Assurance: September 16, 2013

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2013.

ASSURANCE

DEFINITION:

A positive declaration intended to give confidence; support; promise or pledge; freedom from doubt; certainty.

SCRIPTURE:

Everyone that calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:13.

Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. Romans 10:11.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1.

And we desire that each of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end. Hebrews 6:11.

That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ. Colossians 2:2.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We both can remember the day that we made our decision to accept Jesus as our Savior. Dottie was five years old and Ken was nine. The one thing we wanted, other than knowing Jesus as our Savior, was that we had ASSURANCE of eternal life. Even though it was many years ago and we were young, we felt the uncertainty of the future. We wanted to know where we were going if we died. We had both been raised in a conservative Christian Biblical based environment. We both attended churches where we heard messages and testimonies that made us realize that in order for us to go to heaven, and not to hell, we needed to act and ask Jesus to come into our hearts.

Assurance is the opposite of uncertainty. We live in a world filled with uncertainty. Things are moving at such a rapid pace that we cannot be certain what tomorrow will bring. If anyone had told us the day before that 9/11 attack that terrorists would fly jet airlines into the world trade center we would most likely have said that that would never happen. This example has made us realize that nothing is assured or for certain.

In today's world people need assurance. Many have very low self esteem. There is no one or nothing in their lives that can give them assurance for their future. The general mood of our culture has put a spirit of fear in the life of a person that does not know Jesus. People are experiencing anxiety and depression and then are turning to alcohol, drugs or sexual pleasures which in turn lead to broken marriages, abandoned children, illness and even death.  Although those of us who believe in Jesus as our Savior must face the same uncertainties of life, we have the assurance that God is guiding and protecting us through every event of each day. But most important we have the assurance of spending eternity with Him.

Where does this assurance that believers have come from? The verses in Romans and Hebrews that we have listed above are the basis for the assurance believers have for the future.

•    Believers have called on the name of the Lord and have been saved.
•    Believers are assured that those who believe in Him will not be disappointed.
•    Believers have the assurance of understanding the truth about God and His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.
•    Although we cannot see the future we know who holds the future and our faith assures us that what God has promised will actually happen.

Having this assurance in our lives gives us hopeful anticipation of what God will do through us on any given day. We never know what the day will bring us but we do have peace and joy in our hearts knowing that God will get us through the tough times. We both wake up every morning with a positive attitude and a joyful spirit of excitement wondering what God will do for us and through us this day. Do you have this same anticipation? We truly hope so!

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Timothy 1:7.

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

PRAYER:

Give me today a new spirit of excitement knowing that I have the assurance of spending eternity with You. Help me to have an effect on each person I meet today so that they know that I have hope, peace and joy in my heart because of my trust in You. Bless my family and together may we honor and glorify Your name in all that we do.