Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

This is an audio only devotional. 

  Today's devotional is audio only. 

  Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like a weaned child. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever. Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or too wondrous for me. Psalm 131:1-3 I am a child of God. He has blessed me greatly. And the Holy Spirit empowers me as He does all of His. Yet sometimes, I can forget all about God’s hands-on work in my life. I think that I need to manage this heavy load all by myself. I am learning (sometimes slowly), by His grace, to take my disquieting thoughts to Him, those anxiety surges that squeeze my chest. Instead of the voice in my head that screams this is going to fall apart, I am beginning to hear the Lord is my shepherd… I am learning to take these thoughts and bring them to Jesus because I don’t know how to back them down by myself. But when I set them at His feet, I get a sense of calm. The Psalm says, “Lord, My heart

    In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained. Philippians 3:16  Loose With the Word Truth People get confused. I have even heard it from believers. They say things like, “That’s true for you but not for me.” Of course, in some contexts that’s right. One person could say that they went to a soccer match, and it was the best day ever. Another person, went but hated it. The soccer match was great: that’s true for you. See, we are so loose with the word truth (in English anyway) that I think we get truth mixed up with opinion or preferences. Still, I’ve heard people say that something was true for me, when we were talking about Bible truth. And they may have even meant that we had different interpretations of something. Different interpretations are different people with limited knowledge trying to get at something. For instance, there are disagreements within the church about things like baptism, communion, the sabbath, and the Lord’s return. They are looking at t

  Lord , how my foes increase! There are many who attack me. Many say about me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah But you, Lord , are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. I cry aloud to the Lord , and he answers me from his holy mountain. Psalm 3:1-4 I am a child of the one true king. And He has gifted me with numerous prayers from the bible which can guide me in prayer. In fact, I can use all kinds of scripture to guide me in talking to God.  Today, Psalm 3 is my guide. Lord, how my foes increase! There are many who attack me. Jesus, today, there are many who more and more arrogantly attack your church, your bride. I am a member of that justified body. I need you in these attacks. They call for ungodly and unholy laws and make unrighteous pronouncements. They take your children to court.  Jesus, there are also my own thought foes which I can carry around inside my head. They spring upon me when I am weak. They accuse me. They tell me that you are far

  “What you’re doing is not good,” Moses’s father-in-law said to him. “You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you. You can’t do it alone.” Exodus 18:17‭-‬18 CSB Humble Listening Believers take advice from godly people. That is the norm. Or it should be anyway.  Knowing the difference between good, godly advice and rotten, stinking, destructive counsel takes wisdom. I’ve listened to both kinds in my life. I’ve been blessed or paid the price.  How can I position myself to recognize good advice when it comes? And how can live a life where I’m not so full of myself when the advice comes that I actually take it? This passage in Exodus shows Moses’s father-in-law, Jethro, giving him advice, advice he sorely needed.  Now let’s think about this: Moses was a leader of an estimated 2 million (or so) people counting men, women, and children. He led this huge group of people out from underneath the tyrannical hand of a Pharaoh

 The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?” So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there. He said, “If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:24-26 I love the Lord. He has called me out of darkness into His glorious light.  And I confess, I grumble.  But the Lord is renewing my mind.  My habit of mind was to grumble silently, you know, where the Lord wouldn’t hear it, right. I would keep these complaints and throw them in a sack I kept somewhere down deep in my mind. I was going for plausible deniability.  It didn't work; my plan failed.  The Lord kept testing me. He kept refining me. He used the test

Woe to the rebellious children! This is the Lord ’s declaration. They carry out a plan, but not mine; they make an alliance, but against my will, piling sin on top of sin. Without asking my advice they set out to go down to Egypt in order to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow. But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and refuge in Egypt’s shadow your humiliation.  Isaiah 30:1-3 Doing It God's Way Able Believers soak themselves in scripture. They work to understand it. They talk about it and even argue about it which promotes solid interpretation. That’s how they know God’s plan. He teaches it to them directly through the word and in hearing it preached and taught. They long to obey His word. Disobedient believers may for a time run from God. They may even pretend to follow God, to trust Him. I know, because that’s been me. And by His grace, I serve Him today. Again and again within the pages of holy scripture, God says exactly wh

  And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:31-32 God’s children are kind. I’m His child, so I forgive. Why? Because I am forgiven EVERYTHING! But I can’t forgive. I can’t control my anger. And I say stuff about other people, even believers. In frustration. So It’s okay. I was frustrated, right? I can’t control this. Not when I’m actually angry. That’s not what it says. Deep breath. Let. All. I can’t do this. I know I can’t. I’m just not this good, this righteous. What about Jesus? Was He righteous? Yes. What did He say about doing things on His own? In John 5:30, Jesus says that He can nothing on His own. JESUS said it. If Jesus doesn’t do it on His own, why in the world do I think I can take things over? So here’s what I got so far… I must be kind. I must be compassionate. I must be forgiving. And I must l

  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5‭-‬7 CSB I trust the Lord. That’s what believers do.  And yet, there are times I act like one of Judah’s kings and start trusting in my own wisdom instead of relying on His. And I’m supposed to trust Him for a long time. And in seasons of my life, I’ve done it.  And in seasons I have worked my own plan. Which works about like throwing a monkey wrench into the gears of my life.  I attended a Christian High School and this passage was THE theme verse for our school. It was quoted by the student body at gatherings. It seemed to be a particular favorite of our headmaster.  Even though we hit the books and most of us attended a four year university, this was the main thing they never wanted us to forget. They understood that if we got this backwards, all of that math, English and history were going to be worth so much garbage.  Why

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.  Romans 12:2 BSB Daily Renewal I am a believer. Though I am tempted to be worldly, I am in fact not. Do I fail at that. Yes. Yes. But the Lord, encourages me to know that I don't need to be shaped by the world. His way is for me to renew my mind. I know that renewal of my mind must happen daily. But, I so want to be one and done. I prayed. I'm done. I sought the Lord; He answered me. Done. That is not the way it works. Is life one and done with my kids or my wife. No. It's daily. For years, decades. Maybe half a century or more. No one and done. It's a daily renewal of my mind. How can I do that? Well, I can read scripture. I can enjoy fellowship with believers. I can read books written by godly men. I can listen to sermons preached by godly pastors. I'm living in a time of access the world

The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, their refuge in a time of distress. The Lord helps and delivers them; he will deliver them from the wicked and will save them because they take refuge in him. Psalm 37:39-40 What God Wants Being a believer in Jesus is simple. I’m not saying that being a Christian is easy. But it is simple.  Also, I’m not saying that there aren’t deep theologies hidden in the pages of holy writ; there most certainly are. And they are glorious. Gifted men often spend their whole lives searching out these truths and explaining them to His people.  What I’m saying is that the basics are simple. They aren’t hard to grasp.  This verse gets at a good bit of it.  The Lord is a refuge for the righteous. How can I be righteous? I can’t. He does it.  It’s simple.  The Lord delivers; I don’t deliver myself. He does it. Simple. Why does He deliver them (in this passage)?  Here’s why: they take refuge in Him.  I’ve never tried to count it up, but there are probably hu

  Commit your way to the Lord ; trust in him, and he will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday. Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the person who carries out evil plans. Psalm 37:5-7 Believers walk with the Lord and they pray. This is the second in a series of devotionals in which I pray through a scripture. I encourage you to find scripture to pray through on your own. You may find that it helps break through the doldrums of tedious prayer. What a tragedy to be bored when I pray! “Commit your way to the Lord” Lord, I commit my way to you. I know that you go before me. It is a temptation for me to not fully commit, to hold something back that you have asked. You have asked for all and I want to only give part. I have wanted to keep something back for myself. Jesus, help me to give you all that you ask. “Trust in Him.” I can commit my way to you when I trust you. And I

Do not be agitated by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong. For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender green plants. Trust in the Lord and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. Take delight in the Lord , and he will give you your heart’s desires.  Psalm 37:1-4 As believers in God, we can use the scriptures to help us pray. I like to do this because it helps me know that I am praying in God’s will. It teaches me things that I can pray for that I never thought of before. I originally learned to do this from the book *Praying the Bible* by Donald S. S. Whitney, which I recommend highly.  Let’s use this passage from Psalm 11 to guide our prayer.  “Do not be agitated by evildoers.” Lord, you tell us to not be stirred up by the wicked here. This is something we can only do with your help. Those who mean harm to your church seem to be growing in power these days. But we know that no matter what kind of power they seem to have is but a moment. Jesus, help us t

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Test and prove what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:8‭-‬10 For His Pleasure I was once darkness. Now I am light in the Lord. That's not "Super Christian;" that is me. Paul is telling the whole Ephesian church that they are light in the Lord.  I am light in the Lord. Yet, I only understand that a little bit.  I know that it includes things like honesty, wisdom, and courage. All of which I feel I lack. But see, He has begun a good work in me. And by His grace, I desire for Him to keep doing it. Never stop! Now what I think is happening is that the Lord is growing a capacity in me for these things, but I don't always see it. He is making me good. He is making me honest. He is making me righteous.  Why? For His own good pleasure. That’s why. He shows what He can do with me, and then, others get excited about

  I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 I Am Light I am a believer. God loves me. He has called me out of the darkness into His glorious light.  I love God. I surrender to Him today.  And He works. When I pray, He is already at work. He is everywhere present at the same time, so sure, He is in Heaven, working and ruling, but He is right here. Right now in this place. Working. On me.  He is patient with me. He knows I am dust. (Psalm 103:14) He has already justified me in the courts of heaven. But the cleansing process takes a long, long time. It took a year to prepare Esther for the king. The Lord is taking a lifetime to prepare me for His court.  And there are days when I feel like I have blown it so badly that He is done with me. Or that I never was his. That's a lie from the dark. But I was once darkness. NOW I AM LIGHT. (Ephesians 5:8) For His Purposes He is not finished with me. H

    But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:7-8 Goodies of the World I am a follower of Christ. That’s who I am. Jesus sent apostles after He lived who were specially empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry His message and to get the New Testament church up and going.  Sometimes, these apostles, like Paul, tell us to do like him. In one case He tells us to follow him as he follows Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). And here in the book of Philippians I think he is telling me (2000 years after he wrote it) to follow him as he follows Christ.  His message is this: consider the goodies of the world lost, but you will gain Christ.  And this idea needs to nourish my attitude. He says, “Everything that was a gain,

He feeds on ashes. His deceived mind has led him astray, and he cannot rescue himself, or say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?” Isaiah 44:20 Act Like an Idolater As a child of God, I am not by definition, an idolater. I worship the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  But I can act like an idolater (1 John 5:21). I can slip into that mindset. I can notice how close up those idols are, so real looking, and how far away God seems.  Why would I latch onto such a fabrication?  I do that to justify my desire to eat the forbidden fruit. I want it, but God said, “You shall not…” But with a little mental maneuvering, I can “believe” that I am doing the right thing.  But even when I act like that as a child of God, that is not who I truly am.  I am a born-again lover of God, obedient, joyful, hopeful, grateful and more. That’s who I really am.  God has not given me a Spirit of fear but one of power, love and a sound mind, right? That’s right.  Feast of Ashes And even though, I’ve bee