If you’re reading this, it is almost certain that you have put your trust in Jesus as your saviour. Sometimes, however, doubt comes over us; and our trust meets temptation and begins to be tested. Whether suddenly or over the course of a few days, weeks, or even years, we can start to feel distant from Jesus and despair. Reading the articles we released last week, I was reminded of a beautiful hymn by Fanny Crosby, called Blessed Assurance. Here’s a rewritten rendition for those times when that assurance feels hard to hold onto:
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,
but doubts still creep in, time after time,
I know he’s my saviour, but I know my sin,
and I still think about the mire he found me in.Blessed assurance, Jesus is thine,
Are you a sheep in the fold, while I’m eating with swine?
Did I find the pearl of the field?
Do I possess that breastplate and shield?Is this my story? Is this my song?
Have I failed to believe all along?
What can I do, to remember what’s true,
to come back and proclaim his glorious name?Echoes of mercy, new every morn’,
Help to remind me, of each nail and each thorn,
Lord of the nations, King of the Jews,
Died for these moments, what glorious news.Is this your story? Did you sing along?
Then join me in praising, lift up a new song,
Say, “He will not falter! He knew all my sin!
Yet, when I see him, he’ll welcome me in!”1
Each of last week’s article deal in some way with the assurance that only comes from above. You’ll read about a church revitalised and refreshed, the relief of witnessing Jesus at work, and what to do when we fear that we’re not a member of the elect.
Don’t forget this week that you belong to Jesus, and Jesus is yours.
Grace and Peace,
Adsum Try Ravenhill is married to Anna and together they are passionate about seeing men and women discipled within the context of the local church. You can find Adsum through his writing at The Raven’s Writing Desk and you can also find Adsum’s articles for GCD here.
Last Week at GCDiscipleship.com
Unless The Seed Dies
by Tom Sugimura
“Young families trickle in as they see the signs of life. Our nursery bustles with more babies. Children totter through the courtyard and teens now seek a youth group. We find ways to partner in community, to reach the lost, to once more send out missionaries and church planters. We seek more workers for the harvest and bear much fruit from this soil of a church that died.”
A Sigh of Relief At The Sight Of Jesus
by Jesse Welliver
“You could hear the moment it clicked for the men that night. At first, it was the “ah” of realization. That turned into the breathy sigh of relief. The first two Psalms are not in the Bible to provide us with a goal to achieve. Instead, they point us to the Anointed One, the King, and the Son who already achieved the blessed life described in the text.”
How Do I Know If God Has Elected Me?
by Andrew David Naselli
“A transformed life is evidence of election, yet we must not twist that truth by morbidly introspecting. Jonathan Edwards explains, “Although self-examination be a duty of great use and importance, and by no means to be neglected; yet it is not the principal means, by which the saints do get satisfaction of their good estate. Assurance is not to be obtained so much by self-examination, as by action.”