Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.  1 Corinthians 15:10 (CSB) Paul says, "I am what I am." That’s a statement of acceptance. It’s an important reminder for me too. Because I can resent what I am and who I am. I can resent my own biography, the stuff that has happened in my life. I can certainly blame people and events for my struggles.  I am what I am. But rather than be resentful of who I am, I should be grateful. And I don’t use that word “should” lightly. I don’t like it. It’s a pushy little word isn’t it! And I think it’s the right word here. See, I should be grateful for who I am. I recently visited my chiropractor. He has worked on a number my family members. And he started to list the blessings I have. And it was humbling. God was using him. And I am grateful. Here's what happened: in that doctors office, I spoke

I cry aloud to the Lord ; I plead aloud to the Lord for mercy. I pour out my complaint before him; I reveal my trouble to him.  Psalm 142:1-2 (CSB) The Lord expects me to seek Him out. And He knows I’m not an avid seeker. He knows He needs to poke me sometimes to get me moving. And these pokes come in the form of everything that happens in the tapestry of time and space. Everything that happens is directly a part of His plan.  Sometimes things feel so incredibly bad. In this Psalm, David is hiding in a cave. Now, let’s remember the history. Samuel the prophet anointed David while Saul was still king. And God began to bless David. It seemed like everything David put his hand to turned out right. He killed the giant. He was victorious in battle . (See 1 Samuel) Then, things went incredibly bad. And Saul, the still reigning king, started to hunt David down to kill him.  David hid out in caves with his mighty men. And he got depressed. The prophet had told him he would reign, and here he i

  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

  He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7 He Scrubs Where Only He Can Reach Why did He save me? Well, it wasn’t because of good works I have done. My good works are like building a house with rotten wood in a floodplain. My good works are only good because of Him. I can truly do good works because of the work He has done in me. I would drown in my own yuck without His saving mercy. He saw me and said there’s a man I’m going to clean from the inside out. He scrubbed where only He could reach. He regenerated. That’s new life; He took a dead man and brought him to life. How? By the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Watch this: He POURED the Holy Spirit out RICHLY upon me. Richly. We’re not tal

  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 He Pardons I am a child of God. Still, I can work up some real worry about my standing with God. I've found that I must remind myself regularly, with His word, where I stand. This verse clearly states God's compassion toward me (written hundreds of years before Jesus lived). He pardons iniquity: sin. He passes over transgression: more sin. For the remnant of His inheritance. That's believers, those who still believe, who still love Him even after so many have fallen away. So many seem to have fallen away today too. When the people in the land turn to evil and call it good, God acts. His actions effect even believers. The rain falls on the just an

  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

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 Inner Fight I am a blessed believer, redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Dearly loved. And I am weak. It seems like every day there is some kind of inner fight. Anger, grief, jealousy. And there's the pride, every single day. It's almost like I need to do a regular pride check. Like the dash light that tells me that my tire is low, I need a humility check. And Jesus, the King of kings, sympathizes with my weakness. This is particularly hard for me to internalize. I can have a wrong-headed message in my head that says, “You’re on your own here.” Or, “You need to go to the spiritual gym and workout to make yourself worthy enough to come to God; then, He’ll pay attention to you.” Lies.