Worrywart

June 22, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

“Worry indicates we’re not willing to let God handle certain things—at least not in His way, and certainly not in His time.” —Craig Groeschel, in The Christian Atheist

Worry is a control issue…

…that is, I want to be in control.

Worry is a sovereignty issue…

…that is, I think I know best how things should work out.

Worry is a trust issue…

…that is, I trust God only when things are happening on my timeframe.

Bottom line: Worry is sin when…

  • …I allow something else to be bigger than God.
  • …I allow something else to be more important than God.
  • …I allow something to limit God.
  • …I look more to myself for solutions than I look to God.

Any worry should be a call to prayer: Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Any extended worry should be a call to repentance: Jesus commands us four times, “Do not worry” (Matthew 6:25-34).

Worry can be disguised in a lot of different forms, but it’s still worry. And it’s still sin. I’m working on this.  

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Fasting

June 17, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

We’re fasting today.

I believe in this: Prayer + Fasting = Breakthroughs.

Even though this looks like a mathematical formula, it doesn’t work like a formula. Jesus challenged religious people who fasted just because. Jesus was really echoing the words God spoke in Isaiah about religious people simply going through pious acts, but their hearts were still far away from God. They thought God operated on a formula: “If we fast, then God has to….” It doesn’t work that way.

We met together for a time of worship and Bible study last night, and we’ll conclude our fast with corporate prayer this evening. We are focusing on our heart attitude. Not fasting just because or even the pastor asked us to. But fasting because we are hungry for God to move … for Him to break chains … for Him to set people free … for breakthroughs!

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in us and then through us as we spend this time seeking His heart. Prayer + Fasting = Breakthroughs.

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You See What You’re Looking For

May 14, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

It’s a pretty simple concept: you only see what you want to see. For example, if you are looking for your car keys, you won’t really see anything else that you are picking up or looking behind to find your keys. Your brain is locked in on keys, so that’s all you will see.

In a well-known Bible story, Moses sends twelve men into the Promised Land to check things out. He tells them to explore the land and bring back a report. The men went to several locations, and there is no mention of who or what they saw except…

  • …in the valley of Eschol, they found grapes of extraordinary size.
  • …in Hebron, they found people of extraordinary size.

They went in looking for big things, and that’s all they saw.

With the exception of Caleb and Joshua who said, “So what? Our God is bigger than those giants,” all the other men saw defeat. In the end, all the other men saw death in the desert; only Caleb and Joshua saw God’s victory in the Promised Land.

You see what you want to see—

What do you see?

What are you looking for?

Are you looking for giants? If so, you’ll find them. And they will seem even bigger in your eyes than they really are.

Are you looking for God’s victory? If so, you’ll find Him. And His deliverance will seem even more incredible than you could have imagined!

Prayer trains your eyes to see differently. Prayer trains your brain to look for victory. Prayer keeps you alert to what God is doing.

If all you see are giants, if all you hear is bad news, if all you feel is fear, perhaps you’re looking for giants and bad news and the fearful things.

Friend, God wants you to see Him on the move. Pray!

  • Prayer changes giants to dwarfs.
  • Prayer changes defeat to victory.
  • Prayer changes gloom to sunshine.
  • Prayer changes the way you see the world.
  • Prayer changes you.

“The prayer of the morning will determine the day.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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What If…

May 11, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

…for just one day you and I only said what God told us to say?

“Everything?” you ask, “Is that even possible?”

Yes! Jesus did it. Look:

I don’t speak on My own authority. The Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it.

Everything Jesus said was directed by His Father. Yes, everything.

Want to try it today? First, we have to spend more time in God’s presence to hear His words. Then here’s a simple gauge to use (as given to us by James). Are my words…

  • true?
  • pure?
  • peace-promoting?
  • considerate?
  • courteous?
  • gentle?
  • sincere?
  • merciful?

Are you ready to give it a try?

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The Imbalanced Mother

May 10, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

We had a great time celebrating Moms yesterday. Moms are these amazing creatures that seem to be everywhere and doing everything. This ability to multitask is a blessing, but it can lead to problems if Moms try to perfectly balance their lives through more multitasking.

Perfect balance is an impossibility. Just as soon as you think you have everything balanced, life throws you a curve: a sick child … a flat tire … change of plans … I’m sure you know the drill.

Instead of trying to be the perfectly balanced multitasker, I suggest that you become a purposely imbalanced, God-leaning mother.

Imbalance your day toward God.

Take the time necessary to lean into God, and the rest of your day will be well-ordered.

Dads and kids, the greatest thing you can do to honor your wife/mother, is to make sure she has undisturbed time alone with God. I promise you that after she spends this time, the rest of her day—and therefore your day—will go much more smoothly. Help her to imbalance her life.

Here’s a great poem from Faye Inchfawn written in 1920:

See, I am cumbered, Lord,
With serving, and with small vexatious things.
Upstairs, and down, my feet
Must hasten, sure and fleet.
So weary that I cannot heed Thy word;
So tired, I cannot now mount up with wings.
I wrestle – how I wrestle! – through the hours.
Nay, not with principalities, nor powers—
Dark spiritual foes of God’s and man’s—
But with antagonistic pots and pans:
With footmarks in the hall,
With smears upon the wall,
With doubtful ears, and small unwashen hands,
And with a babe’s innumerable demands.
I toil with feverish haste, while tear-drops glisten,
 
(O, child of Mine, be still. And listen—listen!)
 
At last, I laid aside
Important work, no other hands could do
So well (I thought), no skill contrive so true.
And with my heart’s door open—open wide—
With leisured feet, and idle hands, I sat.
I, foolish, fussy, blind as any bat,
Sat down to listen, and to learn. And lo,
My thousand tasks were done the better so.

 

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The Blessing

May 6, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

Just some personal musings on a well-known blessing.

The Lord bless you…

  • May you find nothing missing, nothing lacking.
  • May you be full and complete.
  • Then you will be better able to bless others.

…and keep you;

  • Safe and secure.
  • As a priceless heirloom.
  • As the apple of His eye.

…the Lord make His face to shine upon you,

  • So you are basking in His presence.
  • Reflecting His glory.
  • Distinguished from all others.

…and be gracious to you;

  • As He renews His mercies to you every morning.
  • Lavishing you with His blessings.
  • Not treating you as your sins deserve.

…the Lord turn His face toward you,

  • Knowing that you have His full notice.
  • Enjoying His full approval.
  • Living in His abundant favor.

…and give you peace 

  • All your anxieties banished.
  • Your confidence renewed.
  • Your direction assured.

When you say, “May God bless you” to someone, you are saying one of the most powerful, loving things that you could ever utter. There is nothing like God’s blessing: nothing compares to it, and nothing can detract from it.

May I encourage you to more regularly ask for God’s blessing to be on your life, and may you be lavish with your request for God’s blessings on others’ lives too.

GOD BLESS YOU!

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Synergy

May 3, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

The dictionary defines synergy as the combined action of two items, where their output is greater than the sum of their individual efforts. I like the Bible’s definition better:

Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you (Leviticus 26:8).

God’s synergy has an “if” attached to it. A few verses earlier God says, “If you follow Me and obey My principles, then this is what you can expect from Me.”

So God’s synergistic math looks like this:

5 = 102 = 104

Five people motivated by their devotion to God and trusting Him for victory = 100 enemies defeated.

One hundred people doing the exact same thing = 10,000 enemies defeated.

The first synergy is a 20-fold increase, while the second synergy is a 100-fold increase! The more people that buy into this truth, the greater the synergy.

Imagine if you could get just four other people to join you in prayer and in seeking God for…

  • …the lost in your city
  • …the healing of an “incurable” diseases
  • …the alleviation of poverty
  • …the strengthening of marriages
  • …the end of abortion

Imagine!

God’s synergy is an amazing thing! Be a part of it!

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A Voice Behind Me

April 28, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

In our series on Building Blocks, I’ve been talking about the basics of a relationship with Jesus Christ. An obvious foundation for any relationship is meaningful conversation.

If you think about any close relationship you have, the closeness was developed through conversation. Gradually you began to know their voice and know their heart. Our meaningful conversation with God produces the same increased intimacy. We talk with Him through reading His Word and through prayer.

The more you read the Bible and the more you pray, the clearer His voice becomes. Isaiah said it this way:

Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)

Earlier this week I was on a long road trip, so I took our dog Grace with me. After grabbing some lunch, I wanted to find a place for Grace to run around and stretch her legs, but I was in a town I didn’t know. As I came to the end of the driveway, my next appointment would have been right, but I felt I should turn left instead.

I did, and two blocks away was a huge, grassy park where I could sit and eat my lunch and Grace could frolic to her heart’s content.

Did I actually hear a Voice? No, but I felt a Voice. His Voice. Yes, I believe God even cares about helping me find a place for my lunch and for my dog to run. He cares that much about me. And you too!

He’s speaking to you all the time. Are you listening to the Voice behind you?

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Two Helpful Questions

April 19, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Some people tell me that they don’t read the Bible for themselves because they don’t understand parts of what they read, or they don’t know what to do with the parts they do understand.

To which I reply, “That’s understandable.”

The Bible is filled with timeless principles given to us by an Eternal God. The principles may be timeless, but their application is not universal. For example, God’s timeless principle of, say, honoring your parents may be applied one way by someone living in the 12th century B.C. and applied completely differently by someone living today.

Same principle. Different application.

This is easy to say, but much harder to put into action. But I believe it is imperative that we continue to read God’s timeless principles in His Word and find daily application for our lives. So I’d like to suggest two questions to help you in this pursuit. They are the same two questions that people asked the day of Peter’s first sermon after the birth of the Christian church. Try these the next time you read your Bible:

  • What does this mean? (Acts 2:12)
  • What should I do? (Acts 2:37)

Don’t avoid reading the Bible. And don’t approach the Bible the way Søren Kierkegaard said some people do: “Many read the Bible the way a mouse tries to remove the cheese from a trap: trying not to get caught.”

I’m still learning too. Two things that help me immensely: (1) Pray before I read my Bible, asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate His inspired Word, and (2) Talk with other wise friends about the application questions I have.

If you have some strategies that are working for you, please share them in the comments below.

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Glowing With God

April 13, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’m struck by this passage:

…[Moses’] face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.

This has got me thinking…

  1. Am I different after I speak with the Lord?
  2. Can people tell I’ve been in His presence?
  3. Do I spend enough time with God, or do I just dash through His tabernacle?
  4. Are people coming near me to hear what I learned in God’s presence?

If I were to answer honestly, I cannot say “yes” to all of these. If I want to glow with God I’ve got to be willing to spend enough time with Him.

I’m working on it. How about you?

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