Thoughts Reflections and Inspirations

What then is our part in this whole matter of the rod or the authority of the Good Shepherd being our comfort and deliverance? It is this very important truth that many miss and therefore suffer unnecessarily.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” Luke 6:45. Here we see by the words of Jesus that what is in our hearts comes out in our words.

How important then are our words that we speak? This question is answered in a number of scriptures of which I will bring a few of them. Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” It is very clear that the words you speak make a difference whether you go in the direction of life or death.

The Good Shepherd Himself said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10. So as the Good Shepherd has given you life, you must let it out of your heart through your tongue. Declare it. When Satan tempts you, speak the name of Jesus against him. Jesus’ name is above him and has defeated him, but you must declare it with your mouth. This my Friend is bringing the Shepherd’s rod against the enemy. The enemy can never stand against the Word of the Good Shepherd.

This is great news that our enemy Satan or the devil is defeated. The sheep with the Good Shepherd are under His protection. This being true, why do we see so many obvious victories of the kingdom of darkness which is Satan? And how on an every day basis is this victory and authority of our Good Shepherd activated against the enemy?

“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes ; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22. So we see here that the very words of the Good Shepherd are life and health to us. So how do we then bring the Shepherd’s rod against that which is not life and health, and everything that Satan brings against us?

Verse 23 shows us how important this really is. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Guard your heart. Protect and be carefull what is let in and what goes out. Be very diligent about that because that will determine the direction your life will go. Whether you go on and walk under the protection of the Good Shepherd or whether the enemy, Satan, will get the advantage over you depends on this very thing,

The Good Shepherd will always be faithful and fulfil His promises and do His part, but in this matter of the Shepherd’s rod being our protection and comfort, we, also, have a part to fulfill.

What kind of authority does the Good Shepherd and His rod have? Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” So by this we see that our Good Shepherd is undefeatable because all power has been given to Him. How did this come about? Philippians 2:1-12 Because Jesus was obedient to go to the cross to buy us back from Satan and sin, God the Father has now exalted Him. Verse 9 He gave Him, Jesus Christ our Good Shepherd, a name which is above every name. Verse 10, 11 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,”

In this we see that our Good Shepherd has all power and all authority, and someday every body and every spirit will agree that that is true and will bow the knee to Him. Do you see the great comfort that the sheep, the people who belong to Him, have in this truth?

Our Good Shepherd can never be over thrown. This is true because there is no one greater, stronger or more powerful. God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit are one, in full agreement. One God in three persons. Through the accomplishment of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection, the great enemy, Satan, is defeated forever. This is why the Good Shepherd’s rod is a comfort,

To the sheep, the Good Shepherd is the source of all comfort. II Corinthians 1:3, 4 “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” The Good Shepherd has a great desire to comfort us at all times. It is up to us to receive it.

To be close to or walk closely with the Good Shepherd is to be comforted by Him. His rod and His staff comfort us (Psalms 23:4). The rod and staff are necessary tools or instruments in the hands of the Good Shepherd.

The rod symbolizes authority, power and the instrument used to deal with the enemy. When the bear or lion comes, the sheep closest to the shepherd will benefit the quickest from the rod being used by the shepherd to beat the enemy away. The sheep that have wondered away and are not following the shepherd closely will need to run to the shepherd for protection. The closer to the shepherd, the safer they are.

Like real sheep, we often tend to wander away and put more attention on other interesting things in life then on the Good Shepherd. Then when the lion of emergency roars at us we quick need to find the Good Shepherd and repent of our wandering away. It is much better to walk close to the Good Shepherd all the time. The lion is afraid of the Good Shepherd.

Animals are interesting to watch. A squirrel running up a tree and then jumping from branch to branch and tree to tree without touching the ground is entertaining. Why do they do that? Why do they like to eat nuts for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Why don’t they run through the forest like a deer? The answer is simple. It’s because he’s a squirrel. He cannot act like a deer because he isn’t one.

In the same way a person who has received the free gift of eternal life and the righteousness of Jesus Christ is a new person. He is not what he used to be. II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” He now walks and lives and does what is right because of the complete change that took place in his life when the righteousness of Christ came upon him. He now has the righteousness, peace and joy of the Lord.

This is being taken out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light. It is a transformation out of Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom. We read of this in Colossians 1. We now follow the Good Shepherd because our heart has been transformed so that we desire to follow Him. Many profess to be Christians but it can be seen by their lives that they are following the kingdom of darkness. Jesus said we will know them by their fruit. Our lives declare who we are.