Published by admin on 18 Oct 2019 at 11:53 am
THIS IS OUR CONFIDENCE
How often we put our confidence in what people tell us, even without knowing that person. Let’s say you’re traveling in another state and you’re out in the boonies and you get lost, what do you do? Most likely you will ask someone for directions, unless you’re a man that is, because you know men NEVER get lost, right?
Well anyway, you ask someone for directions. Did you check out the integrity or knowledge of that person first, or did you just assume they would have the knowledge, and deal with you truthfully? What if they were a dishonest person, and they decided it would make their day to direct you to a place which was not where you wanted to go? Then you would drive to a place even farther from where you wanted to go. And that does happen, you know.
It does pay to know who you are taking advice from, although it’s not always possible in every situation. So we HOPE the information is correct. Let’s look at what we see and hear on the internet, how much confidence can we have in what is found there? How about on television or radio; do we have confidence what we see and hear will be the truth? Well, my confidence level concerning what I find on the internet, or TV is not very high.
If I find a skunk standing before me, I have a pretty high confidence level that if I disturb or scare that animal, that it will spray me and I won’t be happy about it. Certain things in this life you can trust as an absolute truth, other things not so much, like politicians, for example.
But what about the Word of God? When was the last time God lied to you? NEVER! So, can we put our confidence in what is written therein? Absolutely! But the problem comes when man gets involved “interpreting” what God said in His Word. True, there are what I’d call “Word Pictures” in the Bible, which are there by necessity, so that God can illustrate His ways to us, because His ways and His thoughts are so much higher than ours, that He must come down to OUR level to get the idea across to us. And even then, we don’t always get it. Why? Because we try to deal with GOD as if we’re dealing with a man. People lie; God doesn’t, but we just can’t seem to get that through our thick heads, can we?
Let’s have a look at 1 John 5:9-14:
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
This passage is about as simple as they come, you don’t have to be a scholar to understand it, although it is a deep and foundational truth, it’s simple and to the point. Now let me take it a step further to include our prayer life. You do pray, right? Do you just “throw a prayer out there” like you would fire a shotgun into a flock of ducks, hoping you might hit something? Or are your prayers carefully aimed like a rifle, to hit the mark? When I pray, I expect results. If not, then why bother to even pray? And that brings me to verses 14 and 15. Go back and read them again: “AND THIS IS THE CONFIDENCE THAT WE HAVE IN HIM….”
Do you HAVE that confidence? Or are you trying to compare God to a man who could lie, or who might think they’re telling you the truth, but are instead misinformed? You see, if you don’t have absolute confidence in God’s Word, you’re in a very bad place: that means even your salvation is in jeopardy! Why? Because if you can’t believe ALL of God’s Word, then you can’t believe ANY of God’s Word. And that’s as “to the point” as I know how to say it.
Back to verse 14, “that if we ask ANY THING according to His will, He heareth us:” What are you asking God for today? Are you sure what you are asking Him for is His will? Or is your confidence wavering, because what you’re asking for may NOT be His will for you? And that fact alone stumbles the faith of many a person. There are certain things you may ask the LORD for in absolute confidence, KNOWING it is His perfect will. One of those things is SALVATION. It is written in 2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Often, we waste our prayers asking for things that are NOT God’s will. I remember a prayer request some time back from a lady who wanted to marry a certain man, and wanted me to agree with her in prayer that they would marry. Never mind the fact that he was already happily married to another woman…., so was it God’s will they be married? No. Simple enough, huh? But other things may not be as simple. Healing is one of them. As you know, Life Healing Ministries is a healing ministry. So therefore, I get requests to pray for healing, among other things.
My confidence is that it is ALWAYS God’s will to heal, but I sure have a lot of trouble convincing people of that. Do I see EVERY person who asks for healing get healed? No. So people think it is not God’s will to heal everyone, and I can understand their position to some extent. It is written in Acts 10:38, How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Some say “sickness” is God’s will to “teach you a lesson”. Some say “sickness serves a higher purpose”. Some think “suffering sickness makes you Holy.” Who are you going to believe? I’m going to believe God, because He has never in all eternity uttered a lie. Therefore my confidence is not only HIGH that God heals, it is WAY over the top.
BUT….when teaching from God’s Word, the most important thing I can do is to get you to TRUST what is written therein. Because where there’s no trust, there’s no faith, and where there’s no faith, nothing is received from God, and that’s as plain and simple as it gets.
Going back to 1 John 5:14 again, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
Is what you’re asking God for important enough to you to dig in God’s Word until you KNOW God’s will concerning it? When I pray, I make it my priority to KNOW if what I’m asking God for is His will, so I can have confidence that I will receive it. However, healing is not one of those things I have to keep digging in God’s Word to ascertain if it’s His will to heal myself or someone else: I have settled that matter some twenty six years back and haven’t looked back to see if it’s still true.
You see, you have to settle stuff in your mind, or else you will spend your life wavering back and forth. And as it is written in James 1:5-8,
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
You can’t bring your prayers to God in “unbelief” and expect the answer you seek. Get unbelief out of the way before you pray, for unbelief is from the devil, and he is your enemy. He used unbelief against Eve in the Garden of Eden to cause her to doubt God’s Word, and that led to mankind’s downfall. Maybe unbelief in your life is the result of distrust in the absolute integrity of God’s Word. Remember, God is not a man, that He should lie. His Word is indisputably TRUTH!
Now, in closing, let’s look once again at 1 John 5:14-15:
14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Now, my friends, isn’t that easy? those two verses should open up a whole new relationship with God for you. Don’t go around trusting that which isn’t the Word of God, for if you do, you may not like the results. Man’s traditions and beliefs are chock full of errors, but God’s Word NEVER misses the mark. Go straight to the Trusted Source and you’ll be happy with the results every time! His Word is our confidence!