Thursdays With Oswald—Jeremiah 4

May 31, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

Oswald ChambersThis 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.

Jeremiah 4

[These are notes from Oswald Chambers’ lectures on Jeremiah 4.]

     The great truth underlying calamity is that the truth and way of God is seen but abandoned because it is too difficult. Unless we understand this we shall misjudge God in His dealings with His people and imagine that He is too stern. … Abandon is not rebellion yet; abandon simply means—“That is a nice vision, but it is not for me.” … 

     The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will with God alone, never first in external circumstances. … When that is done we can go forth with the smiling certainty that our battle is won, nothing will ever again enthrall us on that line. The world, the flesh and the devil have not the slightest power over the man who can rule his own spirit, who has fought the battle out before God and won there. …

     When the secret places of our will before God are revealed you know exactly what you have to do. Let the Word of God bore a hole in your self-complacency about the particular thing He has hauled you up about and then put in another Word that He brings to you, and you will soon find His dynamite at work. … 

     We are choked by a little thing that has not its root in God, which God condemned and we pathetically wept over but left there. … Never put a thing off and say, “It does not matter, no one sees.” No, but they will see you go down like standing corn before the scythe in external circumstances, because you played the traitor to God in secret. If God has revealed anything to you for the tiniest glimmer of a second and you don’t obey Him and cultivate that territory for Him, you will go down when the crisis comes. … 

     The basis of life on earth apart from God is chaos. … No whining and no shirking will ever help us to escape the utter confusion that is at the basis of every bit of human life that has ignored God. … 

From Notes On Jeremiah 

Our battles are won or lost in secret long before they are ever fought externally. 

God’s Holy Spirit wants to dynamite the areas of our life that would cause us to falter in the day of battle. If we will allow Him to deal with these things in private, we will be more than conquerors when that day of external temptation finally comes. 

If we maintain the “It’s no big deal” attitude with God in private, we shall surely be defeated by the temptations when they do come. 

The choice is yours…

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7 Quotes From “The Wisdom Of God”

May 30, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

A.W. Tozer never pulls his punches! The Wisdom Of God is no different as he calls the corporate church and individual Christians back to the biblical understanding of God’s wisdom. Check out my full book review by clicking here. 

“What would wisdom and spiritual understanding, for example, make out of man? Would the man filled with wisdom and spiritual understanding write cheap poetry? I would certainly hope not. What then does he do? Walk around in a brown robe and pull loose from the world, hiding in a cloister or an ivory tower? Absolutely not.

“What is the purpose then of this baptism of the ancient wisdom of God into the heart of a man? The old wisdom man said it was to make a man a friend of God. Paul said, ‘That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness’ (Colossians 1:10-11). This is the practical meaning of this infusion of divine wisdom into the man walking with God.” 

“The purpose of God in Redemption is not just to save us from hell. The purpose of God in redemption is to save us unto heaven. To be totally saved, He has to save us from something in order to save us unto something. We are saved from sin, which is the negative side. We are saved unto holiness, which is the positive side. We are saved from hell, but we are saved unto heaven. We are saved from the devil, but we are saved unto Christ.” 

“When we deal with our sin, repent, and the Lord has taken our sin away, we are as wise as the angels and as discrete and as knowing as the seraphs before the throne, for we have an afflatus of that wisdom.” 

“In our day, we have degraded Christianity to be a kind of soft vaccine against hell and sin. We gather people, stick them with a religious needle, and say, ‘If you just accept Jesus you will not go to hell, you will go to heaven when you die. Keep living as well as you can, and when you die you’ll go to heaven.’ Many are preaching what I refer to as a kind of lifeboat salvation, and even the songs today reflected that idea.

“Certainly, this is an inadequate concept of Christianity. The purpose of God in redeeming man was not to save them from hell only, but to save them to worship, and to allow them to be born into that eternal wisdom that was with the Father, which is synonymous with that eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed unto men.” 

“You can promote religion without divine wisdom and power. You can promote your denomination. You can promote and build up your church numerically and financially, but in these ways, you cannot promote true Christianity.” 

“The evangelical church waivers today because it has burst out in two directions: One, in the direction of entertainment and pleasure for the like-minded ones. The other, in the direction of scholarship for the serious-minded. This is the new evangelicalism of today. An effort to do by scholarship what can only be done by wisdom and power. It is a glass eye trying to see.” 

“What I am praying for is that God Almighty would come upon this generation of Christians and make them dissatisfied with the cold, humanistic, intellectual evangelicalism of our time, and make us so thirsty for an afflatus of divine wisdom and power that they press through and receive that baptism.” 

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The Wisdom Of God (book review)

May 29, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

A.W. Tozer takes us deep into the classic Hebrew understanding of Wisdom in this never-before-published collection of sermons entitled The Wisdom Of God. 

Rev. James L. Snyder has done the maturing Christian a great service in compiling these Tozer sermons into this powerful collection. Most people think of wisdom as an attribute of God, but the Hebrews understood Wisdom to be the Person of God. Wisdom isn’t just something you gain; it’s Someone you get to know more and more intimately. 

In his introduction, Rev. Snyder writes, “‘There are known knowns—things we know we know,’ Donald Rumsfeld once famously said. And there are known unknowns—things we do not know. ‘But there are also unknown unknowns,’ the former U.S. Secretary of Defense added, ‘the ones we don’t know we don’t know.’ Dr. Tozer would have said Amen to that most enthusiastically. As soon a person admits he does not know everything, he is in a position to learn something. What many people do not understand is that the unknown unknowns can and do sabotage lives.”

Dr. Tozer helps us realize these unknown unknowns about Wisdom, not only to keep us from sabotaging our lives but also so that we can soar into the fullness of an intimate relationship with Wisdom. Digging deep into the Hebraic wisdom literature, Dr. Tozer will help you see Wisdom in a light you may have never realized before. 

For any Christian who wants to go deeper into their relationship with God, The Wisdom Of God is a welcomed collection. 

I am a Bethany House book reviewer. 

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Do People Know That You Know That God Is Good?

May 28, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

If you’ve been reading or watching my series on God’s favor the last few weeks, I hope you truly know this: God is for you! 

But the key question for Christians comes down to this—Do others know that you know that God is for you? 

You see, God is for you because God is joyful and happy, and He wants you to not only know this but to radiate this joy and happiness to those around you. 

Here’s how it works:

(1) Joy is an inside job. The dictionary defines joy as “a feeling of great delight caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying.” When we know by our personal experience with Him how good God is, joy is birthed in our hearts as we see Him as All-Good and All-Satisfying. 

(2) Joy is regardless of my external circumstances. Some people try to pursue happiness apart from joy. Trying to get happy without having the foundation of joy is like having a flower that has been picked from the plant. Happiness may be pretty for a short while, but it is already fading because it is completely dependent on the environment around it. True happiness isn’t dependent on external circumstances because it is rooted in something far greater. 

(3) Knowing God’s favor fuels our joy. There is a Hebrew word for know which means “knowledge through intimate, personal experience.” Psalm 100 describes happy people and their joyful praise. Their joy comes from this: They know that their Lord is God and that He is good. This joy comes from seeing and savoring God’s favor.  

(4) Our internal joy should bubble up into external happiness. All throughout the Bible, we read how those who are filled with joy as they get to know this exceptionally good, all-satisfying God cannot help but burst out in songs of happy praise (see Psalm 28:7 and Luke 10:21).

(5) Our external happiness becomes our testimony. In Psalm 126 we read that God’s people who were full of God’s joy burst out into happy praise. When they did the people around them recognized that God had done great things for them. 

Check this out—

“I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that to be a Christian and to be unhappy is a sin. An unhappy Christian gives God no praise, robs Him of glory, and paints God in a bad light. A happy Christian knows the Lord is his strength, his comfort, his supply. The happy Christian lifts God high and invites others to know this All-Good, All-Happy God too!” —Craig T. Owens 

So let me ask you again: If you call yourself a Christian, do people know that you know that God is for you? Are you making God look All-Good and All-Satisfying by your deeply fueled joy and your face-brightening happiness? 

What a testimony it is when God’s people are happy in Him! 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? ◀︎◀︎

If you have missed any of my other posts about God’s favor, you may check them out by clicking here.

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Saturday In The Proverbs—Do You *Really* Want To Hear This? (Proverbs 8)

May 26, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

[Each chapter in the Book of Proverbs contains thoughts that fit into a theme; they are not just random thoughts gathered together. In this “Saturday In The Proverbs” series, I will share a theme that I see in each chapter. But the cool thing about God’s Word is that you may see an entirely different theme. That’s great! If you do, I would love for you to share it in the comments below.]

Does not wisdom cry out…? (Proverbs 8:1).

Wisdom is accessible to all. Wisdom is not hiding; she is in plain sight and calls out to everyone (vv. 2-4). The question is: Do I want to find Wisdom? Do I really want to hear what she has to say? 

The Apostle Paul tells us to take all our thoughts captive and filter out the thoughts that aren’t obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). In other words, I need to eliminate the thoughts that are impure, false, vile, discouraging, unloving, proud, or un-praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). 

Wisdom herself says her words are: 

  • excellent
  • right
  • truthful
  • righteous
  • pure
  • easy to understand
  • sound
  • strengthening

The rewards for really listening to Wisdom’s words are pretty great too: 

  • treasures 
  • righteousness
  • justice
  • God’s blessings
  • eternal life
  • God’s favor

So with all that in mind, how would you answer the question now: Do you really want to hear what Wisdom has to say to you?

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Albert Einstein On The Library Of The Universe

May 24, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

“I’m not an atheist, and I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations.” —Albert Einstein

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Thursdays With Oswald—Jeremiah 2-3

May 24, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

Oswald ChambersThis 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.

Jeremiah 2-3

[These are notes from Oswald Chambers’ lecture on Jeremiah 2-3.]

     God is the “adornment” of His people; but God says, “My people have forgotten Me days without number”; the dead set of their life has been away from God (Jeremiah 2:32). Forgetting as an infirmity of mere consciousness is one thing; but forgetting by steadfastly refusing to recognize is another thing. These people had deliberately turned out of God’s way. They were wantoning after some other god than the God Who was holy (2:33). …  

     The thing that shocks us most is not the thing that shocked Jesus most. Social immorality shocks us till we don’t know where we are; but what struck the heart of Jesus Christ with horror was immorality against God, pride against Himself (see Luke 16:15). …  

     The innocence arising from evil is always like this—“I’ve done nothing.” It is the innocence we are all born with; sooner or later it takes its stand with evil and only knows good by contrast; whereas the innocence arising from the presence of the Spirit of God takes its stand with good and knows evil only by contrast. If we hand our hearts over to God we need never know in experience what Jesus Christ says of the human heart is true (see Mark 7:20-23). 

From Notes On Jeremiah

This is a tough concept that takes some quiet introspection in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Christians should ask themselves: Do I know the difference between good and evil because I’m doing evil and the opposite of what I’m doing is good, or because I’m doing good and the opposite of what I’m doing is evil? 

Originally, Eve knew evil only as the opposite of how she was living. But when satan tempted her to take the forbidden fruit, Eve now knew evil as something she was doing. Jesus said evil is what would naturally come out of our heart, unless “we hand our hearts over to God” and allow His Spirit to supernaturally bring out of us the Christlike fruit He produces. Is this happening in your life? 

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10 Quotes From “You!”

May 23, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

Max Lucado has given us a collection of short passages that will reaffirm to you how much God values YOU! This book could be a great pick-me-up for you, or a life-saving helper to your friend who is in crisis. Check out my full book review by clicking here. 

“Since you are God’s idea, you are a good idea. What God said about Jeremiah, He said about you: ‘Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work’ (Jeremiah 1:5).” 

“God ‘personally formed and made each one’ (Isaiah 43:7 MSG). … And if you aren’t you, we don’t get you. The world misses out.” 

“You are a custom design; you are tailor-made. God prescribed your birth. Regardless of the circumstances that surrounded your arrival, you are not an accident. God planned you before you were born. The longings of your heart, then, are not incidental; they are critical messages. The desires of your heart are not to be ignored; they are to be consulted. As the wind turns the weather vane, so God uses your passions to turn your life. God is too gracious to ask you to do something you hate.” 

“God never called you to be anyone other than you. But He does call on you to be the best you you can be.” 

“God promises no applause for self-promoters. But great reward awaits God promoters: ‘Good work! You did your job well’ (Matthew 25:23 MSG).” 

“Don’t confuse God’s love with the love of people. The love of people often increases with performance and decreases with mistakes. Not so with God’s love. He loves you right where you are. He loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way.” 

“Enough of this self-deprecating ‘I can’t do anything.’ And enough of its arrogant opposite: ‘I have to do everything.’ No, you don’t! You’re not God’s solution to society, but a solution in society.” 

“When asked to describe the width of His love, Jesus stretched one hand to the right and the other to the left and had them nailed in that position so you would know He died loving you. But isn’t there a limit? Surely there has to be an end to this love. You think so, wouldn’t you? But David the adulterer never found it. Paul the murderer never found it. Peter the liar never found it. When it came to life, they hit rock bottom. But when it came to God’s love, they never did.” 

“There are two extremes of poor I-sight. Self-loving and self-loathing. … Self-elevation and self-deprecation are equally inaccurate. Where is the truth? Smack-dab in the middle. Dead center between ‘I can do anything’ and ‘I can’t do anything’ lies ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13). … Not self-secure or insecure, but God-secure—a self-worth based in our identity as children of God. The proper view of self is in the middle.” 

“Each time we do our best to thank God for giving His, we worship.” 

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Common Sense Or Trust

May 22, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

“God expects of us the one thing that glorifies Him—and that is to remain absolutely confident in Him. … 

“Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? ‘Abide in Me,’ says Jesus, in spiritual matters, in money matters, in every one of the matters that make life what it is.” —Oswald Chambers, in Run Today’s Race

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You! (book review)

May 22, 2018 — Craig T. Owens

Max Lucado has a one-of-a-kind writing style that is so engaging and encouraging. You! is a book that is a perfect topic for this type of writing style, because Max discusses a one-of-a-kind topic—you! 

Max says, “God made you you-nique.” No one could have said that any better! 

You! is a collection of Max’s writings from 15+ books. It’s really cool to see the familiar theme that runs consistently through all of his work. Whether Max is writing about the birth of Jesus, or Christ’s death on Calvary, or the challenges we face in our every-day life, or why God is worthy of our worship, it’s clear to see that God made you YOU on purpose. He made you one-of-a-kind, and He loves what He’s made! 

This is a great book to read when you need a little pick-me-up, but it would also be a timely encouragement to someone who is questioning their purpose in life. Let Max Lucado speak in his one-of-a-kind style about the one-of-a-kind creation God made of your life! 

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