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CONFIDENCE
It didn’t matter if it was in front of a huge crowd or if I was alone in my driveway. It didn’t matter if it was in a pressure situation and there were only 4 seconds left in the game or if the game had just started. When I stepped up to the free throw line, I knew that the ball was going through that basket.
I’ve always had a good shot. No one could tell me different. You leave me open and I’m gonna burn you every time. It didn’t matter if I had missed my last 7 shots, I knew that the next one was going in. That’s always the type of basketball player I was. I had complete “confidence” in my shot and I still do when I get on the basketball court.
I talk a lot about sports in my writing because I believe that they bring out certain traits that relate to life. In sports there’s rules and regulations that every player must abide by. It’s that way in our Christian walk to. Those rules we are to adhere to are in the Bible.
1 Corinthians 9:24 says, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.”
Confidence is being certain. It’s trust in one’s own abilities. It’s faith that one will act in a right, proper or effective way. Confidence is not boastful or prideful. It’s knowing that you know that you know that you know for sure.
In our Christian walk, I believe that confidence is something that we must have, confidence not in our own selves or in our own abilities, but confidence in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We must know beyond a shadow of a doubt what we believe in and what we stand for. We must know first and foremost that we’re saved, by grace, through the precious blood of Jesus. We must believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We must believe that the Bible is the written Word of God. Those are the basics.
Our life must depict this “confidence” in Christ. How can we be a light to the world if we don’t know the Light we’re supposed to be representing? How can we tell somebody about Christ if we don’t know Him ourselves?
Going back to basketball, if we were down by 2 points with 10 seconds to go and the other team had the ball, we knew which person to try and foul. The devil works like that. He will try and take out those that are not confident in their walk with Christ. The Bible says that the enemy goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). That’s why it is crucial to be confident as a Christian. In the very next verse it says to “resist him” and to “stand firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9).
I just wanted to encourage you this week. God loves you so very much. He wants you to put all your faith and trust in Him. This week as you go about your life, stand up tall and be confident in Him because He has saved you out of darkness. He has given you a new life. He has called you and He has chosen you and He wants to bless you beyond what you can imagine. He has a great plan for your life. So, step up to that line with confidence and no doubt in your mind that you’re going to make it. SWISSSSHHHHHH!!!!!
May He be with you in all you do this week as you remember to “Put Him First”.
w/muchluv,
geno
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