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Anchor For My Soul

...to take hold of the hope being set before us, which as an anchor we have of the soul, both sure and unshakable, entering into that within the veil where as a forerunner for us entered Jesus...1

Jesus having cried out with a loud voice, yielded up His Spirit.2 When Jesus gave up the Spirit the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place of the temple was torn. Paul writes that Jesus entered into this Most Holy Place as our eternal High Priest, to do so he had to meet the requirements of the old covenant and as Paul writes His blood was sprinkled on the articles of worship, our hearts to cleanse them, our hearts, and by the Spirit he is able to stay our high priest forever. In this passage we see Paul speak of this hope that is an anchor of the soul, this hope that entered into the Holy Place before Jesus. This hope is real, an anchor for the soul.

This anchor for the soul is more than just wishful thinking, it speaks of a godly expectation of something promised. Jesus spoke of those who had put hope or confidence in Moses, and said, "the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me."4 They said they believed the scriptures but even the old covenant spoke of Jesus. “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. . . . If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”3.We see in scriptures that Paul writes that all promises are yes and amen in Jesus, this promise would be fulfilled through the seed of Christ and there was a promise of hope.

"The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."5 It is this Spirit within us, this greatest testimony that is from God, that gives us hope and is a guarantee of the inheritance. "He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true." This is the hope within us, the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes He is hope, the anchor of the soul. To run the race set before us, we must have endurance, this hope helps to endure.

This is an amazing thing that Paul writes of, this hope. We "exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proof; and proof, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."7 This verse speaks much, this perseverance (patience, endurance) brings proof (proof of genuineness, tested and true) and this proof brings hope (expectation, trust, confidence) It is through our trials we learn endurance. Hope or confidence in friends grows through trials, true friends stick with us through difficult times, this is analogous to the hope God builds in us through the storms, He is an anchor for the soul, but it is these storms we learn to hope in this. A true friend is closer than a brother, he will never leave nor forsake us. 

Paul has an understanding of this anchoring of the soul, he was shipwrecked three times, once during a storm to prevent the ship from being bashed against the rocks the anchors were thrown in. Paul experiencing this describes the hope we have as an anchor of the soul. This hope speaks to our soul, "for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."4 It is this hope and the love of Christ that anchors us during "tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword" as we are being killed all day long, regarded as sheep to be slaughtered, and this hope states nothing will separate of from His love.5 "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."6

"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."9 As the earth under the curse moans for its freedom, and for the revealing of the sons of God, in hope we also await to be set free from the bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.10 Do you understand? this is the point of our trials, the point of God giving His Son, the point of it all, of the hope that is in us, the Holy Spirit of promise, for the future glory to be revealed, the promise of "adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."11

"For in hope we have been saved... For who hopes for what he sees? but if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it..."12 The Spirit knows what we need, it searches the heart, this Spirit intercedes for us giving us hope. In this new covenant of Grace we stand in, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."13 It is these weaknesses, trials, that His power is perfected in us, and what is this power? the same power that raised Christ from the dead? as Jesus came in the fullness of Grace and Truth, it is this Grace that gives us strength for us to endure and not only One Grace but this One Hope, and with such hope who can be against us. "Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."14 Pray for such knowledge of the holy, but be warned it is a dangerous prayer.

"He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live..."15 

"The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish."16 This in itself is an amazing promise, this hope within us. Without Christ there is no real hope in this world, in Christ I am no longer hopeless, and not only hopeful but my expectation is joy, and joy is a fruit of the Spirit. So important is our worship and praise, to gather together as His Church in praise. His Spirit is present, instilling hope and confidence, expectation, love, joy, oh we can know His Spirit by these attributes and it is these things that give us hope. And as Paul writes it is this hope instilled within us by the Holy Spirit that helps us to endure, and endurance is needed, as we are being transformed from glory to glory. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."17

It is God's love that conquers, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." And in this hope we look to the future, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."3 God fills us with this hope, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."Romans 15:13 This hope is the fruit of the Spirit, joy, peace, this the Spirit we receive when we believe. This hope we desperately need, we have been adopted as sons, and this first-fruit of the Spirit that we have received, it moans in us awaiting the redemption of the body.4 While grace gives us the ability to stand, this One Hope helps us to endure, to have patience as we await the redemption of our bodies. "Indeed, for in this hope we were saved, it is not hope that is seen, no but hope unseen," in fact "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen."

Without such hope we could not have faith, as hope is a substance of faith.6  Substance is defined as essential nature, ultimate reality that underlies all manifestations and change, physical material in which something is made. Hope is the nature of God as is grace and it is ours, without hope believing would be wishful thinking with no spiritual nature or foundation.6  And because we are in this flesh of weakness the Spirit intercedes for us, according to the will of God. This hope is instilled in us by the Spirit and gives us this hope; "all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."7 This hope states that He foreknew us and by such we are called, justified, glorified, and predestined to conform to His image.9

This hope states within my soul that I am His son and that if God is for me who can be against me.10 I am free, at Liberty in Christ, no longer a slave, but a son, thus the purpose of my adoption and transformation, and thus the hope in me, is that I will be like Him. Jesus is firstborn among many brothers, many nations, many people, I am a child of God.11 What God has created is a Family and has given the rule of the Kingdom to the Son, who is the Head of the Family. Where is the authority in the family? because of the indestructible life and the sacrificial death of the firstborn Son, firstborn implies there are to be more, the Father has made the Son head of the family. We are to have a new heart of the Spirit and a renewed mind of Christ, and as the Church is His people, living stones in a spiritual temple, the family is to have the Mind of Christ and heart of the Holy Spirit. God is a God of hope.

"Moreover, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing for that to abound in you; hope in the power of the Holy Spirit."15

Anchor 

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