My Confidence

Individuals take confidence in many different things including money, jobs, relationships, and more. All of these things can and often do change. The money we make is not the same. The job we have changes. Some relationship begin while others end, some grow while others go stagnant.

King Hezekiah who reigned in Judah rebelled against the Assyrians. As a result, the king of Assyria sent his commander and other officials to Jerusalem to intimidate or attack Hezekiah.

Encamped against Jerusalem, one official called out to Hezekiah asking, "On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have the counsel and the might for war--but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?"

Hezekiah was a bright spot in the line of kings. He chose obedience to God rather than rebellion. He did what pleased God rather than what incited His wrath. Like David the revered king of Israel, Hezekiah sought to live righteously, removing all place of idolatrous worship. As a result, God was with him and he was successful in his leadership.

What the official of the Assyrian army didn't know was that Hezekiah's confidence was not in the power of his army, the force of his weapons, or the support of his allies but in the might of the great and mighty God. And rightly so!

After many taunts and endless threats of the Assyrians, including their declaration that the God of Israel had told them to attack, Hezekiah's confidence proved true. In one night, the angel of the Lord put to death 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. The next morning when the people woke up they found all the dead bodies. Dead bodies were strewn everywhere.

The right place to put our confidence is never in the ability, logic, power, or devices of men. It is always to put our confidence in the might and power of God. Only He is able to what no man or army can do. What is impossible for us is completely possible for Him.

We could not rescue ourselves from our sin. But God was able. We could not make a sufficient sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. But God was able.

This week we celebrate Christ's final entry into Jerusalem to endure the cross that was set before Him by the will of God the Father. Through the cross, God would pay for every sin and punish every act of disobedience by putting His own Son to death. Three days later, that same Son came back to life by the same incredible power of God, giving life to all who believe and opening the door to heaven for all who follow Him.

Now we take confidence not in our flesh and blood but in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Like Hezekiah, we face an enemy and hardship in this world that we should look past in order to see the God in whom our confidence has been placed.

Where does your confidence stand today?

Hope of the World

Billy Hybels, founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, said, "The Church is the hope of the world."

The Church is the hope of the world because the message of hope has been entrusted to the Church. As Jesus prepared His disciples for His return to the Father in heaven, He gave them this sacred trust of displaying and declaring the good news.

Only the gospel has the awesome power to radically, fully, and eternally change lives. The gospel alone provides forgiveness for disobedience, mercy for the rebel, and grace for the undeserving. And only the Church has been given the great task and inexpressible joy of displaying and declaring to the nations this gospel of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.

God's plan is always best and perfect. He never makes a Plan B. Plan A has always been that His followers, ever-faithful, would make disciples of all nations, advancing His kingdom into all the world and increasing His kingdom by increasing the number of worshipping followers of Jesus.

If the Church, you and me as the followers of Jesus Christ, are the hope of the world because of the good news we have to give, then every day the Church is either the world's hope or the world's doom.

We will be the hope of the world because we are faithful to carry the light of the gospel into all dark places.

We will be the doom of the world because we find it more convenient to stay than to go and choose to keep the hope we've received to ourselves rather than share with a world in need.

Are you living to display and declare the good news of Christ's kingdom as a hope-giver to the world?

Powerful Reminders

Pastor and author Voddie Bauchum once made the statement that if the godliest man in the Bible (David), the strongest man in the Bible (Samson), and the wisest man in the Bible (Solomon) all committed a moral failure in their lives, then who am I to think I am above it.

As I continue reading this year through The Story, I have come to passages about David, Israel's king, who succeeded Saul. I know this story perhaps well. But as God's word is so powerful to do in our lives, the Scripture penetrated in a new and deep fashion.

Here are some of the powerful things I took away from this passage:

Sin is always crouching at the door. While the men were off at war, David remained at home. Arising from his bed, he walked out onto his balcony to find a beautiful woman bathing on a nearby rooftop. He didn't plan for this moment. He did not seek out this temptation. But he was not guarded against it either. Sin is always crouching at the door of the man or woman who does not arm him or herself for battle. Our battle with our sinful flesh is real and sin is always at the door waiting to pounce upon us.

Internal foes can do what external ones never could.  David took down the giant Goliath. He eluded King Saul who sought to take his life. David killed thousands upon thousands of the Philistines who mocked God and His people. He was victorious in battle and Israel flourished as a result. But the internal foe did what the external foe never could.  Lust did what warriors could not. David was conquered from within and not from without.

One step of rebellion can turn into a country mile. David looked upon her in lust and sent for her to be brought to him. He enjoyed the pleasure of sexual intimacy with another man's wife. But that one time act, heinous enough as is, wouldn't be the end of it. Bathsheeba became pregnant and David plotted to make Uriah, her husband, believe it was his baby. That didn't work, so he tried again by making Uriah drunk. That didn't work either. So David sent Uriah back to battle carrying his own death decree. Uriah was placed in the heat of the battle and then the commander pulled back leaving Uriah to be struck down and killed. Adultery is not better than murder. Both nailed Christ to the cross. Yet we see a progression from lust to adultery to manipulation to murder. It all began with one step of disobedience beyond the boundaries of God's perfect will for our lives.

Relationships suffer because of disobedience. Whenever we sin, as David did, relationships are destroyed. I don't know how the relationship with David and Bathsheeba was but I can imagine there was a great deal of trust issues, hurt, and healing that was needed. But what I do know is that this moment destroyed David's relationship with Uriah. Uriah had been one of David's mighty men who had fought for, protected, and placed his life on the line for David. Whereas Nathan and David had what appears to be a great relationship beforehand is now strained as Nathan has to confront David about his sin. David would encounter difficulty with his own son as a result of this. Some relationships are destroyed because of disobedience and never get repaired. However, all relationships suffer as a result of disobedience.

Hope exists through repentance. David's predecessor had always made excuses for his sin and wayward ways. When Nathan confronted, David repented. Hope came through repentance. In fact, that is still our hope today. When we repent of sin and surrender to Jesus Christ, we have the eternal hope of salvation in a relationship with God forever. God will work to restore in us what has been broken when we repent. David's prayer in Psalm 51 expresses both his repentance, his hope, and the request for God to restore the joy of salvation.

Take a Daniel moment:
1.  Celebrate that God's armor (Ephesians 6) can protect us against our enemy and the sin that ensnares us.
2.  Pray for God to make us aware and alert to the sin and danger crouching at the door.
3.  Ask God to reveal error in your life today because of a step of disobedience in the past.
4.  Pray for the relationships that have suffered because of your sin or the sin of another. Do all you can to see those restored.
5.  Repent of any sin in your life. Celebrate the hope of Christ as a result.