The Anchor - Lynne Phipps

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Hebrews 6:19 NIV

The windstorm was fierce. I was thankful for the anchor.

The howling awoke me from a sound sleep. As I lay cozy under the blankets, I heard a loud roaring and flapping, like some huge carpet shaken in the heavens. I rose and ventured outside to see where the noise was coming from. Everything seemed fine. Since the noise had decreased, I returned to my bed.

In the morning, my daughter came over and told me to look at something. The wind from the night’s ferocious windstorm had lifted our ten-by-twenty-foot steel hay shed and moved it several inches. This was the noise I had heard in the darkness, but could not see because of the tree barrier between my house and the shed.

Fortunately, our shed was anchored to the ground. Although it moved slightly, it did not flip over or move from its foundation. Within hours, my son-in-law had it pushed back squarely onto the foundation. He then proceeded to drive in even deeper anchors for protection against the next severe storm that might come our way.

Likewise, today’s scripture ensures that we also have an anchor for our souls, one that holds us firm and secure against life’s storms. Our belief in Jesus Christ is our hope now and for eternity. Our trust in Christ ties us to him as our Savior, who even now abides in heaven with God our Father and is busy preparing a place for us. This anchor of hope is secure because through God’s written word, God has said so, and he cannot lie. His word is true and firm now and forever.

Life will seek to beat against us with its often-ferocious winds of suffering, turmoil, confusion, and discouragement. It may even, at times, cause us to doubt God’s eternal love and care, threatening to shift us from our foundation of faith. Amidst it all, however, Christ, the anchor of our souls, will never leave nor forsake us. Through Scripture and his still small voice, the Holy Spirit will comfort, encourage, and remind us that we belong to him. He will gently move us back to our firm foundation of faith.

Pray that these truths might be more deeply anchored in your heart and mind. Then, no matter what may blow your way, your faith will not shake.

Father God, grant me a hunger and thirst to know the truth of both Your written and living Word. Remind me that Jesus Christ is the hope that anchors my soul. Keep my faith from shaking or moving. In Christ’s name, amen.

Lynne Phipps and her family live on a small hobby farm in the heart of Alberta, Canada’s farming country. She has been writing devotions for forty years and never tires of the spiritual correlation the Holy Spirit blesses her with. He uses normal everyday events and the behaviors of the multitude of glorious creatures He has brought across her path to point her to the truths of God. Lynne is a devotion writer for VineWords: Devotions and More, Christian Devotions, and Love Lines from God.

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Learning to Be Satisfied - Martin Wiles

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:16 NLT

One chose to stay on the farm; the other chose city life. One was satisfied; the other, well...

When my mom was a junior in high school, she chose to leave her family farm and marry my dad. Her new life would take her away from her country upbringing and plant her in cities and rural areas for the remainder of her life. Mom’s sister, however, married a Navy man and chose to build their home next to her parents and remain on the family farm—a place she stayed until her death.

My grandparents’ old homeplace was sold for a negligible amount—and it seemed the same would happen to my aunt’s home. But her oldest son stepped in and decided he and his wife would make it their retirement home. All the hunting, fishing, and golf he could stand would surround him. Sadly, he died soon thereafter from a heart attack, and the home passed into a stranger’s hands.

I always envied my cousins, growing up with open land all around them. Hunting, fishing, romping through the woods. Having pets wasn’t a problem. Leash laws didn’t exist. Being able to raise chickens, cows, hogs, and anything else they wanted without having to wonder where they’d put them or if the smell would offend the neighbors. They lived a carefree, down-to-earth lifestyle.

Because Mom and Dad chose city and small-town life, I had to endure it as well. Although it has its conveniences, I still miss the open land and the perks of country living.

I’ve also been known to envy those God is using, wishing he’d use me the same way. Paul reminded the early believers that the church was like a body. Each part has a specific function, and they fit together perfectly. When one piece is out of whack, the entire body is affected.

Curbing my jealousy is an ongoing lesson God must teach me. Instead of envying what he does in other believers’ lives, we must learn to enjoy what he does in ours, as well as rejoice in what he does in others’ lives. We’re not in competition but in cahoots with other believers. Our job is not to fuss and fight but to work together to accomplish God’s work in this world. He gives us unique opportunities and personalities. Even when we share the same gift as another person, we will use it differently.

Rather than envying someone else’s gift, use yours to fulfill God’s plan for you.

Father, thank you for giving me unique gifts and opportunities. Help me to use them faithfully in your service.

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The Power of Unity - Martin Wiles

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 1 Peter 3:8 NLT

I watched as they clung to my pants’ legs.

I never knew what I might run into when hunting in South Carolina’s Lowcountry—or just traipsing through fields exploring new lands. My grandfather had plenty of farmland and woods for my cousin and me to explore. But as young boys living in a time when backyards were large and parents didn’t have to worry as much about our safety—we were more likely to get into trouble ourselves than we were to have someone kidnap us—our grandfather’s land wasn’t enough. We wanted more. So we ambled across his land and onto neighbors’ lands. It didn’t matter. We might not have known the property owner, but they knew we were the grandsons of “Dan’l Martin.” That made walking across their land—and even hunting on it—permissible.

Beggar lice—or begga lice as we called it—was one thing that liked to cling to our clothes. If we came home with it, my grandmother insisted we pull it from our pants before we entered her house. Doing so wasn’t such a big deal, just time consuming. It stuck to clothes as if somebody had superglued it. And when I thought I had gotten it all, I’d see some more. As soon as we were lice-free, we could enter—usually to a good home-cooked meal she had slaved over the oven to cook. Rice, butter beans (with a ton of pot liquor, as she called it), fried chicken, pan gravy, and ears of fresh corn.

But another culprit often attacked my cousin and me as we scampered through the woods and fields. This one wasn’t as friendly as beggar lice. We called it cuka burs. The proper name is cocklebur. We often didn’t know we had accumulated them until we rubbed our hands on our pants for some reason or until our pants suddenly felt tight around the leg area. If we rubbed without looking first, we’d immediately recognize the culprit. Sharp pricks pricked our fingers. Removing them without contracting bleeding fingers proved difficult. Sometimes, we’d wait until we got back to our grandparents’ house, where we’d find a pair of gloves or perhaps use a pair of pliers. Like beggar lice, cockleburs stuck like glue.

Much later in my life, another item was often used in place of glue: Velcro. I didn’t know its origin until years later when I taught grammar to my eighth graders, and we worked through an exercise picking out adjectives in sentences. There, I came across the story of Velcro’s beginnings. The story sparked my interest because it mentioned cockle burrs, which immediately took me back to my childhood.

George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, while hunting in the Jura Mountains in Switzerland in the 1940s, discovered that cockle burrs had decorated his pants and his dog’s fur. He wondered how these tiny things attached so well to him and his feline friend. When he returned, he observed the cocklebur under a microscope and noticed a hook and loop design. With the help of friends in the weaving business, De Mestral duplicated the hook and loop of the cocklebur and began manufacturing what we now know as Velcro. The word comes from the French words for velvet (velour) and hook (crochet).

Peter encouraged first-century believers to be of one mind—to hook and loop. Still good advice. His directive didn’t’ mean then—nor does it now—that they had to agree on everything. But they needed to work together. Join hands, arms, feet, and spirits.

One hook and loop serve little, if any, purpose. Yet, a half- or one-inch square of Velcro shows the power of unity—hooks and loops working together to hold together the strongest of things.

Such is the power of unity when God’s people unite. We have different personalities and share various interpretations about some things in the Bible, but our common ground of belief in Jesus as the way of salvation and our mandate to share his love with others is stronger than the minuscule things separating us. We are many hooks and loops with unmeasured power.

The Coronavirus pandemic demonstrated what can happen when people and industries come together to fight a common unseen enemy. Our spiritual enemy is no different. He roams about like a roaring lion seeking to kill, steal, and destroy. But the power of God’s love, when hooked and looped together among his people, will overcome our enemy’s worse tirades.

Strive for unity with others, and be amazed by what God can do through you.

Father, give me a spirit of unity so my work for you might be effective to the uttermost degree. 

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Leaving an Inheritance - Martin Wiles

Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren. Proverbs 13:22 NLT

Leaving an inheritance has meant very little in my family—at least where it concerns money.

My maternal grandparents were the only ones in my family who accumulated a tidy sum of money. But even what they had wouldn’t be considered much by today’s standards. Yet, in the eyes of a fifteen-year-old, it was. When my grandfather died, we discovered he had a nice chunk in savings and his checking account. However, I doubt my grandmother ever knew. He didn’t allow her to touch the money, pay the bills, or make financial decisions.

Though quite thrifty in life, my grandfather was a little more generous in death. In his will, he delegated a nice little sum to each of his grandchildren. It wouldn’t seem like much now, but it was a gold mine to this teenager. I forget what I did with mine, but I do remember my spendthrift parents made sure I used it wisely.

But money wasn't all my grandfather left me. He also left me many good memories of a simple life around the farm. I don't remember him showing me affection or telling me he loved me. Nor do I remember him speaking words of encouragement or sharing wisdom for the future. But I did have his unspoken example. 

On the other hand, my paternal grandparents left me something different—although it did not come as a monetary inheritance. From them, I received bunches of hugs, hundreds of I-love-you’s, time together, financial help when I struggled, and many words of wisdom for the future. What they left served me better than a sum of money.

At the moment—and as far as I know, no change is in the cards—I won’t leave my grandchildren money either. As my paternal grandparents did for me, I will leave my grandboys the example of a meager financial lifestyle.

But that’s okay. My grandparents taught me money can’t buy everything and that some things are more important than money. Such as spending time with my grandchildren around the table eating a meal, sitting in my recliner reading Bible stories to them, sitting at a table doing handiwork that teaches how God created the world, or taking them to church.

I’m not “spending my grandchildren’s inheritance.” Instead, I’m leaving my spiritual heritage intact for them. Hopefully, they’ll pass it on to theirs.

What are you leaving for your posterity?

Father, may I leave for posterity what can never be spent. 

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No Fear - Martin Wiles

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 NLT

We romped and stomped with no fear.

Danger lurks on a farm, but my cousin and I ignored it when we were young. We played often in my grandfather’s barns. Barns where he kept farm implements, crops, and tools. Barns where snakes and wasps hid. We threw clods of dirt at wasp nests and watched as the angry wasps swirled about seeking their enemy.

We mulled around in the hog pens, making spears from chinaberry trees and throwing them at the hogs. If not spears, we picked up large dirt clods and used them. Any of these hogs could have mauled us with little effort.

Occasionally, our grandfather would allow us to drive his small red tractor across the fields. I sat on the wheelbarrow while my cousin drove. I could have easily fallen off and had a large tire crush me. Death surely would have waited.

And we loved guns and hunting. We spent long hours in the woods by ourselves with no adult supervision. We could have easily shot ourselves or each other. My cousin and I enjoyed our escapades around the farm and never worried about danger. We were invincible.

Paul had no fear either, though he had reason to. Those who disagreed with his “salvation by faith alone” message hounded his steps. He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, jailed, and bitten by a poisonous snake. Yet, he didn’t fear.

Fear is a natural reaction to dangerous situations. God created the fight or flight mechanism in us. He expects us to use our heads and avoid known dangerous situations and people. But some danger is imperceptible.

We should not live in a permanent state of fear. If we do, we’ll never go anywhere, do anything, or take any risks. Our world is a scary place, especially since numerous terrorists now circulate about. The only way to avoid crowds is to stay at home.

Just as we trust God to keep our salvation safe, we must also believe He will keep us safe. Nothing enters our lives without first passing through at least His permissive will. He brings or allows. Either way, He controls. And He promises to bring good from it all, though the good may be further down the road—and often is.

God is sovereign. Trust your life into His hands so you can live without fear.

Tweetable: Are you living in fear?

Prayer: Father, we praise You for protecting us. Help us live without fear as we enjoy the life You give us to live. 

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