Where Does Your Confidence Lie Jeremiah 17:5-8 Psalms 146:5-10 Psalms 84:11-12 Proverbs 3:5-8 Isaiah 12:2-5 Philippians 3:2-3 1 John 5:14-15 1 John 5:2-5 Hebrews 10:35-36 12.07.20

 

WHERE DOES YOUR CONFIDENCE LIE

BREAD

⁵ This is what the LORD says:  “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.  ⁶ He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. ⁷ But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. ⁸ He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NIV)

 

⁵ Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, ⁶ the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them--the LORD, who remains faithful forever.  ⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.  The LORD sets prisoners free, ⁸ the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. ⁹ The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.  ¹⁰ The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.  Psalms 146:5-10 (NIV)

 

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.  ¹² O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.  Psalms 84:11-12 (NIV)

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. ⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. ⁸ This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.   Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV)

 

² “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.  The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”  ³ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴ In that day you will say:  “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. ⁵ Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.”  Isaiah 12:2-5 (NIV)

 

² Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. ³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh-- Philippians 3:2-3 (NIV)

 

¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.  1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)

 

³ This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.   1 John 5:2-5 (NIV)

 

³⁵ So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. ³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.  Hebrews 10:35-36 (NIV)

 

BUTTER

 

“Confidence in the natural world is self-reliance; in the spiritual world it is God-reliance.”  Oswald Chambers

“Oh, how great peace and quietness would he possess who should cut off all vain anxiety and place all his confidence in God.”   Thomas a Kempis    

“A special faith in our Lord Jesus Christ’s person, work and office is the life, heart and mainspring of the Christian character.  He sees by faith and unseen Saviour, who loved him, gave Himself for him, paid his debts for him, bore his sins, carried his transgressions, rose again for him, and appears in heaven for him as his Advocate at the right hand of God.  He sees Jesus and clings to Him…..He sees his own many sins, his weak heart, a tempting world, a busy devil; and if he looked only at them, he might well despair.  But he sees also a mighty Saviour, an interceding Saviour, a sympathizing Saviour—His blood…..His righteousness, His everlasting priesthood—and he believes that all this is his own.  He sees Jesus and casts his whole weight on Him.  Seeing Him, he cheerfully fights on, with a full confidence that he will prove more than conqueror through Him that loved him…Habitual lively faith in Christ’s presence and readiness to help is the secret of the Christian fighting successfully.”  J C Ryle, Holiness

“Three qualities that distinguish a Godly person – confidence (in Christ), authority (of Christ) and effectiveness (conforming one’s conduct to the principles of Scripture and submitting to the control of the Holy Spirit) produces results.”  Chuck Swindoll 

“God promises us redemption, but His sacred path leads us away from safety, predictability, and comfort.  Any attempt to fly over the dangerous terrain or make a detour to safer ground is doomed because it will not take us to God.  Instead, it leads to a host of other idols that can’t provide us with the confidence of faith, the dynamic of hope or the passion of love we so deeply crave.   Each day we either live for God or for other gods.  In each moment of hardship we fear either God or man.  When we choose to worship gods and fear men our lives will suffer an emptiness and turmoil that is not much different than trying to fill our bellies with dirt.  At first we may feel full, but in short order our violation of God’s plan will lead to torment.”  Dan Allender

 

“Lean hard upon Me, for I bring you through to new victories, and restoration shall follow what seems now to be a wind of destruction.  Hold fast to My hand, and rest in My love, for of this you may be very certain:  My love is unaltered; yes, I have you in My own intensive care.  My concern for you is deeper now than when things are normal.  Draw upon the resources of My grace, and so shall you be equipped to communicate peace and confidence to your dear ones.  Heaven rejoices when you go through trials with a singing spirit.  Your Father’s heart is cheered when you endure the test and do not question His mercy.  Be like a beacon light.  His own glorious radiance shall shine through you, and Christ Himself will be revealed.”   Frances J. Roberts

“Take heed that you do not glory in your graces, but let all your glorying and confidence be in Christ and His strength, for this is the only way you can be kept from falling.  Pray more often.  Spend longer periods of time in holy adoration.  Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly.  Watch your lives more carefully.  Live nearer to God.  Take the best examples for your pattern.  Let your conversation emit the fragrance of heaven.  Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for the souls of others.  So live that others may recognize that you have been with Jesus, and have learned of Him…On, Christian, with care and caution!  On, with holy fear and trembling!  On, with faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your constant petition be, ‘Sustain me according to your promise.’  He, and He alone, is able ‘to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.’”  Charles H. Spurgeon  

“We have every reason to hold on firmly to the faith we profess, for He who has called us is faithful!  It is Jesus who saves us, lives to intercede for us, allows us to approach the throne of grace with confidence, is our constant Companion, Helper and Friend and grants us His abundant grace, mercy, and peace.”   BHY

“I rest with my whole soul upon the finished work of Christ, and I have not found anything yet that leads me to suspect I am resting where I shall meet with a failure. No, the older one grows, the more one gets convinced that he who leans by faith on Christ, rests where he never needs to be afraid. He may go and return in peace and confidence, for the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but God shall not change, and his purpose shall not cease to stand. Yes, God is worthy of our confidence. And I think we can say, by way of commending our God to others that we feel we can rest upon him for the future. We have been in strange places, and in very peculiar conditions in the past, but we were never thrown where we could not find in God all we needed; and we are therefore encouraged to believe that when death’s dark night shall come, with all its gathering of terror, we shall fear no evil, for the same God will be with us to be our succour and our stay. The Isle of Man has for its coat of arms three legs, and turn them which way you will, you know they always stand; and such is the believer—throw him which way you will, he finds something to stand on; throw him into death, or into life, into the lion’s den, or into the whale’s belly, cast him into fire, or into water, the Christian still trusts in his God, and finds him a very present help in time of trouble. ‘On whom dost thou trust?’ We can answer boldly, ‘We trust in him whose power will never be exhausted, whose love will never cease, whose kindness will never change, whose faithfulness will never be sullied, whose wisdom will never be nonplussed, and whose perfect goodness never can know a diminution.’”   Charles H. Spurgeon

HEART SAVOR

·         Why trust in the arm of flesh when the Omnipotent God is your helper?

·         Blessed is the one whose confidence is in God, who relies on Him for His guidance, strength and love. He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields fruit in season and whose leaf never withers.

·         God is our sun and shield a very present help at all times.  No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.