trust | Craig T. Owens

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4 Blessings From Trusting God + 1 Curse For Not

August 1, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

When you have a decision to make, isn’t it nice when you know the outcome of each option ahead of time? I mean, it makes it way easier to decide when you know what you’re going to get with each decision.

Like just before the Israelites head into the Promised Land, God says, “You can choose Me and have a whole lot of blessings, or you can choose another god and miss out on all My blessings” (Deuteronomy 30:11-20).

Easy choice, right?

I think the songwriter of Psalm 125 had that Deuteronomy passage in mind when he wrote his song of ascent. Basically, he says, you can trust God (v. 1) or you can walk on crooked paths (v. 5). What does it mean to trust God? Literally it means to have a confident expectation that He is Who He says He is, and He does what He says He’s going to do.

To help make the decision easier, the songwriter lists four blessings that come when we trust God—

We become as secure and unshakeable as Heaven is (v. 1).
We experience God’s “surroundedness” over, around, above and beneath us (v. 2).
We escape evil’s clutches (v. 3).
We experience God doing good for us (v. 4).

Of course, we can also choose not to trust God. We can try another path on our own. The curse for doing that is pretty sad—God will allow those who aren’t responsive to His voice to walk away from Him (v. 5).

Just like the story of the prodigal son (in Luke 15), the Father will allow you to walk away, but He will continue to long after you. And hopefully like that wayward son you will “come to your senses” and return to your Father. When you do, He will run to you, wrap you in His love, restore you to His family, and allow you to experience all of His blessings again!

The choice is up to you. I pray you will choose life and blessing and surroundedness, and God’s goodness toward you.

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you can access the complete list by clicking here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Bible study, Calvary Assembly of God, choices, curse, Deuteronomy, God's blessing, Gospel of Luke, prodigal, Psalm, Psalms of Ascent, sermon, trust, video, YouTube. 1 Comment »

Poetry Saturday—God Is Sufficient

July 23, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

It is easy to love Him when the blue is in the sky,

When summer winds are blowing, and we smell the roses nigh;

There is little effort needed to obey His precious will

When it leads through flower-decked valley, or over sun-kissed hill.

It is when the rain is falling, or the mist hangs in the air,

When the road is dark and rugged, and the wind no longer fair,

When the rosy dawn has settled in a shadowland of gray,

That we find it hard to trust Him, and are slower to obey.

It is easy to trust Him when the singing birds have come,

And their canticles are echoed in our heart and in our home;

But ’tis when we miss the music, and the days are dull and drear,

That we need a faith triumphant over every doubt and fear.

And our blessed Lord will give it; what we lack He will supply;

Let us ask in faith believing—on His promises rely;

He will ever be our Leader, whether smooth or rough the way,

And will prove Himself sufficient for the needs of every day. —George MacDonald

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: difficulties, faith, George MacDonald, God's faithfulness, obedience, poem, poetry, trials, trust. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—The Time For Faith To Shine

June 25, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

When nothing on which to lean remains,

When strongholds crumble to dust;

When nothing is sure but that God still reigns,

That is just the time to trust.

It’s better to walk by faith than sight,

In this path of yours and mine;

And the darkest night, when there’s no outer light

Is the time for faith to shine. —F.B. Meyer

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: F.B. Meyer, faith, God's presence, trust, trustworthy. 1 Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Garden Of Trust

May 14, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

Build a little fence of trust

Around today;

Fill the space with loving work,

And therein stay;

Look not through the sheltering bars

Upon tomorrow;

God will help thee bear what comes

Of joy or sorrow. —Mary Frances Butts

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: joy, Mary Frances Butts, poem, poetry, sorrow, today, tomorrow, trust. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—The Loom Of Time

May 7, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

Man’s life is laid in the loom of time

To a pattern he does not see,

While the Weaver’s work and the shuttles fly

Till the dawn of eternity.

Some shuttles are filled with silver threads

And some with threads of gold,

While often but the darker hues

Are all that they may hold.

But the Weaver watches with skillful eye

Each shuttle fly to and fro,

And sees the pattern so deftly wrought

As the loom moves sure and slow.

God surely planned the pattern:

Each thread, the dark and fair,

Is chosen by His master skill

And placed in the web with care.

He only knows its beauty,

And guides the shuttles which hold

The threads so unattractive,

As well as the threads of gold.

Not till each loom is silent,

And the shuttles cease to fly,

Shall God reveal the pattern

And explain the reason why.

The dark threads were as needful

In the Weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

For the pattern which He planned. —Anonymous

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: beauty, difficulties, eternity, God's love, God's plan, God's purpose, poem, poetry, providence, rejoice, trust. Leave a Comment »

4 Thoughts To Help Prayer Become A Daily Habit

February 1, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

I have shared several strategies about prayer throughout this series (you can read them here, here, here, and here). One danger in putting these steps into practice in our life is what I would call one-and-done. We do it once and think we’ve done all we need to do.

Scientists tell us at a minimum it takes 21 days in a row to make a habit. Jesus went even farther than that in talking about prayer in Matthew 7:7. When we look at the three aspects of the verbs ask, seek, and knock in this verse, it would be better stated like this—

You need to keep on asking, and keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. This is not good advice or a helpful suggestion, but it is vital for your spiritual life. So after you have asked, sought, and knocked, then do it again, and again, and AGAIN.

Matthew Henry said it this way: “Here is a precept in three words to the same purport, Ask, Seek, Knock; that is, in one word, ‘Pray; pray often; pray with sincerity and seriousness; pray, and pray again; make conscience of prayer, and be constant in it; make a business of prayer, and be earnest in it.’”

In the English language the dictionary has a word for this: importunity. This means being urgent and persistent, sometimes annoyingly so!

I believe importunity requires these four characteristics:

Trust. Remember Jesus taught us to begin our prayer with, “Our Father.” We have to come to Him again and again and again trusting that He loves us, that He alone is the Source of our help, and that He wants to help us. We also have to trust that our Father wants to give us the very best (Matthew 6:8, 7:7-11).
Perseverance. I love the story of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-5. This determined lady kept coming back again and again. Henry Ward Beecher said, “The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is, that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.”
Creativity. One of my favorite New Testament stories is about a mother who is not only as persistent as the widow in Luke 18, but she is creative in her prayer as well (Mark 7:24-30). This lady bantered with Jesus in a way that I believe caused Christ to throw back His head and laugh! This is not bargaining with God, as Oswald Chambers wrote, “Repetition in intercessory importunity is not bargaining, but the joyous insistence of prayer.”
Action. Paul was looking for an open door to preach the Gospel, but he didn’t sit still while he waited for God to say “yes” (Acts 16:6-10).

Keep these in mind as you make importunity a key part of your prayer life. And check out the full video of my message on importunity in prayer.

Week Of Prayer—Tuesday

January 5, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

Our week of prayer continues today with this prayer focus for Tuesday—

Seek God for strength to keep moving forward even in the midst of discouragement or suffering, knowing that faith to persevere strengthens character and kindles hope.

I love to pray God’s Word. Perhaps today you could pray something like this:

Heavenly Father, this time of life I’m in right now is tough. But I trust You. In fact, I also glory in my suffering, because I know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character; and character produces hope. And hope does not put me to shame, because Your love has been poured out into my heart through Your Holy Spirit [Romans 5:3-5].

So I trust in You entirely, the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. You will never grow tired or weary, and Your understanding is higher than mine. You give strength to me when I’m weary and You increase my power when I’m weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young people stumble and fall; but when my hope is in You, You will renew my strength. In You, I will soar on wings like eagles; I will run and not grow weary, I will walk and not be faint [Isaiah 40:28-31].

While I’m in this difficult time, Father, I place my trust and my hope in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: character development, Creator, difficulties, God's strength, Holy Spirit, hope, Isaiah, prayer, Romans, trust, week of prayer. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

December 21, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Christ did not risk death. He embraced it. That is precisely why He came: not to be served but to serve and give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). … Christmas is for freedom. Freedom from the fear of death. Jesus took our nature in Bethlehem, to die our death in Jerusalem, that we might be fearless in our city. Yes, fearless. Because if the biggest threat to my joy is gone, then why should I fret over the little ones?” —John Piper

“The danger of all dangers would be to lose trust and confidence in the mercy of God. … To distrust Him would be a far more terrible thing than any physical evil which all the enemies of God put together could inflict on us, for without God’s permission neither the devils nor their human ministers could hinder us in the slightest degree.” —Francis Xavier

“Each instant of present labor is to be graciously repaid with a million ages of glory.” —J.W. Alexander

“If God did so much for us when enemies, what will He do, or rather, what will He not do, for us now that we are friends? … If Christ’s death did so much for us, what will not His life do?” —Horatius Bonar

“Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago.” —Goethe

[VIDEO] Tim Dilena shares some practical keys for a consistent prayer life.

“I would exhort those who have entertained an hope of their being true converts, and yet since their supposed conversion have left off the duty of secret prayer, and do ordinarily allow themselves in the omission of it, to throw away their hope. If you have left off calling upon God, it is time for you to leave off hoping and flattering yourselves with an imagination that you are the children of God.” —Jonathan Edwards

“For too many of us, Christian experience is episodic rather than continuous, with a few religious experiences interspersed throughout our lives, which are otherwise lived on our own terms. Such people can see little need or use for prayer.” —Ralph Lehman

Eric Metaxas helps us get ready for Religious Freedom Day on January 16.

[VIDEO] Not just at Christmas when you are receiving gifts, but all year long we should be people of appreciation. Check out John Maxwell’s short video—

Links & Quotes

November 30, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“That which astonishes, astonishes once; but whatever is admirable become more and more admired.” —Joseph Joubert

“Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.” —Westminster Confession

“Adversity is the first path to trust.” —Lord Byron

“Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters.” —Victor Hugo

“God’s corrections are our instructions; His lashes our lessons, and His scourges our schoolmasters.” —John H. Aughey

“Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.” —Oswald Chambers

“Press into God’s promises. When fears surface, respond with this thought: But God said … And when doubts arise, but God said… And when guilt overwhelms you, but God said… Search the Scriptures like a miner digging for gold and trust the promises you find.” —Max Lucado

John Hendryx points out several similarities between Islamic and secular fundamentalism.

Josh McDowell reminds us that just teaching someone biblical truth is not enough.

If you would like to check out some devotional readings for Advent, click here.

The importance of belief in God for Issac Newton’s scientific discoveries.

[VIDEO] One of the most beautiful arrangements of Amazing Grace I’ve heard—

6 Quotes From Billy Graham On Faith

November 19, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I recently read The Quotable Billy Graham (you can read my book review here), and I was struck by how relevant his words are, even 50 years after they were spoken. Here are a few quotes on faith.

“I wonder if the church has not failed this generation of young people by failing to make the Christian faith the thrilling, joyful, triumphant experience that it really is.”

“You best demonstrate your faith in a bank by putting your money in it. You best show your faith in the doctor by trusting him in times of illness. You best prove your faith in a boat by getting aboard. You best demonstrate your faith in Christ by trusting Him with your life and receiving Him unconditionally as your Savior.”

“One of the differences I have with some theologians is that they try to reduce the whole content of the Christian faith to an intellectual gymnastic exercise. Christianity cannot be reduced to reason alone.”

“We are rich in the things that perish, but poor and the things of the spirit. We are rich in gadgets, but poor in faith. We are rich in goods, but poor in grace. We are rich in know-how, but poor in character. We are rich in words, but poor in deeds.”

“If you are a Christian, there is no excuse for not having daily victory in your life by renouncing sin and by faith letting the Spirit of God have control of your life.”

“Whenever anyone asks me how I can be so certain about who and what God really is, I am reminded of the story of the little boy who was out flying a kite. It was a very fine day for kite flying, the wind was brisk and large billowy clouds were blowing across the sky. The kite went up and up until it was entirely hidden by the clouds.

‘What are you doing?’ a man asked the little boy.

‘I’m flying a kite,’ he replied.

‘Flying a kite, are you?’ the man said. ‘How can you be sure? You can’t see your kite.’

‘No,’ said the boy, ‘I can’t see it, but every little while I feel a tug, so I know for sure that it’s there!’

“Don’t take anyone else’s word for God. Find Him for yourself, and then you too will know by the wonderful, warm tug on your heartstrings that He is there for sure.”