Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

Note: The audio podcast here is a RambleCast and was recorded before the blog piece was written, so it does not match word for word. Not even close.  I sought the Lord , and he answered me and rescued me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them.  Psalm 34:4-7 (CSB) Some days I really beat myself up. Things not going great. Get so down that I get down for being down. And guess what? I don't ever have to do that again. I don't have to. I don't. I can always turn to Jesus. I have the Holy Spirit living right inside of me, right? I am His temple. I get to stand on that. I must.  And that's what the Psalmist of Psalm 34 knows. He owns it.  "I sought the Lord and He answered me." Hey, I could stop right there and think on just that for a thousand years or mo...

  For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe. Deuteronomy 10:17 (CSB)

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." Neve...

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...

  But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go in. You complained in your tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. Deuteronomy 1:26-27 (NLT) I am God’s child and He blesses me, but I don’t always recognize it. I want a million dollars to drop in my lap, but God’s blessings never look like that! Sometimes they don’t look like blessings at all. Recently, I did something that some would call stupid: I prayed to ask the Lord for humility. Why would I do such a thing? Here’s why, the Bible shows us over and over that the Lord blesses humility. Verses like James 4:10, “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up,” and 1 Peter 5:5, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble:" these are clear. There are loads of verses about humility and blessings. The book of Proverbs even says that humility is linked to financial wealth. I have...

On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. John 20:1 CSB Believers love the Lord. And those who love Him seek Him. Even when it seems all hope is lost. Here, we have Mary Magdalene (not Mary, the mother of Jesus). And it is clear that she loves Jesus. She is seeking Him on the worst weekend of her life. As I read John 20 (and please read the full chapter ), I can sense a faint light of hopefulness even as she knows that He is dead. Maybe just being near his crucified body will bring comfort to her grieving soul. Or maybe even in her grief she is beginning to process some of what He said about rising again. She is certainly not expecting to find him risen. Imagine then, what joy to have Him say her name! For me, how many times, I have thought the Lord was done with me. How could He love a man like me? I even acted like He was dead. I certainly did not have the faith of Mary. I w...

  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 ...