John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
I love Jesus more than anything. There is nothing greater than Him in my life. I serve Him NOT for what He can do for me (and he has done more than I could ever measure), I serve Him simply because I love Him so much.
My spiritual disciplines are more out of love than out of obedience. Let me explain what I mean… I love, therefore I obey every commandment of His Word.
This is what Kingdom Life should look like.
If you are just a rule follower and not in love with the Ruler, you will eventually drift away with the cares of this life!
Growing up in Miami, Florida, I understand how powerful drifting in water can be. I remember many times swimming out in the ocean and within minutes looking back to the shore and seeing I have moved far away from where I started. I knew this NOT because I was looking at just the shore. I knew I moved because I had my eyes fixed on where my family was. If I had not been paying attention, I could have easily kept on drifting further and further away from safety.
The definition of a drift is a driving force or pressure, the ocean’s movement due to winds and currents or a broad and shallow current that moves forward 10 to 15 miles per day. … An example or drift is a strong ocean current making it dangerous to swim.
Spiritually, we are battling a driving force and a driving pressure that is pushing us further away from God and Kingdom Life and we don’t even know it.
We are enjoying the swim in this world so much; we have taken our eyes off where we should be.
If you don’t want to drift in water, you must anchor yourself. If you don’t want to drift away from God and the things of God, you must anchor yourself IN HIM!
“WHY?” you ask. Because the day and the hour we are living in is dark and it is getting darker by the day.
Romans 13:11-14 “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Jesus Christ is our Anchor!
Hebrews 6:16-20 TLB “When a man takes an oath, he is calling upon someone greater than himself to force him to do what he has promised or to punish him if he later refuses to do it; the oath ends all argument about it. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those he promised to help would be perfectly sure and never need to wonder whether he might change his plans. (GREAT ANCHOR)
18 He has given us both his promise and his oath, two things we can completely count on, for it is impossible for God to tell a lie. Now all those who flee to him to save them can take new courage when they hear such assurances from God; now they can know without doubt that he will give them the salvation he has promised them.
19 This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God himself behind the sacred curtains of heaven, 20 where Christ has gone ahead to plead for us from his position as our High Priest, with the honor and rank of Melchizedek.”
Ephesians 4:11-20 NLT says:
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
GUZIK -The ancient Greek word for tossed to and fro is from the same words used to describe the stormy Sea of Galilee in Luke 8:24 (raging of the water). We can wrongly value movement over growth; mere movement is being tossed to and fro, but God wants us to grow up in all things.
Just because you are going through the motions doesn’t mean you are growing. If God is just a line on a checklist for you, you are most likely going through the motions. You are most likely drifting….
✅ I prayed
✅ I read
✅ I went to church
✅ I gave
Ephesians 4 goes on to say…
With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, or anger gives a foothold to the devil.
If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
This is our anchor! My prayer today is that you would make everything in this life secondary to Jesus Christ… everything.
