Quote from Forum Archives on January 27, 2012, 12:17 pm

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
There are 18,000 Subscribers to the Email Devotional

01.27.12

The Anchor of the Soul

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and
which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered
for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order
of Melchizedek. - Hebrews 6:19-20 NKJV.

As touched upon previously, there are potentially many disastrous things
that could happen in our lives in the year 2012. For some of us, we may
already be caught up in very difficult situations, and wonder whether we
will be able to survive. What we need is an "anchor of the soul."

Think for a moment of a ship and the ship's anchor. The ship is tied by
cable or chain to a heavy anchor made of metal or other material that rests
on the floor of the sea. For the believer, we are not tied to the earth; no,
our anchor is as the writer of Hebrews says, our anchor has entered the
"Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even
Jesus... (Hebrews 6:19)." As the High Priest in the Old Testament entered
the Holy of Holies behind the veil, our High Priest forever, Jesus is in
Heaven where He, as He says in John 14, has prepared a place for us. Our
soul is tied, not to an anchor at the bottom of the sea, but it is tied to
Jesus in Heaven above.

Again think of ships and of their anchors. Think of the chains that tie that
tether the ship to the anchor. When I was a boy, my Dad made an anchor for
our boat. It consisted of a can filled with concrete and a nylon rope that
tied the boat to the can. Probably not the most secure anchorage for a boat.
Think of the chain that links a battleship to its anchor. One such chain
describes each link in the chain as weighing 120lbs and being about three
feet in length. Now that is a chain!

The question I think for all of us as we face this New Year is this: What is
the condition of the tie between us and our anchor of hope? Is the chain to
our anchor a puny little rope that will break whenever a good wind comes
along? Or, is it more like the chain of a battleship that connects to its
anchor? How strong is the link between you and your anchor of the soul,
Jesus Christ? I think you can see that here is where some work needs to be
done in each of our lives. We need to have the strongest spiritual chain
possible connecting us to the anchor of our soul. How do we do that? What
are the nuts and bolts of having that stronger spiritual chain to connect
our soul to our anchor?

First, we need the Bible. The Bible is not just a book. It contains the
Words of God. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Word which
became flesh. Take a moment to comprehend that. You could say that Jesus
consists of the words on the pages of the Bible. If you want to know Jesus.
If you want to be more like Jesus, then you need more of those words. But
you need to understand that when you read the Bible you are not just gaining
information. When you read the Bible you are communing with God. When you
read the Bible you are connecting with God. When you read the Bible you are
feeding your soul, as Jesus says in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." When
you read the Bible you are connecting your soul to a spiritual IV that
infuses LIFE into your soul. Jesus says in John 6:63, "The words that I
speak to you are spirit, and they are life."

Second, if you are going to keep from being swept away by the events of
2012, you are going to need a prayer life. Prayer, communication with God,
talking with God is an awesome privilege.

Third, you need to be assembling, meeting with other believers every time
you possibly can.

It is depressing to think of all the bad things that could happen to our
world, to our country, and to ourselves personally. Is that what God would
have us to think about all the time? No! Our focus, our thoughts, and our
hopes, should be upon the Anchor of our soul. Hebrews 12:3, "For consider
Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become
weary and discouraged in your souls." Instead of worrying about and thinking
about all of the bad things that could happen, or might happen; instead
think about Jesus. Read Jesus, the Word of God. Talk to Jesus, pray, pray,
and pray some more. And, instead of thinking that you don't need church, go
and be where Jesus promises to be in the midst every time believers meet.

So, in the year 2012 you don't have to be swept away because you have an
anchor for your soul and His name is Jesus.

Copyright © 2012. Ed Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since
January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush
Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early
1990s. The distribution of these first devotionals was primarily through the
Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison facilities throughout the United
States and Canada.

Please continue to pray for my wife, Jeanie, as she recovers from surgery
and ovarian cancer and is now going through chemo. Many prayer needs are
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Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray
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