Friday: Further Thought ~ Jesus, the Anchor of the Soul
Further Thought:
Read Ellen G. White, “John the Beloved,” pages 539-545, in The Acts of the Apostles; “Judas,” pages 716-722, in The Desire of Ages.
“The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness.” — Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 43.
“John desired to become like Jesus, and under the transforming influence of the love of Christ he did become meek and lowly. Self was hid in Jesus. Above all his companions, John yielded himself to the power of that wondrous life. …
It was John’s deep love for Christ which led him always to desire to be close by His side. The Saviour loved all the Twelve, but John’s was the most receptive spirit. He was younger than the others, and with more of the child’s confiding trust he opened his heart to Jesus. Thus he came more into sympathy with Christ, and through him the Saviour’s deepest spiritual teaching was communicated to the people. …
The beauty of holiness which had transformed him shone with a Christlike radiance from his countenance. In adoration and love he beheld the Saviour until likeness to Christ and fellowship with Him became his one desire, and in his character was reflected the character of his Master.” — Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, pages 544, 545.
Discussion Questions:
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In terms of this week's lesson structure, I am not sure why today's lesson is here. But that in no way diminishes the significance of what it has to say. The first sentence is pivotal to our whole understanding of the sin problem in practical everyday life.
I have mentioned previously my encounter with a Christadelphian minister in my youth who gave me an impromptu Bible study on sin. He said that Satan/Lucifer/the Devil did not exist and were all simply metaphors or personifications for self. The discussion left a profound impact on my thinking and while I reject the idea that Satan does not exist, I accept the huge part that self plays in the battle between good and evil. Perhaps, more than anything else it made me understand that we have to exercise our free choice. And, that is hard because "Self" is not on our side. The playing field is tilted and the ball rolls the wrong way.
So much of what we do is self-directed. Even in our Christian living when we talk of salvation we often think of "our reward in Heaven". That is one reason, why I try to think of salvation in terms of the present and what it means in my relationship with others. It shifts the focus from self. And the biggest temptation we face is to shift the focus back to ourselves.
When you or I face a significant challenge, we discover what we are actually anchored to. Are we anchoring to ourself and our own resources, to another human, or to God?
Only one of those 'anchors' is going to 'do the job' of holding secure when 'the crunch comes' (Matthew 7:24-27: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
Why does God require a total surrender of our lives to Him? What is the relationship between free will and salvation?
I believe there are several aspects to salvation - the Everlasting Covenant outlines them.
Getting to know the true Character of the LORD - John 17:2-3
Developing a close relationship with the LORD, to serve and love Him
Allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our character and to walk in all His ways
To be perfect like He is perfect and for Him to blot out our record when we miss the mark.
Free Will - is to choose to follow His footsteps or to decide for myself which way to go. John 14:6
Also allowing Him to work in our lives, as a process of total surrender. Yes I know Shirley said that also. "Allowing the Holy Spirit to trans form our characters and to walk in all His ways." Surrender is worth reiterating.
The real factor is love when our Lord says lovest thou me?he uses the Greek word philo love which mean innermost love We as Christian we must follow him by pragmatic John 21:16,17
When we are anchored in Christ, strongholds can't move us. Strongholds are powerless when self is truly, completely surrendered to God and whatever His will is for us.
When, even in loss, we cling to faith like Job, and we proclaim (perhaps through tears): "The Lord giveth and He taketh away. I know in Whom I believe. And I am certain that my God is faithful. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Blessed is - and will always be His name."
And who am I? To deserve any blessing? Who am I? To determine what's in my best interest? Who am I? To expect ease in aspects of this life? Who are we? All questions about self.
Complete surrender is true selflessness.
When we truly trust God with our hearts, souls, physical beings, our dreams and every life situation - even when life hurts... when we say, "Nevertheless, not my will, but Your will be done. Whatever You ask of me," with what does the enemy have left to battle against us?
Warfare against self is the greatest battle that will ever be fought. It is front and center, the great controversy.
I pray that I/we trust Him enough despite the status of our hopes, dreams, desires and expectations, and know like the Psalmist (Psalm 46):
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble (or pain).
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 Though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Because He can be trusted. He lovingly has our best interests in mind. He knows best how to refine us and ultimately, to get us home. And He wants to.
John vs Judas. John choose to let Christ work through Him. Judus was attracted to Christ, rather for selfish reasons. He had allowed to let greed and the love of money lead him to the unpardonable sin (unbelief to the end). I may have opened a can of worms, sometimes a good thing. This is my short answer to question #1.
#2 Suffering abuse from a 'friend' is fostering further abuse if you don't address it personally, if they don't quit, find a real friend.
Abuse for the sake of our Lord, we can take, because we know that if Christ is in our hearts who can be against us.
#3
God wants us to give our all.
He wants us to anchor our souls solidly in Him. I would say giving of ourselves totally to him is anchoring firmly in the Love of God.
Hebrews 6:19.
Hmmmmmmmm. Adam and Eve before sin entered their lives were able to converse with their Creator without the veil. We will be restored that someday beyond the blue.
Studying this week’s so very important topic, I kept my focus on the bigger picture, finding again that all studying eventually comes back to one major Truths. This overarching Truth is: 'Our Creator wants us to know that He loves us, that He provides all we need for this life to enter the new life after the death of our body.' His FAITH and LOVE are the 'Anchor for our Soul'!
I have asked myself the following questions:
- What is that which makes Christ Jesus to be the ‘Anchor for our soul’?
- Could it be the Father’s promise based on His ‘oath’? How does this stabilize us in our faithfulness; does this incline us to be more ‘faithful’? His ‘oath’ revealed Himself to His Own, assuring them that living His ‘Will and Way’ leads to entering the Promised Land, but they did not believe.
- Has His 'Will and Way' - Faith and Love - been revealed to our generation in the incarnation of His Son who is our Savior?
- Has the Son revealed to us the creative power of His Father’s and His own Love for humanity, the only power which leads to Life everlasting? Matt.22:34-40NKJV; John 13:34-35NKJV.
- How did He do that?
My conclusion: I can find no other “Anchor of our Soul” than the Love and Faith our Savior demonstrated to us throughout His life, all the way to the cross.
He showed us how to live - not abandoning those who accused and tormented Him, those who shamed Him and accused Him of spreading lies and falsehoods; instead, He asked the Father to forgive them “because they do not know what they are doing” – Luke 23:35NKJV!
This is how He anchored His own soul! Ongoing forgiveness – knowing and living in our Savior's Love overcomes the fear of death – Love, Faith, and Forgiveness are the ‘Anchor’ for the living soul’s new Life!