Assurance Brings Joy

“You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy;.at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” –Psalm 16:11 (ESV).  “…it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” –Philippians 2:13 (ESV).

My students and members of the youth group I used to lead often asked me, “How can we know the will of God?”  Somehow they thought I had insight to such deep and probing questions of the spirit and about life.  My advice to them then (and as it still would be now that they are grown up and adults in their own right) is:  “God’s Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).  Consult God’s Word daily, assimilate its truths, and seek to live by them.  There are multiple promises that God’s Word will indeed guide us; here is one of them:  “”Deal with Your servant according to Your steadfast love, and teach me Your statutes” (Psalm 119:124).  Many more promises reaffirm that if we just take a little time to study daily and rely on the Word of God to give us direction, His guidance is available.  Couple Bible study with daily prayer, which involves both talking to and listening to God voice, and we are on the road to the assurance that brings joy.  And we are told when to pray, which, in essence, means being constantly in the attitude and mind of prayer:  “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17). Do you want assurance and joy for this New Year of 2013?  God has both available for each of us who seeks.  Yesterday I had to undergo a test on my heart function, since I’m a “survivor” of (since 2007) five bypasses heart surgery.  I lay there undergoing the test (chemically induced, not “tread mill”) and scripture promises I had memorized kept going through my mind to give me comfort, assurance and joy.  This morning, from the imaging laboratory, I got confirmation that my heart is working well!  That led me to the assurance (and joy) that “God’s not finished with me yet” upon this earth!  So now, I will continue to seek God’s will, and “be about my Father’s business.”  I wish for you just such assurance and joy for the New Year!  Selah! –Ethelene Dyer Jones