"AN ANCHOR IN A SEA OF PERIL"

Good Evening to All!

For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swear by Himself, (14) Saying, surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. (15) And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. (16) For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. (17) Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: (18) 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: (19) Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. (Hebrews 6:13-19)

The Contemporary English Version states it this way. He made a promise in his own name when he said to Abraham, "I, the Lord, will bless you with many descendants!" Then after Abraham had been very patient, he was given what God had promised. When anyone wants to settle an argument, they make a vow by using the name of someone or something greater then themselves. So when God wanted to proved for certain that his promise to his people could not be broken, he made a vow. God cannot tell lies! And so his promises and vows are two things that can never be changed.

We have run to God for safety. Now his promises should greatly encourage us to take hold of the hope that is right in front of us. This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls.

I absolutely love this analogy of an God being our anchor.

A ship's anchor holds the ship steady and keeps if from drifting in spite of heavy winds, crashing waves and rapid currents. It embeds or hooks itself into the floor of the ocean, sea or lake. While the anchor is of a heavy weight, the weight of heavy chain links are attached to the anchor to add even more weight to keep the ship in place.

God wants to be our anchor in life. When Adam and Eve sinned and ended God's original plan for us to live forever, He knew that there would be times of trouble or "crashing waves and gale winds" to toss us around in this life.

As long as we acknowledge Him as our anchor, as long as we trust Him to keep us on track and help us through our trouble times, we can stand firm. He does not promise us that we will have perfect lives with no troubles or pain, He just promises that He will help us to deal or cope with whatever life throws our way. He does not cause our trouble or our pain. He gave us free will therefore we make our decisions on our own, (unless we ask for His guidance, and even then it is our choice whether we take His advice or not).
At the time this passage was written, Jewish Christians faced strong persecution. the book of Hebrews encouraged them to realize that Jesus is the best choice and our hope in Christ is as secure as an anchor that hold firm to the seabed. When you face your trials and tribulations which you definitely will, be sure to trust God to be there with you. ASK HIM. Those two little words are VERY IMPORTANT. Too many times people make the wrong decision because they don't stop and ask God for help. They don't include Him in the decision making process, and then blame God for whatever consequence occur. What they don't realize is that God is not pushy. He will not interfere, or butt in without an invitation. He is a gentleman. So . . . if you want good decisions made in your life, include God in your decision making process. Let Him be your anchor and keep you on a steady path. Let Him hold you firmly in place ( with Him).

I also like another thought in my devotional tonight. It said: "Like the links of a chain that add weight to the anchor, we can add chains of hope as we recall what God has done for others and for us. This is where our testimonies come in. If we will tell others about the great things God has done in our life, it will add hope to their life's ups and downs. We never know when just knowing that someone else has been through trouble times, addictions, all kinds of things which God has delivered us from will help another person.Now the devotional didn't mention this, but I also look at the chains as being "faith, trust, and living for God. These things are what keep us connected to God. If we go through life on our "own terms not acknowledging God, how can we honestly believe that He will be there for us ?

Yes, He is VERY PATIENT, and will give us chance upon chance to repent and turn away from our sins, but if we totally ignore Him, He will eventually give up and count us as reprobate minds (beyond hope or salvation, according to the dictionary).

A lot of times, people aren't looking for physical help (money, or other tangible items or actions) but just someone to listen or having a common bond with someone, getting the feeling, if God delivered them, if He helped them out of their bad situation, He can help me too.

God is no respecter of persons. He won't discriminate. He just wants to be used as an anchor for His children.

The answers to last night's Bible Challenge "Death" are as follows:

1. eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2;16-17)
2. c) Abel's (Genesis 4:8)
3. b) giving birth (Genesis 35:16-18)
4. b) Nabal ( 1 Samuel 25)
5. d) Queen Jezebel (2 Kings 9:32-34)
6. c) one of the psalmists (Psalm 89:48)
7. Herod's (Matthew 2:13-15)
8. a) Jesus' Matthew 27:50-53)
9. False (Luke 24:46-48)
10. d) the Ephesian and Colossian believers (Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 2:13)

I hope you did well on this Challenge and enjoyed searching through God's Word.

Good Night to All and May God Bless