ezra
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CONFIDENCE
JANUARY 22, 2018BY CASSIE DOWNS
My youngest son, Tyler, as you may remember, struggles with reading. It is one of those giants he’s always had to face. This school year we decided we were sick of staring the giant in the face and tried a new approach to reading and it worked! While he hasn’t learned to read on his grade level yet, he is reading and doing it well. The thing I’ve noticed happening is that he is gaining confidence. Before, when he was asked to read, he would respond quickly with, “I can’t read.” Now, he’s asking to read and will randomly read books at home. He’s even been willing to try reading at church in front of other kids. It’s incredible to me what we can accomplish when we have a little confidence.
As I was thinking about Tyler, I couldn’t help but think of a small shepherd boy named David. I feel like Tyler and David would have a lot in common. Both small-built guys, but not afraid of much and likely a little scrappy. Each of them giant killers. And while Tyler’s giant came in the form of reading a book, I thought of David and the scary things he faced as a boy, specifically, a lion, a bear, and a giant named Goliath. It took some confidence to face each one.
1 Samuel 17:32-37, David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.” David answered Saul: “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
David understood that because God was with him when he fought the lions and bears, God would be with him when he came face to face with the giant. David put his confidence in God because he believed God was able, and he was, as you may know, David killed Goliath.
How often are we guilty of allowing the giants in our life to rule our possibilities? Yet when we put our confidence in a mighty God the possibilities are endless. Apart from God, David never would have defeated wild animals and for sure not a mighty warrior who towered over him, but he knew the secret to success was believing God for the impossible. David’s confidence wasn’t in himself, but in the God he served.
Perhaps you’ve been apprehensive to step out in faith in an area of your life. Can I ask, where have you put your confidence? Do you believe God is able? Maybe it’s time you started having faith for the impossible; perhaps it’s time you gain some Godfidence. I am convinced our lack of Godfidence is why we don’t see the miracles today that were witnessed all throughout scripture. God wants nothing more than to bless His people, but often we don’t believe He’s capable. It’s time we start believing again. It’s time we get our Godfidence back.
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
https://relentlessloveministries.com/2018/01/22/godfidence/comment-page-1/#comment-54
i know this young lady
JANUARY 22, 2018BY CASSIE DOWNS
My youngest son, Tyler, as you may remember, struggles with reading. It is one of those giants he’s always had to face. This school year we decided we were sick of staring the giant in the face and tried a new approach to reading and it worked! While he hasn’t learned to read on his grade level yet, he is reading and doing it well. The thing I’ve noticed happening is that he is gaining confidence. Before, when he was asked to read, he would respond quickly with, “I can’t read.” Now, he’s asking to read and will randomly read books at home. He’s even been willing to try reading at church in front of other kids. It’s incredible to me what we can accomplish when we have a little confidence.
As I was thinking about Tyler, I couldn’t help but think of a small shepherd boy named David. I feel like Tyler and David would have a lot in common. Both small-built guys, but not afraid of much and likely a little scrappy. Each of them giant killers. And while Tyler’s giant came in the form of reading a book, I thought of David and the scary things he faced as a boy, specifically, a lion, a bear, and a giant named Goliath. It took some confidence to face each one.
1 Samuel 17:32-37, David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.” David answered Saul: “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
David understood that because God was with him when he fought the lions and bears, God would be with him when he came face to face with the giant. David put his confidence in God because he believed God was able, and he was, as you may know, David killed Goliath.
How often are we guilty of allowing the giants in our life to rule our possibilities? Yet when we put our confidence in a mighty God the possibilities are endless. Apart from God, David never would have defeated wild animals and for sure not a mighty warrior who towered over him, but he knew the secret to success was believing God for the impossible. David’s confidence wasn’t in himself, but in the God he served.
Perhaps you’ve been apprehensive to step out in faith in an area of your life. Can I ask, where have you put your confidence? Do you believe God is able? Maybe it’s time you started having faith for the impossible; perhaps it’s time you gain some Godfidence. I am convinced our lack of Godfidence is why we don’t see the miracles today that were witnessed all throughout scripture. God wants nothing more than to bless His people, but often we don’t believe He’s capable. It’s time we start believing again. It’s time we get our Godfidence back.
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
https://relentlessloveministries.com/2018/01/22/godfidence/comment-page-1/#comment-54
i know this young lady
But yeah, a lot of my lack of confidence is due to a lack of confidence in my faith. The Bible might say that I'm saved, I just have a hard time with feeling it and believing it sometimes.