“After a soul has been converted by God, that soul is nurtured and caressed by the Spirit. Like a loving mother, God cares for and comforts the infant soul by feeding it spiritual milk. Such souls will find great delight in this stage. They will begin praying with great urgency and perseverance; they will engage in all kinds of religious activities because of the joy they experience in them. But there will come a time when God will bid them to grow deeper. He will remove the previous consolation from the soul in order to teach it virtue and prevent it from developing vice.” —John of the Cross
God Wants Deeper Growth
February 29, 2012 — Craig T. OwensI-Have-To-Have-It Attitude
February 27, 2012 — Craig T. Owens
In our Live Dead series, we have been talking about different areas we need to allow to die, so that we might truly live for Christ as His disciples.
One of the things that often gets in the way of our pursuit of Christ is our cravings. This word—which the dictionary defines as a longing or an eager desire—has an interesting origin. The root word in both Latin and Old English means to lay claim to or to demand by right.
In other words, a craving is when something that was originally a want has now become a need in my mind. So I lay claim to it, saying that it’s something that is owed to me.
The Apostle Paul talks about cravings that we all had before we came to know Christ as Savior when he wrote, “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts” (Ephesians 2:3).
This same Greek word shows up in Christ’s parable of the sower when He talks about the seed that falls among the weeds. These people, He explains, allow the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the Word (Mark 4:19).
Gratifying my cravings = Choking out the life of Christ in me
The problem is that this craving or desire for things other than Christ is often an unconscious habit. We have allowed them to become cravings—laying our claim to them as needs—without even realizing it.
The antidote: fasting. When we give up something, the Holy Spirit can show us if that thing has created an I-Have-To-Have-It attitude in our hearts. This spiritual discipline is hard because our bodies will rebel against having to give up “a right.” But when we press through with this discipline of fasting, God describes the results:
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I. (Isaiah 58:8-9)
That’s how I want to live! So I must live dead to my cravings. I can only do this when I allow a time of fasting to open my heart to hear the Holy Spirit point out all my I-Have-To-Have-It attitudes.
To check out all of the messages in our Live Dead series, please click here.
Prayer… Is The Act Of Dying
February 26, 2012 — Craig T. Owens
“We want to move closer to God, the source and goal of our existence, but at the same time we realize that the closer we come to God the stronger will be His demand to let go of the many ‘safe’ structures we have built around ourselves. Prayer is such a radical act because it requires us to criticize our world’s way of being in the world, to lay down our old selves and accept our new self, which is Christ. … Prayer therefore is the act of dying to all that we consider to be our own and of being born to a new existence which is not of this world.” —Henri Nouwen
Whose Reputation?
February 20, 2012 — Craig T. Owens
When I graduated from high school and began to look for a job, I had very little to put on my resume. Over time, however, I gained some experience, and began to accumulate some skills and accomplishments. Every once in awhile someone would even tell me, “That will look good on your resume!”
This might work fine in a job-hunting role, but it will never do as a disciple of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus told a pretty pointed story about a resume-building Pharisee in Luke 18. This man was described as one who was “confident of [his] own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.” He emphasized all his good qualities, and did his best to make himself look good at the expense of others (see vv. 11-12). Jesus said, this type of man who exalts himself, will be humbled by God.
Another man was praying at the same time as this reputation-conscious Pharisee. But this man didn’t try to make himself look good. Instead he prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (v. 13). Jesus said this man “went home justified before God” (v. 14). As C.S. Lewis said,
“Humility is not thinking less of myself. Humility is thinking of myself less.”
I’m not trying to promote my accomplishments, but God’s accomplishments.
I’m not trying to put my skills in the spotlight, but God’s magnificence.
I’m not trying to make myself famous, I want God to be famous.
I don’t need to look good, but I certainly do want God to look good.
If you want to live this way, I challenge you to pray this prayer:
Dear God, I am humbled by my sins. But I am confident that through the forgiveness paid for by Jesus You receive me as justified. May I die to my reputation so I may live exalted by You.
To check out all of the messages in our Live Dead series, please click here.
Growing Faith = Growing Praise
February 15, 2012 — Craig T. Owens
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:18)
The mark of a Christian who is growing and maturing in faith is one who is always increasing their praise level.
The more knowledge we have of Him,
the more we realize the grace He’s lavished on us,
the more glory we should be giving Him…
now AND forever!
Amen.
Live Dead
February 7, 2012 — Craig T. Owens
Put this in the category of “contradiction” or maybe “oxymoron.” However you want to classify it, the phrase just doesn’t make sense to the natural mind. Jesus tells us to die so that we might live—
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)
We are to deny our agenda, to follow His.
We are to not seek our advancement, but His.
We are not to pursue our passions, but His.
We have to die to self to live for Him.
We have to live dead.
I’m going to be diving into this topic beginning this Sunday. Many have already purchased a Live Dead journal, in order to take a 30-day journey of building our understanding of what it means to live dead. If you are near Cedar Springs, please join me this Sunday. If you live elsewhere, I encourage you to check out the live dead materials (click here to go to their website), and begin your own journey of dying to yourself so that you might live for Christ.
Check out of the messages in this series:
Thursdays With Oswald—Am I Anti-Christ?
February 2, 2012 — Craig T. OwensThis 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.
Am I Being Anti-Christ?
Christianity is not consistency to conscience or to convictions; Christianity is being true to Jesus Christ. Over and over again a man’s personal relationship to Jesus Christ gets into his convictions and splits them, like new wine put into old wine-skins, and if he sticks to his convictions before long he will become anti-Christ. The standard for my conscience and for the conscience of the whole human race is the Cross, and if I do not take care to rectify my individual conscience by the Cross I become ‘persnickety’ and end in criticizing God. The standard for the Christian is never—Is this thing right or wrong? but, is it related to the blood and passion and agony of the Cross of Christ?
From Biblical Ethics
Every time I read God’s Word, or the Holy Spirit challenges me on my paradigm, I have a choice to make: am I going to try to justify my position, or am I going to submit to His position?
It’s a tough word, but it is right on target. If I persist in sticking with what I know is right, and I disregard the voice of the Holy Spirit, I am becoming anti-Christ and pro-Me.
I must die to my own agenda, so that He may live fully in me.
Self Checkup
January 24, 2012 — Craig T. Owens
These are great look-myself-in-the-mirror questions from Oswald Chambers (from My Utmost For His Highest):
- How much kindness have I shown to God in the past week?
- Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation?
- Am I as filled to overflowing with love for Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning?
- Am I so in love with Jesus that I take no thought for where He might lead me?
- Or am I watching to see how much respect I get as I measure how much service I should give Him?
Great questions to ask myself. And then really listen to the answers.
Still So Much More To Learn
November 22, 2011 — Craig T. Owens
I was thinking about the disciples of Jesus. Can you imagine the things they heard and saw! With their own eyes they saw those jaw-dropping miracles. With their own ears they heard His profound teaching. They watched and heard Him pray. No one ever had the kind of access to Jesus than these men.
And yet, they were still so spiritually dull…
- They couldn’t grasp what Jesus was teaching, even when He explained it to them privately.
- Their faith was sorely lacking.
- They argued among themselves over such petty things.
If these men—with their almost limitless access to Jesus—were still struggling in their faith, what would make me think I have ever “arrived”?
There is still so much more for me to learn about Jesus.
And I do want to learn more! I want to press in—closer and closer, deeper and deeper! I never want to stop learning my Savior’s heart and will!
What about you? Do you want more?
Christian Disconnect
September 19, 2011 — Craig T. Owens
The Barna Group just released a study that looks at some of the disconnects between what Christians believe and how they live. You can read the full report by clicking here, but here are the main disconnects:
- 81% of Christians say Jesus is important to them; but only 18% are committed to developing their relationship with Jesus.
- 64% of Christians have confessed their sins to God; but only 12% realize how devastating their personal sin is.
- Lots of Christians participate in “normal” religious activities every week; but “less than one out of ten have talked about their faith with a non-Christian, fasted for religious purposes, and had an extended time of spiritual reflection during the past week.”
- Most Christians feel “comfortable” in their church; but their comfort level is only surface-deep, with no accountability nor confession.
As a pastor, I place the responsibility for these disconnects squarely on the pastors. On me.
Unless pastors are teaching this stuff—and living this stuff—the disconnects will always remain.
Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604) wrote, “There are some who investigate spiritual precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with understanding they trample on in their lives: all at once they are teaching the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt; and what in words they preach, by their manners they impugn. Whence it comes to pass that when the shepherd walks through steep places, the flock follows to the precipice.”
I’m challenged by this, and I’m going to spend some time in prayer this week regarding these disconnects. I want to take a good look at what I’m teaching and living, and allow the Holy Spirit to correct what needs to be corrected.
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