Facing The Future with Confidence - How to Face the Future in Times of Uncertainty, Part 2

I want you to stop and think a minute right now, specifically what's the greatest fear you have your so let me ask you what came to your mind, what are you afraid of what makes you paralyzed inside about what might happen today will learn from God's word. How to find peace and hope to face our greatest fears that's today on the brakes were joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram survival to this international discipleship ministry through this program.

Chip continues a series in the future with confidence. By taking a look at the life of a man who had lots of reasons, but he made the decision to trust God's greatest choosing to believe in God after the teaching tips for powerful application.

Stay focused on what's most today and every day. So if you have to step away from the program.

Maybe catch you later online or on the trip. Ingram allowed airstrip with part two of this message to face the future in times of uncertainty from Joshua chapters 1 through six.

Courage isn't the absence of fear. Courage is being scared to death and saying what I want to give the way I used to give now is a scary thing for sure is scary and do it to take a stand publicly at a time like this is pretty scary, scary, and you do it to make Christ a number one priority in my life in my school in a way that lets people know it's not about just going to church or being religious but it's about what I think how I act with the opposite sex. What I put in my mind what's important to me takes courage to courage is going beyond knowing what's right and having the sheer guts to get up and pull the trigger and do it and I would dare say without being judgmental because we all struggle the church of Jesus Christ in America is in a courage crisis with 25% of the population of America saying I'm born again I believe in God. I believe in his word. I believe in Jesus, we get the highest divorce rates in the world highest murder rates in the world an average evangelical believer gives 2.5% of their income. We had a major disconnect. You know why we got millions of people who understand in their head. This is true this is right and I say I believe this but when it gets right down to heaven. The sheer courage to get up and live and speak and align their priorities in a way to reflect Scripture. They go back to the dugout and never have a really bad when you're courageous but it's risky but it's when you're courageous where you see the hand of God in the spirit of God to spend the next portion of our time talking about how you experience that how do you get that strength and take it that courage here as well. Italian this passage. I'm teaching it and I'm down here trying to listen to me and say God will you help me put this into practice over my head, coming up early in the morning and talk with God and St. Laurent annually say trust me my with you.

Yeah is is my gender is a shares to cheers. Okay what I expect you to do Monday chip.

What a strong okay let me give up. Don't give in line don't cry and cry out, but don't cry and expect you to be courageous and I expect you with your words and with your time and with your money and your life to model what it looks like to be a courageous man of God and tell you what you do, that'll take care of the rest of the big questions that didn't bring you in this building on this day for just like no reason anything bring you here so that at the end of that you can say well I know how God help Joshua during uncertain time is in verses 1390, that's fine. He brought you in this building on this day to speak to your heart so that you would understand how you can be strong and you can be courageous so you be like a spiritual salmon swimming upstream in the wave of other Christians, particularly an entire world that is biting their fingernails and mostly worried not about what can happen the world what can happen to them at the end of the day that's really what's going on out there to give you three principles were now see, out of Joshua, the very things that Jesus told his disciples what I want to, do is give you a to go package are only getting something that all during the week you can say this is how to be strong and courageous, and by the way, as you listen, I want you to think of the whiteboard of the one or two top fears and I want you to go back to the whiteboard in your mind while I'm talking and asked God the Holy Spirit to show you what it looks like to be strong and courageous with your fears okay with that many to be the three principles.

Three ways God gives us from this passage to live competent lives. That's where we got the title. This is how you face the future with confidence. Number one is believing God's promise for future is the key to overcoming her fear of the unknown it's believing in me intellectually believing to the point of action that God's promise for our future. It will give you the power to overcome the unknown we get that here in verses three and four and Jesus spoke very familiar words.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

He said to the fellows the last night was on the earth right trust in God, trust also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If imports I would've told you I'm going there to prepare a place for you if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and I will take you to be with me that you may be where I am in those early apostles.

What was her fear was her fear was that the unknown pan out. The Romans there chasing us as it is the Jews that probably kill us at 21.

What did Jesus say the last night your future is secure. It's a done deal.

Jesus said it over here God said to Joshua.

Joshua yes, the Jordan is at flood stage. It's wider than ever before. It's deeper than ever before. It's impossible to get across. I want to know on the other side deal here is what God help me see to you believe in heaven yeah teach all the time you so if I would choose since I'm God and I'm good and I'm sovereign I'm in control and I love you and always have your best even if I would choose to take your wife home and take her to heaven.

Do I have the prerogative to do that yet, so worst-case scenarios plant the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is I take your wife to be in heaven you live out your life. I give you strength your children. I do an amazing thing in your life and then later on you die and your with me in your book with me in heaven. Let me get this right ship. That's the worst that can happen is right when he afraid I must chip you really not concerned about me and you don't have an eternal perspective and is not about me, and if not about heaven and you say you believe that is just a little intellectual game you play. If that's real, it's a done deal, right can you trust me.

And when you start doing that produces a strength and a courage until you die to this world really died to this world you really not worth much. Never been in China Pastor Lamb 25 years in concentration camps.

Another 20 years in prison, 78 years old. We went through back streets and he has an underground church about a thousand people.

We spent some time praying and talking with his two nights ago they came. They roughed me up again and got in my face and they trying to threaten me and he said I just laugh at them.

I said you put me in prison. The church grow. You put me in concentration camp trees grow bigger and bigger. Kelly contests Pastor Lantos worst-case nares going to heaven. I meet some Christians that they think don't have it let me just the worst way they prioritize their time or money in their focus. You would think the worst thing that could happen is they could die and spend eternity in the presence of God. Jesus that ogle him this world is not our home. We could use to get introduced to that at the heart level and until you draw the line on that and believe it. You will be paralyzed by fear and you will spend all your life trying to hold onto that with Jim Elliott said you cannot keep in failing to give that which you cannot lose the keyword here is help and it is a biblical hope. You know, we hope it will be sunny tomorrow. At least I do. We hope the economy will bounce back. That's why Americans use the word hope it's a fine word we mean wishful thinking.

When the Bible uses the word hope it is about a future event that is unchangeable and that will happen because God said based on his word and his character. The fact that Christ is returning biblical hope anchor of your soul. The fact that if you are in Christ you can know hundred percent of the time. Any moment when you die you will be with him. That's help that's help that changes your perspective and how you live. The second key to developing strength and courage is appropriating God's power for victory to overcome your fear failure.

We see in verse five or seven verse eight God said, I'll give you power you going to battle no one can build a stand against you.

Did you notice how God told Joshua to learn to appropriate this book of the law should not print out your mouth you was telling he was giving him the means the how to of gaining spiritual power. See, I believe with all my heart because I been there, but the average Christian really wants to break the habit with their tongue. The average Christian that has an addiction with alcohol or drugs.

You know they don't want to do it, but they just keep going back to average Christian that is been sucked in over to porn on the Internet and finds himself when no one is looking into really checking out the magazine stands as they walked out of the grocery store or log on late at night and want to be there every Christian is having all kind conflict in their marriage and in an outburst of anger and disappointment. Tired of living this way they want to live that way, but average Christian does not know how God gives them the power to live the life they already possess. Now I found out my next counsel through Scripture. I just did know about is a Christian up to 2 1/2 years and I came to a conclusion somehow miraculously got cleaned up my language. I did open a Bible till I was 18, play basketball, baseball in high school and college and so I ran with a group of guys that we talked in a certain way and live in a certain way and while how to start reading the Scriptures in the morning and I got cleaned up my mouth and I saw multiple changes but there was one about two and half three years in my faith I realized just in conclusion, I guess you can't let this you have it forever, and I got around some older Christians more Christian men and I would poke around trying find out. I realize they're faking it to and most men, whether their 14 or 2484 will tell you that the battle of your life in your spiritual life is to overcome lust. We were bombarded by the media and it doesn't mean we don't love our wives and on and on and on but I'm telling you I'm a Christian and I'm in the Scriptures on a regular basis and I don't like what I'm thinking. I don't like onlooking women.

I don't like the guilt I don't like the condemnation.

I promise I'll never do it again and I do it again on and on and on and I can't like it and so I just realize I'll be like that a Christian and I met I'll think it's gonna be nice and you feel guilt when you pray, and there's no sense of power and you just live this double life. I have my roommate going to a parachurch camp and as you live on a college campus and he had to memorize 16 versus the navigators topical memory system yet have a memorize no one flat cold completely before he can get in and at that time.

Being the loving, committed, sure motive roommate that he had.

I decided for absolutely no reason other than if he could memorize 60 in four months like that I can do to.

I mean my motives were 100% carnal to show him up. In fact he bought spent five dollars back. Then I got these little cards when he left the room. I took all the cards I wrote down all the verses and I thought two or three versus week. I'm going memorize one every day and by day number four nobody forgotten verse number one.

So I thought okay I'm to memorize all these and will review them every single day. So I get him down cold.

Why a psychology professor who God placed in my life to really help the sanctification process.

Bloom. He was so boring. I had almost an hour every other day to review my verses behind my psychology book and Sunday 28 I got 28 versus down cold. I never memorized verse in my life. I don't know anything about your mind being renewed. I don't know how God takes the spirit.

The word of God placed in your heart transfer in July, noting that stuff all I know is I'm on my way to where all the basketball players ate lunch below the girls dorm and five or 600 girls in it and we would sit as a basketball team and it would file by we rank them 1 to 10, and I'm ashamed that I mean it was just okay as I'm on my way over to the dorm and this verse comes my mind make no provision for the flesh. Make no make no and then I'm sitting here in love not the world of things in the world, the lust of the eyes less inflexible to and I decide not to go to that dorm and I start walking to the other cafeteria and then I meet this coed is a very, very lovely, godly, committed and beautiful girl and along the short of it is about a 15 minute conversation and I looked her in the eye and I wasn't thinking about anything else. And as we parted I had and what God did one of those aha I didn't last. And I found there's a correlation you now God makes you strong is not by trying harder. God takes the written word of God by the spirit of God as you meditate on it and he makes it the living word of God and he gives you power to think and to act and to love and respond in ways that only Jesus could if he lived inside you and he does by when the Holy Spirit in my experiences is that the reason were not strong and courageous is the average believer is chipping God when it comes to Scripture and you know it's like a little bit of this are little bit of that. You must be men and women who live under the block and you don't read two or three chapters.

I don't feel guilty is not a chapter a day to keep the devil away.

This is about a heart relationship you want to spend time with God and you carve it out and you get a couple coffee in your reading your thinking you pray when you pray verses back in you struggle in this area and you find a promise about that area and then you memorize it in the God brings into your mind breaks the power of sin, any changes you and you go you transform because everyone is in Christ is what a new creature. The old things passed away behold all things present tense continuing are becoming you have to fail doesn't want you to fail. He wants to use your life. The first he had to do with hope. The second key has to do with faith. Biblical faith isn't believing a set of ideas, biblical faith is believing God to the point of acting on the truth is believing God acting on the truth.

God's word says this I don't feel like I'm afraid the implications of this and you step out in the moment you step out you can grace and will give you courage at work. If you courage to take risks with your time and give you courage to let go of finances to allow anger issues to dissolve because God is looking for a people, regular ordinary, not superstar people who will believe that there is an unshakable hope and so life and death can't touch people who believe that the same power that raised Christ from the dead, literally dwells in them and by faith they choose to live on the basis of Scripture and experience transforming grace and then finally if you want strength and courage. We recognize God's presence with us is the key to overcoming this fear of abandonment, how many times in those nine verses that he tell Joshua I'm with you all be with you like it was with Moses and you member what John 16 but Jesus said to the disciples, the very last night was. He said it's better than I leave you right because when I go there is another another. The same kind of Paraclete, a comforter, the Holy Spirit, and once again do. He's an economist and reveal all truth. Do you think I do is to lead you, and you don't used to be where Jesus is over by the fire and Peter James and John wanted to talk with him.

If you talk with Bartholomew. They had to wait their turn.

Jesus is coming not only be with you, but by the Holy Spirit to dwell in you and he will reveal the truth.

You and I will guide you into all truth.

27 365 days out of the year. The spirit of God among you. Pray to receive Christ will come into your life seal you with the spirit of document to his family and he will be with you.

You can pray in the car you can pray in church you can praise your walking.

You can pray during the meeting, you can talk with God every moment of every day in practice the presence of God. You will never be alone every and once you begin to experience that strength is courage. Hudson Taylor was right. God plus even one is majority what this is really talking about his love. The final keyword is an interesting data when you trying to teach your kids to swim. I did some not very smart ways that my kids get boards were way too high. Early on the joke and her family being what I learned I learned if I would get on the board and I would jump down to the water is honey, so And If They Could See Me, Even Though They Were Fearful of the Water If They Knew I Was There. I'm Four for Four.

Everyone of My Kids Did This and When They Did. They Went under Different Second Farms around Why I Love I Will Be with Them Always.

I Will Never Ever Leave Them or Forsake Them. I'm Just a Human Dad There Are Some of You Think God Is Waiting for You to Jump into the Water of Ministry to Jump into the Water of Impact to Jump into the Water of Obedience to Jump into the Water of Taking a High Risk Venture and Work for His Kingdom to Jump into the Water with Your Heart and Your Life in Your Soul and All That You Have Here Is What I Love You.

I'm for You, I Died for You. The Same Power That Raised Him from the Dead, Not Only Dwells in You. But He That Spared Not His Own Son, How Will He Not with Him Freely Give You All Things You See When You Have a Hope That Can't Change and You Live by Faith Is Acting on God's Word, and There Is a God Is All-Powerful and All-Knowing Sovereign in Your the Object of His Affection. You Can Be Strong Regardless of Your Circumstances and You Can Step out When You're Scared to Death, and As You Do, You Will Meet God in My Premise and I Think the Truth of Scripture Is the Lord Is Waiting for a Generation of Christians Beginning with the Person Who Sitting in Your Seat Sent You 100% Control of That Person's Thinking to Step out and Believe That He Wants to Fulfill Divine Purposes.

First, and Then through Will Be Right Back with Quickly Though the Message You Just Heard Is from the Series Facing the Future with Confidence. This Reporter Outlines How You Can Positively Face Life's Most Challenging Circumstances Even in the Midst of Overwhelming Doubt and Despair Chip Discusses the Truth That God Has a Plan Just for You to Bring Good Out Of Evil.

You Sure so You Can Have Complete Trust That God Is Working out His Good Plan Even When the Odds Seem against You and How You Can Begin Enjoying Life to the Full Resources for Facing the Future with Confidence Are Discounted for a Limited Time, so Now's the Time to Take Advantage for Complete Ordering Information, Go to LivingontheEdge.org Current Offers on the Trip and Remap or Give Us a Call at AAA 333-6003 Will Ship This Is a Very Important Day in Our Country. Is There Something You'd like to Sit or Listeners about That Dave Is a Matter Fact, There Is like Them.

Right Now, Even If They Can't Close Their Eyes to Join Me in Prayer Almighty and Ever Living God, You, the Author of All Things.

You Either Allow or Decree Everything That Happens, We Thank You That You Are Good.

Life Is Hard in a Fallen World, Because It's Not What You Designed It to Be, but We Thank You That You Are a Redeemer Your Reconciler That You're All Wise and All-Powerful and the Number One Thing You Want Us to Do Is Trust You and so We Pray That Your Will Would Be Done Today Your Highest and Best Purposes and That You Would Grant Us the Grace Regards As the Outcome to Follow Jesus with All of Our Heart to Love All People Well with Their Words and with Their Actions and Make Us Instruments of Reconciliation and Love in Christ Name, Amen.

I Can't Think of Anything More Important Than Praying for Our Country Today. Let's Continue to Pray throughout the Day.

In the Days Ahead. God Isn't Surprised God Isn't Caught off Guard by Me Think It's Happening. Let's Be People of Prayer and Encouragement to Those around Us Whose Only Hope Is the Things of This World, That Would Be a Great Time to Model How to Face the Future with Confidence. Okay Triplets Get to Your Application As We Close Today's Program. I Would Remind You That Joshua Was in the Midst of a Major Major Transition in Leadership and These Are the Words That God Gave to Him and I Would Take You to the Lord Jesus and the Words He Gave to His Disciples. When There Is Going to Be a Major Major Transition in Leadership in Both Places. He Says Don't Be Afraid, Be Strong, Be of Good Courage, and Then Rooted in His Word He Says There's Hope for the Future. There's Power for the Present and There's My Presence in the Midst of It All, but What I Want You to Know Is That That Just Doesn't Happen by Osmosis. God Makes Those Promises in His Word and His Word Has To Be Digested and Applied in the Context of Authentic Community and I Just Know There's Many of You Listening to Me Right Now You Are Really Afraid and You Want to Do What You Just Heard God Say in His Word You're Paralyzed by Your Fear and You Don't Know How to Get Out Of It.

I Want to Tell You Open Your Bible Read Joshua Chapter 1.

Open Your Bible Today.

I Mean in the Next Few Minutes and Read John 14 and Listen to the Words of Jesus and Then You Got a Phone Text Someone Call Someone Stop with Someone before This Day Gets over and so You Know I Heard Today That God Wants to Give Me Courage. He Wants to Give Me Hope That He's Made Promises That His Presence Is Available. Would You Pray with Me. Can We Just Bow Our Heads Right Now. You Might Even Say I'm Not Very Good at This, but Let's Just Talk out Loud and Cry out to God, and Here's What I Will Tell You He Will Meet You He Loves You.

He's for You. In Fact, the Older I Get, I Begin to See That God Actually Allows These Times of Transition, Uncertainty, Pain, Circumstances to Do Something in Us That We Probably Would Never Do on Her Own, Create a Level of Need.

The Drive Us to Pursue Him like Never before in the Promisee Makes It Seek the Lord, That He Might Be Found, Call upon Him While He Is near. Can I Encourage You Today May Be the Greatest Day in Your Life to Seek Him with All Your Heart to Call upon Him, and Here's the Promise from God's Own Lips. I Will Be Found by You Reach out Letting Love You Just before We Close. Would You Pray for Those Who Are Thinking about Trips Encouragement Right Now. There's Always a Spiritual Battle When We Feel Prompted to Draw near to God, Thanks for Taking a Minute to Do That and If There's a Way We Can Pray for You. You Let Us Know Call AAA 83336003 or Email Chip LivingontheEdge.org. We'd Love to Hear from You until Next Time, and for Everyone Here Say Thanks for Listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge