Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

  Forgiveness - CSB And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. Ephesians 4:32 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses. Matthew 6:14-15 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Colossians 3:12-13 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?” “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven. Matthew 18:21-22 For you, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on you. Psalms 86:5 Click play to hear th...

For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:9-14 *I learned how to do this from Donald Whitney’s Book Praying the Bible . I am a man who can easily pray shallow prayers. Over and over. Snore.  And it’s not that they should be filled with poetry and King James language like I used to hear in my youth when people ...

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:18‭-‬19 ESV Who am I in Christ? I am a receiver of divine mercy. Like an awkward wide receiver in a middle school football game, the football of mercy dropped into my arms. Only no opponent can intercept it. And I will step into the end zone, for He who has begun a good work in me will continue until I am perfected in Him. I am blessed.  He has pardoned me, a hopeless bum who had nothing but a desolate future ahead.  I am not only a pardoned criminal. I am now His grateful child! What? Yes! I am an inheritor of good gifts which he continually showers upon me.  And sure, He has been angry with me. But not anymore. And even now, when I stumble, when I fa...

  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 mu...

  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...

  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8-9 Falling I am not a sinner who believes. I am a believer who sins. Maybe that's splitting hairs, but I don't think so. I am a believer. That is my definition. I am a child of the one true king. Yet, I sin. Every stinking day. And there are times when I don't admit it. That's denial. Then, God in his holiness, removes that peace and hope that I get when I obey. What I love about this scripture is that it lays it right out there: I am going to sin. Now what? Say the Truth About My Sin I must confess, which means to say the truth about my sin. I must repent which is to turn from my sin. When I confess, he is faithful to His promise. He forgives. And this is interesting: it is just for him to forgive me. Why? Because I am a child of God, not a sinner. See the sin actu...