Sid: My guest is Pastor Charles Cowan Pastor of Faith Is The Victory Church in Nashville, Tennessee. I’m interviewing him on his brand new book titled “How to Deal With the Cares of Life.” You know Charles it talks about the seed being the word of God and then different types of ground. And one type of ground it talks about that when the testing comes you’re not going to stand; when the cares of life come you’re not going to stand. Explain the different type of ground.
Charles: Well you know Jesus talks about you know the stony ground; He talks about you know about the different levels there now. Here’s what will determine what type of ground that an individual might be. Whatever an individual allows to go on in their mind will control the level or will control the kind of soil or ground that they become. Also what they allow to go on in their mind controls the level of peace that they will enjoy in life. So what we have to do we have to be sure we become the good ground for the word of God. Now what Satan does with these cares that he brings they are specifically designed to steal the word of God out of the believer.
Sid: Alright, what is the Bible mean by the phrase “Cares of life?”
Charles: It means distraction, cares just simply means the distractions of life that will distract us from God; distract us from what God has said, distracting us from the word of God. Now they could come in the form of financial lack, it could come in the form of even sickness and disease, it could come in the form of family relationships. There is a multitude of ways that care can be introduced into the life of a believer, or the life of any person.
Sid: What about the people that lived in Washington, D.C. when that the shooter was just murdering people at random and no one knew what happened and they were literally afraid to go out of their house?
Charles: See they were terrified, that situation brought so much fear to that community; that community was terrorized. Not just by the individuals that were using guns, but they were terrorized by this thing called fear. And it is a work of the enemy; it is called a spirit the spirit of fear. So they… every time they stepped outside their home they had to deal in their thinking with these thoughts of “Could I be the next one? Where would the next place that this terrorist will strike.” So yeah, they had to deal with that in their mind and if they didn’t know how to deal with that in their mind in their thought life it would actually drive them into their house and they would not come out of their house for fear of what might happen to them in a situation like that. Well now that’s what Satan seeks to do; he seeks to drive every one of us as it were into our house so that we will not come out in the advancement of kingdom of God; in the advancement of the word of God.
Sid: How about someone that witnesses and the person they could have witnessed to someone like my father. I come from a Jewish background and I remember a Christian friend of mine came up to me one time and he said “I sat next to your father, I didn’t know he was your father, but the minute he mentioned your name I started witnessing to him and he screamed so loud I ran out of that restaurant.” That man may never share again with another human!
Charles: Well that’s true now until he’s taught; until he gets into a place where he can be taught how to deal with that to overcome that. He may never do it; that situation may have been on his mind that every time that he thinks about witnessing fear is the thing that grips his thoughts and mind.
Sid: Alright what should he do; what should he do? What should he do let’s take this example right here. If that were you what would you do? You just had this traumatic encounter in witnessing, the devil is telling you in every fiber of your being “Never witness again that’s someone else’s ministry.” God has said “This is the purpose that your living.” Now what are you going to do Charles?
Charles When that happens you have to determine which way you’re going to go, you’re going to determine if you’re going to go with the thing that’s bringing the stimuli to you that external thing. Or you have to determine if you’re going to follow what you know that the word of God tells you to do. How He tells you from His word how to handle your particular situation. And so you determine then that you’re going to go by practicing what you have read from the word. Putting it into practice what you know that the word of God says. You know the word says “Casting all of your care, or casting all of your distraction over on Him because He cares for you.” So you simply make the choice, and I say simply, yeah that you simply make the choice that you are not going to follow what the external thing is that has created the emotions and the feelings that you’re having. But you’re going to do what God tells you to do going to set your mind on Him on His word. And you’re going to put it into practice and become a doer in what God has instructed you to do; so that God’s power and God’s Spirit can work with you and work for you to bring you above that situation. You know Peter and his writings say “Cast all your care on Him for He cares for you.” And that verse before he says “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due season.” In other words, the word exalt means that He elevate you above what it is that you are dealing with in your life at that point in time.
Sid: So what you’re saying again in other words it’s a choice but when you choose to side with the word of God you get elevated supernaturally to be able to demonstrate it.
Charles: That’s exactly right. Now we talked about it today one day earlier here that “How can two walk together except they agree.” God’s power is available to me to exalt me or to elevate me above this situation but I’ve got to come into agreement with Him. And so therefore I have to make my mind I have to make up my mind that I am going to go God’s way no matter what I feel, no matter what the emotions may be that I’m feeling. No matter what the situation is that I’m dealing with that I’m going to go God’s way so I’m going to cast that thing over on God. And say God here it is “You take care of it now elevate me above it so that I can walk victorious over it and move on with my life so this thing does not bog me down and keep me in a defeated place in my life.” So it’s a matter of a choice, all of us make choices. We make choices about a lot of things every day and the word of God is no different. God does not make choices for us; he does not force us to do things that we do not choose to do. He said “I have set before you life and…
Sid: I wish He did; I wish He forced us to do the right things. I mean He’s just too good. It would be easier to be forced. I’m that pragmatic type of person I wish it wasn’t a choice but it is.
Charles: It is a choice and He made us that way and gave us this power of choice and the freedom of our will. Because He wants us to follow Him and to walk with Him and to worship Him out of the freedom, or out of our freewill because we want Him and He’s not forcing us to take Him. Everything that we do where God’s concerned is a choice it’s a choice whether a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, or whether they don’t. It’s a choice whether or not whether the read the Word of God; it’s a choice of whether or not they think upon the word of God. Everything in life it’s a choice; we choose to get up in the morning; we may not want to we may not feel like it but we make the choice “I’m going to get up because there are things I need to tend to through the day.” So if a person doesn’t make up their mind or does not choose to follow God God is not going to force them. But His power that’s available to them is not going to be there for them because they haven’t chosen to agree with Him so God’s power cannot work for them in that situation. So choices every day we make choices, and so He said “I set before you in the book of Deuteronomy I’ve set before you life and death, blessing and cursing therefore you choose life. Now listen to this you choice life that both and you and your seed may live.” Every choice that we make affects more than just us as an individual it affects our seed. And so God lays out there before us what He wants us to choose; but He lets us do the choosing. And when we choose Him and choose to walk with Him then He comes together with us and His power is made available with us. And He then will elevate us above the cares, the distractions, the problems whatever it is that’s come against my life He will elevate me above that and will bring me into a place of peace and cause me to have victory in every area of my life. So that’s what we have to do; we have to choose choose choose His word; choose what God said; choose to think on what God says.
Sid: I suggest that everyone listening make another quality choice; we are dealing in a tough world. I don’t think it’s ever been as bad as it is today.
