Skip to main content

The Anchor Holds



In  the lovely 2020 Daily Planner my husband purchased for me (from Discovery House Publishers), on the first day of the new year, I wrote:  "I want to love from a pure heart, the Holy Spirit being my Great Teacher, the cleansing Blood of Christ renewing me daily."



"How much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself

without spot to God, purge your Conscience
from dead works to serve the living God?"
(Hebrews 9:14)

Give this some thought today:  we do righteously because we have been made righteous by faith under Grace (Romans 3:24-28). Read this if you have a few moments and let it sink in. Now you can make it your own.

My moral anchor is my Conscience. I want to be careful through the power of the Holy Spirit to let no unpleasant behavior come in, taking care in 2020 lest I shipwreck my good Conscience! That is a factor, of course, something to be cautious about day after day.  "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck..." (I Timothy 1:19).

We hear often, if not more times than once daily, of a marriage that has hit the bricks. I'm not talking about just a little spat where one or the other comes up with a black eye. But just throwing in the towel on days, months, years of trying to make it. And then … shipwreck. And more than just the Conscience is hurt.

My husband is an amazing man. Sometimes he surprises me, but not too often. I know him, inside and out. If ever there were a description of "soulmate" it would be the two of us. We were having a discussion (I'm sure deep-rooted and substantive!) today as we sat at our kitchen counter having lunch. We were talking about Heaven and who we want to see. When he talks about Heaven, he always wants to see Charlie and Clytie.  Those of you who know us know that is my Mother and Daddy. He gets emotional when he speaks of them. He says he misses them more than I do. He knows that is impossible, but it's okay if he says it. It blesses me, anyway. Then we began to talk about how we will be in Heaven. My husband, the Bible scholar, apologist, exegeter with the deepest of thought, teacher-preacher... does not love to embrace the principle that we will not be married in Heaven. He does not think that we will pass each other and shake hands. And then he said, "I just want to hang out with you forever in Heaven." Well, of course I reached for the Kleenex box. I would to God that every married person loved each other as we do.

How do we do this? We hang out together here, this side of Eternity. I thought of the Scripture that says, "...let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another unto love and to good works: … exhorting one another: so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."  What day approaching? That day when we will safely arrive at our Heavenly Home where we will be together forever.                                      

My goal is simple, biblical, and crucial. Just following the Savior, the Pilot of my Ship, and I'm so glad "The Anchor Holds and Grips the Solid Rock!"


Jane Bennett Gaddy
March 1, 2020

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

It was Over... The South Was Defeated

Isaac Payne rode with the last of his company to Appomattox on April 10 with no inkling of what to expect. He waited outside the perimeter. Enlisted men were not allowed to be present on the streets of the Courthouse area. Only commanding officers. Isaac was emaciated, just like all the other southern patriots who leaned hard against the white picket fence that surrounded the township. Tired, empty, and disheartened, they waited to know the end of the story. One man could scarcely be identified from the next. They all looked the same. Withered and wasted. Isaac dismounted and patted Glory. She was his only earthly possession besides his weapons. His only connection to home. He gripped the bridle and pressed his face to her thin neck, unconsciously rubbing his hand over her protruding bones. If he looked up in the distance he might see his father and brother riding the dusty road to Appomattox to join him, but how could that be? They were dead. The thought of their absence and ...

On The Cusp—

John 14:6 I am the way … Jesus sat with his disciples, giving them the most pleasant of instructions—instructions that concerned the state of the heart, though the human heart, apart from Christ, cannot be trusted.  Jeremiah described it as “… deceitful above all things and desperately wicked …” (17:9). But Jesus told the disciples in John 14:1: “Let not your heart be troubled …” He had spent the better part of three years with these men, and for some reason when He began that day to linger on going away and heaven and things prepared, Thomas just didn’t get it. He doubted and wondered and pondered and questioned:              “How will we get to the Father’s House?” and              “How on earth are we going to know the way?”             Imagine being there yourself as Jesus arrested thoughts...

Prologue

Writing a book is a very private endeavor, and like walking a tree-lined trail not being able to see what lies ahead, or like seeing through a glass darkly, I only know in part, because the story comes to me as I write. However, one thing remains true in the writing of any book, that is, for me. I can hardly wait to share it with someone, everyone. And as usual, I've not  given this latest work of mine a title, this  seventh book in my novels of the War Between the States, the aftermath, Reconstruction, and the amazing years that followed when the whole world began to change as a result of that evil War. For the time being,  we'll call it "Inherited Courage" for that is truly the story of Robert E. Lee Payne. It seems this courageous lad lived on the fringe of life from the time he was born to war hero, Albert Henry Payne, and throughout the incredible years that followed. Here's a bit of the Prologue. I'm now at 30,000 words— and...