Scripture of the Week Isaiah 49:15-16 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my
hands; thy walls are continually before me.
He
wasn’t a believer, and he had no desire to be
one, but there was something about him that made
him stand out. It wasn’t his stunning physique
— he was average height and skinny, a natural
redhead. But when he talked to you, he looked
you right in the eye. His voice was strong, and
his smile quick and friendly. His walk was easy,
unhurried. I enjoyed just being around him, and
I saw that others were drawn to him, too. Later
he told me his secret.
“It’s because I’m confident,” he said and
winked. “Girls love it.” I rolled my eyes and
laughed. I had seen it work! “But you know,” he
added thoughtfully, “I’m not really this confident.”
It was fake, just the face he had decided to show
the world.
I thought it was sad. There in front of
me was a boy who lacked something huge — but he
was very good at covering it up. Sometimes I think
Christians do the opposite.
Further
Reading on Confidence
•Job 3 1:24-28 Where was Job’s confidence?
•Psahn 27:1-3 Whom shallI fear?
•Prov 14:26 In the reverence of the Lord
is strong confidence.
•Acts 28:31 Paul preached — no man forbidding!
•2 Cor. 5:5-8 therefore we are always confident
(we have holy spirit!) and would rather
leave these silly bodies behind and be with
the Lord.
•Eph. 3:11-12 boldness and access to Jesus
with confidence
•Phil 1:6 confident that God will follow
through
‘Hebrews 3:12 exhort one another today,
hold confidence till the end.
•Hebrews 10:35-39 rewarded for confidence
and patience — don’t draw back!
•1 John 2:28 abide in him, have confidence
at his return.
•1 John 5:13-15 believe on the name of the
Son of God, have confidence — when we ask
we
SHALL receive.
They
HAVE so much to be confident about, yet
they will hide! Afraid someone will confront
them, hesitant to appear too sure of themselves...
How the heck did that happen?
Being confident makes our daily
walk with God a joy, stuff happens, and
it builds believing in others. We can put
our confidence in a number of things, so
we have to constantly ask ourselves what
we’re trusting in. In Isaiah 29, God’s people
had chosen to trust the Egyptian government
and their riches for security. Inverse 15
God said they would be saved only if they
returned to Him and stayed, and they would
also have strength in quietness and confidence.
But no, in verse 16 they fled on horses
instead of sticking with God, and the enemies
that chased them were swift. In the same
way, when we put our confidence in anything
but God we’re going to get creamed. But,
when we return to and stay with the Lord,
we will be strong in quietness and confidence.
Our goal as ambassadors for Jesus
Christ is to have real, true, hard, fast,
unmoving confidence in the Gospel we preach,
the love we show, and the life we live.
If we don’t have confidence, it’s our business
to get it back!
Our
witness is weak and puny without confidence
in our God But we don’t need to be timid —Just
wise Every word God ever said is true Every
promise he ever made will be kept. Trust Him!
I know there are days when we might not feel
that tough We Just want to sleep five more and
those apost1e minutes But it’s not about how
we feel, it’s a decision we make every
moment of every day It’s the decision to say,
“God said it and that settles it. It’s going
to happen.”
Everything we do, we do it with our whole
heart like we were doing it for the Lord (Col.
3:23). That means whatever we do we can do with
love, with grace, and with confidence.
When we do the dishes, we do them
with confidence. When we have a job interview,
we carry ourselves with confidence. When we’re
out on the street we look the world in the eye,
yes, with confidence. We pray with confidence.
We don’t wear suits and sashes that read “ambassador,”
but we behave as though we were! We keep God’s
commandments because we have confidence that
God’s way is the best way.
