Skip to main content

Thursday... Confidence keeps on going.


Thursday... Confidence keeps on going. It is so important, isn't it?

Proverbs 28:1 (MSG) says, "The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off even when no one's after them. Honest people are relaxed and confident, bold as lions." 

So many live on the edge. They got where they are because of dishonesty and they are always looking over their shoulder. Someone could find out but those who are honest don't have that problem. They aren't  afraid that someone is after them. Being honest makes us confident and even bold. 

Over in Acts 21 Paul had been honest but the people didn't like what he had said and they wanted to kill him but that didn't take his confidence away from him. He could have said what they wanted him to say but he was a godly man with a message and he was bold as a lion. Sometimes it takes boldness and confidence when you are honest.

In Acts 21:35 & 36 (NIV) it says, "When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, 'Get rid of him!' " And it seems that he had been saved. But verse 37 says, "As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, 'May I say something to you?'" And then in verse 39 Paul said, "let me speak to the people." Now that is real boldness, isn't it?

Proverbs 28:1 (NLT) says, "The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are bold as lions."

Acts 22:1-2a (MSG) says, " 'My dear brothers and fathers, listen carefully to what I have to say before you jump to conclusions about me.' When they heard him speaking Hebrew, they grew even quieter. No one wanted to miss a word of this." So he with boldness told his story.

But in verse 21 (NLT)  he went farther than he could have gone. It says, "But the Lord said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away to the gentiles!'" But that wasn't what the crowd wanted to hear. Verses 22-25 says, "The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, 'Away with such a fellow! He isn't fit to live!'" And that was the beginning of Paul's journey to Rome where he was used by God to reach the gentiles through writing a big portion of the New Testament of the Bible.

Again Proverbs 28:1 (MSG) says, "The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off even when no one's after them. Honest people are relaxed and confident, bold as lions." Proverbs 28:1 (NLT) says, "The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are bold as lions." 

So be honest, be godly, be relaxed, be confident and be bold and God will use you. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together!

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together! They really do. And this is what caught my attention this morning as I was reading Proverbs 2. Verse 1 (NRSVUE) says, "My child, if you accept my words and treasure my commands within you." Verse 3 (NIV), "Indeed i f you call  out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, Verse 4, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, Verse 5, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." And verses 9-11, " Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." There will always be some effort we must do, some ifs for the thens to be realized in our lives. So many of us want to understand without the ifs. But the thens are so worth, so very worth the effort. Verses 5-6 in the Ampli...

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.  It really can. I have found that unless I give the correct email of my wife then I can't get what I wanted. I put an extra i in her email and I have been working for 5 days to get it changed. Unless has been useless. The writer of Psalm 94 uses this word and shows how important it is. Verses 17-19 (NLT) says, "Unless the Lord had helped me, I would have soon settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, 'I'm slipping!' but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." "Unless the Lord had helped me." So many people go on and on and on striving to live their life on their own but they keep slipping and doubting and living without hope and cheer. Yes the Lord has such unfailing love for us, he really does but unless we have a relationship with him and we turn to him and ask him for help then the unless turns in to useless because h...