A devotional by Kervin Raugust
“Do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded.”
On a scale of 1 to 10 with ten being high, “How high is your confidence in God?”. This is an important question when warriors think of their current life challenges and of those that will come. Warriors whose confidence in God is high live a rewarding life. God’s guarantee!
The word confidence has several meanings in the Scripture, one meaning is “exhibiting a demeanor of assurance”. This leads to wondering how such a way of being is formed? First, be encouraged as it forms gradually over time and then suddenly. Second, it is formed as the depth of our understanding of and experience with God increases. Daniel 11:32 says, “Those who know, are confident in God do exploits for Him.”
Where did your mind go when you read the word “exploits”? Where it went is a revelation of your level of confidence both in God and in yourself. You, like me may have trouble speaking up or stepping out at times. Yet, the Scriptures are full of stories about women and men who had trouble doing so. We are not alone! God, however, has a different plan. His plan is for us to face the challenges we encounter in our assigned territory with confidence. Over the years I have learned, “confidence rises when we look in the mirror and see Jesus standing behind us giving the thumbs up sign!” High confidence in Jesus causes our own confidence to rise. Those who know Jesus do exploits with and for Him!
The writer of Hebrews urges us to not throw away our confidence. Our confidence is not rooted in our own – abilities, intellect, personalities or network but rather it is intertwined with Jesus’ ability to stay with us guiding and providing. The writer of Hebrews shares another image opposite to that of throwing away. The writer urges us to hold fast, to persevere, to not shrink back. Confidence grows as our understanding of God increases AND it matures as we hold fast to what we know, first about God and then about ourselves. Look again in the mirror, ”Who is the thumbs up for?”
Warrior Assignment…
Which comes first, confidence in God or confidence in yourself? What might happen to your demeanor if you decided to know God better? How about talking with a fellow warrior today about these questions.
Warrior Prayer…
“Thank you Jesus for standing behind me with thumbs up! Some-days I need this image more than others. Would you help me today to lock it in! My confidence starts with You and ends with me confidently stepping into battle. Hold fast I will! Amen.”
The INSIDE OUT Journey … Kervin.raugust@icloud.com
