Tag: hopeanchor

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Resolving – Living Life on Purpose

The Kedge Anchor
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Could resolving to live life on purpose reduce anxiety? Could it reduce the fear of the mountains we face? Who isn’t experiencing anxiety these days? We are all experiencing it on different levels at different times. From making simple decisions as to what will I wear today to what’s our world gonna look like in six months?

What’s causing anxiety and stress for you today? Do you feel like you have no choices? Too many choices? Last week we saw Daniel resolving or choosing not to eat the choice foods from the king’s table. Where do you think he was experiencing anxiety? Was it being true to God or in refusing to eat the king’s food? There were consequences to either choice. What or who do you think he was more anxious about?

God had a purpose for Daniel and Daniel chose to live that life on purpose for God. Daniel feared God more than King Nebuchadnezzer. Daniel knew the consequences of not continuing to remain faithful to God. Resolving or choosing to remain faithful to God eliminated the fear and consequences of that choice. What did Daniel have to fear if he knew he was remaining faithful to God?

King Nebuchadnezzer couldn’t deny Daniel and his three friends were in better health after the ten day trial – Daniel 1:17-21. Daniel resolved not to defile himself, to remain true to God- Daniel 1:8. So what if we applied resolving to how we do things, how we live life? Would that help reduce anxiety in your life. What helps you remain faithful, what have you resolved to do in your walk with God?

From resolving how we handle ourselves in situations to how we choose to remain faithful to God can help us live lives of integrity and amidst anxiety and in chaos. Taking a test causes anxiety for many students. But the student who is diligent in their studies and in some cases seeks a tutor for those difficult subjects will have more confidence in passing a test. The student has resolved or planned to pass by choosing to take the steps needed to pass. The same can be applied to our walk with God. What do you need to do to ensure you are being anchored in God’s Word? Does an app help you, joining a small group at church or an accountability partner? What helps you keep on track with any New Year resolution, fitness trackers, a workout partner, joining gym? What keeps you on track with how you live life, controlling anger and emotions, behaviors, how you share and live out your faith?

There will be challenges this year that will threaten your resolutions. Your walk with God will be challenged. There will situations that will arise and cause you anxiety. What can you do to help limit or eliminate the anxiety and set you up for a victory? What will you resolve to do this year to anchor in Hope, anchor in God’s Word and share your faith? Will you choose resolve and live a life of integrity?

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New Year and Resolutions

The Kedge Anchor
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Resolutions. Every year we all set new goals to eat better, to exercise more, to read more, to learn more, to give more, etc. And by the time March comes around we find ourselves derailed and so far off course we tend to throw in the towel and give up. Some people are more disciplined and they just pick up where they left off and continue on like nothing happened and I applaud them. They are the kind of folks that are resolute; they have integrity and motivation.

Depending on what it is that I have set my mind to, I can become derailed and then pick up where I left off. Like being organized. I can start out strong and before you know life happens, I get busy and anything that was once organized now looks like a war zone. But if I want to continue to locate items and make cleaning up easier, I can jump back on the wagon and clean up like nothing ever happened. Working out, well that’s one area in which I can easily fail. My workouts become sporadic at best. Consistency, HA! Out the window!

But, Daniel and his friends in the Bible is a great example of resolution, integrity, and consistency. Daniel was kidnapped, taken from his home, from his family, from all that he ever knew, and taken to Babylon by the order of King Nebuchadnezzer to serve in the the king’s palace. There at the palace they would be trained for three years. During this training Daniel was given choice food from the king’s table. This food was rich, fatty food that was not a part of Daniel’s Jewish heritage.

But in Daniel 1:8, “Daniel resolved not to defile himself” by not eating the food from the king’s table. Instead he asked to eat what he had been eating and then after ten days Daniel and his friends would be compared to the others who had eaten from the king’s table. It was proven that Daniel and his friends were in better condition than the others who had eaten the king’s food. In Daniel 6:10 – “Daniel always prayed to God three times every day. Three times every day, he bowed down on his knees to pray and praise God.” Daniel was consistent.

You may know the rest of the story where Daniel ends up in the lion’s den for not bowing down to King Darius. Daniel was found guilty of not obeying the law and the penalty was to be thrown into the lion’s den. But, God recognized Daniel’s integrity and devotion to Him. in Verse 21 we see where God shut the mouths of the lions and Daniel’s life was spared. This caused Kind Darius to recognize who the God of this universe is and issued a decree that everyone was to worship Daniel’s God – verse 25. I encourage you to read the first six chapters of Daniel if you’re not familiar with the book of Daniel.

2020 has passed and we are all hoping for a better 2021. I can’t predict what the future holds, but I know this, our faith will be challenged and the resolutions we’ve made will be challenged. How will you resolve to get back on track when you are derailed, when you are tempted to cheat on your diet or workout? Or how will you resolve when your faith is tested? I know the God I serve, the God we serve as Christians, will deliver us from whatever challenge we face – Daniel 3:17. We can resolve and have integrity as Daniel did and trust God.

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Here’s to a Blessed New Year! 2021

The Kedge Anchor

Here’s to a Blessed New Year! Funny when I started this blog a year ago, I never in a million years would have thought 2020 would have turned out as it did. I had to go back and read those words again to remind myself God is still in control. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, well, maybe it the cynicism in me, but telling someone to be happy is like telling someone to not worry.

Happiness is a choice; so is worry. We can choose to be happy despite our feelings or our circumstances. Doesn’t mean we are doing cartwheels, but our hearts can still be thankful as hard as that may be at times. We can be thankful IN circumstances – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 because the joy of the Lord is our strength – Nehemiah 8:10 ( hmmm, that may be another blog post soon, stay tuned).

So as we enter into 2020 we can choose to advance with fear or faith, happiness or worry. And as uncertain as the future may seem, one fact remains that is certain, God still sits on the throne. He is in control. He holds our future. So what’s to fear? Fear is not from God – 1 Timothy 1:7. Will we be fearful at times? Yes! We are human and God knows this and it’s at those times He wants us to come to Him, to draw near, to toss out our kedge anchor and pull closer to Him – James 4:8-10. God is not surprised by us becoming fearful. I have tried to be “brave” in front of God. Know what? It’s exhausting. There is a quote, “When I acknowledge my fear, it loses it’s power.” (unknown). When I acknowledge my fear to my Father, it loses it’s power and I am free to live in faith. God is gracious and won’t condemn us when we become fearful – Psalm 145:8.

So instead of wishing everyone a Happy New Year, I am wishing all who read this a Blessed New Year!!

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Hope in the Battle

The Kedge Anchor
Are the waves of life crashing in around you? If you’re looking for hope, read on.

This blog is all about Hope. God, the giver of Hope. When we find ourselves in troubled waters we need assurance there is Hope. God is in the troubled waters. The troubled waters can last for days to years. I know that doesn’t sound very hopeful. Take heart, things do change, some things take time to change and God is in control of that change. It’s in the movement, the uncomfortable places of transformation that we can find hope.

We all want to be in places of peace and calm, where there are no worries and things are going swimmingly. Our plans are unfolding nicely and we think we have it all figured out. Then, the tide changes. A storm suddenly wells up and churns our calm sea. Stop and pause for a moment. Where is the battle raging? The sea (your situation) or your mind? If you’re fighting the rough waters, trying to navigate, losing your way, trying to find some light, a way out and you’re starting lose hope, becoming weary and tired, depleted and discouraged, if that’s where you are, you’re fighting the wrong battle. You’re fighting something you have no control over. Stop.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

If God is in control, then you are wrestling God. Stop. Stop fighting God. Not that, that’s wrong. Now you’re probably about to say, “And just let the waters take me and toss me around?” Well, no. There are some things you can do. First recognize where the battle is really taking place. Be it a health issue, the loss of a loved one, a financial issue, an issue with a child, relationship, job related; those all represent the churning sea. God is using those situations to transform us. So what we need to do next, is fix our eyes, (verse) minds on Jesus, by the renewing of our minds (renewing of the mind verse) There is going to be little we can do to change our situation and wrestling God or the lies of Satan, that will just wear us out. Know that Satan is at work trying to keep you one degree off your navigation, but God says He will never leave us or forsake us. (verse) Sometimes the battle is harder to fight when the lines blur and we are trying to justify our situation so that we don’t have to change, because it’s just easier not to change. And really, who wants to change an already comfortable situation, perhaps? But, look at how hard you’re working NOT to change. Transformation can be painful. but, it’s worth it and once the transformation happens, life becomes easier. But, KNOW that God is working to use whatever situation you are in to transform you into more like Him. That’s His ultimate goal, but He is also working in other areas of our lives to grow us. – Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” NIV

Next, it’s the movement, even if you need to wrestle with God, and sometimes that’s ok, you’re not gonna win but what will come out of it is newness. Sitting in those calm still waters we can become stagnant, no change, no growth, really going nowhere. But it’s in the movement of those churning waters we learn to navigate uncharted waters or a new way to navigate in the same churning waters.

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There Will Be Terrible Times.

The Kedge Anchor

It’s crazy. Isn’t it? The way things are going? What once was good is now considered bad. What once was bad is now good. And the Bible teaches us through prophesy in the Old Testament and in the book of Revelation about the end times. But yet, sometimes I gotta shake my head and say to myself, “Really?” Yah, really.

Often times, I am at a loss how to deal with things. It’s really confusing. And praying. Well, I really am not sure how to pray in these times. How does one pray for the days that are to come, if we are, and I believe we are embarking on the outskirts of the last days.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure …”

Hebrews 6:19 (NIV)

2 Timothy 3: 1-5 (NIV) “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

The KJV uses the word perilous for terrible. The greek word for perilous, *chalepos – hard to do or bear, 5467 xalepós (an adjective, derived from xaleptō, “to oppress, annoy,” J. Thayer) – properly, irksomely hard to bear (LS); fiercely difficult to cope with because so harsh (even injurious). Kinda what we are seeing and experiencing today, isn’t it?

Titus 2:11-12 (NIV) – “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” Well, the Bible does teach us how we should live and be. Self-controlled, upright and live godly lives. But we need each other, we need encouragement from each other as Paul encouraged the people of Corinth and as he received letters of encouragement from the people whilst in prison.

The book of Titus goes on to say in verse 13, “… while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, there is Hope. Hope for the soul, Hebrews 6:19 – “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure …”

It’s hard not to be discouraged and just sad at the events that take place, the headlines, the social media posts, the injustice. And the Bible does tell us to not be discouraged. Joshua 1:19 reminds of that as well as Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” There’s that word again, hope. We have HOPE! And that HOPE will be with us wherever we go! The future I believe is our home in Heaven and for the present day, God has plans for us today, to live self controlled and upright godly lives. If we just love the Lord our God and our neighbor, the rest falls into place.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.“

Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

It sounds simple, huh? It is and it isn’t. Seek God and His Word for answers and comfort. And I encourage to seek counseling. There are many Christian counselors out there and meetings can be done remotely. If we try to do it in our own strength we won’t make it. There will be days we want to lash out, scream, shout, ggggrrrrrr! It’s not easy some days. We need encouragement in these terrible, perilous times. We don’t have to like it or agree with it. We need to resolve with ourselves to lead godly and upright lives. And we can only do that by walking with God and by encouraging each other.

#hope #hopeanchor #thekedgeanchor #endtimes #jesusiscoming #hopeanchorforthesoul #hebrewssixnineteen #encouragement #wordsofencouragement #hardtimes #scripture #scriptureverse #wordsofencouragementforall #foreveryone #liveagodlylife #lovegod #loveyourneighbor

Please click the button in the top right corner or click the following links to learn more About Contact Knowing Jesus

#hope #hopeanchor #thekedgeanchor #endtimes #jesusiscoming #hopeanchorforthesoul #hebrewssixnineteen #encouragement #wordsofencouragement #hardtimes #scripture #scriptureverse #wordsofencouragementforall #foreveryone #liveagodlylife #lovegod #loveyourneighbor

Resources

*https://biblehub.com/greek/5467.htm

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