TD Jakes - The Anchor
I’m excited about God’s goodness! Thank you for that great song and the wonderful music. It’s time for us to go into the Word of God, and there’s so much I want to share with you tonight. I hardly know where to begin. I’ve got so many things; I have my Bible here and my phone here, and I’ve got the Word of God everywhere. I think I’ll read Romans 1:16 before going into Hebrews chapter 6. I want to read 1:16 because it’s an important principle for you to consider. Paul is writing in Romans 1:16, «For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.» He says the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.
Do you believe? Do you really believe? If you believe, then the gospel is for you. The gospel is God expressing His power toward you. «For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.» I want you to pay attention to that order because it is important. He said, «I’m going to come to the Jew first. I’ve got unfinished business with the Jews. I have a covenant relationship with them. We’ve been in covenant for thousands of years; I made promises to Father Abraham. I’m coming to the Jew first.» You will remember the woman who came to Jesus with her daughter grievously vexed with a devil and asked Him to heal her daughter.
Jesus said, «It is not right to give the children’s bread to the dogs.» That wasn’t really an insult; it was calling her a Gentile. He said, «I’m not finished with the Jews first.» But He went ahead and made an exception and healed the woman’s daughter anyway. But I want you to see God’s order: it was to the Jew and then to the Greek. On the day of Pentecost, when it was fully come, they were all in Jerusalem, the epicenter for all of Israel, and the Holy Spirit fell there among the Jews in Jerusalem. He said in Acts 1:8, «You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Judea and in Samaria and in the uttermost parts of the earth.»
God is strategic. He is not just moving by happenstance or chaos, nor is He merely responding to whims, woes, or complaints. God has a strategy. He told His mother, «My hour is not yet come.» Look at it: He had it synchronized how He was going to do everything. He came unto His own, and many of them received Him. Three thousand people received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost—a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit—and they began to flow and move. The early church started knocking on the doors of the synagogues first, trying to convert as many Jews as they could. Some heard, some didn’t; some heard and walked for a while, then turned around and walked away saying, «This is a hard saying.» So when you read in Hebrews 6, we are reading with all that in mind. Let’s go for it! Are you ready? Let’s get into this.
«Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.» Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. «And this we will do if God permit.» He says you can’t stay around the beginning; you’ve got to lay the foundation. The foundation is important. The doctrine is important. The principles are important. He says that you can’t stay; you have to leave the principles of the doctrine and go on to perfection. That doesn’t mean perfect, but maturity—to go on to the next level, to the next dimension, to the next realm of the Spirit.
«And this we will do if God permit.» We can’t stay in the place we started from; we can’t drink milk for the rest of our lives. We have to get to the meat of the Word. We have to go to the next level, and I want to help you do that. He says, «And this is where it gets interesting, and that’s why I read Romans.» He said, «For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame.»
See, they had crucified Him one time. He had been nailed to the tree, but to believe and then reject Him—the writer of Hebrews says—is to crucify the Son of Man afresh and bring Him to an open shame. If you turn away after you’ve tasted, after you’ve experienced, and then you turn away, you fall back to whatever you were before. You fall back to the crucifixion rejection. His crucifixion—you crucify the Son of Man afresh and bring Him to an open shame. He talks about that. It’s a powerful thing to understand that he is really referring particularly to the Jews—because to reject Jesus is Lord was to put Him back on the cross again.
Then he says, «For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes often upon it and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receives blessings from God.» This is a vineyard; this is a place where things grow. This is where the fruit is growing. This is where the blessings are increasing because it receives from God. They receive blessings from God. But that which bears thorns and briars is rejected and is close to cursing, whose end is to be burned. It received water, but it was unfruitful. There are some people that no matter what God does, they’re not going to receive it. It took me much of my life to learn that there are some people who don’t care what you do or what God does; they’re still going to be where they are. They bring forth thorns and thistles, and they are gathered into bundles to be burned. People don’t like to talk about judgment; they don’t like to discuss hell; they don’t like to mention consequences. But the Bible does teach about consequences.
«But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you.» Incidentally, this theme of «better things» is prevalent throughout the book of Hebrews. You will hear it over and over again—better things for a lot of different reasons I won’t go into—but the book of Hebrews is really trying to convince the Jews that this new covenant is not lesser but better. It’s not subservient; it’s superior. It’s not a step backward; it’s a step forward. The reason he emphasizes better things for you is because there was a great apostasy among the Jews. They were falling away; they were turning back from the faith.
That apostasy is what he’s addressing, and that’s why he says, «It’s impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, if they should fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify the Son of Man and bring Him to an open shame.» It’s impossible. You can’t just go and come back again. They had their chance, and they were the priority. The next step was to go to the Gentiles. You see the progression throughout the New Testament, particularly in the epistles, where they started with the Jews and ended up going to the Greeks and witnessing to them, visiting Corinth, Athens, and other places. Because whenever you reject God, He’s got somebody else who will receive what you reject. This is good to understand!
«But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister.» I love that scripture. God is not unrighteous to forget your labor. Sometimes you feel so forgotten. You can do good things for people, and sometimes they act like they don’t remember. You can help them, and they turn on you like an animal. You can do wonderful things, make one mistake, and they’ll forget every good deed you ever did for them. But the Bible says God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love, in that you minister to the saints and do minister. He is committed to remembering everything you have done. So don’t be discouraged when people forget! People will forget, but God does not forget.
I want to say to someone who has been doing good, but it seems people don’t acknowledge it, recognize it, or appreciate it: You should underline this scripture, take it, and make it your memory verse. You should really put it out there: «For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister.» God watches how you minister to people. It’s not enough for you to have a relationship with God and be unkind to others. God is judging how you treat other people. He is concerned about how you act with your brother. Another scripture says, «How can you say you love God whom you have not seen, and hate your brother whom you see every day?» God pays attention to how you treat people.
There are only two commandments; the two greatest commandments Jesus said are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul—that’s number one—and to love your neighbor as yourself—that’s number two. So if you get those two things right, you really have it figured out. Loving God with all your heart, mind, and soul is a vertical relationship, and loving your brother as you love yourself is a horizontal relationship. When you love God with all your heart and you love your brother, you have the essence of a crucified life.
God cares about those things. He said, «I won’t forget it either. I will bless you even if the saints don’t bless you. I will bless you even if the people don’t remember you. I will bless you, even if they betray you and turn against you.» God says, «I will bless you. You don’t always reap from the same place you sow. You may have to sow over here and reap over there. Sometimes those you sow to can’t give it back to you; they don’t have it to give. But God says, 'Don’t throw it away and forget me, because I’ve watched it, and I’ll make sure that it is returned to you. I will not forget. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister.'»
This is a difficult time of ministry right now; you’re ministering to people you can’t see. We’re preaching in empty buildings, through laptops, phones, computers, Facebook Live, and everything available. But God is still watching. You don’t get as many amens; you don’t get as many hallelujahs. You may not receive as much offering; you may not get as much support as you used to when you were preaching to a crowd. But God is still watching. I don’t care if the building is empty; God is still watching. I don’t care if you’re doing it from your house; God is still watching. I don’t care if you’re doing it for someone who doesn’t appreciate you; God is still watching.
He said, «For He is not unrighteous to forget.» In other words, to forget how good you have been is unrighteous to God. And God said, «I’m too righteous to let you outgive me. So if you take care of my people, I’ll take care of you. If you take care of my kingdom, I’ll take care of you. If you take care of my house, I’ll take care of yours.» Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you! This is about priority. He said, «I seek the Jew first and then the Greek.»
Now, He’s telling us God is not unrighteous to forget how you ministered to the saints and do minister. God will reward you for that! This is about priorities. The first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. God is always first. Secondly, you are to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Do you have priorities? Do you have priorities? Because the beginning of priorities is the birthing place of order. When you start setting priorities, you start putting things in order.
That’s what helped me so much about timing: when I first began to tithe, I was in really bad debt and didn’t have much money. The tithes were substantial to begin with, but I learned to be disciplined about my living when I became disciplined about my giving. I’m going to say that again: I learned to be more disciplined about my living when I became disciplined about my giving. Because when I put God first, it made me think about what comes next. It started teaching me how to put things in strategy, structure, and order. It used to be that I gave God whatever was left, whatever I happened to have left when they passed the tray; I would just throw something in and keep on going. But when I learned the discipline of putting Him first, «first» didn’t mean «only"—it just meant «first.»
Once I put Him first, I had to think, «Okay, so what do I prioritize next?» I began to prioritize: my rent had to be paid, this bill had to be paid, and that bill had to be paid. I like to say I learned to do my God-due before I did my wanna-do. A lot of people never learn that; they’re still doing what they want to do and then praying for what they’ve got to do. That’s a bad order to get into. When you seek first the kingdom of God, all these things are added unto you. You begin to establish priorities in your life; you begin to find structure in your life, and it helps you to grow. That’s good, that’s good, that’s good! I want to go further; I want to get you ready to go further.
Let’s explore this further. We desire that every one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, the same diligence to the fullness of assurance of hope. Now that diligence thing—being diligent—is tough. It’s like consistency. Some people are more diligent about some things than others; you know I’m diligent about giving. I’m diligent about preaching; I’m diligent about studying. I’m not diligent about eating, and I’m definitely not diligent about working out! When I do, I really get good results, but when I don’t, I get bad results. In some kind of way, I think I can get by with it, but it always shows up about a week later.
You know, Tuesday will meet me seven days later, and it shows. Anytime I’m not diligent, it shows. That’s the way it is in the spirit; it doesn’t always show, but just because it doesn’t show in the spirit realm, it doesn’t mean it won’t show with your finances. You can be undisciplined about it, and the neighbors won’t know, but eventually, it’s going to catch up with you. You want to pray to be diligent; you want to pray to be consistent, to be dependable, to be someone God can count on. «Be not slothful but followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises.» Be not slothful; don’t be lazy. I don’t even want to get on that; I’m scared I’ll get lost in it. Do not be slothful! You must not procrastinate by putting things off.
There are so many people today in the church who are just slothful, just slothful! They think that they can pray it down, and they think that they can just believe God and expect it to happen while doing nothing at all, but that’s not true! You cannot be slothful and receive the blessings of God. I’m going to read this again because this is important; we need this urgently: «Be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises of God.» God said, «I promised it to you, don’t be lazy,» but through faith and patience, be followers of those who are receiving the promises of God. They received it because of their faith and their patience.
Alright, now this gets good. Are you ready? Because this is the part I really like: when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself. This is so cool! So when God made a promise to Abraham, it was an oath—a covenant. God made a promise to Abraham because He could swear by no one greater than Himself, and I want to explain it because the Scripture is going to explain it: «Saying, surely blessings I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.»
Do you receive that right now? I know it’s a pandemic! I know COVID-19 is everywhere; I’m sitting right in the epicenter of it. I understand all that—the economy is fluctuating, and people are unemployed. I’m not talking about anything I see with my natural eyes; I’m talking about what God said. God has said, «I will bless you.» Let’s read this again because this is good: «Saying surely blessings I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.» Can you receive that? I don’t think it’s strange that I see—it’s because a lot of people can’t receive it! They cannot receive it. Why can’t they receive a blessing? When the lame man was lame for 38 years and sat by the pool, Jesus asked him, «Wilt thou be made whole?»
Why would Jesus ask him that if everyone was willing to be made whole? Some people like to talk about being made whole but don’t really want to be made whole. Some people want to talk about going to the next level, but they really don’t want to take that step. They like to discuss receiving blessings, but they don’t really feel worthy of the blessings or are accustomed to not being blessed. Sometimes their norm is so low that when you lift them too high, they self-sabotage back down to the level they were before. Can you receive that? God said in the middle of a pandemic with a fluctuating economy, and with people falling on your right side and left side, He says, «You’re next!» Can you receive that?
God said to you, «Surely—not maybe! —surely blessings I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.» You ought to take that in! If we don’t get any further tonight, take a moment and receive the blessings of God. I receive the blessings of God! I receive His multiplication in my life. God, You said You would multiply my life. I’m looking for multiplication! Thank You for my blessing. How do I take what You’ve given me and see it multiplied in my life? How do I think? You took the two fish and five loaves of bread and multiplied them to feed the multitude. Take what I’m offering You, Oh God—take what I’m offering You right now and multiply it! In the name of Jesus, here’s my voice, Lord, multiply!
Here’s my teaching, Lord, multiply! Here’s my preaching, Lord, multiply! Don’t be so easily satisfied just to be blessed. He says, «Surely I will bless you; surely I will bless you; and multiplying I will multiply thee.» I want to go from being blessed to being multiplied! Let that get down in your spirit! I wonder what God is talking to you about tonight that He wants to bless in your life, that He wants to multiply in your life—not maybe, but surely! «Blessings I will bless thee; multiplying I will multiply thee.»
Now all of this comes on the heels of Him talking about once you’ve tasted of the Lord, it’s impossible to renew; He’s really talking to Israel. He’s saying, «You’re going to fall into unbelief.» This is what Moses foreshadows when he puts the veil over his face, and you have to be blocked off from being able to see. You’re going to reject Him because you chose idolatry over Him. He says, «I’m going to cover it up,» and the law was broken before it was ever handed down. He said, «Okay, so you fall back into blindness.»
If you keep on reading over in the Scriptures, you’ll see how Israel fell into blindness. They rejected and crucified the Son of Man afresh, fell into blindness. He said, «But I’m persuading better things of you and things that accompany salvation.» What accompanies salvation? «Surely blessings I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.»
Now, I admit, sometimes the blessing isn’t money; sometimes I don’t need it to be money. Sometimes the blessing I need is peace; sometimes the blessing I need is healing; sometimes the blessing I need is wisdom. Whatever the blessing is, surely blessings I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee! That’s what God is promising! I’m not going to forget your labor of love; I’m going to bless you because you’ve ministered to my people. I’m going to bless you because you served others before yourself. I’m going to bless you because you resisted the temptation to be narcissistic and focus on yourself. I’m going to bless you because you’ve helped people who didn’t help you. I’m going to bless you because you fed those who couldn’t feed you.
God said, «Surely blessings I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.» The Bible says, «Whoever gives to the poor lends to the Lord.» God says, «I’m going to pay you back; I’m going to bless you, and I’m going to multiply you!» I keep saying this because I want to get it into your spirit. The reason I keep saying it so much is because I know that when you’re a believer, you have all these other voices coming into your ear. They’re talking to you all the time, and you might think you’re not going to make it. You’re not going to survive. «Oh my God! Is that a tickle in my throat? I might be getting sick!» «Oh, I feel kind of hot. I wonder if that’s a fever.» There are all these voices trying to make you doubt what God has promised you! So I have to keep hammering: «Surely blessings! I will bless you; multiplying, I will multiply thee.»
I have to keep hammering: «Surely blessings! I will bless thee, multiplying I will multiply thee.» I have to keep hammering to help paint off all these other voices that are coming from the enemy, running around like bullies, trying to rob you of your joy, peace, and sleep. That’s what they say! They say you’ve got cancer. They say you’re not going to make it. They say you’re not talented. They say you’re not good. They say you’ll never be anything. They say you’re just like your auntie or your uncle or your grandma or your daddy! That’s what they say! But God said, «Surely blessings I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.»
Who are you going to believe? Who are you going to believe? When you walk out of the house tomorrow morning, are you going to walk out in the blessings and the multiplication of God, or are you going to walk out in the condemnation of men? That’s the choice we have to make every day. You never stop having to face that choice! Every time you face a challenge, you have to make that choice. Are you going to walk in fear, or are you going to walk in faith? Are you going to walk in doubt, or are you going to walk in trust? Are you going to walk in depression, or are you going to walk in victory?
This is some work! That’s why I tell you to be diligent. This is some work! This is methodical—it takes effort to keep your mind straight. It’s work! I don’t understand how people have time to get into other people’s business; I don’t have time to get into other people’s business! I’ve got to focus on getting myself together. Come on, say amen, somebody! After he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Abraham, after he had patiently endured, obtained the promise. This is not a sugary message; the Scripture says you have to have some patience! After you have patiently endured, you obtain the promise. That patiently enduring is where a lot of believers fall away because we might need to do something about it, and it’s not patient. We endure murmuring and complaining.
Do you not know a whole nation of people died in the wilderness because they couldn’t shut up? They couldn’t stop complaining! They couldn’t stop talking about what was wrong: «Ah, we had it better in Egypt! We should have stayed back there! I can’t believe He brought us out here to die! He doesn’t know where He’s going anyway!» The Bible says the more they murmured, the more they died in the wilderness. The power of life and death is in the tongue! So God said, «It’s one thing to endure.» Let’s look at this again: «And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.» Are you patiently enduring, or are you just jealous when you see other people blessed? Most haters are just jealous.
That’s all it is; it’s nothing you did to him. They don’t even know you — they just have time. They’re just jealous of you. Are you patient, or are you envious? You’re endearing, but are you murmuring and complaining? He said Abraham, after he patiently endured, obtained the promise. Now this is getting better and better for me. For men barely swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Now I want to explain that to you. He said, «I’ve been watching you guys, and when you enter into an oath, you swear by something.»
When you go to the bank and borrow money to buy a house, they use the house. You swear by the house that you’re going to pay them, so they hold the deed on the house against every payment. When you’ve made all the payments, they release the deed of the house to you; you now own the house. But they’re going to hold something great against the payment. So he said, «I noticed that among men, you swear by something greater.» Okay, so when you swear by something greater, let’s read it again: «For men barely swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.» The bank is comfortable loaning you money because they have the deed to the house. They don’t mind loaning you money to get the car because they have the title to the car and will take the car back; can I get a witness? They’ll come get the car over a $500 a month payment. The car was worth $7,000, but they’ll come get it because you swore by something greater.
So God said, «I’ve noticed that with you having an oath or you have collateral or you have something that you put up. For men, it’s the end of all strife. You don’t even worry about it anymore because you’ve got collateral.» He said, «So, son, look here.» He said, «We’re in God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed by an oath.» Now, he said, «So, I thought I’d make a covenant with you. I thought I’d go into an agreement with you. I thought about making an oath to you so that you’d have something to swear by.» He made an oath with Abraham. He cut the animals, the heifer in half, and the turtle doves, and the goats in half. He made a covenant with Abraham with a burning lamp and a smoking furnace. He entered into a covenant with Abraham. He said, «I’ve noticed that when you have a covenant, you don’t stress out.»
God is so loving; He doesn’t even want you to be stressed. He said, «Let me see what I can do to make this more palatable to you. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to do what you do because I noticed that that’s the end of all striving.» We’re in God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed by an oath. By two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.
He says, «I used two immutable things that could not lie so you would know for sure that my word is solid.» He wants you to have peace about this. God said, «Not only am I going to bless you; I want you to have peace about it.» So I entered into an oath, I signed an agreement, I made a covenant by two immutable things so you might know with certainty that I’m going to bless you. Evidently, there are going to be some things that come along in your life that might make you feel unblessed. But when you don’t feel blessed, you’re going to say, «I have a covenant.»
When the police start flashing their lights and pull you over to the side of the road, the first thing they want from you, if they’re decent police, is your license and what? Your registration. And then maybe your insurance. Those are the three things they want: your license, your registration, and your insurance. They want the license to prove you have a right to drive. They want your registration to prove that the car belongs to you. The registration proves that the car is yours; the insurance proves that it’s covered.
So God said, «I noticed that if you have an oath or registration, it’s the end of the officer. Excuse me, Mr. Jakes, have a nice evening.» «Okay, we thought that was somebody else’s car, have a good evening.» See, because when I submit that registration, it is a sign that I have the deed; I have the right to have the car. God said, «I want you to know that you have a right to be healed. You have a right to be blessed. You have a right to have peace. You have a right to walk in victory. You have a right to stand strong. You have a right to have a strong mind. You have a right to it.» And he said, «I wanted you to be sure, so I entered into an oath and I swore by myself.»
I swore by myself. Can you imagine that? Finding no one greater than yourself, you swear by yourself. Then he goes on to say, «I’m getting to the end. That you might have an anchor for your soul.» What is an anchor? An anchor is what stops a boat from going too far. It doesn’t mean that the boat doesn’t rock; the boat rocks back and forth all the time. But if it’s got an anchor, it will only go so far. When your soul is anchored, it will only go so far.
There’s nothing worse than an anchored person hooking up with an unanchored person because an unanchored person has no boundaries. Not that, because we’re Christians, we won’t sway; we’ll get out of the way. We won’t just sit still all the time. We’ll sway this way in the wind and that way in the wind. We’ll go this way and we’ll go that way in the wind. But because we have an anchor, we won’t go but so far before that anchor pulls us back. Some people have no anchor at all. God said, «I have entered into a covenant with you that you might have an anchor for your soul so that your insides can be at peace, even when your outside is in turbulence.» That’s what God is saying to you: that you might have an anchor for your soul.
«I swear by myself; I don’t swear by your job. I don’t swear by your husband. I don’t swear by your wife. I don’t swear by your children. I swear by myself. I’m committed to bringing you through this.» This message is entitled «The Anchor,» and I want you to be anchored tonight in the midst of all this adversity. God knows it’s a lot — oh, it’s a lot, seen and unseen. It’s not just what you read in the paper and see on the news. There are some side effects. I mean, there are marital breakdowns, and some minds are breaking down. There’s a lot going on in the world today beyond what you read in the paper and see on the news. But you gotta have an anchor for your soul.
«Why are you injured?» Because God said He’s going to bless me. He’s going to bless me. I might be going through something bad right now, but when it’s all over, He’s going to bless me. When you start thinking like that and bring your thoughts in alignment with God’s Word, you have an anchor for your soul. Your soul, each man’s soul, is your mind. You need an anchor for your mind so that all those things the enemy is whispering to you stop tormenting you. An anchor! God said, «I’m going to bless you.» God said, «I’m going to bless you.»
If the job falls through, the promise was not with the job. God said, «I’m going to bless you.» It may not come from the place you thought it was going to come from. You met Freddy Fine and thought, «Oh my God, it’s going to come from Freddy Fine.» It might not come from Freddy Fine, but God said, «I’m going to bless you.» This is the anchor that keeps you though the storms keep raging in your life. This is the anchor that makes you steadfast in times of storm. This is the anchor that holds you even if you’re going through a transition in your life right now.
This is the anchor that keeps you solid — not the covenants of the world, but the covenant you have with God. God gave you a covenant. You need to get in this Word. Stop just getting words from tweets and getting words from Instagram. You need to open up your Bible and read your contract. You have a covenant with God. I know the wind has been strong right now. I know the boat is shaking to and fro right now. I know your feelings are hurt and your heart is broken. Your mind is overwhelmed; you’re stressed out. But I also know that beneath the turbulence of the tide, there’s an anchor that grips a solid rock that’s holding you. You think we had bad days? Our ancestors had much worse days than these. Your worst day would have been their best day. They had an anchor for their soul. Get the anchor, stabilize your mind, walk in the peace and presence of God, and know that He who has begun a good work in you shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
In a moment, I’m going to pray for people who just need to be stable and steadfast and not tossed to and fro with everything that’s going on. In a moment, I’m going to pray for people whose minds have been going everywhere, who are worried about all kinds of stuff. One thing’s needful: for you to be diligent, for you to be consistent. In a moment, I’m going to pray for people who need a financial miracle in their lives.
I know some of you are sowing right now. As you’re sowing, I know you’re sowing, but there’s a need coming, and you need God to be there for you. I want to touch and agree with you that you can have an anchor and patience while you endure that it may not come when you want it to come, but it’s right on time. God’s going to do that thing in your life. I know some of you are praying about loved ones in the hospital, but you might have an anchor for your soul. I believe God for the healing of the sick, the afflicted, and the wounded. I trust Him for it; I thank Him for it. I come into agreement with you about it.
Well, what about the people that died? I’m still touching and agreeing with them that you’ll see them again. Time is just a slice of eternity. I don’t care what you say; I don’t care what you see; I don’t care what goes on around you. You have an anchor for your soul, so be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
Oh God, as I bow my head to pray, I first confess there have been moments in my own life when I’ve shaken, rattled, and rolled. I haven’t always stayed right in the place You meant for me to be. I’ve been in Your will and out of Your will. I’ve trusted You and not trusted You. I believed You and doubted You. I’ve been in sin, I’ve been righteous, I’ve been wrong, I’ve been up, I’ve been down. I confess my sins, my faults, my failures, my flaws. I do not preach this gospel as one that does not need the gospel. I’m not just a doctor; I’m a patient as well. And in the spirit of humility, I come touching and agreeing with my brothers and sisters that no weapon formed against them shall prosper, that if they’re in that season that I have been in, that you would add to their faith virtue, that you would build them up where they’re weak and torn down, that you would encourage the discouraged, that you would loose, abound, and set the captive free.
I pray for an anchor for rocky marriages; I pray for an anchor for rocky minds; I pray for an anchor for shaky businesses. I pray for an anchor for CEOs that are overwhelmed. I pray for an anchor for people who are in front of others and taking darts and arrows; everybody’s mad at everybody; everybody’s attacking anybody that says anything, and they’re all being beat up. I pray, God, for an anchor for this nation, an anchor for our government, an anchor for our president. We need an anchor; we need steadfast leadership. An anchor for our governors; our lives are in their hands. They’re making decisions we reap the repercussions from. Stabilize them, great God that You are. Give us an anchor and hold us fast, and as we prepare to end this night, may the peace of God which passes all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That you could lie down and rest in a stable, solid, consecrated place.
I pray for an anchor for rocky marriages; I pray for an anchor for rocky minds; I pray for an anchor for shaky businesses. I pray for an anchor for CEOs that are overwhelmed. I pray for an anchor for people who are in front of others and taking darts and arrows; everybody’s mad at everybody; everybody’s attacking anybody that says anything, and they’re all being beat up. I pray, God, for an anchor for this nation, an anchor for our government, an anchor for our president. We need an anchor; we need steadfast leadership. An anchor for our governors; our lives are in their hands. They’re making decisions we reap the repercussions from. Stabilize them, great God that You are. Give us an anchor and hold us fast, and as we prepare to end this night, may the peace of God which passes all understanding guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That you could lie down and rest in a stable, solid, consecrated place.
God loves you, so He doesn’t want you to be worried. He and I didn’t know if He had to enter into an oath with you. Who are you? He entered into an oath with you so that you would have peace of mind. He put His Son on the cross as collateral and swore by Himself that if He were not who He said He was, Christ would not have risen from the dead. When He says, «I swear by Myself,» this is my Bible; this is my cup. Christ, the Son, was God’s self. I swear by Myself, He put His Son on the line as collateral to set you free.
That’s what Paul said: «If Christ be not risen from the dead, we are all men most miserable.» They couldn’t preach on Friday night; they couldn’t preach on Saturday. But early Sunday morning, He rose from the dead. Sometimes people would go and they would hawk something, take a watch or something, and take it to the pawn shop. You can’t wear it and take it to the pawn shop; He was pawned into the grave. But when He got up, He was redeemed, and I was redeemed with Him. That ticket is called a redemption ticket. He has redeemed our families. God swore by Himself; He used His Son as collateral to buy you a seat in glory. May you rest in that tonight and know that God loves you.