Confident Before Almighty God

 

"For this is the message you have heard from the
beginning:  You should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.  And why did he murder him?  Because his own actions were evil and his brother's righteous.  Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.  Anyone who does not love remains in death.  Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.  This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.  This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his  presence whenever our hearts condemn us.  For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.  Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God..."  I John 3:11-21

 

Confidence.  With enough studying, practicing or compliments, we may be able to attain a level of confidence.  But confidence before God? That only comes in the Spirit!  Confidence before God occurs when we have peace in our hearts that all is well between us and the Father.  It only happens when we have no unconfessed sin, and know that we are walking in the center of God's will for our lives.

If our hearts do not condemn us, we can attain the confidence that is presented in this verse. God is such a gracious, loving Father.  He places the Holy Spirit  within us to convict us.  He gives us a conscience that serves as an alarm system announcing when we have trespassed against the law of God.  He is not a vengeful, hateful God  who hides his expectation and then is angry when we fail to live up to it.

There have been a couple of times in m professional life that someone has held me accountable for duties that I have not been informed were in my job description.  It is beyond frustrating to be blindsided with a perceived failure I did not know I was responsible for.  Thank God he does not handle us that way!  He allows the "prick of conscience" to let us know that we have strayed from the narrow path.  When this happens, we need to quickly confess, repent and turn from our sins.   Then automatically, we can go right back to God-confidence.

Dear Lord, thank you that you allow me to have confidence in your presence.  I am so undeserving.  Thank you for your love and favor.   In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Sherri