19 For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom Silas,Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says. 20 For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.~Chapter 1
God does not function like the world. He does not say, “Yes”, than “actually No” This helps me to be more confident in the choices I know He guides me to make. When His plan for my life takes a turn I don’t understand and I feel like a shaft in the wind I have to put my confidence in God who is unwavering. I have seen His promises fulfilled in my life over and over, even in times when I lack confidence the most. I have been richly blessed in SO many ways!
5 I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. 6 Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. 7 Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. 8 So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him. ~ Chapter 2
These verses were a great reminder to me about how to forgive. One thing I learned in these verses was in verse 7 where it says “it’s time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. 8 So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.” If I want to be a confident person I must be careful how I treat others. How can I have confidence if I am unsettled or regretful about the way I act towards others and hold onto unforgiveness. I think this actually makes you a more insecure person. When I see someone with a lot of unforgiveness in their hearts I am usually also looking at a very insecure hurt person. I know, I’ve been that person. You can’t thrive for the Lord. God has a difficult time using someone without confidence. This doesn’t mean you can’t change. I am working on changing this about myself daily and sometimes even min by min. I love the part where it says, ‘comfort him, reaffirm your love’. Imagine if we all forgave others following this formula: forgive, comfort, and reaffirm your love. In some cases in may not be possible or safe to do so. If you could it would take confidence and make confidence FOR SURE! Imagine what a gift it would be to you and the person you forgave?
17We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.
~ Chapter 2
Imagine I have authority to preach the word of God! Well of course I do as long as it’s done with sincerity. Enough said there, that = confidence in my ministry and should resonate with you too if you have the right motive and purpose.
We took a break from Corinthians and studied Romans 10 for our missions. The verses that touched me were:
8…“The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.”
14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” ~ Romans 10
If I have God’s authority and it’s on my lips and in my heart and God has told me to ‘go’ because otherwise they might not hear it from anyone else than I should not only be confident but convicted. This verse was a reassurance to me about someone God has put on my heart to speak to.
4 We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. 5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3
This is the passage that spoke to me this week. Just look at the first few words, ‘we are confident…’
The part that I am bathing in is, ‘Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us…’ That is such a huge privilege and not one to be wasted!
Wow! That is a lot of talk about confidence. So I created this list to help me remember every thought God put in my heart. It’s going on my fridge and maybe bathroom mirror too because I cannot afford to waste these privileges God has given me. God’s plans for me require a lot of confidence in order for His will to be properly fulfilled in my lift. I don’t want God to have to find someone else to complete the work He has planned for me because I am so filled with fear and self doubt.
‘Reasons to have Confidence Checklist.’
Rely only on God
He will continue to rescue us
God has graciously answered so many prayers
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.”
All of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ
Forgive and comfort him, reaffirm your love for him
We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority
The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.
How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!
Our qualification comes from God.
He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant.
in the clay,
Chantal Dube
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