Good Grief From A Friend

May 5, 2025 — 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. 

After God created Adam, He said, “It’s not good for you to be alone.” That’s just as true today: God didn’t intend for us to journey on our own, but He gives us companions along the way. 

Last week we saw that God has to sometimes cause us grief to get our attention when we are straying from His path. He sometimes puts people in our lives to do the same thing. 

There’s a reason God puts the people in our lives that He does. We are called to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). But that sometimes means people will get upset with us (Galatians 4:16). “Real friends hurt each other. … Truth is the primary way faithful friends should wound each other—it is the help that hurts.” —Dick Brogden 

(Check out all of the verses in this post by clicking here.) 

The Corinthians thought they were super-spiritual, but Paul had to call them out on their foolishness (1 Corinthians 3:3; 5:1-2). Before Pauls’ letter, the Corinthians seemed happy. His letter caused them grief, but it was good grief that led to repentance and true joy (2 Corinthians 7:8-10). 

To keep silent when a brother or sister is straying is not God-honoring. We are not to be the sin police, but we are to address sinful issues (James 5:19-20). 

As King David flirted with the idea of how he could get something that he thought would make him happy, an anonymous attendant tried to get his attention. David ignored this and then tried to sweep it under the rug. In fact, he thought he got away with his sin (2 Samuel 11:1–12:7). 

But God sent Nathan to speak a hard word to David. We don’t know when Psalm 141 was written, but we know that David did write it. Perhaps it was penned at the time of Nathan’s loving confrontation. He said, “Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head” (Psalm 141:5). 

We do know that David wrote Psalm 51 after Nathan’s loving hard word, and in this prayer we see David’s confession, repentance, and a request for God’s joy to replace David’s grief. 

So how do New Testament-era Christians use good grief to help fellow saints? 

  1. Examine yourself first (Matthew 7:1-5). Make sure you aren’t plagued by the same sin you have noticed in a brother or sister. 
  2. Cry before you confront, just as the prophet Samuel did before he had to deliver a hard word to King Saul (1 Samuel 15:10-11). 
  3. Confront in love with the goal of restoration, but make sure you are confronting someone who know you love them and who will receive your loving word  (Proverbs 27:5; 9:8). 
  4. Pray that their grief will be turned to joy (Luke 22:31-32; Galatians 6:1; Psalm 51:12). 

Friendships with fellow saints are precious and they are vital. We need iron to sharpen iron (Proverbs 27:17) so that we will all stand before the throne together for eternity. 

This is the final message in our series Grief Into Joy. If you missed any of the messages, you can check them all out by clicking here. 

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Again And Again And Again

April 23, 2025 — 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 don’t know if this ever happens to you, but I’ve lost count of the number of times that this happens to me. I open up my Bible and begin reading right where I left off the day before, and as I’m reading, my attention is riveted by words that seem to pop off the page! 

I look at them again and see that this passage contains highlights or underlining or notations from when I read here before. Yet I’m left scratching my head saying, “How did I miss this when I read this passage earlier?!” 

I know this is because I’m a different person now than I was the last time I was reading this passage. I’ve learned some things and hopefully I have grown in the process. Quite simply, the Holy Spirit knew I wasn’t ready earlier for the new concept that jumped off the page at me. 

The other day I was reading in the Book of Romans and I noticed something that Paul wrote—

     And, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of Your name.” Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol Him.” And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, One who will arise to rule over the nations; in Him the Gentiles will hope.” (Romans 15:9-12) 

Look at that wording: “As it is written … again it says … and again … and again….” Paul is telling us that God tells us the same thing in different ways, at different times, and through different voices. It’s the same message, but it resonates a little differently in each place. As God’s Word speaks to us again and again and again, we see the richness and fullness of the message. 

In v. 9, Paul quotes David in 2 Samuel 22:50 and Psalm 18:49. 

In v. 10, the quotation is from Moses in Deuteronomy 32:43.

In v. 11, an anonymous psalmist in Psalm 117:1 is quoted. 

And in v. 12, Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 11:10. 

(Check out all of these Scriptures for yourself by clicking here.)

The Jews considered the Holy Scripture to be divided into three sections: The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Look again what Paul did: 

  • He quotes Moses from the Law 
  • He quotes Isaiah from the Prophets
  • He quotes David and the anonymous psalmist from the Writings

Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). And after His resurrection, as He walked and talked with a couple of disciples, He reminded them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44). 

One of the reasons that the consistent message of the Scripture is repeated again and again and again is so that everyone will have a chance to hear it and believe it. 

There is such a beauty in this! I encourage you to take the time to look up the cross-references that many Study Bibles have put together. As you read the “it is written” statements in the Bible, I hope you will be encouraged as you see it throughout all the Bible again and again and again! 

Check out the book reviews I’ve shared on these study Bibles: 

I would also recommend 3 Bible studies for you to try and 2 more Bible studies for you to try. 

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Joyful Proof

April 21, 2025 — 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. 

This whole series of messages is about how God can turn our grief into joy. On Easter Sunday we celebrate the most joy-filled event in all of history: the resurrection of Jesus! 

At our Good Friday service, we talked about how the day was anything but good for those who were there. The day is only good for people who have been rescued from eternal, inescapable grief. 

The Bible tells us that all of us have sinned and the penalty for that sin is eternal separation from God (Romans 3:23, 6:23a). But Jesus died in our place (Romans 5:8) to turn our eternal grief into eternal joy. Check out this out: God promises to exchange the cup of wrath and judgment with the cup of righteousness and peace (Isaiah 51:17-22). That’s exactly what Jesus accomplish with this death and resurrection! 

(Check out all of the biblical references in this post by clicking here.) 

On Friday, no one was joyful. In fact, it was just the opposite: Grief gripped their hearts and held them in fear. Probably the only one who was happy on that day was the devil. 

On Saturday, the clouds of grief and fear darkened even more. It was the Sabbath day, and the Jewish followers of Jesus would still have to attend the synagogue and go through the motions of the day. Can you imagine how hollow and meaningless all of the activities seemed? 

Then Sunday morning arrived. Jesus had predicted this (Matthew 12:40), but when some of the women who attended to His needs during His years of ministry came to the tomb, they were completely unprepared for what they found (Luke 24:1-7). 

Jesus told them that they would see their grief turned to joy (John 16:20, 22; Luke 22:53), but when these ladies told His disciples, they still couldn’t comprehend it (Luke 24:9-12, 19-24). 

Grief can so grip our emotions, that it will effect us physically as well: our eyes are clouded, our mind is fuzzy, and our ears seem stuffed with cotton (John 20:14-16; Luke 24:15-17). 

So what finally convinced them? Their own hearts! 

Solomon wrote, “He has planted eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The AMPC says: He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds—a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy. 

Mary finally saw Jesus and saw her grief turned to joy when she heard Jesus say, “Mary.” 

These men on the road said their hearts burned in them when Jesus explained the Scripture to them (Luke 24:31-32, 27). 

And when the other disciples were locked away for fear of the Jews (John 20:19), Jesus spoke to them about how His Word was fulfilled in His actions (Luke 24:44-46). 

There is a hymn that ends, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.” There is something unmistakable and irrefutable when someone knows what it is to have their sins forgiven—to have their grief turned to unquenchable joy! 

In fact, the best proof of a risen Savior is seeing a life freed from gripping grief that used to plague them.  

If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, the thought of the end of life and what comes next probably fills you with a sense of uneasiness. It doesn’t have to be this way! 

If you do know Jesus, please remember that your best testimony is a life that doesn’t get bogged down in the same grief the world experiences. When you can show supernatural joy while everyone else is gripped by grief, people will turn to you (1 Peter 3:15). 

Please check out the other messages in this series called Grief Into Joy by clicking here. 

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Temporary Sorrow For Eternal Joy

April 19, 2025 — 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. 

On Sunday we looked at the thought that our grief often comes because our current situation isn’t what we expected it to be. Notice that we say, “what we expected,” as though we can control anything!  

Today we remember the horrific death of Jesus on the Cross and we call it Good Friday. We can only call it “good” now because we see the results on the other side. If we were to go back in time to the weeks, days, and even moments before Jesus was arrested and so cruelly treated, those around Him would call that time anything but good. 

Look how the disciples responded to this coming event (Matthew 16:21-22). Grief can also come when we give more weight to today’s pain than we do to eternity’s joy. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.) 

This has always been a strategy of the devil to get people to look at now and not consider eternity. That’s how he tempted Adam and Eve, who gave in to this ploy. And then he tried the same strategy on Jesus, but failed (see Genesis 3:1-5; Matthew 4:1-10). 

Jesus knew why He came to earth (Matthew 20:28). And as He got closer and closer to the day of His crucifixion, the weight began to build (John 12:27). 

Look at how Jesus fought grief by making sure He gave more weight to eternity. He turned His pain into prayer so His Father could exchange His grief for His joy (Matthew 26:36-44).

Jesus prepared His disciples by trying to give them an eternal focus (Luke 22:14-20). He told them to pray that they wouldn’t give in to this temptation to trade eternal joy for momentary pain, but they didn’t understand. This is what focusing on the pain of now does—the weight of it exhausts us emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

But look at the eternal focus in vv. 17-19:

  • The crushed grape gives us wine 
  • The bruised wheat gives us bread 
  • The crushed, bruised, crucified Savior gives us eternal life  

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24).

Remember the devil’s strategy: get us so focused on the pain of now that we forget about the far greater joy that lasts forever. 

Jesus wants us to “do this in remembrance of Me”—to see the crushed grape and the bruised wheat and the crucified Savior in the light of eternity. 

Check out the other messages in this series called Grief Into Joy by clicking here.

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Turning Pain Into Prayer

April 14, 2025 — 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. 

Last week we saw how the Israelites in exile had their time of grief—being targeted for annihilation—turned to joy when God granted favor to Queen Esther. 

The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah are all written during this time period as the exiles are returning in waves to Israel. This is another grief-into-joy moment! More than likely, all four of these books were written by Ezra. Notice the note of joyful celebration that is repeated in the last words of 2 Chronicles and the opening words in the Book of Ezra (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4). We don’t know which psalmist wrote Psalm 126, but it sounds the same joyful note. 

(Please check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Not all the exiles returned at once. In fact, the Book of Daniel shows us that Daniel likely stayed in his position of leadership to these governments until his death. 

The exiles were returning in waves. As the worship practices at the temple were reestablished and as people returned to lands allotted to each tribe, it was important for the leaders to make sure the right people were in the right places. So 1 Chronicles opens with genealogies. 

  • Beginning with Adam and Noah (1:1-4) 
  • The spiritual fathers (1:34) 
  • The family line of the Messiah (2:1-15; Matthew 1:1-6) through the family tree of David (3:1-24) 

Then 1 Chronicles 4 lists more clans in the tribe of Judah. Of special note is the Calebite clan (2:9, 18). 

In the Calebite clan we meet Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. His name literally translated is sorrow. I wonder: is this a nickname or his birth name? how did he even get this name? 

His mother is quoted, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Did that mean it was physically a difficult birth? Did she die after childbirth? Was he born during the painful exile? His father isn’t mentioned, so maybe his birth reminded everyone of the father who was no longer there. The Amplified Bible says his mother named him “sorrow maker.” 

Whatever the case, Jabez has become aware that his name or his presence is causing grief to others. There is a bit of a play on words here: “his mother named (Hebrew: qara) … Jabez cried out (Hebrew: qara) to the God of Israel.” In essence, Jabez is saying, “Since my mother cried out in pain—or thinks I am a sorrow maker—I have no where else to go but to cry out to God!” 

I believe Jabez was a teenager at this time. One medical journal says, “Adolescents are physically, cognitively, and socioemotionally more advanced than children but prone to behave in ways that are inconsistent with adult values and norms. … Adolescents also frequently report greater self-consciousness, and are more concerned with and interested in others’ perceptions of self.” 

This means that as the brain matures during adolescence, teenagers begin to look at themselves through the eyes of others. They are beginning to make decisions that will earn approval from their peers and their family. 

This describes Jabez. He doesn’t want to be the sorrow maker any longer. 

Grief happens when my reality falls short of my expectations. Jabez has become self-aware that he is a painful reminder to everyone around him. He is living in a place of grief

Jabez is called “more honorable than his brothers” (v. 9) because he turns his pain into his prayer. His brothers may either have not been as self-aware, or maybe they were aware but simply didn’t care. Jabez realized, “People have been calling me sorrow maker my whole life. There’s nothing I can do about it on my own, so the only thing I can do is call on the only One who can turn my grief into joy” (v. 10). 

Look at his noble prayer:

  • bless me—God, You are the only One whose favor I desire 
  • enlarge my territory—even out of this grief, bless me so that I can be a blessing  
  • let Your hand be with me—only Your hand can restore my fortunes, can help me reap a harvest, and can allow me to sing Your songs of joy (see Psalm 126:1-6). 

Let us follow this example from Jabez’s life and begin to turn every pain into prayer. 

God doesn’t want to give us temporary relief from our pain, but He desires for us to know His never-ending joy (Isaiah 25:7-9; Revelation 21:3-4). 

If you’ve missed any of the other messages in this series Grief Into Joy, you can find them all here. 

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Exposing The Bitterness Of Gossip

March 24, 2025 — 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. 

A bite we have all experienced is gossip. We called flattery the sneaky bite, but I think gossips believe they are actually being sneaky—that somehow they are getting away with their gossip.  I think gossip is also sneaky because we can be pulled into a gossipy conversation almost without realizing what is happening. 

That’s because gossip usually has a veneer of truth on it. That thin coating of truth may be sugary sweet, but the words hide a bitter poison that is intended to undermine the one that is being talked about. Twice Solomon says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels” (Proverbs 18:8, 26:22). The Contemporary English Version translates this verse even more graphically: “There’s nothing so delicious as the taste of gossip! It melts in your mouth.” But Solomon also warns, “A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28). 

Consider the story in Numbers 12:1-9. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

Moses had married a Cushite woman, a marriage that was neither morally nor legally wrong. If someone simply said, “Moses married a woman from Cush” they would have been speaking the truth. The gossips (Miriam and Aaron) want to use a truthful statement for the purpose of making a case to prove their point. These siblings crossed the line when they stopped talking about the idea and start talking about Moses. This is especially true when their conversation about Moses was to make him look inferior or to make themselves look superior. 

I think a label that is very apropos for this is “character assassination.” An assassin gets close enough to strike, but also has an alibi to cover themselves. So, too, the gossip can inject their poison to denigrate someone’s character, but then use the alibi of saying, “What? Did I say something untruthful?” 

There is truth in their questions that God has used all three of them to delver messages and to sing worship songs, but in light of their statement in verse 1 they are clearly asking these questions with poisonous intent. You can especially spot gossip by this characteristic sign: They talk about a person, but they won’t talk to that person. We are not told to whom Miriam and Aaron may have been speaking to in verse 2, but it certainly wasn’t Moses. That means they were trying to get other people to rally to their side. 

When we have been the target of a gossip’s words, we should follow the example that Moses gave us.  

  1. Remember that God has heard the gossip (Numbers 12:2b, 4-8). 
  2. Check your pride (v. 3). If you feel you must address the gossip, you must address the topic without attacking the gossiper (see Romans 12:17-18). 
  3. Be careful of who you are correcting. It’s best to let God do the correcting (Numbers 12:8-9), but if do need to speak to the person, be cautious of adding fuel to the fire (Proverbs 9:7-9). 
  4. Desire restoration. Moses interceded for Miriam’s healing (Numbers 12:13), and Jesus has the idea of restoration and unity in the Church in mind in Matthew 18:15-16. 
  5. Stay away from the unrepentant gossiper. If the gossiper doesn’t acknowledge their sin, we have to limit our interaction with that sheep (Matthew 18:17) . After Miriam was healed of her leprosy, there is no other mention of her until she died which is probably an indication that Moses didn’t have any additional conversations with her. Paul gave Timothy similar counsel about Alexander (1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 4:14-15).

The natural response to gossip spoken about you is fight or flight. The supernatural response is faithfulness to the Bible’s counsel about a gossiper. 

And one final word to all of us: Don’t become a gossip yourself! 

Just as God hears those gossiping about you, He hears you gossiping about others! 

Don’t…

  • …talk about people who aren’t in the room. Remember the Golden Rule of treating others the way you want to be treated (Luke 6:31). 
  • …share information that isn’t yours to share (Proverbs 25:9). 
  • …listen to a gossip. If they gossip to you about others, they will gossip about you to others! 

Gossip, as Solomon warned us, separates even the closest of friends. We must identify it and deal with both the gossip and the gossiper in a God-honoring, biblically-sound way. And we must avoid becoming a gossip ourselves. 

If you’ve missed any of the other sheep bites we’ve talked about in this series, you can find them all by clicking here. And if you are a pastor, check out my book When Sheep Bite, where I address the bites of sheep from a leadership paradigm. 

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The Glorious Gospel

March 5, 2025 — 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. 

Paul opens his letter to the saints at Rome with two powerful words: the gospel (Romans 1:1).

(Check out all of the biblical references in this post by clicking here.)

The word gospel simply means the good news about the salvation that comes only through Jesus.

Paul loves this word! 

Interestingly, although we refer to the first four books of the New Testament as “The Gospels,” the word itself barely appears: 

  • Matthew—4 times 
  • Mark—8 times 
  • Luke—0 times 
  • John—0 times

And even though these four opening books are the Gospels about Jesus, He Himself only uses the word nine times, with the other three times attributed to someone else mentioning what Jesus was doing. 

Peter only uses this word twice (Acts 15:7; 1 Peter 4:17). And John uses it just once (Revelation 14:6). 

Paul, however, uses this word 64 times! 

It becomes such a part of who he is and how he thinks, that he calls it “my gospel” twice (Romans 2:16, 16:25) and “our gospel” three times (2 Corinthians 4:3; Colossians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:14). 

For Paul and for us this Good News is—

  • God’s promises fulfilled 
  • salvation power 
  • the fullness of God’s blessing 
  • the opening of mysteries 
  • the guide for godly living 
  • glorious light 
  • the expression of God’s grace 
  • the standard of all truth 
  • a key part of the Christian’s spiritual armor 
  • the empowerment for ministry 
  • the anchor of unshakable hope 
  • the means by which we experience Christ’s glory 
  • the only door to life and immortality 

For those of us who have been called to preach this Gospel, these thoughts should both humble and empower. 

For those of us who have been saved by believing this Gospel, these thoughts should cause us to desire to know more, and more, and more about our Savior. 

What a glorious Gospel this is! 

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Never Self-Sufficient

February 26, 2025 — 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. 

There is a cliche people love to quote: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” 

Is this how Christians should live? 

It sounds like the experienced fisherman may be annoyed at having to catch a fish every day just to give it to someone else. If you want to put a noble spin on the cliche, you could say that the wise and patient fisherman invested his time to teach someone else to provide for themselves, never needing to return to their teacher. 

This certainly wouldn’t be the example of Jesus. 

As He was teaching the large crowd of people, whom He thought of as sheep without a shepherd, they became hungry. Jesus directed His disciples to feed them. He didn’t tell them to teach the crowd to provide for themselves. 

As Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people, notice that He kept on giving until they were all satisfied—

     And taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and, praising God, gave thanks and broke the loaves and kept on giving them to the disciples to set before the people; and He also divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. (Mark 6:41-42 AMPC)

The example in the Old Testament was to look to God for a supply of manna every single day. In the New Testament, Jesus taught us to pray for our daily supply of bread every single day (Exodus 16:14-17; Matthew 6:11; John 6:35).

Jesus never wants us to become self-sufficient. Instead, He wants us to remain steadfastly connected to Himself—as surely as a branch is connected to the vine. 

Far from teaching us to provide for ourselves, Jesus says, “If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). 

Jesus is never wearied by our continually coming to Him; rather, He is delighted when we do! He wants to be our supply each and every day for all of eternity! 

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Praying For Our Fellow Saints

February 24, 2025 — 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. 

We tend to be pretty self-centered creatures, filtering everything through our lens. This becomes especially true when we are going though a difficult time. 

When I walked through a dark valley, I battled both physical and spiritual forces. People attacked me, but so did my own thoughts. “Why me?” and “I didn’t do anything to deserve this!” led to prayers like, “God, why didn’t You protect me from this? Why won’t you get me out of this?” 

Do you hear a common theme? I didn’t while I was in the midst of the battle, but perhaps you hear it—“Why me? I didn’t do anything to deserve this! God, why didn’t You protect me from this? Why won’t You get me out of this?” 

In his book Winning With People, John Maxwell shared ‘The Big Picture Principle’: “The entire population of the world, with one minor exception, is composed of others.” 

On the other side of my dark valley I learned something about my time in the dark valley—I had grown:

  • I could help others diagnose depression 
  • I could empathize with others
  • I could share helpful strategies to those who were struggling 
  • I could intercede for them in prayer 

My definition for intercede is to pray for people in a meaningful way because they are too beat up to pray for themselves. 

In order to pray for them, I have to know what and how to pray. I can’t know what and how to pray unless I have firsthand experience. So perhaps my dark valley wasn’t for me, but for someone else (see Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11). 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

As Christians, we’re in this life together. 

I have talked and blogged so many times about the phrases “one another” and “each other” throughout Scripture. That means that Christian faith is best seen when we are with each other, supporting one another. 

Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9). The “our” signifies we are praying…

  • …with Jesus—John 14:13-14 
  • …with other saints—Matthew 18:18-20 

Even more than praying with us, Jesus intercedes for us (Hebrews 4:15-16). And Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) who also intercedes for us and with us (Romans 8:26-27). 

We join with our High Priest, helped by our Advocate, as we pray to our Heavenly Father on behalf of our brothers and sisters.  

Listen to the interceding and expectation of a joyful answer that David writes in Psalm 20, and also notice how the saints are together—

    May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests. Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to His anointed. He answers him from His heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of His right hand.  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. LORD, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!

My cousin Dick Brogden wrote, “Jesus never intended us to suffer alone. We may not physically be able to cross oceans or deserts and sit in lonely cells with colleagues—but we are intended to traverse that distance spiritually and to bear the burdens of our brothers in prayer. Followers of Jesus under duress are empowered to bear unimaginable suffering when they know that they do not agonize alone.” 

In your prayer time, I encourage you to ask the Spirit to show you lessons you have learned in your dark valleys, and then begin to intercede for your fellow brothers and sisters with the help you have already received. 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this prayer series, you can find them all here. 

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

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A Little Is Still Enough

February 19, 2025 — 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. 

“No one will even notice.” 

“It really doesn’t matter what I do.” 

“There’s not much that I’m good at.” 

Sadly, these statements are far too common for a lot of people. Even sadder is how frequently Christians say them. Of all people, Christians should be assured that God has created them on purpose and for a purpose. To fulfill that purpose, God has given each of us the right talents in the right proportions. 

Jesus illustrated it with a story in Matthew 25, but I want to especially highlight what the master said to his stewards when they were giving an account for what had been entrusted to their care. 

     His master said to [the steward entrusted with five talents], “Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys.” … His master said to [the steward entrusted with two talents], “Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys.” … [The steward entrusted with one talent said], “So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is your own.” (Matthew 25:21, 23, 25 AMPC)

The two wise stewards were both told they had been faithful in a little, even though one started out with more than the other. 

The lazy steward didn’t consider what he had been given to be worth the bother. 

But all three of them were given only what they could handle—

     To one he gave five talents [probably about $5,000], to another two, to another one—to each in proportion to his own personal ability. Then he departed and left the country. (Matthew 25:15 AMPC) 

In other words, God gives us our talents or gifts on purpose. He knows exactly what gift to give us and in what proportion to be an effective steward for Him. Don’t ever discount what God has given you, and don’t ever envy what He has given to another servant. What you consider “a little” is still enough to accomplish the purpose God has for your life. 

Do your very best with what you have, and then know that you will hear your Master say, “Well done. Come share My eternal joy!” 

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

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