Anchor for my Soul

The Altitude of Our Attitude Part 2

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The altitude of our attitude will determine the character of the fruit in our lives. Part 2

Increased tolerance and complacency, co-existence with sin, step by step lowers the shield of God’s protection, provision, replacing it with His judgements.

There is a difference between defiance and restoration.  Restoration is replacing bricks with bricks, defiance is replacing bricks with hewn stone.

The real issue is in the refusal to rebuild God’s original with His exact pattern and purpose and plan.  The tragedy is after a while of continually altering God’s design, we find we have replaced God as the only architect and contractor in the building of our lives.  Eventually we have made Him a subcontractor, subject to our instructions, resulting in something we consider more attractive and practical to us  personally yet having no strength roots to stand the storms of life.  Storms test, strengthen, establish us in our faith and enlarge and enrich the quality and durability of the fruits in our lives.
No longer seeing the original as adequate, refusing to locate and correct the cause of the calamity, we will instead redefine what is right and wrong and push ourselves over the cliff of destruction. If instead we deal only with surface symptoms, then we insure the increasing growth of the root problem.  It is only when the root is dealt with (by confession, repentance) does remission and restoration take place.

Many of the damaging decisions our government makes in the laws it passes and the legal decisions it puts into place were not all done with evil intent.   They truly thought that these superficial measures would, if not permanently, would at least temporarily correct the situation until by a natural sequence of events everything would return to normal.  Unfortunately, we have adopted without being aware of it,  an attitude that redefined what is normal and approved by God.  Anything we accept as normal that God does not is subject to the consequences of His disapproval.

There are two shakings that take place in the lives of non-Christians as well as compromised Christians.  The first is intended  to lead to repentance, followed by remission, concluding in restoration.  The second leads to the judgements of God.

Healing the Defiled Land

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Healing the Defiled Land

2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:17-22
As for you, if you follow me as your father David, did and obey all my commands, laws, and regulations, then I will not let anyone take away your throne.  This is the same promise I gave your father, David, when I said, “You will never fail to have a successor who rules over Israel.”

But if you abandon Me and disobey the laws and commands I have given you, and if you go and worship other gods, then I will uproot the people of Israel from this land of mine that I have given them.  I will reject this Temple that I have set apart to honor my name.  I will make it a spectacle of contempt among the nations.  And though this Temple is impressive now, it will become an appalling sight to all who pass by.  They will ask, Why has The Lord done such terrible things to his land and His Temple?!!!  And the answer will be, Because his people abandoned The Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and they worshipped other gods instead.  That is why He brought these disasters upon them.

2 Chronicles 6:19-42
(26) When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, when they pray toward this place and confess your name, and turn sin because You afflict them.
(27) then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel.  Teach them what is right, and send rain on your land, that you have given to your people as their special possession.
(30) then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive.  Give your people whatever they deserve, for you alone know the human heart.
(42) O Lord God, do not reject your anointed one.  Remember your unfailing love for your servant David.

Ezekiel 22:30
So I looked for a man among men that would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

Psalm 60:1-4
(1) You have rejected us, O God, and broken our defenses.  You have been angry with us, now restore us to your favor.
(2) You have shaken our land and split it open.  Seal the cracks before it completely collapses.
(3) You have been very hard on us, making us drink wine that that sent us reeling.
(4) But You have raised a banner for those who honor You—- a rallying point in the face of attack.

Isaiah 19:21-22
In that day The Lord will make Himself known to the Egyptians.  Yes they will know The Lord and give their sacrifices and offerings to Him.  They will  make promises to The Lord and keep them.
(22) The Lord will strike Egypt in a way that will bring healing.  For the Egyptians will turn to The Lord, and He will listen to their pleas and heal them.

When a nation or a people defile a land which God has given them, (for gifts of God are expressions of His Love ) His blessings become defiled.

Deuteronomy 11:16-25
Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other god’s and worship them.  (17) lest The Lord’s anger be aroused. Against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which The Lord is giving you.  (18) therefore you shall lay up these words of Mine in your heart and in your soul, bind them on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  (19) you shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up.  (20) And you shall wrote them on the door-post of your house and ers your gates.  (21) that your days and the days of your may be multiplied in the land of which The Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.  (22) For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do-to loveThe Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to hold fast to Him—(23) then The Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and, and you will dis-possess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.  (24) Every Place on which the soul of your foot treads shall be yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.  (25) No man shall be able to stand against you; The Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to too.

1Kings 8:35
When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place, and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because you afflict them.  (36) Then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, that you may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

1 kings 17:1
And Elijah the Tishite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, and to Ahab.  As The Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.

Luke 4:25. “But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens was shut up three years and six months, and there was great famine throughout all the land.

2 Chronicles 7:13 “If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Rev. 11:6 “These have power to shut to shut up heaven, so that no rain falls in the day’s of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth all plagues, as often as they desire.(Rev. 11:3) Two Witnesses.

God can, and desires to do so, and will heal the land if we meet His conditions, and Pray.

Exodus 15:26. “And said  if you diligently heed the voice of The Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians, for I am The Lord who heals you.

Malachi 4:2. “But to you who fear My Name, The Son of Righteousness shall arise.  With healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like well stalled calves.

GOD’S original eternal plan for creating this amazing planet, Earth.
Genesis 1:10  “And God called the dry land Earth, and gathered together all the waters He called Seas, and God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 2:15 “Then The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.  God says the land is Mine.

Exodus 9:29. “So Moses said to him “as soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to The Lord; the thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail, that you may know the earth is the Lord’s.

Exodus 19:5 “Now therefore if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special people; for the earth is Mine.

Deut:10:14. “Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to The Lord your God, also the Earth and all that is in it.

Joshua 1:2 “Moses My servant is dead, now therefore, arise and go over this Jordan, and you and all this people, to the land which I a giving you–Israel.  (1:3) Every place that the sole of your feet will tread upon I have given you as I said to Moses.

1 Samuel 2:8 “He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the bigger from the ash heap, to sit them among princes.  And make them inherit the Throne of Glory.  For the pullers of the earth are The Lords

The Full Armor of God

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Eph. 6:10-13

6:11. Put on the full armor of God, that you can take your stand against the Devil’s scheme

This suit provides a specially prepared mixture of oxygen and gases for the diver to breath at the various depths he encounters.  Notice the diver by himself can do little other than make himself available to someone he trusts to cloth him with suitable clothing and equip him with capable proven equipment that will accomplish the task while protecting from danger.  This special suit provides breathable air in a place where breathing is impossible.  It equalizes the pressures from without with the pressures from within keeping one safe from being crushed (discouraged) or exploded (pride).  The suits are used for underwater recovery-repair-salvage-exploration in places otherwise not accessible.  The air mixture, as well as air pressure, must be provided by someone extremely well skilled on what will be needed at all depths. (Holy Spirit) Ps:25:5.

The Lord knows the shipwrecks in our lives, and once we cloth ourselves with His Word, walk in obedience to that word while continuing in our fellowship with His Spirit, we find ourselves living our lives in His power.

1Jn. 3:24 “those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Eph. 6:10-13. “Put on the full armor of God, that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

2Cor. 10:3 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.”

1 Jn. 4:4 “You dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

1 Peter 2:11 “Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world, to obstain from evil desires, which war against your soul.”

Acts 17:28 “in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of our poets have said “We are His off-spring.”

Romans 6:4 ” we are therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we to may live a new life.”

Roots

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Take care of the roots, and the situation comes under control

Increased tolerance, complacency, and a co-existence with sin step by step lower the shield of God’s protection and provision, replacing it with His judgments.

There is a difference between defiance and restoration.  Restoration replaces bricks with bricks; defiance replaces bricks with hewn stone.

The real issue is in the refusal to rebuild God’s original with His exact pattern and purpose and plan.  The tragedy occurs after a while of continually altering God’s design; we find we have replaced God as the architect and contractor in the building of our lives and made Him a subcontractor, subject to our instructions.   This results in something that we consider more attractive and practical to us personally but having no strength or roots to stand in the storms of life.  Storms test, strengthen, establish us in our faith, and enlarge and enrich the quality and durability of the fruits of our lives.

No longer seeing the original plan as being adequate, refusing to locate and correct the cause of the calamity, we instead redefine what is right and wrong and we push ourselves over the cliff of destruction.  Instead, by dealing only with surface symptoms, this insures the increasingly growth of the root problem.  It is only when the root is dealt with (through confession, repentance) does remission and restoration take place.

Many of the damaging decisions our government makes in the laws it passes and the legal decisions they put into place were not all done with evil intent.   They truly thought that these superficial steps would, if not permanently then at least temporarily, correct the situation until by a natural sequence of events everything would return to normal.  Unfortunately, we have, without being aware of it, redefined what is normal and approved by God.  Anything we accept as normal that God does not is subject to the consequences of His disapproval.

There are two shakings that take place in the lives of non-Christians as well as compromised Christians.  The first is intended to lead to repentance, followed by remission, concluding in restoration.  The second leads to the judgments of God.

The Altitude of Our Attitude Part 1

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The altitude of our attitude will determine the character of the fruit in our lives.

Man’s access to heaven is in no way determined by his will, resolution, or power.  God reached down from heaven, with the death, burial, resurrection of JESUS.  Not originating from earth to heaven.  The curtain was torn from top to bottom, not bottom to top.  The only thing God requires is obedience to Him. For man to access heaven and for forgiveness is like trying to push up on a rope ladder and climbing it by self effort.  Questions we ask can become light switches within our understanding for God to illuminate.  Remember, we have the revealer of all truth dwelling within us, desiring to reveal to us.

“Not my will, but thine be done”

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1 Peter 1

Sanctification: Set Apart.

Know your enemy

Know can mean several things…identify or experience him

God’s hand is on us just as strong in the storm as when we are at rest.  We need to treat our time of rest with the same caution as when we are actively ministering.  Do not allow ourselves to be disgraced, diverted, or compromised by the unknown wages of sin and trouble we  find ourselves in.

God’s elect  are strangers in the world

John 17:17-19

2 Thes 2:13 2:17 Bound to give thanks for you

The fore knowledge of God is different than predestination. God would that none would perish…God intended for all mankind to be save,  but he knew who would and who would not…He even knew when.   This doesn’t mean He is taking away any choice…God is making a way.  He sets us aside, but we need to set ourselves aside and walk in His will.  We can’t come into His presence unless we are invited. We cannot make ourself holy.  The rich young ruler tried to do that. Why do we prefer to live on our own? We don’t want to submit to the holy character of God.  He opens the door, but we need to walk through the doorway through the sanctifying ability of the Holy Spirit.  He can identify the rot and the affairs of life that God will deal with.   We are sanctified and set apart. How do we know? We know because the voice of the Holy Spirit is peace.

All 3 members of the trinity are active in our sanctification…the Father called, Jesus cleanses us with His blood, and Holy Spirit does the work of sanctification…He sprinkles the blood.  The Holy Spirit is the hand of God in the heart of the believer.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance…does not mean we have abundance on the outside… we may not be able to tell by our environment or our future…the natural mind fights the unknown because it can’t control it.  We are saved because God is with us.  He removes the spirit of fear and then hope comes in.  Perfect love casts out all fear.  It is in the journey into the unknown that we learn to trust the Lord. Once we anticipate disaster, we can create a disaster and destruction.   We must guard ourselves in times of rest and in times of war. We must take our thoughts captive. We haven’t engaged the angels as we should…the spirit world knows our weaknesses.  The peace of God is in the heart, not necessarily the head.  Where he invites us, he will provide the means.  The scars of our warfare are reminders, the Spirit of God and the Word of God changes things. Our memory reminds us of the victory, not the despair, the power and the peace.  No peace, no joy, no joy, no strength.  In due season, God manifests His faithfulness.  We resent the suffering we go through for our faith, but it is the faithful sufferings of Christians that creates the wick for the Holy Spirit to burn for the world to see. He didn’t die for any reason except to love us.  Lord, let my life be a reflection of your love.

:3 mercy unmerited favor…a living hope ..a living Holy Spirit… it remove all fear of death…by his resurrection, he has made a way and a door. We never have to face anything alone. We have assurance that we will overcome because He has overcome. He doesn’t expect us to do anything but our part…to follow… not to go before.

We have an inheritance incorruptible …never perishes, spoisl, fades, wears out, tarnishes

We are shielded through Gods power until the coming of salvation.

:6. We can greatly rejoice through faith….in this promise, this fact…it is a reality. We suffer grief and trials for only a little while compared to eternity.  In the time of my weakness, I will draw near to you and get to know you.  In the suffering, we are investing in the kingdom…keep on praying, keep on being thankful, thank God in every problem, not for it.  Pray effectively and unencumbered. Be a thermostat, not a thermometer

We need to know the scriptures so we can understand how God has addressed the issues of our lives previously.  When Jesus Christ has been revealed, then we have evidence of why we know, not for what we see.  He doesn’t have to prove anything.  How do we know?  We know Him in our hearts…

The goal of our faith is the salvation of our souls, locked by the power of sin, unable to free our soul to be who we really are. Christ has the key that sets us free…we have the choice. We are no longer at the mercy of something outside of ourselves.  God says we need to take ownership of our sins and our faith.  The blood is effective when applied.

Even angels have longed to look at such things.

How do people keep going on with the same hope, from old testament until now? “Not my will, but thine be done.” Losing ourselves in order to find it.  Whatever part is redirecting us from His will….we ask Him to destroy it…We say, God…You are more important.  God sees the anchor of the soul and the cry of the spirit. God bring it to the place where we say it and mean it. “Not my will, but thine be done.”

God Knows Our Shipwrecks

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Acts 27 (NIV)

1Tim 1:18,19 (NIV)

By following the words previously given to you, you may fight the good fight.  You will never arrive at your destination, if you never leave in the first place.  You can talk about it, but if you never launch out from the dock you won’t get to where you are going.  On most voyages a storm will be encountered.

They decided to plot their own course and devise their own methods. Some start out with faith in Jesus Christ and when they got a word from the Lord, they thought they would automatically get there, but God had the journey totally  planned out ahead of time, from beginning to the end.  Some blame the situation on the enemy, not taking the time to ask god the source and purpose of this apparent difficulty, and they shipwreck their faith.  Somewhere along the line, they get off track.  A shipwreck is when a life has been ruined, and all the cargo lost.  Some people live in a shipwrecked life, but God restores that which “the cankerworm has eaten”.

The one hope they had is gone, everything is all terrible;  they made a mess of their life. But God knows how to salvage.  Salvagers will bring up a sunken ship, and bring it into dry dock.  We need a dry dock experience…. We need to be pulled out of the water.  The things that drag and cause friction, the barnacles of life, need to be scraped away.  Ships are refitted, restocked and repainted in dry dock.  We need to take ownership of our shipwreck.  We must take instructions.  The Word is about the purpose of God and how He wants to use us…it is not about us and how we want to use God.

Acts 27:1

It was a long journey…Paul had a destination in mind.  He knew it was a bad time of the year and he was a prisoner. He had  already gained favor with his captors. Nevertheless, Paul did not have a prisoner mentality.  They may have been his captors, but that did not make them his enemy.   Mentally, the one who is in charge over you is the enemy.  But Paul  was a prisoner of his calling.  They opposed his message, but Paul really had the whole ship of captors captive.  All focus was on him.  He was never caught up with wealth or things.  Paul’s focus was on his journey. In the natural, he was physically their captive, but in reality, they were all captives who were to personally experience God.  God may, in His mercy, save some one’s life, but that doesn’t guarantee that they will become saved.

Paul was not in control of the situation, but he was in control of his response to his call regardless of the situation.(Romans 8:28).   God puts the candle in a place to demonstrate God’s will…to expose that place to the presence of God.  Paul says that he is going to minister the word of God to those around him…he warned his captors. Why would God show Paul about the storm, when he knew they wouldn’t listen? His message, later, had much more validity…enabling Paul to speak life. The Word. supernaturally, steps in…They are at the total mercy of the storm…They tossed out a sea anchor; (some anchors are made to drag, and others are made to catch hold).

No sun or stars appeared for many days and they were a long time without food… A time when many of us get so discouraged we give up all hope of being rescued.

Keep up your courage so you don’t give up because safety is at hand…

“Neverthelesswe must run aground on some island”

God knew about the foolish decisions men would make.  Even though Paul wasn’t in a decision making position, the delay had a purpose, God had a purpose in that delay.

Those affected would never have encountered God.  We can be so focused on our destination that we miss moments of opportunity. We must realize that God is going to use us in the lives and eternal destination of others.

The place ministers to the individual.  Paul experiences something that he hadn’t experienced before.  God wanted this account written…this is for our profit.  The things in our lives will be points of reflections, or things we tell our children.  The delays of calling become the opportunities of maturing.  Crewmen are taking things a lot more seriously…even though they may not have been converted.  Paul operated out of courage and faith, not fear.  His courage and faith were his strength.  God said it so, that settled it. He was able to say (:25) keep up your courage because I have heard from God. Paul is secure in the Lord.

Unless these men stay with the ship, you will not be saved…God will control the elements…you control the rest.

Someone took charge of the element of fear…arrested fear and gave sound instruction. (:36) they were encouraged.  Paul took control of the situation.

The bow stuck fast and would not be moved…prophecy fulfilled.

The ship had to break up for the men to have planks to float in on…wreckage has life saving possibilities.   Stock market may totally wipe a person out, or they may  work through it…The 2nd time around we will learn lessons.

GOD is in Control

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When everything seems to be out of control in your life, and the world around you.  Even when you find yourself in a place of great difficulty and testing because decisions of those who are in authority, and there isn’t any  way to escape.  Be not discouraged, for “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”  No weapon formed against you shall prosper”

Sometimes God forewarns us of impending disasters if we do not heed His counsel, as was the case Paul’s journey to Rome in Acts 27.  and He does not, for reasons He only knows, remove us. 

Nothing surprises God, He will make a way for you to prosper for His Kingdom while everyone, and everything around us is facing utter destruction. “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit.  Who  leads you by the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17) 

God is concerned about us arriving at our destination, He also is very concerned about the lives we encounter during that journey, no matter how inconvenient it may be to you.  God did not  necessarily plan the cause of that delay, but that delay was the opportunity to receive Christ that they otherwise may not known.  We must redeem every opportunity.

Always remember walking hand in hand with the Lord as Paul did, will always enable you to complete your initial mission.

JOHN  14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.

We often are finding ourselves asking something from God such as Peace, when Jesus said that He has already left His peace with and in us.”  This is the kind of peace Paul had in Acts 27.  This peace is immune from all circumstances,providing you are faithful to the Word and the Spirit.  Isaiah 48:17(b) “I am the Lord your God, who teaches {to instruct, train,prod, goad, teach; to cause someone to learn.”

One of the reasons Paul was so effective in influence on the soon to be shipwrecked vessel was the manner in which he conducted himself both in attitude and then attitude.  Pr. 3:6″In all your ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct your path.  He also did not view his captors or anyone else on the ship as enemies, but people God also cared and died for.  His focus was never totally on the storm.  He was fully aware of it and all the dangers it offered, but his undetering resolve was the destiny God had commission him to do, not the comfort of the flesh.

Paul like many of us know and expect trials and struggles in our walk with God, but we are often blindsided, ambushed,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace I Leave, My Peace I Give

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Jn 14:27  Peace I leave with you.  My Peace I give to you, not as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. NIV
  

What a wonderful promise but, if you are like me and sometimes have doubts in the secret place of your thoughts, you find yourself asking God if perhaps I were the exception. Without sounding disrespectful I was reasonably sure that  He fully understood my situation personally.  How could this promise apply to me now in light of all the fearful and seemingly uncontrollable things continually going on?  I know the Word tells me that Jesus was tempted in all the temptations Satan can tempt us with, yet there is that thought that comes, that I’m not proud of ,that says “but Jesus is the Son of God.”

Yet if we consider that through out the ages the horrible results of sin  world wide, politically, economically and environmentally have been continually occurring.

I’ve told the Lord I’ve tried everything I could possibly think of and nothing seems to work.   How can this promise apply to me?

Our lives need one single not several anchors that has proven itself through the test of time and all levels of difficulty, never having failed nor been untrue.

I will just touch on some of these concerns and in following articles talk in a little more detail on each of them.

First of all we must understand that the Peace that Jesus is speaking of has little to do with events that are happening around us.  This is a reality peace imparted by the Holy Spirit, that remains constant and unmoving within your heart. 

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:6  “By the Spirit is Life and Peace.”

Jn 16:33  “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have Peace.  In the world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.”

I will close for now and continue the next time we meet here.  Know that it is not I that needs to teach you, it is the  Holy Spirit who will guide you into all truth.  We’re not meeting on this web page to gather information, but rather for each of us to hear from God personally.  I’m only sorry I cannot speak to each of you and hear what God has spoken to you. 

Until next time we meet here, May God continually keep  you in the safe harbor of His heart. Selah.

anchor for the soul

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Hebrews 6:13-20 NIV

13When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek