Servias Ministries Blog

Where are your thoughts anchored?

The anchor is a spiritual symbol of hope, stability, and grounding. In Christianity, it represents hope in salvation and was used by early Christians as a secret symbol for Christ due to its resemblance to the cross.  It signifies inner strength, balance, and being able to weather life’s challenges, acting as a reminder to stay grounded amidst storms. 

It is recorded by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 6:

18 So it is impossible for God to lie for we know that His promise and His vow will never change! And now we have run into His Heart to hide ourselves in His faithfulness. This is where we find his strength and comfort, for He empowers us to seize what has already been established ahead of time—an unshakable hope!

19 We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God Himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the Mercy Seat in the Heavenly realm beyond the Sacred threshold,

20 and where Jesus, our forerunner, has gone in before us. He is now and forever our royal Priest like Melchizedek.

We are not to set our anchor on the things of the world, especially their riches.  In the most fundamental form, their “riches” are intended to control and manage people’s actions.

“Mammon” refers to wealth and material possessions but is often used to represent the idolatry of wealth and the temptation it poses. Jesus uses it in the New Testament to explain that people cannot serve both God and wealth, as it can be a deceptive and corrupting force that lures individuals into placing their trust in riches for security instead of God. The term comes from an Aramaic word for “wealth” and is sometimes personified as a greedy spirit or even a demon.  

As you live a simpler life, wealth is less of an attraction.  You quit buying things you can’t afford with money you don’t have, to impress people you don’t know.

The prison Epistles—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon—are so named because they were written by the apostle Paul during one of his incarcerations. Paul mentions this imprisonment in each of the prison epistles: Ephesians 3:1 and 4:1, Philippians 1:13, Colossians 4:3, 18, and Philemon 1:10.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Philippians chapter 4:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

If you were in prison, would you be able to express the state of your soul in the same manner?  Paul encourages us not to allow our soul and environment dictate our level of joy and peace.  Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let your joy overflow!

Paul provided us with his mindset as he wrote by The Holy Spirit before being incarcerated in Rome, Acts chapter 20:

24 “But whether I live or die is not important, for I don’t esteem my life as indispensable. It’s more important for me to fulfill my destiny and to finish the ministry my Lord Jesus has assigned to me, which is to faithfully preach the wonderful news of God’s grace.

He did just that!  When our soul is anchored to Jesus Christ, we will be anxious for nothing no matter what is going on around us.

By thanksgiving, we open a door to restoration!

Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Luke chapter 17:

11 Now it happened as Jesus went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.

13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

On the way, you will be healed.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,

16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

He was not a Jew but that didn’t matter to Jesus.

17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?

18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

19 Then Jesus said to the healed man lying at his feet, “Arise and go. It was your faith that brought you salvation and made you whole.”

All ten were cleansed but only the one who returned to give thanks was saved.  Each had a physical healing but only one received the Eternal spiritual healing of salvation.  He was the only one who came close to Jesus.  Without thanksgiving, we have no access to GOD.

Thanksgiving is the key that unlocks the supernatural miracle power of GOD.

The Beloved Disciple recorded the feeding of the 5,000 by The Holy Spirit in John chapter 6:

8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,

9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks to GOD, He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”

13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus didn’t pray and ask GOD to do anything.  He simply gave thanks to GOD for what He had in His Hand.

John mentioned this again in the same chapter:

23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks–

The miracle was released, not by some long prayer, but instead by giving thanks to THE FATHER.  Many times, we miss out on the power of GOD simply we don’t release it by giving thanks to HIM.

In John chapter 11, Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead:

38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His Eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Jesus spoke forth thankfulness before He fed the five thousand and raised Lazarus from the dead.  He revealed a Truth that each of us should embrace.  Be thankful in everything and the door will be opened to you.

By thanksgiving, we acknowledge GOD’S goodness!

You cannot be unthankful and be in the grace of GOD.

It is written by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 12:

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and Godly fear.

In other Words, since we are receiving our rights to an unshakable Kingdom we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights His Heart as we lay down our lives in absolute surrender, filled with awe.

You cannot be unthankful and be in the grace of GOD.  Grace and thankfulness are equivalent, directly connected.  When we are unthankful, we are out of the grace of GOD.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Colossians chapter 3:

15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

16 Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all Wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and Spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Do everything in the Name of Jesus, giving thanks to GOD.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 5:

18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

What do you do when you are filled with The Holy Spirit:

19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

How much time do you spend giving GOD thanks?

And in 1^st Thessalonians chapter 5:

16 Rejoice always,

17 pray without ceasing,

18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

If you are not giving thanks, you are out of the will of GOD!

Paul also wrote by The Holy Spirit in Philippians chapter 4:

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.   

Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and Holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising Him always.

Never bring a request to GOD without thanksgiving.

It is recorded by The Holy Spirit in Psalm chapter 100:

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His Name.

Notice that there are two stages of access to GOD.  The first is through HIS gates.  The second is through HIS courts.  The gates give you admission to HIS courts.  The courts give you admission to HIS Presence.  You can’t get into HIS Presence except through HIS gates with thanksgiving and HIS courts with praise.  The first step to access to GOD is thanksgiving.

Why be thankful?  Verse 5 provides three reasons:

5 For the LORD is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His Truth endures to all generations.

These things never change.  You should be thankful for these unchanging aspects of GOD’S Nature and HIS dealings with us.

We are to be humble in spirit!

Once we realize that we must fully surrendered to GOD, we will become overjoyed.  For years, I breezed past this verse due to lack of understanding.  We must give up being self-reliant.

Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 5:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The reality has finally kicked in.  “What happiness comes to you when you feel your spiritual poverty! For yours is the realm of Heaven’s Kingdom.”

“Poor in spirit” means “humble in spirit”.  This means that we have become totally dependent upon GOD for everything.  In other Words, delighted are those who have surrendered completely to GOD and trust only in HIM.

It is written by The Holy Spirit in Isaiah chapter 41:

17 “I, YAHWEH, will respond to the cry of the poor and needy when they are thirsty and their tongues are parched with thirst! When they seek a drink of water but there is none, I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

And in chapter 57:

15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and Holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

And in chapter 66:

2 My Hand made these things so they all belong to Me,” declares YAHWEH. “But there is one My Eyes are drawn to: the humble one, the tender one, the trembling one who lives in awe of all I say.

FATHER draws close to those who are humble in the spirit, those who have fully surrendered and submitted to The Holy Spirit, finally realizing that they are nothing without THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

Wisdom spoke by The Holy Spirit in Proverbs chapter 18:

23 The poor man uses entreaties, But the rich answers roughly.

The term “rich” means more than finances.  If you are surrounded by loyal friends, you’re rich.  If you have a healthy family, you are rich.  If you have a job and a sense of purpose, you’re rich.  There are people who have all the money they want but are extremely poor.  Their families are broken, their health is broken, etc.

Revival starts with the poor, but transformation comes through the rich.

Why not be both?  You can be arrogant in spirit and have no money.  On the other hand, you can be humble in spirit and have substantial resources and relationships. 

Poor in spirit is not thinking little of yourself, it’s not self-criticism, poor in spirit is living in the awareness that I exist entirely by the grace of GOD.  I am 100% dependent on the mercy and grace of GOD!

In my own case, I was supposed to die in June of 2017, according to doctors, but by the grace and mercy of GOD, I am writing to you today.  On the morning of June 12^th, FATHER spoke to me and told me “You will live and not die.”  Daily, I continue to be grateful!

We must be careful that when we experience breakthroughs, promotions, and blessings, that we never move away from being humble in spirit.  We are to be diligent and prepare for advancement, but it is not by our own prowess that we advance… we’re not that good!

Wisdom wrote in Proverbs chapter 21:

31 You can do your best to prepare for the battle, but ultimate victory comes from the Lord God.

You and I may provide a few loaves and fishes, but we are unable to do the multiplying that will have an impact on the course of history for a large situation.

It is vital we live in the awareness that we are only here by FATHER’S grace!

We are no more transformed than our mind!

Renewing our mind is the issue before us.  Ultimately, it is all about total surrender to HIM.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 12:

1 Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be His Sacred, living sacrifices. And live in Holiness, experiencing all that delights His Heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.

2 Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you,

but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think.

This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His Eyes.

Paul provides us with the priorities required to transform our minds.  We must surrender ourselves to HIM.  As we grow and mature as Sons and Daughters, we will know FATHER’S ways, not just HIS acts.

David wrote by The Holy Spirit in Psalm chapter 103:

7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

The children of Israel observed the acts of GOD but without the relationship.  Moses, on the other hand, had a personal relationship with Our Heavenly Father thus he knew HIS ways and Divine Intent.  Moses entered into The Presence and Glory of GOD.  We have the same opportunity.

In thanksgiving, we give HIM thanks because HE healed our body or HE provided for us, but in praise, we honor HIM for being the Provider.

It is recorded by The Holy Spirit in Psalm chapter 100:

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His Name.

In other Words, you can pass through HIS open gates with the password of praise. Come right into his Presence with thanksgiving. Come bring your thank offering to Him and affectionately bless His beautiful Name!

Do you want to settle for being at the gate, or in HIS courts?

Jesus addressed the lukewarm church and He spoke in Revelation chapter 3:

17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’-and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked–

18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

19 As many as I Love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

20 Behold, I’m standing at the door (aka gate), knocking. If your heart is open to hear My Voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with Me.

If we don’t go through the door and remain at the gate, we will fail to feast with Him!  A feast infers that we have more than enough, an abundance of blessings unavailable to those who do not enter in.

The lukewarm church is not passionate about knowing GOD’S ways.  They are complacent because they think they have need of nothing.  What could be further from the Truth!  As I said, religion is form without power.

Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 5:

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

We must not allow ourselves to become complacent in our current state.  We must not allow ourselves to become unfruitful and lethargic.  So don’t hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that your commendable works will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to Our Father in Heaven.  Our mindset is meant to brighten our light, not restrict it.

The Power of GOD is what persuades people to become believers, not our intellect!

Being led by The Holy Spirit will shape our thoughts and future actions.  Pursuing other avenues without being led by The Holy Spirit is simply a waste of time and resources.  Is it better to rely on your intellect or being led by The Holy Spirit?  Paul came to the realization that his intellect was grossly subordinate to knowing and following Christ.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Philippians chapter 3:

3 For we have already experienced “heart-circumcision,” and we worship God in the power and freedom of the Holy Spirit, not in laws and religious duties. We are those who boast in what Jesus Christ has done, and not in what we can accomplish in our own strength.

All accolades belong to Jesus Christ!

4 It’s true that I once relied on all that I had become. I had a reason to boast and impress people with my accomplishments—more than others—for my pedigree was impeccable.

Paul admits his ego was inflated by all his accomplishments, yet he had been an enemy of Christ.  His ego had put him on a path of being totally wrong.  He shares how wrong he had been.  His exceptional schooling did not move him to the Truth.

5 I was born a true Hebrew of the heritage of Israel as the son of a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin. I was circumcised eight days after my birth and was raised in the strict tradition of Orthodox Judaism, living a separated and devout life as a Pharisee.

6 And concerning the righteousness of the Torah, no one surpassed me; I was without a peer. Furthermore, as a fiery defender of the truth, I persecuted the messianic believers with religious zeal.

Paul came to the realization:

7 Yet all of the accomplishments that I once took credit for, I’ve now forsaken them and I regard it all as nothing compared to the delight of experiencing Jesus Christ as my Lord!

The past without Christ being at the center is worthless!

8 To truly know Him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embrace him as Lord in all of His greatness.

The world would have us focus on past achievements and boast about them to impress others.  All that does is infer superiority over others.  Paul was humbled when he first encountered THE LORD.  Being struck with blindness and falling to the ground will immediately change your mindset.

9 My passion is to be consumed with Him and not cling to my own “righteousness” based in keeping the written Law. My only “righteousness” will be His, based on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—the very righteousness that comes from God.

10 And I continually long to know the wonders of Jesus and to experience the overflowing power of His resurrection working in me. I will be one with Him in His sufferings and become like Him in his death.

11 Only then will I be able to experience complete oneness with Him in His resurrection from the realm of death.

Are you consumed with Jesus yet?

12 I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into His abundance so that I may reach the purpose for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me to make me His own.

13 I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead.

14 I run straight for the Divine invitation of reaching the Heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.

15 So let all who are fully mature have this same passion, and if anyone is not yet gripped by these desires, God will reveal it to them.

16 And let us all advance together to reach this victory-prize, following one path with one passion.

As our mindset is renewed, our passion for Christ and our Heavenly purpose will consume us so that we will become fully mature in Christ.  We will trust in HIS power to bring forth new believers, not our persuasive intellect.

Our lives are no more transformed than is our mind renewed.

Once again, the measuring rod of personal transformation is the transformation of the mind.  Every miracle introduces us to the reality of an unseen world and that introduction is to shape all further thoughts.

When a miracle takes place such as a supernatural healing, THE LORD is exposing us to more than another story, HE’S exposing us to the supernatural activity of The Holy Spirit that can be perceived by a yielded heart.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 6:

13 So then, refuse to answer its call to surrender your body as a tool for wickedness. Instead, passionately answer God’s call to keep yielding your body to Him as one who has now experienced resurrection life! You live now for His pleasure, ready to be used for his noble purpose.

16 Don’t you realize that grace frees you to choose your own master? But choose carefully, for you surrender yourself to become a servant—bound to the one you choose to obey. If you choose to love sin, it will become your master, and it will own you and reward you with death. But if you choose to Love and obey God, He will lead you into perfect righteousness.

19 I’ve used the familiar terms of a “servant” and a “master” to compensate for your weakness to understand. For just as you surrendered your bodies and souls to impurity and lawlessness, which only brought more lawlessness into your lives, so now surrender yourselves as servants of righteousness, which brings you deeper into true Holiness.

In our world, we have natural and supernatural.  In FATHER’S world, HE only has natural.  The miracles are meant to shape our expectations of future situations.  As we fully surrender, walking in righteousness and Holiness, we position ourselves to walk in the supernatural.  We are privileged to seek and access The Kingdom of GOD that knows no impossibility.

Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 6:

33 “So above all, constantly seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly.

The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary in Luke chapter 1:

37 Not one promise from God is empty of power. Nothing is impossible with God!”

Mary surrendered to The Word of THE LORD and the rest is history!

Paul emphasized the importance of trusting in the Almighty power of GOD as he wrote by The Holy Spirit in 1^st Corinthians chapter 2:

3 I stood before you feeling inadequate, filled with reverence for God, and trembling under the sense of the importance of my words.

4 The message I preached and how I preached it was not an attempt to sway you with persuasive arguments but to prove to you the Almighty power of God’s Holy Spirit.

5 For God intended that your faith not be established on man’s wisdom but by trusting in His Almighty power.

Intellectuals will present the written Word, but without the power of The Holy Spirit.  It is The Holy Spirit Who leads us into all Truth, not man’s intellectual prowess.

Jesus affirmed this when He spoke in John chapter 16:

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

13 However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all Truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

As we are guided by The Holy Spirit into all Truth, our minds will be transformed and the supernatural will become natural to us.  The miraculous will no longer be the exception.

On a daily basis, we choose what we want our mindsets to focus on!

What you focus on determines your growth in Christ!

Jesus understood that the key to spiritual maturity was to go before FATHER and hear HIS instructions, resulting in the appropriate actions. 

Matthew recorded Jesus’ encounter of the devil as he wrote by The Holy Spirit in Matthew chapter 4:

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the Mouth of God.'”

GOD is not silent today.  HE is speaking to those who have receivers tuned into HIS Voice.  If you have your radio set to the AM channels, you will not pick up the FM signals all around you.  We must tune our ears to hear what FATHER is saying.  We are not only to read and meditate on the written Word, but we are meant to hear FATHER’S Words that are unique to our calling.

Jesus constantly spent time with FATHER and He declared it as He spoke in John chapter 14:

9 Jesus replied, “Philip, I’ve been with you all this time and you still don’t know who I am? How could you ask Me to show you the Father, for anyone who has looked at Me has seen The Father.

10 Don’t you believe that the Father is living in Me and that I am living in The Father? Even My Words are not My own but come from My Father, for HE lives in Me and performs HISs miracles of power through Me.

11 Believe that I live as One with My Father and that My Father lives as One with Me—or at least, believe because of the mighty miracles I have done.

Jesus’ mindset was based on Him constantly hearing FATHER’S Words.  He was fully tuned in and had no worldly static.  It was His daily choice to focus on FATHER’S Voice and no other.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 4:

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,

18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the Life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;

19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

In essence, Paul said that we have the choice to walk in the futility of our mindset or to pursue the Mind of Christ.  If you choose to focus on the world, you will alienated yourself from the Life of GOD and you will become dull of hearing.

20 But you have not so learned Christ,

21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the Truth is in Jesus:

22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,

We are instructed to “put off” the old man’s mindset else it will grow corrupt and powerless.

23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in True righteousness and Holiness.

You have the choice to “put off” and to “put on”!  How bad do you want to hear FATHER’S Words on a daily basis?