Bold and Confident (Ephesians 3:11-12)

Today's scripture: Ephesians 3:11-12

How bold is your faith? How confident are you in God’s eternal purpose?

I would like to be able to say I’m as bold as Paul, as confident as Peter. Or as my maternal grandfather.

My Grandpa Hess was bold in his faith. He never failed to tell others about his love for his Savior. He was, along with Paul, “not ashamed of the gospel” because he knew it is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

He always believed God had a purpose for his life, and he lived to fulfill that purpose.

This is my legacy. Yet how often do I fail to share the good news of salvation. How often do I lack confidence in God’s eternal purpose.

If you’ve been reading this devotional for a while, you know I deal with chronic health issues, and there are days when I still ask, “Why?” While I don’t lose faith in God, I certainly question His purpose in my pain.

I allow my momentary, temporary pain cloud my vision of God’s faithfulness to me. I fail to remember that “… the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

I certainly don’t remain bold and confident.

When these days come my way, I confess my doubt and questioning, and my Lord God forgives me … yet again.

So … today’s a new day, and I pray for a renewed boldness in faith and a fresh confidence in God’s eternal purpose, trusting His higher-than-mine ways (Isaiah 55:9).

I pray the same for you.

Proud Confidence (2 Corinthians 1:12-14)

Today's scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:12-14

Sometimes it seems that there is nothing in which we can put our confidence—nothing and no one.

An up and down economy. Social unrest. Persecuted believers. Wars—and rumors of wars.

Corrupt politicians. Immoral clergy. Depraved celebrities.

It’s enough to make you want to crawl into a whole and hibernate. A “Calgon moment” for sure. Or perhaps a “Calgon lifetime”?

It seems hopeless. And in many ways, it is indeed hopeless. If we put our confidence in another person or in the things of this world, we are destined for disappointment.

The only thing we can—and should—put our hope in is the grace of God. In His wisdom. In His teachings. In His plan. In His will.

If we put our confidence in Him, we will never truly be disappointed. If we trust that He does work all things out for good as Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, we can have confidence that, even in the most difficult times, God will prevail. His word will stand firm.

And there’s one more thing in which we can have confidence: the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, as this world continues its downward spiral, we can be confident that His return is ever closer.

I’m confident about that!

To Whom Shall We Go? (John 6:66-71)

Today's scripture: John 6:66-71

Peter asks a question that I often ask as well: "Lord, to whom shall we go?"

I honestly don't know how unbelievers handle just day-to-day living. If I didn't believe God has a purpose and plan for my life, I wouldn't get out of bed. If I didn't have confidence that Jesus would give me daily strength, complete hibernation would be my chosen lifestyle.

This world is just too hard. Too hard.

Watching the news is like seeing prophecy unveiled. War. Natural disasters. Sin. Corruption. Perversion. Hate. Brother against brother.

Sometimes, it's difficult just reading my friends' Facebook statuses. Fighting cancer. Losing loved ones. Looking for work. Struggling with relationships. Praying for prodigals.

It's just hard.

So when things are so rough and valleys so low that the mountaintop isn't even visible, what do we do? Where do we go?

For those who don't believe in a sovereign, loving God? I don't know. Culture? Philosophy? People?

I'm so blessed I don't have to rely on these things ... these things that will let me down more often than not.

Instead, I know I can go to my Lord because, truly, to whom shall I otherwise go?

Godly Wisdom (2 Cor. 10:1-6)

Today’s scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:1-6

Sometimes—actually, often—I read God’s word, and I’m almost overwhelmed by how much wisdom is contained in just a few verses. Today is no exception.

First, Paul writes about having the “meekness and gentleness of Christ” and being “bold with confidence.” While these terms seem contradictory, they are clearly Christ-like attributes. Our Savior was certainly meek—in the best sense of the word. My small group is going through a study on the beatitudes, and in the chapter on “Blessed are the meek” (Matthew 5:5), the author writes, “The Greek adjective translated ‘meek,’ means ‘gentle,’ ‘humble,’ ‘considerate,’ ‘courteous,’ and therefore exercising the self-control without which these qualities would be impossible” (John Stott, The Beatitudes: Developing Spiritual Character © 1998).

Yet as meek and gentle as Christ was, He was also bold to speak truth, never shying away from telling it like it is. Does the phrase “white-washed sepulchers” ring any bells?

We too need to be gentle and meek with others, yet be confident to share God’s truth whenever and with whomever we can.

Second, Paul writes about the war we face every day. Not a war against flesh, but one against the lies of the enemy. Satan is the “father of lies” (see John 8:44). While he’s lost the war with those of us who have committed our lives to Christ, he would like nothing more than to drag us down and to keep us from fulfilling God’s purpose through and in us. We need to be prepared—each and every day—as we take up our God-given armor (see Ephesians 6:10-18).

Finally, Paul writes of our taking “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ …” How often does our thought life translate into wrong actions? Seriously, that’s where sin starts, right? I think something before I do it, and so if I’m not careful about what I think, I’m going to more easily fall into sin.

We need to be diligent about this. Whenever a sinful thought creeps in (remember that “father of lies”?), we need to take it captive, asking the Holy Spirit to completely eradicate it from our minds. We can’t let sinful thoughts take even a toehold.

Well … so much wisdom. So much to think—and pray—about.

And that’s just from six short verses!

Having Confidence (2 Cor. 1:12-14)

For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end; just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
(2 Corinthians 1:12-14, NASB)

Sometimes it seems that there is nothing in which we can put our confidence—nothing and no one.

A faltering economy. Social unrest. Wars—and rumors of wars.

Corrupt politicians. Immoral clergy. Depraved celebrities.

It’s enough to make you want to crawl into a whole and hibernate. A “Calgon moment” for sure. Or perhaps a “Calgon lifetime”?

It seems hopeless. And in many ways, it is indeed hopeless. If we put our confidence in another person or in the things of this world, we are destined for disappointment.

The only thing we can—and should—put our hope in is the grace of God. In His wisdom. In His teachings. In His plan. In His will.

If we put our confidence in Him, we will never truly be disappointed. If we trust that He does work all things out for good as Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, we can have confidence that, even in the most difficult times, God will prevail. His word will stand firm.

And there’s one more thing in which we can have confidence: the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, as this world continues its downward spiral, we can be confident that His return is ever closer.

I’m confident about that!

The Ultimate Victor (1 Cor. 15:20-28)

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.
(1 Corinthians 15:20-28, NASB)

Adam’s choice in the Garden of Eden brought sin into the world—the sin of pride, of wanting to not just be like God, but to be God.

And Adam’s sin infiltrated the hearts and souls of all of his descendents. We are all sinful. Or as Paul wrote in another of his epistles: “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23).

We can in no way solve the problem of sin—on our own, that is. But there is One far greater than any sin we could possibly commit. There is One through whom we can “all be made alive.”

Sometimes it seems like the enemy is winning. Sin is rampant. Corruption prevails. Perversion triumphs. Satan is licking his chops in glee as he sees the downward spiral of this earth.

Ah, but we know the end of the story. We know that Jesus “has put all His enemies under His feet … He has put all things in subjection under His feet.”

Yes, through one man sin entered the world. But through the Son of Man, the “last enemy that will be abolished is death.”  Right will overcome wrong. Life will vanquish death.

And those of us who have chosen to follow Christ will spend eternity with our God—Father, Son, and Spirit. Everything else will fall away.

So I say, “Lord Jesus, come quickly!”