Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of the group, Third Day, singing… Blessed Assurance, … expressing the blessed heart of all Christians who’ve come to praise God for the assurance of their salvation
Highlight Passage: John 5: 13 [NKJV] …
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
… Clearly stated purpose of the Apostle to God’s people.
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Highlight Context – 1st John 5: 1-13 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Trusting in the certainty of God’s witness to our hearts through His Spirit.
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Reference Passage #1 - John 14: 21 [NKJV] …
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
… Jesus, quoted by John, one being truly saved.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Lawrence Darmani, used a personal remembrance to illustrate his teaching point for this morning. Darmani wrote: As I sat on a train [see attached photo] headed for an important appointment, I began to wonder if I was on the right train. I had never traveled that route before and had failed to ask for help. Finally, overcome by uncertainty and doubt, I exited at the next station—only to be told I had indeed been on the right train! And that incident reminded me how doubt can rob us of peace and confidence.
And it’s a good illustration of an important point of faith. We really CAN KNOW and have God’s “blessed assurance” of our salvation. In fact the Apostle John, in his later years in exile on Patmos, wrote an important letter, likely to fellow Christians in Asia Minor in those years, trying to help them KNOW POSITIVELY that they were true, born-again Christians. We see this in the purpose statement of the epistle of 1st John , Chapter 5, and verse 13 [copied above].
And if one studies John’s first letter, he/she will come away with a strong list of reasons that one can use to determine whether the reader/seeker is truly saved. I’ve done that study; and it really did bolster my confidence that I’m on the right train to glory. And if anyone here would like a study sheet summarizing John’s letter of assurance, all one need do is email me @ billb13@bellsouth.net; and I’ll be glad to send them the Apostle’s 11 points of assurance.
We should, as Christians, KNOW that we KNOW that we KNOW we are saved, … if for no other reason than to dispel any doubt which might get in the way of living a strong life of faith that we can move forward in our life, KNOWING, that we will one day be in Heaven. I pray that you, as do I, have such faith undergirded by God’s truth.
My Prayer Today: Oh, my Lord, … I pray that all who read here join me in KNOWING that we are on Your train to glory. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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