Anchored To Hope

*Chapter 3*

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." – Deuteronomy 31:6

Take a moment and let the words of God sink in. We want to have hope and faith in God right? We want to be anchored to hope. That's why you are here. You are looking for inspiration, you are looking for hope, you are looking for something that could possibly make you feel better about yourself, something that speaks volumes to your heart of hearts. And here the word of God tells us not be afraid. Why? Obviously there is a reason. Why would God tell us not to be afraid? There is a whole lot that makes us fear, just tuning in on to the news channel would make you fear, there is something going on. People are dying, there are wars going on, people are experiencing bad times, some getting hit by hurricanes and different kind of stuff. It is easy to dwell in trepidation. That's why people lose trust in God. Some do. To be honest, even I did lose hope in God. At some point I felt as though I was disappointed, I felt as though the whole world was against me. In the previous chapter, I gave a reason why we shouldn't be controlled by our emotions. I did say it was okay to feel stuff but not to be led by them. We are led by the spirit. Our emotions are supposed to follow the leading of the spirit. Where the spirit goes, we should follow. What you feel is important. That's how come in the Bible, Jesus doesn't ignore what we feel. Look at this: Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' – Mathew 22:37

So what's wrong with feeling stuff? Nothing. He says, we should love him with our heart, soul and mind. Last time I did say, the soul was made up of our mind, will and emotions. That's important to God that we love Him even with our emotions. When we see somebody suffering, and we know we can do something about it, before that very act of helping out, you are probably filled with compassion first, maybe empathy. You feel so connected to this person and all you want to do is stretch your hand and be a blessing to this person. Isn't that an emotion? So it's okay, just don't be led by emotions. While it's good to feel stuff, it's not all emotions that are good. Some lead us to doing bad. That's why we aren't supposed to be led by our emotions but at all times we should learn to let the spirit take full control. When you become born again, here is what happens. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. – 2 Corinthians 5:17 this happens you become born again. You don't change physically, you still have the same face. If you have always been a tall person, that doesn't change. If you have always been a black person, like me, still doesn't change. You don't become lighter suddenly because there is a dose of the Holy Spirit in you. What changes is your inner man. The real you is on the inside and not the outside. That's how come when God chose David to be king He looked at his inside. But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." When God said this, He was talking to Eliab. One of Jesse' sons. He says, 'man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.' Isn't this true? We know this is true. That's why when you looking for a wife or a girlfriend maybe, you want to be swept off of your feet by someone's looks. You know, you just get carried away, it's a feeling where you are completely taken away by this person. And here God says, we don't get it. For He looks at the heart and not the physical appearance. Am I saying God doesn't care about how we look? Certainly not! All I'm saying is, He cares more about our inside. When God starts working on you, He begins to work on your inside first. When you buy an electronic device, and you see how nice it looks, maybe it's the latest iPhone. You might be impressed by how it looks, but the first thing you check is not what color it is, or what shape it is, but what the features are. What makes it expensive is not because it looks so fancy, it's expensive because of what it can do. What makes it an IPhone is in its performance, not that it has an exquisite look. Yeah, you may look good holding it, but you are more impressed by what it can do. You are more impressed by how it functions. So there it is. I never compared anyone to a phone, no, I just put this in a way that we could all understand. For all we know, Eliab could have been buff, He could have had long blonde hair with the perfect body. He probably looked like the right candidate for a king. Maybe he was tall, who knows? But still God had other things in mind. The prophet Samuel was obviously awestruck by Eliab. He said, 'surely the Lord's anointed is before him.' Just before the seventh verse, that's what led to God saying what He said. He looks at the heart. Now the Bible says that Jesse brought seven of his sons to appear before the prophet and still none was the right one. Now David was not even there. He was far away attending to the sheep. He was a shepherd boy. That's what he loved doing. He loved taking care of sheep. In the thirteenth chapter of the book of Samuel, there is a part where God calls David 'a man after God's heart.' Why? Because David was a true worshipper. The man loved God so much. In chapter two, we learnt about seeking the kingdom of God first. David sought the kingdom of God first. Jesse wasn't even thinking about David when this prophet came, he probably thought because He was the youngest, he wouldn't be a candidate for kinship. And can I just say, if you get belittled by people and they just treat you so miserably, don't worry, you have nothing to prove to them. God got you. He has you just where you need to be. This was David's situation. The Father never mentioned him until Prophet Samuel asked if those were all his sons. Then he says, 'there still remains the youngest.' He had to be reminded by the man of God that he had one more son. It's amazing what Samuel says after this. He tells them, there are going to wait for David. He didn't care if David was far off, He just says, 'nothing is getting done, until this young man comes.' God chose you. What you are going through is producing what you need for your next level. God has chosen you. Don't talk yourself out of doing something for God, don't think God cannot use you, He can. As long as you make yourself available to Him. He is ready to use you. He chose you. He calls you by name. He knows what you're going through, He hears your cries, and He feels your pain that is who He is. He has compassion for His children. Let's read together what happens next? So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!" Who said God doesn't care about our looks. Look at this verse: I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. – Psalm 139:14 He made us wonderfully. Even in the above scripture, where David is summoned. David is described as a good-looking person. David was handsome and He was a man after God's heart. Even King Saul was good looking. In fact, the Bible says, He was most handsome person in his region. Do you want to see it for yourself? And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. – 1 Samuel 9:2 do we all see it? So then what was the problem? Saul stopped obeying God. We have heard that Obedience is better than sacrifice right? Samuel only said that after Saul disobeyed God. Saul was alright, but He stopped obeying God. That is also why Moses had a great relationship with God. The Bible says, He became the most humble person in His time. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.) – Numbers 12:3 what was Moses' secret? There is definitely something Moses must have been doing to be called the most humble. Being humble is not an easy thing. It is hard even for us Christians sometimes. Let's go to the book of 1 Peter chapter 5 and the 5th verse. The Bible says: ¶ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." to be truly humble is to submit to God. That means when God says something, you believe it no matter how foreign to your "religious" thinking it may be. When He says you've been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, you say that too. In fact, you wouldn't dare say anything else because to do so would be to dare to disagree with God. You know sometimes the truth that is in bible is so good that we think it could be some kind of superstition. The word of God is powerful. It cannot be comprehended by our minds, the word of God is received in our spirit. The distinguishing characteristic of a believer is responsiveness to the word of God. Take a look at what the word does. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12. How can you understand that with your mind? The word is powerful and living. It's really that deep. It's really that powerful. It is the food to your spirit. The word gives you life. It gives you health. That is what the word of God does. Back to Moses for a bit. So what was Moses' secret? Being called the most humble. We just learnt that being clothed with humility is being submissive to God. Just before we crack the secret, let's take a look at Jesus. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. – Philippians 2:8 so that's the secret. Being obedient. Even to death Jesus never rebelled. He chose to be obedient. Look at what He said with his own mouth. Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. John 8:28. Friends, Jesus came to teach us how to be submissive to the Father. He came to teach us by being a good example of what He taught. He didn't do anything without the Father's knowledge, without first having to talk to God. That was the secret of Moses too. He loved the presence of God. Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. – Exodus 33:15 . Moses didn't want to go anywhere without God. That is what we should do. When we having a difficult time, let's tell God to go with us. Lt's tell Him we cannot be alone in the dark times, we need comfort, we need help, and so we should tell Him. Let's not complain. Complaining does not do anything. We think because we are so good at complaining, somehow it's getting the attention of God, No! Prayer reaches to Him. He says, 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' Jeremiah 33:3