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. This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
1 John 5:13-15
Confidence
"Are you sure?" Satan still asks, as he tries to rob you of your confidence.
John, disciple of Jesus, points out two things that will deepen your confidence, AND give reason for your as-yet-unbelieving friends to look more deeply into the truths about Jesus, when you tell them, "Yes, I'm sure."
John's first key that unlocks confidence is the sure knowledge that eternal life is yours.
The full confidence of knowing that you have eternal life in heaven comes with the gift of the Holy Spirit that "you believe in (you trust in) the name of the Son of God." His given name is Jesus, which means "savior, rescuer." A worthwhile study would be to search out as many of the Bible's titles and descriptive names for Jesus you could find. His "name" includes all that he has done for you. It is a revealed fact, then, that God's Son came into the world as true man and accomplished his mission perfectly. The payment of his life, death and resurrection for the sins of the world was accepted by the Father as payment in full. Trusting in Jesus and everything that his names tell you about him, you may know for a fact that you have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Next, the wise old apostle teaches you about a second key to confidence. It regards your prayers to God: "If we ask anything according to his will." God's will is what God wants. The Bible reveals what God wants us to believe and do, as far as we need to know it. And for the things that only God knows, Jesus teaches us to trust as he trusted, saying, "Not my will, but yours be done." Since we are praying for God's good will to be done, "We know that we have what we asked of him" whether his answer be "yes," "no," or "wait patiently."
That's God-given confidence.
Prayer:
Lord, keep me sure. Amen.
The devotions on Thursdays and Fridays in September, October, and November are based on the book of 1 John.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Devotions are brought to you by WELS and 
Print Friendly
No comments:
Post a Comment