Tag: #1John4:4

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Goodness of God – Part 2

Jesus is our good news. He is the Word, and every Word out of His mouth—written and revealed—is an expression of His goodness (Strong’s #2097).

He calls us to “…Despise evil and embrace everything that is good and virtuous” (Ro 12:9 TPT). To “hold on to what is good” (1 Th 5:21).

We can experience God’s goodness of new (eternal) life when we call upon His Name and walk in agreement with Him (Ro 10:13).

James 1:17 TPT reminds us of His faithful and complete grace being worked out in our lives by saying, “Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change.”

I love how King David expresses His praise for our Lord in this regard by saying, “What a glorious God! He gives us salvation over and over, then daily he carries our burdens! Our God is a mighty God who saves us over and over. For the Lord, Yahweh, rescues us from the ways of death many times” (Ps 68:19-20 TPT). “Yahweh,” he sings, “you are my soul’s celebration. How could I ever forget the miracles of kindness you’ve done for me” (Ps 103:2 TPT)?

Life is always about glorifying God. Even in the midst of what we endure, redemption rules. Our God made us conquerors in advance, and faith is our “standard of measurement” (1 Jn 4:4, Ro 12:3 TPT). So, let the redeemed say so.

I believe we are in a special time of redemption—a time where we will see greater forms of prosperity pursue “the God-lover,” those who responded to God’s Word by clinging to it and keeping it dear as they endured difficult circumstances in faith. I believe God will bless them outwardly in many ways, as a reflection and a fulfilling of John 10:10 and John 15:5 abundant life (Pr 13:21, Lk 8:15).

Psalm 84:11 AMP assures us that “…the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord bestows grace and favor and honor; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

Romans 8:31-34 NIV asks us, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

His higher, eternal life flows from righteousness and justice by grace as God’s people submit to Him by His life-giving faith and do not surrender to evil out of fear (Is 32:1-2 TPT).

1 John 4:18 AMP reminds us that “There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love].”

Nothing can separate us from this perfect, unlimited love as we trust God to protect and bless us (Ro 8:38-39, Pr 30:5).

Romans 8:37 TPT affirms this by saying, “Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything!”

I love what Moses said to Joshua before Joshua was about to enter into God’s greater promises. Moses said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (De 31:7-8 ESV).

I love how God is with us where we are and also out in front of us simultaneously, waiting for us to step further into the unique destiny He has for each of us.

God is our Commander of Angel Armies, a shield. He protects us, delivers us, spares us, and rescues us, “just as a bird hovers over its nest to protect its young” (Is 31:5 TPT).

In this way, He has been traversing us through former places into His greater promises. He has been fortifying and guiding us as He purifies our souls. Safely crossing us over into a more advantageous position that requires us to follow Him even more closely.

So, let’s always reach for Him. Living life in the fullness of God without compromise is where the higher life is. He desires to bless us with His stores. So, let’s choose Him and His standards and ways above lesser ones and prove victorious. Let’s think honorably and do good (2 Co 8:21, 13:7; He 13:16).

Remember that “Those who live to bless others will have blessings heaped upon them, and the one who pours out his life to pour out blessings will be saturated with favor” (Pr 11:25 TPT).

So, Lord,

Help us to be Your hands and feet. Help us to “show mercy to the poor and not miss an opportunity to do acts of kindness for others, for these are the true sacrifices that delight” Your “heart” (He 13:16 TPT).

In Jesus’ Mighty Name.

Amen.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Confidence In God: Your Bold Assurance

Hebrews 11:1 TPT says, “Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.”

Friends, faith pleases God.

Faith is a persuasive power that works on our behalf.

God is faith-full. He is full of faith. God actually deposits His faith in His redeemed people as part of the fruit of His Spirit, living on the inside of us. In this way, God’s “substance of things hoped for” is made available to be received in our soul, as we trust Him.

God uses faith’s persuasive power to convince us of His will.

One Bible commentary (HELPS Word-Studies) says, “The Lord persuades the yielded believer to be confident in His preferred-will (Gal 5:10; 2 Tim 1:12).” It involves our “obedience, but it is properly the result of God’s persuasion.”

Philippians 2:13 AMP affirms this by saying, “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.”

Friends, as we grow in faith, we walk in God’s higher ways. He gives us everything we need to be successful.

Paul says in Philippians 1:6 TPT “I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this glorious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you and will put his finishing touches to it until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

So, friends, because of God’s unwavering faithfulness, we can choose to be fully confident in His will, His ways, and His Word.

The question is, “Do we choose obedience to His faithfulness?”

Do we even believe this?

Do we trust God?

Do we hearken to His instructions?

Do we believe He is good and that He desires His best for us?

Or do we shrink back in distrust and fear, and turn to other things for help?

Do we want our way above God’s way?

Confidence in God requires that we first be persuaded by faith that He is trustworthy.

Isaiah 30 illustrates the conflict in value between trusting and distrusting God:

Isaiah 30:7 reveals that the help the Israelites sought from Egypt, which represents wicked bondage in the Bible, is worthless. Consider this compared to the help from The Lord, who is worthy.

The outcome of choosing God’s way is guaranteed victory, whereas by-passing God for sinful bondage will lead to an outcome of disaster that shames and disgraces us, causing us to feel worthless and wanting to give up (Is 3, 5).

Friends, we are worth more than that (1 Jn 4:4).

God calls us His treasure and give us the advantage of holding our head up.

We can be confident and courageous in our decision to follow The Lord. But any action that is not founded on faith is sin and will lead to loss.

This includes fear-based decisions, where we lean toward what’s familiar to us—our own understanding—above God’s instructions.

It all resorts back to what we put our faith in.

When we put our faith in faithful God—the giver and Source of faith—above ourselves, we can rest in knowing that we can trust Him and that He will protect us as we obey Him.

We can have full confidence in our limitless, eternal God to keep us safe all the way to manifest victory.

Hebrews 3:6 TPT assures us by saying, “But Christ is more than a Servant, he was faithful as the Son in charge of God’s house. And now we are part of his house if we continue courageously to hold firmly to our bold confidence and our victorious hope.”

According to Strong’s concordance, Bold confidence, in this verse, makes reference to fearless confidence, cheerful courage, and freedom of speech. Victorious hope in this verse refers to expectation and trust.

To anticipate or welcome what is sure, what is certain (HELPS Word-studies).

Friends, this assurance of victory is our confident hope in Christ.

So, what are you trusting God for?

Is your confidence in Him above your circumstances?

It will be if your faith is in Him.

Pray with me, if you will…

Dear Heavenly Father,

You are my Treasure. Thank You for valuing me as treasure, so much so that You desire Your best for me in life. Lord, I repent of trusting my ways above Yours. I repent of leaning on my understanding, of self-reliance and self-justification. I trade in my self-reliance for Your bold assurance. I repent of all other forms of sinful bondage, and I renounce all agreement with falsehood that has come against my faith and confidence in You. Bring me deeper into Your truth, Lord. I invite You to flood my heart with Your confidence and strength (Pr 14:26). “For you are the confidence of all the earth” (Ps 65:5). Please help me to remain in You so that I “may have a joyful confidence and not be ashamed” (1 Jn 2:28). Thank You, Lord, for Your “confidence in times of crisis” and for keeping my “heart at rest in every situation” (Pr 3:26). Thank You that as I continue to believe, trust, and rely on You, and put my “hope and confident expectation” in You, I will be “blessed with spiritual security” (Jer 17:7).

In Jesus’ Mighty Name.

Amen.

Friends, I pray that God will persuade you that He is faithful and trustworthy in everything He calls you to. I pray “…that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith” (2 Th 1:11). I pray that as you continue to run to God, you will experience His “wrap-around presence every moment” and that your “confidence will never be shaken” (Ps 16:8). I pray that others will observe your confidence in The Lord and will be amazed (Acts 4:13). I pray for recompense for every time the enemy of your soul attacked your faith, confidence, trust, and courage in The Lord. I pray that your confident expectations will always be full of truth, faith in our Lord, and manifest victory.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name.

To God be the glory!

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.