Thursdays With Oswald—Stronger

March 10, 2011 — 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.

Stronger

       If we believe in a state of mind He produces in us, we will be disappointed, because circumstances will come in our lives when these works of Jesus Christ are shadowed over; but if we believe in Him, no matter how dark the passage is we shall be carried right through, and when the crisis is passed our souls will have been built into a stronger attitude towards Him.

From Facing Reality

Job certainly went through a “dark passage”! Yet in the midst of it he said, “But principled people hold tight, keep a firm grip on life, sure that their clean, pure hands will get stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9).

And as David passed through his “dark passage” he confidently stated—

I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me.
      He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy;
      no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
      He saved me from all my troubles.
For the angel of the Lord is a guard;
      He surrounds and defends all who fear Him….

The righteous person faces many troubles,
      but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. (Psalm 34:4-7, 19)

My friend, hold on to Jesus. Hold on! He will carry you through, and you will build a stronger faith.

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Thursdays With Oswald—Yielded

March 3, 2011 — 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.

Yielded

       There is a distinct period in our experience when we cease to say—“Lord, show me Thy will,” and the realization begins to dawn that we are God’s will, and He can do with us what He likes. We wake up to the knowledge that we have the privilege of giving ourselves over to God’s will. It is a question of being yielded to God.

From Facing Reality

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)

Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. (Psalm 139:14)

God has a plan for my life. He prepared me in advance to fulfill His will and plan for me. Will I yield to Him? Or will I continue to try to find my own way?

What a supreme privilege it is to yield to His will for my life!

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Thursdays With Oswald—Broken And Crucified

February 24, 2011 — 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.

Broken

       We need to remember that we cannot train ourselves to be Christians; we cannot discipline ourselves to be saints; we cannot bend ourselves to the will of God: we have to be broken to the will of God.

From Facing Reality

Crucified

       To “crucify” means to put to death, not counteract, not sit on, not whitewash, but kill. If I do not put to death the things in me which are not of God, they will put to death the things that are of God.

From Biblical Ethics

Jesus said to His disciples, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it.”

Then Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

I’m trying to live broken and crucified. Will you join me in this daily pursuit?

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Thursdays With Oswald—Be Yourself

February 17, 2011 — 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.

Be Yourself

       God’s main concern is that we are more interested in Him than in work for Him. Once you are rooted and grounded in Christ the greatest thing you can do is to be. Don’t try to be useful; be yourself and God will use you to further His ends.

From Facing Reality

God doesn’t need you to try to be anything else than the you He created you to be.

You are a one-of-a-kind … unique … perfect just as He made you.

The greatest joy you will ever know is being yourself. But you can only be fully you when you find yourself in Christ. His life in you makes you you.

(And, by the way, we are exploring this idea further over the next couple of weeks in a series of messages called “Living In The Zone.” If you are in the Cedar Springs area, I’d love to have you join us!)

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Thursdays With Oswald—What Secures Your Faith?

February 10, 2011 — 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.

What Secures Your Faith?

       Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God Whose ways you cannot understand at the time. I don’t know why God allows what He does, but I will stick to my faith in His character no matter how contradictory things look. Faith is not a conscious thing, it springs from a personal relationship and is the unconscious result of believing someone.

From Facing Reality

Religion is cold and lifeless. Relationship is warm and vibrant.

Religion is shaken by questioning during uncertainty. Relationship is strengthened by clinging tighter during uncertainty.

Religion is belief in some thing. Relationship is belief in some One.

My faith is staked securely on my personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

What about yours?

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Test Of A Preacher

February 3, 2011 — 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.

The Test Of A Preacher

       The test of an instructor in the Christian Church is that he is able to build me up in my intimacy with Jesus Christ, not that he gives me new ideas, but I come away feeling I know a bit more about Jesus Christ. Today the preacher is tested, not by the building up of saints but on the ground of his personality.

From Facing Reality

It’s natural to want to be popular. To that end, we often choose charisma over character, style over substance, entertainment over intimacy. Even those who are called to preach the Gospel can fall prey to this.

My prayer: Heavenly Father, I want to know You more; I want to become more intimate with You. As I do, may I always preach out of the overflow of that relationship. Never preaching just to please people, but merely sharing with others how much I love You. Search my heart, Holy Spirit, for any shred of envy that I’m not as popular as the-other-guy. The only applause I live for is that from the nail-scarred hands of my Savior Jesus Christ.

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Word Of God

January 27, 2011 — 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.

The Word Of God

       The Bible nowhere says we have to believe it is the Word of God before we can be Christians. The Bible is not the Word of God to me unless I come at it through what Jesus Christ says, it is of no use to me unless I know Him. The key to my understanding of the Bible is not my intelligence, but my personal relationship to Jesus Christ. … You may believe the Bible is the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation and not be a Christian at all.

From Facing Reality

Do I just know the Word of God, or do I know the God of the Word? If I read and study the Bible just to gain knowledge, I will become a very religious person. But if I read the Bible to know Christ more, I will enter into a deeper relationship with Him.

…knowledge puffs up while love builds up… (1 Corinthians 8:1)

I want to read my Bible as a love letter, and fall more and more in love with the God who wrote it to me.

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Thursdays With Oswald—Disentangled

January 20, 2011 — 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.

Disentangled

       A disciple of Jesus must know from what he is to be disentangled. The disentanglement is from things which would be right for us but for the fact that we have taken upon us the vows of God. There is a difference between disentanglement for our own soul’s sake and disentanglement for God’s sake. We are apt to think only about being disentangled from the things which would ensnare us—we give up this and that, not for Jesus Christ’s sake, but for our own development. A worker has to disentangle himself from many things that would advantage and develop him but which would turn him aside from being broken bread and poured out wine in his Lord’s hands. We are not here to develop our own spiritual life, but to be broken for Jesus Christ’s sake.

From Approved Unto God

My prayer: Break me … disentangle me … pour me out for Your glory, O God.

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Thursdays With Oswald—Unbendingly Holy

January 13, 2011 — 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.

Unbendingly Holy

       Holiness means every part of my life under scrutiny of God, knowing that the grace of God is sufficient for every detail. The temptation comes along the line of compromise, “Don’t be so unbendingly holy; so fiercely pure and uprightly chaste.” Never tolerate by sympathy with yourself or with others any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God.

 From Approved Unto God

My prayer: Scrutinize me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my compromising thoughts. Point out ANYTHING in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. I want to be unbendingly holy in Your sight, O Holy God.

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Thursdays With Oswald—A Passion For Christ, Not Souls

January 6, 2011 — 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.

A Passion For Christ, Not Souls

       The reason some of us have no power in our preaching, no sense of awe, is that we have no passion for God, but only a passion for Humanity….

       It is not a passion for men that saves men; a passion for men breaks human hearts. The passion for Christ inwrought by the Holy Spirit goes deeper down than the deepest agony the world, the flesh and the devil can produce. It goes straight down to where Our Lord went, and the Holy Spirit works out, not in thinking, but in living, this passion for Christ.

From Approved Unto God

Wow, tough word. But it’s true: If I love Christ more than my loved ones, I will love my loved ones even better. A passion for Christ will win others to Christ; a passion for souls will only lead to building my ministry.

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