The Bible gives an account of the Apostle Paul being on a ship during an awful storm. He was a prisoner at the time, and he was on his way to appear before Caesar in Rome; but he was not discouraged because he knew he was walking in God’s divine will and that he would have an opportunity to preach the Gospel to the people in Rome.

Before that could happen, Paul and all those on board the ship would first have to make it through the terrible storm. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away (Acts 27:20). It looked like the ship would surely go down.

Before the ship set sail, Paul had warned those in charge of the ship not to leave the port; but they didn’t listen to him. Paul admonished them, And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul (Acts 27:9-11).

God Honors Divine Humility

After setting sail, the ship ended up in the middle of a terrible storm where it was tossed about for days; so Paul declared a fast, and everyone on board was so scared that they all humbled themselves in fasting for 14 days. During that time, an angel of the Lord came to Paul and told him that the ship would be lost but that everyone’s lives would be saved. Then Paul shared that message with the others. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve (Acts 27:22,23).

After 14 days, it looked like land was near. But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country. Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day (Acts 27:27,29). It was dark at the time, and the crew did not want to get in too close to shore until they could see; so they threw out the anchors and waited for daylight. I’m sure that was a long night, but the anchors kept the ship steady.

During that night, Paul declared it was time for everyone to break the fast because hard work was ahead. This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you (Acts 27:33,34). The Lord knew the people would need strength because although the ship was close to an island, it wouldn’t be able to reach the shore. Those on board would have to swim to shore or use boards from the ship to keep them afloat. In the end, everyone was saved just as the angel had told Paul they would be.

Anchors of Life

During that last night on the raging sea, the Bible tells us that the ship’s crew threw out four anchors to secure it; and in the same way, we must throw out spiritual anchors to secure ourselves during the storms of life. The Lord has given me four powerful anchors that true children of God must have to protect themselves and to steady the Gospel ship for them—divine love, divine faith, grace and the promises of God. With these four anchors, we won’t sink in the storms of life; and our ship will never be destroyed.

The Gospel ship of Jesus Christ is a righteous, holy ship that is consecrated and dedicated to the Lord for God’s people. No ship goes out to sea without anchors, and the Gospel ship doesn’t either. This is the last hour, and the storms are coming fast and furious. The devil knows the members of the Bride of Christ have these four anchors available to them; but if they don’t use them, they will be headed for shipwreck.

You need these spiritual anchors to steady you so you will be safe on your journey no matter how terrible the storms of life become. When the big waves roll in, you will be able to ride them out because you will have the right anchors; and they will enable you to rest your soul in the bosom of the Lord and in His love. Then one sweet day, we will anchor our souls in that haven of rest called Heaven and sail the dark seas no more. That Celestial City is a divine city where all is calm and full of love and faith. It is a place rooted and grounded in divinity and made only by divine hands.

You will learn about the first two anchors the Lord has given me in this issue of “The Power of the Holy Ghost” magazine. The second two anchors will be included in the September 2018 issue.

Divine Love

The first anchor is divine love, and you must have it or your ship will be destroyed. God’s love will lift you up so you can have the rest of the anchors, and you must put all of your trust in it. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment (Mark 12:30).

Without the love of God, you cannot really be saved because divine love is the first thing you receive when you come to the Lord. That love brings holiness and righteousness, and it will keep you secure without letting you sink. It will even enable you to walk the waters if necessary.

The Holy Spirit will help you use this anchor as He sheds abroad the love of God in your heart. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:5). You must have this divine, blood love in your heart or the Holy Spirit can’t flow it to you, and the Lord is looking for vessels He can fill to the brim with His love.

Children of God are to receive that love and then flow it to the world, and the Holy Ghost is the one who will do it. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). That living water comes from Heaven, and so much of it flows that Jesus described it to the apostles as rivers of living water. The Lord explained to me that they would begin like streams in the desert; then they would become creeks and rivers, and finally they would become seas that will cover the whole Earth.

God’s Love Goes Beyond Human Love

The Bible says we are nothing without the love anchor. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity [love], I am nothing (I Corinthians 13:1,2).

You must have the same love that took Jesus to Golgotha. You must have the same compassion and the same message of salvation and deliverance for soul, mind and body that He brought. That divine love is so great that it cannot be measured except with truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). If you don’t use Jesus as your measuring rod, you will come up short because divine love cannot be measured in human terms.

Paul wanted to know God’s love and power. He said, That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death (Philippians 3:10). Paul also said, That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19). Oh, the depths of divine love! Are you going deep in the love of God? You will never get there by just talking about it; you have to earnestly seek it.

Love Casts Out Fear

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (II Timothy 1:7). With that sound Jesus mind, the anchor of love will hold you; and you will be all right.

So many people are tossed about on life’s angry seas in terrible storms of judgment and damnation because they don’t have divine love. They won’t surrender to God, so they have no way to anchor their ship. They are helplessly tossed to and fro as the lightning flashes and the thunder roars, and great fear takes them over. But even then, some of them won’t pray; and if they do, it is just a bunch of words that don’t come from the heart.

When people think they are dying, they will run for the tree of life and call upon God crying, “Have mercy, Lord! We will serve you! We will walk with you and do your will!” But they don’t do it. When things begin going well for them again, they forget all about God and go back to their own sinful ways; but the Bible says, The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4).

Only divine love gives us strength and the heart of God. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). That heart of love keeps us on top of the water, not under. Yes, our ship is sailing the angry seas, but we are all right. Let the lightning flash and the thunder roar because we are traveling toward Heaven through the favor, love and power of God; and the Lord told us we don’t have to be afraid. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

Fear doesn’t come from God; it comes from the devil, and there will be no fear in Heaven. Fear is a robber, and the devil uses it to destroy. Thank God it will soon be cast into hell for eternity; but until then, perfect love casteth out fear. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear (I John 4:18). You don’t have to ask God to deliver you from fear; just yield to the Holy Spirit, and He will flow the love of God from your innermost being into your mind and flush out all fear.

Love One Another

God’s true children will love one another. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour (Romans 13:10). Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Matthew 22:39). Your neighbor is not necessarily the person who lives next door to you; it could be someone who lives thousands of miles away from you. Your neighbors are those who love the Lord like you do.

When you have divine love, you will love others as Jesus loved them. And above all things have fervent charity [love] among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins (I Peter 4:8). When Jesus saw people, He saw souls; and His love covered a lot of their human traits and sins. He did not excuse people’s sins, but He looked beyond them and loved their souls. He hated sin and what the devil was doing to people, but He also knew what they could be in Him.

We must be patient and love people’s souls just like Jesus did. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men (I Thessalonians 5:14).

Charity [love] suffereth long, and is kind (I Corinthians 13:4). Divine love will enable you to have the same kindness that Jesus had. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared (Titus 3:3,4).

The Lord loves people, and He hates to see anyone go to hell; but He can’t allow a person to enter Heaven who will not yield his soul. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). If people will not accept the truth, they will end up in hell; and God will wipe them out of His mind forever.

Divine Faith

There is so much danger in this life that you must have more than just the love anchor, so divine love has a companion—divine faith. It is different from human faith, and Jesus called that kind of faith “little faith.” He asked the disciples, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith (Matthew 8:26)?

Little faith won’t keep you afloat in times of trouble just as it didn’t keep Peter on top of the water. The disciples were out on the sea in the midst of a terrible storm; and because they did not have the spiritual anchors, they were afraid their boat was about to sink.

Then Jesus came to their rescue walking on the water; and when Peter saw Him walking toward the boat, he used divine faith and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus (Matthew 14:28,29).

Peter stepped out of that boat and actually walked on the water; but he let fear take him over, and he started to sink. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt (Matthew 14:30,31)? Peter allowed a big wave to get his mind off of the Lord, but the anchor of love kept him from going all the way down.

To have stayed on top, Peter needed more than just the anchor of love; he needed divine faith. The devil said, “Here comes a big wave, Peter, and it is going to take you down”; and Peter believed it. Then instead of seeing Jesus, all he could see and hear were the lightning flashing, the thunder roaring and the waves rolling in. When Jesus got Peter back to the boat, He said, “Oh, ye of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Faith Is a Gift

Faith is a wonderful gift from God, and He gives everyone a measure of it. God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (Romans 12:3). Yet some Christians say they don’t have any faith. No one can find Calvary or be saved without faith, and that is why God gives everybody a measure of it. Then when you use that measure, He will give you another one. The Lord has plenty of faith for every child of God.

You must use divine faith if you want it to work for you, and you must use it instead of human faith. You used human faith before you accepted Jesus; but when you really seek to be like Him, you have to use the kind of faith He used.

Human faith is quick to believe human theories, laws and philosophies; and it believes in what it sees and feels; but when it comes to believing the miraculous things of God, human faith falls short every time. You can keep using divine faith all the way to Rapture ground and win, or you can mix it with human faith and lose out on the storm-tossed seas of life.

Jesus said, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you (Matthew 17:20). You can have that kind of faith; but you have to be righteous, holy, dedicated, consecrated and yielded to the Lord.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). Nothing can hold you up when you won’t look to Jesus and use His faith. When the problems get too big, you will sink.

Have No Doubt

What is faith? The Bible says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report (Hebrews 11:1,2). Those saints of God used great faith to see them through many horrible trials, and they won because they did not doubt. Human faith causes a doubtful mind, one that is undecided or unsure about God’s promises and provisions for soul, mind and body; so the person receives nothing. Jesus said, Neither be ye of doubtful mind (Luke 12:29). He also said, Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matthew 21:22).

Doubting will get you nowhere, and doubt is why people can receive a miracle in one of our services and then lose it before they get home. When another pain or symptom comes, they stop using divine faith. They let the devil deceive them into believing the pain or symptom more than they believe the Word of God which says, The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up (James 5:15). Jesus said, They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:18).

You don’t have to beg God for His help, but the devil will make you think you do when you don’t use divine faith. Jesus said, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7). That is so simple that even a child can do it. Many times, the Lord will answer a child’s prayer quicker than that of an adult because they have such pure and innocent faith.

With divine faith, you can go boldly before the throne of grace. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). When Jesus died, it gave us a blood line that goes straight to the throne of God; and we can talk to the Father at any time saying, “Father, I come in the name of Jesus.” Whenever you close a prayer, say as Jesus did, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always (John 11:41,42).

Faith Works

Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). To labor means to work, so lazy people don’t need to expect God to use them because He won’t be able to do it very much. The Bible says, Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works (James 2:17,18).

With some people, every bone in their body is lazy, and they don’t want to work; so they won’t even look for a job. Parents are supposed to teach their children responsibility. When I was a child, everybody in our home had chores and duties; and we never dared say that we were too busy or too tired to do our chores. My mama never let us put those things over on her.

A lack of responsibilities makes for an idle mind, and an idle mind gives the devil an open door to come after you because he knows he can possess that kind of mind. Ezekiel talked of the sinful city of Sodom saying, Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy (Ezekiel 16:49). An idle mind is the devil’s workshop, and it doesn’t work with the Holy Spirit; so the devil rushes in to that kind of mind because he knows he can defeat it.

Lazy people definitely do not have working faith. They are too lazy to carry their burdens to the Lord and too lazy to unload them, so they never get anywhere. It takes strength and determination to carry your burdens to the Lord, and faith in the blood gives you that strength. It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect (Psalm 18:32).

You cannot even please God without faith. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

Without faith, you will never have the favor of God; and without that favor, you will not be anchored, steadfast and unmovable. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord (I Corinthians 15:58).

The Armor of God

We cannot study the anchor of faith without talking about the armor of God because a major piece of that armor is the shield of faith. You must make sure that you always have on the whole armor and use it. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (Ephesians 6:13). Many people never put on the armor let alone use it because it can only be done through prayer, fasting and living in the Word; and they don’t want to do those things.

Only the righteous and holy can have this armor because it is God’s armor, and the devil cannot penetrate it. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11). God can’t put the armor on for you; you have to put it on yourself, and you should never go anywhere without it. When you have the first two anchors of divine love and divine faith, you will be anchored in the heart of God so you can put on His armor and use it.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth (Ephesians 6:14). You cannot have any one of these anchors without truth. The Bible is truth, and you are to be a living, walking epistle of truth. You must be the Bible in action. Paul said, Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart (II Corinthians 3:2,3).

Are you a walking epistle for Christ? Do people see anything in your life besides the holy Word of God? If your life was the only thing people had to go by, would it guide them to Heaven? Would they see the truth in you, or would you be a false witness and shame the One who died on Calvary for you? You must walk and talk like Jesus did when He was on Earth; and to help you do that, you have the same divinity available to you now that He had. Accept His divine truth, divine love, divine peace, divine faith, divine joy, divine patience and divine self-control.

For the rest of this journey, you have to represent Jesus Christ all the time. When troubles come and you don’t know what to do, stand still and ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?” If you are sincere, the Holy Spirit will let you know exactly what Jesus would do or say in that situation. That is what the Early Church disciples did; and at that time, people talked about them saying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also (Acts 17:6). People must say that about God’s true children today, too.

Protection Against the Devil

Another important piece of God’s armor is the breastplate of righteousness; and the Bible says, Having on the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). That righteousness is the righteousness of God. Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith (Philippians 3:9). That righteousness only comes about through the new and living way that Jesus brought. By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh (Hebrews 10:20).

Being like Jesus is not imitating Him. When one person imitates another, it is disgusting; but, for example, when a son acts like his father because he has the same nature, that is wonderful. In the same way, we are to act like Jesus when we have His divine nature. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (II Peter 1:4).

God makes that divine nature available to us because He wants to walk and talk with us just as He did with the first Adam and Eve in Eden; but today, the Holy Ghost is the one who teaches us and brings all things to our remembrance that Jesus brought and taught when He was on Earth. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26).

Never Be Afraid

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace [the Gospel of Jesus Christ] (Ephesians 6:15). The Gospel brings peace that the world doesn’t offer or understand. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). If you do not have that divine peace, you are living beneath your privilege; and most Christians do.

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked [the devil] (Ephesians 6:16). When a thought of doubt comes to your mind, you can hold up that shield of faith; and the fiery darts of the devil will fall at your feet. However, some of you don’t use that shield of faith because you don’t have enough of the love of God. You let the devil’s darts strike you and give you battles of the mind, so he keeps shooting them at you to get your mind off of God and His promises.

The devil wants fear and doubt to churn up and down inside of you, but that is no way to be anchored. The Bible says, But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord (James 1:6,7).

You will have all the protection you need when you wear the armor of God, but there is no protection for the back because the Lord never intends for you to turn and run from the devil. We are the ones who should make the devil run by stepping on him with the blood through divine love and faith. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). The devil can’t stand the divine blood.

Jesus said, Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19). Divinity is yours to use, but it won’t work for you if you won’t use it.

Receive Salvation through Divine Love

Do you have God’s love and faith today? You must have them to be without spot, wrinkle, blemish or any such thing when Jesus comes. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27).

To be spotless before God, you must be washed in the blood and living free from all sin. The divine blood won’t mix with sin, and no sin can get into Heaven. In a split second, all sin can be washed out of a human heart and cast into the sea of forgetfulness where God will bury it so deep that He will never remember it against you again. That is the power of the blood.

If you want God’s anchors of divine love and faith, you must have a blood-washed soul. Say the sinner’s prayer with me right now: Oh, God, I have sinned against you, and I know that it will take divine blood to wash away all my sins. Forgive me, Lord. I believe that the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins. Come into my heart, Jesus! Come on in!

If you believed that prayer, now you can cry, Hallelujah, Jesus has come! Hallelujah, He is mine!

Healing Comes through Divine Faith

If you are sick and afflicted, you can have healing through Jesus’ divine, blood stripes. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). I am not the healer; God is the healer. I just believe in the power of prayer, and I am God’s instrument that He pours His power through to heal people. It is His will for us to be well. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth (III John 1:2).

Lord, in obedience to your Word, I bring the people to you today. Lay a healing hand on the sick and afflicted. We know you shed your divine blood for us and that with your blood stripes, we have physical healing. Lord, I come with your supernatural gifts of miracles and healing for the captives to be set free. In the name of Jesus, I command the cancer spirits to flee and for all growths to disappear. I command the blind to see and the crippled to walk. Make the heart patients, the diabetics and the stroke victims whole by your love and power. Heal, in the holy, all-powerful name of Jesus! Heal!

The Lord’s healing power is flowing now; feel His presence around you and know that is your sign. Decide you, your loved one or your child is going to get well. Then honor the Lord, glorify Him and thank Him for His miracle greatness.

Write and let me know how the Lord has moved for you. Then you must continue to live for the Lord and serve Him through the blood that stained the Old Rugged Cross. We have nothing without the blood of Jesus; but with it, we have everything, even eternal life.