Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

  But as for me, Lord, my prayer to you is for a time of favor. In your abundant, faithful love, God, answer me with your sure salvation.  Psalm 69:13 CSB My son asked to borrow my car. I paused, thought about it, and threw him the keys. I want to give him good things. And we get to ask God our Father for good things. We get to ask Him for His favor. It feels weird for us to ask. I’m not talking about one of those half-hearted prayers that puff through our cheeks like so much exhaust. No, I’m talking about asking Him like a son when he needs the car. A son has a hopeful expectation of an answer. He looks his father in the eye and waits for a response. Our prayers should be at least that sincere. I mean, it’s no fair to not (really) believe that God answers if we don’t ask expect an answer. But that’s what we've done so many times. This Psalm was written by David and he has every expectation that we should approach God like this too. He wrote it to be sung and memorized. To b

  For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. Hebrews 2:1 CSB Focus on the Lord Believers must focus! If I don’t, I drift (Focus means that I am depending on Him). And drifting doesn’t sound like that big a deal, right? Wrong. For me drifting has brought wreckage. Hurt. Both to me and my loved ones. A little drifting here and there, and one day I wake up to find that I can’t see the shore anymore. I don’t know where to turn. I have no sense of who I am. I don’t see the Holy Spirit’s work in me. When I drift, God didn’t go anywhere. He is still right with me, caring for me, shining His light on what I need to see, disciplining me. But in my drift, I miss so much of the benefit of being a Christian. Even worse, I’m missing out on the face to face relationship I could be having with Jesus. Lead Me Back I also lose my grip on much of the usefulness I could be having among the body of Christ. As a part of the bod

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 this

  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, of

  Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor. Proverbs 21:21 Pursue It I know that God wants me, His child, to be righteous and kind. He says it plainly. I'm going to focus on the kindness part in the verse. I find it so interesting that He says to pursue it. Chase it. That suggests that this kindness is elusive, it's not something where I simply say, "I'm kind now." I found this definition of kind: Showing tenderness or goodness; disposed to do good and confer happiness (Wordnik). Interestingly, one of the synonyms of the word is Christlike. Now, I'm not automatically kind. I must work for it, fight for it. It is a challenge, right? But implied in the verse is this: I can attain it. I can be righteous. I can be kind. I'm going to also say that I can grow in it. There are layers to kindness. Love in Action The most kind people try to help you get what you need, maybe even before you realize you need it. This is love

  Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:8-10 The impulse to do bad things subsided. I'm a believer who needs my godly friends. It takes humility to rely on friends and grace to help them. The verse says, love covers a multitude of sins. One way to look at that is that we need each other. And if love covers a multitude of sins, that means that friends know about those sins. I am blessed to have godly friends that I reach to. They reach out to me too. We listen to and help each other. They remind me to be bold, to forgive, to make amends, and to be honest. They are Christ-like though they might not ever describe themselves that way. The other day, I was tempted hard. I reached out to two friends. One got the notification and texted me back immediately.

Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes. I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies! Psalm 119:124‭-‬125 According to His Steadfast Love I am a child of the one true God. I am His servant. The songwriter of this Psalm just up and says, "Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love." Oh, I want to have the faith and courage to talk to God like that. I mean, the psalmist almost sounds demanding! Of course, he is not. He simply knows God so well that He can ask and He will receive. This becomes a model for me when I pray. I so want God to deal with me according to His steadfast love. What a beautiful idea! Yes God, deal with me like that. Zooms By Like a Speeding Corvette And teach me your statutes, your word, and what you want me to do. Teach me that. Wait. I can ask God to teach me things! And He listens? Yes. The bible is a treasure of truth that I can read and it zooms right by me like a s