18 Aug, 2006
You Need A Good Guard
When Barney met Mabel, there was an instant - and fatal - chemical reaction.
On Tuesday night the doberman pinscher guard dog, after six years' blameless service, went berserk: within minutes Mabel, a 1909 German-made Steiff teddy bear once owned by Elvis Presley, more recently the pride and joy of an English aristocrat, lay mortally wounded.
Barney went on to rampage through hundreds of rare teddies, all on loan to Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset, and so valuable that the insurers had insisted on a guard dog to protect the premises at night. The aftermath, according to shocked staff, was appalling: shattered limbs, gouged eyes, ears torn off, and pools of sawdust everywhere.
"Up to 100 bears were involved in the massacre," Daniel Medley, general manager of Wookey Hole Caves, said last night. "It was a dreadful scene."
photo & story courtesy guardian.co.uk, 8/4/06
Philippians 4:6-7
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (ESV)
God's living Holy Spirit dwells in the lives of all followers of Christ. The apostle Paul is teaching us that His Spirit will guard our heart and mind by giving us God's peace. That's an incredible security system! Are you using it? God's peace is no dog. We never have to wonder if God is going to suddenly turn against us like Elvis's teddy guard dog. God never changes. His love is constant. He has a perfect plan and purpose for us.
That's why Paul's advice for us is to turn our worries into prayers. Whenever we start to worry, we should stop and pray. The result is God's peace which is different form the world's peace. Peace is not found in positive thinking or focusing on our "happy place", but it is discovered in trusting God because we know that He is in complete control. Let God's peace guard your heart against being anxious about life.
- Memorize today's scripture as a reminder of how to let God guard your heart and mind every day.
- Keep a written list of what you worry about. Turn this list into a daily prayer list. At the end of the month, evaluate what God has taught you about His peace guarding your heart and mind.
- Pray right now. Thank God for the power of His Spirit living in you. Confess any way in which you have been going through the motions of being a Christian and finding yourself living in anything but God's peace. Ask Jesus to give you the faith and discipline you need to consistently turn your worries into trusting prayers. Thank Jesus for His peace which will guard your heart and mind. It is beyond human understanding!
- Share what you've read and learned today with a friend who needs some encouragement in dealing with worry.
- When someone in your "storysphere" talks about something they are worried about, let them know that you will pray for them. (Then make sure you do!) Remember that part of God's Story is that He often uses change or conflict to help people see their need for Jesus.
- November 2008 [13]
- October 2008 [22]
- September 2008 [22]
- August 2008 [19]
- July 2008 [22]
- June 2008 [13]
- May 2008 [20]
- April 2008 [22]
- March 2008 [21]
- February 2008 [19]
- January 2008 [20]
- December 2007 [19]
- November 2007 [16]
- October 2007 [20]
- September 2007 [18]
- August 2007 [12]
- July 2007 [12]
- June 2007 [10]
- May 2007 [12]
- April 2007 [10]
- March 2007 [11]
- February 2007 [14]
- January 2007 [7]
- December 2006 [4]
- November 2006 [13]
- October 2006 [17]
- September 2006 [11]
- August 2006 [16]
- July 2006 [11]
- June 2006 [3]
