THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL

(Adapted from HOPE, The Anchor of The Soul)

The Anchor of Perspective
Understanding that Jesus really rose from the dead has transformed the lives of people who have followed Him down through the ages. They could minister in the midst of plagues at the risk of their lives. They gladly died to help their neighbors, and loved ones, and people they didn’t even know. They were willing to stand for the Bible and the truth of the gospel even in the face of martyrdom.

We see this in the death of Stephen. He could even pray for the men stoning him, “Don’t hold this sin against them.” And he could pray, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit,” because he knew the Lord was there to receive him. And this was not a unique testimony. Others have said similar things at death. He cried while he was dying, “Look, I see the throne in heaven and the son of man standing at the right hand of God.” I cannot help but wonder what his attackers might have seen if they had looked. Stephen was certainly convinced they would see Jesus as he saw Him.

The Anchor of Prayer
My heart throbs at the simple prayer of Stephen, and so many others who have died with prayer in their hearts and on their lips. When you come to know a risen Savior it radically changes the way you pray. And such prayer gives you hope in the face of life or death. Prayer is itself an expression of hope.

Are you cultivating the habit of prayer? This is crucial because you know you will face difficult circumstances. You will come under spiritual attack. 1 Peter 4 begins,

“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”

And 1 Peter 4:12 says,

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

You need to know, if you do not already, that your enemy will do everything he can to keep you from praying. If you are in the habit of spending time in prayer, you will still be able to pray when your enemy is telling you God doesn’t hear, or things are too bad for you to pray.

Some years ago I went to a training conference at Jefferson Baptist Church. Their primary program is helping people pray extended time every day. More people attend that church each week than the number of people who live in the little town of Jefferson Oregon. And they attribute their growth to prayer. At the conference they encouraged us to commit to pray for an hour every day. You have to rearrange your life to spend a full hour daily in prayer. But that is the kind of habit that will terrify the enemy and keep us praying when we are tempted to give up. 

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HE CHOSE THE PASSOVER

It is important for us to know that Jesus chose to be crucified on Passover. He could have chosen any day of the year. He could have chosen any of the Jewish holy days. He could have chosen the feast of Tabernacles, celebrating the miracles of His grace. He could have chosen the solemn Day of Atonement. But He chose the most comprehensive of celebrations, Passover.

For some time He had actually been telling His Disciples this was going to happen. And Matthew 26 begins with Him telling them He would be handed over to be crucified at the Passover in two days. At that point the Chief Priests and elders were still saying they would do it after the feast, lest the people riot. But he was insisting that they were wrong about what they would do.

He sent some of His closest disciples to someone they didn't know, to tell him, “My time has come. I will celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.” And when He said, “Do this in reminder of me,” He was speaking of the Passover.
Look with me at some of the significance of the Passover from Exodus 6:6-8.

“Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’”

First, we celebrate Him as Lord. We trust our lives to Him. As He delivered the Children of Israel from the burden of slavery in Egypt, He frees us from the slavery of sin and worldliness. As He demonstrated His power to deliver Israel from Egypt, He works mightily in our lives.

Next, He brought them out of slavery in Egypt to the Land of Promise. And He promises an eternal home, and eternal rewards.

He cared for them even in judgment. And He has promised to direct our lives as He guided them through the wilderness. And while our journey, like theirs, will be long, He will go with us, and guide us through it.

He takes us to be His own people, to know and love us. We will be His People. And He will be our God. All of this is included in the Passover until all of it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.

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SEE THAT YOU. . .

This week my personal devotions are in Matthew 24. And I have been struck by a number of things that Jesus said in this chapter about the last days. I am aware that what I am writing may be disturbing to some of us. And that is not my intent. God is in control no matter what we face in these times. I have joked in the past that in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 where Paul says, “Comfort one another with these words,” we misread it, “Scare the life out of one another with these words.” However, these things need to be taken seriously.

Matthew 24 begins with Jesus caught up in His sadness over the destruction that was going to come upon Jerusalem because His own people rejected Him. Like excited tourist the disciples point out to Jesus the wonderful buildings of the temple. And Jesus shoots back at them, “Do you see these stones? I tell you that there will not be left one stone upon another here that will not be cast down.”

Now, this was shocking to the disciples of Jesus. The Temple was the largest building in the Eastern Mediterranean. It had taken 46 years to build. So the disciples came to Jesus asking when this would happen, and what would be the sign of the second coming of Jesus, and the end of the age. They could not imagine that the destruction of the Temple would not mean the end of the world. From our perspective, we know that the Temple and the entire city were destroyed by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD. That was a terrible time for the people of Jerusalem. Thousands and thousands died at the hands of the Romans.

Interestingly enough Jesus did not correct His disciple’s misconception. He rather used the comparison of the two events to teach about the end times and His return. Let's look at this passage beginning with verse 3. I have emboldened the text in three places to highlight what Jesus gives us to do in these days.

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

The first thing that Jesus tells us to do is, “See that no one leads you astray.” The point and purpose of all the false rescuers, false teachers, and false teachings is to lead astray those who will and can be led away from Christ. Later in this chapter Jesus said that the false teachers and christs will perform signs and wonders that would, “if it were possible, deceive even the elect.” Not being led astray depends upon God keeping us safe. Relationship with God is crucial to endurance to the end. We must depend upon Him. Only God can keep us safe.

The second of these assignments is, “See that you are not alarmed.” Jesus’ words should disabuse us of the notion that everything will get better and better, possibly more and more Christian, right up to the end. I do believe more and more people will probably continue to come to faith in Christ right up to His return. But I also believe it will cost us more and more to follow Him. The Bible does not teach that it will be easy for us. Jesus says, “See that you are not alarmed when you see all the things happening on the Earth.” How do we keep from being alarmed? Well, we need to recognize that God is sovereign in the midst of school shootings, airplanes being flown into buildings, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, floods, famines, climate change, and pestilence. Jesus told us ahead of time that these things would happen. And He has told us that He will be with us to the very end. We need to focus on Him. And He will minister through us to the world that He still loves and weeps over.

The final assignment is not given here as an admonition, but as an assumption. This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all peoples. But make no mistake. We are the ones who must carry this out in the power of God. Elsewhere Jesus gives this to us as a command. And if you are anxious for Jesus to return in His glory, tell people that Jesus died for their sins, and rose again to give them new life. And pray for His power to break their hearts and transform their lives through the gospel.

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HOPE FROM THE LAW

Most of us think there is very little hope for mankind in the law of God. And if you think of keeping the law in your own efforts as your self-salvation project, it is indeed absolutely hopeless. However the law of God was not given to bring Salvation. It shows us God's standards of right and wrong. And when we come to it with a transformed heart, it shows us how we are able to please God who has done everything to save us. And the law helps us break free from sin in our lives Buy pointing out the sin that is beneath our sins.

The content of The 10 Commandments is the foundation of all relationships and all social engagement. You judge relationships and societies by trustworthiness, goodness, and love.

And if I live in a vile society where everyone is oppressed, where my loved ones are raped and abused in every way imaginable, I need an assurance that there is a God of justice for me to have any hope at all.

The 10 Commandments that God gave on Mount Sinai came from God Himself. They came with ultimate authority and ultimate rightness. In Deuteronomy 5 Moses reiterates the 10 Commandments as the people were preparing to enter the Promised Land. And Moses recounts to them the working of God that led up to the initial giving of The Commandments. Deuteronomy 19:33-35 reads,

“Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.”

Modern people may be able to think of the ten Commandments as something conceived by Moses or by humans in general. But the children of Israel did not have that option. They could not but say after what they had been through, “The Lord He is God! The Lord He is God!

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A DRINK OFFERING

In 2 Timothy Paul gives us a marvelous example of integral hope in his life. Paul's life even at that difficult end was still buoyed by a higher purpose. 2 Timothy 4:1,2 reads,

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

Paul challenges Timothy, and us, to preach the word. And faithful endurance in his painful situation was crucial to that encouragement. He saw his approaching death as part of his challenge and a crucial part of his worship. He encourages us in versus 6-8 by comparing his life to a drink offering.

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

A drink offering was a powerful expression of devotion in the desert middle east where water is life. The first drink offering mentioned in Scripture was made by Jacob as he met God at Bethel in Genesis 35. As he emptied his canteen onto the ground, he was trusting his life to the Lord who had appeared to him. Later when drink offerings were included in worship in the Tabernacle the vessels for it were to be of gold, befitting costly devotion.

Paul sees his final circumstance as the ultimate worship and witness for God. And he could endure it however long it would last for two reasons. First, as he wrote earlier to the Philippian Church, (Philippians 1:22-24) God might still allow him to continue his purpose on this Earth. And, he knew the reward waiting for him in the presence of God was worth whatever he had to endure.

I have terminal cancer, and I don’t know how long I will live. I believe God has called me to write. It is an extension of my call to preach. And I want to write everything He leads me to write. But I also need to see what I may not be able to complete as a drink offering. If it is God's will for me not to live long enough to finish books that I am writing, I pour them out to Him in worship.

There are other things that I put in this category. I no longer have the strength or energy to Pastor a church. And I offer that loss in worship to God. I have also had a vision of prayer in the church like we have never prayed. Well, even the small platform that I had has diminished. And I don't see God allowing me to promote this. I had an idea for a prayer retreat center with prayer rooms devoted to prayer for every people group on Earth. Everyone coming to the center would be encouraged to spend at least an hour a day in one of the prayer rooms. Of course I do not know if this is the will of God at all, although the Scripture calls us to radical prayer. But even if this is God's will it does not look like I will get to be part of bringing it about. And I pour this out as a drink offering before God.

So whether I eat or drink(1 Cor. 10:31) or write or pray, I want to pour these things out as a drink offering to God.




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FOR THIS PURPOSE

Last week I wrote about Jesus praying when His soul was troubled. In John 12:27 Jesus said something crucial about life in Him. His words were, “For this purpose.” Few things are as crucial in coping with life as getting a firm grip on the purpose of God. All hope must be bound together with purpose. The higher your purpose the more substantial your hope.

I recently heard a sermon on something Jacob in the Old Testament said. The Holman Christian Standard Bible and several other versions translate Jacob’s words in Genesis 42:36 as, “Everything happens to me!” Have you ever heard anyone say something like that? Have you ever felt that way?

The sermon I heard referred to Job who actually faced greater trials than Jacob. The book of Job demonstrates that God is it work even in terrible circumstances. The worst thing Jacob faced was the death of Joseph, his favorite son. I do not wish to minimize the heartache he endured. But Joseph had not really died. His brothers sold him into slavery. And his life was certainly harder than Jacob's, even though Jacob grieved for his son. In the end Joseph understood something that might have helped Jacob in his ordeal. And in fact, several things Jacob did say and do indicate that he understood what Joseph would so eloquently express. In Genesis 50:20 Joseph spoke to his brothers.

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

The first thing we need to grasp about purpose is that it comes from God. God sees from a much broader perspective. Everything that happened to Joseph, and all that happened to Jacob, saved the lives of everyone in their family, not to mention millions of people in that part of the world.

The first principle here is that God always has a purpose. And the parallel truth is that the purposes of God do not revolve around you, your selfish interests or narrow perspective.

In Experiencing God Henry Blackaby talks about seeking the “will of God for you.” He points out that you are not the focus of God's will. God is working on a cosmic level. We don't need God to fulfil our will. We need to join God in His higher purposes.

You and I need to focus on the will of God to have perspective on the trials we face. If your purpose is your own comfort and ease, life is never going to seem right or fair. You will not see your difficulties and trials in the perspective of God's purpose.

If the purpose of a runner in marathon is to run the race without any pain, he will be overwhelmed, and will not finish the race. When Moses wrote Deuteronomy the Children of Israel had just spent 40 years in the wilderness. They were preparing to enter the Promised Land. And Moses told the people something important about the trials that God had brought them through. Deuteronomy 8:2 read's,

“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commands.”

I believe this is a principle. Whatever you're going through, God will use it in your life. And the difficulties you face will be an opportunity to prove your faithfulness to Him. But there is another principal in Deuteronomy 8:2. And that is that God who led the children of Israel will also lead you. You can learn to discern God's leadership in your life. And life will begin to make more sense.

Difficulties become more bearable when you see them in the larger perspective of the purposes of God. If you are living for petty purposes, your life will not be satisfying. But if you see your life as part of the grand scheme of the eternal God, you will even see your difficulties and trials as meaningful. Even when you do not understand what God is doing, you know he is at work in history and eternity.


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PRAYING WHEN YOUR SOUL IS TROUBLED

How do you pray when your soul is troubled? In John 12:27,28 Jesus said His soul was troubled.

First, it is important to see that having a troubled soul is not necessarily sin. Jesus' soul was troubled. In fact, having a troubled soul may indicate spiritual sensitivity. It certainly did in the life of Jesus. His disciples couldn't see anything to be troubled about on that day. But look at these verses and see how Jesus dealt with a troubled soul.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name’. Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’.”

In this case Jesus did not pray for God to deliver Him from the hour of trouble. Instead He prayed for a higher purpose. We are always tempted to make comfort the primary purpose of our lives. Jesus shows us something much more important in these verses. He prayed for God to be glorified through what disturbed Him.

And after He prayed, a voice came from heaven. “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!” This was so thundurus that the people standing around said, “An angel has spoken to him.” But Jesus told them that this voice did not come for Him but for them. When we see clearly enough to pray for God's glory, He will often give us great assurance. And it is important in that hour to recognize that God is speaking to us.

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