My Confidence...

Be Confident in God

Jesus knew where He came from, He knew what He was sent to do, and He knew where He was going. When you get that confidence of knowing God and His purpose for your life, you will not be affected by the judgments or criticisms of other people.

You know you belong to God. You know His hand is on you. You know His anointing is on you. You know what you are called to do. You know that with every breath you take, you are trying to follow Him, and you know where you are going when you are all finished. Say, "Nothing that happens today can separate me from God's love and His purpose for my life."

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer. Copyright 2003 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

I read this, this morning during my quiet time, and I felt my whole spirit just lift... its true for me, Jesus is my confidence.

there is much to fear in this world, but with Jesus, there is nothing to fear really.

the future, physically,humanly..... looks uncertain...

the future, spiritually is guaranteed...I am SUPER DUPER CONFIDENT OF THAT.

Jesus is already in my future.

He already knows what will happen in my life, and is carefully mapping out my every step. and where I may tend to get off track, He is already there guidng , shaping, leading.

I am confident today of that.

I do not put my confidence in humans easily, they have a habit of letting you down, getting it wrong, even myself, sometimes I get it wrong (gasp, shock horror)

but when I find a Godly man, a Godly women, its easier to trust them, because you can see Jesus shining through them, and when they are leaders above you, its even better still.

My confidence is in Jesus Christ.

My Faith is firmly established upon Him.

I trust Him. I trust the leaders that He has positioned above me at this time, that they will listen to the voice of my God as they lead in His kingdom.

the other day, my mentor spoke into my life, he encouraged me, edified me, blessed me, spoke truth into my heart, and I am humbled, but I have inner peace in my spirit because of the people living for Jesus around me these days.

my confidence is well placed these days.

Can barely wait to see what Jesus does next.

I just hate it...

I just hate it when a person says one thing to you and a completely different thing behind your back.

I just hate it when people say yes, and actually mean or (secretly say) no.

I just hate it when people undermine the work you try to do and have worked hard for years trying to build.

I just hate it when people criticse others for the same stuff they do themselves.


its easy to do isnt it ?

but it seriously destroys the unity and faith and momentum that we try to build in our churches when people are not true.


I have found recently that sometimes this happens, from people you dont expect to see it in, and who you have placed trust in, but the sad reality which I must confess, that in my past, I also have been like this.

it is just so soul destroying...not only to the individual who cant seem to hold truth , but also to the larger group or other individual involved. ( I apologise to any I have wronged in this way in my past)

it frustrates me and confuses me, that a person can say one thing but actually not really mean it.

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quite a while ago now, there was this situation which happened behind my back, in ministry, which completely shattered my trust and faith in a colleague leader. I heard about it, (you nearly always do).

sweet as you like to my face....but behind my back completely ruthless and the knife still sits in my back.

but that's life isnt it ?

that's leadership isnt it ?

yeah it is, but it just shouldn't be like that in the church.

I have discovered that the bolder you are at what you do for Christ(in the church) the more likely you are to be criticized and misunderstood and tried to be bought down a peg or too.

the bigger the risk....the bigger the opposition.

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in the GHC we are asked to read certain books, and the one we are currently reading is a very quick read...less than an hour, its called..." our iceberg is melting ", and it is an interesting and enjoyable read about the truth of shrinking business, church, groups etc.

it got me thinking about our structures and barriers and blockages and where people sit and why they sit there, and what is happening, in real life, that inhibits growth and development.

could it be, that this all ties up ? that at our very core, we have an issue with letting our yes be yes and our no be no... ? that in our heart as a church and as Christ followers we are yet to fully surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ ? could it be that we actually have an integrity issue ?

is anyone brave enough like Fred the penguin to actually say it like it is ? (you will need to read the book)

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the truth is I am more committed today than I have ever been to the work that I have been called to do, and the role I have been called by God to hold.

whatever that role is in my future, I havent changed my mind about my Officers Covenant, I will do, and go wherever the Lord God needs me, and do my very best to lead as well as I can.

I still believe that our best days, as a church, and as the Salvation Army, and for me as an Officer, and more specifically as a Christ follower..... that the best days are still before us.

that we still have massive ground to take back from Satan, who has sold many, in the church, a huge, audacious lie that many have believed.

I still choose to be optimistic about our future, I still believe in the Salvation Army and that God raised us and has not finished with us yet.

indeed..

HE HAS NOT FINISHED WITH ME YET....

NEITHER HAS HE FINSIHED WITH YOU.


however, I think ( and its only my opinion) that we may need to sort out some of our words.... and actions and get them lining up....

make sure our Yes is Yes...

make sure that what we say, is actually what we believe and mean.

make sure that we are obedient to the Call of God.

make sure that what we say to a persons face, is the same as what we say behind their back, and if we cant say it to their face, then maybe it shouldnt be said to anyone else either.

I just hate it that Satan seems to be winning, and especially winning in these areas.

and I intend on doing something about it, in my little patch, in my life first.

afterall...

he's been defeated hasnt he ? (satan)


so.... today, can I challenege you as I commit myself again to also...

let's let....our YES be YES

and our NO be NO.

let's not slander anyone behind their back, or critize their work for the King.

let's build each other up...more and more, especially as we see the day of the Lord fast approaching.

Change...

it hasnt affected me so greatly so far, as an Officer, but no doubt it will soon enough... but change is part of life the Salvo Officer.

I have been thinking of it a lot at the moment in regards to my own personal ministry future, but also our church ministry and how things are presently.

Churches and Christians get stuck into ruts, when they start thinking stuff like,

"we have always done it this way so why change anything".

truth is, if things are working well, then maybe nothing has to change at all.

It's when things get stuck, you stop growing and start diminishing, that if change isnt implemented then you will die, the church will die, the group, the team, the business, your own personal spiritual life.

A great friend of mine, Pastor Shane Baxter quoted the other day, saying.." without change, nothing changes' and it's such a great truth.

it's not about change for changes sake... but rather change, tweak so that things improve.

John Maxwell says, if you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you already have....

if things are great then keep doing it...and you will keep getting great results.

but if the results are not there and things are going backwards.... if negative influences are ruling the roost, then things have to change and they MUST change quickly.

People avoid change, try to ignore the need for it, walk away from it for lots of variety of reasons, however, there is always a deep rooted heart issue involved that leads a person away from being changed or pruned by God.

John 15, speaks about a pruning process done by the master Gardener, so that our Vine may be more fruitful.

Pruning means cutting back.
Pruning means hacking at what appears to be ok.
Pruning means change.
Pruning means ..preparing for next years/seasons growth.

in a few days Julie will hack at our rose garden because the standard gardening rule ..is Prune in June.

so that in a few months time our roses will bud and produce beautful flowers, and they do every year.

Believe me, Julie prunes so aggresively that there is very little left of the rose bush, but as the months come they always bud, and they produce better results every single year.

but if we dont prune the rose bush, it will get hard and start to die...and will fail to produce its fruit/flower.

our lives are the same...

we need to prune, change...the current condiiton so that we can be even more fruitful in the coming season.

and resistance to the pruning and change process will mean a hardening of our hearts and a fruitless life.

as Christ followers, we need to embrace Change, we need to embrace Gods pruning process in our lives, and then we will produce a beautiful fruitful harvest.


as we go through a change process in our church over the next few weeks and months, it is done so we will grow and be fruitful...

in your life, allow God to change things up, allow Him to prune your life...

Change the things you can change, and allow Him to do what only He can do in you, but make sure you do what He has asked you to do in the process as well.

may He bless your life today.