Daily Devotional
Be different!
July 26, 2022
Firstly,
Who I Am….
I love that worship song, “You’re a good, good Father, it’s who you are, and I’m loved by you, it’s who I am.” You could meditate on that line for a month and never exhaust the powerful truth behind it. ‘Cause who are you?
You are loved by God. That literally is who you are. Five times in his Gospel the apostle John refers to himself as quote, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
Right there, his most important identity is not his name, but being loved by Jesus. My identity and yours; everything you are, everything you’ll ever be is all wrapped up in Christ’s love for you.
You’ve breath because he loves you. You got a name, a family, a mission, all because he loves you.
You escaped hell and have a home in heaven because Jesus loves you. It’s who you are. You are loved by the Lord. And that’s your reason to celebrate today.
Now to….
The Ammunition of Bible Promises
“We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!”
Psalm 124:7 (ESV)
Most of my 55 years of quadriplegia have been a fight. A good fight.
Years ago, when I was still struggling, I sadly realized that depression was quickly robbing me of my will to live. What I needed back then was a way of escape, a way out of my dismal circumstances. I felt overcome by paralysis. Lying in bed, I was unable to move. I couldn’t lift my head from the pillow or adjust my position. I felt so claustrophobic, as though I were in prison.
And now, I have learned to thrive with paralyzed hands and legs. I have learned how to manage my chronic pain (not always, but for the most part). More importantly, I have kept my smile.
I’ve done this by holding fast to 1 Corinthians 10:13. It’s important passage of Scripture that assures victory in almost any battle. The life-transforming power in this Bible promise is our best ammunition, for it says, “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” (ESV).
God guarantees that every temptation comes with a way out. That is, a way of escape. God assures that this “way of escape” will help us overcome temptations to cave into feelings of worthlessness or to allow fear and anxiety to overwhelm us. God’s “way out” equips us to endure the toughest of circumstances, and not just endure, but to do it with a smile.
What is that way out? The promises of God.
When I was feeling imprisoned on my hospital bed, it was God’s promises that showed me the way out. Someone read to me 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (NIV).
What a promise. At night when I began to feel panicky, paralyzed in bed, I presented 2 Corinthians 3:17 to God time and again, petitioning him in a whisper. I battled to have faith that God would keep his promise. It was a fight, but eventually God exchanged that promise for the glorious sensation of freedom. And, oh, what a glorious exchange: I could lie in bed paralyzed and not feel panic or anxiety!
For all the decades since then, claiming God’s promises for my situation has been the way I’ve continued to fight off temptations to collapse or give in. There are thousands of promises in the Bible, and each one that God gives is something we can take to him in exchange for the blessings it guarantees. We can claim them, memorize them, and recite them. Yes, even for 55 years of quadriplegia.
God, I thank you for the many promises you have given your people. I thank you for providing a way out of every temptation, even the temptation to feel defeated. Bring to my mind your promises to equip me to fight valiantly in this good fight, and help me to share with others the freedom found in you.
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