Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

You caused me to experience many troubles and misfortunes, but you will revive me again. You will bring me up again, even from the depths of the earth. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again. Therefore, I will praise you with a harp for your faithfulness, my God; I will sing to you with a lyre, Holy One of Israel. Psalm 71:20-22 This verse makes my head spin around and say, “Wait, what did that just say?” The Psalmist, talking to God says, “You caused me to experience many troubles and misfortunes.” God caused. Not the devil. In my imagination, when I hurt, I can wrongly think that God is far away from me. I can think He wishes I wasn’t going through it. That’s not what the verse says. God causes my troubles and misfortune. That’s heavy.  And of course He loves me. How can I get those ideas to synch together? Here’s the question: Why would a loving God do such a thing? Here’s my thought: over and over in the Bible God tells His covenant people to depend on Him. This must

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The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever. Psalm 121:7-8 Trusting His Word Part of being a believer is trusting His word, trusting Jesus. This verse in Psalms is part of a group of Psalms called Psalms of Ascent. They were sung or chanted as Jews were walking together to Jerusalem to worship Him. So how do I believe this Psalm? These verses aren't easy for me. First, I must acknowledge that I matter to Him. I must because the verse says He will protect me from all harm. Yet I experience hurts and harm. He will protect my life. Believers die. He will protect my coming and going, now and forever. Forever. Really? The answer is yes. But not in the way it might seem. So if on the face of it, I'm having a hard time with a verse, what can I do? He Never Leaves 1. Ignore it. 2. Take it at face value in every sense of the meaning. 3. Or, I can dig into it and try to figure it out. I know that the

  I know, Lord , that a person’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps. Discipline me, Lord , but with justice — not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing. Jeremiah 10:23-24 The Fabric of His Will I am the Lord's. He has delivered me from a life of bondage to sin. I don't determine my own way. So who am I; what am I? What's my purpose? I know it's not that God is my puppet master, simply pulling my strings. No, He has given me a will and desires. I make decisions and He holds me accountable to those decisions. I decide to pray. Yet, this weaves into the fabric of His holy will. I do the good work that He has laid out before me. And it works perfectly into his plan. But also this. I sin. I am tested. I fail. This too works perfectly into the tapestry of his will. He disciplines me, perfecting me. And His power is displayed. The Desire to Walk in the Spirit Grows There is the huge overarching work that He is doing. Everything I do