The Malicious Attack

March 31, 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.  

You may have noticed that the intensity of the pain of these sheep bites has been escalating—from flattery, to criticism, to gossip. Now we come to probably the most painful of bites: slander. This is the bite that will have the strongest pull toward the natural response, which will require our greatest reliance on the Holy Spirit to respond supernaturally. 

Remember that gossip has a veneer of truth on it; slander has no truth at all. They are outright lies. They are flimsy lies. They are malicious lies. One of the Hebrew words translated slander means scandal-monger: someone who trades in lies (Jeremiah 6:28 NLT; Leviticus 19:16).

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

The natural response to slander is, “I have to respond to them!” The supernatural response to slander is, “I have to yield to God!” 

The natural response, however, is fueled by my wounded pride. On the other hand, the supernatural response is fueled by humility toward God. 

Slanderers are arrogant people too (remember Jeremiah said “they are as hard as bronze and iron” [Jeremiah 6:28]). God’s people are learning to humble themselves to wait for God (Psalm 38:12-15). These humble people are the ones who get God’s help, and not His laughter (James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34 NLT). 

Look at how Jesus dealt with the very natural urge to respond to those who slandered Him. After Jesus was arrested by the temple guards, He was hauled before one group after another and each time the slanderous lies were spitefully spit at Him. In front of the Sanhedrin, before Roman governor Pontius Pilate, and in the throne room of King Herod Antipas, angry men unleashed their venomous claims—none of which were true.  

There are two common themes we can notice in all of these settings.

  1. The lies were seen for what they were: complete fabrications without any truth behind them—Mark 14:55. Governor Pilate said “I find no basis for a charge against Him” (Luke 23:4), and he added, “Herod came to the same conclusion and sent Him back to us” (v. 15). 
  2. The silence of Jesus: “Jesus remained silent and gave no answer” (Matthew 27:13-14; Mark 14:61, 15:5). The only red letters in this interaction with both the Sanhedrin and Pilate are when Jesus is asked a direct question. Jesus quickly answers the questions, “Are You the Messiah,” “Are You a King,” and “Don’t You know the power I have?” (Mark 14:61, 15:2; John 19:10), but He never responds to the slander. 

Let me repeat: Our supernatural response can only come from yielding to the Holy Spirit’s influence. 

  1. We cannot treat slanderers as anything less than people created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 15:1, 3). 
  1. We must take our pain into God’s presence. This is what Jesus did (1 Peter 2:21-23). We can help ourselves by praying imprecatory prayers. These are words for God’s ears only (Jude 1:9; Psalm 58:6-8). 
  1. We have to learn to pray for our slanderers. We have to mature from praying against them to praying for them. Look at how Jesus interceded for His slanderers (Luke 23:34), which He calls us to as well (Luke 6:28). 
  1. We have to live as overcomers. We overcome by NOT responding to slander in the natural way (Romans 12:21). But we allow our supernatural response to be used as a powerful testimony (2 Corinthians 6:3-10; Colossians 3:1-2, 8, 12-14). 

We can do this—the Holy Spirit is empowering us to do this. Let’s not get down in the mud with those who slander us, but let’s yield to God and allow Him to handle this painful situation far better than we ever could. 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you can find them all here. And if you are a pastor, please check out my book When Sheep Bite, which will help you both respond to sheep bites and teach others how to respond as well. 

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

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Blessing The Blesser

August 19, 2024 — 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’ve made it to the top step after a long climb. We’ve arrived! But arrived for what? Not for taking it easy, but for serving.  

Jesus was at the top, and consider what He did with that position:

  • He laid aside His prerogatives as God to serve us—Philippians 2:6-8 
  • He demonstrated this by becoming a servant of the servants—John 13:3-5 
  • He said, “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as One who serves.” (Luke 22:27) 

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

We strive for the top not to be served, but to serve. This is why the final Song of Ascent addresses those at the top as “servants of the Lord” (Psalm 134:1). 

The first duty of the servants is to praise (2x in vv. 1, 2). The KJV actually renders this word “bless,” which I believe is a good way for us to think about this. The word means: 

  1. praise God with a reverential mind and 
  2. celebrate God on bended knee 

In other words, both our heart and our body need to be in a posture of a praising servant. In the Septuagint, the word used for praise / bless is eulogeo, which means to say good words. In putting the two parts of the definition together, it mean we aren’t grumbling about our service (like “I have to do this”), but we are thankfully and worshipfully serving (as in “I get to do this!”). 

These servants are called to “minister…in the house of the Lord [and] in the sanctuary” (134:1-2), just as the priests in the tabernacle (1 Chronicles 9:33; Leviticus 6:13; 24:2, 4). 

This blessing and serving is itself a blessing which unlocks even more blessing. The final words of the final Song of Ascent is a prayer request (notice the word “may” in v. 3). 

The word bless in this final is the same word translated praise in vv. 1-2, except here the form of the verb means “to be shown divine favor”! 

We don’t get blessed by God because we have blessed God, but we bless God because He has already blessed us. I don’t command His blessing, but I bless Him in recognition of the blessing that continually flows from Him to me. 

To word minister as in v. 1 means to: 

  • endure all hardships 
  • continue until the task is done 
  • cause or help others to stand too 

God loves to bless people who love to bless people! 

As long as we’re here, keep blessing and serving others as your act of worship to God. Say good words to people about God and say good words to God about people. Lift up your hands, fall on your knees, sing out loud, or worship quietly in your heart. But keep on serving like Jesus. All of this blesses God. 

Your final and eternal reward in the Heavenly Zion is coming and it is beyond compare—

It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them watching when He comes. Truly I tell you, He will dress Himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them ready, even if He comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. (Luke 12:37-38) 

In blessing others, we are blessing the God who has already blessed us and who longs to bless us for all of eternity! 

If you’ve missed any of the messages looking at the fifteen Songs of Ascent, 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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How To See A National Revival

July 8, 2024 — 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 making it up to the 11th step—so close to the top now—how could the psalmist be saying, “Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD”? (Psalm 130:1) 

I think that the more we ascend in God, the more sensitive we should be to any semblance of sin in our lives that would offend Him. The mark of a maturing Christian is one who is constantly closing the gap between sin and confession. 

(You can check out all of the biblical references in this post by clicking here.)

I like the bridge in the song I Keep Falling In Love With Him—

When I first fell in love with Jesus,
I gave Him all my heart
And I thought I couldn’t love him more
than I did right at the start.
But now I look back over the mountains,
and the valleys where I’ve been
And It makes me know I love Him so much
more than I did then



Out of the depths—Think how far we’ve come on this climb. In the first Song of Ascent, we were experiencing the woes of being in the valley (Psalm 120:5-7). But now in this song, the feelings of being in the depths are not from someone else’s sinful activity. 


The psalmist is pointing out that national sin is the culmination of unrepented individual sins. God addressed this in Leviticus 20:22—Keep all My decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.  


Even in these depths, the psalmist is confident that God will hear—let Your ears be attentive (v. 2). Nehemiah was confident too. Look how he joins his personal sin to the national sin after Israel had be vomited out of the land (Nehemiah 1:1-7). 


Our confidence comes from the rock-solid assurance that God completely forgives our sins and then forgets all that He forgives (vv. 2-3; Psalm 103:10-12). 


The middle verses (vv. 5-6) have the key words wait, watch, and hope. This middle part comes down to: (1) What I’m going to pay attention to, and (2) What God pays attention to. 


God is attentive to our cries for mercy, and He is watchful for our care, not for our punishment! 


We are called to wait and watch in hope because God has proven that He is all in for us. Look at this completeness:  


    

  • full forgiveness (v. 3) 
    • 

  • unfailing love (v. 7a) 
    • 

  • full redemption (v. 7b) 
    • 

  • all their sins (v. 8) 
    • 



Notice in v. 7 the phrase “all THEIR sins” is now corporate (not singular, personal as in the opening verses). 


We’ve gone FROM my voice, my cry TO your hope, O Israel and redemption of their sins. 


If national sin is the culmination of unrepented individual sins, then national revival is the culmination of individuals repenting of their sins! 


National revival starts with you and with me. 


If you’ve missed any of the Songs of Ascent we’ve looked at, you can find them all here. 


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A Godly Man’s Superpower

June 17, 2024 — 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 Mother’s Day, I mentioned that Proverbs 31 might be an intimidating description for Moms, but it doesn’t need to be that way. This chapter lists what is possible when a woman is fully committed to God, her husband, and her children.  


Her faithfulness is her superpower which unleashes so many good things for those around her. Or as we said it: Her nobility helps her be a king maker. 


I concluded by saying that men have an important role to play in order to honor the king-making power which the godly women in his life have unlocked. This is a man’s superpower! Together, God-fearing men and women can create a legacy of king makers. But separated or self-focused men and women can create a legacy of king breakers. 


(Check out all of the Scriptures I mention in this post here.) 


The Hebrew word for noble is used five times in Proverbs: three times for the godly superwoman (Proverbs 12:4, 31:10, 31:29), and twice for the godly superman (13:22, 31:3). 


Remember that this word is also translated in different versions of the Bible as excellent, virtuous, and strong in character. 


In Proverbs 31:3 the word vigor for men is attached to that same Hebrew word. In this context, the word can be defined as strength, efficiency, ability, or wealth. 


On Mother’s Day, we said that Eve is the “help meet” (as the old King James Version says), which means that she is the key that unlocks Adam’s potential. The teaching throughout Proverbs says that men can squander this unlocked potential by…


    

  • …forgetting God’s laws—Proverbs 31:4-5 
    • 

  • …not stewarding the unlocked leadership opportunities in our marriage, parenting, work, or community involvement (Proverbs 5:15-20; 2:1-5, 12-17; 22:29; 31:23). 
    • 



In essence, we cancel the definition of vigor that we saw above, changing strength to weakness, efficiency to inefficiency, ability to inability, and wealth to poverty. 


On Mother’s Day we looked at virtuous Ruth who used her godly superpower to unlock the potential for Boaz, the man who would become her husband. Let’s look at his example: 


    

  • he was called a man of standing because his righteousness was well known in Bethlehem—Ruth 2:1 
    • 

  • he was obedient to the smallest details of the law—Ruth 2:3; Leviticus 19:9-10  
    • 

  • he honored his father by following his example—Matthew 1:5; Joshua 2:1-24, 6:23 
    • 

  • he was an honored employer—Ruth 2:4 
    • 

  • he was also (just like Ruth) called a man of noble character—Ruth 3:7-11, 14 
    • 



A Dad’s superpower looks very similar to a Mom’s superpower. The godly woman unlocks the potential, and when the godly man carefully stewards that potential, he is also using his godly superpower (Luke 12:42-43, 48)! 


Guys, when we use our God-given superpower, we honor Him and the godly women in our lives who have made this possible for us. We do this by…


    

  • …faithfully loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—Proverbs 31:4-5; Mark 12:28-31 
    • 

  • …caring for our bride like Jesus cares for His bride—Ephesians 5:25 
    • 

  • …honoring the legacy of our parents—Ephesians 6:2-3 
    • 

  • …passing on a godly heritage to our children—Ruth 4:21-22 
    • 



This is God’s design. And it is God’s delight when we live this way. So we must make the choice to either carry on the godly heritage that was handed down to us, or reverse the ungodly heritage that we may have inherited. 


Godly men and women unlock and perpetuate their God-given superpower by giving their heart, soul, mind, and strength to God. And then God will continue to empower us as the spouses, parents, and leaders in our community that He desires for us to be! 


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A Leader’s Example

February 28, 2024 — 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 you read through the history of the kings of Israel and Judah, there are two consistently recurring themes for these leaders—


    

  • He turned to God and the people put away their idols <or>
    • 

  • He turned from God and the people turned to their idols 
    • 



It’s true: As goes the leader, so go the people. 


In my life, I’ve experienced that the good things that I do over-the-top are only moderately emulated by those around me. But the unhealthy things that I even slightly indulge in are adopted quickly by everyone else. 


Godly leaders must be so aware of how their example impacts everyone around them, and they must fight to maintain biblical standards. When we miss the mark, we must be quick to admit our shortcoming, repent, and get back on track. 


In Hosea 4:9, God warns that the people will follow the ungodly example of their leaders, which is why God’s punishment is often more severe for those leaders. 


On the positive side, in Leviticus 9, Moses and Aaron demonstrate the leadership example of spending time in God’s presence and fully obeying everything God had revealed to them there. Then verse 23 it says that after they came out of His presence, God’s glory appeared to all the people. The positive example of the leaders led to huge blessings for all the people! 


A mark of a godly leader is one who increasingly aware of the power of his example. 


Leaders, let’s be first to go first in…


    

  • …being in God’s presence 
    • 

  • …obeying God’s commands 
    • 

  • …repenting when we fall short 
    • 

  • …asking forgiveness of those who have seen our poor example
    • 

  • …asking God to bless His people because of our good example
    • 



This is part 77 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.


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Links & Quotes

February 24, 2024 — Craig T. Owens 








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


Godly leaders need…


    

  • …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.”








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Links & Quotes

February 10, 2024 — Craig T. Owens 








Our anxiety is usually tied to our insecurity about our needs being met. Philippians 4:6-7 counsels us to turn those anxieties into prayer. It’s not what we can provide for ourselves, but trusting what our Heavenly Father has already provided for us. Check out this amazing series on prayer. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.




A recent post at the Institute for Creation Research says, “despite popular perception, the impact theory of dinosaur extinction has problems and is still a source of contention among even conventional scientists.” In fact, “Despite uniformitarian claims to the contrary, these rocks and fossils are best explained by the Genesis Flood that covered the earth about 4,500 years ago. All the air-breathing, land-dwelling creatures outside the Ark perished. However, the representatives of these animals that God brought on board the Ark, including dinosaurs, survived, reproduced, and spread across the Earth after the Flood. Many ancient peoples wrote about and described what appear to be dinosaurs, even though they called them by other names, e.g., dragons. In the creation Flood model, impacts may have hit the earth during the Flood, but none of them caused the dinosaurs to go extinct.” This article is a good overview of the geological and paleontological evidence that supports the biblical account of the Flood.


“Scripture teaches us that there are two points of view from which we may regard Christ’s death upon the Cross. The one is the redemption of the Cross: Christ dying for us as our complete deliverance from the curse of sin. The other, the fellowship of the Cross: Christ taking us up to die with Him and making us partakers of the fellowship of His death in our own experience. … O Christian, when the world crucified Christ, it crucified you with Him, when Christ overcame the world on the Cross, He made you an overcomer too. He calls you now, at whatever cost of self-denial, to regard the world, in its hostility to God and His kingdom, as a crucified enemy over whom the Cross can ever keep you conqueror. What a different relationship to the pleasures and attractions of the world the Christian has who by the Holy Spirit has learned to say: ‘I have been crucified with Christ;…[the crucified] Christ lives in me!’ (Galatians 2:20).” —Andrew Murray


Sullivan and Addie Chainey were both deaf, but that didn’t stop them from becoming premier missionaries in the Assembly of God fellowship. Their work with other deaf people was amazing! I love this concluding thought in this short biography of their ministry work: “The Chaineys’ story testifies that God can empower those who are marginalized in society to do redemptive work in their own communities and beyond.”


“Earth, I think, will not be found by anyone to be in the end a very distinct place. I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell: and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Great Divorce


Years later, Boaz was obeying this commandment in Leviticus 19:9. That allowed Ruth to be in his field, which led to a marriage that began the family line of King David, which traces all the way to Jesus! Obedience matters. Just imagine if Boaz had been disobedient in this. The Messiah still would have come, but Boaz and Ruth (and their children and grandchildren) would have missed out on this blessing.








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Sin Is Never Manageable

August 23, 2023 — 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. 



King Herod Antipas was the son of King Herod the Great. Herod the Great is the one who tried to kill Jesus shortly after He was born, and in the process murdered numerous infant boys in and around Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16). 


Herod Antipas seduced his sister-in-law Herodias (who was married to his brother Philip), who then divorced her husband to marry Antipas, who had also divorced his own wife (Matthew 14:3). This is also the Herod who so desperately wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle (Luke 9:7-9, 23:6-10). 


Antipas was no choir boy! And yet he had a strange fascination with spiritual matters. Not only did he want to see Jesus, but he liked hearing John the Baptist preach. At the same time, he hated John’s message that said he was living in sin (Mark 6:17-18; Leviticus 20:21). Herod wanted John dead, but he also feared the backlash from the people who thought John was God’s prophet. Later on, he tried to protect John from death, but in trying to save face with his guests, he had to have John killed (Mark 6:26; Matthew 14:5). 


Herod Antipas continually flirted with sin—never killing it, never running away from it. And this eventually caught up with him.


The Gospel of Mark records, “Finally the opportunity came” (Mark 6:21). Herodias’ daughter performed a seductive dance for Herod on his birthday, which cause him to say in front of everyone, “I’ll give you whatever you want.” Prompted by her mother, this young lady seized the opportunity and said, “I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter!” Following in his father’s footsteps, Herod Antipas became a murderer. 


If sin is left close, it will kill you. The Bible tells us sin is crouching nearby, always looking for an opportunity, always a part of the devil’s scheming plan to destroy us (Genesis 4:7; Luke 4:13; Ephesians 6:11; 1 Peter 5:8). 


Sin is never manageable. The little compromises eventually strengthen and blossom, and we are undone by our sin. No matter how “little” we may think our sin is, “little sins” are anything but harmless indiscretions. That’s why as soon as any sin comes to light, it must be killed instantly!


Let us not make the same fatal mistake that Herod Antipas made by flirting with our sin instead of killing it. Paul wrote, “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. … [N]ow is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language” (Colossians 3:5, 8).


Or, as John Owen put it, “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” 


►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials, like this recent post about building trust. ◀︎◀︎






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Jesus In The Seven Feasts

May 22, 2023 — 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. 



Douglas Carmel from Rock Of Israel ministries shared an amazing overview of the seven Jewish feasts that are listed in the Book of Leviticus, and how Jesus is the fulfillment of all of these feasts. Doug was born into a Jewish family and became a Christian in his late teens, so he has firsthand knowledge of both the traditional celebrations and the Christian understanding of these feasts. 


One of the things I appreciated was Doug’s explanation that the feasts were merely a shadow of the reality—Jesus is the Reality! 


Please check out the message he shared at Calvary Assembly of God. I encourage you to visit his website to get more information on all of the ministries Rock Of Israel. 




Passover—celebrated on the 14th day of the first month 


    

  • Leviticus 23:4-5
    • 

  • Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-20
    • 

  • Jesus was crucified on the same day that the Passover lamb was being sacrificed 
    • 



Unleavened Bread—celebrated on the 15th day of the first month


    

  • Leviticus 23:6
    • 

  • 1 Corinthians 5:6-9
    • 



Firstfruits—celebrated on the 16th day of the first month (or the day after the Sabbath) 


    

  • Leviticus 23:9-14 
    • 

  • 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 
    • 



Seven Weeks—celebrated 50 days after Firstfruits 


    

  • Leviticus 23:15-21 
    • 

  • Also known as Pentecost 
    • 

  • Acts 2:1-41
    • 



Doug called our attention to the calendar on which these feasts appeared. Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Seven Weeks all happen in the spring. All four of these feasts have already been fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 


There are no feasts in the summer months, as these are the months of field work (Leviticus 23:22). This is where we are now, which is why Jesus told us, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). This is the time for us to tell others about Jesus the Messiah! 


The final three feasts appear in the autumn—Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. These are feasts that are still to be fulfilled at Christ’s Second Advent. 


Trumpets—celebrated on the 1st day of the seventh month


    

  • Leviticus 23:23-25 
    • 

  • This is also known as Rosh Hashanah when the shofar is blown 
    • 

  • 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
    • 



Atonement—celebrated on the 10th day of the seventh month


    

  • Leviticus 23:26-32 
    • 

  • This is also known as Yom Kippur—the one day of the year the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies 
    • 

  • Romans 11:25-32; Matthew 23:39 
    • 



Tabernacles—celebrated on the 15th through the 21st days of the seventh month



Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). Jesus is THE Reality and THE Fulfillment of all of these celebrations! 


(Check out all of the Scripture verses I listed above by clicking here.) 


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






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Come To God And Keep Walking With Him

January 30, 2023 — 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 have been so grateful for the insights of Dr. Gary Chapman in his book The Five Love Languages. I have found this book to be of immense value in helping couple prepares for marriage, and in helping married couples get beyond a place where intimacy has become stuck. 


In short, the five love languages are words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. The goal of learning the other person’s love language—and learning to speak it consistently and fluently—is an increased level of intimacy. In the book of Amos, God asks, “Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” (Amos 3:3 NLT), and speaking the right love language definitely helps people agree! 


The whole reason we come to God in prayer as a Father, as a Brother, and as a Counselor is so that we can hear Him speaking our love language and we can continue to walk in deeper intimacy with Him. 


When my then-girlfriend Betsy and I first met, we spent hours and hours getting to know each other. We would ask questions, share stories, and tell things we did and didn’t enjoy. This is the epitome of intimate conversation: getting to know the other person’s heart as you open up your heart to them as well.


I’ve shared this analogy before, but intimacy grows stale and can eventually disappear altogether if those in a relationship are no longer walking together. It doesn’t work if I say, “Betsy, I’m looking forward to spending an hour with you each week,” or even if I say, “I’ll give you 15 minutes each morning.” Instead, our relationship needs to be one of continual walking. 


It’s the same thing for us as Christians: we cannot only give God an hour at a church service on Sunday mornings, nor is intimacy going to increase if I only walk and talk with my Savior for a few minutes in my morning devotions. 


Walking closely with Him is what God has desired right from the beginning. He walked with Adam and Eve each evening. This phrase “walking with God” is used consistently throughout the Bible of those who had an intimate relationship with their Father, Brother, and Counselor—Noah, Abraham, Isaac, the people of Israel (Genesis 3:8, 6:9, 17:1, 48:15; Leviticus 26:12). And even as the New Testament era dawns, we read, “And they [Zechariah and Elizabeth] were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6 NKJV). 


But I’m especially intrigued by the story of Enoch in Genesis 5:21-24. Twice in four short verses, we read “Enoch walked with God.” Remember that verse in Amos—“Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?”—so Enoch and God had to be in agreement. In fact, that’s exactly what we read about Enoch in the Book of Hebrews: 


By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Hebrews 11:5-6)


If you’ve taken Dr. Chapman’s love language assessment, you probably found that you were pretty lopsided: maybe you scored very highly in one love language and then barely registered in another. We may be lopsided in our love language skill, but God speaks every language perfectly! 


    

  • Words of affirmation—Hosea 2:14; Isaiah 40:2 
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  • Quality time—Deuteronomy 31:6; Psalm 23:3-4
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  • Gifts—James 1:17; 2 Peter 1:3
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  • Acts of service—Philippians 2:13; Romans 8:28
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  • Physical touch—Psalm 139:13-15; Luke 24:39 
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(Click here to check out all of those verses.) 


Dr. Chapman noted that when our love language is being spoken to us sincerely and consistently, our love tank is filled, and all of the love languages begin to become more meaningful. 


Just as God walked with Enoch until the day He brought him Home, so He wants to walk with us. 


    

  • Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper. (Deuteronomy 5:33) 
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  • The Lord will establish you as His holy people, as He promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to Him. (Deuteronomy 28:9) 
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  • May He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in obedience to Him and keep the commands. (1 Kings 8:58) 
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  • Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to Him. (Psalm 128:1) 
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  • And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love. (2 John 6) 
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When we walk in loving intimacy with Him, our intimacy grows deeper and more mature. Sometimes they will say of couples who have been married for a long time and walk in increasingly deeper intimacy with each other, “They seem to know each other’s thoughts.” That’s because they know each other’s hearts—and that’s what God wants to do with us. He did it with Enoch, and He will do that with us too (Jude 14; Jeremiah 33:3; Habakkuk 3:19). 


Enoch walked intimately with God for 365 years. Let us walk intimately with God for 365 days a year, for as many years as He gives us until God takes us away with Him forever! 


If you’ve missed any of the messages in our prayer series called Intimate Conversation, you can find all of the messages by clicking here. 


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