Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. It was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn your statutes. Psalms 119:67,71 Why am I in pain? Sometimes, only God knows the exact answer to that question. Sometimes, with a little patience and waiting on the Lord, I can figure it out; I can understand it enough. I’m sure there are always depths to any situation that I don’t fully comprehend. And maybe the simple answer is the best one today. This passage from Psalm 119 says, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray…” (And by the way, I’m skipping some verses in the passage today, but please read Psalm 119:65-72 if you have the time today) Those are sobering words. I went astray, so the Lord afflicted me. Or some would rather say it like this, “The Lord allowed me to be afflicted.” My heart and my behavior matter. They matter to me, to my family, my place of employment, my community, my church, and the church. When my heart and behavior are astray, it aff

“As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent.”  Revelation 3:19 Some Christians say that God does not discipline believers.  And I get where they are coming from.  They are wanting people to come freely to Jesus without fear. So they present God as only being nice. Arms out. Hugs. Everything is happy. So lets say that someone buys this idea that God does not discipline his children. Now, something bad happens.  Something so bad that the believer is miserable for a long, long time. Now what do we have? The answer from the people who say God does not discipline his Children is that God didn’t do that to the person; Satan did it.  Now, we have a bigger problem I think. Now we have an almighty God that supposedly loves me, but he can’t keep something miserable from happening to me.  How about this: God loves me. And he disciplines me.  He disciplines me because He loves me. He saved me, sure. And that is marvelous. But now that I am His, He molds me. He works on me

You caused me to experience many troubles and misfortunes, but you will revive me again. You will bring me up again, even from the depths of the earth. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again. Therefore, I will praise you with a harp for your faithfulness, my God; I will sing to you with a lyre, Holy One of Israel. Psalm 71:20-22 This verse makes my head spin around and say, “Wait, what did that just say?” The Psalmist, talking to God says, “You caused me to experience many troubles and misfortunes.” God caused. Not the devil. In my imagination, when I hurt, I can wrongly think that God is far away from me. I can think He wishes I wasn’t going through it. That’s not what the verse says. God causes my troubles and misfortune. That’s heavy.  And of course He loves me. How can I get those ideas to synch together? Here’s the question: Why would a loving God do such a thing? Here’s my thought: over and over in the Bible God tells His covenant people to depend on Him. This must

  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