

Did Jesus have memory of His intimacy with the Father? Did He remember the Garden and the fall? Did he feel the urgency of the ages in needing to redeem mankind? Or did God subject his mind/memory to finite time just as we live? I’m inclined to think that way. Whatever Jesus seemed to know about history, about Abraham and about the Torah, He knew from studying. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Heb. 5:8

Jesus’ journey to the cross never eroded His trust in His Father.  He probably did not have all the details surrounding his coming crucifixion. He knew He was born for that purpose.  He trusted, He obeyed – and the seeming cruelty of God’s path for Him didn’t cause Him to stumble in His relationship with His Father. Can you imagine how He felt when He studied Isaiah 53 and other prophetic passages? He thought, “This is talking about me. This will happen to me.”

Abba, I will follow Jesus.  I will be submissive to You.   And I will not stumble over You when life gets really difficult.   Amen