2 Corinthians 3:4-5

The last two days have been wonderful! Reagan has been out of school and we have just enjoyed spending time together as a family. We started both mornings sleeping late and then making muffins together. Reagan loves to "cook" and thinks she is making a masterpiece when I let her mix, stir, and pour the mix into the muffin pan. On Monday, we spent the morning at the Millbrook park. Both girls love going there and Gracen is getting to the point where she can finally play...pretty much unassisted, even though I still follow her around the entire time. Monday afternoon we headed to the fair with family, and as I said yesterday, we had a blast. On Tuesday morning we went to Pump It Up. Again, both girls love this! Gene took the day off and the family time was wonderful. We came home and everyone took a nap. That afternoon, the girls played outside. After dinner we made s'mores around the firepit. Gene and I drank some coffee and just soaked up such an enjoyable night. At bedtime, Reagan said she had a wonderful "Fall Break" and thanked us for taking her to all the places we went. Pretty sweet for a 5 yr.old! Sweeter still coming from Reagan who can be a handful! I posted some pictures of our adventures on Facebook last night, but will probably do a picture blog post on Saturday for those who are not on Facebook.

Part of me is thankful for a normal Wednesday at home, with Gene back at work and Reagan back in school, so I can catch up on all the housework I haven't done over the last 3 days. Part of me wishes that Gene and Reagan were off all week and we could just play some more. Oh, well...work continues!

Our verse for today is 2 Corinthians 3:4-5...
"Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God."

What a perfect verse for a Bible study called A Confident Heart. Paul is writing and he is defending his apostleship and his ministry that the Lord has given him. If you start reading back in verse 1, you will see that false teachers had arrived in Corinth with letters of recommendation, possibly from the elders in Jerusalem. They were carrying these letters with them, using them to prove their credentials. They were questioning Paul's authority to teach, wanting proof of His credentials. Paul responds in verses 2-3 that he doesn't need a letter of recommendation written by man because God, through the Holy Spirit, has written his letter on his heart and through his life it can be read by all men. In our verses, 4-5, Paul's confidence comes from the Holy Spirit. His confidence comes from the relationship that he has with Christ. He states that he isn't adequate on his own merit, but rather his adequacy is from God.

As believers, the same thing is true for us. We can have a strong confidence in whatever it is that God has called us to do for Him. We don't have to be competent in our own abilities....and thank goodness, or I would never stand up to teach His Word. Whatever God calls us to, He will equip us to do....if we will just yield ourselves to Him and trust Him to work through us. We are NOT adequate in ourselves and thank God, we don't have to be!

My adequacy and my confidence will always come through my relationship with Christ and believing "who I am" in Him.

Another verse that popped into my head this morning was Phil. 4:13..."I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"...and I can you know. He has yet to fail me. Daily, I bow my head in prayer and ask Him for His provision, His perspective, and His power for whatever lies ahead of me in the day. As I do that, He fills me up with a confidence that never comes from myself or my own natural talent. Left to myself, I would fail over and over again. But in Christ, I am more than a conqueror...complete with confidence and adequacy!

This one is another keeper and it just might end up on a note card today.

Until next time...