Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the person who carries out evil plans. Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated — it can only bring harm.  Psalms 37:7-8 Who am I in Christ? Let's start by listing the verbs in this short passage. 1. Be silent 2. Wait 3. Not agitated 4. Refrain from anger 5. Give up rage Being silent before the Lord first of all implies that I am with Him, that I recognize His presence. That means that sometimes I can simply sit with Him and not pile on with an onslaught of words. I'm silent. I'm trusting, know that He is God.  And I'm waiting. There is a peaceful stillness in it. There is trust. To wait patiently is to trust.  What if I'm a mess? I can be silent and wait even in my mess, right?  In fact, the act of getting that quiet, which I might not have done in a long, long time, the act alone can begin to bring some sanity. I don't know about yo...

  But whoever listens to me will live securely and be undisturbed by the dread of danger. Proverbs 1:33 (CSB) The verse says, “Whoever listens to me…” That’s believers. That’s what believers do; they listen to God. They do that by reading the word, praying, and even waiting on the Lord. They talk to other believers. They fellowship. They listen to preachers. They read books written by people who love Jesus. They resist bad company. And listening implies obedience. Hey, everybody wrestles with obeying Jesus. Our flesh pulls us in the wrong direction. We have to purposefully walk by the Spirit, so we will not carry out the desires of the flesh. It’s a walk. But it’s a walk with sword in hand, ready to fight temptation while yielding to the Holy Spirit. This listening obedience brings blessing, on top of blessing, and more blessing. This Proverb says that these listeners will live securely. Now, we need to stop for a second and remember something about proverbs. They spotli...

  Lord , do not rebuke me in your anger; do not discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, Lord , for I am weak; heal me, Lord , for my bones are shaking; my whole being is shaken with terror. And you, Lord — how long? Psalm 6:1-3 Struggles That Overwhelm Me I have trials as a believer. Who doesn't? A friend recently told me that I sounded conflicted and worried. He was right! On any given day, I can be. I look to the Lord every day to level my path. On some days I am so worn down that my struggle with my own emotions work me over. Faith is an issue for me. Not so much in the big picture; it's the day to day struggles that overwhelm me. I can feel very close to God and far from Him on the same day. I can know He has saved me yet have trouble trusting Him in the moment. When life happens, I can get upset, resentful, even angry with God. Yes, I am weak. But I am growing! God is teaching me every day. I Get to Ask Him to Be Gracious to Me. But, I really do have bad days. I ve...

  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15 Let is a funny word. I believe in the Lord, that He died for my sins and rose again. These instructions from Paul are for me. Let. Funny word, let. It means I do something. Let what? The peace of Christ rule in my heart. I don't know about you, but I have usually thought of peace in my heart as something that happened to me. Or mostly not happened. If I don't have peace in my heart, something happened to take away my peace. That's how I think. I had a bad day. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. The stock market collapsed. That all happened to me and ruined my day, right? Philippians 4:6 says, "Be anxious for nothing." So, I've missed something. Let. There's something I can do. I can let the peace of Christ rule in my heart. And the word let implies that it's easy. Like let the cat in. Or let me have a bite of that. Let. ...

  For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  Romans 8:6 I believed a lie. There is flesh and spirit. Though he has the Spirit, the believer must still contend with his flesh. The grace I have, the blessing, is this: I can set my mind on the Spirit. It is possible. I'm not practiced at it. Why? Because I got it backwards. I once believed that to set my mind on the Spirit was boring. Yes, I know I said that out loud. I thought the mind set on the Spirit was monkish: sitting around in silence, contemplating my navel. That was my impression. I believed a lie. I can get the flesh and the spirit confused. There are two choices at any given time, flesh or Spirit. Being filled with the spirit is not that we must act however we think a monk is supposed to act. We get to talk to people. We get to have fun with them. We get to eat and enjoy life. None of that takes away from setting our minds on the Spirit. My mind set on the flesh = ...

  Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Paul Knows the Lord's Power The Lord says don't be shy about my requests! Right? Here's what I mean... This is a prayer, written in a letter to a church from the apostle Paul. Look at this prayer. "May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace ALWAYS IN EVERY WAY." I can't tell you how many times I have rushed through these verses, never pausing to understand what they are teaching me about prayer and how powerful it is. We know from scripture that prayer is powerful. We know we can pray for others, in this case, other believers. Paul is not timid; He knows the Lord's power. Over-The-Top Request First, He establishes that he is asking the Lord of peace. That means he is going straight to the top with his request. He is asking the One who can actually deliver on the request. He's asking that they be granted peace from the Lord of peace. ...

  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will protect your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6‭-‬7 . What characterizes a believer? A believer in Jesus is anxious for nothing. I love how the scripture uses words like "nothing." It leaves no out, no wiggle room. The bible says it, so this is possible for me. I CAN be anxious for nothing. How? In everything. Here's another one of those words: everything. Here's the list -- prayer and supplication, gratitude, and make requests known to God. Prayer is talking to God, not just saying words, but consciously talking to Him. What is supplication? The dictionary says, "the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly." This looks to me like I am to bug God. But with a good attitude, humbly. With gratitude. That means not holding resentment. Espec...