ANCHOR OF HOPE!

A Biblical Anchor represents hope!

A hope based on Jesus and God's Word. Promise in Scripture!

Anchor is firm and secure. Metaphorically.....God and faith.

Thank you, Lord for that Anchor of Hope that keeps me grounded during this latest struggle. 

"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."

My Amen Anchor! A Secure Anchor!

*entry per A & G Cook

ANCHOR OF HOPE!

Stand firm!

Having trouble in this area?

When we flee to Him for refuge, "we find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:18)

Allow God's truth to become your anchor of HOPE!

Hope: "a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,"(Hebrews 6:19)

Jesus, our hope, anchor and high priest has entered there on our behalf! (Hebrews 6:20)

Our anchor of hope and security on this Palm Sunday.

HOPE REMAINS!

Hope hovers. Hope floats. Hope remains.

 

Hope hovers over my good days.

Hope floats around in my thinking even on my bad days.

Hope remains steadfast and sure when I remember "whose" I am.

A living hope has life in it and therefore can give life to us. Because it has life, it grows and becomes greater and more beautiful as time goes on. Time destroys most hopes; they fade and then die. But the passing of time only makes a Christian's hope that much more glorious. (Warren Wiersbe)

Teaching yesterday on Anchored in Spirit-Filled Living, from 1 Peter 4:1-3, my hope was renewed in Him, my anchor. The only anchor that holds.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.             (Hebrews 6:19)

Praises for an enduring hope!

ANCHORED BY HOPE

I just love it that our newest grandson's nursery decor is both nautical and spiritual.

In fact, it's as if those aspects are intertwined.

Adoption can be tedious as we've learned with our newest grandchild. 
An up and down roller coaster of sorts. 

Exhilarating but risky!

But God, in His love and mercy is keeping us anchored in hope by the prayers of friends!!

Friends who are warriors for us in the spiritual realm!

How grateful we are for each of you.

ANCHORED IN THE STORMS

Anchor along the shore on the edge of the marsh in Maine caught my eye---obviously one that had kept a boat secure for a long time. A firm foundation in the sea. Security for its captain.

In Scripture, the anchor metaphorically, represents God's steadfast faithfulness to His people. Hebrews 6:19 came to my mind. Knowing the One who is our anchor in the storms of life is such a comfort. A truth offering great hope.

Whether you see an anchor on a shoreline, read a verse in the Bible, or a chapter in a child's storybook Bible.....(Mark 4:35-41)

.....the person who knows Jesus has hope! Hope in Him---an anchor for the soul!

CHOOSE: TO CONJUGATE HOPE

Wordsmiths (and preachers) tend to expound grammar tenses in conjugation, moving systematically from the simple to the more complex. Think, "present progressive/continuous" or "future perfect continuous" or even including the indicative or subjunctive mood. Not to mention pluperfect! It's way too early in the day for that!

Simple is "hard" enough for me.

This morning have been musing in "first person" ---I hoped (past tense) I hope, (present tense) and I will hope. 

When prayers seem unanswered, I don't want to give up hope. I need the continuous action of prayer to keep me hoping. Unanswered prayer is painful.

H.O.P.E. Hold On, Pain Ends.

In the dark places, I need to remember the One who is the anchor for my soul.

He is the One who gives me hope.

CHOOSE JOY AGAIN

CHOOSE JOY AGAIN!
Consider it ALL joy! (James 1:2)

Now isn't that a difficult choice. But a choice it is.

We decide/choose whether to see all events---the good, the bad and the ugly, as part of God's working to bring us unto Himself. Receive with thankfulness "each day the good Lord has given" as Daddy always said. Obstacles and heartaches and heart wrenching tragedies make this seem more difficult.

But God....is the anchor that holds. (Hebrews 6:19)

"The anchor holds. Though the ship is battered, the anchor holds. Though the sails are torn, I have fallen on my knees, As I faced the raging seas. The anchor holds, In spite of the storm." (Ray Bolz)

Often when we can't hold on, He's there doing the holding. (Psalm 139:10; Psalm 63:8)

I know because He brought me up "out of the pit." (Psalm 40:2)

 

READY! MINDSET! GO!
My mind was set on Him and once again, I was ready to "go."
Ready to choose JOY once more!

"stabili-TEA"

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: (Job 13:15, KJV)

That verse was given in today's (4/1) Streams in the Desert entry. Beside it I had written, "Prayed this as I walked in for the first of many surgeries"--- for my MAC cancer. Baylor Hospital, Dallas (3/16/09)
It's hard to believe that it has been 5 years since the beginning of all those surgeries---even as I reread some of my first pre-surgery entries, I saw that I fully trusted the Lord as my anchor, regardless of the outcome. Why does it seem easier somehow to trust Him in the big things than all those "little daily storms" that come our way?

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. (Hebrews, 6:19, NIV)

One must anchor themselves on to the Lord when in a hard place. Just as an anchor adds stability to a boat or ship, the Lord as our anchor holds us---"come what may---whether wind, waves, rough seas.."
One's confidence in His faithfulness is the true anchor. 

When Darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
My anchor holds within the veil ("Cornerstone"Lyrics)

"Stabili-TEA" is a cuppa available to all believers. Hold fast to that firm, secure cuppa.

by permission of T. Parlow as this scriptural art graces the entry to his condo. Terry, who is blind and paralyzed from the chest down, lost Claudia  (his wife, high school sweetheart and caregiver)  4 months ago, after her two + yr. battle with cancer. He has known the Lord as the only anchor for his soul, through all these storms. My Bible marginalia quote (source unknown) Fellowship = "Jesus is the fellow in your ship." When one's life boat hits strong winds, and capsizingly high waves & swells, he/she is desperate for an anchor that holds. 

ALPHA-BITS

11/22/09 This ABC emphasis was giving me fits and I was only on "A." But God….had my Batesville bud, Carolyn, e-mail me about a youngsters’ choir in Jackson, MS known as the Alpha-Bits. Ah-ha! That was it----I could recap all the A words that flooded my mind with just a little info, if some was pertinent, and still finish within a “reasonable” time frame. Plus, my readers, who really should be bloggers themselves, can offer input on those important words they might have included and give their reasons.

Disclaimer---I am somewhat of a nomenclator---I create my own terms---but blog readers already know that; i.e. decaDANCE, (misspelled according to grammarians but used by me to make a point) or Answerer (11/19 entry) as a way of personifying the noun. BTW, spell check doesn’t like nomenclator but I didn’t make that one up--- I’m sure it’s at least in an unabridged dictionary. Humor me. Maybe even share some of your own.

“Answerer” addition---Ann P., a student in one of the university classes that I taught in the 80s would write Jer. 33:3 at the top of each of her exam papers. Though I know it by memory now, I had to look it up at that time. “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” (KJV) I wrote “in red” on her paper that I hope she at least did her part by studying her notes rather than relying on these weekly “answer” miracles. She indeed knew the Answerer. She accepted my joke and we built on that spiritual connection. She actually was a good student and we have kept in touch via others for several years. She even honored me by “placing” a brick in my honor at the “main” city of Memphis library.
Awesome—alluded to in praise chorus of first “A” blog
All in All---You’re my strength when I am weak. You’re the treasure that I seek. You’re my “all in all.”(Thanks Sam & Lo for partial lyrics from this Point of Grace song.)
Ephesians 1:23…the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Alpha and Omega---omitted at this time because I’ll probably end with that one.
Anchor---The night before my first surgery my brother, whose daughter, Allyson, died in a car accident, called me to touch base and tearfully told me that he wished he had my faith. I reminded him that he did. He just had to hold on to it. It’s the only anchor that holds. I’ve never known pain like his but in the pain I have known, it’s been my faith that has anchored me. The "author and finisher" of that faith is Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2)

All of us know pain---it’s universal, whether physical, mental, spiritual or emotional. But not everyone has an anchor.
Even in times of my deepest emotional pain the Lord anchored me. He was my hope when the world seemed dark as if the very windows of my soul were tinted with a blackness.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. (Hebrews 6:19)

Alpha Bits---sounds like a cereal that would be good for the soul if you considered one of the Lord's attributes each morning with your “cuppa” praise.