DO YOU HAVE ASSURANCE THAT YOU WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
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)

MEDITATION:
It’s hard isn’t it? You may ask, “What is hard?”
It is hard to imagine that someone you didn’t
even know at the time, would give His life for
you, isn’t it?

Why would He do that? He did it because He is so full of love
that He was willing to do anything to make it possible for you
and everyone else to avoid an eternity of suffering. He could
have called thousands of angels to prevent Him from going to
the cross, but instead He chose to voluntarily allow Himself
to be crucified (which is a most agonizing way to die).

By tasting death for every human being, Jesus took the penalty
that we deserve and erased our guilt of sin before God. Salvation
involves two parts. As unimaginable as it is, Jesus completed His
part out of heart full of love for us, and in obedience to the Father.

However, the second part requires a choice by every individual.
The scriptures tell us that we need to believe in the Son of God.
We can intellectually do that, but so much more is required.
Our belief in Jesus means, we want to invite Him into our lives.

It means we want Him to be Lord of our lives.
It means we want to develop the same characteristics of Jesus.
It means we love Him so much that we want to worship
and praise Him for what He did for us as our Savior.
It means we have a desire to serve Him in some capacity.
    What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if
    someone claims to have faith but has no
    deeds? Can such faith save them?
    (James 2:14)

It means we are willing to make sacrifices for Him.
It means we want His love to flow through us so it
can spill over to those around us.
It means we want others to believe in Him and invite
Him into their lives too.
It means we want to know Him, and for Him to know us.
    “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will
      enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one
      who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
      Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did
      we not prophesy in your name and in your name
      drive out demons and in your name perform many
      miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never
      knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
      (Matthew 7:21-23)

In essence, it means we are totally committed to the Lord
and to His purpose of leading others to Him. We are told
in the scriptures that when we have this kind of belief, we
will know that we have eternal life.

ACTION:
Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Is it an intellectual or a
historical belief, or do you fully believe in Him? He made
the ultimate sacrifice for you; what sacrifices have you
made for Him? Have you sacrificed any of your money,
time, or possessions? God commands us to tithe, not as
a sacrifice, but as an act of obedience and love.

Spending time in prayer, reading His Word, tithing, or
worshipping Him with other believers should never be
considered sacrifices. All of those are acts of love and
appreciation. “Sacrifice” means sacrifice.

It isn’t giving time only when it is convenient and ‘fits’ into
our own plans. And, and it isn’t giving our tithes after we
have bought the things we want for ourselves. God wants
us to give to Him before we satisfy our ‘wants’, as opposed
to giving from our surplus.

Let’s be honest, when we choose to tithe, it might feel kind
of strange to be giving money and not receiving anything in
return. But, we find out through tithing, that we will receive
blessings that money cannot buy.

God blesses our obedience in ways we could have never imagined.
I believe that many people tithe in phases. First they choose to
give some amount to God, which is usually not even close to the
ten percent He commands us to give.

Secondly, they decide to give a tithe which is ten percent of their
net pay (after taxes). Next, they make a choice to give ten percent
of their gross earnings (before taxes), And finally, out of a heart of
love and thankfulness, they give more than ten percent to the Lord.

We may have heard some say. “We can’t ‘out give’ God” and have
had some skepticism about that statement. It’s only natural, isn’t
it? But I can say from experience that it is a valid comment. We
were guilty of the four phases of tithing, and were overwhelmed
when we began the last phase (which is tithing more than ten percent
of our gross income).

When we gave more than ten percent one year, the next year we
discovered that it was ten percent of my new salary. This happened
three years in a row. As you can imagine, Satan wanted us to give
ten percent of what we wanted my new salary to be the next year.

That’s the way he works isn’t it? It sounds like a good thing, but
it is a violation of God’s purpose for tithing. When the fourth
year was not the same as the previous three years, it was decision
time for us. Should we continue tithing above my salary, or not?

We chose to continue tithing above my salary and a few years later,
we were blessed by God in an astounding way. In less than twelve
months my salary was increased by eleven percent, then by fifteen
percent, and finally by another ten percent.

If you do the math, it adds up to an increase of thirty-six percent.
However, since the increases were on a higher salary each time,
it was actually a total of over 40%! We were overwhelmed by the
amount, but more importantly, we were thankful for how the how
the Lord had transformed us into giving out of love, and not out of
a feeling of obligation.

Does that mean tithing will result in financial gain? It might, but
that should not be our motivation. If that is our purpose for tithing,
then we will most likely be disappointed. Why? Because we are giving
for the wrong reason. When we tithe with the right attitude, we can
receive blessings which are much more valuable than money.

God may choose to bless us with peace and happiness like we have
never had. He may bless us with good health, a comfortable home,
a good job (or a new joy and appreciation for our current job), or a
special area of service for Him where we can use the spiritual gift
He gave us when He blessed us with salvation. All we know is that
when we obey His commands, we will receive His blessings in some
way.

Sacrifice of time means we are willing to do what God wants of us.
When God’s will conflicts with our plans, we will choose to obey
Him (even if we have something else we planned to do). Sacrifice of
money means we are willing to give the Lord what He commands,
and enjoy what He allows us to keep.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promise of eternal life
to those who believe in Your Son. Although I may not understand
it all completely, I thank You for Your assurance of my salvation
through Jesus Christ. Forgive me if I have taken for granted the
sacrifice Jesus made for me, and if I have failed to sacrifice for
You and others. Show me where I have failed and teach me how
to start making sacrifices. Help me to make a new commitment
to You, and to start participating in the acts of love that I have
overlooked (either consciously or subconsciously) for too many
years. I want to enjoy my fellowship with You more, to obey You
more, and to serve You in whatever capacity You have chosen
for me. I want to really know You as my Lord and Savior.”

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