Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, April 29th. The Apostle James warns that the tongue rules the whole body. Discover how to speak with purpose and intention in today's podcast, Confidence That Conquers, based on Dr. Stanley's insights. Your confidence level is probably one of the greatest determining factors of whether you'll succeed in life or whether you'll fail.
And I've known some people over the years who were very qualified, very gifted, very skilled, talented, educated, you name it. But they never got very far in life for the simple reason it's the way they thought about themselves. I thought much more highly of them than they thought of themselves. And there are a lot of people who miss out on life's best because they think they're less than. And their negative attitude is devastating to them.
And I think people don't realize that unless somebody points it out to them, that, you know, you're gifted, you're skilled, you're qualified, but they don't think so. And as long as you don't think so, it's a detriment in your life.
Well, the truth is, confidence is a very important thing. In fact, it's a good thing. It's a healthy thing. It's an enabling thing. And yet, many people think in terms of confidence, well, if I'm And I'm not going to be confident.
I'm going to be confident. I'm going to come across as being bold, and I'm going to be egotistical, and people are going to think I'm just being prideful. Not necessarily. You can be very confident without being prideful or egotistical or arrogant because confidence is of God. But if you don't have it, it's not because God wouldn't have you to have it.
It's because you've chosen not to believe about yourself what God would have you to believe. He's not in this particular passage of Scripture, which is very short, but it's very profound. When I think about all that Paul said in one sentence, it's awesome. And it's a verse that's easily memorized, very familiar, and people quote it, but the truth is, they don't believe it. If they believed it, they would practice it, but they don't.
And the way they live their life and their sense of lack of confidence is proof that somewhere along the way they And so, I want you to turn to Philippians chapter 4.
So, he says, beginning in verse 10, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity, which means simply this. They were supporting His ministry. And then they had a little old time, and so they were not able to do it. And so, they were not able to do it.
And that's what he said, I'm saying this, not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I'm in. Can you say that? Can you say, I'm content no matter what my circumstances? I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I know how to live in prosperity.
I know how to be content in any and every circumstance. He says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That is, the apostle Paul had an awesome sense of confidence.
Now, the fact that Paul had an awesome sense of confidence, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. In fact, he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He says, through all these difficulties and hardships He's making the sense of confidence.
Now, the fact that it was not pride and arrogance, I want you to turn, if you will, to Acts chapter 4 for a moment, because here we get the right understanding of what confidence is all about. Confidence is a sense of boldness, assurance. It's a sense of being very purposeful in a person's life. Listen to what he says here. Peter and John are before the council being tried because and you'll hear what Peter says.
Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, which you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name this man stands here before you in good health. They healed this man. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation which was rejected by you the grace of heaven may by which we must be saved That is his message and he saying it in such a fashion this is their response.
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated, untrained men, they were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And so, Peter said, I'm not confident about this. I'm not confident about this. I'm confident about this. I'm confident about this.
What is it that got a hold of them? Their confidence. They said, there's something about these men. And what they realize is that they've been with Jesus.
Now, so, Peter and John weren't being arrogant. They weren't being prideful. They were just speaking the truth. And so, I think about what Paul says in this first chapter of Philippians. that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ.
That is, he said, I'm persuaded. I am confident of this very thing. And for example, if you turn to I John chapter five, speaking of confidence, listen to what he says in this 14th verse concerning prayer. He says, this is the confidence we have. We're persuaded about this.
And that is, if we ask anything according to His will, where we pray before we pray when we pray in ourzufставments. If you ask Jesus, what? No, we're with God.
So, this is a full Fool. He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we've asked of Him. That is a matter of being fully persuaded, fully assured, fully convinced that what He's saying is absolutely the truth.
Now when I think about that and I think about oftentimes this And what I want us to do is I want us to look at this verse in light of what Paul really and truly meant when he said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Did he mean what he said? Sure he did.
So, what I want us to do for a moment, I want us to look at these characteristics, but I want to say, first of all, that in your brain, the part of your brain where the voice goes and our thoughts and so forth, whatever we think, whatever we And he says, And this is why the Scripture warns us in Proverbs that we can be snared by our tongue. We can be snared by our speech. And he says later on in the 18th chapter that life and death is in the lips, in the tongue, in the voice, in the speech, in the word.
So, I ask you again, would you say that you are a colleague I'll ask you again, would you say that you are a confident person? Or would you have to say, well, no, I don't feel very confident about things.
Well, why don't you?
Well, I'm not sure. I'm just not very confident. Confidence is a good thing. It's a very important thing. You want your children to grow up to be confident, to be assured, to be persuasive, and to be persuaded by things that are good and right.
Now, watch this. I want to explain something first. The word confess means to agree with.
Now watch this carefully. It's powerful. When you and I confess sin, we are agreeing with God about our sinfulness or about our actions.
So it's an affirmation that, yes, God, I agree. I'm not just mouthing it. When I confess sin, I am agreeing with God that my actions, my attitude is wrong. It's sinful.
So in light of that, when we confess, for example, and say, I'm not healthy, here's what you're saying. You're sending your body a message, and you are affirming the fact that you are not healthy.
Well, you may not be as healthy as you'd like to be, but when you say, I'm not healthy, nerves go all over your body, and your body gets the message, I am not healthy. Therefore, you're going to automatically do things, say things, eat, drink, no exercise. You say, well, I am tired sometimes.
Well, what are you going to do about it? Just sit around and be tired? Or are you going to think about, what's the other way for me to say that? In other words, I can be tired. We're all going to be tired.
I'm tired every Sunday afternoon for a little while. But I get over it. Once I get over that being tired of that being tired of that being tired of that being tired of that being tired of that I'm tired of that being tired of that being tired of that And I'm just tired for a few moments, or maybe a half an hour or so. I get over it because I've learned that if I change my mind about that the rest of the afternoon can be very productive And I spend most Sunday afternoons studying for the next Sunday because I like doing it If I said Oh I just tired for the rest of the day You waste time. The next one, I can't.
When you send your body the message, I can't. You know what happens? You can't. What you've affirmed is I'm inadequate. I'm not adequate to do this.
I can't do this. What happens is you drain your own energy. You hinder your progress in life. And I'm going to fail. When you confess that you're going to fail, you have affirmed that you are a failure, and therefore, you are going to fail.
And oftentimes, people will come to the line and we talk about different things, and somebody will say, some student will say, I've got this test, and I'm so afraid I'm going to fail. I say, let's change that right now. If you're afraid you're going to fail, and that's your affirmation and that's the message that you're sending your whole system, And you forget all kinds of things. Why?
Well, but you've already told your body you're going to fail. This isn't mind over matter. This is a reality.
So, I'm not good enough. There are many people who are very qualified and capable to do many things who don't think they're good enough. Good enough compared to what? Good enough compared to who? Good enough, that is, if God's called you to do something, that He called you to do something that you're just not to do that?
Now, if you're not good enough to say that you are not good enough, you're not good enough to do that. He called you to do something that you're just not good enough to do. When you say you're not good enough, ask yourself the question, why did I say that? What you're saying is, I'm not good enough compared to, compared to her, compared to him, compared to them, compared to what. In other words, you send your body, your whole system a message that you're just not good enough to get it done.
I'm not very attractive. I'm not very attractive. According to who? Because you can, listen, on Sunday morning, don't you know what I'm saying? I'm not very attractive.
I'm not very attractive. I'm not very attractive. I'm not very attractive. I'm not very attractive. Not only do I think that, I know that.
No, you don't. That's the feeling of a moment.
Now think about this. Many people who are very attractive do not think they are. And I'm not going to be a good person. I'm not going to be a good person. I'm not going to be a good person.
Because you can, listen, on Sunday morning, don't you think you look pretty good? Come on, don't you think you look pretty good on Sunday morning? You come, you think you look pretty good because you got up, you got yourself showered, and your hair's all fixed up, rude lipstick and all those things. You're looking pretty good. I think you look real good.
Yeah. She said, Thank you, Pastor. All right. How about you?
Now Paul Luke Van B 所以arenнения. I'm at the end of that movie going to church PEetz. I'm, Michael Juan hoo, and I said, these are meny, it's not records. People are intvenge. But today Paul said he's going to be a Croatian project and I was going to target addressing that because he varsity Guinness.
Remember that? I'm just saying several times, especially, WilfredSaison. A Tada Sterling gentleman said, What are the sameiras cup of bread? You don't want to say that. When you tell your body you're getting old, you know what happens?
Your body, I'm telling you, it responds to what you tell it. You're getting old. What says you're getting old? I meet people who act old in their 40s. They act old.
They think they're old. They act old. After a while, you get there looking like you think.
Well, isn't that the truth? Sure, it's the truth. Then, of course, I'm retired and taking it easy.
Well, you know what I think about that. You're not going to work anymore. I'm going to take it easy. And so, everything begins to shut down, and you die young. And then, of course, I'm giving up.
When you say, I'm giving up, what you're saying is, I affirm that I am inadequate, I can't get it done, I quit. It's a very negative thing. Then, I always lose. Would you consider yourself a loser? Just because you lost it one thing doesn't mean that you're a loser.
Think about this. And I'm not going to be a loser. I'm not going to be a loser. I'm not going to be a loser. I'm not going to be a loser.
Think about this. You and I would be sitting in the dark if Thomas Edison had said, it won't work and I'm a loser. But a thousand tries before he came to brighten up the world. You're not a loser. And then, that's just my luck.
Christians don't use that word. want to see that that's miracles? The miracles of Christ? What do you do? What do I do with you with how that aff reflection is the objet being there What do you mean How do you do that How do you world luned things How what do you mean always go against you You mean everything always bad You don mean you ever make any good moves in life That's a statement that's devastating.
Then, I can't afford it. You say, well, if you look at my checkbook, then you know I can't. No, now watch this. Listen carefully. As a child of God, you can afford everything that God has everything that God has for you to have at this moment in time according to His will.
When you say, I can't afford it, on the basis of what? There's some things you do not have enough money to buy. One of the reasons is because God doesn't want you to have it. Or He doesn't want you to have it now. But if you walk around saying, I just can't afford this and I can't afford that, and if you feel that way, stay out of the malls.
And that's why I'm going to have a problem with the problem. If you're not going to have a problem with the problem, you're going to have a problem with the problem. And I'm going to have a problem with the problem. If that's your feeling, then listen, think about what a contradiction. I can't afford it.
And you stroll the malls looking at all the things you're going to buy, you can't afford it.
Now, think about the way people live. They live totally out of the will of God. But He just doesn't answer my prayers. What you do is you cancel out what God wants to do for you.
So, then look at this. This is the positive side. Watch this. I will reach my goals. I will win.
I'm going to get well. I'm not giving up. I will fight to the finish. I will have enough. I will get it done.
And I will obey God no matter what.
Now, look at the difference. I can tell you what. If somebody put all those wires on you like they know how to do, and you went through the first group of negative things, and they registered, and then you went to the last one, and here's what happens. The first one sends you down. The second one sends you up because it affects your body.
It makes a difference in your life.
So, with that in mind, and with what Paul has said in this particular passage, I want us to look at something here And so, the reason I don't think that's very interesting because the Apostle Paul is expressing his own confidence, as he said, I am persuaded, I'm confident about these things.
So, I want us to just look at this statement for a moment, analyze and see, okay, on what basis can you and I make this statement?
So, I want you to think about this. When the Greeks wrote something, they put the most important thought of a sentence at the beginning. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The Greek statement is, all things I can do in Him who enables me. All things first.
Now, when you ask yourself the question, you say, well, what do you mean by all things?
Well, that's what He said. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Not some things, but all things that He will empower me to do.
Now, I want you to watch two or three things because this sentence means exactly what it says. He said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Look at the balance. Look what he's saying. He's saying, I can do all things through Christ.
And I want you to understand what Paul included here. He says the reason he can say this is because of his relationship to Jesus. I can do all things through Christ. You know, he said, I died to my old self. It's Christ living within me.
He understood his relationship. He understood that he had a personal relationship with Jesus He's the power. Whatever God calls us to do, He enables us to do. He is there to enable us and to help us to be able to understand that He doesn't make empty promises. And so, when He says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, it's always based on a relationship.
And so, when He says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, it's always based on a relationship. not on our abilities, talents, and skills. That's boastfulness and prideful and arrogance. You can do anything and everything God calls you to do within His will. If you don't think so, then it won't happen.
Thank you for listening to Confidence That Conquers. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia. You
