WALKING IN CONFIDENCE

By Jay Pearson

To open this exhortation I will start with three scriptures from the Word of God that direct our walk as Christians.

Proverbs 14:26:

In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

Hebrews 3:14:
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

Romans 6:4:
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

You must stand in confidence of who you are in Christ Jesus in order to walk in the newness of life. You must have your destination in focus enabling you to endure contradiction against you.

1 John 5:14:
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

Ephesians 5:15-16:
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

May we all remember who we were and the pitfalls we came from, but in thankfulness to God, let us be who he has made us to be - confident and walking on that righteous path NOW.

1 John 3:21:
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

Romans 5:1-2:
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

We glorify God by standing firm in our confidence of who he has created us to be and remaining faithful in service to our Lord Jesus Christ. Who has he made us to be? To what service were we called?

Hebrews 3:14
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Know the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no man come to the Father but by him. You must first be created in Christ Jesus and be under his lordship to do profitable good. If good were enough to get to God and heaven, God wasted a lot of his Word, and his power, and the sacrifice of his Son for the world, and for no reason. Good is not good enough, and good is not God. Good is not a mediator between God and man. God is enough and God is not a man that he should lie. God is Almighty and his Son is the mediator between God and men.

Numbers 23:19:
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

1 Timothy 2:5:
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

John 14:6:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

We can have confidence in ourselves to do good works because the holy spirit is within us. Believe what the Word says about you. Remember who you were, but know who you are now in Christ. That will keep you humble and thankful. Humility is not "poor me", but "yes me... in Christ Jesus!" God did it and through him we can do his will too. I am not perfect but I can walk in perfection, Jesus Christ. The reward in priceless.

Hebrews 10:35:
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

Romans 2:7:
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Remember who you were:

Ephesians 2:1-3:
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Ephesians 2:11-12:
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Know who you are now:

Ephesians 2:4-10:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:13-19:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

We can have confidence because we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Good works in Christ are many but can be summarized in one word: OBEDIENCE. Our behavior either exhibits who we were or who we are now. The "who we were" glorifies fallen man and the god of his own making. The "who you are now" glorifies the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who created you in him.

Romans 13:11-14:
11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Ephesians 5:14-21:
14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Let's get off our "used to be" and get on our feet and walk in obedience to the Lord. Remember to behave in the Lord. Your voice speaks to some, but your behavior speaks to everyone. Shine your light that all might see and believe and be saved. God gave his light to you. Stand in confidence and shine.

Proverbs 14:26:
In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

Proverbs 3:26:
For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

 

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