Confidence in God: Embracing Faith and Relationship Over Fear and Works
Praise the Name of Jesus
Father Lord, thank you for the opportunity of hearing your word. Thank you for the entrance of your word to give us light. Thank you, Father, because every dark area in our lives, your light will shine into those areas and we will be set free to be everything that you’ve called us to be. Let these words be planted in our hearts. The devil will not steal these words in Jesus’ name. These words will bear fruit. And Father Lord, just like the Bible says, we will grow into these big trees that the birds of the field will come and perch on. Thank you, Father, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Confidence in God
So what the Lord has laid in my heart to share with us today is Jesus. Just having confidence in God. I have a couple of Bible verses that I would like us to read.
Hebrews 3:6
“But Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm until the end.”
Hebrews 3:14
“For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.”
Hebrews 10:35
“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.”
I’m not saying that you can’t have confidence. There’s a great reward that awaits you. You see, when God tells us to have confidence, you know, I used to wonder, “Father, how can I have confidence? Why is God so big on our having confidence?” But I used to look at myself and say, “Lord, you must be looking at something else. We must be looking at different things.” Because I don’t have confidence in these things you’re telling me to have confidence in. I’m not saying that you can’t have confidence. Because when I look at myself, I fail a lot. And that was when I used to be focused on myself. I fail a lot. So how can I ever have confidence?
But here is God telling us to have confidence. So, that means we are looking at two different things. So I was asking God, “What are you looking at? So that I can look at the same thing and have confidence. Have this same confidence that you’re talking about.” If we have confidence in God, that is the only way we can be everything that God has called us to be. God, you know, it’s so surprising that God, not surprising, it’s just such a blessing, that God as a Father wants us to be confident. He’s a king, yet he wants us to sit by his side as his children. He doesn’t want us wallowing in the dirt and crying and looking up to him like he’s up there. Yes, he’s there. He’s the king. But he’s saying, “Come up and be like me,” and he gives us his life.
And I’m wondering, if God wants us to be confident, why do we act like, for want of a better word, why do we act like we’re not confident? We don’t act like wimps. We don’t act like the children of our father. I used to look at myself like that. I’m not acting like there is a big God out there who says he’s my father. For example, why are we begging God to heal us? Why don’t Christians beg God, “Oh God, please heal me. Oh God, please don’t let me die.” Why do we beg God?
The Story of Cain
Let’s look at Cain. Cain has just murdered his brother Abel. And God declares punishment on Cain. And Cain tells God, “Now my punishment is too big. Now anybody that sees me will kill me.” Now, the first thing is, how is Cain able to speak to God after he has murdered somebody? How many of us will have the confidence to talk to God after you’ve committed such a crime? Let alone begin to deliberate with God. “My punishment is too great. Now, anybody that sees me will kill me.” You know what? Cain did not know, did not have people tell him that when you’ve sinned, that God breaks fellowship with you, you couldn’t be with God anymore. Cain did not have anybody tell him that. And even though the church has helped us, but the church, we have also learned a lot of things that we should unlearn from the church.
You know, it is when you go to church that you hear that because you have sinned, God is not going to talk to you, that God breaks fellowship with you. But look at Cain. Cain has murdered somebody. And Cain, I mean, if God comes to him, “Where is your brother?” “Am I my brother’s keeper?” And many of us would talk to God like that. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” And then God says, “Now the earth will not yield its fruit to you,” and so on and so forth. And this curse comes on him. And Cain has the temerity to tell God, “My punishment is so great.” And God even in his mercy responds and says, “Okay, I’m going to place a sign on you so that nobody can kill you.” Just can you imagine that? God has mercy on a murderer who is not remorseful. He’s not repentant, but God has mercy on him.
Abraham’s Journey
And I’m thinking, where did we get the idea from that if I have made a mistake, I’m supposed to cower like a slave because God is not going to fellowship with me? Look at Abraham. Abraham is God that tells him, “Leave your kindred, leave your people and go to a land I’m going to show you.” And if you read that story throughout that journey, it is God always going to Abraham. So God tells Abraham, “You see this land, I’m going to give it to you, I’m going to bless you, I’m going to do this,” and all Abraham does, he raises an altar there. I don’t find Abraham praying to God, “Oh God speak to me, God talk to me, God speak to me.” No, it’s always God going to Abraham. It’s always God making the first move. All Abraham does is to receive, build an altar as a remembrance about what God has spoken to him.
And I’m wondering, where did we get the idea that we are supposed to be pursuing God? And please, I hope you don’t get me wrong, but God is the person that makes the first move and comes to us. And the Bible says that he that started a good work will complete it. And I know much of this is because we have read a lot of books, and we have heard a lot from the Pope also. So we read a lot of books, like six steps to hear from God, ten steps to increase your faith. I got tired. You know, Ecclesiastes 12:12 says that there is no end to the number of books that will be written. And much study is a weariness for the soul. I got tired and weary. And I told God, I said, “I’m tired. Tell me something to focus on.”
Relating to God as a Spouse
When you get married right, your spouse belongs to you, you belong to your spouse right, and you share everything. You know, I was always afraid, and I was serving God so that God can reward me. I serve God so that he rewards me. And then God told me one day, “Why don’t you relate with me like a husband and wife should relate with each other?” If you read Ephesians 5:13, where the Bible talks about husbands, love your wife, your wife is your body. If you love your wife, you’re loving yourself. And what Paul makes a statement, he says, “But I am not referring to husband and wife. I’m speaking about the Christ and the church, and this is a great mystery.”
So, God tells me, “Why don’t you relate with me as a spouse, as a husband and wife?” And that’s in a marriage that’s working the way it’s supposed to work. Now, when you marry your spouse, you marry the person because you love the person in the first place. Now, when you serve your spouse, when you do good things, you know, buy gifts for your spouse, are you buying gifts so that your spouse will love you? You don’t serve your spouse so that your spouse will love you. If you married me, I am already secured in that marriage. If I marry a rich man, guess what? I become a rich woman, vice versa. So God is telling me, “If you are in relationship with me, stop thinking that you are going to lose some inheritance, you are going to make a mistake.”
The Prodigal Son
Now, many of us have more confidence in our spouses than we do God. Think about it. We love each other directly. Wrong way as husbands and wives, but guess what? You still trust that spouse, that person has a bag no matter what. How many of us can make a mistake, God forbid, murder somebody and still believe that God loves you unconditionally and still have that confidence in God? David, how many of us can make a mistake and still believe that God loves me unconditionally? The prodigal son, did he deserve for the father to put a ring on his finger and to give him sandals when he came back? He didn’t deserve it, but he got it. But let’s look at the elder brother. The elder brother says, “Father, I have served you all these years and you didn’t even give me a kid to share with my friends.” What was his problem? Father’s response. He says, “Son, you are always with me and all I have is yours.” Now, the Son is appealing to his work. “I have worked for you all my life and you didn’t give me anything.” But what’s the Father’s response? The Father is appealing to relationship. “Son, you are always with me and all I have is yours.” The Father makes no mention about service. And God is saying, “You are my child. Not because you have worked for me, not because you serve me, you are my child first and foremost.” And that is why we need to have confidence in God. Praise the Lord.
Jesus’ Prayer for Us
Jesus, in John chapter 17, is praying to his Father. And we get an opportunity to hear Jesus pray. And Jesus prays for the disciples. I’m going to read those verses and he prays for us. You know, who better to pray for you? You know, in Nigeria, we have people, they call themselves prayer warriors. We have, I know, groups in churches, they call prayer warriors, and some persons call themselves prayer machines. Prayer machines. And if you’re from my country, Nigeria, we do a lot of praying. We pray a lot. We pray a lot. And in Nigeria, if you are, if you’re a serious Christian, at least you should be in church at least three times in the week. Monday is Bible study, Thursday is prayer meeting. And if you’re an inquirer, you’re an usher, you’re going to be there on, So if you’re a serious Christian, you need to be in church three times a week. So guys, we need to catch up. We are here only once a week. So we have a lot of praying going on. We have people who call themselves prayer warriors. But sometimes the prayer doesn’t really work. We don’t see any fruits. And I’ve had a fair share of being prayed for.
You know, during these miracle services, you know, everybody, if you have a problem, everybody step forward and we all go out in front. And this, most times, is a visiting man of God. And so he comes and he lays hands on everybody. And as he lays hands on people, everybody is falling. And I used to think, people think you are obligated to fall when a man of God lays his hands on you. People think, like, if you don’t fall, you insult the man of God. I mean, you need to fall as a respect for the man of God. I mean, there are people that really feel the anointing and they fall. But there are others that don’t. Like, I used to see my friends. And they lay hands on my friends and she does this and falls. I’m like, you shouldn’t be falling under anointing. After what we were just talking about at the back of the church. You shouldn’t be falling under anointing. Because we fall under anointing and we get up back the same. And the adults that are watching, you know, they watch us youths. And they see my friends falling under anointing. And I decide, because I used to think, what do people feel that they fall under anointing? I want to feel that thing. So this man of God, he lays hands on everybody and everybody is falling in. And he gets to me, and then he lays his hands on me, and I don’t fall because I don’t feel anything. And so this man says, “OK, this is not working.” So he proceeds to push me. He pushes me backward. So I kind of spread my legs to gain balance. Because I’m like, I don’t feel anything. I want to feel what makes people fall. So he pushes me, and I lean back, but I don’t fall. And then he proceeds to spin me around. And now other people are waiting on the prayer line, but he wants me to fall. And I’m like, if I don’t feel anything, I don’t want to fall. So he spins me around, and I get dizzy, but I spread out my legs to gain balance. And then the man leans over to me, and he says, “You have a very stubborn leg.” And he walks away and goes to other people.
Now, why am I relating this story? We have had lots of prayers, but we have Jesus, the Son of God, saying, “I prayed for you.” Brothers and sisters, what confidence should that give you? Let us read John chapter 17. I mean, this is very encouraging.
John 17:11-12
“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. This is Jesus speaking. And I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept. And none of them is lost but the Son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled.”
Jesus says, “I have kept them, now I am coming over to you.” So Jesus keeps us and now he hands us over to the Father. Can you imagine? It’s just like two parents who are discussing about their children. Jesus says, “I have kept them.” What love, what confidence should this give us? Imagine us being able to eavesdrop on Jesus praying, “I have prayed for them. Now Father, I am coming to you, I am handing them over to you to continue the keeping.” Father says, there is no time, we are not being kept. “I have kept them, I am handing them over to you.” He says, “I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from evil.” Jesus is praying, asking Father to keep us from evil. If anybody’s prayer is to be answered, whose prayer will be answered? Jesus.
You know, let’s see an instance where Jesus prayed to somebody. Peter, Jesus said, “The devil has desired to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you.” First of all, Peter did not know he needed prayer. But Jesus said, “I have prayed for you.” And then he says, “When you are converted,” not if. “When you are converted, comfort your brothers.” What does that mean? Jesus is sure this prayer will be answered. This prayer that Jesus has prayed for us is a spot that keeps them from evil. Brothers and sisters, we have assurance that that prayer is answered. What confidence should that give us? That Jesus is the one praying for us, and the prayer has been answered. He says, “These ones I am praying for them,” even before we were born again, in advance, Jesus prays for us.
Hebrews 7:25
“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.”
You see, Jesus is still praying. The Bible says he is able to save to the uttermost. Whatever needs saving in your life, the Bible says he is able to save because he ever lives to pray for us. What is the condition that it gives there that Jesus is able to save? What is the condition?
Misinterpretation of Scripture
Now, this is a Bible verse that many people use to dispute the fact that, or they use a Bible verse to say that God will put sickness on you, that God can cause you to be sick. Let’s read it.
Deuteronomy 32:39
“See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God with me. I kill. I wound. No, I kill and make alive. I wound and I heal. Neither is there any that can be delivered out of my hand.”
It says, “I form the light, I create darkness, I make peace, I create evil, I, the Lord, do all these things.” God is saying, “I create evil.” God is saying, “I kill, I make alive, I wound.” So if God is saying that he kills, what confidence do you have that he’s not going to kill you? If God is saying, “I create evil,” what assurance do you have that he’s not going to create evil for you? Because if he says, “I kill,” it’s likely that you are monsters that he decides to kill. You see, when I read a scripture, this is why when you read scriptures like this, he’s your father, you ask him questions. I read that. I read this scripture and I said, “Father, you just said you can kill, so am I among the ones you can kill?” You see, God told me, he says, “Does it say in that Bible, I will kill precious?” Does it say that? I said, “No, it doesn’t say that.” But see what happens. It says, God says I will kill, I can kill and I can give life. But then God decides I am life. He chooses. He says I can kill, I can make a life, but then he says I am life. He says I create evil, I can create darkness, but he chooses and calls himself light. That is the assurance that you have that God is not going to kill you. He says I create evil. I also create darkness, but He’s the Lord of lights. I am the light of the world, not I am the darkness of the world. He says, I can kill. What He said in Him was life, not in Him was death. That is the assurance that God is not going to kill Him. And do you know how, do you see how God, He says, I do these things, but He chooses what He wants to be to us. And then God goes forward and says, you two have a choice. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. I place before you life and death. If God can choose to be life