A Sense Of Confidence

If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God!  In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!

Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold.  2 Corinthians 3:9-12

Have you walked with a high sense of confidence before?  There are times at my job where I have this heightened sense that I know exactly what I need to do and when it needs to be done.  And once each task is completed successfully, my level of confidence just seems to grow.  Work just seems to be a great deal of … fun!  This brings me to the confidence one should have in Christ.  At times, I feel lost and distant, and each step I take is with a level of uncertainty.  Is this the right thing to do?  Have I prayed on this enough?  Will God be with me if I go down this new path?  However when I look at the times I have asked those questions and how God has come through each and every time, I step forward even sometimes blindly.  Thus, I walk by faith with that similar level of confidence I described at work knowing with each step God is with me.

Awareness of God’s omnipresence allows us to have certainty in our life.  In today’s verse, Paul is noting the difference between the covenant with God at the time of Moses and after the resurrection of Christ.  We note the weighty condemnation of the Israelites of Moses’ time.  They sinned against God, and were constantly under God’s discipline for their wrongdoings.  However, Christ saved us.  One might venture to say He understood the flaw of the covenant.  No, this is not to say God was ‘flawed’ in creating the old covenant.  Instead, He understood our struggles and challenges as His people, and realized He was the only answer toward building a loving relationship under His kingdom.  Thus, He inserted Himself as the problem solver, and as a result, created a new way that He foretold in Isaiah 43:19 (For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland).  Thus, our new way through Christ should inspire us for we were not worthy of His sacrifice, but we were given new life through Him.  Because of it, we should have an aura of confidence.  We can trust God will have our backs always through all situations.

God reassures us that He is with us each and every step of the way.  As such, we know that our walk of faith is never alone, and we can be as Paul says ‘very bold.’  The Psalms of David underline this best saying, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4 KJV)  How can you casts your doubts to Christ today?  What steps can you boldly make with this heightened level of surety?  My prayer is we move forward in our walk of faith with a greater sense of confidence in Christ.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Honor

Hello,

I was thinking this week about people who are dependable. People who are not self-centered. People who live out what they say, regardless of circumstance. People who value truth. But what is the common thread? Honor is good to give  - but only when it belongs there. Honor is great to obtain, but only when deserved.

So I did a quick search on the word honor in the Bible. I found that 3 times it was paired with the word ‘humility’. Here they are (NASB):

Proverbs 15:32-33 “He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, And before honor comes humility.”

Proverbs 18:11-12 ”A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own imagination. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, But humility goes before honor.”

Proverbs 22:3-5 “The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, But the naive go on, and are punished for it. The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches, honor and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards himself will be far from them.”

This thread is important. I would bet that all of us want to be honorable, I hope seeing this from Proverbs provides some motivation towards humility – which comes before honor.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Power

Lately I have been using parts of the sermon series that I’ve been hearing on Sunday as my base for writing my devotions.  Today is no different.

Throughout the Bible, we read about the power of the Lord coming on people.  David was one of these people.  When we think about David, we often think about how he defeated Goliath.  That was powerful.  Here was a small shepherd boy who ended up killing a giant.  What we don’t often look at however is how power can be misused. 

2 Samuel 5:10

And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

David was certainly a king that had power.  His power continued to grow and he knew that whatever he wanted, he would get.  This is where he began to misuse his power.  One night, David was walking around his rooftop and saw a woman bathing.  He decided he wanted her.  When he inquired about her, he was informed that she was married to one of his soldiers.  He still decided to have his way with her and she became pregnant. 

At this point, he could have been humble, admitted his mistakes and yet he did not.  He arranged for this soldier to come home.  David was hoping he would sleep with his wife and everything could be covered up.  When that didn’t work, David arranged for him to be put on the front line.  He wanted his soldier, Uriah, to be killed so David wouldn’t have to worry about his mistake. 

How can you relate this to your life?  Maybe you’ve been in a position of power before.  It may have been hiring a new staff member or just as a parent.  Did you do what was really best or did you do what gave you an advantage? 

Today I want to encourage you to think about the power you find yourself with.  Are you using it to serve God or does God look upon you, like he did with David, displeased.