Confident in God’s Truth
by Jon Walker
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (NAS)
God wants you confident in the truth that, through him, all things are possible. Every day of your life, you have a choice:
- You can focus on the bigness of the giants that stand before you, or …
- You can focus on the bigness of the one, true God who is pouring his strength into you.
Your focus will determine your behavior, and it will influence your faith. When the Israelites first approached the borders of Canaan, Moses sent scouts into the Promised Land to assess the situation. Ten of the scouts came back with reports that focused on the giants in the land, men so big and powerful the scouts feared they could not be defeated.
However, two of the scouts remained focused on the promise from God that he would hand the land over to the Israelites. One of those scouts, Caleb, silenced the others when he said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Numbers 13:30 NIV). He was focused on the magnitude of God and not the magnitude of any giant challenges ahead.
Today, even in this moment, you may see many giants that challenge your faith. Some of the giants crowd around you – giants of time and energy, of finances and resources, of fear and faithlessness.
God wants you to be confident that he’s pouring his strength into you so you can do whatever it takes to defeat these giants. He says you can take possession of your promised mission; you certainly can do it because God is with you.
Consider this: God wants to build up your faith, and one way he’ll do it is by showing you how, together with him, it is possible to defeat the giants that keep you from moving into your promised mission.
By seeing his hand sweep away the personal giants in your life, you’ll be even more confident that God is with you as you face many ministry-based global giants, such as spiritual emptiness, selfish leadership, crippling poverty, pandemic disease, and rampant illiteracy. You’ll be certain that you can do all things through him who strengthens you.
What does this mean to me?
- Believe God uses the impossible to stretch your faith. Whenever you’re confronted by the impossibility of a task, view it as an opportunity for God to strengthen your faith. He wants you to develop confidence in his promises. “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
- The Lord is anointing you daily to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Because of your faithfulness, they will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. (Adapted from Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV)
- God uses ordinary people to complete kingdom work on earth. You can do this because “all things are possible when God is working through you.” (Philippians 4:13 NAS)
- What kind of scout are you? – One whose report focuses on the giants ahead or one who focuses on the strength of God?
© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.
Used with permission
8 Responses to “Confident in God’s Truth”
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April 4th, 2008 at 10:29 am
[...] Change Your Focus Influence your [...]
April 4th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
What a good reminder to check my focus! When I focus on the giant live is overwhelming, but when I focus on God, the giants in my life shrink.
April 4th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
THIS IS SO GREAT I REALLY NEED TO READ THIS. I HAVE BEEN SO DOWN. MY MOTHER IS MENTALLY ILL AND REFUSES TO TAKE MEDICATION. SHE SCREAMS AT ME, ACCUSES ME OF TAKING HER THINGS AND TALKS HORRIBLY ABOUT OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS I LOVE DEARLY. I GET SO TIRED OF HER BEHAVIOR I FEEL LIKE I JUST WANT GOD TO COME AND GET ME. I AM 56 SHE DOES NOT WANT ME TO HAVE ANY KIND OF LIFE AT ALL, SHE JUST WANTS ME TO WAIT ON HER HAND AND FOOT. HER DOCTOR HAS TOLD ME THEIR IS NOTHING WRONG WITH HER BU A MOOD DISORDER. MY BROTHERS HAVE WASHED THEIR HANDS OF HER AND SHE BLAMES ME FOR THIS. NOONE CAN DO ANYTHING FOR HER EXCEPT ME. I CAN’T DO IT ANYMORE, I FEEL LIKE I AM DYING AND TRAPPED. I JUST CAN’T DO IT ANYMORE NO MATTER WHAT SHE SAYS OR WHAT SHE DOES OR HOW SHE LIES. I PRAY ALL THE TIME. I HAVEN’T EVEN BEEN TO CHURCH SINCE LAST OCT. BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T LIKE THE PREACHER THERE. I AM GOING BACK THIS SUNDAY AND SHE JUST BUST HER GUT SCREAMING, CAUSE I AM GOING TO CHURCH! IT IS OVER. THIS STUDY SAYS GIVE ME FAITH WHEN THERE IS NO FAITH I NEED FAITH MY EYES ARE ON JESUS. I AM GROWING SO WEARY I NEED MY LORD JESUS TO PLEASE SEE ME I NEED HIM I NEED FAITH WHEN THERE ISN’T ANY TO FIND.
April 7th, 2008 at 9:16 am
i thank God greatly that He is releasing His revelation is such a great manner, and more to that He is revealing/manifesting Himself to all individually/collectively in a greater manner.
and i also say thank you to this great vessel(s) in/through which The Lord is doing this.
Let’s all just thank Him And yield to Him, to continually increase our levels in all areas in all areas of life.
April 7th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Hello Sister(Deborah), while u are taking this bold steps, i also want you to be free from guilt. Knowing that you are not acting based on FEAR, but based on FAITH. Faith in the Son of God- that He(The Lord) who has created/made her(your mum) successfully and owns her jealously, is much able to remold (heal, renew, refresh, re-establish, rekindle & re-make) her(your mum) to His SATISFACTION. Jer.18:1-4
So like passed on to glory brother Paul will say “Rejoice in the Lord, once again I say rejoice” Philip.4:4
April 7th, 2008 at 10:13 am
When people are hurting so deeply it is easy to get overwhelmed. It’s good to be reminded that we can’t fix people not even ourselves, but we can pray for them and walk alongside of them on their journeys.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I am so glad that I read Confident in God’s Truth, I have been gazing at my problems, my health issues and the deathe of a child and not on God. I need to refocus and ask God to help me gase at him and glace at my problems.
April 10th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
We are glad you read this article too Evelyn. It’s always encouraging to be reminded of the truth of God’s all sufficient grace and we need to keep our focus on God alone.