Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

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...

  I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. Galatians 5:16‭-‬17 CSB For many years, even as a believer, I rarely thought about walking by the Spirit. Not in so many words anyway. But God is gracious, so He often generously led me into His light anyway, showing me how to walk by the Spirit. But I wouldn’t keep walking in the light because it wasn’t a discipline. I went to church, sure, but I just thought the other stuff would come naturally. See, I wanted to figure it all out for myself. I wanted to spiritually power up like a video game hero and fight my way through. I wanted to earn points for myself.  But that’s not the way God works. He works by His Spirit. Zechariah 4:6 says, “Not by might and not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.” Christians ...

  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:9-10 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15 Am I Sunk? As a follower of Christ, I read and learn from the bible. It’s part of who I am. Christians are the people of the book. And one of the things I learn from the Bible, in this case the apostle John, is that I have sinned. It happens. And when it happens, we must confess it. We confess it. He cleanses us. I’m starting with that because the next part is heavy if I read it apart from understanding that. Believers do not love the world nor the things in the world. Gulp. If I love the world (and the things of the world), the love of the Father is not in me. I struggle with my love of the world and the things of the world so much. So then, I’...

    …take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. Ephesians 4:22-24 I Can Be Renewed in My Mind! The Holy Spirit works on me, changing me to be like Jesus. He is making me new. Believers need reminders that this is happening. I do. And I love being reminded of it   I like how the Living Translation says to “throw off” my old sinful self. Throw. Be active in this. Work it out. Throw that junk off. Why? It’s corrupted by lust. Evil desires. That’s flesh. Romans 8 talks about believers setting our minds on the things of the Spirit versus the things of the flesh. I must work at this. And to make matters worse, the verse says I can deceive myself. I must throw off my sinful nature which is corrupted by lust and deception. This is serious, right? I must pay attention. If I don’t, I ...

  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...

  Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him... Colossians 1:21-22 Am I faultless? Alienated from God. Hostile to Him. Yes, I was once those things. And, to be honest, sometimes I forget myself and act like I am alienated from Him and hostile to Him now. That's silly and even tragic when I do. Because even as a believer it gets expressed as evil actions. It happened to David who got his friend's wife pregnant and then tried to cover it up by having him murdered. David was a godly man who allowed himself to drift into an alienated and hostile state of mind. But the point of this verse is that, I don't have to act the alienated part. I have been reconciled to God by his work on the cross. This is so I can be holy. Set apart. And faultless. Hang on. That doesn't sound like me at all. I have my faults. Clean...

  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...

The Pain, Hurt, Anger, Worry I struggle. Some days feel like it's all about the pain, hurt, anger, worry. God is faithful. He doesn't leave me alone in the fight. He encourages me directly through His word. Directly. He reminds me that I am loved. That I am His child, chosen. He revives me. Breathes encouragement into my fragmented thoughts. I can read a verse, and it leaps out at me. Like this one above. It shows me that God is full of lovingkindness which He is ready to shower on me. Why? So that I may keep the testimonies of His mouth. That I may keep His word. (Plus, He builds that desire in me.) That I may obey Him. And when I obey, I am filled with joy. Usefulness too. He Didn't Say It Would Be Easy When I keep His word, His testimonies, my relationships are healthier, more loving. The verse also gives me a clue about how to pray. I get to ask Him to revive me. The implication is that He will do it. I get to confess my hurts, my cries, my disappointments, in fact I mu...

 

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV Temptation is not sin. I get tempted. Everyone does. It is part of the fabric of being human, even for believers. And I might think that this temptation is unique to me. That I need to work my way through it in my own way.  That's just my pride. "I got this. No one can help me." When I try to work it, I end up feeling hopeless. Feeling that others can live a victorious Christian life, but not me.  I have year upon year of trying to break through my own temptation and sin.  But wait... He doesn't let me get tempted beyond my ability. "Yes He does!" I secretly think.  I'm wrong. I know, because when I look at how giving in to my sin happened, I see patterns of thought and even "smaller" sins tha...