Last week, I began a mini-series of Scripture focus titled “Positive Parallels.” I decided to do some research on the word “positive” since it is part of my brand name. I uncovered many synonyms to the word and what they say about our Lord and our relationship with Him. It’s been exciting, to say the least!
In case you missed last week’s post {check ‘er out here}, the definition for “positive” means:
- Consisting in or characterized by the presence or possession of features or qualities rather than their absence.
- With no possibility of doubt; clear and definite.
(Sound like a certain Father you know?!)
Last week’s post focused on the words “certain” and “reliable.” And oh, was that ever refreshing and encouraging! This week, the “Positive Parallel” synonym we’re diving into is the word “confident.” Scripture has revealed many encouragements regarding confidence. Depending on your translation, references to confidence are written between 9 and 39 times!*
- Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope? (Job 4:6, NLT)
- Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will be confident. (Psalm 27:3, NLT)
- I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13)
- My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises! (Psalm 57:7, NLT)
- They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. (Psalm 112:17, NLT)
- As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. (Micah 7:7, NLT)
- And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. (Romans 5:4, NLT)
- But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently (Romans 8:25, NLT)
- We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)
- In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. (Ephesians 3:12)
- … being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
- And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. (Philippians 1:14)
- So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! (Hebrews 10:35, NLT)
- So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6, ESV)
- And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. (1 John 2:28)
Confident and confidence: Those are not the first two words I would choose to describe myself. Whether it’s confidence in my appearance, my intelligence, the decisions I make — I have yet to firmly establish a consistent confidence. But when it comes to my faith in Jesus Christ, I do have an assured confidence. I am confident in my Savior, I am confident in His power as Lord above all, I am confident in His sovereign plans for my life, I am confident in His goodness. I find it intriguing that, when it comes to the world, my confidence lacks. But when it comes to my faith, I have a strong, unshakable confidence. To me, it is only another piece of evidence that I am not made for this world — that my permanent home is not of this place. My heart is longing for heaven and to be face-to-face with my Savior and Lord.
Okay, so read the above verses again. How can you apply these to your personal journey? In these verses alone, we are told that we can be confident in times of fear, doubt, bad news, weakness, failure, waiting, sickness, persecution, and death. We are told that faith, trust, hope, reverence, goodness, patience, character, freedom, proclaiming the Gospel, being unashamed, and walking with Him brings us confidence. And all of these wonderful things are given to us from a mere 15 verses! Oh, what more treasures can we find in the of the Bible!? Go out with confidence today, sweet sister!
Thank you, Lord, for revealing these powerful truths to us today. I pray that we soak up every word of these verses and let them penetrate our hearts and minds so that we may become confident followers of you. Lord, give us confidence when we are lacking. Bless us with the confidence to pursue righteousness through our struggles and not fall into the temptation of following the world. Thank you for your consistent love, mercy, and grace. Our hope is in You!
Confident in the Lord,
*Note: All verses posted through my site are quoted in the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. I’m a devoted NIV-er! However, I also like to refer to ESV and NLT — and when I do, I’ll put it in parenthesis. No version is “better” than the other — it’s simply preference. Scripture terms were researched through Bible Gateway’s word search tool.
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