God’s plan | Craig T. Owens

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Thursdays With Oswald—Symphonizing In Prayer

November 14, 2013 — 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.

Symphonizing In Prayer

Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:19)

We need to know this simple, direct truth about praying in public. It is perilously easy to make public prayer the mere fringe of devotion to what we are pleased to think of as the real center of the meeting. Agreement in purpose on earth must not be taken to mean a predetermination to agree together to storm God’s fort doggedly till He yields. It is far from right to agree beforehand over what we want, and then go to God and wait, not until He gives us His mind about the matter, but until we extort from Him permission to do what we had made up our minds to do before we prayed; we should rather agree to ask God to convey His mind and meaning to us in regard to the matter.

Agreement in purpose on earth is not a public presentation of persistent begging which knows no limit, but a prayer which is conscious that it is limited through the moral nature of the Holy Spirit. It is really “symphonizing” on earth with our Father Who is in Heaven.

From Christian Disciplines

When Jesus taught us to pray He said we should say, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” God has a perfect plan in mind, and He wants us to be a part of that plan. So before we make up our mind to pray a certain way, and rally others around us to “agree in prayer” with us, we need to find out what God’s mind is on the matter. Our agreement needs to be with God, not with others.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: agreement, God's plan, Heaven, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Lord's Prayer, Oswald Chambers, prayer. Leave a Comment »

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.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostle Paul, Book of Acts, faith, faith in action, God's plan, God's power, trials. 1 Comment »

God Wants Deeper Growth

February 29, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

“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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: discipleship, God's plan, God's purpose, Holy Spirit, John of the Cross, personal growth, quote. Leave a Comment »

Whose Plans?

February 13, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Sometimes what needs to go on my To Do list seems logical. But logical to whom? If I’m not careful I can get so focused on doing the next logical thing, that I miss out on the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Bruce Wilkinson said it this way—

“If we aren’t passionately and deliberately focused on carrying out God’s agenda with God’s heart, we’ll end up putting our own agenda first. We’ll increasingly look for the kind of missions we enjoy most. We’ll tend to ask God to bless our busyness for Him instead of asking Him to send us on the miracle mission of His choice.”

Ouch!

I don’t think the Bible is against To Do lists, but I need to make my lists the right way.

Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:15)

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

With those verses in mind, this is what I’m praying:

Dear God, I want to decided right here and now that Your agenda is more important than mine. Not my “To Do” list be done, but Yours. I die to my plans so that I might live out your plans.

I am trying to Live Dead to my agenda this week.

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of James, Bruce Wilkinson, God's plan, Gospel of Matthew, Holy Spirit, Live Dead, planning, prayer, quote, to do lists. 1 Comment »

Great Plans!

January 16, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

As Jesus was approaching Jerusalem just prior to His passion, He told His disciples, “Everything that is written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled” (Luke 18:31).

Nothing about Jesus Christ’s life was haphazard, or random, or coincidental. Everything was a part of a perfect plan. So in order for everything about His life to fulfill the prophesies, every word He spoke and every action He completed also had to be fulfilling. And they were (see John 12:49-50)!

Sadly, His followers “did not understand any of this” (Luke 18:34).

Sadly, many people today don’t understand their own life’s purpose.

Sadly, often times I don’t either.

But God has a perfect plan for you and me.

All the days ordered for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16)

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

I don’t have to lack understanding in this (John 14:16).

I can pray for wisdom (James 1:5).

And Jesus Himself is praying for me to follow the Father’s plans (Hebrews 7:25).

God has great plans for my life—and for your life. Don’t be like the disciples that did not understand any of this. Pray … ask for God’s wisdom … ask for the Holy Spirit’s illumination … and trust in Christ’s interceding prayer for you.

May your words and actions today fulfill the plans God has for you!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Book of James, Ephesians, God's plan, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Hebrews, Holy Spirit, intercession, Jesus Christ, prayer, Psalm, wisdom. Leave a Comment »

God Made You You

September 20, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

God doesn’t make mistakes.

Ever!

That means you are not a mistake. You might make a mistake (or, if you’re like me, maybe lots of mistakes), but you are not a mistake.

God had you in mind before He created this universe. He knew the perfect time to send you to Earth. And He knew just what you needed to be.

You are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

STOP comparing yourself to others.

STOP beating yourself up.

STOP doubting how special you are.

Even the fun and entertaining Dr. Seuss got it:

Today you are you! That is truer than true!

There is no one alive who you-er than you!

“You are most attractive when you are yourself, simply because real is attractive.” —Howard Hendricks

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Dr. Seuss, Ephesians, God's plan, God's purpose, Howard Hendricks, poem, poetry, quote, self-esteem, uniqueness. Leave a Comment »

Plant The God Seed

August 22, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Have you ever been disappointed because you had a dream that died? How do we justify this with the biblical definition of faith which says, “faith is being sure of what we hope for”?

It’s just this:

If God takes away a dream, it’s because the dream was too small.
God wants us to be more focused on the Dream Giver than we are on the dream.

So sometimes God asks us to let a dream die.

Think of a watermelon seed. It’s not very big, sort of dull in color, and it’s only a single seed. To plant the seed, means you have to take your hands off it: the seed is now out of your sight and out of your control. But it is there—dead in the ground—that a miracle happens!

A single watermelon seed grows 200,000 times its own weight! A colorless seed produces the vibrant greens and pinks of a mature watermelon. And that single seed produces 100+ seeds.

Has God given you a dream? Has He asked you to give up that dream? Then plant that seed! When you do, the results will be more than you can imagine.

“Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of faith is to see what we believe.” —Augustine

These are some of my notes from part 3 of my See The Invisible series at Calvary Assembly of God. I would love to have you join me when we continue this series on September 4.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Augustine, Calvary Assembly of God, dreams, faith, God's plan, miracles, quote, sermon. Leave a Comment »

It Just So Happened That…

August 9, 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.

I love the incredible love story in the Bible about Ruth and Boaz. I’m not sure why this hasn’t been made into a movie yet, because it would be a blockbuster!

Ruth is a picture of a God-fearing woman who turns her back on all she’s known to follow God’s leading. Boaz is a real man: strong, successful, respectful of women, honoring of tradition, hard-working, God-loving. You would expect in a story about two people who love God, and who fall in love with each other, and who have a son who becomes the grandfather of King David, that there would be at least one “divine moment.” You know, one of those unmistakable God-ordained moments when everything falls into place.

Here it is. In chapter 2 when Ruth first meets Boaz—when they have their first divine encounter—the Bible says:

As it turned out, Ruth found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz.

As it turned out?!? That’s not very romantic. Or powerful. Or even God-honoring. Other translations are equally as bland:

The Message: Eventually she ended up in the field owned by Boaz.

ESV: She happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz.

KJV: And her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz.

You see, we know the end of the story. We know God was in control of their lives. We know God set it up for Ruth and Boaz to cross paths. And yet even Samuel (or whoever wrote down this story) or Ruth (or whoever told this story to the author) could hardly believe it. “I just happened to end up in the right field at the right time!”

At the end of the story of my life, I think I will look back and see so many as-it-turned-out moments. So many things that just-so-happened. But that would mean I’m living in an as-it-turned-out moment right now. If I believe God is directing my paths, then…

…every moment is divinely orchestrated.

…every moment is strategic.

…every moment is God-directed.

If you knew that this moment was a divine moment, how would you live differently? If you knew this was an as-it-turned-out, God-directed moment, how would you respond? Well, you are living in that moment right now so be on the lookout for what God is doing.

P.S. I shared both a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day message using this story. The series was called Ruth + Boaz.

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, Boaz, God's plan, God's purpose, God's Sovereignty, King David, love story, providence, Ruth. 3 Comments »

Plan B (book review)

May 3, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I was immediately intrigued by the title of Pete Wilson’s book Plan B because it’s a phrase we use so much in my family. In fact, we sometimes take it farther than that: many times we’re talking about Plan F or even Plan Q!

Yet at the same time, I found myself asking, “Does God have a Plan B for my life?” As I read Pete’s book I discovered the answer to my question is a resounding and loving, “No!” God only has a Plan A, nothing takes Him by surprise. I, however, often get taken by surprise: that’s where Plan B comes in. And that’s where Pete’s book is so beneficial.

This book is not about scrambling to come up with an alternate plan, but learning how to rest assured in God’s Plan A for my life.

I’m pretty sure that all of us have been disappointed at some point. We thought things were heading in the right direction, but then everything seemed to be going sideways. Our first inclination is to try to come up with a Plan B to deal with our ‘crisis’. But Pete Wilson’s Plan B is a reminder that God’s Plan A still prevails, that we can still place our hope in God. I love this quote from the book:

“There is an undeniable relationship between crisis and hope. Between waiting hopefully and being transformed. Between Plan B and the glory of God.”

A practical and timely book to help you successfully navigate through the tough spots, to not collapse in crisis, but to be buoyed by hope.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: book review, God questions, God's plan, hope. Leave a Comment »

Let God Choose Your Battles

April 7, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

God wants you to be successful. If you call yourself His follower, why would He want you to ever suffer a defeat? He wants His name to be glorified, so He wants you to be successful.

So let Him choose your battles for you. He knows what you can handle. Let Him pick the time, the place, and the method for your battles.

His way might be longer than you would like it to be, but His timing is better.
His place may not be your place for battle, but His place is better.
His methods might not be what you would choose, but His ways are better.

Check this out:

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. (Exodus 13:17-18)

I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. (Exodus 23:27-30)

God told me, “And don’t try to pick a fight with the Moabites. I am not giving you any of their land. … When you approach the People of Ammon, don’t try and pick a fight with them because I’m not giving you any of the land of the People of Ammon for yourselves.” (Deuteronomy 2:9, 19)

Are you in a battle now? If God brought you to this point, hang in there because He will give you the victory. Don’t try to pick a fight in territory God hasn’t given you. Wait for His timing, His place, and His method of victory.

If you’re in a battle now, let me know, and I’d be honored to stand with you in prayer.