Blessed Assurance

The song "Blessed Assurance" has been a part of my life for a long time. As a child I remember singing it in church, as a young adult it meant a lot to me as well,l but not until 1987 did the words take on a new depth of meaning for me. you see, it was one of the songs I sang at my mother's bedside in the hospital, as she lay dying of cancer. As I held my mother's hand and she took her final breath, I believe God gave her and me the sweet blessed assurance that everything was going to be OK. And it was. Sure it was hard to let her go, I grieved as a young mother of two young children of all the events she wouldn't be a part of my life of anymore. And to make it even more difficult, my mother's mom had passed away just two weeks previous to my mother's death. The sense of loss was overwhelming, and yet underneath the pain and sorrow that we as humans face with our earthly emotions, there was an underlying peace and sweet blessed assurance that some day I would meet them both again in Heaven.

So the other day some twenty odd years later, I woke up with the words to that song in my mind. It means as much to me now as ever, but I paused to slow down and really listen and to think about the words.

"Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine.......

Now that right there lets me know that no matter what circumstances I am going through today, I need to stop and accept the fact that Jesus is mine.
He is my Savior, he is my Redeemer, my friend. Most importantly of all is that whatever is facing me today, I can rest in the peace and sweet blessed assurance that he is right here with me holding my hand through it all.

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine..........

Now to me that means that whatever joy or happiness we have here on planet earth is just an appetizer for the wondrous joy that yet awaits us. Eyes have not seen, nor ears have heard the wonderful things, the glorious things that God has prepared for his children. We are just allowed a foretaste, a glimpse of the marvelous joy that is waiting for us in Heaven.

Heir of salvation, purchased of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood.

This is my heritage. My entitlement to this blessed assurance has been already bought with Christ's death on the cross, paid in full by his precious
blood.

This is MY Story this is MY Song, praising my Saviour all the day long.

This means that this is personal to me. It is the story of My redemption, and because I've been redeemed, it is my song of praise, praising my saviour all day and everyday for what he has done for me. Hallelujah!
 It is also the story of my life; the joy, the pain, the heartache, the loss the difficulties, the trials, the sorrows.

Some people feel that we as Christians should never experience pain, sorrow or difficulties. I know that we were never promised that life would be a "Rose Garden:" I know that life is not fair. I know that it rains on the just and the unjust. I know that as long as I am clothed in this earthly, fleshly body, I will be subject to the emotions and experiences that we as humans experience. Our Savior knows first hand these pains and sorrows as well when he experienced heart wrenching pain and grief while here on earth.

And so beloved, we are given a gift; this blessed sweet assurance that when we have to walk through the fire of trials on this earth, that we are never truly alone. Our Savior is right there walking aside us reaching out to hold our hand through the most difficult times.

"Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine"..................................