Steven Furtick - My Confidence Is Coming Back (04/29/2017)
In Hebrews 10:35-37, the preacher urges believers not to throw away their confidence which will be richly rewarded, emphasizing perseverance to receive God's promises while boldly declaring together "My confidence is coming back." Through the context of Christ's superiority and the new covenant, he explains how to rebuild God-kind confidence via a clear conscience by Jesus' blood, strong community, consistent faithfulness, and remembering past victories in "the gap" between promise and fulfillment to press forward without quitting.
Don't Throw Away Your Confidence
Are you excited for the Word of God today? Let's get to it. Look at Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 35 through 37. This is a Scripture that is so loaded with power I almost feel like I could read it, drop the mic, walk off the stage and not even say anything about it, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to keep the mic and talk about it for a little while.
Let me read it. It says, So do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. Now, you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a little while... Touch your neighbor and say, It won't be long now. It won't be long now. In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.
A Powerful Faith Declaration Together
Instead of giving this message a title, I just want us to make a faith declaration together. You ready? Now, I need you to say this loud and proud so you convince the Devil that you mean business. Shout it so loud your neighbor gets startled when you say it. You ready? Come on. In every location, are you ready? Say this. My confidence is coming back. Tell five people, yours is too. Yours is too. My confidence. You may be seated. God bless you. Coming back. It's coming back quickly. That God kind of confidence.
Not that Instagram confidence, posting something, taking it down four times if it doesn't get enough likes in three minutes, letting half my body hang out on my clothes so somebody will tell me I look good. That's not confidence. That's compensation. I want a God kind of confidence.
It's important that I say that because confidence has a context. If I were to say it in a biblical context, it would mean something different than in a Kardashian context. You just want to get it. No slight meant to any Kardashians. No Kardashians were harmed in the making of this sermon. I'm just saying that context is important.
The Writer's Task: Rebuilding Confidence in Crisis
The writer of Hebrews has a daunting task in that he is trying to strengthen and reconstruct in some ways the confidence of a group of Christians who are in crisis. In order to do this, he employs two rhetorical devices. He uses contrast and context. Contrast and context.
He's speaking to them in the midst of a trial, really a crisis of confidence, and he's trying to get them focused on Christ in their crisis. Remember, when Peter did that, when he focused on Christ in his crisis, he transcended the laws of buoyancy. It's amazing what you can get up above when you focus on Christ in your crisis.
In order to bring them to this focal point of Christ in crisis, he starts in Hebrews chapter 1 by giving them a context of the superiority of Christ and the New covenant. In this setting, in this context, he presents them with a picture of a Christ who is better. Better than the angels. Theological term, the superiority of Christ. But we would just say, he's better.
He's better than anything you can name. He's better than anything you can inhale. He's better than anything you can snort. He's better than anything you can chug. He's better than anything you can date. He's better than anything you can give your life to. He's better. Somebody shout, he's better.
He's better than the mediator of the old covenant. That's Moses. It is in this context that He must present to the people a motivation for perseverance by establishing their confidence in crisis.
Not only does he provide a contrast, the mosaic sacrificial system and the temple cultic law, to the hope we have in Jesus Christ that the sacrifice has been made once and for all.
You know how I know it's been made once and for all? I saw all your cars coming into the parking lot today, and I didn't see any bulls or oxen on the bike rack of your vehicle. I didn't see you with a knife to slit their throats so you could make atonement for your sins. Why? Because you came in with confidence that Christ is enough to atone for my sin and to make right all of my mistakes.
The Devil Attacks Confidence to Block Your Calling
The author of Hebrews is reestablishing the confidence of people who have lost their confidence. I found out in life you can lose a lot of things and get them back if you keep your confidence.
The Devil cannot take your calling. The Bible says the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. He doesn't change his mind when you lose your way. Since the Devil can't take your calling, he attacks your confidence.
If he can get you to give him your confidence, he can keep you from functioning in your calling. If he can get you to believe that you're raising your kids just like your mom raised you and your mom raised you in a way that was detrimental and destructive, he can get you to repeat the patterns and miss the opportunity for progress because he stripped you of your confidence.
You can have a great calling and no confidence. Joyce Meyer says, and she's coming for our Code Orange revival, so maybe she'll tell you when she comes, she said, a believer without confidence is like a jet without fuel sitting on the runway, all that equipment, but no power to get up above the circumstances. That's how Sister Joyce said it.
Ask your neighbor, got confidence. Remember they used to have got milk? Well, I want to know, got confidence. Christians without confidence, it should be an oxymoron.
I mean, the whole context of the gospel is confidence. If it doesn't make you more confident, it's not the gospel. If you ever heard something preached to you and you walked out feeling like crap, you didn't hear the gospel in the correct context.
Putting Everything in Proper Context
The author of Hebrews is giving some context to the crisis. Perhaps he should preach to our nation right about now, because I hear people saying weird stuff. They say, this is the worst it's ever been. Really? It's worse than slavery? Worse than it's ever been? I mean, there are some things that are bad, but can we put it in context?
One time I was at a pastor's round table and a young white pastor who wasn't much older than me spoke up and said, our nation is more divided than it's ever been. He shouldn't have said that in that context, because there was an older African-American pastor, probably over the age of 70, who had lived through segregation. He spoke up and said, young man, I appreciate your sentiment, but allow me to provide some context. About 15 minutes later, that white guy wanted out of the room.
Elijah asked me the other day, he said, Daddy, are all presidential elections this crazy? Because he's only 10 and he's looking for some context. Of course, it took me a moment to think through all of the presidential elections I've witnessed. In 2000, it was pretty crazy. We barely found out who was the president by the time their term was over. I don't know if anybody remembers that, but it was crazy then.
I explained to him how, in the context of other parts of the world, we have a pretty peaceful transition of power. When you put it in context, in some cultures, power doesn't change hands unless blood runs in the street.
I want to give him a context. Sometimes you've lost your relationships because you've lost your context. That is, someone will do one thing to offend you, and in the light of that one thing they did to offend you, you will walk away from the hundreds of things they did that caused you to love them.
The Devil is a master of trying to create a crisis in your life by causing you to lose your sense of context. I'm laughing because a lady over on my right side was hitting a man. I don't know what that was about. Touch somebody and say, keep it in context.
That's what you have to do, Eve, because the serpent will come up to you and say, did God really say you can't eat from any tree in the garden? You have to remember, God didn't say you can't eat of any tree. He said don't eat of that tree. But the Enemy wants to take it out of context to get you to look at all the things you can't do and miss all the things you can do and get you to think that Christianity is boring or that it's about rules and regulations, to take it out of the context of relationships.
But how many of you know that we have a great high priest whose name is Jesus and the author of Hebrews wants to help you get your confidence back? But you can't have confidence without context.
The Full Context of Confidence (Hebrews 10:19-25)
If I could, I would love to back up just a few verses and provide a context for this admonition where he says, do not throw away your confidence. See, that's a pretty powerful admonition, exhortation within itself, but when you give it its full context, it's even more powerful.
Would it be all right if I backed up just a few verses and give you some context? I would love to give you the whole book of Hebrews. I didn't think it would be good for us to do the whole book in one day, but maybe we could hit verse 19 real quick, where he's encouraging this community of faith that is in an identity crisis, losing friends because of their faith, suffering loss in their personal life and their relationship with their possessions because of their faith.
And he says, therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have... Somebody shout it. We have confidence. Now, we may not be accessing our confidence right now, but we have it.
How many of you have a phone? How many of you are talking on it right now? Just because you have it doesn't mean you're using it. Sometimes we think we need more confidence when all we really need to do is use the confidence we already have by virtue of the power of Christ in us.
I feel like preaching a little bit today because somebody is going to get their confidence back by the time I put my microphone down. The Lord told me some of you have been losing your confidence, but he wants you to know that you have confidence to enter the most holy place.
That was the place where only the high priest could go. Even he couldn't go in the wrong way or he wouldn't come out. Well, he would come out, but somebody would have to drag him out because the presence of God was so strong in the most holy place. If you didn't go in ceremonially clean, you would fall down dead in the presence of the glory of God.
How many are glad for a new covenant? I think the whole top section of Blakeney would fall over dead if you had to be clean to come to church today. I think the preacher would fall dead on the stage if you had to be clean to come to church.
He's talking about this new covenant, and he's excited about it, telling them, Come on in to the most holy place. How do you come in? By the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way open for us through the curtain that is his body.
Since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience, and having our bodies washed with pure water.
I was only going to read verse 19, but the context of this is so powerful. I think I ought to keep going. How many think I ought to keep going? Come on.
This is the covenant, the promise of God. This is your relationship with him described, defined, and elaborated upon. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. He who promised is faithful. You hadn't always been faithful to him, but he's always been faithful to you.
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.
He's helping me. Before he tells me to keep my confidence, he's helping me to see where my confidence comes from.
Three Foundations of Christian Confidence
Let's talk about where Christian confidence comes from. There are three things he mentioned in the text I just read, and they all start with the letter C. At least they will when I get done with them. It helps me remember them better.
He mentions your conscience. It's kind of hard to have full confidence when you have a troubled conscience. It's kind of hard for me to get up and preach to you when I have things in my life, areas in my life where I haven't been obedient.
You know, there have been times where I've been getting ready to preach, and before I could come out on the stage, I had to make a phone call and get something right. If I come up here and my conscience isn't clear… I don't mean that I have to be perfect when I get up. If that were the case, only Jonathan Joseph would be allowed to preach at Elevation Church.
But I'm saying some of you lost your confidence because you violated your conscience. Now in relationships, you can't really look people in the eye because of what you're hiding, because of text messages you hope your wife doesn't see, because of unresolved bitterness and forgiveness that God has initiated but you have not completed.
The Devil is really masterful at this because if he can't get your calling without your confidence, he'll get to your confidence through your conscience. Then he will tempt you with something that he knows will define or defile, rather, your conscience.
Now, because you have a defiled conscience, you have no confidence. To come into the presence of God requires confidence. The presence of God is the only place where your conscience can be cleansed.
We just read it in Hebrews. He said the most holy place, the presence of God, that place of surrender, that place of contact with God, that's the place where the blood of Jesus is sprinkled to purify your conscience.
But if you don't have confidence, you won't come in. So now the only place where God can heal your conscience, you don't go into because you've lost your confidence. You stopped coming to church at the time when you needed church the most.
I'm going to look at the camera because somebody is watching me online today. You almost came, but you felt guilty about something, and you let the devil tell you that you couldn't come.
But the context of my relationship with God is not my behavior. It's the blood of his Son. It was already shed, and when those drops hit the ground, mercy hit my life. Grace covered my sin. His compassion covered all the wrong things I had done, will do, and even the things I'm doing right now so I can come on in to the presence of God with my head held high like a child of the king.
I'm not a slave to fear. I'm a child of God. My spirit cries out, Abba, Father. I need your help. I'm in a crisis. Come on in.
You hear the voice of God saying to somebody, come on in. I know what you did last summer. Come on in. I know what you did in your 20s. Come on in. I know what you did at 947 A.M. Come on in. Touch somebody and say, come on in.
We need you to know that the context of Christian confidence is not your ability to conform to a set of behaviors. That's the old covenant. That's bringing the turtle dove to church and sacrificing it. But we have a great high priest, and he is the context of my confidence.
The context of my confidence is a clear conscience.
You Need a Strong Community
And then, you know what else I need? I need a community. I know your confidence has been shaken lately. That's why you need some people. Would you tell the person next to you, I need people like you in my life. I really do. I really do.
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. I need people in my life. I really believe if I hadn't grown up at Monks Corner United Methodist Church and Aunt Jackie didn't tell me God has a special plan for your life when I first got saved, I might have gone right back to the way I was living.
The temptation that is being countered by the author of Hebrews is the temptation to turn back. No sooner do you get started in the pursuit of a promise from God, then you lose your confidence and turn back.
You lose your confidence because certain people don't like it. Certain people don't understand it. Certain people aren't going the same way as you. Certain people don't support or endorse your decision to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. That's why you need certain other people. Certain other people.
You can't do this alone. I like to say back in the early days when I first started preaching, you have to follow Christ for yourself, but you cannot follow Christ by yourself.
So I need a new community. I need a new community. Somebody to look me in the eyes from time to time and say, I think you still got it. I think you ought to press on.
If you don't have those people in your life, there is no hope for you holding on to your confidence, because everybody in their head has a little confidence committee. They sit around that table, and you have the committee member called Past Experience. Boy, he'll speak up real quick when you decide to do something for God. You tried that once. How'd that go? He'll show you the treadmill you bought. It's now a coat rack.
Then there's Past Experience. Let's see who else sits at the table. You have Past Experience. Maybe you have the committee member of Self-Loathing and Doubt and all these people.
If you don't have… One time, the prophet Elisha needed to teach his protege faith, because they were surrounded by enemies. That's all the protege could see. That's all he could see. What was against him? It took away his confidence.
He cried out, Oh my Lord, what shall we do? Sometimes that's the only prayer you can pray. Elisha gave him a different context when he prayed, Open his eyes, Lord, that he may see. And when he blinked and opened his eyes again, nothing had really changed except his vision.
Opened his eyes a second time. He saw that what was surrounding them was surrounded by the armies of the living God.
I believe God wants to bring people in your life who can surround what's surrounding you until you see the protection, the provision, and the promise of God coming to pass in your life.
I'll be honest. There are certain people I look for when I preach, because they boost my confidence. Serving people I look away from real quick.
I'll tell you a little secret. The right side of this Ballantyne campus is really spiritual. They will shout you down, only to be matched by the center section, and the people in the back, as well as the left side of the room.
Look, give me a wide shot. Can you show the other campuses how we built this room? We built this Ballantyne campus where you can't sneak in. You can't fall asleep. Somebody will see you.
We wanted you to know when you come to church, you're surrounded. You might come to church in trouble and weak and tempted and tested and try, but somebody shout, I'm surrounded.
Come on. Tell seven people you're surrounded. Even if you want to go back, I won't let you. Even if you want to fall short, I'm not about to let you quit. You've come too far by faith. We're going to lean on him together. We're going forward. Surrounded.
We've got a community. Even within our staff. It shocked me on Wednesday. I've been teaching our staff, and one of the subjects I brought up was confidence.
In between sessions, we were singing one of my favorite new songs that's going to be recorded for the new album. We sang it today in church. Many of you have been watching on TV, and you won't get to hear it yet.
The song says, I believe I'll see you do it again. I believe I'll see you do it again. We were singing it, and the staff was singing it. There's a line in that song that says, This is my confidence. You never failed me yet. This is my confidence.
The Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and said, Go up on stage right now. I was supposed to introduce Holly for her session. The Lord told me she won't mind. She can wait. Give an altar call for your staff.
I said, Lord, you mean I have staff that aren't saved? He said, Well, yeah, probably that too, but that's not the kind of altar call I mean. I'm just kidding.
He said, I want you to call for people who are having a crisis in confidence. When I did it, I said, I want you to come forward. If you're having a crisis in confidence, I want you to come to the stage.
I thought three people would come. I turned around, and all of a sudden they didn't come to the stage. They started coming on the stage. They misunderstood my instruction. It wasn't three of them. It was more people that came to the stage then stayed in the seats.
And the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by these staff members, and I went through everything in my head. I was like, did they hear what I said? Because I didn't say if you struggle a little bit with your confidence, you know, because if you give an altar call broad enough, you can get the whole room to come.
You know what I'm saying? If you felt defeated, come. You know, you could just stretch it out. If you're here today, come. But I didn't say if you, you know, wore an outfit today and you're not feeling so good about it anymore. If you feel kind of fat, come on to the stage and pray over your outfit.
I said, a crisis in confidence. And over half my staff came, and I prayed with them for about 20 minutes. And I said, we are going to leave some chains on the stage today.
But probably the best thing I did for them was turn around and give them some context. There are times where the pressure to preach becomes so great, and my doubt in my own ability to lead the church becomes so strong.
There have been times where I have fantasized about just walking out on independence and hoping maybe a truck will come. I know. I seem confident up here. Maybe I shouldn't tell you this. Some of y'all are going to pray for me, write me a prescription, or something like that.
I'm not saying I walk around feeling that all the time. I'm not saying I'm suicidal. I was just trying to get them to see that their lack of confidence does not have to be the death of their calling.
And the devil's got some of you right now. You are at that Hebrews 10 crossroads of confidence, trying to decide whether to stay and raise your children or not, trying to decide whether continuing to pursue Christian values is even possible, or should you just give in to the addiction and go back the other way? Trying to decide.
I called my staff on the stage, and I even shared that about my own life, because I have seen too many callings abandoned at the crossroads of confidence. And if you just would have pressed on a little more, you would have seen the breakthrough.
The author said, in just a little while, he who is coming will come and not delay. When the devil really puts the pressure on, that's a sign that you are in proximity to the promise that you've been pressing toward.
Confidence Comes Through Consistency
I'm praying on the stage, and I felt my confidence coming back. And it just hit me if that was my staff, and they are paid to be Christians. What's going on in the congregation? What's going on out there? What is the devil telling you?
If he's telling the preacher, you know, you probably preached your best sermons by now, and they all heard everything you got to say. You know, you built that Ballantyne building too big. Never going to fill that one up. If that's what he's saying to me, I can't imagine. I mean, I'm the man of God. I can't imagine what he's telling you.
I can't imagine the mistakes that he's bringing up. I can't imagine the dumb decisions that he replays in your mind. Just that five-minute clip that runs randomly every time you go to step out. I can't imagine.
And so he mentions, he says, you need a clear conscience, and only the blood of Jesus can do that. And you have the blood of Jesus. So be confident. When you come before God, come before him with confidence, and you need a community.
Can I say something to everybody who came to church? Oh, God, I know you're struggling a little bit. I know you've got some things, but you're around the right people right now, and we're going to do this together.
But it's going to take consistency. Don't give up meeting together. Encourage one another. All the more as you see the day approaching.
You see his biceps? They didn't get like that one time in the gym. The first time he went to pick up the 40s, they were real heavy, and he was grinding on himself. Now he just picks up the 80s and the 90s because he picked up the 50s and the 60s.
Confidence comes from consistency. Well, I guess you're not confident. You only let me preach to you once every three months. You only open your Bible on special occasions. I guess you're not confident. How could you be? Confidence comes through consistency.
They were interviewing Serena after she won her 9,432nd Grand Slam title. Tied the record. They said, How do you deal with the pressure of this big moment and rise to the occasion as you have so many times?
I laughed at her response. It was instant classic. She said, Well, I've played a lot of tennis. I thought that was so great. How do you deal with the big moments? Well, I played a lot of tennis.
You see somebody who has a lot of confidence? Let me tell you how they got it. They prayed a lot of prayers. You know how softly Serena speaks after she wins. I played a lot of tennis.
You see somebody who has tremendous peace in their heart? They forgave a lot of people. You see somebody who knows how to persevere through dry seasons and hard times? They read a lot of Bible verses.
And so, he sets confidence within the context of a clear conscience, within the context of a strong community, within the context of a commitment to consistency.
Persevere and Remember the Earlier Days
And now, he says, let me get to my preaching part. How'd you like that set up? This won't take long.
So, do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. Don't do it. Don't throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded.
And you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Now, it's interesting to me that in order to get them to press forward, he tells them to look back. In verse 32, the writer says, if you want to go forward, here's what you need to do. Remember those earlier days.
This fascinates me because I've always been told that the way to gain confidence is to not look back. You know, you can't think about the past. You can't think about what happened. You just have to leave it behind.
Well, in this particular instance, the author advocates a type of memory management that will actually build your confidence.
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. He says, you've been through much worse than this and you made it.
Do you know what I know? I don't know what you've been through. I don't know what it looked like. I don't know how horrible it was. You could tell your story. I could tell my story. I know one thing about you. You made it. You're still here.
I know that about you. I don't even have to know your name. I just know by the fact, by the virtue of the fact that you showed up that you made it.
And so sometimes it's just as simple. When I'm stressed out and we are opening a new campus and I just flew back from Australia and I'm jet lagged and tired and one of my best friends in the ministry is going through a terrible crisis and I'm walking through that with him.
All of it's hitting on the same weekend and I'm coming out to open a campus and police are being shot in the streets and young men are being gunned down in the streets. I'm managing how to talk about that and open I'm on a campus, and my best friend is going through something, and everything's going, and I haven't slept, and I'm coming out, and part of me is telling God backstage, I can't do this, I can't do this.
When I start talking like that, the Spirit of the Lord will speak back to me, and all he says is this, really? I thought I remembered you in a white Jeep Cherokee, a 1990 white Jeep Cherokee, where you would leave on a Thursday, and you would go preach at a youth rally in Squirrelville, Georgia, and you would go preach at the youth rally Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Saturday night you would leave, stop at the gas station, get six Diet Mountain Dews, drive back to Shelby, North Carolina through the middle of the night, and get back and lead worship, be there for the rehearsal at 7 A.M., and have everything set up for the worship team, and you would lead the music, and then Sunday night you'd go to Charlotte and do your little core team meetings for your church plant that you were asking me to bless, and you would have the families there, and no new people would have showed up, but you would preach right through it, and you wouldn't get discouraged, and you wouldn't get defeated, and you wouldn't get disappointed, but you'd just preach right through it, and you'd stand up and say things boldly, and then you'd get up Monday morning with a hangover, And you would get in your white Jeep Cherokee again and drive to Greenville, and sometimes you'd have Elijah, three months old, screaming in the backseat, and Holly and Elijah would go with you, and you'd drop them off at your in-law's house, and then you'd go to seminary, and you'd sit there from 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. in a systematic theology class, and you'd get back to Charlotte, and you'd do it again, and you'd do it again, and you'd do it again, and you did it before, and you can do it again, and you did it before, and you can do it again, you did it before, you can do it again, and something stands up on the inside of me, and I tell the devil I'm that same dude that ran up and down the roads of I-26 and I-85 in a Jeep Cherokee with a newborn baby.
I believed God then. I believe God now. I saw him come through then. I'll see him come through again. I've seen him move a mountain, and I believe. Somebody shout, I believe.
I'm going to preach until your confidence comes back. How do you get it back? You get it back in the gap. Touch somebody. Say, you get it back in the gap.
Understanding "The Gap" Between Promise and Fulfillment
Can I talk about the gap? Give me eight minutes. Come here, man. Help me preach about the gap. Please, please, please. Come here, JJ. Help me preach about the gap. Who else should help me preach about the gap? I think Jared Hogan's beard should help us preach about the gap. Come on.
There's this gap. He said that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. So we're on a journey, and we're making progress, but in the midst of our progress, we lose our confidence. Where do we lose it? We lose it in the gap.
There's always a gap. There's always a gap. He said there is a space of time between when you have done the will of God and when the will of God becomes apparent in your life. There's a space. There's a gap.
So these gentlemen will each represent something. JJ, you represent where I want to be, and you, sir, name please? Lamarcus. Lamarcus is going to represent where I am, and I'm frustrated in the gap.
Where I am is not where I want to be. Who I am is not who I want to be? I'm in the gap. So here I get discouraged, and here I get weary, and here I want to quit, and here I want to withdraw.
See, the church that the writer of Hebrews is addressing are not so much walking away from their faith as they are weakening in it. It's not a matter of we don't believe in Jesus anymore. It's a matter of wanting to withdraw from believing for the fullness of the promise of life in him.
I would think that's where most people in church struggle is in this gap between where I am and where I want to be, and where I want to be.
The Second Gap: Gratitude Over Growth
So there is another gap, and this is where Jared's going to help us, because this second gap is the distance not between where I am and where I want to be. But this gap is the distance between where I am and where I was.
Come on, talk to me, somebody. Talk to me. We're going to put it in context today. We're going to put it in context today.
You've been wanting to quit, because all you see is this, but every once in a while… I'm almost done. Every once in a while, you need to look back over your shoulder and remind the devil, I'm not where I want to be. I'm not who I'm going to be, but I'm not who I was.
So I think if I already made it this far, if I've already seen this much, if I've already believed God through so much breaking and through so many battles, I think I'll press on and see what the end is going to be.
Isn't that good? Isn't that good? I got it back in the gap. I got it back when I looked back and realized that God is still with me.
And so you're going to have to get your confidence back in the gap. Somebody shout, my confidence is coming back.
I need you to understand that my situation didn't change yet, but the return of my confidence preceded the improvement of my situation.
In just a little while, he who is coming will come and not delay, but I'm not waiting for him to come back for my confidence to be restored. I'm going to praise him right now. I'm going to bless him right now. I'm going to believe him right now.
Come on, help me preach. The Spirit of God is in this place, and my confidence is coming back.
See, because in that gap is every lion and every bear that I've already killed. So come on, Goliath. My confidence is coming back. My confidence is coming back.
I don't know the way forward, but the same God who got me through that gap is with me in this one.
Clap your hands. Give God praise. Come on, clap your hands. Do you know what praise does? Everyone standing. Do you know what praise does? Praise puts your problem in context.
When you praise God with your mouth, when you praise God in your mind, when you praise God in your heart, it puts your problem in the context of God's power.
Some of you allowed your problem to weaken your confidence. This is beautiful the way the Lord gave it to me. I'd like to give it to you, and I'll get out of your way.
He said, Do not throw away your confidence. The reason that spoke to me is because a lot of us would blame life experiences and circumstances and even the Devil for taking our confidence.
Something that happened to us, something someone said to us, something someone did to us. But the author of Hebrews didn't talk about other people or the Devil. He said, Your confidence is your responsibility. Do not throw away your confidence.
For those of you who have lost confidence in your life today, listen to me. Nobody took it from you. They can't. Nobody can take away from you what they didn't give to begin with.
When you lose your confidence, it's because you gave it away. Here's the good news. If you're the one who gave it away, you're the one who can get it back.
Come on, church. Take it. Take it back. Take back. Take back your confidence. Take back your hope. Take back your future. Take back your dream. Take back your calling. Take it back.
In the name of Jesus, we have a great High Priest. The curtain is ripped. The veil is gone. The blood is shed. The place is made. The way is before you. The past is behind you.
Give him a shout of praise.
Declare It With Confidence
So we say with confidence, Hebrews 13, 6, The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. No, no, no. That's not how we say it. We say it with confidence.
How would you say it if you were confident? Let me hear you try. So we say with confidence. Now, I'm not the devil, but if I were, I would not be convinced.
We say with confidence. The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. See how that felt? I'll say we tried it another time. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid.
Try it again. So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. The Lord, you better tell the devil, I will not be afraid.
The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. I will not fear. My God is too big. My God is too great. My God is too faithful. My God is too good. My God is too.
Live the Word – Practical Application This Week
So, we've heard the message. Now it's time to live it, because we're only blessed by the Word of God that we do, not the Word of God that we simply know. We've got to put it into action.
I was talking to a friend the other day, and this friend was saying how they listen to sermons all the time and get devotionals in their email inbox and read scriptures all day on their Bible app. And then they said, but I can't retain it. Two hours or sometimes 20 minutes after I hear it, read it. I can't even tell you what I heard.
It's not that it didn't mean anything to me. I just don't know how to retain it. So, this is all about retention, you know, making the message last until Monday, Tuesday, making it hopefully last a lot longer than that.
This week, we talked about the gap. Remember, after you have done the will of God, you have to persevere so you can receive what He has promised.
What I want you to do this week, it's really simple. You can use your artistic ability on a notepad or a note card, or you may even want to do it on some fancy schmancy iPhone app. I don't have that level of technical ability, but maybe you do.
And just simply draw three lines. I'll show you in a moment. I'm going to do my own. First of all, there's where you are right now, where you want to be, where God wants you to be, who God wants you to be.
If you live in this gap, it helps you grow. It helps you know that you're not there yet. It helps you receive God's grace. And this gap is important, because without this, we might as well just die and go to heaven. We're always in need of growth in our lives.
This is maybe the growth gap. But if you stay in this gap too long, you'll get frustrated. You'll want to give up. You won't persevere.
So I want you to draw a second gap. And remember, you'll remember from the message. This is the gap, not between where I am and where I want to be, But the gap between where I am and where I was.
And this is the gratitude gap. You've got to always make sure that this gap is bigger than this one. Make sure that you know that in light of everything that God has done, everything that's behind you is past faithfulness. You can have faith to go forward.
And I just want you to draw that somewhere. Maybe here you want to write growth, or you want to write gratitude. Maybe you don't want to write anything. You want to draw it on your hand, on your arm, just to, Oh, look how far I've come.
And that'll keep you pressing on. Whatever you have to do, I want you to find life and get your confidence back in the gap this week.