Divine Partnership

September 21, 2026 — 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. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here. 

Having worked in and consulted with various businesses, I know there are a variety of configurations of businesses that people will choose for different reasons—there are S-corps and LLCs, and there are several types of partnerships. 

The two most basic partnership arrangements are a general partnership and a limited partnership. In a general partnership, all of the partners share equally in the risk and the reward, and all partners have a say in how the business is run. Typically, partners with more shares of stock have more “voting power” in making decisions, and they will usually benefit more if the company is successful. 

In a limited partnership, one general partner manages all the decisions, with the limited partners being merely passive investors. The limited partners can invest as much or as little as they feel comfortable doing, but they don’t have a say on how the business is run. If the general partner is a savvy operator, everyone will be rewarded handsomely; if the general partner isn’t quite as successful as others had hoped, the limited partners’ losses are limited to only as much as they invested. 

Although these types of business relationships didn’t have these names in the time Peter was writing, he used language that would be very familiar with today’s business attorneys when he wrote that we “may participate in the divine nature.” Participate literally means partnership—it’s the same word Peter knew for his partners in his fishing business (Luke 5:9-10).

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

I believe Peter would call our partnership with Jesus a spiritual limited partnership, with Jesus as the General Partner. He is the One who makes the decisions and calls the shots. 

But what about us as “limited partners”? What investment can we make to this partnership? Only what Jesus has already given us. We saw this last week—HIS divine power has GIVEN US everything we need for life and godliness (see 2 Peter 1:3-4).

This is unheard of in today’s partnerships! The General Partner is giving the limited partners everything they need to invest in the partnership, and then He is allowing the limited partners to reap all of the rewards of His work (see Matthew 19:29)! 

Last week we said Jesus did the work so that we could do the work. We could modify this to say, Jesus gave us everything we need to reap the rewards of this partnership. 

The amazing benefit of this partnership is stated in the next verse: He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature (v. 4). 

Look at some blessings…  

  • recipients of the Holy Spirit—Galatians 3:14; Ephesians 1:13 
  • heirs of His Kingdom—Galatians 3:29 
  • eternal life—Titus 1:2; 1 John 2:25 
  • a perfect Mediator—Hebrews 9:15 AMPC 
  • power to access every single promise in His Word—2 Corinthians 1:20 

Peter says we are participating in His divine nature. Literally, Theios physis. The NLT says, “the promises that enable you to participate in the divine nature.” 

In his first letter, Peter quoted Leviticus, when God said, “Be holy, because I am holy” (see Leviticus 11:44-45; 1 Peter 1:15-16). Investing in this divine partnership releases to us the promises that empower us to participate—to be a partner in—God’s perfect holiness! 

Our participation in this divine partnership allows us to “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (v. 4b). The word participate or partnership can be used negatively (1 Corinthians 10:18-21). But Peter uses it positively. Prior to salvation our desires aligned with demonic desires, but now a new and infinitely superior power is at work in us. This power changes our desires from temporal things to eternal things (Galatians 5:17 NLT). 

Jesus told a story of a master who gave money to his to invest. The ones called wise were also welcomed into the master’s presence forever. They realized that their best investment was to use what their master had given them in partnership with their master, so they went all in. They invested everything their master had given them. 

Peter tells us essentially the same thing: Be all in with the investment Jesus has given you! Don’t hold anything back—make every effort. Don’t let Jesus be merely your Savior, but let Him be your Lord. Trust Him as the General Partner to do what is best. Give Him complete control of all the great and precious promises He has given you, and then allow the Holy Spirit to make you holy inside and out! 

Check out all of the other messages in our series based on 2 Peter called Friends of the Faith. 

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Links & Quote

September 19, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

You are the most effective evangelist in the areas where you already operate everyday. You can tell the story of Jesus better to your family members, coworkers, and friends than an outside can. Keep shining brightly for Jesus! 

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“They think that if you ask them to forgive someone who has cheated or bullied them you are trying to make out that there was really no cheating or no bullying. But if that were so, there would be nothing to forgive. They keep on replying, ‘But I tell you the man broke a most solemn promise.’ Exactly: that is precisely what you have to forgive. (This doesn’t mean that you must necessarily believe his next promise. It does mean that you must make every effort to kill every taste of resentment in your own heart—every wish to humiliate or hurt him or to pay him out.) The difference between this situation and the one in which you are asking God’s forgiveness is this. In our own case we accept excuses too easily; in other people’s we do not accept them easily enough.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Weight of Glory 

T.M. Moore tells us, “Conversations can build relationships; thus, Christians should be actively involved in seeking to start and maintain conversations with many people, especially those we encounter each week…. But the Christian conversationalist does not engage others merely for the sake of conversation, as though conversation were an end in itself.”

“Information never fights fear. Revelation does.” —Tim Dilena 

“Saints find themselves at home in the next life, not in this one.” —J. Stephen Lang 

“Do not imagine that there is any love to your souls in the heart of the preacher who preaches smooth things, and who flatters you with his ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. No, the highest, deepest, most heaven-inspired love is that which searches and tries the heart that there should be any deception there.” —Charles Spurgeon 

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The Craig And Greg Show: The Power Of Ink

September 17, 2026 — 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. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.

Journaling is more than just something for women in rom-coms, it’s a practice that has been utilized by many important people throughout history. In our country the journals of the Founding Fathers are full of writings that became the basis of the government we still have today. While your journals might not be the beginnings of a new country, they are still a valuable tool that can help enhance your leadership. Join Greg and me as we discuss the leadership-enhancing power of journaling.

  • [0:00] Introduction
  • [2:13] Greg highlights some values in journaling.
  • [3:48] When did I start journaling?
  • [6:07] Let’s clarify what journaling isn’t.
  • [7:58] How we can use our journals to leverage our ideas.
  • [10:16] Writing and thinking are powerfully linked.
  • [13:07] Greg has an interesting way he discovered to generate thinking points for his journal.
  • [14:58] History often repeats itself so journals can help us rediscover successful strategies.
  • [16:22] Journals can help us do new things better.
  • [18:47] Journaling can help us not get stuck on the busyness treadmill.
  • [21:27] I share a quote from Tim Tebow.
  • [23:03] Make journaling work for you.
  • [24:39] How I turned journal entries into an impactful book.
  • [25:47] Greg shares a quote about how he journals.

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Confirmation

September 16, 2026 — 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. 

We meet a godly man named Ananias only once in Acts 9, but his story is reiterated again on two other occasions. But of even greater importance is the role Ananias plays in the life of a key figure in church history. 

Ananias provides important details in the story of Saul’s conversion. Without these details that Luke records for us, skeptics could easily chalk up Saul’s experience to a hallucination or even madness, as Governor Festus claimed in Acts 26:24. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures telling this story by clicking here.)

I shared a post a couple of years ago about how all of the different individuals who experienced Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus helped confirm the historicity of the account. But what about the confirmation that Saul would need to keep doing what Jesus had commissioned him to do?

I think Saul—who would later change his name to Paul—was grateful that he had this confirmation. Especially as he faced numerous difficulties—like imprisonment, being stoned and whipped by the Jewish leadership, shipwreck, hunger and exposure, and more. It would have bolstered his faith to know that he wasn’t alone in hearing God’s directive for his life, but that Ananias had also confirmed that message to him. 

Has this kind of confirmation ever happened to you?

I know I have experienced numerous times where I have felt the Holy Spirit was prompting me to say something, make a certain decision, or undertake a challenging task. Perhaps these thoughts came to me while I was studying my Bible or praying. Then a friend, with whom I hadn’t shared any details, approached me with a question or a statement that confirmed what God had already been speaking to my heart.

I am so thankful that God has graciously confirmed His directives to me. He always speaks in a way that is affirming, especially when others come along with a confirming word. 

This is one of the reasons why I am a huge proponent of journaling. It has been so powerful and beneficial for me to write down things that the Holy Spirit speaks to me while I am prayerfully reading my Bible. Sometimes it is almost immediately and at other times it is a long delay until there is a confirming word. With my journal, I can go back to see if the word my friend is sharing with me truly confirms what God had already spoken to my heart. 

We see these kinds of confirmation throughout the entire Bible, and I know from personal experience that God continues to speak this way. When He speaks a word to your heart, He will also confirm it through His Word or through a God-fearing friend. 

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The Most Well-Known Word

September 15, 2026 — 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. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here. 

This may be the single most well-known word in the world! 

The Scriptures I reference in this video are Matthew 5:18; 1 Peter 4:11; 5:11, 18; 2 Corinthians 1:20. 

Amen means: God’s Word is true, so we can stand on God’s Word; we can live in God’s Word; we can expect God’s promises! 

Learn more about my book of prayers called Amen Indeed by clicking here. 

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The Power Cycle

September 14, 2026 — 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. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here. 

I worked for my friend’s Dad on his lawn service for a few summers. This was a side business for him, and we worked with normal push mowers. The first stop of the early morning was always a challenge to get the mower started. I’d pull on that ripcord and listen to the engine sputter and then stop. Then I’d give it another pull, and perhaps it would run just a bit longer. Eventually the flywheel would keep on spinning, the engine would roar to life, and I could get to work. 

Question: which pull started the mower? I really needed all of the pulls, didn’t I? In other words, I had to put in some effort in order to get the mower to work. Then I could actually be productive in my work. 

Last week we talked about the dual blessings Peter says that God wants to send us—grace and peace. Notice that Peter longs for us to know these in abundance. Not just a small sampling, but overflowing blessings—sort of like my lawnmower that is running at full speed. 

2 Peter 1:3 tells us it is “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our KNOWLEDGE of Him Who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 

(See all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Remember that Greek word means our personal, intimate, experiential knowledge of Jesus. God allows us to know Him intimately (Jeremiah 29:13-14a). Notice it is “His divine power [that] has given us EVERYTHING we need for a godly life.” 

“Divine power” literally means God’s power—Theois dynamis. This is the power which Jesus promised in Acts 1:8. Then His followers were able to live like Jesus, as we see in Acts 3:12; 4:7, 33. 

But Jesus is the One Who got this started for us. HIS divine power has given us everything we need for A GODLY LIFE. 

“Godly life is two words in Greek: “life” and “godliness.” The word for life is zoe. This is everlasting life that is deeper and richer than biological or psychological life. And the word for godliness is eusebia, which is the reverence, respect, and holy fear that gives evidence of one’s assured relationship with God through Jesus. 

Check out two other translations of this verse.

The AMPC says: For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that are requisite and suited to life and godliness, through the full personal knowledge of Him…. 

And The Message paraphrase says: Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. 

Here’s the power cycle for saints of God. The more intimately I know Jesus, the more the Holy Spirit’s dynamis power is unleashed in my life. The more His power flows through me, the more godly I can live. The more godly I live, the more I grow in intimacy with Jesus! 

This is a flywheel that can really start spinning! Look at some of the blessings in the next few verses: 

  • Participating in Christ’s divine nature—becoming more and more Christlike (v. 4a). The Greek word is defined as a way of feeling and acting which by long habit has become more and more natural to me. 
  • Escaping the corruption in the world (v. 4b). 
  • Becoming increasingly effective and productive in your knowledge—that’s the word epignosis again—of Jesus (v. 8). 

I had to put the effort in to get the mower’s flywheel spinning so that I could actually do my job. 

Peter says, Jesus got this poem cycle started so that I could be productive for Him. Peter introduces a phrase that we are going to see three more times in this letter: Make every effort (v. 5). 

We are not saved by good works, but we are saved in order to do good works. 

Jesus was empowered to do good works (see Luke 4:18-19 and Acts 10:38), and Jesus calls us to live the same way with the same anointing (John 20:21-22; Acts 4:30-31). 

The cycle of power and godliness and greater intimacy is for you. Make every effort to keep it spinning so that you can bring more glory to God by increasing your capacity to be a blessing to those around you. 

Please check out the other messages in the Friends of the Faith series by clicking here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Links & Quotes

September 12, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Keep putting in the effort. If someone in your organization doesn’t see your work ethic and your leadership capacity, someone outside your organization will. Your hard work will be rewarded! 

I have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

“Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered. … Most of all, perhaps, we need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about it, but because we cannot study the future, and yet need something to set against the present, to remind us that the basic assumptions have been quite different in different periods and that much which seems certain to the uneducated is merely temporary fashion. A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village; the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Weight of Glory 

“O child of God, as thou wouldst fear to drink poison, as thou wouldst flee from a serpent, dread sin!” —Charles Spurgeon 

“We pray in Jesus’ Name not just by ending our prayer with that default phrase, but by making sure our requests line up with what He teaches and what will glorify both Jesus and His Father. When we pray this way, we can know that Jesus will do what we have asked, and He will do it by His Spirit at work within us.” —T.M. Moore 

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Why A Book Of Prayers?

September 10, 2026 — 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. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here. 

It’s a good question: Why would I put all of this effort into writing yet another book? The simple answer: This book basically wrote itself! 

In their book Spiritual Leadership, Henry and Richard Blackaby wrote, “Biblical praying can be the most challenging, exhausting, laborious, and yet rewarding thing leaders do. … More than any other single thing leaders do, their prayer life determines their effectiveness.” 

This is exactly why I wrote Amen Indeed—I wanted to help shepherd leaders with this laborious yet rewarding discipline. You can pick up a copy by clicking here. 

And if you also want to check out the book that Jim Wiegand held up during this interview, get your copy of When Sheep Bite here. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

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Serving For Eternal Rewards

September 9, 2026 — 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. 

When Jesus was talking about the attitude and activities of His servants who were awaiting His return, He was talking directly to you and me—

     Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their Master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when He comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for Him. It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them watching when He comes. (Luke 12:35-37) 

There are three important words for Christ’s servants here. 

(1) Ready. This adjective is describing the servant. This word’s etymology is from the noun that means “fitness for service.” As Christ’s servants… 

  • …we keep everything we need for serving close at hand and in good working order 
  • …we are prepared for opportunities to serve whenever they present themselves 
  • …we maintain a servant’s atitude 

(2) Waiting. This verb is in the present tense and active voice. “Waiting” doesn’t mean sitting around with nothing to do, but it is eagerly anticipating any opportunities to be hospitable to other servants of Jesus. 

(3) Watching. This verb is also in the present tense and active voice. “Watching” means giving our service our undivided attention—listening closely for the Master’s voice and being quick to respond. 

Christians need to keep themselves in a state where they are always prepared to do what their Master calls them to do—ready and willing to respond to any opportunity to put our love for Jesus into action. 

I want to be intensely occupied in heavenly service until the very moment Jesus returns to earth or calls me Home! 

No off days. No wasting time on frivolous matters. Only attending to things that matter for eternity. 

For those servants who are ready, waiting, and watching when Jesus returns, there is an amazing reward that is promised by Jesus Himself—

     It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them watching when He comes. Truly I tell you, He will dress Himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them ready, even if He comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. (vv. 37-38) 

What an amazing reward! 

We are servant leaders by serving Jesus and by serving those Jesus puts in our lives. Let’s remain ready, waiting, and watching to serve until the very end. 

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7 Quotes From “The Inner Life”

September 8, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Andrew Murray wrote The Inner Life, which has become a timeless classic. There is so much richness of thought and so much for Christians to ponder about their own walk with Jesus. 

“Many people are so occupied with how much or how little they have to say in their prayers that the voice of One speaking is never heard, because it is not expected or waited for. … The greatest blessing in prayer will be our ceasing to pray and to let God speak. … Prayer and the Word are inseparably linked together: power in the use of either depends upon the presence of the other. … It is clear why this is so. Prayer and the Word have one common center—God. Prayer seeks God; the Word reveals God. In prayer, man asks God; in the Word, God answers man. In prayer, man rises to heaven to dwell with God; in the Word, God comes to dwell with man. In prayer, man gives himself to God; in the Word, God gives Himself to man.” 

“Heaven is filled with the life and power and blessing that earth needs, and the prayer of earth is the power to bring that blessing down. … God is looking for people through whom He can bless the world. Say definitely: Here am I; I will give my life to this calling. Cultivate your faith in the simple truth: God hears prayer; God will do what I ask. Give yourself to others as completely as you give yourself to God. Open your eyes to sense the needs of a perishing world. Take up your position in Christ and in the power which His name and life and Spirit give you. And go on practicing definite prayer and intercession.” 

“We can be so full of God’s holy presence that, when men see us or think of us, this name will come to mind—the man of God. … Let your life be devoted to one thing—to bring men to God, and God to men.” 

“The Word of God is true because God Himself will make it true in us. We have much to learn about what hinders that power, much to overcome to be freed from these hindrances in order to receive that power. But all will be right if we study our Bibles with the determination to believe that God’s Word has omnipotent power in our hearts to accomplish every blessing of which it speaks.” 

“Our one aim must be perfect harmony between conscience and conduct. Every conviction must be carried out into action. Christ’s commands were meant to be obeyed. If this is not done, the accumulation of scriptural knowledge only hardens us and makes us unable to learn from the Spirit.” [see 1 John 3:21-24] 

“The two trees in the garden are God’s revelation of the same truth. If Adam had eaten of the tree of life, he would have received and known all the good God had for him in living power as an experience. And he would have known evil only by being absolutely free from it. Eve was led astray by the desire for knowledge—‘…a tree to be desired to make one wise…’ (Genesis 3:6). In this way, man got a knowledge of good without possessing it. He had a knowledge of good only from the evil that was its opposite. And since that day, man has searched for truth more in knowledge than in life.” 

“The true aim of education, study, and reading is not what is brought into us, but what is brought out of ourselves when we actually put into practice what we have learned. This is as true of the study of the Bible as of any other study.” 

My Patreon supporters have access to another two dozen quotes from this book. Join them and get exclusive content not shared anywhere else and early access to content that will be shared publicly in the future. 

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