As we get closer to the death and resurrection of Jesus, there are an increasing number of prophecies that are fulfilled in these events. Jesus appears to have been very attentive to making sure that each and every one of these prophecies were fulfilled to the smallest detail.
Near the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus noted that not one iota—or “one jot or tittle” in the Old English vocabulary—of any of God’s promises would be left unfulfilled (Matthew 5:18). It’s amazing that Jesus so carefully attended to all of these, but it’s also important to ask ourselves what these fulfilled prophecies mean to us today.
This is what we are going to be unpacking in our series Jots and Tittles. I hope you can join us, but if you have missed any of the messages in this series, you will be able to find them all right here—
Many of the examples Jesus used to tell us about the Kingdom of God seem like such small things. But those small beginnings have irresistible growth potential!Check out more thoughts in my series of posts called Kingdom Praying. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
My wife is a school teacher and I also work quite a bit in our local schools. I think T.M. Moore is spot-on in his analysis of the breakdown in our current educational system: “This commitment to the Law and Word of God as foundational to the education of the young was everywhere practiced throughout the pre-revolutionary period in colonial America. It was unthinkable in the colonies that young people should be submitted to any instruction for any length of time without being taught the commandments and statutes of God, including the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Parents insisted on it, colonial and local statutes required it, and local school boards dutifully saw to it in all their schools.Since the middle of the previous century, assailed by specious invocations of ‘the separation of Church and State,’ educational policy in America has increasingly denied a place to God, His commandments, and His Word in the public-school curriculum. Generations of American children have grown up in a ‘disenchanted’ world (Charles Taylor), a world in which God, spiritual things, and the Law of God are deemed to be irrelevant if not oppressive, or at least a nuisance. The present crisis of morality, culture, and social upheaval is only the most visible consequence of that policy.”
David Mathis shared some thoughts about the healthy pace of ministry Jesus demonstrates for us. He said, “Let’s sit together at the feet of Jesus, and consider the pace and patterns of His life and ministry. He was not idle. Nor was He frenzied. From all we can tell from the Gospels, Jesus’s days were full. I think it would be fair to say He was busy, but He was not frantic. He lived to the full, and yet He did not seem to be in a hurry. In Jesus, we observe a human life with holy habits and patterns: rhythms of retreating from society and then reentering to do the work of ministry. Even as God Himself in human flesh, Jesus prioritized time away with His Father. He chose again and again, in His perfect wisdom and love, to give His first and best moments to seeking His Father’s face.“ These words resonate with me, because they are thoughts that I considered quite extensively for my book Shepherd Leadership.
I love reading stories like these that show how a relationship with Jesus utterly transforms a person’s life! “Opal W. Eubanks joined the Mississippi Highway Patrol during the race riots of 1964. A large, broad-shouldered white man, he relished the opportunity to strike fear in the hearts of African-Americans who were in trouble with the law. By his own admission, he was a foul-mouthed sinner who liked ‘rough stuff.’ A radical conversion to Christ in the early 1970s altered the course of Eubanks’ life, and his hardened heart became tender toward African-Americans in his rural community. He and his wife, Thelma, ultimately pioneered an Assemblies of God congregation consisting mostly of African-Americans, which they pastored for 21 years.”
The Greek word for “teaching” in Mark 9:31 means an ongoing dialogue. It’s an imperfect verb here because it is an activity that is never fully completed. Jesus wants us to abide with Him—to dialogue with Him—to continually learn from Him. The New Living Translation says it this way, ”For He wanted to spend more time with His disciples and teach them.” This is just as true for us today!
J. Warner Wallace addresses the claims that the Old Testament prophets actually foretold that Jesus would be the Messiah. I love considering the apologetics for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this video will become an added resource for me in the future.
We’ve added things that we think should be in our prayer vocabulary. But kingdom praying should be as natural as talking to the most loving Father you can imagine! Check out more thoughts in my series of posts called Kingdom Praying. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” —Michael Jordan
In the post-Flood rock layers, fossils are often found of animals that were much larger than are currently observed. This has been called giantism. “Evolutionists claim that adaption occurs as random mutations make some organisms better fitted for their environment, and the less-fit organisms then die off. … This supposed, random, trial-and-error process requires long periods of time waiting for the ‘right’ random mutation to occur. In contrast, ICR gives credit to Jesus. He designed organisms with built-in sensors that enable them to detect changes in their environment. Internal genetic programming then allows these organisms to rapidly adapt to these changes in predictable ways. Such adaptation is often too rapid for natural selection to be the correct explanation. This design-based paradigm of adaptation is called continuous environmental tracking (CET).” This is an excellent article.
“If the stone falls on the pot, alas, for the pot; if the pot falls on the stone, alas for the pot.” —Jewish proverb, based on Psalm 118:22 and Luke 20:17-18
…ears consecrated to hear God’s voice and the voice of the people
…hands dedicated to ministering in love and obedience
…feet that only walk in God-directed paths
Godly leaders don’t minister to please people, but to lead people to God. So godly leaders are ever aware that in all they do, they must hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
The prayer that Jesus taught His follower is a prayer for citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. These are not just some magical words to pray whenever we don’t know what to pray.
We come to a part of the prayer that has confused some people. Jesus instructed us to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13).
So some people have asked, “Does God tempt us?”
No, He doesn’t! The temptations flare up when the ungodly desires within us are given an opportunity to seize what we think will make us happy (see James 1:13-15).
All three of the synoptic Gospels tell us that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to the place where the devil would tempt Him (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-2).
Jesus went through all of this so that He would be assured that He was fully equipped for the intense scrutiny He was going to undergo for the next 3+ years. At the end of that time neither the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate, nor Herod Antipas could find any semblance of sin in His life.
The word Jesus uses for temptation in Matthew 6:13 comes from the root word peirazo, which means to assay. We don’t use that word too often today, but it means a testing, an experiment, or a trial, to prove something’s fidelity, integrity, or virtue.
Just like an assayer would test a rock for the quality and quantity of a precious metal found in it, so we are tested to determine our fitness for what God has in store for us. Remember that the beginning of this prayer is a desire for God’s name to be hallowed and His Kingdom to be made visible through our lives.
Hebrews 5:9 says that Jesus was perfected (the Greek word is telios), which is exactly what Jesus wants for us—Be prefect [telios] even as your Heavenly Father is perfect [telios] (Matthew 5:48).
In order to know this perfecting process, we have to be tested and assayed (James 1:12, 2-4).
Like all of the other phrases in this prayer, this one is both an acknowledgment (I will face temptations) and a petition (I need Your help to overcome the temptation). This is not necessarily a prayer to keep us from temptation, but to keep us through the temptation. We want to be empowered to pass the test.
A loving teacher prepares us for the test, gives us the test, and then gives us the results so that we know we are prepared for the next level. So remember that this prayer is addressed to our loving Heavenly Father. He prepares us for the test so that we can pass the test. We never walk an unknown path—we never are given a test unless He has fully prepared us for it.
So let me give you four thoughts to consider:
Don’t rush ahead because that’s pride. Jesus went when the Holy Spirit led Him.
Don’t lag behind because that’s fear. Think of the Israelites who fearful of the “giants” in the land and wouldn’t move forward.
Don’t be discouraged by a temporary failure. The phrase immediately before this says, “Forgive us our debts.” If you fall short, ask for forgiveness and move forward again.
Do give in to the righteousness Jesus has made available for you. This is what will help you stand firm in your time of testing (1 Peter 1:6-7).
Just like Jesus, our Father wants to perfect you and lead you up to higher levels.
If you’ve missed any of the previous messages in this series looking at the model prayer Jesus taught us, you can find them all here.
Unforgiveness keeps our eyes on our offenders and off our God. Free yourself by forgiving those who have hurt you. You can check out this full sermon here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“At the moment of truth, there are either reasons or results.” —Chuck Yeager
As I have shared before, I am so impressed with the He Gets Us social media campaign! Some people are still trying to figure out exactly what this campaign is. Sean McDowell and his podcast partner Scott Ray had a great conversation with Ed Stetzer about this. Check out the video!
Some people have been critical of the He Gets Us commercials that aired during the Super Bowl, but I thought they were outstanding! This is a social media outreach designed and funded by some of the most biblically-grounded, evangelistically-minded people I know. It is a social media campaign. It is not designed as a sermon (which is why there are no Bible verses shown in the commercial). The idea is to get past the barriers and misconceptions skeptics have come to believe about Jesus, and then be enticed to go to the hegetsus.com website. It is at this site that the Gospel message is introduced and visitors are given Bible verses and other materials to go deeper.
John Stonestreet wrote, “Before it was the corporate creation of greeting card companies, it was a day to remember third-century Christian martyr Valentinus of Rome.” This post is a good reminder of what Christians really should be remembering on Valentine’s Day, as well as the higher definition of love.
“The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose.” —John McEnroe
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 way we can keep the door cracked open for the devil to whisper his slander to us, and there is a way to slam the door shut! Jesus said one of the best ways to shut the door on the slanderous lies of the devil is to forgive people who have injured us.
I believe that one of the main reasons His words had such authority and power to capture people’s attention was because He was so immersed in Scripture. As Jesus cleared the temple, He quoted from two Old Testament prophets. As He told a parable to the crowd in the temple—a parable that the religious leaders knew “He had spoken…against them”—He made a passage from Psalm 118 the foundational piece of His story.
The words of Jesus are…
Scriptural
authoritative
loving
unswervingly truthful
practical
challenging
unconventional (according to human standards)
God-glorifying
paradigm challenging
life changing
I want others to say of me what Charles Spurgeon said of John Bunyan, “Why, this man is a living Bible! Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God.”
Wouldn’t you want that said of your life too? I sure would!
Our first step is to read the Word of God. Next, we need to allow the God of the Word to transform our minds. And then we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us apply the Bible to everything we say and do.
Heavenly Father, I pray that people may hear the words of Jesus in all the words I speak. Holy Spirit, bring all of the Word I have read back to my mind (John 14:26; Mark 13:11) so that it is not my words that I am speaking but Yours. In the name of Jesus I ask this. Amen!
In January 1647, Oliver Cromwell captured King Charles I during the British Revolution. Within just a few months, Charles escaped and was able to raise another army. A year later, in August 1648, Cromwell’s forces once again defeated the army Charles had raised, and once again Charles was taken prisoner.
Oliver Cromwell put Charles on trial for his crimes, and after the guilty verdict was pronounced, Charles I was executed. A total of 59 people signed the former king’s death warrant.
Fast forward eleven years and Oliver Cromwell had died and his son Richard had taken his place as Lord Protector of England. Unlike his father, there was great discontent with Richard’s leadership. As a result, the Loyalists were able to sweep Charles II into power.
After assuming the throne of England, Charles II wanted the 59 death warrant signers put on trial, but fifteen of them had already died. That little fact didn’t stop King Charles II. He ordered that their bodies be exhumed, placed on trial, convicted of their crimes, and then hung.
I’m no psychologist, but I think it’s safe to say that Charles II might have had a slight problem with unforgiveness!
This is from a chapter I entitled “The ties that no longer bind.” The insidious nature of unforgiveness is that it ties us to the one who injured or offended us.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). The word He uses for “debts” means something justly or legally due, or an offense or sin that has been committed. So a debtor is one who morally or legally owes another for the wrong committed.
So for these debts, we are taught to ask for forgiveness of God and to give that same forgiveness to others. Jesus uses the same root word for both “forgive” and “forgiven,” but there are nuances that make the picture quite clear.
When we ask God to forgive our debts, it is the active voice (I have to ask for it) and it is stated in the second person (I have to receive it). When I ask my Heavenly Father for this, my offense has been paid-in-full because the legal and moral requirements aren’t due any longer. I couldn’t pay this debt on my own, but Jesus paid it for me (2 Corinthians 5:21).
When I forgive someone who has wronged me, it is again the active voice (I have to give it), but it is now in the first person (I don’t wait around for the other person to ask for forgiveness). I let it go. I don’t hinder the other person or myself with waiting for the penalty to be paid any longer.
This is the only part of this model prayer for which Jesus gives a commentary afterwards (in Matthew 6:14-15). With this, Jesus is teaching us that to say, “I’m forgiven” is also to say, “I’m forgiving.”
Unlike Charles II, when we are forgiven and forgiving, the inevitable result is freedom for both ourselves and our offenders.
If we practice this relentlessly, we are both freed ourselves and freeing others!
When we pray, “Forgive as we also have forgiven,” we are both acknowledging His power to forgive us and requesting the faith need to be forgiving people. As C.S. Lewis noted, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
The Bible describes satan’s activity as stealing, killing, and destroying. He’s called the father of lies, so he uses slander to try to steal, kill, and destroy. His slander is: “God can’t forgive that” and “You shouldn’t let them off the hook for what they did to you.”
These two thoughts are linked, just as “I’m forgiven” and “I’m forgiving” are linked. If I begin tothink that what someone did to me was too big for me to forgive, then I can also believe that there is a sin I have committed that is too big for God to forgive. But when I live both receiving and giving forgiveness, I can tune out this lie from hell.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Pastors are called to be shepherd leaders. Karl Vaters points out that some pastors get caught up in “the green room syndrome” that disconnects them from their sheep.
Here is another clip from The Church Lobby Podcast where Karl and I talk about this.
The biblical passage I reference in this interview is John 10:1-16.
Check out other parts of my interview on The Church Lobby podcast here. Or check out the full conversation Karl and I had on The Church Lobby podcast here.
Get more information on Shepherd Leadershiphere. And pre-order my newest book When Sheep Bitehere.
As we get closer to the death and resurrection of Jesus, there are an increasing number of prophecies that are fulfilled in these events. Jesus appears to have been very attentive to making sure that each and every one of these prophecies were fulfilled to the smallest detail. 
Craig T. Owens 
Links & Quotes
February 24, 2024 — Craig T. OwensWe’ve added things that we think should be in our prayer vocabulary. But kingdom praying should be as natural as talking to the most loving Father you can imagine! Check out more thoughts in my series of posts called Kingdom Praying. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” —Michael Jordan
In the post-Flood rock layers, fossils are often found of animals that were much larger than are currently observed. This has been called giantism. “Evolutionists claim that adaption occurs as random mutations make some organisms better fitted for their environment, and the less-fit organisms then die off. … This supposed, random, trial-and-error process requires long periods of time waiting for the ‘right’ random mutation to occur. In contrast, ICR gives credit to Jesus. He designed organisms with built-in sensors that enable them to detect changes in their environment. Internal genetic programming then allows these organisms to rapidly adapt to these changes in predictable ways. Such adaptation is often too rapid for natural selection to be the correct explanation. This design-based paradigm of adaptation is called continuous environmental tracking (CET).” This is an excellent article.
“If the stone falls on the pot, alas, for the pot; if the pot falls on the stone, alas for the pot.” —Jewish proverb, based on Psalm 118:22 and Luke 20:17-18
Godly leaders don’t minister to please people, but to lead people to God. So godly leaders are ever aware that in all they do, they must hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
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