Thursday Devotional - All-Knowing God and Job’s Confidence (9/12/24)

 Job still doesn’t have answers and his friends keep adding heaps of ridicule to his already tormented mental and physical state. He calls them to be silent. He doesn’t need to talk to them, but directly to His Creator!

Job 13:1-5, 15-19 “My eyes have seen all this,
    my ears have heard and understood it.
² What you know, I also know;
    I am not inferior to you.
³ But I desire to speak to the Almighty
    and to argue my case with God.
⁴ You, however, smear me with lies;
    you are worthless physicians, all of you!
⁵ If only you would be altogether silent!
    For you, that would be wisdom.

¹⁵  Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
    I will surely defend my ways to his face.
¹⁶ Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
    for no godless person would dare come before him!
¹⁷ Listen carefully to what I say;
    let my words ring in your ears.
¹⁸ Now that I have prepared my case,
    I know I will be vindicated.
¹⁹ Can anyone bring charges against me?
    If so, I will be silent and die.

I don’t think Job is speaking out of pride. In chapter 9 he declared no one can compare to the Almighty God. I think he knows there is something he doesn’t know. He doesn’t believe God is smiting him for some unknown sin. Even though he feels like God is against him, he confirms that he has no hope in anyone or anything other than God. I think the Holy Spirit is speaking through him prophetically when he says “this will turn out for my deliverance” and “I know I will be vindicated.” Job is confident in who God is.

What is unsettling for you and me right now? Maybe it’s the political climate, a health concern, a family situation, or a rocky relationship – our Almighty God knows all about it and is in control. Like Job, you and I can remain confident in God, while still confused with the circumstances around us. 

Confidence Like 'Mr. Q.'

We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.  In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.  And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.  2 Corinthians 1:8-10 

 

Some days you have it, and other days you do not.  I can recall going into a biology lab final in college where I just didn’t have it.  I missed the first couple of items, and that feeling of not knowing started to overwhelm me.  I would begin to miss some of the easy ones that my instructor knew I had the answer to.  I was able to barely get past it with a little help from the instructor, who must have clearly seen I was flustered.  Looking back, I wondered what had went wrong, but determined the issue was a lack of preparedness.  It had taken a studious and focused student and turned me into a panicked and underachieving young adult.  To cope, I created an inner superhero.  It would change my feeling from one of uncertainty to a man filled with confidence.  A pep in my step became noticeable.  In fact, an old girlfriend used to call it my alter-ego much like when Clark Kent changes to Superman, and Mr. Q was his name (short for my initials KEW).  When Kent was not quite feeling it, Mr. Q stepped in, and beaming with confidence, he was able to overcome fears, apprehension, and doubt to get through a difficult situation.  As I got older, the two separate personalities became parts of the devotion writer you know today.  Yet, it amuses me as situations where Mr. Q still pops up.  It is not when you would think. Usually it is when God’s truth hits me, and His spirit flows freely within where my heart, His word, and He are one.  He then uses me to share something to a friend either who needs uplifting or when they begin to doubt Him. 

We should always have a high level of confidence in God’s provisions.  Paul’s opening in 2nd Corinthians speaks of the danger and trouble they faced in their travels.  All they had left was their faith in God, and somehow, they made it through their trials and tribulations.  This gave them utter confidence that God was all they needed when things were down, and why shouldn’t they feel that way?  To face near death and survive is the ultimate test of faith.  Nothing would ever deter them from the knowledge that God would always be there to carry them through.  Think of Peter when Jesus was out of the boat and he wanted to walk to Him.  “Come,” (Jesus) said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.” (Matthew 14:29)  How did he pull that off?  It was the confidence in Jesus that gave him power where he too could walk on water.  This confidence is instilled in each of us waiting to be unleashed as long as we simply believe.  But we must also remember faith does not come overnight.  It is built each day.  We must trust in God, and like having gone through that poor biology final, prepare to receive His blessings such that it is almost not a surprise.  You know God will carry you through. 

God will never leave you hanging out to dry.  We know there will be times things do not look good and we are left with a feeling of uncertainty as to how something will work out.  But we serve an amazing God who is always looking out for us and awaits our call.  So do not hesitate when God is calling you to do His will or you have a God-inspired dream that feels too big or daunting. Walk with the confidence that one should have knowing He will neither leave nor forsake you.  What part of your faith needs strengthening?  How can you be more audacious in your belief of God’s provisions?  My prayer is we trust God is with us with the confidence of … Mr. Q.  Amen. 

Thursday Devotional - Confidence in Uncertainty

How have the last few week’s been for you? Has your life flipped upside down?

I doubt any of us dreamed we would be living life like we are now. Life doesn’t always

go as expected, but God is still in control, and Sovereign over all!

Paul’s life didn’t go the way he thought, either. I’ve been studying Paul in the book of

Acts in Bible study (which has been moved totally online the last few weeks). All the

uncertainties Paul faced has really helped me put my challenges in perspective. My

challenges are very tiny compared to his challenges. Yet, he wasn’t frozen in fear.

In fact, at the end of Paul’s third missionary journey he was told by the Holy Spirit and

Prophets that hardships and prison awaited him in Jerusalem.

Acts 20:22-24           ²² “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Wow, Paul was focused on his task of testifying about the good news of God’s grace. He wasn’t shocked, disheartened, or discouraged by what he faced. He continued to boldly speak for God, confident in God’s plan for his life.

How confident are you and I in God’s plan for our lives? He’s in control. He has a plan. We don’t need to worry, but just do what He’s called us to do, take up our cross, trust Him and follow Him!  

Alice

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.

Confidence Of Ali

Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ.  It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.  2 Corinthians 3:3-5

Confidence can at times be a fragile thing.  For example, an undefeated fighter will have supreme confidence.  However after numerous successes, they finally taste defeat, and then there comes a lack of confidence.  Thoughts like, “Can this happen again,” or “How do I recover,” become questions that float around in their head.  Now I was never a fighter, but I have been a fan of boxing since I was a small child watching Muhammad Ali.  There was no one who was more confident than him.  Yet when I became a fan, Ali had not only lost once but also been knocked down.  The latter is usually detrimental to a fighter’s career because that is when they really lose that aura of confidence.  Nonetheless, Ali always remained supremely confident, and thus would be considered arguably the greatest fighter in the world.

This aura of confidence is a reminder of how we should view our faith.  We should be supremely confident in Jesus Christ because He not only died for our sins but also overcame death.  This is not something we think of.  It is something we know deep in our hearts with a high degree of confidence.  Furthermore, it is through this level of confidence that we are empowered to be lights for Christ here on earth.  This was what Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians.  When Jesus left, He said that we will receive the power from the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:7-9).  With this power, we can endure any challenge or trial knowing that through Christ anything is possible.  This is a source of endless strength that is available to us.  The trick is to remind ourselves of its existence.  We are often blinded by worldly distractions that may inhibit us from tapping into this, and life will at times knock you down.  However if we are prayerful and deliberate in our outreach humbling ourselves to realize we can not make it without Him, we are assured of our connection to this power, and thus can remain confident in Him.  We can get up off the canvas, and weather the storm knowing in the end we will raise our arms in victory.

We are indeed made perfect through Jesus Christ.  As such, we should be confident in every step we make.  It’s not that we will be perfect with each step.  Instead no matter what step we make, Jesus is with us, and through Him, all wrong steps will be made right.  So let us move forward knowing that if we have love for Him, the Spirit of God will dwell within our hearts for all to see.  What doubts do you have today that Jesus Christ can bring surety to?  How can maintain greater boldness through this heightened level of confidence? My prayer is that when we have doubts in this world, we look to Jesus with the confidence of Ali.  Amen.

Confidently And Fearlessly Forward!

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

I am going to open up and be vulnerable here.  There are many things I am fearful of.  These fears have at times entered not only my mind but also my heart.  Sometimes, I am afraid for my children and how the world tries to crush their spirit.  I fear going places because of exterior threats such as acts of violence.  In my lifetime, my fears have included never having a significant other to love me.  As I approach a new milestone in my life, I worry if my life has made a difference, and though my family has plenty, I will fear losing it all in some fashion or another.  They have consumed me and made me at times want to hide in my own bedroom and close the door to the world.  Some of you may have felt any combination of those fears at some point of your life.  Yet looking back when all of those fears were at their heightened state, I still walked out of my bedroom and house into that very world that tells me to run and retreat.  Why?  Why would any of us want to venture into this world that pushes us into these feelings of insecurity?

We do this because we have been born again through Jesus Christ and are thus of God’s Kingdom.  Not of this world.  Through Christ, we find bravery and courage to move forward into a world that tells us we are not good enough.  The distractions that are of this world are made to create a barrier between ourselves and God.  Thus it is easy to understand that as we focus on the world around us, we struggle to see our own goodness and worthiness.  Through a worldly lens, we see others as who we are not, and focus on what we do not have instead of that God has provided.  If we are focused on God with both our minds and hearts, we immediately see our infinite value as His child.  Others become those you can share God’s light with and what we have is seen as what we are blessed with instead of craving that which we do not have.

We are incredibly blessed to be loved by the one true living God!  Knowing this, we can be open about our fears and uncertainties of the world because we are not of it.  We simply overcome them focusing on who we are (God’s child) and what we are certain of; that God loves us so much that He gave His one and only son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).  Do not let this world convince you otherwise.  You may not see yourself of deserving of God’s grace, but none of us are.  You are indeed worthy because through Jesus Christ, you are born again!  What fears and worries are hindering your connection with God?  How can you move forward knowing you are His child?  My prayer is when confronted with worldly insecurities, we affix our hearts and minds on Jesus Christ, and move confidently and fearlessly forward!  Amen.    

Strength in Weakness

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

What is true strength?  We are taught to always be a symbol of strength to others.  This is something I believe in, but as I’ve grown, showing strength is so much more than just being strong.  My success as a husband did not come from always being wonderful to my wife.  In my younger years, I would complain too much.  There were times I felt she was not sensitive enough, and other times where she did not do enough.  However, those were not her faults.  They were mine.  I was the one who did not love her and appreciate her enough.  I expected her to fix our failings in the relationship rather than look at the mirror and deal with my own.  In accepting my own weakness as a husband, it allowed God to be the strength of our marriage.  It made me better to her and more accepting.  It gave me not only forgiveness for my flaws but also inspiration to do better.  To be better.  The most amazing thing about it is my story, while unique, led me to the same place other Christians found themselves; saved and loved by Jesus Christ.

God shows His greatest strength through our greatest weaknesses.  We often feel that we must show our strength to others so as to lead them to a better place.  While it is true that we are to live our lives as examples of Christ, it is important that we also share where we are indeed flawed.  The vision Paul shared in 2^nd Corinthians spoke to this very point.  What brings others to God is not how perfect we may seem.  What brings them is realizing just how imperfect we are.  Our flaws are not so dissimilar from those who are lost souls.  However, our difference is that we have been born again through Christ, and He has shown us a different path.  It is a path that we not only proudly follow but also show to others.  A man struggling in his marriage and contemplating divorce is someone God may connect with me where I can say, “Hey.  I know where you are, and I have been there!”  Then God’s light can be revealed to them.

God’s glory is best revealed when He is allowed to shine above all.  There is no better way for it to be revealed than in our own story of weakness.  Romans 8:26 says, “The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.”  Even when our prayers may be weak, God intercedes to ensure they are heard.  So let us focus not just on being the face of God’s strength.  Show others the flawed image of yourself because lost souls do not follow a God they don’t know.  They follow someone who understands them and can be used by God to help them see a righteous path.  How can you reveal your weakness to show God’s strength?  My prayer is that we are able to show true strength through own weakness.  Amen.

The Humor of Our Dumb Questions

Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”

But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?”  For there were about 5,000 men there.

Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.”  So the people all sat down.  Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people.  They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!  Luke 9:12-17

When I was young, I found myself asking a lot of dumb questions.  At times, it led to some level of embarrassment, but other times, it made a difference in someone’s life.  Once before my 10^th birthday, I asked my mom a simple dumb question, “Why do you smoke?  Isn’t that bad for you?”  My mother would soon thereafter stop smoking altogether, and I have not seen her smoke over the past forty years.  My wife and I were arguing with each other in the very young days of our marriage.  It got to be so loud once that our son came in crying asking why we were yelling at each other.  I promised to never yell at her mother like that, and have not since to this day.  Sometimes, a simple dumb question can lead to powerful change.

God will sometimes wait for us to ask him the question so that He can show us something powerful and amazing.  I have heard many times the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand people with the loaves of bread and two fish.  However, I realized reading it today how the amazing feat did not occur until the disciples had ‘asked a dumb question.’  I laughed because you can hear the incredulous doubt in the disciples’ voices as they said, “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?”  It’s like when I ‘brilliantly’ ask my wife after work looking at the counter and seeing nothing thawed out for dinner, “So what are we going to eat for dinner, honey?”  Of course, I do not notice dinner is already on the stove!  Ok, back to the story!  So they asked Jesus this question.   These were not the Pharisees who have been looking to trip up Jesus since He started preaching the Good News gospel or the Gentiles who had no idea who Jesus was.  These were the disciples who were as close to Jesus as they come, and they had seen Him do all these miraculous things.  Yet, they ask the dumb question anyway!  So Jesus instructed them, and it said, “He kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples.”  It was as if Jesus was looking at them with a confident all-knowing smile saying, “Now watch this!”  He of course fed the crowd not only until they were full but also where there was “twelve baskets of leftovers!”

God is waiting for us to reach out to Him and ask what it is we need from Him because He is the great provider!  How often do we look at our situation going to God saying, “I can’t do this?”  We need to stop looking at what we cannot do and focus on what God can do because frankly that is what He expects from us; total dependency!  Jesus said, “For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” (Matthew 19:14b)  Jesus said this because He understood children are dependent on their fathers just as we should be on our Heavenly Father.  What is it that you need to ask of God today?  What seemingly audacious dream or problem can you take to God?  My prayer is that we can all laugh at our big situations knowing God is the answer to our ‘dumb question.’  Amen.

Thurs Devo: Confidence in God

Last week we saw how dramatic and irrational the Israelites were. I probably would have gotten very upset with the Israelites and tried to point out all the miracles they had forgotten about. However, it’s not recorded that Moses and Aaron even tried to reason with them. Moses and Aaron didn’t even answer their questions, but instead, turned first to God. That’s what the Israelites should have known to do by now, too.

Numbers 20:6-9  ⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷ The Lord said to Moses,⁸ “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him.

Moses and Aaron had such faith and confidence in God that they didn’t worry about defending themselves to the Israelites. They humbly went to God before responding or acting. In fact, they didn’t give God suggestions on how to solve the problem. Nor did they assume God would solve their lack of water issue the same way He had in the past.

How much confidence do you and I have in God? Are we quick to defend ourselves or God? Do we give Him suggestions on how to solve our problems? Are we quick to react or move ahead with our own ideas? Or, do we humbly go to Him first before reacting, truly seeking and waiting for His unique solutions?

Alice