Confidence: April 11, 2011

TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY APRIL 11, 2011

CONFIDENCE

DEFINITION:

Firm trust; reliance; self assurance; boldness; an assured state of mind.

SCRIPTURE:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13.

Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. II Corinthians 3:4-5.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We learned in our training of our children that we saw confidence develop in each one when we would compliment them on a good decision they made or at the completion of a good project. When you talk down to a child and constantly criticize them they will soon lose all confidence in themselves. Nothing encourages a person more than a compliment and compliments to all people of all ages give confidence to that person.

We noticed that the same thing happened when we coached children (ages 8 to 12) in soccer and baseball. Each year we had a new set of children, for the most part, on our teams. Many of them lacked certain skills in playing the game but more important very few had confidence in themselves. Part of the success that we enjoyed about coaching was watching each child gain more confidence in themselves from the beginning of our time with them until the end of that season.

We have talked to many people who seem to be very confident in what they are saying and what they are doing. But when the conversation leaves their area of so called expertise they usually waver and you see their confidence fall apart. This is true with young children when they learn to walk. After that first step or two you can see in their eyes confidence and then all of a sudden they fall and lose their confidence.

The apostle Paul who wrote the verse above was a confident man. In his earlier years his positive attitude and confidence came from his credentials. His background, education and position in life made him very confident. However, when he had his encounter with the Lord all of a sudden he realized his education and position were of little worth. He had to re-evaluate his priorities because he came to understand that all that he had attained was because of his own efforts and that all of it would soon pass away.

What was the source of Paul’s new boldness? His new relationship with Christ formed a new foundation for his existence. (Acts 9: 1-6) He whole-heartedly embraced his new life in Christ. Paul first of all realized the inadequacy of everything he had previously relied upon -- his knowledge, his achievements and his authority. He also relinquished any notion of living independently of the Lord and recognized he must live his life in total reliance upon the Lord.

Paul’s unwavering trust in God’s faithfulness played a key role in helping Paul make this dramatic change in his life. He became very confident and firmly believed that God’s promise to him --- to equip him and strengthen him, to guide him in every situation, to meet his every need and to never leave him--- were all that he needed in life.

Because he took the Lord at His word, he could meet adversity with boldness. The source of his confidence changed dramatically. No longer was his confidence in himself but now it was in God’s presence, provision and power; therefore it became stronger than at any time before in his life.

Paul tells us in the verse above from II Corinthians that when we confidently trust in the Lord, He is all sufficient for us. When the Lord is our sufficiency it will bring to us many blessings such as spiritual growth, personal achievement, peace in our hearts and Godly influence. When our reliance in God is steady, we will respond to difficulties by seeking Him for guidance and strength and not rely on ourselves. We build our confidence when we read the Bible daily and communicate to our God through prayer each and every day. But we can lose our confidence when we forget and by pass God and focus on the circumstances and not on God.

As believers in Jesus we need to work daily on our own confidence as it relates to our relationship with the Lord. If you look at the above definition of confidence, you will notice the word “boldness.” As believers we need to be bold in living out our faith and in defending our faith to those who might question what we believe.

As in sports, the more a child would work on the basic skills necessary to play the game; he or she would become more boldly confident in what he or she could attempt. As believers it works the same way. The more we study God’s Word and practice what we learn and then pray daily so we have a two way communication with our Lord, the more confident and bold we will become in living out our faith. Then we will understand what Paul meant when he said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Timothy 4:2

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

PRAYER:

May my actions today reveal to all those that I meet that I have a Christ-centered confidence that can only come because of my faith in You. Help me to develop a wholehearted trust and reliance on You that brings about confidence in every circumstance I face.