‘Confidence’
Psalm 62:1 I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken. 3 So many enemies against one man— all of them trying to kill me. To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence. 4 They plan to topple me from my high position. They delight in telling lies about me.They praise me to my face but curse me in their hearts. Interlude 5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. 7 My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. 8 O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.
Heavenly Father, we all have our enemies. Some of us are in the thick of battle right now. You alone can grant victory. Remind us today to wait in confidence for You. Grant us ears that hear clearly the voice of Your Holy Spirit, our comforter.
Help us remember that You are our refuge and not our own designs and plans.
Thank You that we can trust You for power belongs to You. Psalm 62:11 God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you; 12 unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done.
Thank You that our sin is under the blood of Your Son. Those who refuse to receive Him as Lord will see Your wrath on the day of Judgment. We pray for their repentance, and Your protection for us in the mean time.
On You we will wait with quiet confidence in the comfort of Your promises.
In Christ Jesus,
AMEN!
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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John 15:1 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. 9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
Keep in mind, joy is a part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), so if the Holy Spirit is in you, joy is in you.
In John 15:1-11 Jesus offers the path to that Joy, or if you will, the way to unlock what God has placed in you through His Spirit.
Strong’s defines the Greek word “chara” for joy this way:
“Cheerfulness, that is, calm delight: – gladness…”
After looking at many other passages and definitions I have formed my own definition for Christian Joy: Calm delightful confidence in my Creator, God and Lord.
Today abide in Christ and His Word. And may your Joy be full.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Col 1:3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. 6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. 7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
What captivates your thoughts today? In verse 5 above, Paul encourages his readers that the love and faith they exhibit is generated from their “confident hope” in what God has in store for them. Has it been a while since you thought about eternity? Peter puts it like this:
1Peter 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay… Vs 8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
Are you living today with great expectation? Are you living with a confident hope in what Father God has in store for you in Heaven?
Today think about it and let that hope, that expectation drive you to more love and more faith in God above.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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2 Corinthians 1:18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” 19 For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says. 20 For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. 21 It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, 22 and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.
Have you ever anticipated or at least hoped for a victory and when it arrived you caught yourself shouting, “YES!” Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all our holy anticipation. He is the fulfillment of all the Father’s promises. Because of Him our sins are forgiven, we are made whole in God’s sight, we are given life, we are empowered to do the work of the kingdom, and we have a place with Him for all eternity. Because of Him we escape the torments of hell and eternal damnation.
We are told to pray in His name because all our hope, peace, joy and consolation is in Him.
Today, think on Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, prince of Peace, Savior and your Friend. Then talk to Father on the authority of His Son in Whom He is well pleased. And then anticipate answers to your prayers based on Jesus Christ the Yes and AMEN!
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Deut 31:8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Neh 6:9 They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination.
Matt 28:20b And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Gal 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
A discouraged heart is weak and apt to give in and give up. The enemy wants to discourage us so we do just that, quit!
Christ is with us and will not leave us. Be encouraged in this today.
Take some time to pray for someone else who is facing insurmountable odds. Pray we will be strong in the Lord and the power of His might and that we will not sin. Include me in that prayer. Pray for one another.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Isaiah 9:6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called:Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Everlasting Father: For those who did not have a good dad those words could bring terror to mind. “I’m going to spend eternity with someone like my earthly father?”
Malachi 4:5 “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
I am blessed to have a wonderful father and mother. I assure you that our Heavenly Father is indeed wonderful as well. Think about it; He left His throne in Glory and died a horrible death to pay the penalty for our sin. We are safe in His care.
Everlasting (Good) Father.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Gal 4: 4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
Dwell on that today. You are His child. You are free and His child.
Take a little time today to curl up in His lap and share your deepest desires with Him. When they were little my children had no problem crawling into my lap and asking me for anything. So, like a little child, go to your Heavenly Father and ask.
James 4:2b Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Romans 8:12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
It came to pass that the CEO of a big company decided he needed to cut costs, and he was determined to get rid of all the lazy workers. One day the CEO noticed a guy leaning against a wall. The room was full of workers and the CEO wanted to set an example so the other employees would know that he meant business. He walked up to the guy leaning against the wall and asked, “How much money do you make a week?” A little surprised, the young man looked at him and replied, “I make $200 a week. Why? “The CEO then handed the guy $1000 in cash and screamed, “Here’s five weeks’ pay. Now get out and don’t come back! “Feeling pretty good about himself the CEO looked around the room and asked, “Does anyone want to tell me what that bum did around here? “From across the room came a voice, “That was the pizza delivery man from Dominoes.”
Just as the CEO had no obligation to the pizza delivery man, we have no obligation to give into sin. However, we often give away what is precious to the unholy when we set out to appease our fleshly desires.
Today by the power of the Spirit live for Christ and put to death the deeds of the flesh. You are His child. Let that truth strengthen you to live for Him.
Love in Christ,
Steve Sherwood Sr
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Phil 1:6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. 7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. 8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. 9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. (NLT)
God, the Creator of all Who spoke the world and it’s inhabitants into existence in 6 days, is still working on you and me. He is determined to complete that work before Christ returns.
So today look at your circumstances as Him working in you the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 4:19 Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.
Love in Christ, yeah, that thing Paul said in Phil 1:7-11. I have that kind of love for you and have prayed for you today.
Steve Sherwood Sr
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JEHOVAH-SABAOTH: “The Lord of Hosts” The commander of the angelic host and the armies of God.
Isa 1:24 Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says,”I will take revenge on my enemies and pay back my foes!
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. 2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the (more…)
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