Confident Examples (Confidence Part 2)

Last week I introduced my Word of the Year. The word I have chosen to study in-depth and apply to my life this year. The word I want to grow by in 2014. The word? CONFIDENCE

As mentioned in last week’s blog, I quickly discovered that confidence has nothing to do with ‘increasing’  or strengthening my abilities—according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary,  the first definition of confidence is  “The feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something, -a firm trust”. My confidence is determined by how much I trust, rely on, and believe Someone else!

This thought quickly led to Philippians 1:6, which has become my theme verse for this year of confidence building. The first stage of this journey is to develop and strengthen my trust and belief in what God has planned for my life~~~not to develop and strengthen my abilities and talents.

…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Throughout this past week, I have been listening for examples of the word confidence. Here are some of the phrases I heard:

A confident quarterback

A confident coach

A confident consumer

So, just what makes these people confident? Their own abilities? 

While listening to the sports’ commentator who was speaking of the confident quarterback, I noticed a very interesting statement….which goes hand in hand with the above definition.

The quarterback was confident in his offensive line. He trusted, relied on, and believed in those five guys who lined up beside him. As long as he could depend on them, he felt comfortable throwing the ball down the field. He also had confidence in his receivers. He trusted, relied on, and depended on their capable hands to catch the ball.  There was no mention of his great arm or his magnificent accuracy.

I got to thinking about the other two examples.

A confident coach believes in his players.

A confident consumer believes in a product.

Later, a victorious football player talked about team confidence…that believed in, relied on, and depended on…. each other.

So, what allows a committed-follower of Christ to become a confident teacher, leader, writer, parent, pastor’s wife, student, and the list goes on…?

It all centers around Who we believe, Who we rely upon, and Who we depend on to guide us, lead us, prepare us, use us…..

Being confident of this very thing….

Debbie

2014 Word of the Year

Welcome to a new and promising year~2014!

2013 brought a lot of changes and challenges-some exciting, some tough. I knew God was pressing me to step out and exercise some of the talents and abilities He has given me that I have kept  hidden away in fear and uncertainty.

If you have been following LightThoughts from day one, you will recall that I even started this in fear and trembling!

This fall, the ladies at church participated in Priscilla Shirer's study of Gideon~(Main theme: CONFIDENCE). It was such a blessing, and I made some small strides forward as God pushed hard!

Then, one day last week a friend mentioned her word of the year for 2013 and discussed how much she grew from her in-depth study of that particular word. At that point I decided I was going to have a word of the year for 2014. And, that word was going to be CONFIDENCE. 

I determined that confidence is what I need to fulfill God’s plan for my life, and I am going to study the word at length and follow it through Scripture. 

Step one: Check out the definition in Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Right from the start, my heart was pricked, and I could see the direction this would be going.

The number one definition of CONFIDENCE has nothing to do with self-assurance or how one feels about her own abilities or qualities. The number one definition is based on a firm trust---in someone or something else!

Confidence is: 

“The feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something, -a firm trust.”

Before I can even begin to form some kind of self-assurance in myself, I must first fully rely on the Person who is asking me to ‘perform.’ I know that...but do I really, REALLY believe it?

As I reached this point, I came across one of Beth Moore’s Bible Studies, Believing God, where she emphasizes…It’s not whether you believe IN God, what matters is…Do you believe God? Talk about all the pieces fitting together!

So I begin this year of CONFIDENCE with Philippians 1:6~

                …being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Here is where my confidence begins….having full confidence/a firm trust in the One who guides my steps. It is based on who I am in Him. Once I fully believe (really really believe) Him, then I can work on the other definitions of my word of the year!

Follow along! I will share what I discover as I go along this journey!

Looking forward to when “I think I can” becomes “I know I can”!

Happy New Year!

Debbie

Let God be a Blessing to you this Christmas!

Several years ago on my way to youth camp as a counselor, our Youth Pastor offered to buy me a COKE (a soda or a pop to those not from Texas). Knowing that he was a ‘poor’, financially strapped young Youth Pastor and that I was a financially stable middle-aged teacher, I promptly replied, “No! You’re not going to buy me a drink. I will buy yours!” To which he promptly (and firmly), replied, “Mrs. Christopher, will you please let me bless you!”  He paid.

A few weeks later, a first year teacher offered to pay for my lunch during Teacher Orientation week (because I had helped her so much that week). I replied the same way as I had a few weeks earlier on the way to camp. She replied the same way our Youth Pastor replied. She paid.

These two dear people in my life just wanted to be a blessing to me…and I wasn’t going to let them.

Yesterday, after reading the Christmas devotional our church is using for the 12 Days of Christmas these two events popped back into my mind, and I saw them from a different light. 

There is Someone else who wants to be a blessing in our lives….and we just don’t let Him!

Emmanuel~God with us….

That is what Christmas is all about! God so loved the world that He…sent His Son to live amongst us on that eventful, hectic morning in Bethlehem so many years ago. He loves us so much that He wants to be a part of our day to day lives. He took the punishment for our sinful lives and rose again, ascending into Heaven, preparing our future home! He left His Spirit to live in our hearts NOW, so that the peace of God can indwell us richly and give us abundant life!  God with us!

The purpose of that devotion was to point out that because of Christmas, we don’t have to struggle with loneliness at this time of the year. God is with us!

Then the devotion writer closed with these words~

"Let your Savior love on you."

As I read those words, I once again heard Pastor Kevin say, “Mrs. Christopher, will you please let me bless you!”

So often our friends are right there when those troublesome circumstances arise in our lives.  Perhaps you yourself have even said these words to a dear friend.

•   If you need anything, just call!

•   I’m here if you ever need a hug!

•   Call me. I’ll be there in a flash!

•   Let me know when you need some lovin’

•   Call us…and let us love on you

Have you heard these? Have you said these?  Have you taken someone up on these? Have you neglected to take someone up on these words?

I have never stopped to think about God saying them. Yet, He does…all the time…all through Scripture…yet, for some reason, we neglect to take Him up on His offer and choose to sit around bemoaning our loneliness.

Let Him ‘buy your COKE’ or ‘pay for your lunch’…

Let God be a blessing to YOU!

Emmanuel~God with us!

This holiday season, let the Savior love on you!

Merry Christmas,

Debbie

Who is Your Epaphras?

I was thinking about my blog series over Colossians 3 from a couple of years back. I am considering expanding this Bible Study to cover the entire book. So, today, I was carefully reading chapter one and thinking through various sections of the chapter. While doing so, a phrase in verse 7 stuck out. As Paul is introducing his letter to the church at Colosse, he refers to his faithful companion mentioned throughout his letters, his friend and co-laborer, Epaphras.

Paul reminds the believers at this church that is was Epaphras who shared the gospel message with them, and Paul acknowledges his labor of love for the Colossian believers.

Paul states, “You learned it from Epaphras….”

That got me thinking…From whom did I ‘learn’ it? Who faithfully shared the gospel message with me some 45 years ago?

I think back on my faithful parents, of course, who shared God’s Word to my brother and me at home and made sure we had the opportunity to hear it at church as well. Then, I remembered faithful Sunday School teachers and other Children’s Ministry workers at our little church in Homestead, Florida. It was a result of all their teaching, their example, and, of course, the wooing of the Holy Spirit that led me to the point of calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13).  I thank God for those dear folks. Some I have lost contact with, some I may not even remember, others I know have gone on to Heaven, and some continue to be faithful to the Lord to this day!

So, take a minute, and think…Who is the Epaphras in YOUR life? Paul encouraged the Colossians to be thankful to God for Epaphras... so take a moment to thank God for the Epaphras in your life! (And, yes, there may be more than one, but I didn’t want to ‘fight’ with the proper way to make an ‘s’ ending word plural!   Epaphrases?).

And, when we flip the coin, consider this…Have YOU had the opportunity to be an Epaphras in someone else’s life? Maybe you haven’t directly had the opportunity to lead someone to the Lord, but according to 1 Corinthians 3:6, I trust you have had a part!

Thank you “Miss Carroll” and “Uncle Joe”!

Be an Epaphras!

Debbie