Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  1 Corinthians 15:58 CSB Weak, useless, unworthy are the whispered accusations that echo in my mind. Well,  I am indeed those things. Guilty as charged.  And so what? For I am the Lord’s and He is mine. See, I can always seek the face of God like Peter when he first jumped off the boat to run to the Lord.  Or I can foolishly choose to look at the waves. Worried. And that would be the normal thing to do right? To fill up on anxiety. To hopelessly try to fix it.  But did He call me to be normal? No. I'm not normal. I'm empowered, I'm filled with the Holy Spirit.  See, Paul is addressing the believer who even in his weakness boldly runs to Jesus. The one who seeks the face of God. And e ven in the depths of despair and misery, I can seek the face of God. I must.  Paul says, "Be steadfast." Never mind. Done

  I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 I Am Light I am a believer. God loves me. He has called me out of the darkness into His glorious light.  I love God. I surrender to Him today.  And He works. When I pray, He is already at work. He is everywhere present at the same time, so sure, He is in Heaven, working and ruling, but He is right here. Right now in this place. Working. On me.  He is patient with me. He knows I am dust. (Psalm 103:14) He has already justified me in the courts of heaven. But the cleansing process takes a long, long time. It took a year to prepare Esther for the king. The Lord is taking a lifetime to prepare me for His court.  And there are days when I feel like I have blown it so badly that He is done with me. Or that I never was his. That's a lie from the dark. But I was once darkness. NOW I AM LIGHT. (Ephesians 5:8) For His Purposes He is not finished with me. H

  Let’s strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land. Hosea 6:3 Strive If the bible says that He loved us first, that He made us alive, why does Hosea say to strive to know the Lord? I think He's saying, "I'm giving you this priceless gift. Now, do something with it. Work out your salvation. Seek out the plans I have for you." Strive he says; He's telling me to put my back into it. What does that look like? How to Strive The easy parts are almost cliché. Read my bible regularly. Every believer can do that. Read it. Think about it. Listen to the Holy Spirit by reading prayerfully. Attend church. Go, sing, hear the word preached, listen, help. Ask questions. God wants me to be with other believers, to fellowship. Pray. By appointment with the Lord. And whenever I need to. The men and women of the bible sought the Lord. Many did it for great lengths of time, especially in

  Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13 I'm learning to trust that He is at work in me. God works in believers. I just want to mull over that. GOD WORKS IN BELIEVERS! He works in me, yet I barely notice sometimes. I'm all caught up in the first part of the verse that says, "...work out your salvation." I get worn out with the working out and the fear and trembling. Only because I forget about the second part that says God works in me for His good purpose. And I can be like a sailor who tries to huff and puff his own wind into the sails. And here's the dumb part, I've been known do huff and puff when God is already providing the wind! I'm learning to open my eyes to the fact that He is doing. Be still and know... Then, the working out my salvation with fear and trembling sounds more like this: take your salvation SERIOUSLY! God is w

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 Things work out, even very painful things, in His time. I am His workmanship. That means He put thought and wisdom into making me. He knew what He was doing when He made me, when He saved me, and made me new. I am now a new creation. I am being made a new creation. And one day in glory, I will be fully complete. I have heard many testimonies of people who got saved and still struggled with their hurts, habits, and hang-ups. God kept working. They learned to keep coming to him over and over. And when they thought they were fully depending on Him, they realized they were still holding back something for themselves.  God demands all. I know that sounds impossible; He makes it possible.  He chisels away. Working, crafting. Wiser than Solomon. More talented than Michelangelo.  Things work out, even very painful things, in His time. I am His workmanshi