Dear friends, if we
don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive
from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son,
Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey
God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know
he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.
1 John 3:18b-24
Truth is our foundation for confidence, not our feelings
or emotions. When our ‘house’ is built
on this solid foundation the winds of doubt, discouragement, fear, disbelief,
etc. will not destroy it. This
bold confidence does not come with a spirit of arrogance in demanding our own
way or dictating to God what he should do in any given situation. Rather it is a spirit of freedom in whom and
whose we are that brings an innocence of trust, of hope and of expectation.
David said in Psalm 5:3,7 “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring
my requests to you and wait expectantly. Because of
your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your
Temple with deepest awe.”
David didn’t live under the freedom of
grace that we do today, his was a covenant of laws and regulations that brought
death and guilt not life. Yet David proclaimed
this bold confidence not in his feelings or emotions but the truth of God’s
unfailing love towards him.
Today, if you believe in the name of
Jesus Christ and call yourself his follower no matter the circumstances you
find yourself in start building your house on truth not feelings…on hope and
confidence not fear and guilt.
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I like the part that Truth can be shown by our actions. Fruit and good works (deeds) have the same meaning in the Bible (Col 1:10). It's not that we are going to Heaven by our good needs or need them for our salvation, but it is evidence of the inward and outward fruit that should be seen by our branches if we are truly in Jesus who is Vine (John 15). By our fruits we bring glory to God, show we love Him and the evidence we are His disciples (John 15:8). If we are more concerned in obeying His commandments of loving and serving others (by our deeds), we will be less concerned of our self centered "wants" when we are in prayer.
ReplyDeleteAmen, thanks for your thoughts sweetheart!
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