Confidence …
There is no place today in our society that we are not able to receive self-help books which are really no help at all. They all spin the same story that you can achieve great things. They include how to build your self confidence, self worth and how to achieve and accomplish great things.
This in itself seems right, sounds right, even looks right until you begin to explore and look deeper. There is nothing wrong with gaining self confidence, but at what cost. Most spend much time effort and energy and substance to attain the very things they feel they lack.
They are continually looking to upgrade their advantage in every area. The next best thing shows up and millions immediately sign up and follow. Yet if we look deeper most are shallow, have no character, and are in it for themselves. They are making a lot of money off of you, and millions more keep lining up all in the hope of attaining their own version of being seen as successful.
Everything to this point that has been said is built upon what we are capable of doing in our own strength.
When we put our minds towards anything we for the most part can accomplish what we set out to do.
Yet if we are serving God and looking to Him as our source of confidence this will rock the world of all those around you. The truth is we are actually instructed not to put out confidence in the flesh. We can not walk around with our credentials and expect a promotion because of it.
This is where life as a real Christian matters. We have the ability to put to the test everything Gods word says is true for us. So, instead of seeking out man we are in-fact encouraged to seek out God. When we understand this key that is being handed to us, and the responsibility that comes with it, we will start to understand the authority that we have been given.
The very thing that the world and all of its followers do not have is this very thing. They strive for what has already been set aside for us. Our part is to live a life that has turned from the world and its ways and by doing this we please God. Can you not begin to see the reversal of what it takes to unwind us, unbind us. This will set our feet upon a path of being confident not in what I can do but in what the Lord can do.
At no time are we to base our confidence on our ability. It really is reverse to how the world has programed us. It really does take a season of time to allow God’s word to reprogram us before we can actually become effective.
Nothing happens all at once so it requires a lot of faith to believe before you will reap the rewards.
When we begin to have a track record in our lives this is the very thing the enemy desires that we will never attain. When we start to gain strength, not in our ability, but in what His word says, we will start to gain ground. This is where you will encounter resistance of all kinds. The enemy knows far to well what happens past this point.
Gods word declares that greater is he who is in us than he that is in the world. We overcome by the word of our testimony and the blood of the lamb. The devil knows all to well what happens next. He is put to flight, loses his stronghold, and is no longer able to manipulate your circumstances. Where he has created havoc, he is issued an eviction notice.
Listen to what Psalms 27:3 says;
When the armies of the enemy surround me, I will not be afraid. When death calls for me in the midst of war, my soul is confident and unmoved. (Psalms 27:3 Voice)
The truth is that when God is for you who can be against you. The enemy will come at you in one direction and flee from you in seven. Now that is confidence that makes sense. When you are with the Lord and you have over time built your relationship to the point where you have seen Him act on your behalf the enemy does not stand a chance.
Listen to what Joshua 1:9 says;
Yes, be bold and strong! Banish fear and doubt! For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9 TLB)
Where ever you are the Lord is with you. The question that remains is do you know Him?
We are living in a culture where I see a lot of people running all over trying to receive the word of the Lord. They run from conference to conference, yet they never get their fill. They receive words that do not line up with their lives yet they receive them all the same. It has become a spiritual high in their lives. It has tickled their ears and it has produces false hope, but no structure of stability.
They chase those who do not correctly handle the word instead of seeking out the one who is the word. The main reason is that people get caught up in experience instead of an authentic encounter. It takes work to encounter God, serious work. A lifetime commitment where every day becomes part of the journey. It transforms us and changes us and establishes us. An experience cannot produce what an encounter can.
You do not build confidence on experience you build it on encounter. For most they look at the time needed and they decide to go the path that requires less effort. When we become lazy in our approach as to how we seek God it will show up in how overtime we lose confidence in who we are and the authority we have been given.
When we experience God, it should come out of a lifestyle that is in continual relationship. It should be a building block that is added into what has already begun in our lives. It should be a continuation of fortifying us and establishing our foundation. It should be working us towards the characteristic of what it means to be built upon the rock.
I am not against those who have experiences with the Lord, that is not at all what I am saying. You will be able to tell a tree by its fruit. What I have seen over the years is a lot of derailed people whose own houses have yet to be put in order. Yet they are the very ones who have qualified themselves and are leading many astray. If all you have is someone else’s word over your life continually you have not built your own foundation.
It requires hard work to dig down to the bedrock in our own lives and build.
Yet for those who do this very thing, when the storm comes, they remain standing unmoved by what is taking place around them. While those who have only built upon experience crumble and fall.
Listen to what Proverbs 3:24-26 says;
Your mind will be clear, free from fear; when you lie down to rest, you will be refreshed by sweet sleep. 25 Stay calm; there is no need to be afraid of a sudden disaster or to worry when calamity strikes the wicked, 26 For the Eternal is always there to protect you. He will safeguard your each and every step. (Proverbs 3:24-26 Voice)
Until you grow to the point where you are being stretched forward by life and the circumstances that you find yourself in, you have yet to grow in who you are called to be. Your character is forged in the furnace where all the impurities are burnt off. If you do not embrace the fire, you will be destroyed.
Our greatest gift this side of eternity is that we have the ability to know God, His ways, and to allow Him the access that he requires to transform us and change us into who He has always known we were. Confidence comes out of doubt and unbelief being removed. Confidence comes out of trust and belief.
You need to have faith to believe. Faith, is the substance of what we do not see, yet believe for it to take place. This is impossible to do if you have weak faith. When we do not engage in Gods word our faith does not have the ability to grow. Gods word is the atmosphere for miracles. To have confidence in God we first need to have a relationship that has been built on trust.
For there to be confidence, we first need to understand that standing on the side lines, never engaging, will always leave us in a place where we are not committed.
It will leave us betraying God, because of our doubt and unbelief.
On the other hand, when you make it a priority to daily engage you find that things really do start to work out according to a much bigger plan. Time spent builds you into a person of faith, because over time your loyalties have been tested, and made strong. This is where you have the greatest confidence that moves mountains. The sign posts along the way show you the Lord’s faithfulness, and you have dealt with the doubt and unbelief.
We as believers, are on our own conquest, our own journey to the “Promise Land”.
The same promises that God made to Joshua are available for us as well.
- God still gives victory over our enemies (1 John 5:4-5 NLT)
- He is still ever present, (Heb 13:5 NLT), and is all powerful, (Matt 28:20 NLT)
- God is still faithful, (Matt 28:20 NLT)
- He still gives absolute victories, (1 Cor 15:57; Rev 21:4, 27 NLT)
- God is still a promise keeping God, (Rom 4:21 NLT)
The question is:
- Will we remain in the wilderness due to murmuring, complaining and unbelief?
- Are we on the sidelines or have we engaged?
- Have we put our trust in God’s word as our source that stands the test of time?
- Have we allowed Gods word to be tested and proven true?
Prayer: Allow our live to count in this world. Give us the eyes to see the battle lines. The confidence to have the courage to overcome. Help us to see the necessity of a daily walk with you, and the pit fall that happens when we choose not to. How doubt and unbelief will kill us. Our wandering in the wilderness could be a victorious adventure, into our own promise land. Our victory becomes the ingredient that you use to teach others the way, allow us to be that living demonstration of your faithfulness. the ability to teach others the way.
Verse: “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!’ (Deuteronomy 28:7 NLT)
Amen!