Deep down, we all desire to have good, intimate and satisfying relationships, no matter what culture you are from. It is because God said from the beginning that it is not good for man and woman to be alone.

But in spite that universal longing in each of us to have satisfying relationships—we discover that it is not easy. We see broken relationships everywhere.

Today is the 4th in a series called Life Skills. And the reason it is a skill is because there are many qualities that are needed in this life that we do not naturally possess or you may not have had the opportunity to develop growing up. Today, we are going to talk about the skills necessary to cultivate the intimate relationships that matter in our lives. It could be your husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, or even your close family members. Now some of you will immediately ask—but I don’t have someone special in my life now—this topic is not relevant to me. I cannot disagree more—because when problems in marriage or relationship occur at the very end, it is often difficult to change; the time to change is at the beginning end, when things are preventable.

The best time to learn about such things are when you are younger so that you can save yourself from as much frustrations as possible. Don’t you think so?

There is no such thing as a problem marriage, only problem people who get married.

We live in a world where people have lost value in marriages
Matthew 19:5-6 (NLT)
And he said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' [6] Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together."

Ruth 1:9 (Living)
And may he bless you with another happy marriage."

Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV)
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

When two people get married, they bring together with them all their past hurts, emotional baggage, unrealistic expectations and unresolved issues into the relationship. In marriages and relationships are often the best places to grow in character—but it would be better if we grow in character before that. Often, when things don’t work out in a relationship—we tend to blame the other person. We have to recognize that we all need to work hard to build a good, solid, God-centered and satisfying relationship by refining your own character and building each other up.

1 Thes. 5:11 (NLT)
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

1. Purpose in your heart to prioritize your relationship with God above any other relationship.
What has this got to do with any relationship or marriage? None of us have all the strength and wisdom needed to grow a strong and satisfying relationship. Everyone of us has limited love. “Every relationship – even good ones – have conflict. If you don't know how to deal with it, how to resolve it, how to manage it, you can kill your relationship.” A person who already has a relationship with God naturally knows how to connect to an endless source of strength and love. But without God—when things go wrong—you go to books and seminars—books, seminars and counseling, very good as they are cannot give you more love and more strength. A person who does not know God is helpless when prolonged conflict comes. So for example—if you love someone without God—all you have is your limited love; but with God, its you + God’s endless and supernatural love.

Psalm 46:1 (NIV)
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

2. Cultivate Communication Skills
The lack of communication skills is one of the biggest killers in relationships and marriages. Talking is not necessarily communication.

a. Taking an active, proactive interest in the other person’s interest.
Philip. 2:4 (NLT)
Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.

b. Learn to Listen Carefully
Proverbs 18:13 (Msg)
Answering before listening is both stupid and rude.

Proverbs 18:15 (Msg)
Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights.

3. Cultivate friendship within the marriage or relationship

Song 5:16 (NIV)
His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Do you know that our relationship with God is partially a friendship? In John 15:15, He says—I call you friends; this is seen when Jesus asks Peter this question—Peter, do you love me, then feed my sheep; Peter, do you like me. In the same way, learn to be friends with in your significant relationships.

4. Have a life outside each other
Sometimes when couples get together, they end up only living for each other. They live and breathe only for each other—and this is so unhealthy.
Your wife or husband will never be able to meet the needs of your total person. That is why God gave all of us friends, family and wonderful distractions…

a. Friends
Friends are a gift from God. They are wonderful resources and a source of joy. Even the best marriages and relationships have conflicts and sometimes, the relationship cannot handle any more pressure—friends are a blessing especially at this point.

Proverbs 27:10 (NLT)
Never abandon a friend—either yours or your father's. Then in your time of need, you won't have to ask your relatives for assistance. It is better to go to a neighbor than to a relative who lives far away.

Also, having regular friendships give you perspective about life that you cannot see in your relationship. Not only that but when one person has joy in friendship, that strength and energy in brought back into the relationship as a blessing to both persons.

b. Hobbies and interests.
While you first priority is your responsibility to the other person, remember that God has also made you a unique individual with gifts and talents to cultivate and enjoy. Develop and use them to the glory of God…

5. Seek out and listen to Godly counsel and accept discipline
There will be times when difficulties come and you have no answers. Just be humble and get help—rather than holding on to pride and living with a broken relationship. Get counseling or seek people with wisdom and experience in this area. And then do what you need to do. Remember that we all have sin and unresolved areas in our lives

Psalm 37:30 (NLT)
The godly offer good counsel; they know what is right from wrong.

Proverbs 19:20 (Msg)
Take good counsel and accept correction—that's the way to live wisely and well.

Psalm 119:40 (Msg)
See how hungry I am for your counsel; preserve my life through your righteous ways!

ALWAYS THERE

1 The LORD is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.

2 He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.

3 He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
4 Even when I walk
through the dark valley of death,
I will not be afraid,

for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
5 You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.

You welcome me as a guest,
anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.

6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the LORD
forever.

Psalm 23 (NLT)

When I was in the fourth grade my class went to visit a farm. On the farm one event caught my attention. The farmer was tending to his sheep and I noticed how all the sheep followed the farmer's commands. Wherever the farmer went, the sheep were always behind him. Wherever the farmer chose to settle down, that is where the sheep grazed. When the farmer prodded the sheep to go in a specific direction, the animals obeyed without hesitation. And when the farmer brought out pails of water, the sheep surround him for a drink.

The reason this caught my attention was the fact that the farmer was always there for the sheep. There was this special bond between the animals and the one shepherding them. The sheep instinctively submit their fate into the hands of the farmer, all day and all night.

When we sense that God is not with us, it is this special bond that we question is missing. We are like sheep that depend so much on the instruction and guidance of our shepherd, the Lord. When God is nowhere to be found, we become lost, beings without any direction in life.

Psalm 13 is a perfect example of a person who believed God had forsaken him, and he questions where God is at. "How long will you forget me? Forever?" cries the frustrated psalmist. "How long will you look the other way?" The writer continues to ask God when he will bring victory to the writer who is suffering endless beatings from the enemy. The psalmist whimpers in pain, "How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day?" When the shepherd abandons the sheep, the sheep's life becomes meaningless.

But Psalm 13 is not just all about this supposed abandonment. In fact, the psalmist reminds God that God's nature is one of faithfulness to his people. The psalmist challenges God to appear again and restore victory and hope in the psalmist's life. God does so and in the end of the psalm, the song-writer praises God because God had finally rescued him.

Psalm 23 is like a continuation of where Psalm 13 lefts off. Psalm 13 begins to unveil for us the truth that God never really abandons us, contrary to what we think, "feel" or "sense." Psalm 23 affirms this truth: God is always there for us.

Psalm 23 begins with this assertion: The Lord is our shepherd and we have everything we need. (v. 1)

Verse 1 clarifies two points for us. First, it establishes God's position and function in our lives. God's position is that of a shepherd, which means we are his sheep. God's function is to always care for us and provide guidance for our daily lives. As the sheep, we are fully dependent on the leadership of God. We willingly give up our trust in ourselves in favor of trusting in God's wisdom and strength.

The second point verse 1 clarifies for us is that we have everything we need. Note carefully that it does not say we have everything we want. It says we have everything we need. This is significant because it is God who determines what is enough for us. When we seek the Lord and allow him to be our shepherd we lack nothing.

How does God provide for all of our needs? He lets us rest in green meadows and leads us to peaceful streams. (v. 2) Green meadows and peaceful streams signify refreshment and restoration for the person who puts his or her trust in the Lord. God is very concerned with our well-being; as a shepherd it is his job to provide nourishment and care for us.

Here is the first lesson of the passage:

1. God is not an abandoner. He is the care-giver of life.

God does not flee from his responsibilities as the shepherd of our lives. We can hold onto his promises in delivering us from our enemies and lead us to the green meadows and peaceful streams where we can find rest. God cannot abandon us; that is not his nature. Instead, his nature is to care for us in his lovingkindness.

Remember, though, that the underlying assumption here is that for God to care for us, we must allow him to be the true shepherd of our lives. This means submitting in faith to everything God wants us to do. He is our leader – he knows what we need in life, he knows where we need to go for nourishment, and he is the only provider of peace and rest. We cannot be the rulers of our own fate and still expect God to pull through for us. For God to be the care-giver of our lives we must choose to make him the only shepherd of our lives. When we do, rest assured that God will always be there for you.

Now, it is easy to acknowledge God as our shepherd when life is going well. It is simple to exclaim that God is always there for us when our problems are solved without difficulties. But, what should our response be when times are very rough in life? In fact, it is in the midst of great troubles that we need God the most, right? Will he be there for me?

The answer is a resounding YES! God will always be there for you, in the most joyful of times as well as in the most difficult of times. As our shepherd it is God's responsibility to protect and guide us through every circumstance in life. Look at what the psalmist writes here in Psalm 23, verses 3-4:

It is God who renews our strength. Because of our sinful limitations we are unable to renew our own strength. Only God, our shepherd, can offer us the strength and courage we need to break through from our trials.

It is God who guides us along right paths. When we choose to shepherd our own lives, it is a guarantee that we will walk down the wrong paths of life because we do not know where we are going. We will continually make the same mistakes and hurt one another in the process. That is what the stronghold of sin does to us.

But, with God in control over our lives, he will lead us in the right direction towards the green meadows and peaceful streams. Again, we cannot go wrong when we follow the Lord faithfully. Our obedience brings honor to him, and rightfully so: all credit goes to the One who never abandons his people.

Therefore, when we face the dark trial of life, we no longer have to be afraid. (v. 4) Why? Because God has dominion over our lives. As the shepherd God is prepared to defend us from any wicked schemes from the enemy. God is close beside us; his rod and staff is used to fight the dangers that come our way. This is what God is equipped to do for us; he will always comfort us and he will always win our battles. We need to trust in such an unfailing guarantee.

The second lesson we can learn in Psalm 23 is this:

2. As the care-giver of life, God will defend you into victory.

God does not just protect and comfort us. He does so in victory! A shepherd uses his rod and staff as protection if other animals want to destroy his sheep. The rod becomes the weapon that will chase the sheep's enemies away. That is what God offers us. As our care-giver God will chase down our enemies and destroy them one by one. Again, the idea here is not just one of protection; it is a protection that leads us into victory.

That is why you do not have to live fearful lives anymore. Even as you walk through the dark valleys of death, you have the assurance that God is already winning the battles for you and you can face your difficulties with boldness. He is not just comforting you, he is destroying your very enemies! Whereas in Psalm 13 the writer is frustrated because God is nowhere to be found, here in Psalm 23 we have definitive guarantee that God is in fact always with us.

Want proof that God has already claimed victory for you? The psalmist ends the chapter by making some profound statements. First, God has prepared a feast for the writer in the presence of the writer's enemies. (v. 5) "To prepare a feast" is normally reserved when victory is in hand and the king declares a celebration for the triumph. We learn here that we are allowed to celebrate victory with God in front of our conquered enemies!

Second, this victory is further illustrated with the writer being welcomed as a guest of God to the feast of celebration. (v. 5) And as a guest of God, the writer is anointed with oil, another sign of victory in the life of the writer. His life is overflowing with the blessings from God. Our lives will also experience the anointing and blessings of God as long as we trust that he is always there for us.

Third, victory is always at hand because God's goodness and unfailing love has been pursuing the writer all the days of his life! (v. 6) Once you have given your life over to God the care-giver you cannot escape his great love and mercy for you. His love will overwhelm and consume you so much your enemies cannot defeat you. No matter whether your life faces an uphill battle or you have sunken so low in the valley of death, you are still victorious because God has pursued you with his love.

This leads us to our final lesson:

3. Our response to God, our care-giver, is also to pursue him forever.

Psalm 23 ends with the writer acknowledging that he too will live in the house of the Lord forever. (v. 6) The psalmist recognizes that for all that God has done for him there must also be a reciprocity of commitment back to God. As God chooses to pursue us with his love and grace, we too must choose to entrust our lives over to him, to live with him forever in infinity. God does not abandon us; he chases us with his unconditional mercy. He cares so much for you that he is willing to walk with you, even in the most depressing times of your life, in order to protect you from your enemies. But, this protection is more than just temporary comfort; it is guaranteed victory for you. Triumph will come because God has given our enemies to us. Celebration ensues as we come into contact with the blessings of God.

Therefore, believe in this God who cares so much for you, for he is always there for you…

© Arthur Hsu (2003)

Learning from the Master

We all have different eating habits. Some of you have two meals a day; others have 1 or 3 meals a day; some like snacking throughout the day—chips, peanuts, candy etc. Some like Karen Carpenter and others are starving herself with her anorexia. What if you don’t eat? What happens when you just eat once a week and snack the rest of the time? You become unhealthy, gaunt, emaciated and terribly ugly with sunken cheeks. “Yet many of us eat spiritual food by going to church just once a week and then snack on tidbits the rest of the time. The Barna research tells us that 80% of American Christians read their Bibles less than once a week.

There is an old proverb that says that if you give a fish to a hungry man, he will live for a day; but if you teach him to fish, you will feed for life.” The American Journal of Medicine says, “The health of America will not be determined by what people can get doctors to do for them, but what the doctors can get the people to do for themselves.” The same is true spiritually, we need to come to a point where are able to feed ourselves, because the health of the church is founded upon this. It is okay to be fed all the time if you are a child. But if a 20 or 30 person needs to be fed, something is seriously wrong. Learning to feed yourself is a sign of maturity.

1 John 2:26-27 (NLT)
I have written these things to you because you need to be aware of those who want to lead you astray. [27] But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you all things, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So continue in what he has taught you, and continue to live in Christ.

One of my favorite pianist during my time was Richard Clayderman. He could play both classical and popular songs without any difficulty. It was by listening to his music that set my heart on fire for playing the piano. Just imagine one day if he would say to me—Monsieur Andre, would you like me to teach you how to play the piano? I would wake up early in the morning if I have to. After a while, 6 months later, when I play the piano, people who know Clayderman’s music will say—I know that playing, where have I heard it before. I know, I know—they style, the intonation, the cadence, is the sound of the master himself. You sound just like the master.

Can you imagine if the master of the universe himself, teaches you everyday, giving you the wisdom of the ages. What would you say to that?

The insights that you will get will be different than if you were to be taught by some other Christian or pastor. Many of us come to church of ICF, and we hear tidbits of truth here and there. And when we talk about our faith, bits and piece of the tidbits come to mind. I see this all the time in Bible studies—I know I know I know, the pastor the other day said this or that. I think the Bible says something like…; what’s happening here? There is no confidence or first hand experience with the word of God. But if God teaches you directly, if you know something, you know something because God taught you that himself. You meet some people and they speak the word of God with confidence, why? Because God has directly deposited His truth in their hearts. Jesus said to Peter in Matthew: flesh and blood did not reveal that truth to you—in response to who do you say that I am.

Jesus says, I will personally mentor you, everyday. I will speak my truth directly into your heart. So that if you have been with me long enough, people who hear you will say: I know that style—that is something Jesus would say. You are just like the master. That is what happens when we allow God to speak to us through the Bible every day.

SO WHY IS THE BIBLE SO IMPORTANT?
Because we don’t have enough wisdom to become the husband, wife, Christian, friend, minister that God wants us to be on our own. You don’t have enough wisdom to live a victorious life, or even a successful Christian life on your own.

So how do you get wisdom?
There are a couple of ways. One of them is the most popular one: it is called experience. You put your hand into the fire. Ouch, fire hot, hand soft, hand in fire painful! After that you will put your hand into the fire again. Or I have met people who have been in prison for crime and they say—I learned a lesson—I will never steal again; I will never drink when I drive again; those are great lessons, and if it takes 5 years to learn that wisdom; you can only learn about 10 lessons in this life; Life is too short to become wise in this way. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just go around trick or treating from each person’s experience and put that gem and wisdom into our heart.

That is why we read the Bible.
Jeremiah 15:16 (NIV)
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight…

Doing Daily Devotions…
1. GIVES US WISDOM BEYOND HUMAN YEARS.
Psalm 119:100 (Msg)
I've become wiser than the wise old sages simply by doing what you tell me.

But there is a better way. Learn from other people’s mistakes, but don’t suffer their pain.
It is full of testimonies. We learn from:
David:
Absalom:
Peter:
Asa: Start well, and end badly…
And other lessons:

Reading the Bible helps us to grow deep and to understand the things that we wouldn’t have been able to understand before. These include not just the acts of God, but the ways of God. By reading, we begin to see and understand God’s heart behind His actions.
We’ll learn and understand that sometimes God hides His blessings from us because our character is not ready to receive it. He’ll hide His promises until our maturity is greater and until we can hear, understand and accept it. It could be that we’re filled with pride or, even worse, be filled with fear so that we forfeit our God-given assignment.

2. GIVES YOU MATURITY.
Romans 12:2 (Msg)
Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Devotions and knowing the word of God gives you a strong anchor when the winds of life comes. People will say an do things that will go against your current. OR when circumstances go opposite of your expectations. Will you collapse? Only Biblical maturity will keep you standing.

If I am easily discouraged or easily offended. I know that my spirit is in shallow ground. I know that I have not done by devotions and spent my time with God sufficiently.

The first two eternal benefits of daily devotions is that it will give you wisdom beyond your years and it will also give you spiritual maturity. The final benefit has to do with prayer. What is prayer? Do you think that a holy person is one who is able to pray the hardest by talking the loudest? Of course not! It’s actually hearing from God, not just hearing myself complain or talk the whole time.

3. LISTENING IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PRAYER.
2 Tim. 3:16-17 (NLT)
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. [17] It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.

When I returned to Singapore a few years ago, I sought out an old pastor friend of mine who I really respected. I talked about less than 10% of the conversation; I asked questions and clarified and took down notes so that I would forget. In fact, I honored him by taking down notes. Why? So that I could remember them and recall them—as well as to indicate how important the lessons were.

Learn to journal
Jeremiah 30:2 (NLT)
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Write down for the record everything I have said to you, Jeremiah.

God tells you to write down, or journal, what He is telling you. This will help you more than I can ever say. Just remember that your journal is not a diary; it is God is speaking to you when you put aside an hour a day for devotions.

We are starting something new at ICCSD. We call it the 20/20/20 Vision.

We used an acrostic, SOAP:
Scripture - finding a scripture out of passages we read for that day and writing it down.
Observation - taking a couple of paragraphs and observing just what it says.
Application – writing about how we may apply what we’ve just learned (the revealed truth) to our lives.
Prayer - writing out a prayer asking the Lord to help us apply it to our lives. We also write how thankful we are for the power of His Word.

The last thing that I would do is flip to the table of contents and title the entry of the scripture with the date and the page. Manuscript notation (writing out full sentences) is preferred rather than heading notation because a year from now when I go back and read it, everything God taught me will come flooding back, including the very heart of the lesson… even the prayer.

When doing devotions you are hearing God’s Word, writing it down and applying it to your life. Even if you miss a day, keep coming back to it because there’s victory when you’ve filled out an entire Bible bookmark. By journaling everyday you’ll have fertile soil in your heart and when God plants a seed, a tree starts to grown and fruit beings to be born.

Joshua 1:8 (NLT)
Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed.

- This sermon is inspired from Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, pastor of New Hope in Hawaii.

Practicing God-Confidence

Hebrew 12: 1-2

Fear weakens a person.
FEAR : False Evidence Appearing Real.
Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is—German Proverb
It is difficult to have faith in God if we have low-confidence. We saw some of the results of having a lack of confidence: we always think about what others think about us and lose our true selves in the process; it reduces our ability to make deep quality relationships with other people; it is the source of laziness because we fear failure, so we are frozen with fear, doing nothing; it is the source of pride because we need to overcompensate and cover up for our insecurities.

There is fear of growing old, fear of failure at work at relationships, fear of rejection by others, fear of the unknown, fear of insufficient finances for the future, fear of losing your freedom, conflict with others, rejection by opposite sex or in a love relationship, fear of criticism, losing people’s respect etc. Any of these apply to you?
_ Living in fear means living with a constant underlying tension that leads to broken health.
_ When we have fear, we seldom feel the confidence to try something new; we tend to stick to old habits and familiar ways.
_ In addition, fear leads to condemnation and destroys your sense of self over time.
_ In my own personal observation, when Christians fear, it comes out in the most frightening way: you see it in the form of religious fanaticism or Phariseeism. It also happens to parents, when parents sense that they are losing the child, they tighten the rules—they become more dogmatic and fall back on rules and laws. Often when Christians become insecure or fearful of losing control, they become Pharisees where everything is simply black and white. I believe that Pharisee thinking is a result of fear.

Many of us live our lives out of fear. We fall back on the security of our fears, so we live only by Pharisical rules and laws.
What I want to do now is quickly revisit and review what we were talking about last week on God-confidence and extend ways for us to practice God-confidence.

1 Cor. 10:12 (Msg)
Don't be so naive and self-confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence.

Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.
Or Faith is the bird that sings, when the dawn is still dark.

Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)
So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. Tolkien
Leap into God’s promises by faith and you will see a new road that you never saw before. Remember that it is not having faith in faith, but it is faith in the promises of God. If God promises something to you in the Bible and there are over 7000 of them, you can take a leap of faith that He will answer you. The second component is that we need the God-confidence to keep our faith on fire. But having been a Christian for a long time now, reality tells me that it is easy to have God-confidence while we are excited, inspired with chicken skin. But our God-confidence begins to erode away over time. How to we realistically, practically, and Biblically keep our God-confidence alive in the long term? Especially when things are not working out the way we expect?
Now if you study the book of Hebrews carefully, Paul defines faith in chapter 11, and then he gives examples of people who demonstrate a life of faith, like Abraham who has so much God-confidence that he was willing to kill his son Isaac; and Moses and other heroes. Now he comes to chapter 12

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. [2] We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish...
Look at v. 1b: “And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.”
We are in a race. In every race, it is easy to start well. It is easy to have faith after listening to a sermon. It is easy to say then that you really trust God.

So how do we keep your God-confidence from backsliding away from God in our race? Look at v.2: “We do this by keeping (focusing) our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish...”
Our God-confidence can only stay strong if we keep our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.
What has been consuming you lately with fear? Your finances, your future, your career, your uncertain plans, your past? I want you to practice this today: focus on Jesus, and then look at your fears and say—Jesus, I know you will help me sort out my career, my relationship etc.…I know I will be victorious…

Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Practice choosing your daily actions to reflect the God-confidence you have in Jesus.
Let your God-confidence show up in your lifestyle. Remember that without faith, it is impossible to please God. God is not impressed with how well you can talk or how much you know. The question is…are you going to practice what you know? God does not want you to be a good talker only. Let your God-confidence come out in your actions.
What issues are you facing in your life today? Some of you know that you need to get your life in order—you have been delaying when you know God has spoken in your spirit—some of you need to repent and come back to Jesus; some of you have been paralyzed and by fear and you want to face your future with God-confidence…It is time to stop living by fear…

Isaiah 8:13 (NLT)
Do not fear anything except the Lord Almighty. He alone is the Holy One. If you fear him, you need fear nothing else.