Daily Devotional for Thursday June 21, 2018

Confidence

(Psalms 3)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, please help us to wake up as a nation before it is too late. We have squandered your blessings, taken advantage of your love and grace, and deserve your wrath. Please oh Lord, be merciful for a few more hours and give your undeserving people one last chance to repent of our sins and turn our hearts and lives back to you. In the name of Jesus I pray...AMEN! Living with confidence. Having been a sports fanatic my whole life, I often wonder what separates those who win and those who lose. Talent of course has much to do with the outcome, but when the talent is even, it often boils down to confidence. At the professional level, there is very little difference between players physically. They are a rare breed, a small percentage of the population with the God-given physical and athletic ability to compete at the highest level. Having lived in Chicago during the 80s and early 90s, I saw first-hand the great Bulls basketball dynasty of those years. Of course they had basketball's greatest player ever in Michael Jordan (tho LeBron James certainly can argue that he is), but that team also had an intangible called confidence. Every time they stepped onto the court, they had that air of confidence that no matter what happened during the game, they would find a way to win. I use this analogy today because it is the exact same kind of confidence that those who know Christ as their Savior should have in their everyday life. When you know Christ as your Savior, you have determined the most important thing that you can in this life...where you will spend eternity. That alone should give you great confidence to live this life in victory, because we know our time here is only for a few short years, but that we will spend eternity with our Lord. In addition, we should have confidence each day from all of the Lord's promises to us. He promised to never to leave us nor forsake us. He promised to protect us. He promised to provide for us. He promised to fight for us. He has told us to cast our burdens on Him. He said that when we were weak, He is strong. He said that we can do all things because He strengthens us. Those are just a few! Armed with the knowledge of our eternal home, with all of the Lord's precious promises, why shouldn't we live each day with tremendous confidence? I am praying that you will take a fresh look at your life today. In the business world, people are paid millions to teach people to have a positive mental attitude. There is no reason that a Christian should have anything but a positive mental attitude. We need to start dealing with our life, including the tragedies that we all have to face during this journey, with a positive mental attitude...not because of who we are, but because of who Jesus is! I realize that many of you are going thru incredible trials right now. Many of you are facing circumstances that are almost unbearable. All I can do today is encourage you to stay positive because Jesus is on your side. Start dealing with every aspect of your life in confidence. Confidence because the Lord is with you, will give you what you need each day, and will walk with you every step of the way. If you lack confidence, it is because you are trying to do it in your strength and wisdom. Start living in HIS strength and wisdom and you will have a totally different outlook!!! I love you and care about you deeply. I pray that you will start living with more confidence because of who you are in Christ Jesus. One of your best witnessing tools is how you live your life, how you deal with your problems. A non-believer is going to wonder how you can be so confident in dealing with day-to-day life, and that will give you opportunities to share with them that it is only possible when we have the Lord in our life. I pray that Jesus will open your mind and heart to receive these words today, and that you will start living with the confidence that will enable you to overcome your life's problems and be a fruit-producing servant for the Lord. He loves you and has given you all that you need to be victorious in the greatest game of all...the game of life. In His love and service, Your friend, brother, and co-laborer in His work, Bill Keller