Portals Into God's Presence: Blessed Assurance

Today's hymn is one of my all-time favorites. It's probably the first hymn that I knew by heart. And when my heart is heavy, it is one of those songs that bubbles up in my spirit to lighten the moment. There is something assuring, and reassuring, about having a personal relationship with Jesus and letting that relationship shape the narrative of your life. There is something assuring about being able to declare with confidence, "This is my story, this is my song." My story. My song. In other words, I know that I know that I know that no matter what is going on in my world, I can experience the glory and delight of relationship with Jesus. So, our hymn for the day is Blessed Assurance written by Fannie J. Crosby. One of the beautiful facts about Fannie Crosby and this hymn is that she was blind from shortly after her birth. But without physical sight, she had spiritual sight and insight to pen great hymns like Blessed Assurance, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior, and To God be the Glory!

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

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. 

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

And if that wasn't good enough, please enjoy Gospel great Shirley Ceasar doing her own thang with the song.