Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

  When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him. 2 Chronicles 18:31 CSB Jehoshaphat is one of the great names in the bible. I just had to say that. By the way, it means Yahweh is judge. Okay. Jehoshaphat was a king of Judah, and he was a mixed bag as kings go. He did some really good things, and he did some dumb and dumber ones too. But I’ll let you look that stuff up. It’s great bible history. And Jehoshaphat was right in the middle of one of his not-so-smooth moves when the events in this passage happened. He was in a battle. And it wasn’t even his battle; it was Israel’s King Ahab’s fight. Jehoshaphat was along for the ride, a ride he should have never taken. If the name Ahab doesn’t ring a bell, remember this: he was Jezebel’s husband. For many, her name is synonymous with evil. So Jezebel’s husband, King Ahab asked Jeh...

Out of the depths I call to you, Lord ! Lord, listen to my voice; let your ears be attentive to my cry for help. Lord , if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be revered. I wait for the Lord ; I wait and put my hope in his word. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning — more than watchmen for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the Lord. For there is faithful love with the Lord, and with him is redemption in abundance. And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities. Psalm 130:1-8 Adam Hid Adam bit into that fruit and hid. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if he had, upon his sin, immediately turned to the Lord in sorrow and asked for forgiveness.  But he ran. And when the Lord found him hiding, Adam blamed his wife and the Lord for his sin. Lord, you put the test there.  But what if he had turned straight away to the Lord.  That’s who I want to be. I sin. Hey, I can cert...

"Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word!" Psalm 119:169 Hiding Does Not Work Some days, I hurt and don't understand why. When I feel shame or anger, my thinking gets cloudy. I want to hide it, unfeel it. And I've tried (cause that's such a healthy thing to do). Hiding does not work. There's no running from it. I must cry out. (Maybe not in the middle of the grocery store...) But I need to feel it. If I refuse to feel this, I isolate myself from feelings of joy, respect, kindness, and forgiveness too. I need to welcome the feelings. Not hide. No denial. The feelings might be there because I caused damage, or because I feel betrayed or misunderstood. Open About How I Feel The Psalmist says, "Let my cry come before you, O Lord." This is being open before the Lord about how I feel. In the depth of my pain, I don't understand. I just feel bad. Feelings aren't understanding. Being honest about them can lead...