Light Steps: Blessed assurance.

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Blessed assurance.

"By this...." and it's more than a feeling...

I don't always feel very Christian. (You may be saying you don't always feel I'm very Christian either.) Sometimes, my heart tries to win the day. My heart tries to convince me I am better than I actually am and some times my heart tries to convince me I'm not loved by God like I am. The heart is deceptive! I surely do not not want to follow my heart, ESPECIALLY if the Holy Spirit is not ruling my heart.

Thank God, HE is bigger than our hearts. HE is bigger than our emotions and feelings. God wants us to have evidence in our lives that goes beyond how we feel in the moment.

Consider: "By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything." (1 John 3:19-20 ESV)

"By this we shall know ... and reassure our heart before..." God. But, you may be thinking, what is the "by this"? Start at 1 John 3:19-20 and read backwards in the passage and you will see the meaning behind "by this."

A summary: if we see need and respond by helping, we know we walk in truth. If we love the brethren with action, we know we are walking in truth. If we love one another --again, with action-- we know we are walking in truth. If we fight sin in our own lives, we know we are walking in truth. If we live and walk as people who actively expect Jesus to return, we walk in truth.

See, beloved friend, the Christian life is about faith that outworks to a certain sort of life. On the days when our hearts condemn us, we look at the pattern of our lives and simply take an inventory to see if our actions agree with our confession. We don't let our feelings win the day! If faith doesn't inform our feelings, then feelings will subvert our faith.

Let us look to the pattern of our lives; do we have habits that live the life of faith in Jesus? If we do, remember that on the days your heart is beating you up. Remember too that God is bigger than my feelings or your feelings. He knows whether our faith is genuine, and He gives us great ways to live out evidence in our own lives.

Peace unto you.

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This Says it for Me!

Every Christian is a contradiction to this old world. He crosses it at every point. He goes against the grain from beginning to end. From the day that he is born again until the day that he goes on to be with the Lord, he must stand against the current of a world always going the other way. God expects him to be "beside himself," "a fool for Christ's sake," "drunk on new wine." If he allows it, men will tone him down, steal the joy of his salvation, and reduce him to the dreary level of the general average. If the devil cannot keep us from being saved, he next endeavors to make average Christians of us, and in this he usually succeeds. He tames the holy recklessness of God's dare-saints until they sink into the drab pattern of most of us, "faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly dull." The devil does not mind our joining church if we behave like most of those who are already inside. But when a real, wide-awake Christian breezes along, taking the Gospel seriously, the devil grows alarmed and begins plotting his downfall. He gets plenty of assistance right in the church, for many church folk do not like to have their Laodicean complacency upset by these who turn the world upside down. So they conspire with Satan to turn the young Christian's fever into a chill. There are always plenty of human wet blankets to smother the zealot's flame, and they have put out more spiritual fires than have all the skeptics and infidels. -- Vance Havner

A Little About Me...

I was born in South Boston, VA, but was raised on the state line in the Person Co., NC - Caswell Co., NC - Halifax Co., VA region. I always tell people you know you are a country boy when your idea of being a "multi-national" means you've been to three counties in your lifetime.

Enough of my geographical meanderings...I became a Christian (ask me about THAT!) at the age of 25 and have done my utmost to serve God since that day. I worked as an associate pastor for 4 1/2 years and now serve in the role of Executive Director of My Life Matters, where I've been since March 2005, and I also serve as the pastor of East Rock Community Church, a church plant, along with fellow elders, Brett Carver & Casey Adams, where we've been since June 2007.

I love to write. I share a devotion in our local paper each week. This blog site is really just an extension of my writing. I really hope to share the Word of God with people...any kind of people, every kind of person. I also do a weekly podcast called "Light Steps Live," which can be found on several platforms.

Thanks for "stopping by"! Y'all come back now, ya hear?