Confidence | Chuck Balsamo

Contrasting Forces: Living Bold And Broken On The Same Day :)

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 by chuck 5 Comments

Good Morning Friends,

Instead of listening to worship music for prayer today… I’m just enjoying the concert of all the HAPPY birds in my yard. These guys have been going crazy since an hour and a half before sunrise… and it’s so beautiful! Maybe I woke them up. Maybe the light from my family room comes off like the rising sun. Or maybe God just woke them up so they could sing their song while I prayed and worshiped him today! What’s strange is how they have stopped singing just as soon as transitioned out of prayer. Thank you God for the song of the birds today… that was fun!

This morning I feel moved with humility. Even though I have recently come into a place of trusting God with my future… and even though I feel the peace of knowing that God is for me and that God loves me like crazy… I still feel humble about the things in my life that I cannot figure out how to fix.

Sometimes, there are situations that arise… and they turn out so differently than we wish for them to turn out. Yeah, God promises to walk through them with us and God assures us that our future in him is still BRIGHT. God assures us that he works out his plans perfectly even in the imperfections of the people in those plans. And knowing this, still isn’t enough to wipe away the tears that come from living out the reality of what is happening right in front of our eyes.

What I’m saying is that having a vision that sees beyond right now is crucial concerning ones ability to keep walking FORWARD. Yes, it is important to keep on looking ahead and not become overwhelmed with the results of one short phase. But this does not mean that we are to live numb and uncaring. It doesn’t mean that we lay aside compassion and humility.

Some situations cannot be fixed RIGHT AWAY… no matter what we do or do not do. In fact, in these rare situations, EVERYTHING we do or do not do only seems to make the matter much worse instead of even slightly better. And that is painful… it’s very humbling. It always leaves me broken and wondering over the thousand things I COULD HAVE done to prevent things from getting so crazy.

Today, I feel very humbled about a few recent personal situations. I find myself praying so earnestly for God to show me how to fix things that I haven’t been able to fix yet. I’ve pleaded with God for mighty miracles. And the brokenness I feel over watching the situation play out is driving me to a place of significant spiritual transformation. I want God to fix so many flaws in my own life.

As I run into the next great adventure of my life and lead my church into her next great adventure… I want to run with a new and more substantial degree of LOVE for people! I want God to make me far less self absorbed… far less arrogant… far less bitter and unforgiving… far less focused on the flaws of others… and far more appreciative of Gods grace and mercy for us all. I want to be the biggest fan to every person God brings into my space. This has always been my aim, and now more than ever, this is the man I desire to become!

What I’m suggesting today is this: While holding on to the promise that God is always working all things out for YOUR good… run with the highest degree of humility you can get your hands on at this point of your life!

I hope todays blog adds tremendous value to your amazing lives! My love and prayers are with you… thanks for being such an amazing blog family! Tootalooooo everyone…

Filed Under: Journal & Message Tagged With: birds, bold, broken, confidence, humility

Fear is Still No Factor For Me Baby! :)

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 by chuck 2 Comments

Good Morning Friends!

Thanks for writing all your amazing stories yesterday! It was my pleasure reading YOUR blogs for the day! It amazes me how each of you took your opportunity to thank God for all he has done! As each story came up… I was FILLED WITH JOY at all the HAPPY CONTENT flowing out of your hearts! This says so much about the real condition of your hearts! When given the floor to write about whatever you wanted… you guys spent your moment telling the world how good God is! I thank God for friends like you! Thank you for adding great value to my amazing life!

I woke up this morning thinking about some of the LARGE tasks on my schedule… thinking about a few LARGE hurdles I will have to jump over in the not too distant future… thinking about all the unrealistic expectations of some of my peers… and how impossible it will be to hold everyone in the fold as I lead FORWARD from here. These thoughts haunted me for about 10 minutes, until I remembered the blog from Monday! Then I was like, “Wait a minute… I’m not going to fail… it’s all going to work out… I am just a human… God is with me and I am under a DIVINE assignment… I have special angels surrounding me right now… SO DON’T SLIDE BACK INTO FEAR CHUCK BALSAMO!”

At that, I rolled over and gave my wife a kiss on the nose, told her I loved her, and I parachuted CONFIDENTLY from my bed! (our bed is way up in the air like an eagles nest) I walked through my living room to my family room… the place I meet with God in the mornings these days! Wow… what a difference one message can make! What if I had not remembered that blog… what if I had continued to think those kinds of destructive and disempowering thoughts for another ten or twenty minutes? This could have become a disastrous day! But instead… it will end up recorded as a MOST TRIUMPHANT one!

Here are a few verses to TURN UP YOUR CONFIDENCE TODAY!

Psalm 27:3 “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.”
Joshua 10:8 “The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”
Psalm 118:6 “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Isaiah 12:2 “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Did you wake up in fear this morning? Scared to face the obstacles in YOUR path today! Shake this off RIGHT NOW… be confident, and bold! Move forward as if you CANNOT FAIL… because if the Lord is with you, WHO can ever stand against you? Who or WHAT will ever be able to curse what God has already blessed? Walk with the Lord and TRUST him… and he will NEVER let you down!

I hope today’s blog adds great value to your amazing lives! I love you guys and I have already prayed that your day would be AMAZING! Chat later… don’t forget church at Destiny Family Center TONIGHT at 7pm!

Filed Under: Devotion, Inspiration Tagged With: confidence, expectations, faith, fear, Isaiah 12:2, joshua 10:8, psalm 118:6, psalm 27:3, Romans 8:28, Romans 8:31, trust

Indestructable: I’m Under Assignment :)

Monday, March 9th, 2009 by chuck 3 Comments

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope you all had a super amazing weekend!

On Saturday, we did a waterfall hike, then hosted Coree and Heavens friends for the first patio party of the year… went to bed late, lost an hour… and woke up EXHAUSTED Sunday morning!

On Sunday, church was OUTSTANDING… then we hosted a group that comes to our church from Richmond (a church ALIVE is worth the drive)… we all had lunch on the patio! (loving the beautiful weather) After that, Emily and I went to Bible College… all I had to do was administer an exam and introduce a new instructor! Then I wrote in my book while Emily finished her classes… then we went home and RESTED until “The Celebrity Apprentice” and LOVED every minute of that! The day ended praying with Coree and Heaven… and drifting off into the land of DREAMS! (except I didn’t have a single dream last night… highly unusual)

I woke up feeling really confident today… almost like a few thousand angles moved onto my property and they are awaiting my orders! I felt this yesterday while I was in my office getting ready to preach… and then in a BIG way while I was preaching… and this confidence still remains almost 20 hours later! Hmmm… there must be something going on. Feels to be something GOOD.

Proverbs 29:25 NIV “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.”

Psalm 3:5-7 NIV “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.”

My own fear of peope and circumstances seems to be going away these days… I have never in all my life felt this secure in who I am! I have never in all my life felt this INDESTRUCTABLE! I have never in all my life felt so guaranteed of success! I almost wonder if I’m going to look out the window and see a pen of 777 chickens laying golden eggs! If I look hard enough… I see warrior angels with swords drawn against all intruders! My car looks safer than President Obamas new missile proof Cadillac! I feel a new divine FAVOR in my life… with God, angels, and humans!

All of these things I am experiencing today can be experienced by all of us in varying degrees throughout our lives. While I believe that some of my experience is attributed to the current prophetic assignment on my life… I also believe that much of this is the result of having FAITH for it!

Every biblical promise is accessed and enjoyed through FAITH. If we need healing, we believe in the biblical promise healing and we stand IN FAITH until the physical symptoms recede! If we need a restoration in one of our relationships, we STAND IN FAITH that God is able to work out all things for his glory… and we STAND BELIEVING until the relationship is restored!

When it comes to having favor and achieving success… we must BELIEVE like this! Because as long as we live under the fear of people and circumstances, we will always come up short. We become what we believe we SHOULD become… nothing more than that!

So, today… change how you believe about your current situation! Start to believe God that there is an ASSIGNMENT on your life… and you cannot fail as long as you go forward! Rise above the low expectations of others… climb up over every disempowering voice… the real ones, and the ones whispered from demon spirits in dark places. Believing like you are a CHAMPION is the biggest hurdle to becoming a CHAMPION!

I pray that each of you get a little caught up in my personal experience today… I pray that you also rise above your fears to be MIGHTY throughout this next decade! God bless you all… leave your comments… let’s chat throughout the day!

Filed Under: Chuck's Life, Inspiration Tagged With: angels, champion, circumstances, confidence, demon spirits, fear of man, god is able, healing, hiking, indestructable, proverbs 29:25, relationships, situations, stand in faith, trust in the lord

Financial Faith :)

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 by chuck 6 Comments

It’s A SNOW Day Friends!

Wake up everyone… build a snow man, go sleigh riding, have a snow ball fight, make snow angles, drink hot chocolate… hurry up before its gone!

Sorry I’m a bit late with this morning’s blog. After my reading/prayer routine, I checked my Facebook and stumbled upon the nephew of my Moms old boss… the guy who gave me my first job when I was 8 years old! Her old boss passed away many years ago, after showing tremendous kindness to my family throughout Moms employment with him. I have often prayed for his family… this was a very exciting moment for me. Who knows where it will go!

Today… I feel compelled to write briefly on the subject of financial faith. It seems that people everywhere are really beginning to flip out of their minds over the weakening condition of our economy… and FEAR is griping the hearts of good people! So, this morning I decided to let God do most of the talking… He has so much to say on the topic of money and possessions. And when we get a solid revelation about how much he loves us and desires to care FOR us… everything changes!

Fear brings on destruction… Faith moves MOUNTAINS! Meditate on the following words spoken from Gods mouth… and see what happens! Pay special attention to the parts I’ve highlighted for you… and FEEL THE CONFIDENCE RISE WITHIN YOUR HEART!

Luke 12:22-34…

Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear.

For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing.

Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds!

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?

“Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.

And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

“And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things.

These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

”So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.

“Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it.

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Good stuff aye? Now, read these verses 7 times throughout the day and pay attention to what happens with your emotional state of mind. Each and every time, FAITH will build… and FEAR will no longer be an issue for you good people! Have a super day… chat with you all later on…

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: confidence, do not worry, ecomony, faith, fear, luke 12, money, move mountains, possessions, snow

More on Confidence :)

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 by chuck 7 Comments

humanitarian-aid Good Morning and Happy Tuesday!

One more time everyone… the image in yesterday’s blog was a JOKE. I sure hope that it didn’t provoke all of you good people to go putting everyone down yesterday! :)

I believe as Christians, we are to use our confidence to build others up! This is why it is so important for each of us to settle the issues of our own neediness! As long as we are craving the approval of our peers, we will never be able to recognize the real needs of others.

As I mentioned yesterday, people rally to the person who knows who they are, knows where they are going… and moves into everyday with the CONFIDENCE that they are going to make it there! Biblical confidence is found in close proximity to the Lord! It is found in the completeness of knowing that God LOVES us… even when we are unlovable to the whole rest of the world.

To expound on yesterdays thoughts let us consider how others benefit from our confidence. Only when our identity is solid, are we able to focus our energies on helping others.

Check out these verses from Philippians 2:3-4 “Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others better than yourself. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.”

That kind of selfless living can only come through confident people… who are NOT LIVING TO MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION ON OTHERS. So, being CONFIDENT does make us attractive! And the attraction is a blessing to us and to everyone else!

Have another super day you guys! Chat with you later!