Anchor Me
It is a good thing that this week started out full of sunshine because it's been a stormy week. Throughout the storms, there have been rays brightly shining through, yet my heart has been heavy as I wrestle in prayer and slog through the grey.
I would say the overall theme is that we need Jesus in this world. I need Jesus every moment of the day. From my sweet toddler who declared to the nurse at the doctor's office "I don't want to be nice! I want to be mean!" to my dad's overnight hospital stay to marriage struggles abounding in the body of Christ and junk rising up in my own marriage, it is evident that our only hope and confidence in this world is found in the One who sacrificed EVERYTHING to give us abundant life.
When I place my confidence and hope in how my kids are performing, how good they are and when I place the responsibility for my joy on my husband or my job, then my emotions roll along in a sea of calm (yay, I'm happy!)...then rollicking and scary (wow, I'm overwhelmed, how do I do this?)...then peaceful (oh, so nice)...then not-so-peaceful and uncertain (I thought we were doing great...aren't we? Yikes, we've got issues!), well, it's exhausting. Even the good things become exhausting, draining, sapping the life right out of me. It is time to lay down self and those wishy-washy emotions and pick up all of Jesus.
Jesus LOVES me. He LOVES the body of Christ. He is Healer, Redeemer, Living Water, Bread of Life. Our Anchor and Lifeline.
Hebrews 6:18-20
...This was so that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled to Him for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before us. Now we have this hope as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul -- it cannot slip or break down under whoever steps out upon it -- a hope that reaches farther and enters into the very certainty of the Presence within the veil, where Jesus has entered in for us, a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
The Message puts it like this:
God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.
Father, may this day -- regardless of circumstances good or bad -- be one of those days in which I fix my eyes upon You. You are so good and holy, so full of mercy and grace and truth. You are our Helper and our Friend. You have made us beautiful in your sight. Bless all of the ones struggling this week with eyes to see that you are the Anchor for our souls, our certain hope. Give us strength and strong encouragement. You tell us in Isaiah "And the effect of righteousness shall be peace [internal and external], and the result of righteousness, quietness and confident trust for ever." I receive it and claim it! In Jesus' name, Amen
I would say the overall theme is that we need Jesus in this world. I need Jesus every moment of the day. From my sweet toddler who declared to the nurse at the doctor's office "I don't want to be nice! I want to be mean!" to my dad's overnight hospital stay to marriage struggles abounding in the body of Christ and junk rising up in my own marriage, it is evident that our only hope and confidence in this world is found in the One who sacrificed EVERYTHING to give us abundant life.
When I place my confidence and hope in how my kids are performing, how good they are and when I place the responsibility for my joy on my husband or my job, then my emotions roll along in a sea of calm (yay, I'm happy!)...then rollicking and scary (wow, I'm overwhelmed, how do I do this?)...then peaceful (oh, so nice)...then not-so-peaceful and uncertain (I thought we were doing great...aren't we? Yikes, we've got issues!), well, it's exhausting. Even the good things become exhausting, draining, sapping the life right out of me. It is time to lay down self and those wishy-washy emotions and pick up all of Jesus.
Jesus LOVES me. He LOVES the body of Christ. He is Healer, Redeemer, Living Water, Bread of Life. Our Anchor and Lifeline.
Hebrews 6:18-20
...This was so that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled to Him for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before us. Now we have this hope as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul -- it cannot slip or break down under whoever steps out upon it -- a hope that reaches farther and enters into the very certainty of the Presence within the veil, where Jesus has entered in for us, a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
The Message puts it like this:
God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.
Father, may this day -- regardless of circumstances good or bad -- be one of those days in which I fix my eyes upon You. You are so good and holy, so full of mercy and grace and truth. You are our Helper and our Friend. You have made us beautiful in your sight. Bless all of the ones struggling this week with eyes to see that you are the Anchor for our souls, our certain hope. Give us strength and strong encouragement. You tell us in Isaiah "And the effect of righteousness shall be peace [internal and external], and the result of righteousness, quietness and confident trust for ever." I receive it and claim it! In Jesus' name, Amen
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