If I Only Would Have Thought That Through…

May 22, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

These words are usually said after we have messed up something. We look back and say, “What was I thinking?!?”

The truth is: you were thinking, it was just wrong thinking.

The Apostle Paul writes this:

Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Romans 13:14)

The King James Version, instead of do not think, says, “make no provision for the flesh.” In other words, the idea here is forethought.

We have a filter at the base of our brains called the reticular activating system (or RAS). This is what lets in the important things, and keeps out the unimportant things. But here is the vital issue…

YOU CAN PROGRAM YOUR RAS!

You tell your RAS what’s important and what’s unimportant. Paul says that if we use our forethought to consciously decide to clothe ourselves with Christ, we are programming our RAS to spot the things that glorify Him and ignore the things that gratify our fleshly desires.

A phrase that I use often (hat tip to Dr. Richard Dobbins) is: I need to think about what I’m thinking about. By doing this, I’m able to see how I’ve programmed my RAS. It’s either programmed to look for God-honoring things, or flesh-gratifying things.

Try it for yourself. Make the conscious decision to read the Bible every day. Then in your prayer time, ask the Holy Spirit to help you think about God-honoring things. If you will do this, you will notice that you are noticing more things that please God, and that you are ignoring more things that please your sinful nature.

If you have other thoughts about this, please share them in the comments below.

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Here Comes Trouble!

April 4, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Do you see it on the horizon? Storm clouds building, blowing in fast; wind picking up; something ominous in the air. Here comes trouble!

Jesus certainly did as He talked with His followers just before His arrest and crucifixion. Just before the storm hit, here’s what He said —

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

I find something reassuring about Jesus telling me that I will have trouble. Not that trouble is enjoyable (at all!). But what is enjoyable is knowing that He knows. Nothing takes Jesus by surprise!

Jesus said that I would find my peace when I remain IN Him. When I see trouble coming, my natural tendency is to start doing things for myself. I start making plans, giving orders, gathering resources, hunkering down in my foxhole. In reality, all this does nothing but increase my level of anxiety!

Jesus has overcome. So when I stay IN Him, I overcome too.

Here’s what I’ve learned about how to stay IN Him…

  • Stay in the Word every day, but especially when I see trouble coming.
  • Stay in prayer; in fact, I increase my prayer times.
  • Stay in worship because I don’t want to focus on the storm, but on the Overcomer.
  • Stay in contact with my friends and ask them to join me in prayer.

Check out this prayer David penned when he saw trouble coming. It’s still a great prayer for you and me today —

Keep me safe, O God, for IN You I take refuge. I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.” Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure. You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy IN your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand. (Psalm 16:1, 2, 9, 11)

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Eternal Fruit

April 2, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I love John Wesley’s commentary on this verse in the Gospel of John —

You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you. (John 15:16, Amplified Bible)

From John Wesley’s Notes On The Bible:

  • I have chosen and appointed you — for this end, that ye may go and convert sinners.
  • That your fruit may be lasting — that the fruit of your labors may remain to the end of the world; yea, to eternity.
  • That whatsoever you ask — the consequence of your going and bearing fruit will be, that all your prayers will be heard.

Leading others to an eternity with Jesus, bearing fruit that lasts forever, and having complete union with Christ in prayer. Wow! What amazing privileges followers of Jesus can have!

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Battling Depression

April 2, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Have you ever been depressed? I have. I know all too well how depression robbed me of sleep … sapped joy from my day … kept me from smiling and on the verge of tears all the time … made sunny days seem cloudy … caused me to sigh all the time and lose interest in the things that used to bring me pleasure … brought such a sense of loneliness and isolation.

Did you know that Jesus felt the crushing load of depression too? As He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His arrest, listen to these words —

  • He began to be sorrowful and troubled
  • He became anguished and distressed
  • He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed
  • He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death”
  • He prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood
  • “Abba, Father,” He cried out, “everything is possible for You. Please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.” (see Matthew 26:37-38; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:44)

The writer of Hebrews wrote this about Jesus —

While Jesus was here on earth, He offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the One who could rescue Him from death. And God heard His prayers because of His deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered. In this way, God qualified Him as a perfect High Priest, and He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him. (Hebrews 5:7-9)

We learn something in suffering that we can’t learn any other way. Jesus learned how to experience all of the grief, anxiety, and depression that you and I will ever feel. And that is what qualifies Him to be a perfect High Priest for us.

Our part is to pray. Time and time and time again, not only did Jesus pray, but He encouraged His disciples to pray as well. As you continue to pray, Jesus is your High Priest praying for you… only He truly knows how to translate the cry of your heart into a language Abba Father can understand.

In all their troubles, He was troubled, too. He didn’t send someone else to help them. He did it Himself, in person. (Isaiah 63:9)

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Thursdays With Oswald—Why Do I Go To God?

March 22, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Why Do I Go To God?

We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want You; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, ‘This is what God has done for me.’ ” Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.

From My Utmost For His Highest

This quote smacked me right between the eyes: “We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself.”

This is one of those statements that caused me to put down my book, and take a hard look in my spiritual mirror. Why do I turn to God? Is it just so I can get something? When do I seek Him? Only when I’m in trouble?

The prayer that Jesus taught us to pray should be an everyday, heartfelt surrender: I surrender completely to You… not my will be done, but Yours.

My attitude as a disciple must be a daily decision to take my cross and follow Him.

How arrogant and self-centered of me to say, “God this is how I’m going to live today, and I want You to bless it. If things don’t go well, I will call on You for what I need.”

Instead: “Lord, I am totally surrendered to You today. Let me do only Your will. Let me walk more closely with You today. This is the only way I can be useful for You today.”

Why do I go to God? For His glory? Or for my comfort?

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Intimacy Of God

March 15, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

The Intimacy Of God

     The 139th Psalm ought to be the personal experience of every Christian. My own introspection, or exploration of myself, will lead me astray, but when I realize not only that God knows me, but that He is the only One who does, I see the vital importance of intercessory introspection. Every man is too big for himself, thank God for everyone who realizes it and, like the Psalmist, hands himself over to be searched out by God. We only know ourselves as God searches us. “God knows me” is different from “God is omniscient”; the latter is a mere theological statement; the former is a child of God’s most precious possession—“O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me.”

From Biblical Ethics

I love the line, “We only know ourselves as God searches us.”

He knows me better than I know myself. If I ever hope to mature, I can only do so as I make this my daily prayer —

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23,24)

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We Must Pray

March 13, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I don’t want to make my plans, and then ask God to bless them.

Instead, I want to ask God what He will bless, and then go do that.

There’s a huge difference. In order to know the difference, we must pray!

Charles Spurgeon wrote —

“Let it be a standing ordinance in the church that at certain times and occasions many shall meet together to pray, and supplication shall be their sole object. The private Christian will read, and hear, and meditate, but none of these can be a substitute for prayer: the same truth holds good upon the larger scale, the church should listen to her teachers, and receive edification from gospel ordinances, but she must also pray; nothing can compensate for the neglect of devotion.”

I have called for our church to have times that prayer will be our sole object. On Friday, March 23, and Friday, March 30, we will be meeting to pray. No singing, no devotional thoughts; just prayer for an hour starting at 5:30pm. If you are in the area, I welcome you to join us. If you’re not in the area, you can still join us in prayer.

Specifically, we’ll be praying for God to move on people’s hearts as we approach the Passion Week. We don’t want to just make a bunch of plans. We want to know what God would have us do during that week that will glorify His Name.

We must pray!

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Thursdays With Oswald—Seeing Sin As Sin

March 8, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Seeing Sin As Sin

     Knowledge of what sin is is in inverse ratio to its presence; only as sin goes do you realize what it is; when it is present you do not realize what it is because the nature of sin is that it destroys the capacity to know you sin.

     …To “crucify” means to put to death, not counteract, not sit on, not whitewash, but kill. If I do not put to death the things in me which are not of God, they will put to death the things that are of God.

From Biblical Ethics

Romans 7 tells me that there are two forces at work in my life: God and sin. This is a battle to the death! So, if I think I am standing firm, that’s the exact time to watch out (see 1 Corinthians 10:12).

God never turns away the one who prays to Him, “Be merciful to me, a sinner.” But He turns a deaf ear to the one that claims, “I’m alright.”

May I always be VERY sensitive to even the hint of sin in my heart.

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Praying, Praying, And Praying Some More

March 6, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I start each new year teaching a series on prayer at my church. This year I also began by reading Mark Batterson’s excellent new book on prayer called The Circle Maker.

So 2012 has been a more prayerful year for me so far. As a result, I am hearing about and seeing miracles take place in my life, and throughout our church. You know what this is doing in me? Increasing my desire to pray more!

C.H. Spurgeon wrote,

“We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives. If He has said much about prayer, it is because He knows we have much need of it. The motto for this year must be, Continue in prayer.”

But some of the things I am praying for have been on my prayer list for a long time. It appears that an answer hasn’t come… yet. You know what this is doing in me? Increasing my desire to pray more!

Here’s what Mark Batterson said,

“Some prayers go unanswered because they aren’t what’s best for us. Some prayers go unanswered because they don’t glorify God. Some prayers go unanswered because they aren’t part of God’s will. But while God doesn’t always ANSWER our prayers the way we want, we can be confident that He HEARS our prayers! And our Father knows best.”

Have you seen answers to your prayers? Keep on praying!

Are you waiting for answers to your prayers? Keep on praying!

And then pray some more!!

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Not Playing It Safe

February 29, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Sometimes I like to think about counterfactual history. That means thinking about the “What ifs” of historical events. What if George Washington had been killed in battle? What if a congressman had voted a different way? And so on.

Here’s one I was thinking about as I read the Book of Acts: What if Paul had prayed, “God, keep me safe”?

Over the last few chapters of Acts, Paul has the opportunity to share the gospel with:

  • The Jewish Sanhedrin
  • Claudius Lysias, a Roman garrison commander
  • Two Roman governors (Festus and Felix)
  • Ananias, the high priest in Israel
  • Tertullus, a noted attorney
  • King Agrippa and his wife Bernice
  • A Roman centurion named Julius
  • Publius, the chief Roman official on Malta
  • The Roman Caesar

That’s quite an impressive list! But here’s the deal: Paul only got to speak to these high-ranking and influential people because he was a prisoner.

Paul could have prayed for a “safe life.” He could have run away. He could have disobeyed. Instead, he was willing to let God use him anytime, anyplace, anyway. Isn’t the opening line of the Lord’s Prayer? Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.

Is that what I really want?

Or do I want to play it safe?

Phillips Brooks had another thought about how we should pray —

“Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle; but you shall be a miracle.”

I don’t want to play it safe. I want to be strong enough, obedient enough, and willing enough to let God use me anytime, anyplace, anyway. What about you?

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