The Gratitude Cycle

November 23, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

There are only two ways to take people: You can take people for granted or you can take people with gratitude.

If you take people for granted, you will probably end up losing that relationship, or at the very least that relationship won’t be very fulfilling.

But when you take people with gratitude, you can bring out the best in them, in you, and in your relationship.

Paul wrote to the Colossian church that every time he thought of them, he was grateful for them and he prayed for them. This is The Gratitude Cycle: being thankful for someone prompts prayers for them, and those prayers make us even more grateful for them, which fires up the Gratitude Cycle all over again.

In case you need help knowing what to pray for the people for whom you are thankful, check out Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:9-12. He prayed…

…for knowledge, wisdom & understanding of God’s will for their lives, and the power to live out that new knowledge of Him.

…for endurance—a virtue that never loses patience with, belief in, or hope for others.

…for patience—the ability to turn tough things into glorious things.

…with gratitude for them—especially with gratitude for who they were: God’s holy people.

Any time is a good time for us to be full of thanks, so make sure you are full of thanks for the people God has placed in your life. And when you feel thankful for them, be sure you are prayerful for them too.

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Courage

November 18, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Love this quote from C.S. Lewis—

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty, or mercy, which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Master’s Standard

November 18, 2010 — 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 Master’s Standard

     Jesus Christ’s standard for the worker is Himself. Am I allowing His standard to obsess me? Am I measuring my life by His all the time? The one standard put before us is Our Lord Himself; we have to be saturated in this ideal in thinking and in praying, and allow nothing to blur the standard. We must lift up Jesus Christ not only in the preaching of the Gospel but to our own souls. If my mind and heart and spirit is getting fixed with one Figure only, the Lord Jesus Christ, and other people and other ideas are fading, then I am growing in grace. The one dominant characteristic in the life of the worker is that Jesus Christ is coming more into the ascendant. The motive is not a sentiment but a passion, the blazing passion of the Holy Ghost in the soul of the worker; not—“because Jesus has done so much for me,” that is a sickening, unscriptural statement. The one attitude of the life is Jesus Christ first, second, and third, and nothing apart from Him. The thing that hinders God’s work is not sin, but other claims which are right, but which at a certain point of their rightness conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ. If the conflict should come, remember it is to be Jesus first.

From Approved Unto God

Am I measuring my life by His all the time? Great question!

Am I?

Are you?

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Thinking About Thanksgiving

November 17, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

What do you think of when you think Thanksgiving? Family? Football? Turkey dinner? Pumpkin pie?

For many people in Cedar Springs, their situation may leave them only thinking about these things, but never experiencing them. That’s why I was so excited to hear that two local restaurants—The Cedar Pub and Sue’s Kitchen—are teaming up to provide a full Thanksgiving meal for families in need. The meals will be served at Sue’s Kitchen.

Want to help? Here are four things you can do:

(1) Bake some homemade pumpkin pies.

(2) Join me and my family in volunteering at the restaurant on Thanksgiving. Meals will be served from noon until 5pm, so helpers are needed from 11am until 6pm.

(3) Tell needy families in Cedar Springs that a big Thanksgiving meal is waiting for them.

(4) Support The Cedar Pub and Sue’s Kitchen by making a donation for this meal, or by eating at their restaurants often.

If you want to help, or have more questions, please leave a comment below and I’ll get back in touch with you.

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Little By Little

November 17, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’ve found a great group of guys to play basketball with in Cedar Springs. I love early morning basketball because I feel like it gets my day started right.

I have been playing with this group for a little over two months. Prior to this, I hadn’t played full-court basketball in quite a while, so when I started up again, it was amazing how quickly I was out of breath … and how many turnovers I had … and how off my shot was. Just a few months of not playing, and everything deteriorated.

But I hung in there. And yesterday it dawned on me, “Hey, I can run a little longer before I get winded. And my shot is getting a little better too.”

I didn’t see a dramatic overnight improvement. In fact, I only see real improvement if I compare my game in mid-November with my game in mid-September.

This is an important concept to remember in anything we do: little by little keeps you moving forward. The little steps you take every day add up.

  • Start with just 5 minutes of exercise, and slowly increase it.
  • Read a book for just a few minutes each day, then a few minutes more.
  • Pray for a couple of minutes before you go to bed tonight, then a couple minutes more.
  • Quit smoking for just an afternoon, then try an hour or two more.

Little by little you are increasing your capacity to do greater things. Don’t try for cold turkey or overnight success or immediate results. Little by little will help you get there.

Ready? What little thing can you do today?

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Elevate

November 16, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

On Sunday we kicked off a new series A Season Of Thanks looking at this verse:

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

Here’s the deal: If you elevate your thinking to positive things, your life will be more positive. The best place to start is thank-fullness = being full of thanks. Make it a habit in your life to find more things for which you can give thanks.

I searched the Twitterverse for some thoughts about elevated thinking…

Feel free to add your own in the comments below. Oh yeah, and come join us next Sunday for A Season Of Thanks part 2.

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God Moments

November 15, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Last week I was at the B2B (Business-to-Business) meeting in Cedar Springs. We were talking about events that bring people into the downtown area, like the Spook-tacular, at which we did our Light The Night carnival. The next item on the agenda was the upcoming Mingle With Kris Kringle event.

Out of the blue I was asked, “Hey, do you think you could setup a nativity scene?”

I wanted to say yes, but I was mulling over my response for a second. Someone else offered, “Yeah, just grab a couple of sheep and you’re good to go!”

<POW!> The proverbial light bulb went off, and I immediately said, “Yes! We’d be happy to do that!”

Right away I began texting a bunch of people in our church:

  • Can you sew some Middle Eastern first century costumes?
  • Can you build a manger?
  • Do you know where we can find some live animals?
  • How would you feel about playing an angel?
  • Have you ever considered playing the role of Joseph?

In a matter of just a few moments I got back a whole lot of Yeses. We’re under the gun to get everything done (we have to present this on December 3), but we’re going to make it happen.

Just imagine if I hadn’t been at that meeting … or if I hadn’t got so many yeses … or if I hadn’t wanted to take the risk … none of this may have happened.

I truly believe my steps are ordered by God. He places me in the right place at the right moment. So those moments are God moments where I get to say a wholehearted “Yes!”

When was your last God moment? How did you respond?

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Take It Up A Notch

November 12, 2010 — 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.

King Josiah is widely regarded as one of the greatest reformers of Judah. He led a revival in Israel that led to the people cleaning out their idols and worshipping God in ways that hadn’t been seen since the time of King David.

This whole revival started with a Book. Not just any book, but the Book of the Law (the Bible).

When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide. He ordered them all: “Go and pray to God for me and for this people—for all Judah! Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this Book that has just been found! God’s anger must be burning furiously against us—our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”

Josiah’s leadership was already stellar. The Bible describes Josiah this way: “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” But 18 years into his reign as king, the Scriptures were rediscovered and his leadership went up a notch.

Reading the Scripture and living by the Scripture makes a good life a better life!

At the end of Josiah’s life, something is recorded about him that isn’t mentioned about any other king:

The prophet Jeremiah composed funeral songs for Josiah, and to this day choirs still sing these sad songs about his death. These songs of sorrow have become a tradition and are recorded in The Book of Laments.

Do you want to take your life up a notch? Get into God’s Word and let it get into you and change the way you think and live.

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

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Thursdays With Oswald—Work-In-Progress

November 11, 2010 — 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.

Work-In-Progress

     If you are a worker whom God has sent, and have learned to live under His shadow, you will find that scarcely a day goes by without your Father revealing the need of further chastening. If any child of God is free from the goads of God, he is not in the line of the succession of Jesus Christ.

From Approved Unto God

The writer of Hebrews said the same thing…

And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as His children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when He corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child.”

It’s true: No pain, no gain. God will continue to work on you and me as His child.

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Spread It Out

November 10, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

What do you do when you get bad news? Scientists know that when we hear bad news, our stress hormone cortisol immediately surges into our bloodstream. This hormone unleashes a bunch of other things in our bodies: blood pressure goes up, heart rate increases, pupils dilate, sugar stores are released. In other words, your body prepares for action.

What about your brain? What does it do? Immediately your brain starts searching for a way to cope with the stress of the bad news. And the typical response is to return to well-worn pathways. In other words, do what I’ve always done before.

So perhaps the question is better stated: What have you done before when you got bad news?

  • Did you sulk?
  • Did you cry or get angry?
  • Did you get paralyzed, not knowing what to do?
  • Did you call a friend?
  • Did you just shake your head and try to ignore it?
  • Did you spread it out before God?

Huh? Judah’s King Hezekiah got some very bad news from a very mean general named Sennacherib. What did he do? He did what he had done before…

Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD…. “Give ear, LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.”

Hezekiah had the same physiological and psychological responses that you and I would have when facing such a huge threat. But his first response was his well-worn response. He did what he had always done before with bad news: he spread it out before the Lord.

We can start making a new pathway for our brain to follow. Instead of fight-or-flight, or ignoring, or paralysis, or calling a friend—take it to God and spread it out there. He knows your situation better than anyone else and He wants to help you.

Start making new neural pathways in your brain today by taking everything to God—even the so-called “little” things—so that when the really bad news comes, your brain will tell you to do what you always do: spread it out before the Lord.

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