“Then Jesus said to them, “Why are you fearful? Have you lost your faith in me?” Shocked, they said with amazement to one another, “Who is this man who has authority over winds and waves that they obey him?”
Luke 8:25 TPT
Feeling like you can’t seem to do anything right lately? Like for every step forward, you’re having to take two steps back? You can’t seem to break the old patterns and mindsets of the past? You hear the whispers of condemning and judgmental voices of those who don’t really know you. Misunderstanding your struggles for weaknesses. Take heart! Jesus was the most misunderstood and judged person to have ever walked the earth, and He says He’s all the confidence that you need.
Only He can take a murderer and make him one of the greatest voices of hope in Christ. Only He can take a hot tempered fisherman and make him the spokesperson for the eyewitness accounts of Jesus. Only He can call a murdering adulterer a man after His own heart. Only He can make something out of nothing and give beauty for ashes. He’s all the confidence that you need. Sometimes people criticize what they’re afraid of. Satan knows that if we ever truly grasped the magnitude of the finished work of Christ in us we’d be a threat to his kingdom. So he uses people to keep us feeling badly about ourselves. But Jesus has a question for you. “Have you lost your faith in Me?”
Stop looking at you, stop looking around you, stop listening to people who do not know who you really are, stop letting mean spirited people and their words define you. They didn’t create you, therefore they don’t know His plans for you. Who you were created to be and what you do are not the same thing. The confidence you need will not be found in self help manuals or even in the best counseling session. It will only be found in Jesus Christ. He said through Peter, “Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.” He’s slow on criticism and quick on affirmation. He told the woman caught in adultery: Neither do I condemn you, GO and sin no more! He offered the despised woman at the well living water. Water only He could supply, forgiveness only He could provide. It doesn’t matter what they say, but it does matter what you believe of what they’re saying. Have you lost your faith in Him?
He is the only One qualified to judge, yet hear what He said;
“For you’ve set yourselves up as judges of others based on outward appearances, but I certainly never judge others in that way. For I discern the truth. And I am not alone in my judgments, for my Father and I have the same understanding in all things, and he has sent me to you.”
John 8:15-16 TPT
He discerns the truth about you. He knows the real you. Just like He knew what was in Paul, Peter and David. He sees where no one else sees. Draw your confidence from Him. After years of being told who I wasn’t and what I was worth, I lived with shame and self loathing. I built a wall around my emotions for self preservation. But it prevented who I really was from emerging for years. Then I was introduced to the Word of life, the Living Water, and my true identity was allowed to flourish. My past no longer defined me. The cruel words of others were no longer my covering. I found that the confidence I needed to overrule the negative assessment of others was found in my relationship with Jesus Christ. Faith in His Word brought a new life perspective to everything I did. I was hurt by words, but healing came through His Words.
In Morning Messages titled “Flip It!” I encouraged readers to turn the negatives into positives. Instead of allowing yourself to be defined by what others think, find out what your Maker says about you and build your confidence and self worth on that. Look in the mirror and declare what the Word says about you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made! Psalms 139. You are a Designer’s Original. There’s no carbon copy of you. You are highly favored and deeply loved. Even if someone says nice things about you, it pales in comparison to what He’s said about you. Have you lost your faith in Him? It’s time to go find out where you lost it, and take it back. No one owns the rights to you, not even your parents. Only He does.
Trust His Word above everyone else’s. His Word never fails, never condemns, never judges, never criticizes, His Word restores, redeems, ransoms, transforms, heals, delivers, encourages, and brings us near. Yes, He’s all the confidence that you need. Believe it and watch your life be transformed, watch the real you come alive. Listen to the words of David;
“I stand silently to listen for the One I love, waiting as long as it takes for the Lord to rescue me. For God alone has become my Savior. He alone is my safe place; His wraparound presence always protects me. For He is my champion defender; there’s no risk of failure with God. So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me?” Psalms 62:1-2 TPT
Amen! Amen!
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
December 3, 2021