As a pastor and teacher, I've had the privilege of sharing many messages rooted in Scripture, and in "Confident! A Christian Perspective pt4," I aimed to further deepen our understanding of what it means to truly live a confident life. I emphasized that our confidence isn't just about believing in ourselves, but fundamentally about believing in God's incredible abilities. He is, as Ephesians 3:20 reminds us, "able to accomplish infinitely more than we can ask or think." This includes having confidence in His boundless affection for us, knowing that "neither death nor life... nor anything in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." It's about recognizing His limitless abundance, trusting that "my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." And finally, it's about holding firm to His assurances, especially the promise in Philippians 1:6 that "he who began a good work in you is going to carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ." Beyond having confidence in God Himself, I wanted to impress upon you the absolute necessity of being confident in God's Word. Just as rain and snow effectively water the earth to produce vegetation, God's Word, when it goes out, "will accomplish what I intend for it to accomplish." We often find ourselves believing the lies of the devil, our circumstances, or even the latest media report, rather than the unwavering truth of Scripture. But as Mary affirmed in Luke 1, "nothing is impossible with God," meaning "no spoken word from God is impossible." I shared a personal story from my early travels to Romania, where, facing arrest under a strict communist regime, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Isaiah 54:17: "No weapon formed against me will be successful." Clinging to that promise brought faith and ultimately led to my deliverance, demonstrating that we can truly take God's Word "to the bank." The third dimension I passionately spoke about is confidence in prayer. It's easy to say we believe in prayer, but do we truly act with confidence when we pray? I reminded us that we have "promised access" to God's presence through the blood of Jesus, as Hebrews 10:19 declares: "we have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus." Furthermore, Hebrews 4:16 urges us to "approach the throne of grace with confidence" to receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. I also highlighted "promised power" in prayer, referencing Mark 11:24, where Jesus says, "whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you've received it and it'll be yours." It's about knowing God hears us when we ask according to His will, and if He hears us, "we know that we have what we have asked for." I shared the testimony of how our church prayed against an eastern cult attempting to move into our small town, and God miraculously changed their plans—a powerful reminder that prayer works! Finally, I spoke about confidence in ministry. Some might think ministry isn't for them, but every believer is called to be a minister. I pointed to the story of Peter and John in Acts 4, who, though uneducated, ministered with such confidence to the lame man at the temple, proclaiming, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" The religious leaders "noticed that these men... were uneducated, but they were confident." It was their unwavering confidence in what God could do through them that propelled them. I closed with the iconic story of David and Goliath. When the Philistine moved to attack, David didn't run away; he "ran quickly to the battle line toward the giant." He ran toward his problem with total confidence, knowing he was exactly where God wanted him to be, with a job to do. My question to you is: are you running to your problems with confidence, or away from them?
