Confidence – Page 3 – Praying Pint

Secret Intent

“know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.”

Psalms 44:20 If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.

Psalms 7:3-5 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,

Job 31:4 Does not he see my ways and number all my steps? “If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit; (Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!) if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, then let me sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me be rooted out.

16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering, if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.

24 “If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence, if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much, if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand,

Jeremiah 17:10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Jeremiah 23:24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Romans 2:16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

God sees the intents of our heart and mind. He sees the secret places we hind within ourselves that no one else sees. In Hebrews it tells us that His word is living and is able to discern our thoughts and intentions of our heart. This is true if we stay in His word. Reading it, meditating on it, and seeking understanding from it. If this is not something you can you every say ” if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes,”? I see the problem all around where people who proclaim to be a follower of Christ do not spend more than once a week in His word. The natural result of this is the culture around us will then dictate what the intent of our mind and heart is – it has no other influence. I can give example after example of seeing this: Men who think only of themselves and their activities at the expense of their wife, children, family. Their free time is only given to themselves and what they want to do without any thought given to others in their family. Men will golf, hunt, fish, play sports, cars, trucks, etc…. and expect they are fulfilling Gods call in their life to lead their families. How will men give account before God for the time they have wasted away. I am not saying any of these actives are bad, however if they discount God given obligations in the home and family then they are bad. All of us men can take heed to this and improve. I am the last one to make recommendation. Too often I get side tracked and focused on me, myself, and I forgetting to appreciate the family God has given me. Ask God to reveal to your heart His intent for you in regard of your family, wife and children. Ask Him to convict you of selfish actions. Be humble enough to confess and change. Remember our purpose this side of eternity is to humbly serve, honor and obey Him in all aspects of our lives.

In whom do you rely

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”

Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

Psalms 33:16-17 The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue

Isaiah 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD!

Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.

2 Chronicles 13:10-12 But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him.

2 Chronicles 14:11 And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

2 Chronicles 32:8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Isaiah 2:22 Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;on that very day his plans perish.

Isaiah 2:22 Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.

Are any of you convicted as much as I am after reading these verses? It is so easy to trust in my own strength or that of another rather than trust fully in God’s mighty awesome power and steadfast love. God forgive me and my lack of trusting fully in you, for not looking to you first and relying on you, and for my thinking I can handle it on and in my own strength. In Ephesians it says that God can do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine, so why do we not turn to Him first, trusting in Him?

Don’t Reject His Calling

“you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.”

Hosea 9:17
My God will reject them
because they have not listened to him;
they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Deuteronomy 28:65
Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.

Jeremiah 6:28
The bellows blow fiercely
to burn away the lead with fire,
but the refining goes on in vain;
the wicked are not purged out.
They are called rejected silver,
because the Lord has rejected them.

Job 11:20
But the eyes of the wicked will fail;
all way of escape will be lost to them,
and their hope is to breathe their last.”

Job 31:28
If I have made gold my trust
or called fine gold my confidence,
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because my hand had found much,
if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,
and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.

We are surrounded by much that takes our eyes off of God. Being mindful of this will keep our heart in check against that which attracts and pulls us away from humbly serving, honoring, and glorifying God. When you look at the stars on a clear night do you wonder how God created it? When you see a new born child to you see the work of God? When you think about the involuntary actions of your heart pumping do you wonder how God created us? If we look just for a second with eyes wanting to see His creation and beauty we would see the world around us so much differently. Things of this world would grow dim and He would become so much brighter. We need to be mindful of His creation, love, mercy, but more than this – His calling to serve Him.

Acknowledge God

One would think believing and trusting in God should have an impact on our lives (actions, thoughts, and what we say). If we claim faith in what our Father has promised, and if we have the most elementary understanding of His love, mercy and grace, shouldn’t our hope and strength, this side of eternity, be proclaimed. How are those without hope and peace in their lives ever going to know the hope that is within us if we do not share it. Make a difference today and share the hope that is freely given.

Matthew 10:32
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Romans 10:9
if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Hebrews 10:34
But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For,
“Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him

Revelation 3:5
The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels