Huldah's answer:
Several years ago, I was told that to be saved I needed to pray for God to forgive me and ask Jesus into my heart. I did that, but I didn't think too much about it right away. However, GOD thought MUCH of it and I wasn't getting off that easy. When I finally picked up my Bible and started to read it alone in my room, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. In the pages, it was if I was holding up a mirror, and God was showing me that I had sinned against Him in ways that I hadn't considered. It brought me down low. I realized just how wretched I really was. This time, I got on my knees and asked Him with deep regret to forgive me. And forgive me He did! I felt a burden lifted off of me that was indescribable. I could actually feel His forgiveness.
At the same time I had been suffering with a painful illness that I was told I would have to live with for the rest of my life. One morning, I woke up, got down on my knees, and told God that there was no way I was going to be able to serve my family when I could hardly get out of bed because of the pain. Just then I heard a voice say "Throw your pills away." I did, and I have never taken another since. Over the course of a few months my pain was completely gone.
In addition, all my life since childhood, I had bad dreams several nights a week, always something chasing me that I could never see. Finally one night the dream was so frightening, I woke up in a sweat. I cried out to God and told Him I couldn't take these dreams any more...then they vanished.
God was showing me at every turn that I was truly His and that He loved me.
Today, I no longer struggle with doubt about salvation and here is why...
First, God says He disciplines those that He loves. Heb 12:6 "FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."
When I do sin, the Holy Spirit convicts me. It's like a burning in my bosom, but I know it is for my own good.
Second, God teaches me so many things in the Bible that I could not ever have figured out on my own. I'm not talking about good preaching/teaching on Sunday, though it has its benefits. I mean He teaches me the Bible when I read it with Him alone. Every time I read a Book in the Bible a second, third, or more times, He is faithful to show me something new EVERY time. Getting alone with Him is when He speaks the loudest to me.
Third, He has taken away a lot of the sinful desires I used to have and replaced them with desires that align with His. I no longer take pleasure in the sins I used to commit for fun. I get more enjoyment now running my own Bible study and a Christian Help website, not to mention I am a much better wife and mother than before I was saved.
Finally, God uses me to lead others to Christ, and I love every minute of it. People are hungry to know God, yet so many are so very far from any kind of joy in their lives.
Walking with the Lord is not always easy, and sometimes it is quite hard, however, what baby doesn't struggle to stand, or fall and get hurt sometimes?
One thing I am sure of is this:
Rom 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If you really want assurance of your salvation, let nothing come between you and your alone time with the Lord. He will, over time, show you Himself, that you are His...forever.
Maidservant Huldah
