Dan Cheatham 2-12-2015: CONFIRMATION JUNKIE?

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CONFIRMATION JUNKIE?

"Don't try so hard!  Relax and receive!  Let Me make things happen!  Cease your striving and struggling!  Enjoy the trip and smell the roses!  Let things unfold naturally!"

Trusting is different from Trying!

Men TRY!

God tells us to TRUST!

One way creates frustration in the process - the other produces repose and rest in the soul!
Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) - 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Relax and receive!

Dan the Achiever must become Dan the Receiver!

Achieving is man's way.  Receiving is God's way!

There are way, way too many simple things to savor and enjoy while on this trip rather than sweating all the difficult details about getting to my destination!

Why get so wrapped around the axle that I cannot enjoy the simple yet profound things God has granted... surrounding me every moment of every day?

Sometimes we just need to pause and relish God and His blessings!  I realize that a popular trend in the church-at-large today is to hype people up over pursuing their divine destinies.  And I acknowledge the truths in this concept.  But we should also realize that the word DESTINY per se is NOT in the Bible!  Much of walking with the Father is found in ordinary, mundane daily living.  God does indeed have a plan for each of our lives!  But too much emphasis on divine destiny will only serve to frustrate the believer!  (I once heard a leadership expert teach that the most successful persons born onto this planet only accomplish about 5% of their dreams and goals within their entire lifetime!  LOL!  If that is indeed the case, then many Christians are living with way too much discouragement and disappointment and don't realize how successful they already are!)  They are unhappy believers because they see a handful of famous preachers and spiritual superstars and can't figure out what they perceive to be wrong with their own lives in comparison!  But surely God has not called any believer to live in frustration and feelings of inferiority!

My life is already a garden!

I am already surrounded by adventure!

Today I feast!

CONFIRMATION JUNKIE?

God chose for me to be where I am right now!

I am supposed to be right where I am today!  I should look for the Lord in everything and everyone today!  He is moving HERE!  He is speaking NOW!

Happiness is the ability to extract immense pleasure from the moment at hand!

Notice people!

Celebrate people!

Notice what others don't!

Make a mental note of things others ignore!

Be awestruck by the simple things in life!

See the beauty in the precious details of people and things around you.

CONFIRMATION JUNKIE?

Internally... document events and details worth remembering and recalling later.

Listen for God in everything and everyone!

Could God be speaking to you right now through someone else or in your present surroundings and happenings?

I think we often miss God because we're looking for him only in the spectacular!

Could it be that God is whispering to us more than we think?

CONFIRMATION JUNKIE?

A pastor of mine once said the worst thing CHRISTIANS are guilty of is saying to themselves, "O that was probably just me!"  They have very little faith in God speaking to them regularly with His still small voice and subtle impressions!

I am a "CONFIRMATION JUNKIE," meaning I am constantly listening to others and looking for  God speaking the same things through them that he has recently been speaking to me in private!  The odds of that happening in the natural are stacked against me.  However, in the Lord, this happens to me several times a week... ALWAYS!  WITHOUT FAIL!  CONSTANTLY!

God CONFIRMS His Word!

God CONFIRMS His direction for my life!

God CONFIRMS!

Isaiah 44:24-26 (KJV) - 24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; ...26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:  
2 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV) - 13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.  

Job 33:14-16 (NLT) - 14 But God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. 15 He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in bed. 16 He whispers in their ear and terrifies them with his warning.

EXPECT CONFIRMATIONS!

Listen for confirmations!

There is a harbor in North Carolina that used to have three lighthouses (before the dawn of GPS satellite guidance systems).  The only way to safely navigate into that harbor at night was to ensure that ALL THREE LIGHTS LINED UP AND APPEARED AS ONE BRIGHT LIGHT!  If the sea captain saw two lights he was heading towards the coral reef.  If he saw three lights, shipwreck was imminent!

God is a TWO OR THREE WITNESS KIND OF GOD!

Especially in important decisions, we should be receiving MULTIPLE CONFIRMATIONS from the Lord!

Think of the Lord's scriptures and confirmations as COUNSELORS!

Proverbs 11:14 (KJV) - 14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. 

The way of CONFIRMATION is the way of SAFETY for us!

Confirmations also boost our confidence in Him!

Confirmations also COMFORT and SOOTHE the heart!

CONFIRMATIONS make you "boldly go where no man has never gone before!"

Confirmations make you KNOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU KNOW DEEP IN YOUR KNOWER that God is speaking and leading!