just crawling out of the lap of my Daddy in Heaven, my Jesus, the lover of my soul... having spent time in His embrace, hearing from His Word, words for my soul, meeting a need so deep nothing else can satisfy it...
what a special time it is always is, no appointment necessary...
was reading in Hebrews 6: 17-20
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
this is what He said to me:
A sure and steadfast anchor of my soul.... an anchor that holds me in place, grounded not in my own
- very feeble - strength but in His... steadfast, unmovable, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow...
not dependent on my performance, my genetic makeup, citizenship, status of employment or bank account... not in my trendiness or ability to speak the language perfectly, nor the absence of wrinkles and compliance with other pressures this world puts on me... no..... only on HIS LOVE for me.....
last week I had the sweet privilege to spend 4 days with my daughter and son-in-law helping them to pack up their old place and start moving some of it into their new home...
it was wonderful to be part of this next step in their lives but mostly I loved having the opportunity to reconnect with my child, who I love so much...
it meant so much more because on Thursday afternoon I heard about a mother who just had to decide to take her 17 year old daughter off life support... a "cry for help" gone terribly wrong had left this mother and her son in a world of darkness and grief so deep, there just are no words to even try to describe the pain they are in....
reading today's passage made it even more clear for me....
without this place to hide for refuge, without finding the encouragement there , this hope, set before us by Christ, no matter the circumstances...
I too would be tossed around by storms, trials, hurts, confusion, disappointments, by people who hurt and by stuff that's scary and horrible... this world, broken by sin is so full of it..
without this steadfast anchor to my soul, I too would just be another statistic, anxiety and depression, constantly struggling against the urge to run away, or having lost that fight already...
instead I am taking refuge in the inner place, under the wings of my God, because of what Jesus has done, my sins forgiven, my debt paid, I can enter and find the rest, the hope, the peace and even the joy.... no matter how high the waves that are badgering my little boat, no matter how devastating and utterly shocking things around me are... I am not losing hope, because the hope I have does not disappoint, it is in Jesus and in the sure, steadfast and unmovable anchor He is to my soul...
in this life I will have trouble He said, but... He said also, I can be of good cheer, have fulness of joy in His presence, pleasures forever more at His right hand, because, He has indeed overcome the world, when He chose, because of the joy set before Him, to endure the cross and pay the sins of His own.... and guess what? I am one of them...
praying for this mother and her son who are left to deal with this horrific loss, for her friend who told me about it, praying most of all that they too could come to find this anchor... this hope that Jesus offers to all who believe.....
