Psalm | Craig T. Owens

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Gratitude That Reverberates Through The Ages

December 2, 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.

Last week we learned how our gratitude helps strengthen other saints. I mentioned that one of the saints that may be helped is yourself. Like when King David took care of Mephibosheth “for the sake of your father Jonathan” (2 Samuel 9:7).

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

But this isn’t quid quo pro—we aren’t grateful people just so we can get something back for ourselves. We should be grateful people because…

(1) …God is good all the time and so we should be thankful to Him continually—1 Thessalonians 5:18

(2) …Jesus was grateful—1 Peter 2:23; Hebrews 12:2

(3) …God blesses thankful people—1 Peter 3:9; Luke 6:33

(4) …your thankfulness can benefit people you haven’t even met!

Near the end of his life, David wrote a hymn of thanksgiving, which he taught to Asaph (his worship leader) who then taught it to all the citizens (1 Chronicles 16:7-35). Throughout this song, notice how many times David sang about not only giving thanks but sharing our thankfulness with those around us.

In difficult times, people search for what delivered others in the past. A good example is Psalm 106, where the psalmist warns his readers about the dangers of forgetting to be thankful for God’s blessings. This psalm begins and ends with words taken right from David’s hymn of thanksgiving as an added reminder of what our gratitude should sound like (see vv. 1, 47-48).

One hundred years after David wrote this song, King Asa needed to look back to it. His father Abijah had been evil throughout his reign as king, so had his grandfather Rehoboam. His great-grandfather Solomon started off well, but turned away from God near the end of his life. So Asa looked all the way back to the thankful heart of his great-great grandfather David (1 Kings 15:11).

Jehoshaphat needed this same song 100 years after Asa (200 years after David wrote it) in 2 Chronicles 20. Enemies had surrounded Judah and Jehoshaphat called the people to prayer. Jahaziel, a direct descendant of David’s worship leader Asaph, calls the people to trust God to fight the battle for them. As the army marches out the next morning, they put the worship team at the front who sang David’s 200-year-old song of thanksgiving and God used that to ambush their enemies!

Your lifestyle of gratitude today—your songs of thanksgiving—could be a blessing to future generations that haven’t even been born yet!

We would do well to learn the lessons of the past and make sure we are always quickly turning our grumbling into a song of thankfulness.

As you do, you are…

Emulating the lifestyle of Jesus
Banking up blessings from God
Ambushing the enemy
Bringing a testimony to non-believers
Establishing a standard for future generations

We bless God and bless others by employing two words: BE THANKFUL!

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our Be Thankful series, 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. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Chronicles, 1 Peter, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Chronicles, 2 Samuel, Calvary Assembly of God, Gospel of Luke, gratitude, Hebrews, Jonathan, King David, Psalm, sermon, spiritual warfare, thankfulness, thanksgiving. 1 Comment »

Your Gratitude Strengthens Other Saints

November 25, 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.

Let me remind you of something I covered last week:

If we start out thankful but then forget about our blessings, we become fearful and selfish, which makes us susceptible to the sin of grumbling against God.
But if we start our thankful and then continually remember all that God has done for us, we remain joyful and secure, which fortifies us against giving in to the sin of grumbling against God.

As I have shared with you during this series, medical science has discovered so many connections between gratitude and wellbeing—mentally, physically, emotionally, and relationally. Here’s another important finding from medical science: Chronic stress impairs memory formation.

Remember this insight from George Santayana: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”?

But what if we cannot learn the lessons from history because we cannot remember and recall those lessons? That’s one of the ways chronic stress ravages our ability to be grateful. Stress literally clogs up the amygdala in our brain so that these lessons cannot be filed away for future use.

Where does this chronic stress come from? Stress can be a good thing—think of the stress we put on our lungs, heart, and muscles when we exercise. That good stress (eustress) prepares us to respond well in difficult situations.

But chronic stress is unhealthy. It begins to make us withdraw into ourselves. We become self-protective. We start to see potential problems even behind blessings.

Self-protective becomes self-focused, which is the exact opposite of the God-focus we looked at last week in Psalm 103:2. This also makes us want to isolate from people (see Psalm 42:1-4, especially the “used to” in v. 4).

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

The enemy of our soul is prowling. He loves to see isolated saints because they are easier prey. This is why the New Testament again and again highlights the phrases “one another” and “each other” for the saints (for example: Colossians 3:15-16; Hebrews 10:19-25). When one saint struggles, all of the saints should feel that and respond quickly

Consider the example of David’s life. David is in a stressful state where I am sure it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to find praiseworthy things. He is becoming more and more self-protective and therefore self-focused.

Saul tries to kill him—1 Samuel 20:28-33
The Philistines have him trapped—21:10-13; Psalm 56
The people of Keilah reward David’s help with betrayal—23:10-12
David is in a desert place (literally!) and sold-out by the Ziphites—23:14, 19-20

Psalm 54 is written when David learns about the Ziphites’ plan. He begins to pour out his complaint to God in vv. 1-3, but then there is a totally different tone in vv. 4-7. What comes between is the word Selah—a pause to consider.

I believe at this time is when Jonathan shows up to encourages David—And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God (1 Samuel 23:16).

David learned this lesson well because when he’s in another tight spot, we read that David found strength in the Lord his God, which allowed him to encourage his distraught men to seek God’s help. It was with God’s help that they recovered everything single thing that had been taken from them (1 Samuel 30:1-18)!

Your gratitude fortifies you and helps you encourage other saints. As you encourage other saints, they will then be fortified to help other saints—maybe even you!

I like how Eugene Peterson paraphrases 1 Thessalonians 5:11 in The Message: “So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.”

Your gratitude could make all the difference in someone else’s life, so “just keep on doing it”!

Make sure you check out all of the other messages in our Be Thankful series.

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Samuel, 1 Thessalonians, Calvary Assembly of God, Colossians, David, encouragement, eustress, George Santayana, gratitude, Hebrews, Jonathan, Psalm, relationships, saints, sermon, stress, thankfulness, video. 3 Comments »

Grateful Remembering Fortifies Us Against Temptation

November 18, 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.

It is so much easier to complain than to compliment. We can slide into the negative conversations almost without thinking about it.

In one of the last things that Paul wrote to Timothy—as he’s in prison, quite possibly awaiting execution—he warns his friend against the darkness of the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-5). We need to engage our minds, our wills, and our emotions to not go with the flow of culture’s negativity.

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

Remember the wise words from George Santayana: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The apostle Paul said this before Mr. Santayana (1 Corinthians 10:1-6). We need to learn the lessons of the dangers of forgetfulness that leads us to ingratitude.

Even before Paul, the Old Testament is filled with repeated reminders to remember God’s blessings and gratefully look to Him to supply every need. Let’s unpack some lessons on the importance of gratitude from Israel’s history in Psalm 106.

In Psalm 106:7, the Israelites forget what God has done for them in Egypt. Now that they appear to be pinned between the Red Sea and the onrushing Egyptian army, their forgetfulness becomes grumbling against God (Exodus 14:10-12).

Here’s the lesson for us to learn: Even when we are in a tough spot, God put us there on purpose so that His glory could be displayed (Exodus 14:1-3, 13-14). This should remind us to be grateful.

In Psalm 106:13-14, instead of being grateful for the miraculous supply of manna, the Israelites are grumbling about the meat they don’t have (Numbers 11:4-6).

Here’s the lesson for us to learn: God wants to teach us to be thankful for His daily provisions for us (Joshua 5:12; Matthew 6:11).

In Psalm 106:21, 28-29, the next generation of Israelites didn’t remember to be thankful because they had seldom heard their parents express gratitude (Judges 2:10-11).

Here’s the lesson for us to learn: Our daily thankfulness fortifies future generations (Psalm 37).

Here is the repeated pattern we see—

Thankfulness → Forgetfulness → Fearful / Selfish attitudes → Susceptible to the temptation to grumble against God
Thankfulness → Remembering → Joyful / Secure attitudes → Fortified against the temptation to grumble against God

Jim Cymbala said, “Ingratitude to God is the first step toward backsliding and departure from God. So, it is to our benefit to have a thankful heart toward God.”

Let’s put into practice this lesson from King David: “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget bot all His benefits” (Psalm 103:2).

You can check out all of the other messages in our Be Thankful series here.

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Corinthians, 2 Timothy, Calvary Assembly of God, Exdous, forgetfulness, George Santayana, Gospel of Matthew, gratitude, Joshua, joy, manna, Numbers, Psalm, quote, sermon, thankfulness, video. 9 Comments »

Don’t Let Your Gratitude Get Hijacked

November 11, 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.

Last week I mentioned that I was a bit surprised that scientists had done so much research on the benefits of gratitude because science tends to have an over-reliance on the tangible world. But it’s hard to ignore that there are so many intangibles (like gratitude) which make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

We get ourselves into trouble if we focus exclusively on the tangible or intangible. We also get ourselves into trouble if we don’t use all of the resources God has given us.

The Bible tells us that we have been created in the image of God, and that one of the things that separates us from the other creatures in the world is our soul (Genesis 2:7). Our soul is compromised of our mind, our will, and our emotions.

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

We cannot allow any one of these to lay dormant or even considered less valuable than the others, nor we can allow any one of these to bully the others.

If my emotions dominate (especially emotions like fear or anger) I can give into fight-or-flight—Psalm 106:7
If my mind dominates, I can become dark and confused—Romans 1:21 NLT
If my willpower dominates, I tend to be very selfish—Isaiah 14:13-14

When my emotions flare up, when my mind is dark, or when I feel selfish, I need to remember to engage the other two parts of my God-breathed soul. This is where gratitude comes into play.

I love reading the Psalms when I’m battling the negative emotions that seem to rush in during trying times. The psalmists were so honest about what they were feeling. Check out a couple of examples in Psalm 7:17 and 9:1-2 where we see David engaging his mind and his will to make the choice to be grateful to God despite his circumstances.

In the New Testament, we see a similar response from Paul and Silas when they are falsely imprisoned in Philippi (see Acts 16:22-26). Despite their cruel circumstances, they chose to life thankful worship to God. Luke write that the other inmates were listening, and so was the jailer and his family, who ended up accepting Jesus as their Savior.

I’ve got three important words for you when dark times threaten to hijack your gratefulness:

TALK TO YOURSELF

We see another psalmist doing this in Psalm 42:1-6. He asks his soul why it is so downcast, and then he says, “I chose to remember God in all His goodness and I chose to praise Him!” These words are repeated again in Psalm 42:11 and 43:5, which tells me that giving thanks to God is not a one-and-done thing, but something that needs to be continually repeated.

You can get some conversation starters for your self-talk in two simple ways:

Write down your gratitude
Talk about your gratitude

Keep a gratitude journal: Write something down at the end of each and every day. Write it down. Re-read it regularly. Tell others about it. And then be ready for others to ask you about Jesus—just like the Philippian jailer—when they notice how thankful you are!

Use your mind to talk back to your fears and worries, and then engage your willpower. Don’t let your gratitude get hijacked by the circumstances around you, but allow your thankfulness to help you reframe your circumstances into God’s plan.

Check out the other messages in our Be Thankful series by clicking here.

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

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostle Paul, Book of Acts, emotion, forgetfulness, Genesis, gratitude, Isaiah, mind, Psalm, Romans, self-talk, soul, thankfulness, thanksgiving, video, will. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

November 2, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Psalm 133 tells us that in order for us to sharpen others—and for us to be sharpened by them—we have to be around other them. Christian saints put a high priority on spending time with others.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

From Desiring God’s Here We Stand series comes this great snippet from the history of the Reformation: “[John] Calvin intended to go to Strasbourg for a life of peaceful literary production. But while Calvin was staying the night in Geneva, William Farel, the fiery leader of the Reformation in that city, found out he was there and sought him out. It was a meeting that changed the course of history, not just for Geneva, but for the world. Calvin remembers, ‘Farel, who burned with an extraordinary zeal to advance the gospel, immediately learned that my heart was set upon devoting myself to private studies . . . and finding that he gained nothing by entreaties, he proceeded to utter an imprecation that God would curse my retirement, and the tranquillity of the studies which I sought, if I should withdraw and refuse to give assistance, when the necessity was so urgent. By this imprecation I was so stricken with terror, that I desisted from the journey which I had undertaken.’”

I am always fascinated by the way archeology affirms the historicity of the Bible! Here is an archeological biography of King Artaxerxes I.

Have you ever heard people claim that celebrity deaths seem to come in threes? It does seem that many times the major cataclysmic events happen in bunches. Dr. Roy Spencer has an interesting post (with corresponding data) in which he outlines the role of randomness in these events.

“In Hebrews 12:2 the writer uses a participle—‘fixing your eyes’—to describe what should be the characteristic orientation of our every waking moment. True and full faith wants to say with David, ‘I have set the Lord always before me’ (Psalm 16:8). … If we are living full faith, having the eye of our heart fixed on the world of unseen things, the reality of that world and all its beauty, goodness, and truth will begin to be evident in our daily lives, filling our lives with the overflowing Presence of Jesus Christ (John 7:37-39).” —T.M. Moore

“There are three kinds of people in the world; those who have sought God and found Him and now serve Him, those who are seeking Him, but have not yet found Him, and those who neither seek Him nor find Him. The first are reasonable and happy, the second reasonable and unhappy, and the third unreasonable and unhappy.” —Blaise Pascal

Evolutionists are now using language that sounds like words Creationists use: “Flowers like hibiscus use an invisible blueprint established very early in petal formation that dictates the size of their bullseyes—a crucial pre-pattern that can significantly impact their ability to attract pollinating bees.” Check out this article from the Institute for Creation Research.

Another very helpful apologetic video from J. Warner Wallace. This video explains how the origin of DNA is best explained not by scientific theories but by the existence of God.

Using passages from Pilgrim’s Progress and weaving them with Scripture, Greg Morse shares five powerful steps for those struggling with depression or even suicidal thoughts.

Just as the smallest enzyme is invaluable to the human body, the gift God has given you is invaluable to the Body of Christ. Check out the full sermon called Let’s grow together.

Stewarding Your Gifts Into Strengths

October 21, 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 have been learning about how God gifts us so that He can use us to build His kingdom. Discovering these gifts and then living in this gift zone is going to require us to stretch out of our comfort zone. So far, we’ve looked at two factors:

Passion—what thrills you?
Pain—what kills you?

As you look back, the things that thrill you and kill you have probably remained consistent through your life. You may recall moments where implementing your gifts went very well and times when it didn’t go so well. The former makes us ready to try again and maybe expand a little further, but the latter tempts us to shrink back into our comfort zone. The key is to find out how we can be more consistent in using our gifts productively.

It looks like this: God’s gifts + Our stewardship = Productive strengths.

God gives the gifts as only He knows best (Psalm 139:16; Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:11) and then we steward these gifts into productive strengths.

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

What does stewardship mean?

The dictionary defines it as the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving.
The Bible always portrays a steward as the one in charge of the precious things in a household—in our case, the Church.

Jesus makes the role of a steward very clear in his parable found in Matthew 25:14-27. Notice three important things:

The master gave gifts to everyone of his servants, but he gave “each according to his ability” (vv. 14-15).
The wise servants stewarded the master’s gift by that way they “put his money to work” (vv. 16-18)
The master demanded accountability of all of his servants. Two servants acknowledged “you entrusted me” with these gifts (vv. 19-23), while one said, “I was afraid” (vv. 24-27).

God created each of us on purpose and for a purpose. He gave us the gifts we need to accomplish that purpose. We will only find our fulfillment in life in stewarding those God-given gifts and opportunities in ways that glorify Him. Not only fulfillment here, but then eternal satisfaction when we hear our Savior say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into your Master’s happiness!”

The only servants that heard the “well done” from their master were those who realized it was “your money…entrusted” to me. I like how Eugene Peterson brings this out in his paraphrase:

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. (Galatians 6:4-5 MSG)

So let’s add one more circle to the passion and pain circles, and that is the circle of proficiency. This is what fulfills us because we can do it so well; it feels so natural for us to be doing this. Proficiency is what really brings together the passion and the pain, and it helps us find the sweet spot.

Let me give you a couple of examples—one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.

Nehemiah was killed that Jerusalem was in shambles and the people were disgraced (Nehemiah 1:3-4)—that’s what killed him. Nehemiah didn’t go to wall-building school, but he effortlessly strategized, cast vision, organized, planned, procured, and adapted—that’s his proficiency. The wall was built in 52 days, Israel’s enemies were disgraced, and the people had a place to worship again (Nehemiah 6:15-16, 9:1-3)—that’s what thrilled him.

The apostles and the first deacons in the New Testament church saw that some of the widows were being overlooked in the food distribution (Acts 6:1)—this is what killed them. These new leaders didn’t go to food-distribution school, but they effectively strategized, cast vision, organized, planned, procured, and adapted (v. 3)—this is their proficiency. The widows were cared for, the Word of God spread, and more people became Christians (v. 7)—that’s what thrilled them.

God gives gifts—we feel that in what thrills us and what kills us. We steward those gifts into productive strengths—we stick with what we fulfilled in doing. Our productive strengths then glorify God as we strengthen and grow the Body of Christ.

Let me give you four things to consider about your area of proficiency:

What comes easily to me?
Where do I see both the steps and the completion before others do?
Where do I experience the greatest ROI of my time and efforts?
What do I do that thrills me because I ran to because it was killing me, and now it fulfills me to keep doing it?

With all three of these circles, please take some time to ponder what your sweet spot is. And if you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, 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. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Corinthians, Book of Acts, Calvary Assembly of God, comfort zone, Galatians, gift zone, gifts, Gospel of Matthew, Nehemiah, Psalm, ROI, Romans, sermon, stewardship, strength, talent, video. 2 Comments »

What Can Your Pain Tell You?

October 14, 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.

Have you ever been trying to finish a DIY project and you’re getting frustrated because there’s one part you cannot seem to complete? Then you phone a friend. They come over, look at the situation, pull the perfect tool out of their toolbox, and quickly fix the problem. You are amazed and they think, “It’s no big deal. I just happened to have the right tool for the job and the skill to know how to use it.”

We are all gifted, but in different ways.

God has uniquely prepared you for the situations you will face in your life. David declared, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). That tells me that your loving Creator knew the challenges and opportunities you would have, and He has already placed the perfect tool in your toolbox that you will need to excel in that moment.

We have already talked about how your passion helps you discover your areas of giftedness. Finding out what thrills you and what fills you is one key step on this journey. There’s another aspect of this discovery process that at first seems almost the opposite, but I think they are actually two sides of the same coin.

If passion is what thrills me, then pain is what kills me. I think a good word for this is zeal. In the biblical context, zeal would be anger at the things that keep people from experiencing all that God has for them—things that keep them from knowing the fullness of God’s glory.

As Moses grew older, it killed him that the Jewish people were now enslaved by the Egyptians and kept from worshiping God in their own place (Exodus 2:11-12).

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

We see Moses’ zeal misapplied at first (I mean, he did commit a murder!). This about the differences between a river powerfully flowing within its banks, and a flood when the river overflows its banks. When we use our God-implanted zeal in ways that He hasn’t sanctioned, we make a mess like that flood. But when we use our zeal to glorify God, it is as powerful as a mighty river within its banks.

We see perfect zeal in Jesus. We see Him cleansing the temple so all worshipers could come close to God (John 2:13-17). We see his anger over the religious rules that kept people trapped in their disease( Mark 3:1-5; Luke 13:10-16).

If passion asks, “What is God passionate about that thrills my heart too?” then pain asks, “What breaks God’s heart that also breaks my heart?” or “What’s broken that I would love to fix?”

Zeal moves us to action!

When we move forward in our zeal, others may say we are meddling or we are sticking our nose in places where it shouldn’t be. But we simply cannot help ourselves.

In Moses’ initial zeal—without God’s commission—he committed murder and then fled to the wilderness.

Stephen says, “Moses was well educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action” (Acts 7:22). The word Stephen uses for “educated” means Moses was fully trained to interact success with is culture. And he also says Moses was “powerful” in speech and action.

So why does Moses say of himself that he is not “eloquent” and “slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10)? Literally, Moses is saying, “I might make the same mistake that I made previously.”

Moses looked back on his initial stumble and was fearful he may misfire again. He was comfortable staying in his restricted comfort zone, but this attitude made God angry (Exodus 4:10-12).

Saul in his zeal for the rules and traditions of Judaism, persecuted the Christians. After he became a Christian, we see the same zeal—calling out Barnabas and Peter, and asking the Galatians who has bewitched them to stay entangled with meaningless traditions.

We usually discover our giftedness by looking backward. The devil would love for us to see our previous missteps as disqualifications for future service. But God says that He can use all of these things for His glory (Romans 8:28). We have to surrender our fears to Him if we want to soar out of our comfort zone and into our comfort zone.

Let me give you three things to consider:

What do you find yourself praying about more than anything else?
What do you move toward that others ignore or move away from?
What topic do you talk about all the time?

Here’s your homework: Think about the three things to consider regarding pain, and then consider where your passion circle and your pain circle may overlap.

If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series Living In Your Gift Zone, 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. ◀︎◀︎

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apostle Paul, Book of Acts, Calvary Assembly of God, Creator, Exodus, gift zone, gifts, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Jesus Christ, Moses, pain, passion, Psalm, Romans, sermon, video, zeal. 1 Comment »

Links & Quotes

October 12, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Is it okay to pray a prayer written by someone else? Sure! But let’s use those prayers merely as guides to help us form our own personalized prayers to our loving Heavenly Father. I shared a whole series on prayer that you may want to check out.

I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

T.M. Moore wrote, “The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in believers with an agenda. His agenda is not ours, and unless we can put our agendas aside, we will never line up with His to realize more of the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God. The Spirit has not come to make us ecstatically happy. He has not come to fulfill our every wish. He comes to bring forth in us distinctly Kingdom values and virtues: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He comes to distribute among us spiritual gifts, God-given abilities to serve one another in caring and sharing ways. He comes to empower us as witnesses for Jesus, both in how we live and what we say. And He comes to build our churches up into Christlikeness by our unified and focused work.”

I am really enjoying these mini-biographies of key leaders in the Reformation presented by Desiring God. One that I found especially fascinating is about Menno Simons—“If you are familiar with the contemporary Mennonites, you may be surprised to learn that the group’s founder started as a Catholic priest who had never read the Bible.” Yet, near the end of his life, Menno wrote, “Although I resisted in former times Thy precious Word and Thy holy will with all my powers…nevertheless, Thy fatherly grace did not forsake me, a miserable sinner, but in love, received me…and taught me by the Holy Spirit until of my own choice I declared war upon the world, the flesh, and the devil…and willingly submitted to the heavy cross of my Lord Jesus Christ that I might inherit the promised kingdom.”

“What strikes me is that there’s a very fine line between success and failure. Just one ingredient can make the difference.” —Andrew Lloyd Webber

This past Sunday I spoke to my congregation about how Christians should behave biblically during an election season. Someone forwarded to me a related graphic from the Pentecostal Evangel magazine (a publication of the Assemblies of God) from 1984. I love these reminders for Christians!

Researchers unveiled the largest brain map ever completed. It was of a fruit fly, whose brain “includes nearly 140,000 neurons and captures more than 54.5 million synapses”! It took four years to complete this map. “All told, the researchers identified 8,453 types of neuron—much more than anyone had expected. Of these, 4,581 were newly discovered.” This level of complexity and order in a fruit fly is astounding to me. Can you imagine what it would take to map the much larger and more complex human brain?! Truly, David was right when he said that we are wonderfully made by our Creator!

“Freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown such grace. Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire!” —Martin Luther

“Faith the mother of all good works justifieth us, before we can bring forth any good work: as the husband marryeth his wife before he can have any lawful children by her.” —William Tyndale

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Assembly of God, biography, Christlike, Creator, Desiring God, election, empowerment, failure, faith in action, Holy Spirit, Martin Luther, perseverance, politics, prayer, Psalm, quotes, Reformation, success, T.M. Moore, video, vote, William Tyndale. Leave a Comment »

Empowered For Obedience

October 2, 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.

In the 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension, we read that Jesus was with His disciples “giving instructions through the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:2).

I think this word “instructions” in the NIV is too soft. The other translations say things like:

commandments (NKJV)
orders (NASB & NET)
instructed and commanded (AMPC)

The Greek word Luke uses in Acts 1:2 is entellomai and it is a word that carries weight. Throughout the New Testament this word is used to identify…

…the words of God (Matthew 4:6, 15:4; Luke 4:10; Acts 13:47; Hebrews 9:20)
…the words of Moses (Matthew 19:7; Mark 10:3; John 8:5)
…the words of Jesus (Matthew 17:9, 28:20; Mark 11:6; John 14:31; 15:14, 17; Acts 1:2, 13:47)
…the words of recognized leaders (Mark 13:34; Hebrews 11:22)

(Check out all of the above Scriptures by clicking here.)

In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) this word is used seven times. Five of these times link together the words “command” and “covenant” (Deuteronomy 4:13; Joshua 23:16; Judges 2:20; Psalm 111:9–10; Jeremiah 11:3–4). The other two times express God’s strong promise-keeping power that is awe-inspiring (Psalm 90:11, 91:11).

In other words, these aren’t just any words, but they carry an awesome authority with them. These are binding commands. They are not merely wise counsel or suggestions for godly living. They are indispensable to the Christian life.

Luke points out that Jesus gave these commands “through the Holy Spirit” because it is only through the Holy Spirit that you and I can understand them, apply them, and be empowered to obey them.

Jesus uses the same word entellomai in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:20) as well as in Acts 1:2. Clearly, the Scripture is telling us that we are powerless to understand and powerless to obey without the Holy Spirit’s daily empowerment. Jesus would never give us commands that we were unable to carry out, which is why He gives us instructions through the Spirit, and then the Spirit gives us the power to joyfully obey those commands.

Don’t ever think that you are on your own in trying to figure out what Jesus said, and how you are going to live it out.

I discuss the role of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life in much greater detail in my series called We Are: Pentecostal.

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Getting Uncomfortable With Staying Comfortable

September 16, 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 as a Church are underperforming. How do I know this? Look at the way the world treats Christians; specifically, look at what’s NOT happening.

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Jesus said this right after He served His disciples by washing their feet. Is this happening today: Do people know you are a Christian by the way you put your love into servant-hearted action, or do they just know what you are against?
“Be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). When was the last time someone saw your hope-filled life in such contrast to everyone else’s response that they said, “How can I have what you have?”

(Find all of the Scriptures I’ve used in this post by clicking here.)

Peter said our adversary prowls like a lion. He is perfectly willing to bide his time, picking the strategy that works best. One of his favorite strategies is lies—sometimes half-truths or out-of-context truths.

…Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. … The dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 12:12, 17).

Lies are his native tongue. He lied to Adam and Eve right in the beginning (Genesis 3:1, 4-5), and he still lies now (Revelation 12:10). Jesus contrasted this with the truth that He came to proclaim (John 8:42-45).

The devil has learned that with many people, outright attacks drive them TO God. We see this in the oldest book of the Bible (Job 1:6f, 20-22), and in modern times (churches were filled after the 9-11 terrorist attacks).

What the devil would rather do is lie to you to keep you comfortable. In The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape implores Wormwood to keep his patient indifferent and comfortable. Indeed, we all have a comfort zone and we love to stay in it.

King Saul went from 3000 men to 600 men, from a full armory to only two swords, from defeating the Ammonites to being hemmed in by the Philistines. King Saul was enjoying life as the king, hanging out with his friends, sitting under a pomegranate tree, far away from his enemies. Life was good for Saul, life was familiar and comfortable. Saul was living in his comfort zone. But the comfort zone is a lousy place to live.

In the comfort zone you only tell stories, but never live an adventure. In the comfort zone, you only hear about what God has done for others, but you never experience Him move in miraculous ways for yourself.

God has given us all gifts so that we can live as overcomers and bring Him glory, but we settle for living only in our comfort zone. Our comfort zones are always way smaller than our gift zones, and the devil is perfectly happy to see us stay there.

Moses was comfortable in the desert, but God sent him in His power (Exodus 3:11, 14).

David was comfortable in the pasture, but God equipped him to lead a whole nation (2 Samuel 7:18; Psalm 78:70-71).

Jeremiah was comfortable being an anonymous priest, but God gave him words to prophesy to a wayward nation (Jeremiah 1:4-8).

Saul was comfortable as a Pharisee, but God sent him to tell the world the Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 8:3; 1 Timothy 1:16).

What lies have kept you in your comfort zone?

Maybe a parent said, “You’ll never amount to anything.”
Maybe a teacher said, “You’re slow.”
Maybe a classmate said, “You’re weird.”
Maybe the devil said, “You cannot make a difference in the world.”

You need to silence those lies with God’s truth:

God created me on purpose and for a purpose—Psalm 139:13-17
He has given me all the gifts I need to soar—2 Peter 1:3-4
He wants to help me, if I will trust Him—Isaiah 41:10, 13-14

Charles Spurgeon said, “The extent of power God can infuse into a person is immeasurable; when divine strength is granted, human weakness ceases to be a hindrance.”