First a Praise Report!
(note: Although Lauren suffered a concussion, two fractured legs, knees injuries, fractured pelvis and was in great pain.....here is the praise report from her father.)
We would like to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers. Over the last 24 hours Lauren's pain has decreased to the point where during the day Tylenol is all she needs to control her pain. She is becoming stronger every day. God's love for us is truly awesome! Thank you, and God bless you all! Lauren's Dad, Jon Lindberg
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I thank God for Confidence & Ability.
Ha! Made you blink didn’t I? No…not my confidence and ability! How foolish would that be!!
I’m talking about the confidence the people of God in scripture had in God...and the ability of God to exceed their confidence.
Look at these towering examples of confidence:
Although, the three Hebrews lost their country, their Temple, their families, their homes, their names…they were steadfast in their confidence in God even while facing the threshold of fiery annihilation:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. (Dan 3:16-17)
The Shepherd Boy, although mocked for being too young and too little, boldly proclaimed his confidence in God:
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.. "(1Sa 17:36-37)
Even as righteous Job suffered the loss of his children, his wealth, his wife’s confidence, his health...even while suffering his "friends" accusations....Job maintained his confidence in God:
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. (Job 13:15)
While Abraham was asked to do the unthinkable...to slay his son...he still had confidence in the promises of God even while raising the knife into the air:
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (Gen 22:10-12)
The confidence these men had in God is staggering. Almost too staggering to even our imaginations! Yet Abraham did not stagger at the promises of God!
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Abraham's and these men's confidence in God were not based upon their surrounding circumstances, but upon their unwavering belief and full pursuasion that God is able to perform, to completion, His promises, even if they had to suffer or even die for their Faith in God.
God response to their Confidence?
Not only am I able. I am MORE than able!
Praise God!!!!
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
I know this scripture has been quoted several times already, but it is going to take a while for us to completely comprehend it.
I believe these men were confident that God was able…..but I have a feeling that even they were astounded that God was able to do exceeding abundantly above all they could even comprehend!
Have you ever heard of the question? What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
The answer to this question might be freeing for some, a motivator to reach for their dreams instead of saying “I can’t”.
But what about this question? What will you do since God cannot fail?
NOW the possibilities become staggering, boundless and eternal. Yet, we may still say… “we can’t.”
The Apostle Paul, having been beaten, whipped, stoned, shipwrecked, left for dead, imprisoned, chained, and then later beheaded, penned these words of Godly confidence to resonate through the ages!
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is ABLE to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2Ti 1:12)
God is MORE than able. His ability exceeds any ability we could possibly comprehend!
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: (Php 1:6)
Astounding isn't it!
Tammy Washburn - Thanksgiving Devotions #4
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