Jesus is Our Anchor

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always); be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly]; thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].

John 13:9-11 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, [wash] not only my feet, but my hands and my head too! Jesus said to him, anyone who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is clean all over. And you [My disciples] are clean, but not all of you.  For He knew who was going to betray Him; that was the reason He said, not all of you are clean.

John 4:23-24 New Living Translation (NLT)

But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Reflection:

Lately my children’s favorite program has been Keep-it-Spotless.  It is a game show that has two sets of friends competing for a grand prize.  The goal is to go through several obstacles with paint coming from all different directions and try and keep as spotless as possible.  The team that has the highest percentage of “spotlessness” goes to the final round where they can win a cash prize.  Again, the cleaner they are at the end of the challenge the more money they receive at the conclusion of the show.

When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, spiritually speaking we receive our first “bath” in the Spirit. From then on, we have a personal responsibility to keep our spirits pure – That He (Jesus) might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless] (Ephesians 5:26:27).  The Holy Spirit gave me a precious visual for the continuing sanctification process:  Lather, Bathe, Rinse – Repeat…

Lather = Prayer

Definition for Lather – A frothy white mass of bubbles produced by soap.

Bathe = Praise

Definition for Bathe – Wash by immersing one’s body in water.

Rinse = Worship

Definition for Rinse – Wash (something) with clean water to remove soap, detergent, dirt, or impurities.

Let’s start with prayer. The act of prayer…asking the Lord for guidance or asking Him to fulfill a need…starts the suds phase.  In our day-to-day interactions, we come in contact with things that may sullen our countenance, it is through prayer the cleaning process is started.

Once we are all prayed up we need to maintain a spirit of expectancy through the power of praise. There is something about turning our eyes off of self and praising the King of kings and Lord of lords…it is like drinking a refreshing cup of water. 

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”– John 4:11-14

Praising begins to wash away doubt and unbelief, making way for the Anointing and the Blessing.

Finally worship, true worship, celebrates the Lord with every fiber of your being.  The only way I can describe it is a joy so full, your body can’t contain it.  Nothing can compare to the fulness of joy – a radiant grow – a warm and secure feeling.  People may say it is like an out of body experience without leaving your body.  Still others may go so far as to say for a brief moment in time they feel invincible filled with the Lord’s presence.  This space, this devoted time of worship, is where everything is washed away completely, and you are spotless once again before the Lord.

Lather, Bathe, Rinse…as Believers, we can choose to end this edification cycle at any point. However, rarely getting to the end of this “wash” cycle will leave our hearts feeling inadequate and weary in our walk with the Lord.  Do yourself a favor and give yourself a “bath” as often as you can.  Not only will your spirit fell lighter, the sweet scent of the Anointing coming from you will attract those around you to the Lord and isn’t that why we are here?

Seeking Revelation:

Grab your notebook:

• What does your lather phase look like?
• What does your bathe phase look like?
• What does your rinse phase look like?
• Do you allow for the full “bath” cycle to complete in every area of your life?
• Has the Holy Spirit revealed to you where you have may be habitually stop the process and/or cycle?
• Determine in yourself to be an individual without spot or wrinkle…because the Holy Spirit is in us…we are the church.

In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.  – Romans 12:4-6 The Message (MSG)