Christine Caine - Drop The Anchor, Part 5
And my friend, Beth Moore, we are like holy ghost terrorists. Man, we just call each other. What are you speaking about this weekend? What are you teaching here? Did you get this revelation? Oh, my God, I'm orbit. I'm running laps in my kitchen, Beth. I just got this great revelation. And so, is it heresy? Can you tell me? So you've got to check with the Bible teachers to make sure. There are a lot of ideas about what love is. With all the different definitions in today's world, how do you know when you've found the real thing? Well, there is a way to gauge whether something is truly love or not, and I am going to talk about that today. I'm Christine Caine, and I have a personal mission to Equip and Empower people just like you to connect with your God-given purpose and potential. I'm so glad you're joining us. Let's go straight to the message.
Hey! Hey, everyone. I am so excited that you've come back this week, and if you've just tuned in, I am so grateful that you are watching this program today. I believe the holy spirit has got a word for you, and we are talking in the series about dropping the anchor, making sure that our hope is firm and secure in Jesus. The Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews that Jesus is this hope we have as an anchor for our soul, and I love this part, both firm and secure. Because in the world today, there is not a lot of things are firm or secure, but Jesus is both firm and secure, and that gives us great confidence to be able to navigate the complexities of life, the chaos of life, the turmoil of life, knowing that our hope, our life, our faith is anchored in Jesus.
Well, through this series, we been looking at all of different links in the chain that keep us connected to Jesus, because the issue is not that the anchor is weak. The anchor is strong. Jesus is secure, but sometimes, the links in the chain that keep us connected to Jesus, they need some work to make sure that when the storms come, or the current changes or the wind changes, that you and I are anchored, and we are connected very firmly to Jesus. So that when there is a shift that happens, we don't shift with the wind. We don't shift with the current, and just because change and turmoil happens around us, we go, you know what? I'm pretty solid. And let me tell you, this is a huge testimony to the world around us, the fact that when all hell is breaking loose, you're still strong, and that when bad things happen, because bad things happen to good people, you're still anchored to Jesus. That when disappointment comes, when discouragement comes, when betrayal comes, when hurt comes that you're still anchored the Jesus.
It doesn't mean you don't feel the stuff. You feel it, but there's something stronger than your feelings, and that is where anchored, where you are connected to, and that is Jesus. So we've been looking at a whole bunch of things throughout this series. In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, we found the, "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water". I love that, that we can draw near to Jesus. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. That you can go directly to the throne of grace, no matter where you've been, no matter what you've done, no matter what has happened, you can walk unhindered to the throne of grace, because Jesus shed his blood at Calvary for you and for me, and because of that, we have unfettered access to the throne of grace.
"Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful". That was a deeply convicting lesson for all of us, that we are to hold fast to our confession of our hope. What's coming out of your mouth that even when trial and tribulation comes, are you holding fast to the confession of your hope in Jesus? Because all the people are not faithful, Jesus is faithful. Although circumstances are not faithful, Jesus is faithful. And so, Jesus is the anchor that we have as a firm foundation for our soul. Therefore, our trust and our hope rest in Jesus. He is faithful, and today, we're going to move on. The Bible says in verse 24, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works". I love that. Let us consider how to stir up one another.
Now I've got two daughters, and my daughters often consider how to stir up one another, but it's not often, to love and good works, and it is amazing, because the one thing, I had my first child and 35, my second at 39, nearly 40, and you would've thought 40 years from when I was the kid that things change, but some things never change. Like my girls will sit in the backseat of the car, and even if I say stay on separate sides, and you know, "Mommy she touched me". And I'm like going, we did that when we were kids. I cannot believe that in 27, "Mommy, she touched me". And I'll go, Sophia, don't stir up your big sister, but it's like, it's inbuilt into your DNA that you are going to stir them up. And you're like, mommy, I didn't touch her. And she's like one millimeter like the whole thing all the way through. Or she will make sure what she doesn't like. So I just laugh and I think, well, I think humanity. You know, there is evidence for the endemic nature, for the fallen nature of humanity.
As soon as you birth a child, don't tell me there is no sin nature, because I'm like you are stirring one another up. I see in our social media world people contentious and stirring one another up in a really negative way. You see some of the dialogues on Twitter. I'm like, can't believe you just said that to that person. Something you would never say to someone face-to-face. It is amazing what we are saying, hiding behind a screen, as if somehow God can't see it. I'm like, are you serious? Do you think God cannot see that you've just tweeted that out, and you've written that really ugly thing to somebody? And it is amazing to me how I watch people just kind of drop their Christian convictions as they get behind screen, and they start to stir each other up. We need to be a different kind of Christian. We need to be people that inspire one another, that believe one another, that are each other's cheerleaders.
That's what I want this program to be. There is no doubt about it. When you tune into TBN, and you watch Equip and Empower, this is what I want to do. I want to equip you and empower you to flourish in life. I want you to fulfill your God-given destiny and fulfill your God-given potential. I do not want to speak death, and you know, the world. We've got 168 hours of a news cycle that is full of fear and death and negativity. Magazines telling you that you're not good enough. You're not smart enough. You're not talented enough. You're not eloquent enough. You're too much of this, or you're not enough of that. I want to speak life. I want to speak hope. I want to tell you that you are who God has called you to be. You can do what God has called you to do. You can rise up and be everyone that God has called you to be.
We need some Christian cheerleading happening. We've got a great cloud of witnesses Hebrews 12 says. "Therefore," then it says, "We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses". Do you notice it doesn't say great cloud of spectators? Because spectators are the ones that sit in the grandstands judging. You know, they're the ones that man, if I was on a football field, I would've done that. Or I could've kicked that goal. She should have done that. That's what spectators do. They come to analyze, because I woulda, coulda, and shoulda. But a witness, a witness says, ah, I've been there. I've done that, and I know because I did it, you can do it. There's a cloud of witnesses, and we've got the great hall of faith in Hebrews 11. We've got Moses and we've got Abraham, and we've got a whole cloud of witnesses saying you can do it! We wish we were you. We wish we were there when you were there.
They're looking down on us saying, come on, tag, you're it. Some of us lost our lives. We didn't even see the promise of Jesus. You can see the promise of Jesus, and you get to prepare the world for his second coming. You can do it. You can endure. You can endure, and we need to stir each other up to love and good works. Our world is in a really bad way. Our world is a mess. You know, our deal to helping to rescue the victims of trafficking through the A21 campaign, and it is horrific. You know, some of the stories I could tell you. We've currently got a little 18-year-old in our care with a broken pelvis's. You don't even want your mind to imagine the depravity that humanity is capable of. We help rescue five and six-year-old kids. I mean, the world is a mess. There is terror. There is crime. There is violence. There is heartache. Our world desperately needs love. Our world is not Christians yelling at each other on the internet.
What we need is to bring love and peace and joy to the world around us. There is so much fear and hate and terror, and the Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind. I wonder, are you operating like that? Are you bringing love and power and a sound mind into your world? Because by reading some supposed Christian social, I'm like, that's not a sound mind. There's not a lot of love coming out of that. There's not a lot of Christian power coming out of that. How are you speaking to the world around you? Are you bringing peace in the midst of chaos? You know, we Romanticize love, because we watch most love movies, and we all just think it's all like our heart fluttering. Love is really hard work. True, biblical love. You know, I'm watching a lot of things nowadays, and I love how people are trying to redefine love.
Love wins, love this, love that, and I'm like you're not talking biblical love. You're just talking about warm, fuzzy feelings. You're not talking about speaking the truth in love. You're just saying let's water down the truth so we can say kumbaya. Everything is love. That's not what the Bible says. Total endorsement and total acceptance is not love. That is not biblical love, and so what is it? The Bible says in first Corinthians 13, verses four to seven, people read this at a wedding, but this is not just for a husband and wife. This is actually Christian love. This is how we are supposed to operate with every single relationship that we have.
It says, in first Corinthians 13: "Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast". I mean, I could just pass there. How many hashtag humble brags do we put out there on our Instagram? "It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoings, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things". Now, that sounds awesome. That is not just supposed to be something between Nick and I. That is actually supposed to be something in every one of my interactions on the planet. The love walk is what defines, "By this will all men know that we are his disciples, by the love we have one for another". Now I need you to know the love we have with one another does not mean the endorsement we have of each other's behavior. That's not what love is. People are trying to take the word love and redefine it for their own means. That's not what biblical love is.
And scripture says, hey, you need to be stir it up. You need to stir each other up to love and good works. So what does that mean? Because we need to do good works, not just talk about it. See, we live in a world that everything is being about social activism, but what that really means for most people is they press like on an Instagram feed. Wow, that's going to change the world. It's amazing to me. You know, I run a global anti-trafficking organization. It's the people that are on the front lines being inconvenienced and interrupted day in and day out that are really making a difference. Most of us want to like something on social media. You don't want to do something in the real world. And the fact is, if you just want to like something on social media and do nothing in the real world, you are kidding yourself. You're kidding yourself. You are fooling yourself.
The Bible says, Acts, chapter 10, verse 38, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him". Jesus went about doing good. This is not rocket science. Jesus didn't go about blogging. Jesus didn't sit in a hipster little cafe with his little phone talking about how he was going to change the world on his Instagram feed. Jesus went about doing good. I wonder if you go about doing good. Do you know how much our world's going to change if you just go about doing good in your world? You do not have to move over to the other side of the world to a community that is just living in abject poverty. You can do good right where you are, and a lot of us, we would prefer to talk about doing good somewhere else than actually doing good right where we are, and we need to change that. We need to stir each other up to do good right where we are.
You know, a lot of little pieces of doing good make a very big good thing, and a lot of us, we just kind of minimize. We just think my little bit doesn't matter, but we see, obviously, in the story in Mark chapter 6, the little boy's lunch, just five loaves, two fish, it did a lot of good. Your little bit does a lot of good. Don't value your little bit. You give a little bit. You serve a little bit. You sow a little bit. But stop holding onto your little bit. Give your little bit, and you will find that it will do good. And so my bottom line is, you know what? A nice, kind word, it does a lot. It brings encouragement to someone. Just making a decision. You know, I might only have 20 followers, but I'm going to post really positive things every day, and I'm going to make things do good. You would find that if you followed me. I only post positive things. It's intentional, because there's enough negativity in the world. I want to speak life into you. I want to speak hope into you, and so the fact is, just make a decision.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10 that we are God's workmanship created for good works that God prepared beforehand. That we should walk in them. So we were created to do good works. So if you're just sitting on your cute little rusty-dusty blogging about good works and criticizing everyone that's not doing good works, while you do no good works sitting in your grandmother's basement in your underwear, seriously, maybe it's time that you just did a little bit of good. Maybe it's time that you just did a little bit of good right where you are. And understanding that we are motivated by the love of God to do good. It's interesting to me. I've noticed in the last little season, people love the social activist Christine. I don't call myself that. People do, but they're nervous of the evangelist Christine. What do you mean the evangelist? What do you mean Christine telling people Jesus is the only way to God? What do you mean you believe that there's a literal heaven and a literal hell? Christine, can't you just rescue slaves and not talk about Jesus? No. No. Because it's the love of God that stirs my heart and compels my heart and motivates me to good works.
You need to be careful, and I'm speaking particularly to a younger generation. Do not throw out truth in the name of love. Do not think that you don't need Jesus to do what you're called to do. Do not think the works devoid of Jesus are just and not in and of themselves. Are they good? Absolutely. Should we do them? Absolutely. But if you're a follower of Christ, you better be doing in the name of Jesus and understanding that there is only one way to God. Jesus said, "I am the way," not a way. "I am the truth," not a truth. "I am the life," not a life. No one in the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. That's what that means. No one comes to the father but by Jesus. And that's why we do it in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And so, we make sure that we stir each other up to good works. You know, I'm surrounded by people. I need to be constantly encouraged, and my friend, beth moore, we are like holy ghost terrorists.
Man, we just call each other, what are you speaking about this weekend? What are you teaching here? Did you get this revelation? Oh, my God, I'm in orbit. I'm running laps my kitchen, beth. I just got this great revelation. And so, is it heresy? Can you tell me? So you've got to go to the Bible teachers to make sure that that all happens. But we stir each other up. What's going to happen? My spiritual mama, Joyce Meyers, she stirs me up. I'm like, what are you doing, Joyce? I'm in the gym. She's like 74. I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you that, but I'm telling you, okay? And here's the truth. She lifts heavier weights than me. Every day she's like, "Oh, Christine, I'm on my five-mile walk". I go, oh, what are you doing? "Oh, yeah, Christine. I've just gone away for two weeks. I'm writing a book, number 136". I'm like, awesome. Awesome! I'm still trying to wake up. Yeah, and that's all I said. You all need someone to stir you up to good works and say, come on. Let's take it all happen. And then we've got to turn up.
The Bible says, "Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some". Not neglecting to meet together. You know, it's interesting. On the 23rd of January, 1989, I walked into Hillsong church, and it changed my life. From that day, I got planted. I stopped just attending church, and I got planted in the house of God. It's now 30 years later, and I haven't gone anywhere. The secret to everything that I do is that I am firmly planted in a local church. If you are watching this, there is no greater advice that I can give you, outside of following Jesus, is get yourself planted in a life-giving, Bible-based local church. There is a little thing in the air in the day in the age in which we live, you don't really have to go to church. Church is where two or three are gathered. We can sing kumbaya together in the back of nowhere, and let me just say, when the storm comes, honey, you are going to want to be anchored in a good, solid body of believers.
Every major thing in my life, my church family has come around me, and it has helped kept me anchored. There is something about church. I'm a true believer that the local church is the hope of the world. That you need to be in a life-giving, dynamic, Bible-based, faith-filled church and get around some great Christians that are going to keep you accountable and keep you connected, because you're going to find anyone to agree with you about whatever you want to agree. I mean, nowadays, you can do, you can download us. You can get podcasts. You can watch what you want. You could have your ears tickled. You can get preachers to agree with whatever it is that you're thinking.
You need to be in church where you have a shepherd over you that will give you a balanced diet that's going to tell you some things you don't want to hear, just like there are days where I'm saying to my kids, no, you're not eating ice cream every day. You could go get 10 blots of... You need some broccoli. You need some steak. You need some things that you don't like to give you a course correction and keep you on course. The thing that has kept me on course, the thing that has propelled me into my destiny is that I have stayed submitted under a pastor for 30 years. That I have been firmly planted in a local church, and out of that, it has not hindered my destiny. It has propelled me to a global ministry and a global destiny. There is power of being planted in church. There is power to being planted in your local church.
So the fact is, if you're planted, your roots go down deep. You cannot be easily uprooted. You don't occasionally visit a church. The Bible says, "A man who isolates himself," in Proverbs 18:1, "Rages against all wise judgment". And so, make sure that you do not forsake the gathering together. That'll be the biggest test of the enemy in our digital age. Stay at home and watch church rather than be part of church and get connected to church. He can disconnect you, if you're not connected, and that link will break. So get planted. Get rooted. Stay connected, and finally, we hold on. Verse 35, the Bible says, "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward".
Don't throw your confidence in Christ. That's the context of this. These Christians are being persecuted. These Christians are being ostracized. These Christians are being martyred, and the writers of the Hebrews are saying in the midst of all of that, do not throw away your confidence. That is the last link in this chain. You say, I don't care what you do to me. I don't care what happens. My confidence is in Christ, and even if I do not see the promise this side of eternity, I am not disconnecting. Jesus is this hope I have as an anchor for my soul. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. I can do all things through Christ Jesus, who strengthens me. My eye hasn't seen. My ear hasn't heard. It hasn't entered into my heart the things that God has for me. I am on the winning side, because I am connected to Jesus, and I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me, in Jesus name, and amen, and amen. Let me pray for you.
Father, I think you that in a day of great darkness and chaos and uncertainty on the earth that we can smile at the future, because Jesus is this hope we have as an anchor for our soul, both firm and secure, and Lord, my prayer is that every single one of us under the sound of my voice stays firmly connected, keeps every link in the chain strong, that keeps us connected to our anchor, Jesus. And I declare and decree over everybody that we will not be disconnected. That we will not sway. That we will run our race and finish our course connected to the author and the finisher of our race, Jesus Christ. Amen, and amen, and amen. God bless you all.