Assurance

Every Saturday the bus workers meet at the church for breakfast and an encouraging meeting. We have some really dedicated people who give up their time to feed us a delicious breakfast.

Then the bus director gives us a few encouraging words and we discuss our goals and what is happening the next day and any other things that need to be discussed.

It was exciting to see the young man from Zambia this Saturday. I suppose he went with someone on visitation. It is always exciting to see a new person become involved in the bus ministry.

The bus director discussed something this Saturday that I had never seen before. Here are the verses involved:
2 Peter 1:1
"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, AND HATH FORGOTTEN THAT HE WAS PURGED FROM HIS OLD SINS."

The words in capitals were what I had never heard explained quite like this before.

The passage is discussing what must be done in a new christian's life to ensure growth. I have these steps circled in my bible already: faith+virtue+knowledge+temperance+patience+godliness+brotherly kindness+charity=a thriving, productive christian. Bro. G mentioned that if we do not mature the result is lack of assurance. See it in those capitalized words. ..."he that lacketh these things is blind(spiritually), and cannot see afar off(I would think this limits his ability to see past the actual circumstance) and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." There is a point when, after a lack of spiritual growth, you can forget that your sins have been forgiven. I UNDERSTAND THAT!!!!

I was saved at the age of 5 and dealt with lack of assurance all during my teen years because I was dealing with the fact that I was not as mature as I should be. This is certainly a very good description of what happened in my heart.

Thank you, Lord for your Word, and it's convicting and confirming power!