Another morning started with praise!
There is a time and place when completely alone, no noise – only the sound of my own breathing, that from the depth of my heart a song rises up.
“This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.”
That’s the chorus to a hymn written 150 years ago by Fannie Crosby, “Blessed Assurance”. Miss Crosby wrote hundreds of hymns of faith. She was a woman who faced hardships, not the least being that she was blind from the early age of three. Her mother and grandmother raised her to know and trust God’s word and it’s evident in her music.
The first verse of this hymn goes like this:
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.”
Heir of salvation, purchased of God, Born of His Spirit, I’m washed in His blood. What a marvelous truth, a truth to give strength, hope and resolve. The premise for this song comes from a verse in Hebrews.
“So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let’s keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water.” Hebrews 10:22 CEV
The writer of Hebrews spent the whole book comparing the sacrifices and duties of the Old Testament priests with the blood sacrifice of Jesus. The sacrifice of animals had to be done every year to cover sin but the blood sacrifice of Christ was done once and for all, cleansing us completely.
“But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God’s right side, 13 and he will stay there until his enemies are put under his power. 14 By his one sacrifice he has forever set free from sin the people he brings to God.” Hebrews 10:12-14 CEV
A sacrifice that is good forever, never needing to be repeated, offered by the sinless Lamb of God; one sacrifice setting us free from sin!
“ Christ is the sacrifice that takes away our sins and the sins of all the world’s people.” I John 2:2 CEV
This sweet assurance is mine and is available to all who receive the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf. This is my story, this is my song…Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!