"The Anchor Holds In Spite of the Storm"
Pastor: Gaylen Jones
Sunday Service 10:30 A.M.
Wednesday Evening Bible Study and Prayer 7:00 P.M.
PO Box 1926
Clute, Texas 77531
[Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:1-13; Mathew 28:18-20; I Corinthians 10:1-33]
Pastor: Gaylen Jones
Sunday Service 10:30 A.M.
Wednesday Evening Bible Study and Prayer 7:00 P.M.
PO Box 1926
Clute, Texas 77531
[Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:1-13; Mathew 28:18-20; I Corinthians 10:1-33]
An Anchor, when properly placed, holds a marine vessel securely in one location and keeps it from drifting away from the captain’s desired position. Under the teachings of the Holy Spirit of God, what in Hebrew is called the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), the Five books of Moses serve us as an Anchor to keep us from drifting away from God's good, acceptable and perfect will for our lives.
(Romans 1:1-17; Romans 5:1-2; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-8; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:1-13
At the Anchor, we have come to the understanding, that the daily study of these books, along with the rest of the Scriptures, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit is the way God promised and systematically does place His Word (the oracles of God – see Romans 3:1) in our minds according to the covenant promise. As we go about practicing what He says for us to do, and not practicing what he says for us not to do, these same words become attached or grafted into our hearts. We discover that as we hear and practice doing what we hear [The shema of God - Mark 28:28:34, James 1:21-25), He becomes more and more pleased with what He does through us. Therefore to Him (יהוה) , LORD, YHVH, Yahveh, Jehovah be all the glory for the things He is doing.) As followers of Jesus the Christ (Hebrew – Yehshua Ha Mashiach), our desire is to regard the Law of God (the Torah) in the same way Jesus (Yeshua) did; when he was here. And learn to teach the same specific instructions that his disciples received from him. To continue to practice the same works that he taught them, until he returns. [I John 2:1-16] His disciples were commanded to go into all nations and make disciples. Jesus/Yeshua did not say go into all the nations and make Christians and build churches. Jesus/Yehshua said; "go and make Disciples, teaching them to do what so ever I have commanded you to do." (Mitzvot = "good works")
(Romans 1:1-17; Romans 5:1-2; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-8; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:1-13
At the Anchor, we have come to the understanding, that the daily study of these books, along with the rest of the Scriptures, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit is the way God promised and systematically does place His Word (the oracles of God – see Romans 3:1) in our minds according to the covenant promise. As we go about practicing what He says for us to do, and not practicing what he says for us not to do, these same words become attached or grafted into our hearts. We discover that as we hear and practice doing what we hear [The shema of God - Mark 28:28:34, James 1:21-25), He becomes more and more pleased with what He does through us. Therefore to Him (יהוה) , LORD, YHVH, Yahveh, Jehovah be all the glory for the things He is doing.) As followers of Jesus the Christ (Hebrew – Yehshua Ha Mashiach), our desire is to regard the Law of God (the Torah) in the same way Jesus (Yeshua) did; when he was here. And learn to teach the same specific instructions that his disciples received from him. To continue to practice the same works that he taught them, until he returns. [I John 2:1-16] His disciples were commanded to go into all nations and make disciples. Jesus/Yeshua did not say go into all the nations and make Christians and build churches. Jesus/Yehshua said; "go and make Disciples, teaching them to do what so ever I have commanded you to do." (Mitzvot = "good works")
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Vayikra (Leviticus)
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Meaning
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Day One
15th day of 1st Month 5785 13 April 2025 
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Haftara
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B'rit Hadashah
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1 Our Father, we receive Your Words and hide Your commandments with us; 2 we incline our ear unto wisdom, and apply our hearts to understanding; 3 We cry after knowledge and lift up our voices for understanding; 4 we seek it as silver; and search for it as for hidden treasures; 5 We declare that we shall understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. Declaration of Proverbs 2:1-5
Modeh Ani (ּמודה אני)
Pronounced moe-DEH ah-NEE, this Hebrew phrase literally means "I give thanks" and refers to the prayer traditionally recited upon awaking in the morning.
Pronounced moe-DEH ah-NEE, this Hebrew phrase literally means "I give thanks" and refers to the prayer traditionally recited upon awaking in the morning.
John 4:1-29 (KJV)
1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go through Samaria. 5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. 27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? 28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come , see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ [The Anointed]?
Today is the first day of the Passover season, which began last night at sunset. You’ll note that our format has changed for this week. I’m taking a study done in the early years for one of the first Passovers in the Torah Bites project and looking at the same Scriptures with a slightly different commentary. Most believers are familiar with the story of the woman at the well and perhaps with the song of the same theme, “Fill My Cup Lord.” I’m going to snitch some prose and give you the ANV, that is, the Anne Nault Version, from a book already written. Charles Dickens wrote it first in The Tale of Two Cities.
“We live in the best of times. We live in the worst of times. It’s the age of wisdom and yet the age of foolishness. It is the epoch of belief and the epoch of incredulity. It’s the season of light and at the same time, the season of darkness. It’s a time of hope and a winter of despair. We have everything before us and yet…nothing before us. We’re all going to Heaven and we’re all going direct to the other way.”
This pretty much sums up the time that we live in and has the same sort of paradoxes that are contained in Scripture! How can we make sense of the era in which we live and still keep our “balance”? The woke movement and a man who was a doctor 'for a nation' moved all the goalposts in philosophy and science that had been the same for generations. Suddenly men can have babies and can identify as women in sports. Suddenly, children who aren't old enough to buy liquor or vote can make up their minds to change their gender. In one year, all the stuff I learned about viruses and infection control in the first months of training in nursing was thrown out. The only ones that drew hefty paychecks out of the social distancing and lock-down mentality were the pharmaceutical giants in the industry. The world went whacky! Where does one find 'balance' in all that?
The Samaritan woman at that well was, like the song says, searching for things that didn’t satisfy her. Messiah pinpointed her problem. She was searching for happiness in relationships. During this week we’ll delve into her ancestry. She’d been brought up in a culture and a path of Jewish religion that was a splinter of the original Hebrew faith. It had been all ONE under the reign of David and his son Solomon but disaster that started in the life and reign of Solomon resulted in this schism that split Israel. By the end of the week we’ll see how she was a product of her ancestry that taught that location was more important than true theology. Her background prompted her to reply to Him:
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. John 4:19-20.
We can surely see how, if you take this same woman and put her in a pair of leisure pants and a halter top and set her down in a mall pushing an umbrella stroller, she is much like many modern women. They drift from one relationship to another, have babies by several fathers, and can never truly settle their lives and find stable moorings. Many years ago I overheard one such young woman speaking at the nursing desk while she charted with a coworker. She said, “I think I’d like to have a baby with my boyfriend because, well, you know, he’s never had a kid.” (And she did!)
Messiah said to the woman:
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. John 4:21-22.
He made the point that the Samaritans didn’t know what they worshiped—they’d regressed to the golden calf worship as in the desert and yet their pathway was still rich with the prophecies of a Messiah who was yet to come. Where in that mix was the truth? The Messiah, He taught her, didn’t come from Samaria in the north, but from “the Jews”, also known as Yehuda, from the south—and as a matter of fact, “I’m not just a prophet because I could tell you how you’re living—I AM that Messiah! And so she was spurred on to a quest for the truth because she had been “breathed upon” by that Spirit of God because Jesus/Yeshua is God.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24.
God is a Spirit: pneuma: breath. It is His “breath” so to speak that is the catalyst when we become believers in Jesus. And so we worship Him in the small ‘s’ spirit because that is the part of us, being made in His image and likeness, that is revived from a dormant state and responds to His calling out to us. In order of importance, we’re a tripartite creation: spirit, soul, and body. The spirit of that Samaritan woman was revived at that meeting with Messiah. We’re told nothing more of her story after this interlude but she went away rejoicing because her spirit had connected with The Great I AM in that discourse. Suddenly her whole life took on such new meaning that she forgot her water pot at the well! The song, Fill My Cup, was written by the son who followed in the faith of his parents who were Chinese missionaries. Richard E. Blanchard penned this song. From this sample of the lyrics I think he knew what he spoke, don’t you?
“We live in the best of times. We live in the worst of times. It’s the age of wisdom and yet the age of foolishness. It is the epoch of belief and the epoch of incredulity. It’s the season of light and at the same time, the season of darkness. It’s a time of hope and a winter of despair. We have everything before us and yet…nothing before us. We’re all going to Heaven and we’re all going direct to the other way.”
This pretty much sums up the time that we live in and has the same sort of paradoxes that are contained in Scripture! How can we make sense of the era in which we live and still keep our “balance”? The woke movement and a man who was a doctor 'for a nation' moved all the goalposts in philosophy and science that had been the same for generations. Suddenly men can have babies and can identify as women in sports. Suddenly, children who aren't old enough to buy liquor or vote can make up their minds to change their gender. In one year, all the stuff I learned about viruses and infection control in the first months of training in nursing was thrown out. The only ones that drew hefty paychecks out of the social distancing and lock-down mentality were the pharmaceutical giants in the industry. The world went whacky! Where does one find 'balance' in all that?
The Samaritan woman at that well was, like the song says, searching for things that didn’t satisfy her. Messiah pinpointed her problem. She was searching for happiness in relationships. During this week we’ll delve into her ancestry. She’d been brought up in a culture and a path of Jewish religion that was a splinter of the original Hebrew faith. It had been all ONE under the reign of David and his son Solomon but disaster that started in the life and reign of Solomon resulted in this schism that split Israel. By the end of the week we’ll see how she was a product of her ancestry that taught that location was more important than true theology. Her background prompted her to reply to Him:
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. John 4:19-20.
We can surely see how, if you take this same woman and put her in a pair of leisure pants and a halter top and set her down in a mall pushing an umbrella stroller, she is much like many modern women. They drift from one relationship to another, have babies by several fathers, and can never truly settle their lives and find stable moorings. Many years ago I overheard one such young woman speaking at the nursing desk while she charted with a coworker. She said, “I think I’d like to have a baby with my boyfriend because, well, you know, he’s never had a kid.” (And she did!)
Messiah said to the woman:
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. John 4:21-22.
He made the point that the Samaritans didn’t know what they worshiped—they’d regressed to the golden calf worship as in the desert and yet their pathway was still rich with the prophecies of a Messiah who was yet to come. Where in that mix was the truth? The Messiah, He taught her, didn’t come from Samaria in the north, but from “the Jews”, also known as Yehuda, from the south—and as a matter of fact, “I’m not just a prophet because I could tell you how you’re living—I AM that Messiah! And so she was spurred on to a quest for the truth because she had been “breathed upon” by that Spirit of God because Jesus/Yeshua is God.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24.
God is a Spirit: pneuma: breath. It is His “breath” so to speak that is the catalyst when we become believers in Jesus. And so we worship Him in the small ‘s’ spirit because that is the part of us, being made in His image and likeness, that is revived from a dormant state and responds to His calling out to us. In order of importance, we’re a tripartite creation: spirit, soul, and body. The spirit of that Samaritan woman was revived at that meeting with Messiah. We’re told nothing more of her story after this interlude but she went away rejoicing because her spirit had connected with The Great I AM in that discourse. Suddenly her whole life took on such new meaning that she forgot her water pot at the well! The song, Fill My Cup, was written by the son who followed in the faith of his parents who were Chinese missionaries. Richard E. Blanchard penned this song. From this sample of the lyrics I think he knew what he spoke, don’t you?
Like the woman at the well I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy; And then I heard my Savior speaking:
"Draw from My well that never shall run dry."
Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more --
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
For things that could not satisfy; And then I heard my Savior speaking:
"Draw from My well that never shall run dry."
Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more --
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
1 NASB www.lockman.org for daily reading and KJV in commentary unless otherwise stated.
Daily Torah Bites ©
anne@anchorchurchsurfside.com
Ten Commandments
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2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
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4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
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7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
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8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
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12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
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13 Thou shalt not kill.
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14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
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15 Thou shalt not steal.
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16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
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16 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.