Place Your Confidence in the Lord

♕ Today's Promise: "The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him." Psalm 28:7  

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 Words of Encouragement

Co Written by Tad & Mathew

Hebrews 10:32-39

“But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. '

 

“As Surely as the Lord lives”

"As surely as the Lord lives" speaks of a lifelong faith that God exists through time; He is supreme in justice, mercy, righteousness, and glory over all the nations.  This statement really impacted Tad in his walk with the Lord, because of the power it enshrines. So, he asked himself why this was the case and began to delve into the word and Seek God for his answers.

In our desert journey, we have all faced hardship, criticism, bitterness, confusion whilst also having to withstand the harsh words of our spouse, families and friends.

We acknowledge that in our desert journeys we have both experienced all these emotions and problems and like you, we are sure that we have wanted to crawl into a hole, give up and walk away from the whole mess.

However, God through RMI and other sources, including his word, kept spelling out that our marriages were in his hands, that he was working out his good will and purpose.

Tad states that he basically had a choice, he could either throw away all that he had heard God say, and forget all the lessons God had taught him – effectively throwing away his confidence in Him and His ability to do what he says He can do.

Or he could categorically state “As Surely as the Lord Lives”, I will believe, and stand for my marriage, but more than that, I will continue to seek the Lord, I will make Him first in my life as he asked.

Before we get into the study of As Surely as the Lord Lives just a couple of examples from our personal lives,

Tad and I have really struggled with writing this blog, and are currently talking on WhatsApp, very often if something is not happening it is for a reason, It is better to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit as we both have had to do in the creation of this message. As it was only today as we were talking that the message was completed. 

We Pray that even though this is longer than our normal messages that you will be blessed, and that God will open your eyes to that which he wants you to take away and learn.

Peter - From my perspective As Surely as the Lord Lives - Confidence in the Lord began before my wife left with the Lord laying down the groundwork and providing the faith details necessary for me, I am not sure if my wife listened or not, but he spoke to both of us. It is upon this information that I stood, and God over the last 5 years has built upon. If you have not heard my testimony, please go back and read and listen to God has a Plan. (August 2020)

For Tad confidence in the Lord came from being in a situation that was so bad that there was nowhere else to turn. When it all came apart, he thought, “Only God can help me now!” The Lord was so merciful, he did not turn Tad away. He came toward him and was his refuge as He has promised in His word.

So below is a summary of what Tad learned during his investigation into this. As surely as the Lord lives is used:

1. To say an oath acknowledging God as the only God

The first thing that stood out to me was how this related to the oaths we made in our wedding vows we may as well have said “as surely as the Lord lives, I take thee . . . “ and the fact that God said a man and a woman shall join together and become one flesh, yes this relates to marriage and sexual union, but it also goes deeper than that, when we become one our Spirits are also joined, so we share our lives with that person on a whole new level. Much as when we are born again, and our spirits are joined with the Holy Spirit. So we have vowed to remain married as surely as the Lord lives.

1. In speaking truth.

It was used to show that the matter and substance of it be true, showing the intentions of him that ministered the oath, with no mental reservations.

1 Samuel 1:26

"Please, my lord," said Hannah, "as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:7-8

“So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

1. In speaking judgment - advisedly, and reverently.

Ezekiel 33:11 

Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

2 Kings 5:15-16 Naaman Healed of Leprosy

Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

In a nutshell Elijah’s servant Gehazi went after Naaman, and requested silver and clothing, upon returning to Elijah he was asked where have you been, he said nowhere, Elijah said did not my heart follow you, you and your descendants forever will be cursed with Naaman's Leprosy.

1. In speaking of righteousness so that the things we engage be both lawful and possible, and that we look to the performance.

I Samuel 25:34

For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.”

David had asked Nabal for help, Nabal refused, it was only the actions of his wife Abigail that saved Nabal and his male relatives

1. To express glory in God alone

But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD’s glory

1. To invoke blessing or a curse

Blessing

Jeremiah 4:1-4

“If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver,  and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.”

For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;

Curse: 

lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

Disaster from the North and spells out God’s Judgement

Sometimes you can feel like throwing away your confidence in God. Your journey may be marred with daily discouragement. You may feel like you are getting a pummelling or beating by everything that is going on. But as surely as the Lord lives you will thrive from this, as surely as the Lord lives you will come out stronger from this. As surely as the Lord lives everything will be turned to work for your good; As surely as the Lord lives you will have provision As surely as the Lord lives your enemies will be defeated.

This is a phrase in which people have expressed that rock-solid confidence in the sovereignty; power; truth; righteousness of God. David used it when his sons were squabbling over the throne; Elijah used the phrase to declare a drought; the widow used it to honour the prophet with her last food supplies; Jeremiah used it to assure the people of blessing if they repented; then he used it to prophesy about their return to their land after captivity; even King Saul used it to declare war and defeat Israel’s enemies.

They used it in situations of unfairness, despair, hope and praise. So, we want to encourage you today to rest your confidence in the truth of God, his righteous judgement, his power and his glory. Do not throw away your confidence in the Lord despite your situation. Instead, learning from the people of faith in the Old Testament declare loudly, As surely as the Lord lives…

Above all We say As Surely as the Lord Lives - His will be worked out in our Lives, and our Marriages restored to His Glory and for His purpose.

Above all Have your Confidence Solely in the Lord. 

Tad and Mathew

 P.S.

We would love to know if you gentlemen have any more verses you could add to this, or real experience of not throwing away your confidence because “As surely as the Lord Lives”, if you have please write and post to the praise report blog, If you’re unsure, you could email to either tad@encourgingmen.org or peter@encouragingmen.org and we can talk it through with you and help in the process.