CONFIDENCE

It may be that someone is out of work and down to the last penny in the bank. They have been divorced and now raising children without a husband or wife. No friends and spend many a night alone. Possess great wealth and yet fill couches with tears of sorrow. Perhaps a stranger in their own house. Addiction after addiction. The cry is heard ministers have failed me the church did not change my situation. Down to my last leg.

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. Psalm 118:8

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
Psalm 118:9

Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint. Proverbs 25:19

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

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him. I John 5:15

The Lord looks down from heaven and desires to fulfill his needs in the glorification of his people in him. He desires for the fulfillment of his joy in the creatures he has created to praise and adore him. If we would pray to God with the desire to fulfill his need, our actual need, will be fulfilled. God knows the heart of those who pray and genuine prayers to the Father with the absence of desiring something to fulfill a lust will be answered by him. He is God and will do as he has promised. Call upon him today with the mindset that God loves you. Love him. Our greatest enemy is the lack of calling upon God. We do not call because we believe he does not love. God loves the just and unjust. Check out the rain he gives to those who mock him. Have confidence in God and he will sustain you and keep you from all harm, namely the lakes of fire.

ABIDE IN CHRIST

What does it mean to abide in Christ? It means no longer living the way an individual has lived without Christ. Previous to the life of Christ a person lives with no regard for the creator’s desire. The creator has allowed this individual to live on earth and even fed this person but the individual lives within the parameters of his/her carnality. This person is not living under any rule but the rule of self-fulfillment. Whatever the person desires, sex outside of marriage, drinking an excess, cheating, lying and stealing, nothing is too far outside this person’s ability or completion, but Christ has shown us another way. To abide in his love is to keep his commandments (John 15:10). In order for one to keep the commandments of God, one must know them. The commandment is to love one another (John 15:12). A person is most like God when they love God and love people also. We demonstrate this love through our commitment to abstain from having sex outside of marriage, drinking an excess, cheating, lying and stealing. We demonstrate our love to God by not forsaking the gathering together of the brethren and by spending time in prayer. We abide in Christ through the spiritual formation of fasting and isolation. All these things encased in the love of God are abiding in Christ. It is a continuing process that requires daily attention. Our desire is with regard to our creator. Our power in prayer becomes effective because unlike a life previous to Christ we begin to learn how to pray. Our heart prays the things God desires. Intertwined with the life of Christ represented in our love for the brethren. We love so much because God loved us so much and the things we commit to doing are always out of this heart of love for our neighbor. If a person hates his brother the Bible says how can the love of God be in this person (1 John 3:15). Abiding in Christ is rolled up in loving God in reading the word, prayer, and fasting inwardly and outwardly through love seen and felt by people around the one abiding in Christ.