Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13 Stress Contentment is a blessing, and it’s in my control as a believer. Really? Yes it is. How do I know? Because Paul is implying here that believers should be content. If he is saying that I can be content, then I can. How easy it is for me to not treat contentment with the full respect it deserves! Sometimes I don’t think at all about how to nurture it nor protect it. I know what it is to be rich. And I know what it is to scrape by, to wonder how the bills are ever going to get paid. I can get so anxious about possible upcoming stresses. So I build up this steam of discontent all in my head, ruining the day. Learning to be Content How do I get this contentment? I love the first few lines of the serenit...

This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden, because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. 1 John 5:2‭-‬4 I'm in School Here Believers in Jesus keep His commands. And that’s what I do. Right? Yes, it is.  Not perfectly. And sometimes I look like a complete wreck at keeping His commands. But I’m in school here. I’m learning, and like a Kindergartener who is learning to write his name, I can get the letters backwards. And when I get it backwards, I want to get it right. I can stumble, skin my knee, try again, fall again, even break a bone, but He is still working on me. Don’t get me wrong; my sin is serious, and it causes hurt in me and others. Still, dealing with it is part of the discipleship of the Lord in my life.  One of the interesting things to me in this verse is...

Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is in the heights! My friends scoff at me as I weep before God. I wish that someone might argue for a man with God just as anyone would for a friend. Job 16:19-21 His Heartfelt Cry Believers pray for each other. We intercede. We get between the person we are praying for and the Lord and argue for that person! Job was a man of tragedy for sure. His family got wiped out, his wife became embittered, all of his property was stolen or destroyed, and he was struck with a painful disease. But that’s not what Job dwells on. Rather, his narrative poem zooms in on Job’s relationships with his friends. So, it seems we can add another grief to the list. For not only did his friends misinterpret what happened to Job, adding unmercifully to his agony, they did not intercede for him. And they should have. I’m struck by his heart felt cry, “I wish that someone would argue for a man with God…” And notice that he says that after he declares that God is h...

  I am the one, I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more. Isaiah 43:25 I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22 All of It God works and keeps on working in the lives and hearts of believers, in me. Even when I go through dry times and I feel like God has forgotten me. That’s me being self-deceptive. Living in denial. God is with me, and He does expect me to trust and obey Him. I am in no way able to handle my own sin. It handles me. And the God of all creation knows all about it. He knows all about my sin. Nothing is hidden. And He sweeps my sin away. The dirt is gone. He sweeps up my jealousies. He sweeps up my unrighteous anger. He sweeps up my unfaithfulness. He sweeps up my laziness. He sweeps it ALL up. Throwing Out the Garbage Not only does He sweep it away, but He remembers it no more. He sweeps away my sins like a mist! Poof, just like smoke it di...

  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12 Divine Mistakes Do I love others, especially other believers? Do I? Yes. But oh boy, sometimes it’s such a faltering display. Looks like a duck landing on a frozen pond. But it is there. This verse opens with an interesting statement: No one has ever seen God. Then (in English), there’s a semi colon. That semi colon says that the clauses on either side of it are attached to each other. They go together. The punctuation functions as a conjunction without actually using words such as and, or, yet, or so. So, here’s how I read this verse. No one has ever seen God. But here’s how people do see Him, if we love one another. He chose faulty people to be His children and then told them to love one another and that loving each other would show that He lives. Does it sound like God made a mistake as he was planning out the universe? Well, you probably know me better than that. No...

  Little children, guard yourselves from idols.  1 John 5:21 Paying Attention Just because I’m a child of God does not mean that everything is smooth sailing and I have no work to do. If I’m not paying attention, I will stumble into idolatry. Wait. Did I just say that? That sounds like it might have been an issue for 1st century Christians, but not me living in the 2000s. I don’t see any idolatry in my neighborhood, right? And certainly Christians don’t worship idols. Okay, so I've never seen a Christian buy a carved image and bow down to it. But we still manufacture idols. I know, now I don’t sound like I’m making any sense. John Calvin said it like this: “The heart is a perpetual idol factory.” See, I make up my own idols out of thin air. Possessions Earlier in this letter, the apostle John said it like this: “For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions — is not from the Father, but is from the world.” I can t...

  Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem... He did what was right in the Lord ’s sight, but not like his ancestor David. He did everything his father Joash had done. Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. 2 Kings 14:1-4 Keep Being Good What is a believer? It is someone who believes in Jesus, the Son of God, who died for my sins and rose again, and ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit to minister to His people. How incredible is that? And yet, I must regularly take out my compass and look to the north. I must fill my mind with Him. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." The Old and New Testament are a compass. What's that have to do with the passage above? They are about Amaziah, a descendant of David, a mostly true descendant. He did what was right in the Lord's ...

  I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love… Ephesians 3:16-17 Strengthen You This verse says I am strengthened out of the riches of His glory. I need that strength. I am not God. I serve Him. I need power to serve Him. It seems like I falter over and over and over. I also can pray that other believers be strengthened. When I see a brother or sister hurting or weak, I get to ask that God strengthen them! How? In what way? OUT OF THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY! I often zoom right past that idea. My strength comes from the riches of His glory. Knock me over with a feather. There is plenty for all. (And I can pray that the believers around me get it too...) With what do I get strengthened? With power through His Spirit in my inner being. This is treasure. More valuable than any chest that any pirate ever buried. I am a bel...

  He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7 He Scrubs Where Only He Can Reach Why did He save me? Well, it wasn’t because of good works I have done. My good works are like building a house with rotten wood in a floodplain. My good works are only good because of Him. I can truly do good works because of the work He has done in me. I would drown in my own yuck without His saving mercy. He saw me and said there’s a man I’m going to clean from the inside out. He scrubbed where only He could reach. He regenerated. That’s new life; He took a dead man and brought him to life. How? By the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Watch this: He POURED the Holy Spirit out RICHLY upon me. Richly. We’re not...

  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:1-5 Grace I read that and tried to cut out a verse or two for this devotional; I just couldn't do it. I am justified. Right with God. I have peace with God. I could stop right there. What more is needed? Try and put a value on having peace with God. I can't. Oh, I want to know it dearly. And the passage continues. I have access into this grace. I. Regular old me has access. I have it now. Today. I boast. Humble pride. I boast i...

  No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. Hebrews 4:13 Let Me Know When You're Ready to Talk Why do I try to hide from God sometimes? It makes no sense. I mean, I know that people act like their parents who act like their parents and so on. When I think I'm hiding something from God, that's me acting like Father Adam. He disobeyed God and hid. Then, when he got caught, he tried to talk his way out. "The woman you gave me, gave it to me." I can struggle with greed, jealousy, lust, whininess, rage, resentment, and more on any given day. And when that's my behavior, I think He says, "Let me know when you're ready to talk." No creature is hidden from Him. I can't run from Him. I can only lie to myself and think I'm hiding. Right, so I can give Him the silent treatment. I Am Naked and Exposed Plus, I am naked and exposed. He sees it all. I can't dress it up. I...

  Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin. Romans 4:6-8 Not a License Believers believe. I'm a believer. I can't work for my salvation. It's God's gift. And since I'm His child, He empowers me to do good works. The verse says that God credits righteousness to me. This credit is part of the tapestry of His eternal plan. I don't understand it. It humbles me. I don't deserve it. But I am blessed. Paul, the writer of the verse, says my lawless acts are forgiven. That sentence stops me in my tracks. Not just my slip ups nor my dumb mistakes. No. My LAWLESS acts are forgiven. My flagrant disobedience. It needs saying that this is not a license to sin. If I had one of those, I'd use it. That's a hard thing to say. But see, it's the Holy Spirit who wor...

The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever. Psalm 121:7-8 Trusting His Word Part of being a believer is trusting His word, trusting Jesus. This verse in Psalms is part of a group of Psalms called Psalms of Ascent. They were sung or chanted as Jews were walking together to Jerusalem to worship Him. So how do I believe this Psalm? These verses aren't easy for me. First, I must acknowledge that I matter to Him. I must because the verse says He will protect me from all harm. Yet I experience hurts and harm. He will protect my life. Believers die. He will protect my coming and going, now and forever. Forever. Really? The answer is yes. But not in the way it might seem. So if on the face of it, I'm having a hard time with a verse, what can I do? He Never Leaves 1. Ignore it. 2. Take it at face value in every sense of the meaning. 3. Or, I can dig into it and try to figure it out. I know that the...

  So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. Colossians 2:6-7 It's Relational As a believer, I have received Christ Jesus as Lord. He rules. That's what a Lord does. Now, what does it mean to continue to walk. This is relational. It's not just about checking off the right boxes: pray, read my bible, go to church. Those things are part of the relationship, not outside of the relationship with Him. I have sometimes just checked off the boxes. And when I "believe" like that, it all becomes a burden. I can't handle it. But if I walk with Him, if I seek His presence, if I seek His will, it seems easy. It feels joyful. As You Were Taught There's a progressive nature to this relationship with the Lord. The verse says, "being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith." That's not ...

  Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 It Pleased Him Who am I in Christ? This verse gives an answer. This is one of those read-it-slowly verses. He has blessed me with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. Every blessing? Seriously, every? What? Why? What did I do to deserve such a blessing? Nothing. Jesus died for me? Why? Because it pleased Him to choose me.   Every blessing? Really? I don’t think I understand this very well. Now, for sure, there are days that I don’t feel blessed with every spiritual blessing. But it’s not about my feelings. It’s about what Jesus has done. See, I think my Christian life as been so much about remembering what Jesus did on the cross. And that is primary for sure. But I’ve taken but little notice of what all that entails. One thing is this: I’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing. Every. I’m not making this up. It s...

  Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him... Colossians 1:21-22 Am I faultless? Alienated from God. Hostile to Him. Yes, I was once those things. And, to be honest, sometimes I forget myself and act like I am alienated from Him and hostile to Him now. That's silly and even tragic when I do. Because even as a believer it gets expressed as evil actions. It happened to David who got his friend's wife pregnant and then tried to cover it up by having him murdered. David was a godly man who allowed himself to drift into an alienated and hostile state of mind. But the point of this verse is that, I don't have to act the alienated part. I have been reconciled to God by his work on the cross. This is so I can be holy. Set apart. And faultless. Hang on. That doesn't sound like me at all. I have my faults. Clean...

  I will bless the Lord who counsels me — even at night when my thoughts trouble me. I always let the Lord guide me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:7‭-‬8 When I Was Troubled Psalm 16 got me out of a bad place a few days ago. It was one of those days where I felt like pulling my head into my shell and pretending I was okay. I realized it (relatively quickly) and knew I couldn't stay there. A divine interruption gave me a few minutes to pause, and I prayed through Psalm 16. It says, "I will bless the Lord who counsels me." Is that just a promise for the Psalmist? No, I think not. Why? Because the Psalms are meant to be read, sung, and even memorized by Israel and the church. The Lord is MY counselor. And not just when I (think I) have it all together. He's my counselor at night when I am troubled. God Doesn't Ignore Me Then, he says, "I ALWAYS let the Lord guide me." See, that gives me a goal in my walk with the Lord. To alw...

  Lord, you light my lamp; my God illuminates my darkness. With you I can attack a barricade, Or a ridge, or raiders and with my God I can leap over a wall. Psalm 18:28-31 Stressful Life The Lord lights my lamp. He shines light into my darkness. He does it. He didn't have to, but He called me out of darkness into His light. I would be blind without Him. I know right from wrong. On most things. But on some, without His word, I would be lost in the darkness. “I can attack a barricade,” the Psalm says. That's what the psalmist had to do. I don’t have anything THAT hard to do. And I don't foresee it coming. But I have other real challenges. Sometimes life feels so stressful I could spit. God helps me deal with those difficulties. How I Accomplish His Plans for Me I'm thankful that I don’t have to leap over a wall. Now, if God was there when the Psalmist was doing God’s will, He is here for me when I’m trying to work it out. God chose me for a purpose, maybe not leaping over...

  I know, Lord , that a person’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps. Discipline me, Lord , but with justice — not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing. Jeremiah 10:23-24 The Fabric of His Will I am the Lord's. He has delivered me from a life of bondage to sin. I don't determine my own way. So who am I; what am I? What's my purpose? I know it's not that God is my puppet master, simply pulling my strings. No, He has given me a will and desires. I make decisions and He holds me accountable to those decisions. I decide to pray. Yet, this weaves into the fabric of His holy will. I do the good work that He has laid out before me. And it works perfectly into his plan. But also this. I sin. I am tested. I fail. This too works perfectly into the tapestry of his will. He disciplines me, perfecting me. And His power is displayed. The Desire to Walk in the Spirit Grows There is the huge overarching work that He is doing. Everything I do...