👑 Seated First, Then Walking

Before a believer takes a step, they’ve already been seated in Christ—resting in His position, walking in His power.

📚 Devotional Credit: Abide Above
📸 Photo Credit: Unsplash

Today’s devotional from Miles Stanford calls us to see the drastic difference between law-based living and grace-based living. Under law, right conduct was demanded first—position or blessing had to be earned. But in Christ, the entire order has been reversed. By grace, we have been given an exalted position first—we are already seated with Christ in the heavenlies. And from that secure seat, right conduct becomes the natural outflow of our new life.

We don’t walk in order to reach a throne. We walk from the throne. We don’t earn a crown—we wear one because we’ve been made royalty through the blood of Jesus. The struggle described in Romans 7—so familiar to many—is the frustration of someone trying to behave their way into God’s favor, forgetting they already have it.

F.J.H. describes the futility of trying to attain what’s already ours. When we focus on conduct instead of resting in position, the result is striving, shame, and confusion. But when we begin from who we already are in Christ—righteous, seated, loved, secure—then reigning in life becomes not a burden, but a consequence of grace received.

The call today is not to try harder but to trust more deeply. You’ve already been placed in Christ at the right hand of the Father. Now let the King within express His royal life through you.

📓 Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture

You have been seated before you took a step. I placed you in My Son before you lifted a finger. You are not climbing your way toward approval—you are walking from My embrace. You reign, not by striving, but by receiving. I gave you the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness so that you would walk like one who belongs in My presence, because you do.

Let Me remind you: your failures do not change your seat. Your stumbles do not remove your crown. When you forget your position and focus only on performance, you will feel the weight of Romans 7—the tension of trying in your own strength. But I did not call you to that life. I called you to rest in the reality of Christ in you and you in Christ.

Begin each day remembering where you are: seated with Christ in the heavenlies. From there, you will walk differently—not to prove something, but to express Someone. This is the life of grace. This is the life of the King in you.

Scripture References: Romans 5:17; Romans 6:14; Romans 7:15–24; Ephesians 2:6; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:1–4; Revelation 1:5–6; Titus 2:11–14; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21

🪑 Real-Life Analogy

It’s like sitting down in a chair that’s already yours before beginning a task. You don’t perform to earn the seat—you’ve been invited to it. Once seated, everything you do flows from a position of security and rest. Trying to complete the task without ever sitting down first would only lead to exhaustion and imbalance.

Today, before replying to that email, parenting your child, heading into work, or facing that hard conversation—pause. Acknowledge that you are already seated with Christ. Then move forward not to earn favor, but to express the One who reigns in you. Instead of saying, “How should I act like a Christian here?”, quietly affirm, “Lord, I trust You to express Your life through me in this moment.” Let Him show what reigning in life looks like through your words, reactions, and posture today.

🙏 Prayer of Confidence

Father, thank You that I begin this day already seated in Christ. I don’t have to earn a position or maintain favor—I already have both because of Jesus. I rejoice that I’ve received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, and that reigning in life is my inheritance, not my goal.

As I go about today’s tasks, I trust the indwelling Christ to express His life through me. Not by my effort, but by His indwelling. I walk like one who is already crowned—not to achieve, but to reflect the life I’ve already received. Thank You for such a marvelous grace.