I BELIEVE • DEVOTIONAL: A 14 Day Devotional With Phil WickhamPrzykład

## INTRODUCTION Over the past few years, the world and the Church have been stretched in unimaginable ways. Life that used to feel stable, predictable, and safe has been challenged. This album was birthed out of a deep desire for all of us to be drawn back to the most fundamental elements of our faith. We belong to a Kingdom that will never be shaken, and we follow a crucified and resurrected Savior who is now and forever on the throne. What a reason to worship! We must return to pursuing the One who has always pursued us. These songs were written to boldly proclaim who our God truly is, and to give new lyrics and melodies for us to respond to Him. As I reflect on this past season, the moments that ignited my heart with renewal and passion were times when I would see people unapologetically profess their hope and faith in Jesus. When it was clear that their belief in God was not something hidden but boldly lived out and professed. In his letter to the church in Rome, the Apostle Paul exhorts them: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16 NIV). The Early Church flourished in a time of heavy persecution, extreme uncertainty, and profound adversity because there was something deeper that drove them past their fear to a place of unflinching passion and devotion to Jesus. My friends, we need Jesus. This may not sound like a new or novel idea, and it’s not supposed to, but this is the very framework of our entire reality. This is the foundation of all our hope and the source of our strength. The culture we are surrounded by has been loudly presenting its own version of solutions and functional saviors, and in the past few years, all of those have been shaken. A.W. Tozer once wrote, > “The burden borne by mankind is a heavy and a crushing thing... God is so vastly wonderful, so utterly and completely delightful that He can, without anything other than Himself, meet and overflow the deepest demands of our total nature.” There is only One who is our Cornerstone, the Beginning and End, the Name that is above every other name. Imagine what will happen when we all, His Church, start walking in faith, filled with the Holy Spirit, motivated to love... The world will never be the same, and the desperate longings of all our hearts will finally be satisfied in Him. Over the next 14 days, I hope your faith will be strengthened, your heart captivated, and your soul awakened to the reality of King Jesus! So may we all lay our crowns before Him and shout for all of eternity, “I Believe!” # THIS IS OUR GOD In 2013, I lost my voice. The doctors told me I had a hemorrhaging polyp on my vocal cord, and it required surgery. I met with the surgeon, and she revealed what I was deeply fearful of. She told me that there was a good chance that my voice would never be the same, and I had to prepare myself for that possibility. I was then given strict orders to not sing or talk for the next month. In the silence that followed, I felt all the feelings you might expect… worry, fear, frustration. But what I didn’t expect was the feeling that seemed to rise above all the others. As I searched my heart, I realized that without my voice, I felt worthless. My career as a singer is what I had built my identity on. It was how I measured my value as a person. Without it, I didn’t know who I was. Because of the surgery, I had to cancel over fifty events! One of those was a conference called Catalyst West, and they had asked if I would write a few words that could be read aloud from the stage. I was moved by their request. As I sat down to write, I got another text from my main contact at the conference. He said, “I wanted to let you know, that the theme for the conference this year is ‘IDENTITY’.” The moment I read that word, the room changed. I felt the weight of God’s presence in a way I had only experienced a few times in my life. I was undone. Tears filled my eyes. I didn’t want to speak or even move. And then a question filled my soul: “WHO AM I?” It was as if I could almost hear Him. “WHO AM I?” The question continued to ring in my mind… In the weight and silence of that moment, my heart replied, “You are my Father.” “AND WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU?” The next question rang. It makes me your child. As my heart said those words, everything changed. Never in my life was I so aware of God’s love. His heart for me! For us! It was the greatest spiritual shift in my life since becoming a Christian. The God who created the universe met me in the back room of my house to remind me that I am His child… This means He has good plans for me. He’s watching out for me. Before any other identity I carry, I am FIRST, His son! That truth turned my depression into joy, my questions into praise, and my frustration into hope. My prayer changed from “God Help me” to an honest “God I can’t wait to see what You have next.” Praise God the surgery went miraculously well, and I was back singing in less than half the time the doctors told me I would be! While it felt amazing to sing again, I was far more thankful for the way God met me in the silence. He showed me who I am by revealing to me who He is! The author Richard Foster says that in silence there is the potential to “create the emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct the inner sanctuary in the heart.” I took the time to tell this story because it’s the very reason why I wrote the song “This Is Our God” and why I made it the first song on the album. True worship—praise, trust, faith, and hope in Jesus—does not come from us being more spiritual or trying harder. It comes from our hearts responding to God as He reveals Himself to us. The more we seek Him, the more we find Him. And the more we find, the greater our response. I find that, over and over again, I forget how great He is. I have learned that I have to intentionally remind myself of His love, grace, power, and promises. That’s why this song, and the whole album, begins with the word “REMEMBER”! So... > Let us remember all that He has done! > Let us remember the Cross and the empty grave! > Let us remember how He pulled us out of the prisons of our sin and shame and redeemed us into His Kingdom! Our identity, life, and joy is found in Him and Him alone! > He is faithful, even when we are faithless! > He is the same, yesterday, today and forever! > He is the King over all Kings! > He is our Present Father! > He is the Creator of all! > He is the Spotless Lamb! > He is Jesus! > THIS IS OUR GOD! #### Key Questions: #### 1\. What areas of your life might be competing for your deepest identity? #### 2\. What does it really mean for you to see yourself as an adopted son or daughter of God? #### 3\. What would it look like for you to intentionally “remember” what your Heavenly Father has done in your life?