CHANGE: JESUS BRINGS CONFIDENCE
1 John 5:1-5, 11-15
When I went over to Vietnam as a soldier in 1971, I lacked confidence. Oh, I wasn’t afraid to go, but I was afraid that I didn’t know how to do the job I was trained to do. I was honest with the Lord about it and told him my concern. He answered that prayer. The minute I got arrived at the Signal (communications) department of the 17th Aviation group, Seargeant Hall announced, that I would be a clerk, and later I became a specialized clerk dealing with codes for security.
One day my commanding officer, Captain Barnes, called me over to his desk. The base commander said they needed secure frequencies on which to operate security. Captain Barnes said to me, “Can we do that?”. By this time I was confident to say, “Yes we can!” I could have added “It’s a piece of cake!” God answered prayer! I had confidence!
There are many times in our lives when we lack confidence.
There are other times in our lives when we have false confidence!
- We may lack confidence that we can do a job.
- We may lack confidence that we are doing the right thing.
- We may lack confidence in a medical professional.
- We may lack confidence in ourselves.
- We may lack confidence in the future.
- We may lack confidence to face death.
Here’s the good News, Jesus brings confidence!
CONFIDENT POSSESSION – 1 John 5:11-13
The Christian knows that he possesses eternal life.
1 John 5:11 – Eternal life is a gift. God has made eternal life available to all! It is a gift! This life is in his Son.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 2 Corinthians 5:21
1 John 5:12 – To have the Son means that you have made a specific decision to trust Him as your Savior, and if He becomes your Savior, He also becomes your Lord!
Romans 10:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:17
But if you don’t have the Son you don’t have life. John 3:36
1 John 5:13 – John wants us to be confident! That means, because John is writing under inspiration, that God wants us to be confident. This sounds a lot like John 20:31.
CONFIDENT PROGRESSION – 1 John 5:1-5
The Christian can practice victorious living through faith.
1 John 5:1 – A loving Father wants His children to love each other. Because we are God’s children, we should love all of His children who are members of the family of God!
1 John 5:2 – If we love God and keep God’s commandments we will love our brothers and sisters.. Why do we love God? Because He has made us His children! Why do we want to progress in obedience? Because we love our heavenly Father and want to please Him.
1 John 5:3 – When we love God we have a desire to keep his commandments! They might not be easy, but it’s not a burden to please God when you really love Him. Just like it’s not a burden to please my wife, Dottie, when I can, because I love her! Let 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 Motivate you!
1 John 5:4-5 – If you’ve been “born of God” you are an overcomer. You are not perfect yet, but you will be when you see Jesus! 1 John 3:1-2
CONFIDENT POSITION – Vss. 14-15
When a Christian prays according to the will of God he knows that his prayers are answered. Why is that? A loving Father answers the prayers of His Children.
Have you ever said “No!” to a child’s request? If you haven’t shame on you! You know what’s best for your child, and when you can you are glad to cooperate! When fulfilling the request will hate the child, you will not comply, if you really love the child. Sometimes the best answers to a request are either “No” or “Wait”.
Our loving Father operates by the same principle! If it’s in His will we can be confident that He will answer! How can we know the will of God? By reading the Word of God.
I’d like to challenge you to pray according to God’s will this week. First, pray for God to send laborers into this, His harvest. Luke 10:2 Second pray for the Spiritual well-being of your brothers and sisters here. Ephesians 3:14-21
CONFIDENT POSSESSION, PROGRESSION, POSITION
