Transformation - Day 6

"This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it." - Colossians 1:21-23

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine . . .  One of the distinctives of being Methodist is the belief that Christ followers have a secure assurance of their eternal destiny through the forgiveness of sins (Good News!).  John Wesley, methodism's founder, spent much of his life trying to earn the favor of a judging God, he had been a missionary to America, an Anglican priest, but it wasn't until one evening, when amongst a group of devout Moravians that he was overwhelmed by the love of God and felt his heart "strangely warmed."  Click on any of the links to read more.

Paul wrote, "don't drift away from the assurance you received when you first heard the Good News . . ."  Do you have this assurance?

I remember sitting with my grandmother just days before she passed away.  These are always opportunities to talk about important things like life after death, grace, forgiveness, release.  As I talked about heaven, she remarked, "I hope . . . I hope I get to heaven."  Her hope wasn't based on hope but on doubt.  Hope that she was "good enough" or that some how she stumbled upon God's favor.  My heart grieved.  I tried to share about grace - what Paul has been speaking of through this transformation series of devotions. "Grandma you can't be good enough .  It's not what you've done, but what God through Jesus Christ has done for you . . ."  Grandma had grown up in church her whole life and yet some how missed or somehow had let "drift away" this blessed assurance.  We shared some more. To be honest, i can't even remember how the conversation ended, but I did pray for her, pay that she would grasp the love of God for her - grace - unconditional, unmerited favor, assurance that her sins were forgiven, not by what she'd done, but by who Jesus Christ is.

May you too recognize this and find your heart strangely warmed.