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REFLECTION

Confident living is the theme for our reflection. Confident living means having the certainty or assurance that one is living according to the will of God or pleasing God such that he or she will be rewarded with eternal life. To live confidently as a believer Jesus teaches us to do the following things which will be explained below.

First, a believer who is living confidently is one who has made the hard choice to follow the path of eternal life by accepting our Lord Jesus Christ as His Saviour. To follow our Lord Jesus Christ comes with a cost and a condition. It involves living a radically different lifestyle from that of the world which includes denying oneself and one’s family and the pleasures and desires of this world such as sexual immorality, drunkenness and the like. Indeed, the majority of people in the world are inclined to disobey God or follow the way of the world but few who are confident of their salvation in Christ as the only way to life take the hard decision to follow Jesus. Confident living is the conviction of joining the few believers who will choose Jesus over the standards or way of the world. It is for this reason Jesus admonishes us to “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Second, confident living is when a believer’s conviction and knowledge of the Word of God is such that he or she can not be misled by fake prophets or teachers. In other words, confident living can be described as a believer being sure of His salvation to the extent he or she is able to identify a fake prophet. To remain confident and secure on the path of eternal life, Jesus cautions us to “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:15-16). Beloved in the Lord, if we truly have a relationship with Jesus and dedicate time to read and study the Word of God, we shall manifest the Spirit of Truth which will give us the confidence or conviction and the ability to identify fake prophets who may be determined to mislead us away from the path to eternal life.

Last but not least, confident living is the certainty of preparing ourselves to be ushered into the eternal life or Kingdom of God through our Lord Jesus Christ by always doing the will of God, our Father. A believer who is confident of his or her salvation will always do the will of God but not live a life of hypocrisy. Many Christians of our time appear to be doing God’s will but inwardly our convictions and deeds are opposed to the will of God. Jesus describes such people as whitewashed tombs when he said to the Pharisees “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:27-28). Confident living means that we are not living a hypocritical lifestyle but we have the conviction and believe in the Word of God as His will for our lives and have purposed in our hearts to always obey His will as a sure way of securing our place in His Kingdom. It is for this reason, Jesus reminds us that “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21). In other words, only those who have the confidence to obey the will of God as the way to eternal life will be allowed into the Kingdom of Heaven. Confident living as a disciple of Christ is incomplete until we are determined to do the will of God through the help of the Holy Spirit. Shalom.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, strengthen our faith to have the assurance or confidence in Your salvation by always following the narrow path on earth as Your true disciples. May the Holy Spirit empower us to identify fake prophets through the knowledge of the Word of Life, and may He enable us to have the conviction to remain obedient to the will of the Father. Amen