Guard Your Heart , Mind and Soul!

by David W Cowan

How many times have you heard someone claim to be "overcome" by an emotion or feeling? What has overcome you at points in your life...grief, fear, worry, shame, guilt?

We are called to be overcome by one thing and that is the love of Christ, by which He has overcome the world. Jesus explains to His disciples in John 16, verse 33.

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world."

The tribulation we face, lest we stay close to our Lord and Savior, can drag us down, can be overpowering unless we stay in the peace of Christ. Peter warns us about this very situation in 2 Peter 2:19.

"...for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved."

Many times at funerals I have heard it said, "I am overcome with grief" Believers who slip have been known to say "I am overcome with guilt and shame."

A momentary emotion is not a bad thing. It shows we care and love. It goes to far when we allow it to overcome our ability to move on down the path God has set for us.

We have to remember that we are a new creation in Christ Jesus and he has overcome ALL the world and its sinful emotions with His love for us and His covering for our sins past, present and even future. We are, however, to be sorrowful and repentant when we realize we have not lived up to God's expectations, to turn from our sin and move on, but Christ has already overcome what we are facing and we rest in His work and we move down the road to sanctification and eventually His perfection.

Thank you, Jesus! 

You Have To Be A Sheep!

Another for the Standing On the Promises Series

by David Cowan

We are all familiar with the 23rd Psalm, but have you ever thought about it as, I think, one of the greatest set of promises in the Bible.

David tells us, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

These are another set of covenantial promises and are all available to us as children of God, but it requires that we are His sheep if He is to be our shepherd. If you grew up like I did, taught by parents in an age when you were to be self sufficient and depend on no one, the thought of being a sheep took some getting used to. Sheep, however, depend upon the shepherd for everything, as we read in the 23rd Psalm, food, water, protection, etc.

In Biblical times and locations, grass was not plentiful and sometimes, like the water also, might be days from the homeplace and not always easy to find. A good shepherd knew where the best was to be found. I read an article that said David even kept the sheep in age groups and that when they came to a pasture, he would bring the youngest in first for the tenderest part of the grass, then the middle group and, finally the most developed could handle the tougher part of the blades. David killed lions and all kinds of animals that would attempt to prey on his flock. He was the protector of what his father had.

The same is what God wants to do for us, but He will not force His provisions on us and our "self reliance" often gets in the way. Sheep, on the other hand just all clump together and depend on the shepherd. If we learn to be thankful for His love and depend on Him for everything instead of taking the approach that we will call Him if we need Him, we will be amazed at the provisions He made for us from the foundation of the world.

David knew this for in 1 Samuel, Saul was told that his kingdom would not continue, for God had sought and found for himself a man after His own heart, David the Shepherd. Not that David was perfect my any stretch, but his faith in God never wavered and he was a man, as Paul testified in Acts 13:22, that would do whatever God wanted him to do. He depended on God for everything and God blessed him abundantly, gave him protection and on many, many occasions, saved his life.

I want to be more like my name sake in that aspect of his life. I am striving to be less mule like and more sheep like and so should you!