Snapshot: Feet For Ministry

A few weeks ago, the Lord showed me expensive slippers being put into use.  I wasn't quite sure what this meant--I did know that it symbolized something good-- until I saw a new word come out on the Elijah List.  Here is the entire word, and below is an excerpt:

"This is the hour of the golden slippers. This is the hour that you have been crying and groaning for. This is the season when God is handing out shoes for new ministries. They shall come forth in many numbers. Many shall rise and wander into the highways and byways, converting the masses to the heart of Christ. This is the hour that the ancient Christians groaned for. They saw it during their time."

Awesome!  Just like that, the Spirit put the pieces together for me.  At the time that all of this happened--the end of February--Vanessa and I were just finishing up our first street ministry tour. The Lord had really blessed our trip, but there had also been some unexpected hardships, and we were hungering for more. So the message here was so reassuring and inspiring to see.

And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"                                  Romans 10:15

"For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared."
Ephesians 6:15 NLT

Praise God!  We can go out being fully equipped by Him--so equipped that even our feet have been sanctified and prepared for His purposes.  We can go out knowing what we stand on.

Snapshot: Purity and Power

For a little while now, Vanessa and I have been talking to others about baptism.  Of course there is the initial water baptism, and then there is a baptism in the Holy Spirit.  What does the Word say about this?

And he was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. "I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."                                    Mark 1:7-8

So, we have John's water baptism and then Jesus' Holy Spirit baptism.  

JOHN'S WATER BAPTISM
 
John's is of repentance, to allow us to change our ways...to turn from our sins and get ourselves out of the way! Just the basics here, repentance and belief....but awesome basics nonetheless.  In this baptism we show our initial emptying out and belonging to Christ.  God uses the empty vessels.  This is where we die to ourselves and have our 'old man' done away with.  This is where we become a new creation.  We die to the flesh, beginning with water baptism, and pave the way for God to work.   

We have not yet been 'endued with power' yet (Luke 24:49), because humans do a terrible job handling power.  There has to be some purifying, some dying, and some sanctifying  first.  (Of course, with God, all of that can happen in an instant).  The Spirit comes in and makes us more like our master.

Purity (generally) comes before God-given power as a means to keep us safe, humble, and not overly accountable.  Our character by the Holy Spirit has to safely accommodate our gifts by the Spirit.  So the character--and mind of--Christ should come first.  This is a baptism that signifies purity and heart change.  

BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

So, we get ourselves out of the way when baptized in water.  We die with Christ, and then also rise with Him.  What's next?  Well, God has made us pure.  And He wants to intensify the power of Jesus' resurrection within us.  He wants to pour into us more of the Spirit--He wants to give us a greater, secondary infilling. Unlike at the start, now we can be entrusted more power.
 
"But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”                            Mark 2:20-22

Jesus said this while comparing His methods to John's.  And this analogy can also apply to the difference between Jesus' baptism and John's.  The second baptism, in the Holy Spirit, brings in a much larger gifting.  It brings in much more 'new wine'.  It enlarges our spiritual capacity, so that we can drink into the fullness of Christ.  This baptism gives us power--not just any power, but the wonder-working power of the Spirit.  This second baptism unleashes the essence of Jesus within us.  It sets us on fire for Him, for the entire world.  

The Lord wants to make us more effective.  He has promised to make His minister a flame of fire. (Hebrews 1:7) He has promised to give us a light, that, if shown, is bright enough for all to see. (Matthew 5:16)  It is time to start operating in the gifts.  It is time to move in His power.  That's what this second baptism is--power of equipping for effective ministry.

"Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power."                              Ephesians 3:7

Intercessory Prayer: Glory Clouds and Clouds of Witnesses

Recently, the Lord has been revealing to me a part of His glory.  It all started when I was praying that God would show me what His glory looks like.  Since that time, He's directed me, led me, and quickened to me all things related to clouds.  Hey--He's talking about the Glory cloud!  It took me a little while to figure that out.  He was showing me that His glory is often, well, packaged in a cloud.  Isn't asking the main step on the road to receiving?  Our God is so good.

Then Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you."                         Exodus 24:16

This is the Glory cloud.  This is what Moses saw, and what the Israelites saw, also.  We, too, have been gifted spiritual sight, as the veil has been torn by Jesus.  If Moses was shown great revelations, then we can, too. I always thought it was kind of unrealistic to think in these terms.  But hey--that's what the Word says.

"Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."

Hebrews 10:19-22

And after several days of seeing clouds mentioned everywhere, the Lord led me on to pray for the town I was staying in at that time--Springfield, Missouri.  And I saw in a mental pictures cloud filled with glory coming in and resting over the city.  The cloud was beautiful, and was tinted by God and silver colors.  There were angels and beams of light all throughout it.  And I saw that the Lord had sent it in on behalf of those praying for Springfield.  I was kind of surprised by this--wow!  Praise God for revealing His character and His nature to us.

Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy.

Exodus 24:16

Confirmed:  A few days later, I met a man downtown--still in Springfield--that was praying for revival to come in.  He was a much older man, probably from the Assemblies of God, and was hoping in the Lord for a move of God's Spirit and a massive demonstration of His glory.

Confirmed:  There certainly was a show of God's glory in the area of Springfield!  People were healed and shown the power and Love of God.  Many people's hearts were hardened, yes, but to those who were open to it, the glory of God was shown and revealed.

Confirmed:   Today in Church, we read Hebrews 11, which talks about the cloud of witnesses.  So God added another element to this!  In the old testament, the Glory cloud was where God lived, and it was visible.  People usually didn't go into the cloud; they certainly didn't compose it.  And there was only one Glory cloud, assigned to one ministry--the ministry from God of Moses.

But now, Jesus has been endowed with all Glory.  And we are fellow sons with Him.  We are fellow partakers!  We, too, have access to the Glory cloud.  All of us, not just some spiritual leader!  Although it is not usually visible today, don't we walk by faith, and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)?  God's glory today is just as critical to ministry as it was in Moses' time.

I believe that there is actually more than one cloud today.  God is not limited to one area or one dwelling place now, given that He lives within those who believe!  I believe that it is part of the Holy Spirit's work to magnify Jesus--by sending in clouds of glory--to all areas of the world.  I believe that this is part of what our prayers do.  I believe that God sends in a dispensation of His Glory to those who want it most. 

And these clouds of witnesses are watching from Heaven thanks to Christ.  Don't you think they come in glory?  I believe that they are watching, and at times, moving with the Glory clouds that range to and fro throughout the earth (2 Chronicles 16:9).  I believe their eyes move with the Almighty's, looking for those who will be strengthened.  There will come a day when the whole earth will be filled with (the knowledge of) His glory (Psalms 72:19), and that can start with prayer.  That can start with the petition of those who want to believe.  Let's all pray for the coming harvest.  Let's all pray for a fresh release of His Glory.  Let's pray that people are awakened to this--that the eyes of their understanding can be enlightened by the King (Ephesians 1:18).

Be Bold And Very Courageous...What's Next?

"And he said to the Israelites, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, What do these stones mean?

You shall let your children know, Israel came over this Jordan on dry ground.

For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up for us until we passed over,

That all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that you may reverence and fear the Lord your God forever."


Joshua 4:21-24

So, we've stepped over.  We have seen God's promises, met the conditions, claimed them, and stepped out in faith.  And then we've reached them, and they have become reality in our lives!  What next?

Well, we cannot forget what God has done in the past.  We can't forget the acts of His goodness.  We need to diligently keep all of the testimony that He's given us (Deuteronomy 6:17).  We need to remember, and not forget, so that our fear and reverence of the the Lord does not fade.  Instead of letting the past grow dim, we need to meditate on it!  (Psalms 105:5)  We need to keep it in our awareness so that we can build upon our view of the character of God.

Now we can go into the future.  Now we can walk in those things that God has already prepared for us.  There is a pathway that leads to synchronicity in blessing, and all we need to do to shift onto it is step out in faith.  There is a path through life that is full of hope.  And all we need to do it hold on to the promises!

"And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him."  

Luke 5:11

So, we cross the Jordan, and then we leave all else behind and walk by Jesus into the land our promises.  We forsake all, and follow Him.  That's what it takes.  We have to walk by faith, not by sight, as the path we're on grows brighter and brighter.  We have to patiently wait until God fulfills more and more promises.  We have to wait until our reality is entirely His reality, and His Word fills all things in our lives.  This is where He makes our way perfect (Psalms 18:32).  This is where He perfects our surroundings (Psalms 138:8).

Now, I know that Luke 5:11 above is not in context related at all to the Jordan crossing seen in the book of Joshua.  But I also know that God's Word is alive and dynamic and active.  And I know that the Lord gave me Luke 5:11 as a way to demonstrate how to move forward even after the attainment of promises.

We need to attain the promises, and then go on to full devotion, full maturity.  We need to be full of hope, boldness, and truth.  And we can only have these things if we walk with Jesus.  We can only have the fruit of the Spirit if we are drawing nearer to Him.  Let's yield to the leading of God today.

  

Spirit-led Gardening??

All throughout the winter, the Lord has been prompting me to look into farming.  And the more I thought about it, the more I realize that I like the idea!  And God has kept confirming the message.  The situations have been right going into the Spring, and the Lord has made it easy for me to order seeds, learn about techniques, and have good land to farm on.  For now, I'm taking things small scale...so 'gardening' is probably a more apt way to describe what I'm doing.  But I do plan on doing more extensive farming in the future!

This morning, I was doing some research on vegetable growing--just looking into basic things.  Now, I'm new to farming, so today I was mostly looking into general guidelines.  I wanted to have the Lord's backing, though--I wanted to know that He was making my way perfect (Psalms 18:32).   So, I asked the Lord for a sign to confirm that He did indeed want me to be doing this--researching vegetables!  And right away, God was gracious to give me His Word--and I was led to the below verse at random!

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
Genesis 2:15

Praise the Lord!  With that, the Lord gave me new hope.  I knew His backing, and I felt it, too!  In continuing my research, I was looking into using raised beds for my gardening.  So I looked into that a little bit.  And I decided that raised beds were the best method to use.  After a little more research on this, all of a sudden, I heard the Lord speak.  He said:

"Look at the time..."  

There was some urgency there--not harshness, but a pressing command.  So I did, and it was 10:42. OK, now what?

His voice was quick to give me a next step.  He told me to enter that time, 10:42, into this Hebrew Lexicon.  I knew He was telling me to enter it in as the time 1042.  Now, I've used this online concordance before, but this time, the Lord was so specific to guide me into it.

I heard the Lord continue:

"Enter it into the second one, not the first, not into Hebrew but to Greek".  

Woah, OK!  So, I used the Concordance search on the second row, 'not into Hebrew but to Greek', and entered into it the number 1042. Normally I use the top concordance, and do my word / number searches in Hebrew, but I knew the importance of obedience here.  I knew all of this from God--His voice was powerful and clear.  So, I obeyed this Word from the Lord.  I entered the number in, not knowing what to expect.  And there it was:

1042  Gabbatha= "elevated or a platform"
--a raised place, elevation

Wow!  I was a little taken back by this.  Raised beds??  I had just been wanting to have God's approval on my farming, and He had given it, through the scripture in Genesis.  He even gave me His backing on my choice to use raised gardening beds.  Praise the Lord!  With so many gracious confirmations, I'm believing that all this farming research was more of God's idea than mine.

It's so nice to know that God is for so many details in our lives.  He even loves my raised beds research!  The more I get to know Him, the more His intricacy amazes me.  It's so worth it to want to please Him.  We need to wait on Him, making sure that we please Him.  We need to wait until we are filled with the Spirit.  That's when we can stay in step with the Spirit; that's when we can be continually approved (Galatians 5:25).

So we need to be very led.  That's when we can receive true comfort!  That's when we can be justified by faithful steps in Him.  That's when we can be confident.  We can be led, and we can have God bring us into great rewards right now!

"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward"

Hebrew 10:35

Be Bold and Courageous: Crossing The Jordan, Revisited

In March of 2014, the Lord gave me a dream where I was crossing a modern-day Jordan river and going into the promised land.  To paraphrase, I was on a boat with many people, who, although nice, seemed really unmotivated, and the boat was stuck.  I decided to leave the boat, join an evacuation team that had come to rescue us, and then send off into the wilderness at the other side of the river.

God showed me that my experience in this dream strongly paralleled Joshua chapters 1-3. We need to be bold, motivated, and decisive.  That's where the rewards are!  That's where we put all our trust into Him.  What it means to be bold for Jesus, and what can be lost, if we aren't bold!  All in all, the Lord was showing me through this dream that I had already chosen to step out, and that it was now time to walk in that .You can read more about this whole message here:  Entering The Promised Land.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."                                          Ephesians 2:10

Since my initial experience, the Lord has revisited this "crossing the Jordan" theme several times. And this present season is one of them!  In the last few days, I've been blessed with many, many things that have confirmed the message.  Many of these confirmations are from scripture that the Lord has specifically led me to; others are through signs or the writings of others.  Below are just a few of the scriptural ones:

BOLDNESS: Joshua 1:9

"Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be

dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."                              

CROSSING THE JORDAN ON DRY LAND:  Joshua 3:6-11

"Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people. And they took it up and went on before the people.

The Lord said to Joshua, This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 

You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. Joshua said to the Israelites, Come near, hear the words of the Lord your God...

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan!"

REMEMBRANCE: Joshua 4:21-24

"And he said to the Israelites, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, What do these stones mean?

You shall let your children know, Israel came over this Jordan on dry ground.

For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up for us until we passed over,

That all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that you may reverence and fear the Lord your God forever."

There is so much in these scriptures--the Holy Spirit has so much to say to us through them.  This is what my dream relates to, and this is what we can all relate to everyday.  We can take from the details of Joshua 1 through 4 many things:

God has commanded us to be bold and courageous.  He has commanded us to step out in faith.  He has commanded us to step out in faith, reaching the Promised Land by it.  He has commanded us to arrive at and attain to every promise found in His Word.  And the last step of attainment may just seem impossible.  It probably will be, without the Lord and His wonder-working power.  God alone can take us to the total fulfillment of our promises.  

So let's be bold and step out.  Let's be bold and lay hold of abundant life.  Let's act into His Kingdom come--let's not wait for another person to stir us up or motivate us to get moving.  Let's make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).  Let's be strong in the Lord and the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10),  

When we step out, let's reach for the Promised Land.  If God has told you something, He is still telling you that something.  The promises have not changed.  Reach for them!  Not by might, not by power, but by the Holy Spirit, step out in faith. (Zechariah 4:6) Step out, and watch as the Lord makes the waters part. 

We can't be stagnant.  We can't be easily satisfied.  We can't be like the people in my dream--well meaning Christians, but more than content to watch as others play the forerunner.  We all need to attain to the blessings of Christ!  We all need to see Him as He really is, for ourselves (1 John 3:2). The veil has been torn for all of us.  And all of us can, with boldness, in faith receive a blessing from God.

"So let no one boast about human beings, since everything belongs to you"

1 Corinthians 3:21

LIFESTYLE BLOG: Sugar Free Diet

LIFESTYLE BLOGS?

So, this marks the first of our lifestyle blog posts.  We've wanted to incorporate these into our blog for awhile now.  Isn't God over all and through all?  He wants to take our entire lives into submission to Him.  He wants to guide us, dynamically and continually.  And we want to make a testimony about Him, and include the things He's done for us in our practical life.  The flesh profits nothing, and a mind in His Spirit is life and peace. We want to demonstrate a Spirit-led way of living.

You can expect posts on worldly events (in the world, but not of it, of course), food, fitness, and life events.  And we want to speak of all these things and remain devoted to God.  We can give Him everything!  Once we give Him something, He will touch it and change it.  Our every action can be holy unto the Lord. 

SUGAR FREE DIET

"Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink."                                      Daniel 1:12

The verse above is what originally prompted Vanessa to go off sugar, in favor of vegetables (and fruits).  She had been considering a more healthy diet for a little while, and this is the verse that God gave her as a confirmation.  She's since went off of sugar and animal protein in favor of vegetables in coconut oil.  As an additional confirmation, I was reading the Elijah list, and saw that a the author of this article had recently gave up sugar.  In addition, I've talked with more than a few people who gave up sugar and/ or sweets for the Christian holiday of Lent. 

 I'm less of an advocate of going sugar free for life than I am in doing so for a season--but for us, this season is now!  I believe the discipline involved is just an intermediate step on the way to total freedom. To the pure, all things are pure--eventually.  (Titus 1:15)  In the meantime, I had seen enough by the Word and it's confirmations to believe what Vanessa was saying.  I knew that the Lord had moved her to get off of sugar and processed foods.

 I felt led to partner with Vanessa in going totally off of sugar.  I figured it would be beneficial to support her--two are better than one, after all (Ecclesiastes 4:9).  We both began this process a few days ago, and I've felt great since!  I am still eating meat, eggs, and cheese, while Vanessa's off them, as they don't seem to make me tired.  I just traded in sugar for coconut oil.  My digestion has been great--I feel that the coconut oil really helped that-- and I've felt less hunger between meals.  Praise God! 

(For more on coconut oil, click here.  Suppversity is a good recourse if you want to really go in depth with your health...I used to read it a lot in my cycling days.)

In the future, look for a few recipe blogs.  I'm thinking about making some sugar-free chocolate later tonight!

Hope For The Future, Part Three: Godly Idealism

God is an idealist: 



Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act 

unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, 

hopes all things, endures all things.


 

This is what love does, and since God is love (1 John 4:8), this is what God does.  God hopes all things.  God wins in the end, so why shouldn't He hope all things?  His victory is assured, and ours can be, too.  And if we will rise with Him, why shouldn't we also be filled with hope?




"I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he

has given to those he called--his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance."     

Ephesians 1:18 MSG









God's Word says that His people are destined for a rich and glorious inheritance.  And we can walk in a measure of that glory now, and then move on to fullness.  There is nothing more hope-inspiring than that! 

God has so many promises for those who love Him.  He has so many blessings stored up for those who live by His Spirit.  He has so many good things to give.   He is waiting to bless you!  Not that you have not been blessed yet, but there is always more to God.  He is for us unsearchable riches.  (Ephesians 3:8)  He is to us incomprehensible love. (Romans 11:33)  It's time to get a fresh anointing.  It's time to walk in our blessings.  It's time to live life to the fullest.  It's time for Christ in us to shine through.  It's time to yield to the Father's unending hope.









   






"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the

Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory"                          

Colossians 1:27

Hope For The Future, Part Two: Confidence in Prayer

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."                                                                     1 John 5:14

And again,


"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."                   John 14:14

CONFIDENCE IN HIS PROMISES

These verses should give us so much confidence in prayer.  If we believe them, then they will!  Can we become bolder and more decisive in our prayers?  We can, if we make God's Word a reality in our lives.  We are free to make bold petitions and ask big questions.  We are free to pray big prayers.  Can't God do exceedingly abundantly more than we ask? (Ephesians 3:20)  He can, and He will, if we pray in faith.  

Praying for someone else is so exciting when you know the work has already been done.  If I believe Jesus when He said, "It is finished", then I'll believe that He has also already overcome every single work of the devil.  Praying for someone else is so easy sometimes, because I can realize that God loves that person even more than I do.  I know that Jesus will overcome the enemy's work in their lives--He just lets me say the words.  I know that the hard work has been finished by another.  And because of that, I know that He will choose to show His glory.

Praying for myself is great, too.  The results are effective and often immediate.  If I ask for wisdom for God, I am destined to receive it.  That's what the Word says, and if I believe it, then I will allow God to manifest it.  Just look at the promises below:

"For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."                                                                 Matthew 7:8

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."                         James 1:5



Lord, give us wisdom.  Lord, give us faith.  Lord, make us pure.  Lord, give us more love.  Lord, please touch our families.  Lord, please give an opportunity today.

OK, so God will do all those things.  Praise Jesus!  He made things so simple.  We can always take heart (John 16:33) and have confidence in Him.  We can put all of our trust into His heart.

CONDITIONS TO MEET

There are conditions to meet, however, before we can know that God will listen to our prayers.  I could try to explain this, but instead, I think we should all meditate on the scriptures below.  These are the conditions, and these are the results of disobedience:



"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that He will not hear"                                              Isaiah 59:2

"We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will."
John 9:31

"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."                                    James 4:3

These warnings have been written so that we might know the benefits of obedience to God.  The closer we are to God,  the close He will be to our prayers.  We need to be close.  We need to be pure, godly, and obedient--that's when God will listen.  That's when He will listen and intercede with us.  That's when we can be confident!  We have been given in the Holy Spirit a purity that causes Him to respond to our every prayer and petition.

Prayer changes things, after God has changed you.  Prayer moves things, after God has moved you.  And there comes a time when God gives freedom in prayer.  There comes a time when, as a friend of God, we can cause Him to change His mind (this is in the Word--look at Jeremiah 42, esp. 42:10).   We can know that our prayers move the hand of God.

 "If the Holy Ghost doesn't move me, then I move the Holy Ghost."  

Smith Wigglesworth said this.  Many people refused it, or thought it was unscriptural.  It probably seemed to be a prideful statement--maybe Smith Wigglesworth thought he was God.  

But in reality, Wigglesworth was just a really close friend.  And he knew that persistence gets things done.  He knew that faith in God to carry out His Word always pays off.  He knew that God's promises do not ever fail--if you stand on them, if you make them your life.  We need to know what Jesus says--"If you ask for anything in My Name, so I will do it."  We need to make Jesus our best friend.  We need His love and His conviction resting upon us.  That's when we trust Him.  That's when we have boldness.  And this is the way that we can have confidence in prayer.

Hope For The Future, Part One: Godly Confidence

"You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways. When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence, And the humble person He will save. 
He will deliver one who is not innocent, And he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."                                               Job 22:28-30

Love hopes all things (1 Corinthians 13:7).  Even when we are cast down, we can be still have hope.  We can be strong and hope in the Lord (Psalms 31:24).  And hope is what makes us confident IN GOD.  Hope is what allows us to expect good things of Him and good things of the life He's given.

That is godly confidence.   If we are in His Love, we can love the idea of our future.  We can love the idea of a new day tomorrow.  We can look at every new opportunity and every new day with godly confidence.  We can be confident that God will save every part of our lives as we take on humility.

We may get cast down--Job did.  But let's put our hope in His faithfulness!  We may enter into a trial, and then God comes in and allows our words to change our reality.  He allows us to come up before His throne with boldness (Hebrews 4:16).  He allows us to ask Him, be led by Him, and then speak what He speaks and want what He wants.  He allows us to speak the future into existence.  He will partner with us in the future, and His light will shine on our ways.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."                             Philippians 1:5

Paul was full of godly confidence.  So was King David.  Confidence is knowing that God has saved us, protected us, and perfected us.  Confidence is trusting God's Word.  And His Word says that He will perfect that which concerns us (Psalm 138:8)  That's something to hope in!  That's something to be confident about.  Confidence comes from knowing that prayer changes things--once again, that God allows our words of faith and humility to move His hand.  Confidence is knowing what Jesus did for us, the fullness of eternal life that He attained on our behalf.   

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."                                      Jeremiah 29:11 

Most of of all, confidence is knowing the character of God.  He is gracious.  He is forgiving.  He is faithful to hear us. He has wonderful plans for us.  He is so full of love!

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."                                             1 John 5:14