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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Our Anchor

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Read: Hebrews 6:13-20

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 4-6; Acts 2:22-47

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. —Hebrews 6:19

After Estella Pyfrom retired from teaching, she bought a bus, decked it out with computers and desks, and now drives the “Brilliant Bus” through Palm Beach County, Florida, providing a place for at-risk children to do their homework and learn technology. Estella is providing stability and hope to children who might be tempted to throw away their dream for a better tomorrow.

In the first century, an avalanche of suffering and discouragement threatened the Christian community. The author of Hebrews wrote to convince these followers of Christ not to throw away their confidence in their future hope (2:1). Their hope—a faith in God for salvation and entrance into heaven—was found in the person and sacrifice of Christ. When Jesus entered heaven after His resurrection, He secured their hope for the future (6:19-20). Like an anchor dropped at sea, preventing a ship from drifting away, Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return to heaven brought assurance and stability to the believers’ lives. This hope for the future cannot and will not be shaken loose.

Jesus anchors our souls, so that we will not drift away from our hope in God. —Marvin Williams

Jesus, in the face of all kinds of trouble and uncertainty, help me to have a confident expectation that is grounded in Your unfailing love for me.

Our hope is anchored in Jesus.

INSIGHT: The book of Hebrews is a book of comparisons between the Old Testament and the person of Christ. Throughout the book, the author makes comparisons between what is good and what is better: Jesus is better than the prophets and angels (ch. 1), better than Moses (ch. 3), better than the priesthood (chs. 4-8), and better than the sacrificial system (chs. 9-10). The greatness of Jesus is our hope and our anchor, an anchor that Hebrews reminds us is “both sure and steadfast” (6:19).

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – On 9/12 We Ran to God

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Max LucadoOn 9/12 We Ran to God

Originally published September 12, 2011 on FoxNews.com

On 9/11 we ran for cover. On 9/12 we ran to God. Churches overflowed. Synagogues were packed. Sanctuaries and temples swelled to capacity. Four thousand people gathered in a Manhattan Cathedral. A New York City church filled and emptied six times in one day. Street vendors were replaced by prayer counselors who stood beneath banners that read: “We will pray for you.”

Across the country, congregations hastily assembled post-attack prayer services. We did in San Antonio, Texas. “Come and Pray for Peace” our outdoor sign invited. You would have thought it was Easter Sunday. Standing Room Only.

Ironic. Usama Bin Laden intended to bring America to her knees, and he did—we prayed. What does this say about us? At least this much: we are a spiritual people. For all our talk about secularism, self-reliance and self-sufficiency, where we do we turn in turbulence? We turn to God.

We find Him to be—to use the old coinage—“an anchor of the soul” (Heb. 6:10). Everyone anchors to something. A retirement account, a resume. A person or a position. “When the storm comes,” they say, “this will get me through.”

On 9/11 we turned to the sturdiest anchor of all: God. Only He promises to secure our most precious commodity—our souls. When God breathed into Adam, he gave him more than oxygen; he gave him an eternal essence. He gave you the same. Because of your soul, you wrestle with right and wrong, value the lives of others and get choked up at the singing of our national anthem. The soul is that part of you dares to believe that good comes out of evil, Right still sits on the throne and the next life will make sense of this one.

This world can be tough on a soul. Yours needs an anchor: a double pointed cast-iron hooking point that is sturdier than the storm.

Storms still rage. “Irene” wreaks havoc and earthquakes shake our national monuments. Economy feels as sturdy as paper-mache. God never promised a life with no storms. But He did promise to meet us in the midst of them. storms. He met us ten years ago. He does still.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Here’s hoping we never have to face another 9/11. But if we do, I pray that you’ve secured your soul to God—the anchor of the soul.