Confidence

Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

 

Habakkuk 2:4 (New Living Translation)

 

 

I love this! In God’s kingdom conventional wisdom gets turned on its head. In our world today if you don’t have “confidence” then you will never get anywhere or accomplish anything. I put the word confidence in quotations because today’s accepted definition of the word is not accurate. Today’s world says that a confident person should be; prideful, arrogant, rude, disrespectful, attractive, etc. These things don’t have to be a bi-product of confidence. In reality they, in many cases, cover up much deeper insecurities in someone’s life.

 

By contrast in God’s definition a confident person will have these qualities; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galations 5). In my opinion this list is far more difficult and requires far more confidence (faith/trust) in your God than in yourself, which by itself is far more difficult than trusting in what you can do. Should we not be confident in the abilities God has given to us? Of course not, He gave them to us for a reason and wants us to use them. However, we must always be careful to give credit to the One it is due otherwise our pride will overcome us and our lives will be crooked.

 

May I be a worshiper who recognizes where all my ability comes from and to whom all glory is due. He opens and closes doors and is in charge of the outcome. Let us give Him the glory!!

 

 

In Christ,

 

Steven

Rough Week?

The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

 

Isaiah 58:11 (New Living Translation)

 

Have you had a rough week? I have, between work and other responsibilities it has been none stop from Sunday through today. Satan has been attacking at every turn and not always so subtle as you might expect. Then being on crutches has only exasperated my mental state! God has used encouragement at unexpected times and his Word to bolster me through as the verse above says so beautifully. I am still trying to recover mentally, but spiritually I know my God is faithful and he has lifted me up and given me water when I was dry. It’s the little encouraging words, actions and nuggets of truth that God lays out before us to help us through tough times. We sometimes just need to take our eyes off of ourselves and lift them up to Him so we can see these little blessings He has prepared just for us.

 

In Christ,

 

Steven Singleton

Phenomenal Easter Service

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”
Mark 16:5-7

 

We had outstanding Easter service yesterday, the Holy Spirit moved in a special way! The children’s program was very memorable, the 10 Easter blooms and of course, Pastor Dylan’s message was inspiring. God is doing wonderful things here at Bethel and I can’t wait to see where He leads us next!!! I am so excited to be worshiping a risen Savior !!!

 

Don’t be alarmed when Jesus shows up where you least expect Him.

 

In Christ,

Steven