Temptation

April 3, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Have you ever thought, “Well, of course Jesus could say ‘no’ to temptation! After all, He is God.”

Yes, Jesus is fully God. But He is also fully Man. And it was as a Man that He defeated temptation.

“As a Man, without using any of His divine powers, Jesus defeated temptation in the same areas where Eve failed and where we fail. … By this He condemned sin in sinful man, that is, He showed we sin, not because we have to sin, but because we choose to sin and because we ignore the help available through the Word and the Spirit.” —Stanley Horton

We don’t have to sin, but we choose to sin.

Ouch!

“In His temptation, Jesus did not use His divine power to defeat the devil. Still identifying Himself with us as Spirit-filled human, He defeated satan by the same means that are available to us — the Word, anointed by the Spirit. Eve, tempted in exactly the same areas—the lust of the flesh (appetite), the lust of the eyes (desire), and the pride of life—failed (Genesis 3:6; 1 John 2:16). In these areas, which John says together comprise the things of the world or worldliness (1 John 2:15). Jesus won a complete victory for us. He has truly overcome the world (John 16:33). We can do the same by our faith (1 John 5:4).” —Stanley Horton

We can do the same thing. Instead of saying, “I gave in to temptation,” we can say, “I gave in to the Holy Spirit, Who helped me defeat temptation!”

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On The Record

March 20, 2012 — 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 is getting ready to feed the multitude that had gathered to hear Him speak, Jesus asked Philip a question: “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:5). It seems like a fair question, but the next verse gives us insight into Christ’s motivation behind the question:

Jesus asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.

Jesus had something in mind, but He wanted to know what Philip had in mind. If Jesus had not asked Philip to be on the record up front, Jesus could have multiplied the loaves and fish, and then Philip could have said, “I knew You could do it! I knew it all the time!”

But to test us, Jesus needs to get us on the record. The word test means to know the value of something; to know its strength; to know what it’s capable of.

My faith cannot be grown if it’s not tested. It cannot be accurately tested if I’m not on the record first. Jesus knows what He’s going to do: Glorify the Father. I can say that’s what I wanted all along after the miracle is done, but then my faith hasn’t grown one iota.

I can only see my faith grow when I am on the record (as Philip was) in saying, “How in the world could we get enough money to fix this problem?” Especially when Jesus isn’t even going to use money to fix that problem!

Here’s the principle:

NO testing = NO growth

It’s only when I see that my faith is not as big as it should be that I can say, “Lord, I believe You, but help my unbelief.” He will bring me into a test so that I can grow, and the Father can be glorified. It’s scary being on the record, because only then can I see how much more growth I need!

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Always Be The Majority

March 7, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

In Acts 27, Paul is on his way to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. The weather has hindered them, so they are currently behind schedule. As they are docked at a town called Lasea, Paul advises the ship’s crew that they should stay right where they are.

But then comes this key phrase: “The majority decided that we should sail on” (Acts 27:12).

The majority in this case includes the sailing experts: the sailors, the ship captain, and even the ship’s owner. Julius, the centurion in charge of Paul, even sided with the majority.

But the majority was wrong.

As the ship is being ripped apart and driven way off course by a fierce storm, this majority even begins to give up on living through this nightmare.

But one man—Paul—with a word from God and “faith in God that it will happen just as He told me” (v. 25), became the most influential voice. From this point on, everyone listened to Paul: the sailors, the captain, the centurion.

One man + Faith in God’s Word = A Majority

Are you in a storm?

Is the majority telling you what you should do?

What has God said to you? Have you heard His Word?

Once you hear from God, cling to that Word in faith, and you will be the influential majority.

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Mammon

March 5, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

It’s a funny-sounding word, but it has deadly consequences!

Jesus said we cannot serve both God and mammon (Luke 16:13 KJV). That word mammon had no direct translation in the English language, so the translators of the King James Version of the Bible simply did a transliteration: they took the Greek word and carried the same word into English. The translators of the New International Version did something different with this word: they made it Money, with a capital M.

The idea behind this word is placing our trust or reliance in anything except God. For us, the means of our security and basic living needs seems to be money, so Money (with a capital M) seems like an appropriate way to translate mammon.

Jesus recommended giving an offering—above and beyond our tithe—as a way to defeat the Mammon Monster. Giving our tithe is simply obedience to God’s commands. But giving our offering shows our trust in God’s provision.

Giving an offering to God is counterintuitive.

After all, less money is less than more money! If I receive money, I tend to hang on to it. I tell myself, “This might come in handy if the economy nosedives, or if something unexpected comes up.” When I start thinking this way, I start to make money Mammon, because I see money as my provider, instead of God.

What an appropriate way to wrap up our Live Dead series yesterday, as we made faith promises to God. We said, “God, I believe You will provide the amount of money I should give as an offering. And when You do provide, I promise to give it.” Placing my trust in God not only helps me to live dead to the pull of Mammon, but also Jesus promised—

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38)

I don’t give to get. I give because I trust God to provide.

P.S. By the way, all of the offerings that come in as a result of these faith promises will be going directly to missions. Calvary Assembly of God will not be keeping one cent of these faith promise offerings.

If you’ve missed any messages in our series called Live Dead, you can find them all by clicking here.

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Even Before You Ask

February 19, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

A couple of weeks ago a lady in our church asked me to pray for a need in her life. She is a single Mom, as well as a caregiver for her bed-bound grandmother, which means money is tight.

She knew her car needed some repairs, so she took the car to the mechanic on Thursday afternoon. His initial estimate was $400. On Sunday we prayed about this, and joined our faith that God would either provide the funds, or provide another way for her car to be repaired.

Here’s a powerful verse of Scripture—

…Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him! (Matthew 6:8)

This lady returned to her mechanic the next day, and he told her the repairs had been completed. But the repairs were not as extensive as he originally thought, so the bill was only $105.

Now, here’s the best part—on Thursday, this lady had looked at her financial situation and had set aside all the money she could afford for this repair: $125!

So not only did God provide for her even before she asked, but she even gave the mechanic a $20 tip!

I love the fact that God knows what we need even before we ask Him!

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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.

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Thursdays With Oswald—Emotions In Christianity

February 9, 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.

Emotions In Christianity

      Enthusiasm means, to use the phrase of a German mystic, ‘intoxicated with God.’ … The tendency is in us all to say, ‘You must not trust in feelings’; perfectly true, but if your religion is without feeling, there is nothing in it. If you are living a life right with God, you will have feeling, most emphatically so, but you will never run the risk of basing your faith on feelings. The Christian is one who bases his whole confidence in God and His work of grace, then the emotions become the beautiful ornament of the life, not the source of it.

From Biblical Ethics

God gave us a mind, a will, and emotions. We get ourselves in trouble when we elevate one above the rest, or worse yet, deny that one of those aspects are relevant.

So I don’t say, “I will obey God when I feel like it is the right thing to do.”

Nor do I say, “This feels so good, even though it makes no sense at all.”

We obey God’s Word by faith, because it is the right thing to do, and then the feelings of joy and peace and understanding will become the beautiful ornaments of our lives.

Obedience first, and the feelings will follow.

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Thursdays With Oswald—Intercessory Prayer

January 12, 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.

Intercessory Prayer

     You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God. True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means to ‘fill up . . . [with] what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ’ (Colossians 1:24), and this is precisely why there are so few intercessors. People describe intercession by saying, ‘It is putting yourself in someone else’s place.’ That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.

From My Utmost For His Highest

How arrogant on my part to tell God what He needs to do for me or for someone else!

Instead I need to pray that my eyes of faith will be open. I want to have faith to believe that God knows the plans He has for me (Jeremiah 29:11), and that He is working all things together for the good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

Intercessory prayer is hard work. But the rewards are so worth it!

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Crumbs

October 19, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

When you’re starving, a crumb doesn’t seem to satisfy you.

When you’d like a special dessert, a crumb seems so unfulfilling.

What about when you are asking God for something big? Will a crumb satisfy you?

A Canaanite woman came to Jesus with a pressing need. Her daughter was possessed by a demon and was absolutely miserable. It looked as though nothing short of a major outpouring from Jesus could help this woman.

But she said, “Just a crumb from the Master’s table is enough for me.”

A crumb?!? The smallest of pieces, yet this woman knew that Christ’s power was so sufficient, that just a crumb would be more than enough!

How many times do I wait around for a feast? I say, “God, do something huge!” How small is my faith that I think God has to do something earth-shaking to answer me.

I want to be at the point where I know that just a crumb is more than enough. Just one word—one crumb—from His mouth can meet my every need.

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Inventive Faith

September 12, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I love the story of the four friends who wanted to get their sick companion in to see Jesus. They had heard about Jesus healing others, and they believed that He would heal their friend too. But when they arrived at the house where Jesus was, they found it packed with people, and the doors and windows blocked by crowds who also wanted to see and hear Jesus. So these four friends made an appointment with one of Jesus’ disciples to come back at a more convenient time.

Ummm, not so much!

These guys were so convinced that Jesus could heal their friend, that they didn’t let crowds stop them. They climbed up on top of the house, ripped off some of the roof tiles, and lowered their friend down to Jesus. I love their inventive faith!

How many times do circumstances stop me?

  • there were too many people
  • or not enough people
  • they seemed busy
  • they seemed uninterested
  • it was raining

Oh, so many flimsy excuses that seem to derail my faith!

I love this thought from Charles Spurgeon:

“Faith is full of inventions. The world is constantly inventing; genius serves all the purposes of human desire: cannot faith invent too, and reach by some new means the outcasts who lie perishing around us?

“…Through door, through window, or through roof, let us, breaking through all impediments, labor to bring poor souls to Jesus. All means are good and decorous when faith and love are truly set on winning souls. If hunger for bread can break through stone walls, surely hunger for souls is not to be hindered in its efforts. O Lord, make us quick to suggest methods of reaching thy poor sin-sick ones, and bold to carry them out at all hazards.”

How much more inventive can your faith be?

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