Naked Before God

January 7, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Imagine: You and your wife are the only people on the face of the earth. No bills, no employer, no economic downturn, no kids, no school, no traffic. Just you and God. That was Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Bible gives this commentary, “Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.”

Nothing to hide from God. Nothing to hide from each other. A perfect relationship with God. A perfect relationship with each other.

Then the temptation, and the bite of the forbidden fruit. Sin enters. Now, something changes when God comes to talk with His favorite couple: “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from God among the trees.”

“Why are you hiding from Me?” God asks.

“Uh,” Adam stammers, “because we’re naked.”

Sin made mankind uncomfortable in God’s presence. Sin made them want to hide from God. They knew He was there, but they tried to pretend He wasn’t. This is why I think many of us don’t come into God’s presence in prayer: we’re uncomfortable because of our sin.

We should not run away from God, instead, we should run to Him. “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9).

What happens when we’re forgiven? We’re re-clothed. God Himself clothes us. He made clothes for Adam and Eve, and He clothes us, too, in the righteous robes of Jesus. “And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes” (Galatians 3:27).

And when we’re clothed in Christ, we no longer have to hide from God, nor feel uncomfortable in His presence. Instead, we can “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (see Ephesians 3:12 and Hebrews 4:16).

Perhaps the reason we don’t spend enough time in prayer is that we feel self-conscious, sinful, uncomfortable… naked.

You don’t have to be naked. You can be clothed in Christ. You can enter into God’s presence without shame and find the mercy and grace and help that you need.

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No More Fear

December 25, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Have you ever noticed the overarching message throughout the Christmas story? In both Matthew’s and Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus there is a repeated angelic message to humankind: “Do not be afraid.”

  • “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard” (Luke 1:13).
  • “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30).
  • “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife” (Matthew 1:20).
  • “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people” (Luke 2:10).

Why all this fear? Quite simply sin brings fear: Fear of God’s impending judgment. But the canceling power is Jesus. In the Christmas carol Joy To The World there are powerful, fear-lifting words in the third verse:

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

His blessing comes to bring joy wherever the curse of sin has brought fear! Jesus defeats sin, and so therefore His joy displaces all fear!

  • “His mercy extends to those who fear Him” (Luke 1:50).
  • “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed His people…. To show mercy to our fathers…. To enable us to serve Him without fear…. To give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:68, 72, 75, 77).
  • “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
  • “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

Sin forgiven. Curse canceled. Fear removed. Joy has come because Jesus has come.

My prayer for you is that you are living without fear because you are living without sin. It’s only possible because Jesus came for you. Merry CHRISTmas!

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More Today?

May 20, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

I have shared before how I often wake up with a particular song on my mind. This morning it was a 1969 classic that I added to my iPod a few weeks ago: “More Today Than Yesterday” by The Spiral Starecase. (Go ahead and listen to the song while you read on.)

So as I was attempting to wake up Betsy, I sang part of the chorus to her. “I love you more today than yesterday. But not as much as tomorrow.” Which got me thinking: How do I do this?

Betsy and I have been “an item” for 8,935 days. I thought I loved her tons yesterday, so how do I love her more today than yesterday? Let me take a couple of cues from the song:

“I’ll be spending time with you”—the greater the quantity of time I spend with her the more likely I’ll have quality time with her.

“Everyday’s a new day in love with you”—love keeps no record of wrongs. If I’m holding grudges against her or beating myself up over mistakes I made, I’m keeping a record. Forgiveness is the key to wiping the slate clean so I can love her more today than yesterday.

“With each day comes a new way of loving you”—there’s a reason why the apostle Paul talks about “growing up” in the great love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. My love should be maturing and growing up every day. So today I should be able to love Betsy in a more mature way.

“I thank the Lord for love like ours that grows ever stronger”—as my relationship with Jesus becomes more intimate I will learn how to love Betsy more today than yesterday. As C.S. Lewis put it, “When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.”

What special relationships do you have? Do you love that earthly dearest more today than yesterday? With quality time, forgiveness, maturity, and a closer relationship with Jesus, you can truly love that special someone more today than yesterday. Give it a try!

Every day’s a new day, every time I love you.

Every way’s a new way, every time I love you!

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Conjunction Junction: BUT

April 20, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Do you remember the School House Rocks videos? Fun and yet so educational! One of my favorite ones is called “Conjunction Junction.”

Conjunctions are very powerful connectors. Especially when I’m reading the Bible I slow down when I see and, or, or but. These conjunctions can open up a wealth of Scriptural knowledge.

Another thing that stands out to me when I’m reading God’s Word is the (parentheses). Little sidebars that can add so much richness. Today I saw a parenthetical comment followed by one of these powerful conjunctions.

Here’s the parenthetical comment: (There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel) (1 Kings 21:25-26).

Ahab is not just evil—he’s not just bad—he’s the evilest, worst king… ever!

BUT = not one thing, but an entirely different thing.

But Ahab—the evilest king ever—humbled himself before God: “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, BUT I will bring it on his house in the days of his son” (v. 29).

I’m so glad God recognizes our humility and then extends His mercy. BUT is a great conjunction! Check out these passages with BUT—

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. BUT you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. BUT for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

It doesn’t matter if you were the vilest, meanest, worst-person-ever, when you humble yourself to ask for God’s forgiveness, He pronounces that great conjunction—BUT—that completely cancels your past!!

Wow! What a merciful, loving God! And what a great conjunction He inserts in our lives—BUT!

I’m happy today that I’ve been to God’s Conjunction Junction and He’s hooked a BUT between my former life and my present life. How about you?

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Cheap Trade-Off

April 3, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

During the reign of King Rehoboam in Judah, God’s judgment fell on the land. Because of their sin against Him, God allowed Shishak, the king of Egypt, to plunder Jerusalem. Shishak carried off all of the valuable furnishings of the temple in Jerusalem.

To replace what had been plundered Rehoboam commissioned the casting of shields made of bronze (1 Kings 14:27). Whenever the king went to the temple, all the guards would carry these shiny shields with them, but then immediately after the king left the temple the guards returned their shields to the armory.

It looked good, but it was all a cheat … an imitation … a cheap trade-off.

Looking back a few chapters we read that not only did Rehoboam’s father, King Solomon, make the original shields out of gold, but he made almost everything out of gold. In fact, the Bible says, “Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days.” If silver was of little value, can you imagine how cheap bronze was?!

The temple is plundered. The gold shields—along with anything else of value—are gone, but there is no outcry from Rehoboam or the people, no repentance for their crimes against God, no anger at their sin that allowed Shishak’s raid.

Instead, Rehoboam wanted to try to keep up appearances.

He made bronze shields to look like the stolen gold shields.
He made his trip to the temple a spectacle of pomp and circumstance.
He hid the bronze shields away after he left the temple.

Isn’t this how many people deal with the plundering of their lives? I know I have at times. It seemed so much easier to try to cover up what was lost because of my sin, than to simply admit I sinned, repent of that sin, and ask for God’s merciful forgiveness.

Sure, Rehoboam still looked like he had his act together. But he knew—every time he was on this way to the temple and saw those bronze shields—that he was living a lie. He accepted a cheap trade-off for the real deal.

I am so grateful that, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

I’m not going to settle for cheap trade-offs anymore. How about you?

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