The Anchor part 1
Saw this on my pastor's Facebook today and told him I was going to use it. Hebrews 6:18-20, "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." Here's what I want to draw out of that: The two immutable things were the Father and the Son. This is talking about the covenant God made with Abraham (at that time still Abram), when the two parties who were entering into that covenent were supposed to walk together in between the cut in half sacrifice... God walked with Himself. A smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between them. God made a covenant with HIMSELF. And He included us in it. Because if man was expected to hold up one side of the bargain... that covenant we doomed to fail. But if the Father is holding up one end and the Son is holding up the other end, then that promise will stand forever. Because it is impossible for God to lie. Not even in the sense that He just won't do it, but because whatever God says is true. Him saying it MAKES it true. That's why we can trust in Him. That's why we can flee to Him as a refuge. A safe hiding place. And I want to point out by way of the foundation for this Rant series that "anchor" is number 45 in Strong's Greek Concordance, which sends you to number 43 in Strong's, which means, "an arm." God's anchor for our souls is His arm. He holds us up. Keeps us from falling. And if you look on dictionary.com you find that an "anchor" is, "any of various devices dropped by a chain, cable, or rope to the bottom of a body of water for preventing or restricting the motion of a vessel or other floating object, typcally having broad, hooklike arms that bury themselves in the bottom to provide a firm hold." Again we see the picture of an arm holding something (or someone) firm. Because we are the vessel in this picture. Planted on a rock and unable to be shaken. Held fast in the midst of a stormy sea. Safe and sound in the ship no matter what is going on around us. Knowing beyond just head knowledge (in that place of experiential heart knowledge) that if worse comes to worst we can join Jesus in walking on the water. It's a trust issue. A safety issue. Parents don't bully or frighten or manipulate their children. They protect them. Take care of them. Give them a safe place to be. Teach them how to live. Chasten and correct them. That's what our heavenly Father does. That's who He is. That's why we can trust Him. One: Because He has proven Himself trustworthy. And two: Because He loves us. With a sacrificial, selfless, agape love. God is the anchor to our souls. LOVE is the anchor. When we feel like we're spiraling out of control... God (LOVE) is what keeps us secure. God (LOVE) is what keeps us right where we need to be, no matter where we are. If you anchor your boat, it ain't going nowhere. If you anchor your soul... same thing. So in this Rant series we are going to explore kind of how we do that. How we set the anchor. And, spoiler alert, a big part of it is simply setting our affection on things above, and not on things on the earth. Just purposing in our hearts to focus on the things that are good--the things that are God! Focusing on the things that matter so we don't get distracted and pulled off course. That's what the anchor does. It keeps us right where we need to be. Safe and sound. On that straight and narrow way (which is Jesus, which is love) that leads to life!