Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Worship for Today: Assurance in Jesus Christ.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 2 Timothy 1:12,

"I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am
convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for
that day."

As a combat veteran I know what it is like to have to count on
something working. In Viet Nam I was a mortar gunner and carried an
M16. I also had opportunity to have to rely on a 50 caliber machine
gun while manning a listening post away from our unit with just a few
others, waiting for the enemy in the night.

I used to be a logger in Oregon. While working as a choker setter on a
rigging crew we had to rely on our yarder operator to respond exactly
as we whistled him. The slightest wrong move could result in being
crushed under a log or getting cut in half by the mainline. We had to
count on our yarder operator with certainty.

While these are life-and-death situations, we all know what it is like
to have to trust someone or something else. When leaving our children
with a sitter or at school we have to rely on others to ensure our
children are kept safe. When we have loved ones that face serious
medical issues we have to rely on medical personnel to do just the
right thing. When we have to hit our brakes while driving we count on
them working. Sometimes we have been let down.

Not with our God! He is absolutly reliable! We can count on him to
follow through on every promise he has ever made. On these we can be
fully assured of. He tells us that if we put our faith and trust in
him, when judgment day comes we will be forgiven all sin. When we take
our last breath in this life we can be assured he is waiting to
receive us on the other side. When Jesus comes back to planet earth we
can be certain we will be raised with incorruptible bodies. We can
take great assurance that we will live an abuntant life throughout
eternity with him if we but put our faith and trust in him.

These all have nothing to do with which church I attend, what theology
I subscribe to or how well behaved I may be. It doesn't matter if I am
active in the local PTA, go to every church service or tithe
regularly. It doesn't matter if my checkbook balances or my grass is
cut. All of these promises are based on the faithfulness of God
himself and together with Paul we can be fully convinced that God is
able to guard what we have entrusted to him for that day!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

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