April 30, 2008

Sorry for the late post but I’ve been in Nashville since early today.

I have noticed determined attitudes this week in the lives of God’s people.  The down side of that is that when we notice determination the best is when people are going through difficult times.  The up side of that is that in those difficult times is when God seems to shine the brightest.

Peter says in I Peter 5:10, “…after you have suffered a little while, (God) will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

So it appears that when we have to show our determination we can also be on the lookout for God to give us what we need to stay the course.  That is the message all of us need to understand.  That our perseverance produces determination, not just any old determination but a determination powered by God Himself through the person of the Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit Himself will comfort us and give us peace in the meantime.

Peace

Jim

April 29, 2008

An attitude of determination to stay focused on God is a real need in the Christian life.

It is often difficult to stay focused on God during the week after we’ve been bombarded with “the world” and its views.  But if we are to get through our days with wits intact, people must stay focused on God.  A Godly attitude requires Godly attention.  An attitude of determination is a must for the follower of Christ.

Peace

Jim

April 28, 2008

An attitude of determination helps us keep life in perspective.  If we are determined to stay focused on God we lose the felt need to criticise, complain and accuse or be defensive.  If we are determined to look to God to supply our needs we stop worry from consuming us.  If we are determined to seek God’s presence our pace slows down a bit.

An attitude of determination to stay focused on God takes our purpose and replaces it with God’s purpose.  And Oswald Chambers says:

“If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize the children of God.”

Our determination should be linked to our faith, then we can allow our faith to keep us determined, and that determination will color other areas of life as well.

Peace

Jim

April 27, 2008

One last word about an attitude of confidence.  The writer of Hebrews says it best.

“God has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’  So we can say with confidence, the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can anyone do to me?”  (Hebrews 13:6 NRSV)

That kind of confident attitude will help color everything around us, and allow a freedom to be about loving God and neighbor.

Peace

Jim

April 26, 2008

It is interesting what kinds of situations reveal confidence in God.  I have watched various people experience personal tragedy, and I have seen some fall apart and others stand tall.  Without exception those who have an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ stand when others wilt.

Life threatening situations produce honesty.  Some of that honesty is seen in a lack of confidence in God’s promises, and some of that honesty is seen through a confidence in God to prevail. 

April 25, 2008

I watched 13 year olds play baseball last night.  I saw a lot of confidence, and I saw a lack of confidence in a few players.  It was interesting, even painful, to watch confidence slip away as the other team began to score more runs.

Confidence in things or ourselves will let us down, sometimes it will even quit altogether.  But as one of my daughters tells me, God’s love never quits, never fails.

Observation:  Confidence in God produces confidence in other things as well.  I think that’s true because confidence in God first puts our emphasis in the right place.

Peace

Jim

April 24, 2008

Confidence and faith have a lot in common, yet they are different.  You might say that faith and confidence are first cousins.  I think of faith as trusting in what we cannot see.  I have faith that the Bible is true.  I have faith that God will take care of me.  I have faith that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  I have faith that the Holy Spirit will never leave me.

And I am confident that all of that is true.

Peace

Jim

April 23, 2008

I was working on my sermon for this coming week, The Attitude of Confidence, and then I read John 14: 18.  Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.”  And then I thought about Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.  And then I thought about the confidence Jesus had before his death, the confidence that he would rise again.  Jesus didn’t just think he would rise again, he was confident about it.  And it happened just like he said.

When I read John 14:18, and Jesus telling his disciples (and us) that he would never leave us but that he would come to us, I realise that he said those words with the same confidence that allowed him to know that he would rise from the dead.

I don’t know how most people see it, but I see that as a confidence builder for my life.  I can have the same type of confidence Jesus had by understanding that he is present with me all the time.  That allows me to live my life with an attitude of confidence.  I might get a little shaky and have my doubts from time to time (I suppose that means I’m sort of normal) but deep down I know that Jesus, in the person of the Holy Spirit, will never leave me.

That gives me peace

Jim

April 22, 2008

The attitude of confidence will serve us well.

As Christians we are to put our confidence in things eternal.  One of those eternal things is the Bible, God’s Word.  We are to have confidence in God’s word.  A mistake many of us make is to put our confidence in people.  What I have come to understand is that people will disappoint us from time to time but God’s Word never fails.

In our Christian walk, have confidence, but have confidence in the eternal not the temporary.

Peace

Jim

April 21, 2008

Webster says that Confidence is a firm belief; trust; reliance.

Our Christian life is to be a life of confidence, a firm belief that God will provide, a trust that God will keep us under his watchful eye, a reliance that when we falter God will hold us up.  Since our Christian walk is a process of learning and becoming the people that Jesus teaches us to be, we must have an attitude of confidence that God will take care of the details of life.  Said another way, life with Christ is a confident process, or at least it should be.

Be confident that the Holy Spirit will guide us, and teach us, and remind us of all that Jesus taught.

Peace

Jim