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Our culture continually reminds us that confident people are successful people, and it stresses that confidence opens the door to great opportunities in life. Confident people are attractive, and we are drawn to those who are confident and self-assured. We teach our children to be confident and poised, and it is one of the qualities we focus on in developing in ourselves and those entrusted to us.
What does it mean to be a confident person?
Definition of Confidence (According to Webster’s dictionary): Having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something
Definition of Confidence (According to Strong’s Concordance -Greek G2292): to be of good courage, to be hopeful
There is a worldly confidence or what our culture calls “self-confidence”, and there is a Godly confidence.
What is worldly confidence?
Worldly confidence has an outward appearance of having it all together. We tend to be very focused on outward appearance. Many people believe “first impression” is everything. We put a lot of stock on how a person presents himself or herself and teach people to “dress for success”. However, we all know individuals who look great and sound great, but after spending sometime with them, we find that they don’t deliver as we expected them to. Their level of competence does not match their level of confidence. There is no substance to their confidence.
The world system tries to train us in self-confidence. While self-confidence has some positive results, according to the Bible, it can be very dangerous!
A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident. Proverbs 14:16
The Lord looks down upon self-confidence, and He considers it foolishness. Self-confident people can be presumptuous and have an irrational expectation that things will turn out to their favor without taking responsibility for their part. Self-confident individuals have a tendency not to look for feedback and impulsively jump into something without giving it much thought.
Generally a self-confident person has a high view of their level of competency and ability to achieve something. For example, some people are habitually late because they think they can accomplish more than it’s possible in a given amount of time.
Everyone can suffer from presumption or impulsivity from time to time. The issue that makes the self-confident person stuck in these situations is that they don’t learn from their mistakes. They believe the last mistake was either an anomaly or someone else’s fault. That’s where the Bible calls a self-confident person a foolish person. The foolish part of the self-confidence is that they don’t learn from past missteps. They continue to go on doing things their way without being willing to change or receive input from those closest to them.
It’s important for all of us to have people whose feedback is important in our lives. It’s also important to consider how we are raising the younger generation. If self-confidence goes unchecked, it turns into arrogance!
As believers, God has given us a different kind of confidence, and that’s the subject of the next devotional.
The Lord uses time as He sees fit. Sometimes things take a lot longer than imagined as it was in the case of Abraham (See the last devotional). There are other times that we see the hand of God move swiftly and accomplish something that could have taken much longer. For example, the day of Pentecost was a swift and powerful day; God allowed people from all over the neighboring nations to be present in Jerusalem and to get transformed by Peter’s first gospel message!
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2:38-41
The Lord strategically had chosen the day of Pentecost for the baptism of the Holy Spirit to occur; this was the day that the Jewish people would come from all over the neighboring nations for the celebration of the Festival of Weeks.
When the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles, they began to speak in different tongues. The people coming from various nations heard their own native language, and they were astonished. Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit gave a powerful message, and the people were moved by the gospel message. The Bible tells us that three thousand people were added to them on that day! That’s amazing!
When Jesus was on the earth ministering for about three years, He only had about a couple of hundred of people who were his true followers. The account in the book of Acts 1 following Jesus’ ascension tells us:
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty). Acts 1:15
God chose to move quickly and swiftly on the day of Pentecost and allowed many to become transformed in a powerful short period of time.
Time is in the Lord’s hands, and He chooses the speed of events happening in our lives. The more we try to control time, the more frustrated we can become. Our part is stewarding the time and the opportunities He has given us to the best of our abilities. Enjoy what we have been blessed with today and try not to focus so much on man-made timelines and goals!
Lord, free us from the bondage of time and help us to trust you with our lives and our years!
While time is immaterial to God, He still chooses to work with His people within the concept of time. There are seasons when God’s work seems very slow to the point where individuals get tempted to doubt or to help God. That’s the subject of this devotional. At other times, He moves so fast; it’s as if a spiritual earthquake hits an area and things shift quickly for people.That’s the subject of the next devotional.
When the Lord first spoke to Abraham about having a child, It was logical for Abraham to think that it would happen soon since they were already old. However, God did not mention a timeframe.
Abraham & Sarah waited for the promised child a long time (about 12-13 years), and then out of impatience took the matters in their own hands. With Sarah’s suggestion, Abraham agreed to sleep with one of his concubines, which brought forth Ishmael. That was not God’s idea nor was it His timing; it just appeared a practical and cultural thing to do considering the circumstances.
Finally, God spoke to Abraham one last time about Sarah having a baby by declaring:
Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” Genesis 18:14
This time God was more specific about the imminence of Sarah having a child. This was 24 years from the first promise God made to Abraham. In our perspective, that would feel like a lifetime. What would you do if you were Abraham or Sarah given the circumstances?
The long waiting years causes some of us to begin to doubt God’s promises. Others move into action and begin to formulate plan B for their lives. A few get so discouraged that they walk away from God.
From 21st century vantage point, looking at the timeline of Biblical history, 24 years of waiting doesn’t seem to have made any difference in the purpose of God. Ultimately, Isaac was born and the nation of Israel was formed. However, for Abraham and Sarah 24 years of waiting must have felt like eternity!
We all have had times and seasons in life, which felt as if they lasted forever. However, when we look back now, that time period was a lot shorter than it seemed at the moment. It’s important to keep the right perspective on time, otherwise we can easily get impatient or discouraged. We can all be tempted to produce our own version of Ishmael, which we will have to live with for the rest of our lives. Let’s surrender our desires to God, so that the enemy cannot use them to tempt us into taking matters into our own hands.
Lord help us to enjoy our years and steward them well. We will continue to stand in faith and believe for what you have promised us. We choose not to get impatient and not to invent plan B in the meantime. Time is in your hands, and we surrender our desire to control it. We ask for your grace and mercy to walk in freedom from bondage of time everyday. Amen!
The completion of 2015, caused me to reflect on how I stewarded my time last year. It also makes me think about how I can live purposefully in 2016 with the Lord’s help. Most of us don’t want to be wasteful with our time because we know it is a powerful and precious commodity, which gets spent every day whether we like it or not.
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; Genesis 1:14
The Lord created everything including time and the seasons. Therefore, He is not bound by time. Since He is from eternity to eternity, His viewpoint on time is different than ours. God’s time is unlimited, but our time on this earth is limited. The scripture tells us:
For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:14b
As we get older, we realize more and more how fleeting our lives are. Just as a vapor vanishes before our eyes, we are incapable of holding on to our years; they appear on the timeline of life for a moment. The older we get, we become more aware of the value of time and stewarding it better.
Our finite time and God’s unlimited time causes us to struggle with its limitations on us. As people, we have a tendency to be goal oriented and like to set timelines to accomplish goals. Those who are single, wonder if they can be married before they get too old. Women who are married, want to have children before they are 40 years old. Young adults have a timeline for completing their education in order to feel successful and accomplished.
Conversely, we find that God is very process oriented. He is more concerned about our development rather than our accomplishment. He is not in a hurry to change our circumstances nor follow our timeline. This is where the conflict lies between our finite time and an infinite God!
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2Peter 3:8
God stands outside of time, and he considers one day as a thousand years and thousand years as one day. Some scholars try to make a correlation between one day and one thousand years in the light of a prophetic timetable. There is probably some correlation. However, the above scripture tells me that time is immaterial to God.
God’s unlimited amount of time can be analogous to a billionaire with almost unlimited amount of money. If you asked a billionaire how much they are willing to spend on their dinner, most likely, the price is not a factor in their decision making. They just care about what/where they want to eat. Money is no object because in their case it is limitless.
In God’s economy, time is limitless, so the Lord uses time as He sees fit. He has eternity in His hands, and He has plenty of time to accomplish what He desires. Time is not a limitation to Him.
As finite people how do we negotiate time with an infinite God? This is the subject of the next devotional.
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:7
The Son (Jesus) was born to virgin Mary, but He was born unto us for our benefit and for our sake! Many prophets & kings were called by God at some point in their lives to do His work, but Jesus was the only one called long before His birth. Jesus’ birth, life, and ministry were prophetically spoken about by various prophets at different times throughout history!
The above scripture tells us that the government is on Jesus’ shoulder. A king never carried a burden on his shoulder. As a matter of fact, a king takes on governing a nation by wearing a crown on his head. In the old days, it was the slaves or the servants who were given the task of carrying goods on their shoulders. Jesus did Not come to look like an earthly king, nor act like a mere human leader! He was given authority to take on the government upon His shoulder. At the same time, He came to serve us, taking on our burden as a servant, and wore the crown of thorns! His leadership continued to point to a different reality than what man knows in his carnal nature!
What does it mean for government to be upon Jesus’ shoulder?
Jesus’ rule looks a lot different than the rulers of this world. The worldly rulers like to lord it over people and expect others to serve them. Jesus came to serve humanity and die for our sins. The rulers of the world desire to be recognized for who they are. Jesus came in humility trying not to bring attention to himself. The rulers of the world like to show their prowess by their large military exploits. The Prince of Peace chose to overcome every situation with peace, gentleness, and forgiveness turning the other cheek to those who dishonored Him.
The above scripture declares Jesus as the Prince of Peace. All the governments in the world ultimately belong to our God. Because the government is on Jesus’ shoulder, He can bring peace and overrule every darkness and every evil empire in the world. No authority can overrule His authority on this earth!
Today, if you have an issue with someone in authority be encouraged that God has the final say in every authority given to man. He is in control, and He is in charge. If/when He chooses to stop someone from governing, He can easily replace him/her. In the meantime, let’s allow God’s government to be upon our shoulders and walk in meekness and humility allowing Him to lead and guide us in our lives and serve others as unto Him.
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23
God spoke through the prophet Isaiah (about 800 B.C.) that the virgin was going to be with child! This child wasn’t going to come through a man’s decision but God’s decision. Mary made herself an available vessel for God, and the Spirit of God came upon Mary, and she became pregnant with the promised son.
After the fall of Adam & Eve into sin, every generation of humanity has been born into sin and shaped into iniquity. Every person has the issue of SIN nature, and he/she also chooses to commit sin by not following God’s standard of holiness. Since Jesus was born of the Spirit of God, He didn’t come into the world with a SIN nature because His father was not a descendant of Adam!
Jesus came into the world free from SIN nature. Throughout His life, when Jesus was tempted He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). His virgin birth had a great purpose in the eternal plan of salvation and allowed Him to be the only qualified person who could take on the sin of the world including our sins upon Himself.
Jesus’ virgin birth prophetically was spoken by Isaiah centuries earlier. Most likely the prophecy didn’t make any sense to Isaiah or his counterparts! The questions of “How can this be?” and “Why would God allow it?” could have surrounded this prophecy, but nevertheless Isaiah in obedience foretold of the coming Immanuel.
Centuries later, Mary accepted and received the prophetic declaration over her life. Did Mary’s virgin birth make any sense to Joseph or even Mary!? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, Joseph was trying to divorce her quietly because of it. They didn’t know what God was trying to do, and why Jesus had to come from the virgin birth.
As a woman, it would not be easy to accept the assignment of virgin birth even in this day and age. In spite of the risk of humiliation, divorce, and ridicule, Mary accepted the assignment, and she became the conduit in fulfilling the will of God for the salvation of humanity!
Are there areas in your life that have never made sense to you? Some of those areas could be: place of your birth, the circumstances of your birth, your family of origin, a birthmark, a birth defect, your gender, or your ethnicity. God is an intentional God, and how He created you was not a mistake. Ask Him to reveal His purpose in His design for you!
“Man’s Treachery and God’s Constancy”
“Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”
5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men. Psalm 12
Purified: purify, distill, strain, refine to purify, distill, strain, to refine, to purge, refine, to refine, purify
Psalm 12 ends ( verses 6-8) with the most important reminder by contrasting the idle words of people to true words of God. While the wicked and the carnal people will continue to use their idle words, God’s word is pure. It does not shift. It is not used for flattery neither is it hypocritical! The Lord never speaks to us just to make us feel better by using flattery or idle words. He always speaks truth to us!
At times, every one of us has experienced doubt and uncertainty in our lives. God uses those tough times to continually prove His word to be true, unchanging, and pure. God’s word was never impure to need seven rounds of purification (verse 6). However, our trust in His word does need purification by being tested through adversity. We become convinced of the reliability of the word of God by standing on it. Through this process we personally get to know His word to be solid, unshakable, and true!
The Bible likens the word of God to silver. Real jewelry is expensive, and that’s why we give it to the special people in our lives. The word of God is as silver, and He desires to give it to His children because we are special to Him.
I am intentional about what I am imparting to my children. I want to take every opportunity to build them up and help them to become wise and mature. I know what I give them is of great value for their lives. They don’t always see or understand the value of what I am imparting, but through the test of time, they will recognize the value of my instruction and impartation.
When we open the Bible and take in His word, we become richer because we have taken in the pure word of God. It is good food, and healthy drink for our soul. It cleanses our minds, our hearts, and our vision. We can see and hear again because God’s pure word nourishes and enriches us.
The encouragement from Psalm 12 is that while some will continue to use their idle words to be hurtful and damaging to others, in contrast we have the pure word of God that has been tested throughout history to sustain us in every situation! Praise God!
David wrote Psalm 12 after having observed the duplicity of life by those who professed to be believers. He began by crying out to the Lord about this matter:
Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”
5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.” Psalm 12:1-5
Definition of “Idly” (in Hebrew): emptiness, vanity, falsehood, emptiness, nothingness, vanity, emptiness of speech, lying, worthlessness (of conduct)
As people of God, we are called to be intentional people. We can’t be passive with our words and use them idly to just make a conversation or try to relieve silence or boredom. This includes not getting involved in those kinds of harmful conversations that are a slippery slope into gossip. It’s hard enough to die to the flesh and not say something harmful when we are unhappy. It’s even harder when someone comes along who has similar feelings about a person or a situation. That becomes the opportunity for the flesh to rise again! We can find ourselves agreeing with the unsatisfied person or possibly share our own sentiment which will not produce good fruit.
David stated that some people can declare, “Our lips are our own..”. Psalm 12:4b It is dangerous to be around people who think that their lips are their own! These individuals don’t feel accountable to what they speak. This includes flattery, manipulation, lies, or accusations.
Sometimes individuals don’t realize that others notice their manipulation or flattery! It is very discouraging when you see a man or a woman of God getting themselves involved in those kinds of activities. We can’t forget that others are watching our lives, and they can either be encouraged in faith or be discouraged based on how we conduct our lives and our words!
People who have no control over their words scare me because I know it is a matter of time before someone is damaged by them. When we proclaim that we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength, it should include our lips. Our opinions or emotions can compel us to share something that is not edifying to others. However, the scripture has numerous references to this issue including Jesus’ warning on this matter.
I will continue with this subject by sharing Jesus’ warning in the next devotional!
“Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”
5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.” Psalm 12
Psalm 12 is a short Psalm, but it’s packed with comfort and encouragement for people who try to do right. David was looking around, and it seemed that the righteous people were disappearing but evil was rampant.
It’s not completely clear as to when he may have written this Psalm. There is a likelihood that he was writing it during the time he was at Saul’s palace. God picked Saul years earlier, but over the years he had changed. Saul wasn’t a righteous king anymore. He disobeyed God and also mistreated David. There were times that he called David his son and at other times he tried to kill him!
In any King’s quarter, there are those who will flatter him and try to make themselves look loyal all the while not having a desire to do what is right and just. A great example of this was Haman in the court of King Ahasuerus. Haman seemed to be doing everything for the benefit of the king while he was really trying to feed his own passion and pride by annihilating the Jewish nation.
This situation happens in any sphere of society including the church. Some people are skilled in flattery and have the right answers to every question or issue at hand. There are those who know how to use their words to their own benefit regardless of its negative impact on others. They can influence with their subtle innuendos and create an atmosphere of “us” against “them”. David was very familiar with this; he even experienced this with his own son Absalom trying to take his throne.
Sometimes, those who try to speak the truth or do right get discouraged because it seems like truthful people are diminishing. Elijah experienced this when he was faced with Jezebel. Those kinds of spirits can be vexing on honest and righteous people who seek to do God’s work. The good news is that God sees all things and this psalm gives encouragement to the weary souls in regards to these issues. God will rise up to take care of the poor and the needy!
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
Is there an area in your life that you have stopped believing things will change for you? Abraham was in that position, but God renewed Abraham’s faith by renewing his vision.
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be. Genesis 15:1-5
God spoke to Abraham and told him that the child in his household was going to come from his own flesh and blood. Praise God for the clarity that He brings in the midst of our bewilderment. God gave Abraham more specifics. Now that Abraham’s vision had been renewed through God’s miraculous creation, he could believe the Lord again!
And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15:6
God credited Abraham’s belief as righteousness. Abraham didn’t do anything to be considered righteous except believing in the character and the work of God in his life. Abraham didn’t ask “how” or “when”; he just simply believed God.
One of the simple but difficult principles of faith is just believing God without trying to question or understand how He will work things out.
This reminds me of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was a virgin. She was told by the angel that she was going to bring forth a child. As a virgin she could not understand how that was humanly possible. Nevertheless she believed the angel of the Lord, and she conceived baby Jesus:
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38
God is honored and pleased with us when we believe Him and take Him at His word. It’s important to remind ourselves that our significance is linked to our relationship to Him; it is not tied to His promise but to God’s character. God knows how to bless His children, and we don’t have to look over His shoulder to ensure He stays on task with blessing us.
Today is a day of renewal of God’s vision for our lives. The renewal of the vision will require hearing God clearly, believing His word, and recognizing our helplessness and inability to perform it in our lives. This is the place of simple surrender to His will and His ways. We are available for God to perform what He desires whenever he wishes to do so.
Lord, we ask that you would renew our vision today. We choose to believe you again regarding those areas that we thought are impossible. Let your mighty hand move into our situations and bring forth your great purpose. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
