Friday 12 July 2019

GOD-TRACKING IS WALKING IN GOD’S HIGH ESTEEM


GodTracker 718
The e-devotional helping to keep you on track with God’s plans for your life. GodTracker is published at http://godtracker.co.uk 

“God-tracking does not build strength in the ego but strength in the spirit, where the Lord dwells. Therefore, dear God Tracker, to be confident and successful in every way, do not be self-confident; be God-confident.”

Psalm 71:5
For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.
 
When I was a child, I was extremely introverted and shy. Having a brother 6 years my senior and no opportunity to interact with children of my own age made for a very lonely early childhood. When I was 9, I took up tennis. Thankfully this brought opportunity to relate to other children of my own age group, outside of school. However, although I became a fair tennis player, I would fall apart whenever I played a serious match. As a child, I had zero self-confidence.

Through high school, my self-esteem reduced even further. With only a hand full of friends I kept pretty much to myself. My invisibleness at school became evident to me a few years ago when I bumped into a woman who had gone to high school with me. I knew her well but when I said hello to her, she had no idea who I was. As a teenager, I had zero self-confidence.

It was only after I left school and was married that I began to realise that I had a problem with my self-esteem. By now the Lord had opened an opportunity for me as a worship leader and I found myself on stage behind a guitar, singing in front of a few hundred folks! One day while I was leading worship, I lost the rhythm of the song I was playing. It happened during a rather deep and gentle worship song. I was so embarrassed that I wished the wall behind me would come to my rescue and fall on me. Needless to say, it didn’t and the whole worship time was drastically reduced to a mix of dead-air and red faces. In an instant, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit within me, “Who are you more afraid of, these people or me?” In my mind, I said, “Lord, I deeply revere you, but I’m not embarrassed in front of you. Why, I even sing in front of you in the shower!”

From that day on I realised that my self-esteem should not rest in my “self” after all. In fact, I realised that my “self” was ego and for me to have confidence in my ego was… well… not right, to say the least. I began to understand the Apostle Paul’s words when he said to the Corinthians, “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling,” and then went on to say, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.”  And in Philippians, he says, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

What a valuable and, dare I say, relieving lesson to learn. Thank God that I don’t need to build self-confidence anymore. In fact, the Bible says that when we are weak then we are strong. You see, God-tracking does not build strength in the ego but strength in the spirit, where the Lord dwells. Therefore, dear God Tracker, to be confident and successful in every way, do not be self-confident; be God-confident. As Dwight Moody said, “Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment; ...but trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity.”

God-tracking is walking in God’s high esteem.

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DON’T GIVE UP, LOOK UP & PRAY

Dear Lord, help me to build God-confidence

“O my Lord and my Father, thank you so much that you see and know me exactly as I am. I have nothing to hide from you. I stand before you weak and lacking in self-esteem. However, I know now that my esteem needs to be in you and not in me. Dear Lord, help me to build God-confidence. You are my strength; you are my esteem and Lord; you are my success in all walks of life. I am never embarrassed before you so help me to deal with my fears of man. I choose to die to self that I may live by faith in Christ who died for me. You are my strength, and my confidence is in you. Amen.”

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What is GodTracker?
GodTracker is a weekly e-mail devotional, written by Dudley Anderson, based on the premise that God has a plan for our lives. His Word calls us to seek his plan by acknowledging him in all our ways and by tracking his purposes, in faith.

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