Will Your Anchor Hold

We Have an Anchor

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, when the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain, will your anchor drift, or firm remain?
Refrain:
We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll;
fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.
It is safely moored; 'twill the storm withstand, for 'tis well-secured by the Savior's hand.
Though the tempest rage and the wild winds blow, not an angry wave shall our boat o'erflow.

Author: Priscilla J. Owens (1882)

Hope That Holds in the Storm

The beloved gospel hymn "We Have an Anchor" written by Priscilla Jane Owens in 1882, draws heavily on maritime metaphors to describe the believer's absolute security in Christ amidst the trials of life.

It Is Safely Moored

The state of being "safely moored" speaks to the permanent, settled position of the believer in Christ. The anchor is not loose, drifting, or uncertain—it is fixed and secure.

This mooring speaks to the establishment of one's faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ promised His disciples: The boat does not shift restlessly; it is held by something greater than circumstance.

For ’Tis Well-secured By The Savior's

This line identifies the source of security: the hand of Jesus Christ Himself. The image of God's hand throughout Scripture conveys both protection and power. Consider these powerful declarations:

The Savior's hand is not weak or temporary in its grip; it is the hand of Almighty God. No circumstance, no force, no storm can wrest the believer from His grasp.

Peter experienced this reality when he began to sink during the storm on Galilee: "And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him… The Savior's hand reaches out and upholds.

"Though the tempest rage and the wild winds blow"

The hymn acknowledges the ferocity of life's trials with unflinching honesty. The "tempest" and "wild winds" are not minor disturbances, they are violent, powerful, destructive forces. This reflects the biblical reality that believers do face genuine hardship.

The rage of the tempest does not diminish the grip of the Savior's hand.

Not An Angry Wave Shall Our Boat O'erflow

This final assertion is the supreme proclamation of safety, that the very waters which appear most threatening cannot breach the vessel's hull. The "angry wave" symbolizes the most overwhelming circumstances, yet the promise is absolute: the boat will not overflow, will not sink, will not be submerged.

The mention of raging tempests and wild winds acknowledges the reality of human suffering and spiritual warfare. The Bible does not promise a voyage without storms, but it promises preservation through them. The assurance that not an angry wave shall overflow the boat echoes through the scriptures, which asserts that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Though the waves may crash and the wind may howl, the boat does not sink because the Savior’s grip is tighter than the storm's pull. The "overflow" represents total defeat or spiritual drowning, which is rendered impossible for the one held fast by the grace of Christ.

Are You Anchored In Jesus 

If you are not anchored in Jesus, your anchor will not hold. When the storm hits and it will every other hope will snap: your goodness, your religion, your plans, your strength. But the truth is that the storm does not care about your efforts, and the waves will eventually overwhelm any anchor forged by human hands. If you are not anchored in Jesus Christ, your anchor will not hold. But if you cast the anchor of your soul into Him who died for your sins and rose again, you are safe forever. Trust Him now. Cling to Jesus Christ alone. For only in Him is there a harbor that no wave can breach, a hand that no tempest can loosen, and a promise that death itself cannot break.

Unmasking the Illusion of Secular Wisdom

Human Philosophy Falters Before The Cross of Christ

1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

The Collapse of Human Architecture

In 1 Corinthians 3:19, the Spirit of God, exposes the grand illusion of human autonomy. This is a direct confrontation with the cultural values of his time that prized intellectual sophistication, rhetorical prowess, and human reasoning above all else. The world celebrates cleverness divorced from truth, strategic manoeuvring that exploits others, and knowledge pursued for personal gain and status rather than understanding or genuine good. In God’s eyes this knowledge without the Spirit of God is smooth-brain lunacy.

What Is This Worldly Wisdom?

The wisdom Paul condemns isn't knowledge itself. It's the kind of intelligence that operates without God, the cunning that plots advancement, the rhetoric that persuades toward false ends, the reasoning that elevates human judgment as supreme.  Today, worldly wisdom manifests as corporate deception masquerading as innovation, political spin replacing honest discourse, and personal ambition dressed up in righteous language.

This worldly wisdom is ultimately self-serving and self-deceiving. It promises fulfilment through wealth, power, sexual conquest, status, and intellectual superiority. People chase these things believing they've discovered the secret to happiness, yet they remain empty.

The Stumbling Block to the Proud

God does not merely outthink the wise; He turns their wisdom against them, exposing its futility and showing that no human scheme can ultimately stand against His purposes.

In contrast, God’s wisdom is revealed in the foolishness of the cross a message that the world deems absurd, yet it is the power of salvation. The wisdom of God:

• Humiliates the proud by showing that true knowledge begins with reverence for Him.
• Exalts the weak and despised because His strength is made perfect in human frailty.
• Leads to eternal life while worldly wisdom only offers temporary, earthly gain.

In contrast, God's wisdom appears as foolishness to the world, it speaks of dying to live, losing to gain, serving to lead, and surrendering to find freedom. It demands humility, obedience, and trust in something beyond ourselves. This is why the cross itself is Paul's ultimate example: the execution of God's Son appears as a failure, yet it is God's redemption for you.

The Wisdom of God Is Available To You

You have built your life on plans that made perfect sense, your education, your career track, your relationships, your moral ledger, your carefully managed reputation. And yet, in the quiet hours, you feel the fragility of it all: the anxiety that one wrong move could unravel everything, the ache that even your best days leave you still searching for something more. Here is the shocking mercy of God: the very wisdom you trust to keep you safe is the net that traps you, because it keeps you from the One who alone can save.

But Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God, has entered your story not as another strategy to improve your life, but as the Saviour who died for your pride, your self-reliance, and your secret shame. On the cross, He absorbed the judgment your cleverness deserves; in His resurrection, He offers you a new life that no scheme can secure and no failure can destroy. Today, He calls you to lay down the illusion that you can save yourself, and to receive, by faith, the foolishness of the gospel, which is the power of God for your salvation. 

Will you let go of the wisdom that leaves you stranded, and take hold of the Wisdom who became flesh, died for you, and now invites you to live?

Looking Beyond the Final Storm

On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand

On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, and cast a wishful eye 

to Canaan's fair and happy land, where my possessions lie. 

Refrain:

I am bound for the promised land, I am bound for the promised land; 

oh, who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land. 

O'er all those wide extended plains shines one eternal day; 

there God the Son forever reigns, and scatters night away. 

By Samuel Stennett 1787

Canaan’s Fair and Happy Land: The Believer’s Symbolic Inheritance

In Samuel Stennett’s classic 1787 hymn, the imagery of standing on "Jordan's stormy banks" draws directly from the Old Testament narrative of Israel poised at the edge of the Promised Land.  For the Christian, this river has long symbolised the boundary between this present life and eternity with God.  Canaan represents not mere escape, but arrival; not the absence of something, but the presence of everything the redeemed heart has longed for. The "wishful eye" cast across its waters is not born of uncertainty, but of longing, a holy yearning for that which God has promised to those who have accepted is free and perfect gift of salvation.

“Fair and happy land” depicts beauty, peace, and gladness beyond anything this life can give, a place made fair not by human effort but by God’s presence. It is described as "fair" and "happy" to provide a stark contrast to the jagged, stormy reality of the riverbank. This land is not merely a place of comfort, but a place of restoration. When the writer claims that their "possessions lie" there, they are asserting that their true identity, their true wealth, and their true home are not found in the material world, but in a Godly inheritance that cannot be stolen or decayed.

Eternal Day and the Reign of God the Son

The second verse expands this vision into cosmic scope. "O'er all those wide extended plains shines one eternal day”, here is a kingdom beyond the cycles of darkness and light that govern earthly time. This is not the sun's temporary brightness but perpetual illumination, suggesting clarity, truth, and the unobstructed presence of holiness. Night that ancient symbol of sin, ignorance, and death has no dominion here. The darkness that clouds human understanding, that fills hearts with fear and doubt, finds no purchase in Canaan's kingdom.

And who reigns over this radiant landscape? "God the Son forever reigns, and scatters night away." Christ Himself is the King of kings and Lord of Lords of this realm, the eternal ruler who has conquered death and sin, who actively and continually drives away the shadows that plague the earthly soul. His reign is not distant or abstract but intimate and redemptive, “scattering" darkness as a shepherd scatters wolves.

“O’er all those wide extended plains shines one eternal day” presents Canaan as a place of unending light. There is no shadow, no fading joy, no approaching night. The picture is of everlasting life under the brightness of the glory of Jesus Christ.

• Eternal Light:  “shines one eternal day.” The darkness of sin, grief, and spiritual confusion is permanently dissipated. 
• Unbroken Reign: It is a realm where “God the Son forever reigns.” Christ is not merely an distant king, but the active presence who “scatters night away,” 
• True and Enduring Possessions: The world offers fleeting treasures that rust and decay, but in Canaan lie your true possessions, an “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you”

Look Where You Are Standing

The question the hymn poses to you is not rhetorical: Who will go with you? But understand: you need not go alone. Jesus Christ has already crossed that river. He has tasted death itself, that ultimate storm, and emerged on the other side alive and glorified. He stands now in Canaan's eternal light, extended His nail-pierced hand, calling to you.

Salvation is not something you earn or deserve; it is an inheritance Christ offers to you. All the restlessness in your heart, all the longing you cannot quite name. The Christian journey is simply this: believing that Christ's sacrifice: his death, burial and resurrection has opened the way, and that all you need to do is receive it by faith.

When You Lose Everything to Win Christ

Disregarding All of Your Losses 

Philippians 3:8 "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ"

The Sacrifice of All Things for Christ

The Holy Ghost of God declares that you need to counts or invoice or tally "all things but loss”. This represents one of Scripture's most profound statements of spiritual conviction and reorientation. In this passage, the apostle articulates a complete inversion of worldly priorities, a radical reassessment where everything you once treasured is now weighed against the supreme value of knowing Christ.

To understand this passage, one must recognize Paul’s background: he was a man of immense prestige, a "Hebrew of Hebrews" and a high-ranking Pharisee. By the world's standards and even by the religious standards of his day—his "ledger" was full of assets.

Paul had just listed his impressive spiritual résumé: circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, a Pharisee, zealous beyond many, blameless under the law. Those were once his “gains” in the economy of religion. But after encountering Jesus Christ, he flips the ledger: “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ”. In verse 8 he intensifies this: not only his former religious advantages, but all things anything that competes with Christ for ultimate worth, are counted as useless, has no value. On that decisive day when Jesus Christ himself confronted Paul,  Paul takes his spiritual ledger and re-evaluates every single entry. Everything he once placed in the "profit" column, he deliberately moves to "loss."

The Excellency Calculus

The phrase "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" is central to understanding Paul's perspective. He does not merely claim to know about Christ intellectually; he speaks of knowing Christ Himself a relational friendship with the risen Lord. The word "excellency" suggests transcendent superiority; nothing in your former life status, achievement, religious credential, or material possession could compare to this knowledge. It is the knowledge of Jesus Christ, of your Lord and Savior, which establishes an entirely new hierarchy of meaning.

The Radical Devaluation

Paul doubles down to emphasize the contrast. The word "dung" refers to garbage, offal, or refuse or street filth, anything that which is filthy and fit only to be thrown out. This jarring language serves to emphasize the absolute worthlessness of human merit when compared to the grace of Jesus Christ..

The Ultimate Prize: "That I may win Christ"

The climax of the passage is the desire to "win Christ." This is not a suggestion that salvation is earned through effort, but rather that the experience of Christ, His presence and His righteousness is a prize of unmeasureable value. To "win" Christ is to exchange a fraudulent, self-made righteousness for a perfect, God-given righteousness. 

Your Titles…

Take a moment and look at everything you have built, every title you carry, every piece of approval you have fought to earn, and even every righteous deed you hope will make you "good enough.”

If you hold onto those things as your security or your identity, your hands are too full to lay hold of salvation. 

Salvation is not a reward for what you can achieve; it is a gift received when you drop your self-reliance at the foot of the Cross. What are you willing to let go of to truly win Christ? Not in some grim, joyless way, but in the way an investor abandons worthless currency for genuine treasure. Your real life, your genuine joy, your authentic peace, your eternal security, is waiting on the other side of that obedience. And it begins the moment you stop trying to earn something you can not and accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

A Brand New Creation In Jesus Christ

Your Purpose Rewritten, Your Future Is Now Secured

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new

The Condition For Your Total Transformation

2 Corinthians 5:17 describes a spiritual metamorphosis. In the King James Version, the phrase "if any man be in Christ" establishes the necessary condition for this transformation. To be "in Christ" is not merely to believe in Him as a historical figure or to follow His moral teachings; it describes a spiritual union. It is the act of being grafted into His life, where the believer’s identity is swallowed up by Christ’s identity. Consequently, the believer is not simply "improved" or "reformed," but is called a "new creature." 

Metamorphosis: "Old Things Are Passed Away"

The phrase "old things are passed away" carries the weight of a decisive break. The word "passed away" implies something that has fundamentally expired, like a repealed law, a ended era, or a faded shadow.

When you are born of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, several specific "old things" lose their power over you:

• The Old Guilt and Record of Sin: The legal charge against you is cancelled. 
• The Old Dominion: You are no longer ruled by your old nature to live entirely for yourself. The authority of the old nature is broken.
• The Old Identity: Past titles, and human standards no longer define your worth.

All Things Become New

The Holy Ghost of God does not end in negation; he moves to affirmation. "Behold, all things are become new" shifts from what is gone to what is born. This is not gradual improvement or reformation, it is newness in its totality. Your mind, your heart, your purpose, your relationships, your future all are made new.

This newness is not something you manufacture through willpower. It is the work of the indwelling Christ. You become a new creature with a new nature capable of things the old nature could never accomplish. The gospel does not merely offer a better life; it offers a new life and you become brand new.

Remade in Christ's Image

Have you have accept Jesus Christ as your saviour by faith you need to know this with bone-deep certainty.  Old things are passed away. Finished. Buried with Christ in His death. The weight you have carried, the record of wrongs you have done, the identity forged in shame and failure, it has been erased.

And you, yes, you specifically, have been remade into something entirely new. Not reformed. Not improved. Not slightly better. But fundamentally new. That means your worst moment is not your life’s demise. Your past lust does not forecast your future. The failure that crushed you, the secret you have kept hidden, none of these things have the final word over your life. Jesus Christ and his power does.

All things are becoming new. Your purpose has been rewritten. The life you thought was finished has been given a second beginning, a true beginning, because now it is rooted in something real and everlasting, in Christ's death, burial and resurrection power. You are not salvaged goods; you are a new creation. And that, friend, changes everything.

Faith That Transform Your Mind

Virtuous Thinking

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Why Finally Matters

In Philippians 4:8, the Holy Ghost of God closes this letter with a powerful exhortation: “It is the gathering together of everything the Apostle Paul has been teaching throughout his letter. After speaking of humility, steadfastness, rejoicing in the Lord, prayer instead of anxiety, and the peace of God that guards the heart and mind, he arrives at this concluding charge—which  is not passive reflection but an active, deliberate choice: think on these things.

Noble Thinking

The Holy Ghost of Jesus Christ then lays out a portrait of holy attention. He strings together several qualities, and each one sharpens what “thinking” mean:

• “Whatsoever things are true”: not just what feels true. Truth steadies you when emotions are loud.
• “Whatsoever things are honest”: integrity rather than performance; sincerity rather than manipulation.
• “Whatsoever things are just”: fair and rightness.
• “Whatsoever things are pure”: spiritually clean; a heart kept from what disfigures it.
• “Whatsoever things are lovely”: goodness that attracts; beauty of character, winsomeness.
• “Whatsoever things are of good report”: actions and conversations that can bear good fruit of righteousness.

Filter For Thinking

Then Paul adds, “if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” This is a comprehensive filter: anything excellent, anything that draws you toward God and righteousness, meditate on it, dwell on it, let it shape your inner world. The point is not that life is always bright; it is that your mind does not have to be governed by darkness, rumor, cynicism, or greed. You are invited to curate your thoughts with what aligns with God’s character.

Finally, Salvation By Faith

When the noise of the world threatens to drown out peace, and fear attempts to claim the quiet places of your heart, remember where ultimate Truth resides. Jesus Christ is truth without deception, purity without stain, justice without compromise, loveliness without measure, and goodness beyond all praise. If you have never trusted Jesus Christ, turn to Him today by faith. Jesus Christ is able to save you completely, to forgive every sin, and to give you eternal life. Your salvation is not secured by mastering your mindset first, it comes through trusting Jesus, who makes you new from the inside out.