How We Know

Asking ourselves if we really know we are a Christian happens.

Will I really spend eternity in Heaven?

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13

-maybe you were a kid when you accepted Christ
-maybe you were a teen
-maybe you were a young adult
-maybe you were middle age
-maybe you were older
-maybe you've never accepted Him and you wonder how you will know

Have you ever wondered if you really know. "Know if you know" you are saved. "Know if you know" you will spend eternity in Heaven. I mean you accepted Christ, right? Do you know?

Often our own thoughts stumble us. Or the enemy tries to steal what truth we already know by telling us "you don't know everything". The enemy may even go as far as distracting us so we don't find truth in The Word period. "What about the time or times I messed up?" You still believed didn't you?

Until we keep pushing those false thoughts away will we have true assurance. In the verse above, 1 John 5:13, John tells use in the concluding affirmation of his letter we can know. We can "know we know" we will receive eternal life.

We must cling to the truth heard when we first accepted Christ. As this is the moment recognizing the beginning of our walk with Christ. From there our knowledge of the Lord must grow. We deepen our understanding through study. Then we can use what we've learned. What we have grown from to help teach others. Although we learn more we must never abandon the truth about Christ.

Jesus will always be God's Son.

His sacrifice for our sins is permanent.

Nothing else can ever change this teaching.

As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us - eternal life. 1 John 2:24, 25

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11,12

The moment you believe, you have eternal life.

No need to worry.
No need to work for it.
No need to hope for it.
No need to base it off feelings.

It's guaranteed. God himself gives eternal life the moment you believe. This is based off facts, facts of God's truth.

If you are uncertain, ask yourself: "Have I wholeheartedly committed my life to Christ as my Lord and Savior?" If you answer yes, then by faith you know for certain you are a child of God. You are a Christian. By faith my friends. No reason to question anymore.

Hopefully, these words shared today clear the air for some of your questions. I am very thankful He laid it heavy on my heart to dig a little deeper in His word putting it out on the front line for others to read. As this was a recent topic in a Bible study I am doing this semester. The bottom line is if you were a child when you accepted Christ but since then have strayed away, walked through some raunchy paths or don't know Him as well as you think you should He is still your Savior. How awesome is that? Whisper a prayer today, ask God to draw closer to you and you Him (James 4:8). He longs for us to lean into Him. Even when we've messed up, have doubts or question if we know. Nothing is too big for Him.

You are His.

When did you accept Christ?
Would you like to accept Christ?
Did you whisper a prayer today?
Do you have a big story?
Do you have a small story?

The Room is Empty

I am aware of the space surrounding me.

Thanksgiving day passed. Everyone returned to school and work. The blind next to me raised halfway allows sunlight to shine on my face. I sit at my writing place. The Christmas tree lights shine across the room into the dark of the tree branches. I ponder finding joy in the loneliness of writing. 

A soul longs for quiet moments, but how quiet? How do you find the balance blocking out the chatter of the world, the chatter of the enemy, self-doubt, the lonely?

I am encouraged to ask myself first "did you pray" before starting a day of writing.  

Praying I know brings peace. 

The peace embraces the silence of loneliness. 

Communicating this to our souls as a writer brings the importance of writing to a higher understand. It's beyond us. It's an act of obedience reminding us to whom we belong, that we are loved, we are truly important, and we are secure in Him. 

So I ask you-the-writer, "Did you think to pray?" before starting a day of writing. 

View the time of writing as your time with God.

Focus on the need for Him.

Let Him fill you up.

He will equip you reminding you, you are His. You are secure. There's no room for lonely thoughts of doubt when the room is full of Him. We must not allow loneliness to consume our soul. Loneliness is known as a lack of purpose. As an obedient child of God's, we have all the purpose in the world of writing.  

Allowing the lonely time to strengthen our prayer life is refreshing. I am reminded of this in Isaiah 66:9, a time of loneliness (suffering) is also a time of something new being born. Writing is a form of birth. Laboring those lonely pains births a new writing, a new prayer life.

Shall I bring to the point of birth and then not deliver? asks the Lord your God. No! Never! Isaiah 66:9 TLB

Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the Lord. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God. Isaiah 66:9 NIV

In the same way I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born,” says the Lord. “If I cause you the pain, I will not stop you from giving birth to your new nation,” says your God. Isaiah 66:9 NCV

Let the lonely be a launching pad to your greatest calling.

You are called to write.