Day Twenty-Eight (of 31 Daily Reminders)

Who God Is…

God is Merciful!  (He doesn’t give us what we deserve)

[God showed His mercy and grace by loving the unlovable and by forgiving the unforgivable! He doesn’t give us what we deserve, rather He gives us life.]

 

Who I am/we are in Christ…

I am a new creation!   

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come.”
2 Cor 5:17

If anyone becomes a Christian, he is a new creation (a brand new person inside). They are not the same any more: the old way of life is bound in the past (it is finished; it is gone), a totally new way of living has begun (everything is new and fresh).

[Baptism! The daily dying and rising; the putting off the old and putting on the new has begun. We may still have to work through what has happened in the past, but this new life in Christ gives us a start… I, {state your name}, have been and am being made new in Christ Jesus!]

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
Gal 2:20

I have been put to death on the cross with Christ and as a result my present life is not my own, but the living Christ within me.

[Because of Jesus, I, {state your full name}, have died with Him and now live with Him. My old nature has been put to death and I have been given a new nature – all this happened when I was baptized. I am living by faith, so there is always a tension inside me between my old and new natures. Thanks be to God who gives me the victory through my Lord Jesus Christ. ]

 

His promises for me/us today…

“But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
1 Jn 1:7

If we live out our faith in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ does, we have a relationship with each other and the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, makes us clean from every sin.

[Our relationship to God leads us to live in the light of His love and grace as children of the Light. To walk in the light we must choose to stay away from the darkness – in fact His light drives back the darkness as it penetrates the dark corners of our lives… I, {state your name}, am a child of the light.]

“God made him to be sin who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Cor 5:21

God made Christ, His sinless Son, to actually become sin, so that by His death we could be declared righteous (not guilty!).

[Jesus not only carried our sins to the cross, He became sin for us, so that by His atoning death the penalty for our sin would be paid in full and we would receive His righteousness… Jesus bore my sin so that I, {state your name}, could be forgiven.]

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
Rom 8:1

As a result of what Christ has done, we who belong to Jesus are no longer under condemnation. For the power of the life-giving Spirit has set us free from the law that led us to death because of our sinfulness.

[We deserved death; but He has given us life instead as a result of Jesus’ atoning death. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through Him.” … Because God is for me, {state your name}, who could ever condemn me?]

 

His callings/my vocations…

As you reflect on these words from the Lord, what do you sense God calling you to be or to do? How do these words and promises from the Lord speak to you today with the particular joys and struggles that are part of your life and life of faith?

Think of the people who are closest to you in the vocations He has given you?  [husband/wife; family; friends; neighbors; others]. What are some of the “take aways” from these verses that you could share with them to encourage or support them in the challenges they face as they live in this broken world?

Now take a moment to pray, using the words of some of these Scriptures to shape your prayer, as you pray them back to Him. Pray them specifically for those things that you or those you love are dealing with today!

 

This is from the devotional tool, “31 Daily Reminders”, that I have designed to help you begin each day aware of Who God Is, of Who We Are In Christ, of His Promises That Sustain and Empower Us, and of the Various Callings/ Vocations He Has Given Us.  If you would like a hard copy of these devotions, just let me know!