(guest devotion from my brother Chris)
"Failure's Secret Ally - Self Confidence"
A study on 1 Corinthians 10:11-12
"These are all warning markers - DANGER! - in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel - they at the beginning, we at the end - and we are just as capable of messing it all up as they were. Don't be so naive and self confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence."
Listen to the vast majority of motivational speakers and you'll hear the gospel of self confidence.
Observe the pump up speech delivered by most coaches in America and you'll see the self confidence doctrine on full display.
The world has bought in; self confidence is THE required ingredient for success in this life.
But it's a lie.
Self confidence is foolishness.
Faith, belief, hope in me is empty.
Expecting me to make right decisions, when time and again I've chosen wrong is pure folly.
Yet again, God's word stands in DIRECT contrast to the world's "wisdom".
Man's knowledge shows it's shallow nature by directing us to believe in ourselves.
Trust in your own power.
Know that YOU can do ANYTHING if you only believe that you can.
When we trust in ourselves, the devil smiles.
When we value our worth based on faith in ourselves, our abilities, our own sense of self worth, the devil squeals in delight.
But then Jesus steps in.
He establishes perfect God-confidence for us and offers it freely to us.
Satan cringes.
Jesus wins.
Satan loses.
=========================
Link to daily bible reading calendar (chronological - one chapter per day)
"Failure's Secret Ally - Self Confidence"
A study on 1 Corinthians 10:11-12
"These are all warning markers - DANGER! - in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel - they at the beginning, we at the end - and we are just as capable of messing it all up as they were. Don't be so naive and self confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence."
Listen to the vast majority of motivational speakers and you'll hear the gospel of self confidence.
Observe the pump up speech delivered by most coaches in America and you'll see the self confidence doctrine on full display.
The world has bought in; self confidence is THE required ingredient for success in this life.
But it's a lie.
Self confidence is foolishness.
Faith, belief, hope in me is empty.
Expecting me to make right decisions, when time and again I've chosen wrong is pure folly.
Yet again, God's word stands in DIRECT contrast to the world's "wisdom".
Man's knowledge shows it's shallow nature by directing us to believe in ourselves.
Trust in your own power.
Know that YOU can do ANYTHING if you only believe that you can.
When we trust in ourselves, the devil smiles.
When we value our worth based on faith in ourselves, our abilities, our own sense of self worth, the devil squeals in delight.
But then Jesus steps in.
He establishes perfect God-confidence for us and offers it freely to us.
Satan cringes.
Jesus wins.
Satan loses.
=========================
Dear Lord - Help me to battle Satan and this world's attempts to build up my self-confidence and instead lead me to rely fully on God-confidence!
Amen
=========================Amen
Link to daily bible reading calendar (chronological - one chapter per day)
TIP: click the Bible Reference and then "more details" to get hyperlinks that open Bible Gateway
What's the big deal about Jesus?
No comments:
Post a Comment