Great Plans!

January 16, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

As Jesus was approaching Jerusalem just prior to His passion, He told His disciples, “Everything that is written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled” (Luke 18:31).

Nothing about Jesus Christ’s life was haphazard, or random, or coincidental. Everything was a part of a perfect plan. So in order for everything about His life to fulfill the prophesies, every word He spoke and every action He completed also had to be fulfilling. And they were (see John 12:49-50)!

Sadly, His followers “did not understand any of this” (Luke 18:34).

Sadly, many people today don’t understand their own life’s purpose.

Sadly, often times I don’t either.

But God has a perfect plan for you and me.

All the days ordered for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16)

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)

I don’t have to lack understanding in this (John 14:16).

I can pray for wisdom (James 1:5).

And Jesus Himself is praying for me to follow the Father’s plans (Hebrews 7:25).

God has great plans for my life—and for your life. Don’t be like the disciples that did not understand any of this. Pray … ask for God’s wisdom … ask for the Holy Spirit’s illumination … and trust in Christ’s interceding prayer for you.

May your words and actions today fulfill the plans God has for you!

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Search & Seizure

January 2, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

The beginning of a new year is a time when many people resolve to change things in their lives. They vow to stop smoking, change their diet, exercise, take a class, or do other things that will make them “a better person.”

But my question is: Why wait until January 1 to start something new?

In one of his most intimate psalms, David prayed,

Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24 AMP)

Charles Spurgeon added this thought:

“Every man who is wise in the kingdom of heaven, will cry, Search me, O God, and try me; and he will frequently set apart special seasons for self-examination, to discover whether things are right between God and his soul. The God whom we worship is a great heart-searcher; and of old His servants knew Him as the Lord which searches the heart and tries the reins of the children of men. Let me stir you up in His name to make diligent search and solemn trial of your state, lest you come short of the promised rest. That which every wise man does, that which God Himself does with us all, I exhort you to do with yourself….”

This search and seizure of unhealthy thoughts or unhealthy habits should be done alone with God. There in the quietness of God’s presence we can resolve to live differently. Oswald Chambers wrote:

“Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world.”

Today is as good as any day will ever be to allow God to search you, and to seize those thoughts which are keeping you back from the fullness of life He wants for you. Allow His Spirit to help you today.

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Thursdays With Oswald—Instantly Detecting Compromise

December 1, 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.

Instantly Detecting Compromise

     We must be continually renewed in the spirit of our mind so that the slightest beginning of compromise with the spirit of the world is detected. “Well, what’s the harm; there’s nothing wrong in it,” when you hear that you know you have the spirit of the world, because the Spirit that comes from Jesus says, “Does this glorify God?”

From Biblical Ethics

There’s a HUGE difference between a Christian being in the world and of the world. A Christian who is compromising, is slowly becoming of the world. They say, “This isn’t wrong.”

A Christian who is uncompromising, is slowly becoming in the world but of Heaven. They judge everything by whether or not it brings glory to God.

Compromise is the slow erosion. Seldom does one go from a passionate follower of God to a worldly person suddenly. It is the small compromises day after day that are the most dangerous.

So one of my frequent prayers must be—

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out ANYTHING in me that offends You. (Psalm 139:23-24, NLT)

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Thanksgiving Leftovers

November 25, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I read a couple of blog posts yesterday, and I wanted to share some great Thanksgiving reminders with you. After all, yesterday wasn’t the only day of the year to give thanks, right?

Dr. Tim Elmore offers a great question for determining what we’re really thankful for: What have I been talking about recently that expresses my gratitude?

“Pause for a moment and think about it. You would likely never talk to a stranger downtown in a big city—unless you lost your child and can’t find them anywhere. Suddenly, you’ll talk to anyone who will listen and help.

“You probably wouldn’t talk to a person who lived in another neighborhood that you’ve never met, unless you saw their house on fire. Suddenly, it changes everything. You would gladly find a way to intrude and warn them.

“The reason you would talk to those people is because you feel strongly about your child and about the safety of people. That is a conviction in your life. Convictions are deeper than ideas or opinions. They are strongly held beliefs that you take action for, and perhaps would even die for.”

Seth Godin suggests that the best way to show how thankful we are is to do good work.

“For every person reading this there are a thousand people (literally a thousand) in underprivileged nations and situations that would love to have your slot. Don’t waste it.”

And Mark Driscoll shares “some verses from the Bible on thankfulness for you to digest on this day of feasting.”

But the most important quote I’m focusing on is this—

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. (Psalm 103:2)

I’m determined to be a man who gives thanks every day!

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New Attitude

October 17, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

“My job is boring. It’s the same-old-same-old every single day. My coworkers are incompetent, and my boss is clueless.”

If you knew nothing else about the person who made that statement, I think you could still predict how they treated their job. Would you think this person values their job? Do you think they work hard? Do they treat their coworkers with respect? Probably not.

How about this one: “My car is a piece of junk. The mileage is lousy, the radio doesn’t work when the weather is cold, and it leaks when it rains.” Can you guess how this person treats their car?

Now flip it around: What about the one who is thankful for his job, or grateful for her car. Now how will he treat his job? his coworkers? her car?

What we praise, we treat with greater respect.

Look at the last of the 150 psalms in the Bible:

Praise the Lord!

   Praise God in His sanctuary;
      praise him in His mighty heaven!
   Praise Him for His mighty works;
      praise His unequaled greatness!
   Praise Him with a blast of the ram’s horn;
      praise Him with the lyre and harp!
   Praise Him with the tambourine and dancing;
      praise Him with strings and flutes!
   Praise Him with a clash of cymbals;
      praise Him with loud clanging cymbals.
   Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

   Praise the Lord!

Thirteen times in just six verses the psalmist says PRAISE. Because what we praise, we treat with greater respect, awe, reverence. The more you praise God, the more you will find to praise about Him. And the more you praise God, the more your attitude will change about the things around you: your job, your car, your family, your friends, your country, and on and on.

Praise will change your outlook. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

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United

September 9, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

These are the pastors of the Cedar Springs Ministerial Association praying together before our UNITED service. We truly are united. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful group of colleagues who will put aside any denominational differences, to simply focus on winning people for Christ!

How good and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

I hope other pastors can learn from this group and experience the blessing of being united.

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Integrity At Home

August 30, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I read this verse the other day in my devotions, and it’s really been doing a number on my heart.

…I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. (Psalm 101:2 NLT)

I would hate it if I was considered a hero at work, but considered a zero in my own home.

Here’s what I’m processing:

  • Do I earn the same level of respect at home as I do at the office?
  • Do I put in the same diligence into growing my home life as I do growing my career?
  • Am I as forgiving with my family as with friends and coworkers?
  • Do I have the same level of preparation at home as I do at work?
  • Am I learning the craft of being a husband and father like I’m learning the craft of being a pastor?
  • Do I honor my commitments at home like I do with others?

I don’t want to live as John Bunyan described Talkative in Pilgrim’s Progress: “He was a saint abroad and a devil at home.”

Instead one of my life verses is this: I have no greater joy than knowing my children all walk in the truth (3 John 4).

The only way this will be possible is if I led a life of integrity in my own home.

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Backcasting

July 19, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Psalm 22 is a prayer of raw desperation. I love how transparent David is with his emotions. Many people would hide this sort of thing: never daring to admit that they had doubts. But David freely admits that he’s frustrated by what is happening—or actually not happening—in his life.

I see three points of David’s desperation:

  1. God, why don’t You answer me (vv. 1-2).
  2. God, why don’t You defend my honor (vv. 6-8).
  3. God, why don’t You rescue me (vv. 11-18).

Do you think David had a right to say these things against God? Remember Jesus said them too!

Do you think David was over-reacting when he said these things? Remember Jesus said them too!

David truly, deeply, felt these things. He truly believed that God wasn’t answering him, or defending him, or rescuing him. At least, AS HE THOUGHT GOD SHOULD!

But David says something VITAL after each of his points of desperation. It’s summed up in one conjunction each time…

  • Yet (vv. 3-5).
  • Yet (vv. 9-10).
  • But (vv. 19-21).

In all of these David recalls past history. David looks to the past to help him look to the future.

He BACKCASTS so that he can have a better FORECAST!

Looking back gives David assurance of God’s faithfulness. This assurance gives David hope for the future. So now look how he responds in his present desperate situation:

  • I will declare Your name (v. 22a)
  • I will praise You (v. 22b)
  • He calls others to join him in praise (v. 23)
  • He realizes that God has not hidden His face… but He has listened to his cry for help (v. 24)
  • He decides to praise God in spite of the temporary disappointments, giving all glory to God (vv. 25-31)

This is what is called a typio-prophetic Messianic psalm: what David experienced, Jesus would both experience and fulfill. So although Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me,” He too could backcast to forecast and get the strength He needed to persevere…

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

This is why I’m a big believer in journals: writing things down now will give you ammunition for future trials. Then when you are in those trials, you can backcast to get a better forecast of the hope for God’s deliverance. That will give you joy in the present, just like David. And just like Jesus!

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Thursdays With Oswald—Pray Early, Pray Often

July 14, 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.

Pray Early, Pray Often

     The only way to find God is through prayer. In the religious life of the Pharisee, prayer becomes a rite, a ceremony. In all religion based on sound principles prayer is an exercise, a ceremony, it is not blood or passion, not actual from the whole manhood. In such prayers there is magnificently beautiful diction which one needs to be in a calm, quiet state of mind to appreciate. The most beautiful prayers are prayers that are rites, but they are apt to be mere repetition, and not of the nature of Reality….

      We do not pray at all until we are at out wits’ end. ‘Their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble’ (Psalm 107:5-6). … When a man is at his wits’ end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with Reality.

From Baffled To Fight Better

Why do I wait until I’m at my wits’ end to pray?

Why don’t I just pray early and pray often?

One more from Oswald Chambers:

“The man who prays ceases to be a fool, while the man who refuses to pray nourishes a blind life within his own brain and he will find no way out that road.”

I don’t want to be a fool, so I guess I need to pray more.

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My Blind Spot

June 24, 2011 — 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.

Blind spots can be deadly. I simply don’t see what’s right there until—wham!—it crashes into me.

These blind spots have been called our “unconscious incompetence” zone. I’m not doing well in a certain area, but I just don’t know it yet until—wham!

Up to that point everything seems fine, but wise King Solomon said, “Smugness will destroy fools” (Proverbs 1:32).

It seems there are two ways I could deal with my unconscious incompetencies. (1) I could wait until I get blindsided by one of them; or (2) I could ask the Holy Spirit to reveal them to me. Neither option seems very pleasant, but if I’m going to get hit—wham!—it seems like a better option to let Someone who loves me, and wants the best for me, to do it (see Hebrews 12:5-11).

David thought so too. He prayed—

Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

Or, how about Sir Francis Drake’s prayer:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push us into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

The wham! moments will come. The question is how do you want them to come?

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