This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens June 4, 2023
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We should always do business God’s way, be honest, open, and never cheat anyone.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens June 4, 2023
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All rivers, no matter how long, have a beginning and an end.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens June 2, 2023
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Status, success, and wealth are no defense against suffering, even the rich and famous cry.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens June 1, 2023
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It should be obvious that the material world around us is a maze based on a lie.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 31, 2023
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Sometime the next time might be the last time.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
Season Two Episode Three of I Took a Right Turn Podcast May 30, 2023
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In this episode Robert + Rosalie share some thoughts about the Bible, the home-grown song The Book the Blood and the Blessed Hope and Robert reads chapter four of America’s Trojan War.
Time is of the Essence May 29, 2023
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According to the Business Dictionary the title of this essay is a provision often included in construction, supply, transport, and other types of contracts to stress the punctual completion of the job (or repayment of a loan) as a vital element of the performance of the contract. Any failure to complete the work (or to pay the sums) within stated time limits may constitute breach of the contract.
Salvation is not a transaction based on a contract. It’s a gift. It isn’t earned. It’s based upon the grace of God extended to all and accepted through faith. And while this gift shines from the cross of Christ through the meandering corridors of History, each of us has but a fleeting moment upon the world’s stage. When it’s done it’s done. It’s just the opposite of a concert; when the curtain comes down, we face the music. Or as the Word of God puts it, “Everyone has to die once, then face the consequences.”
The world tells us, “Opportunity only knocks once” meaning if you miss your chance, it won’t come again. Looking at the totality of life, that’s true but looking within the fragile bubble of time that is our here-today-gone-today life we have opportunity after opportunity. We had last week, and yesterday, today, and God willing tomorrow. At any moment we can make an altar of our prayers and confess Jesus as our Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead. If we’ll do those two things the Word of God promises, “You will be saved.” If the curtain comes down before we do so we might not like the sequel.
The whole of the Old Testament points to Christ: the fulcrum of History. And throughout the New Testament God points back to examples and signposts of what was to come. To the Jews there is no more powerful story than their exodus from Egypt. Because they refused to believe God they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. These people who witnessed the miracles of Moses, crossed the Red Sea on dry land, ate the manna from heaven, and drank from the rock which followed them refused to worship God. Instead, they followed the trinket gods of their own imagination. And God left their bodies in the dust as a testimony to their hardheartedness.
Their rebellion and their lack of faith becomes a warning to us when the author of the letter to the Hebrews tells us, “Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear as in ‘the bitter uprising,’ that time of wilderness testing! Even though they watched me at work for forty years, your ancestors refused to let me do it my way over and over they tried my patience. And I was provoked, oh, so provoked I said, ‘They’ll never keep their minds on God; they refuse to walk down my road.’ Exasperated, I vowed, ‘They’ll never get where they’re going, never be able to sit down and rest.’”
Today is all we have. No one promised us tomorrow. If we miss our chance, if we refuse to follow God and instead embrace the world, we should be prepared for a hand full of ashes. The Apostle John put it like this, “Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out.”
But John didn’t leave it there. He finished the passage with a promise, “but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.”
And when it comes to the promises of God we need to realize, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
Sometimes life seems like a long time. It always feels like we have hours to kill but not a moment to spare. Our fleeting moment upon this stage is rushing by. Like flowers in the field we sprout, bloom, and fade away. For most of us one or two generations at the most and no one will remember we were here. So grab the chance and remember time is of the essence and listen to these words ringing in our ears, “Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.”
It’s never too late. Until it is.
This is an excerpt from the book Hope by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 25, 2023
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Sometimes not getting everything we want is the best thing we can get.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 24, 2023
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If we allow our anger to explode the debris will clutter our lives.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 23, 2023
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Nothing is harder to complete than a journey or a task never started.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
The Two Witnesses Who Helped Change My Life May 22, 2023
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If it’s my way or the highway I choose the Highway, God’s way. You see I tried my way and it led to depression, despair, and loneliness. The best I could figure out is if this is all there is let’s roll out the barrels and have a party. My life before Christ was like the meaningless forever party at The Restaurant at The End Of The Universe in Douglas Adam’s iconic Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The band plays on, the people careen through life in a mad dash to nowhere, everyone is laughing, smiling, miserable, and heading toward oblivion.
In the doomed life without Christ people mistake happiness and laughter for joy and waste their lives trying to tickle themselves to death.
After thirty wasted years sacrificed on an altar of senseless, self-indulgent, self-destructive tickling I chose the Highway. I chose to make Jesus the Lord of my life because I believe in my heart God has raised Him from the dead. I came to believe Jesus offered Himself up as a sinless sacrifice to pay the price of not just my sin but of everyone’s sin. I came to understand that the wall of separation caused by sin between humanity and God was broken down and we can all be united with Him. I embraced the truth that we can become His children. We no longer are strangers but members of His family welcome to walk boldly into our Daddy’s throne room.
Have you ever felt as if there’s no hope? Don’t be fooled by the god of this world. There is hope. Have you ever felt like you were too far gone, too wrong to ever be right again? Don’t be fooled by the confusing systems of laws that litter this world, or by gnawing feelings of guilt. We can be right with God.
Christ told us to take His light to the world and in our finite wisdom we constantly attempt to build lamps. They may provide light but it’s not His light. The bewildering mazes of religious laws are paths built by men. The feelings of guilt that inform us we have a consciousness of sin are themselves pinpricks and poundings delivered by God to prod us into the way, His way, the Highway. They don’t mean we’re lost forever. It’s just the opposite. They mean God hasn’t given up on us yet.
And if God hasn’t given up on us, why should we give up on God?
Happiness can be affected by what we had for dinner last night. Did it taste good? Did it sit well, or did it give us indigestion? Happiness can be impacted by whether or not we’re rich or poor, sick or healthy or any combination of things that are here today and gone tomorrow. Laughter can be a mask to hide the tears.
But joy is something else again. Joy is rooted in our relationship with God, and since the world didn’t give it to us the world can’t take it away. That’s why it’s called the joy that passes all understanding.
This God given joy is a powerful life changing thing.
Seeing this joy in action when I was an unbeliever is one of the things that eventually convinced me the Bible was true, salvation was real, and I could have it if I wanted it.
When I was at the depth of my unbelief, calling myself an atheist and a hater of all things godly I witnessed people live through the birth of a very special child. One whose physical challenges led to a short life among us but a life having a major impact on at least one life I know of: mine. His parents loved that child. They praised God for that child. They gave all they had to care for that child. And when that child passed leaving them physically, emotionally, and financially drained they held a celebration to praise God for blessing them in such a great way.
I can remember thinking they were crazy. I shook my head and wondered how anyone could be so different from everyone else I’d ever known. I didn’t know it at the time but I was a witness to people living out the reality of a passage from the book of Job who was the greatest of all the people of the East.
After Job lost everything; his home, his children, and all his wealth, he was struck with painful boils from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head. While sitting amid the ashes of his life he took a broken piece of pottery to scrape off the scabs his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” which is what the world was screaming at the two followers of Christ with their family disrupted, their finances destroyed, and their child dead. These born-again believers said with their actions to the world what Job replied to his wife, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”
Years later as I reflected upon whether it was possible to live for God in a fallen world the memory of those two saints, Judy and Harry, praising God for blessings in the middle of what the fallen world saw as a curse I knew it was possible. Now after forty years of walking with my hand in the hand of the Man who stilled the sea, I know it from personal experience.
Choose God and accept His gift of salvation not for what we’ve done but because of what Jesus did. He paid the price for our lifetime membership in the family of God, but we still may have to pay some dues down here. If we trust in Him when the wind and the waves smash against us we’ll stand like a house built on a rock. If we choose to give our lives to God in Jesus, we get them back again better and brighter than we could ever imagine. If we instead try to keep our lives for ourselves we lose everything, and when the wind and the waves smash against us we’ll crumble like a house built upon the sand.
We never know who’s watching. We never know what someone else may see. So let’s quit tickling ourselves to death, find the joy of the Lord which is our strength and let the joy, joy, joy of the Lord down in our souls and watch our lives become the witness He’s called us to be.
Thank you, Judy and Harry, for being two witnesses who helped change my life. I praise God for you both, and I love you with the love of the Lord.
This is an excerpt from the book Hope by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. May 21, 2023
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Actors will never see a play as well as those who watch it.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 20, 2023
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The Church isn’t a place, it’s the people of God.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 17, 2023
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We shouldn’t dream away our life, we should live our way to our dreams.
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This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 16, 2023
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Some people are continually miserable. Others are continually happy. The wise person knows this is a choice we make.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens available at Amazon
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 12, 2023
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If we always think we are the smartest person in the room, we will never learn anything.
This is an excerpt from the book New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens available at Amazon
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 11, 2023
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Who is right leads to pride, what is right leads to humility.
The Antichrist and the End Times May 8, 2023
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What about the Antichrist?
Every mention of THE Antichrist clearly shows that he will be a leader in the midst of the church not a secular leader. Ask yourself these questions:
Who sits (assumes a position of authority) as God in the temple of God, proclaiming to be the leader of all Christians?
Who claims to be an earthly ‘substitute for Christ?’
Who proclaims he has the power to forgive sins?
Who proclaims that salvation is only available through their particular brand of Christianity saying they are the only true church and that all others are merely sects filled with heretics?
Who teaches a message of ‘salvation by works’, instead of through the blood of Jesus?
If you can identify anyone, or any ceremonial position which does these things you will have found THE Antichrist.
But remember it isn’t just about THE Antichrist. The Word tells us in 1 John 2:18 there are many antichrists and they are all over the place.
Another question the End Timers always ask is, “Do you think these are the last days?”
This might shock many, but I can say without a doubt that we’re already in the last times. They began when Christ began His ministry. This is stated clearly in the book of Hebrews when we’re told, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Emphasis added)
So don’t waste your time looking for a Third Temple when if you are a born-again child of God, you’re a living stone in that Temple. And don’t spin your wheels waiting for the last days when you’re living in them right now. Instead of wasting time and effort looking for that which is here and pining for a future time that is now let’s get about our business and do the good works which He has prepared for us to do.
It’s as easy as that. Don’t over think it. Don’t be pulled away from the good works God calls us to do by people who diagram what they can’t know and lead away from what’s already here.
This is an excerpt from the book Hope by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 7, 2023
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We don’t find humility by denying what we can do. We find it by admitting what we can’t do.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 6, 2023
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The only time we should ever look down on someone else is when we’re reaching out to help them up.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens May 3, 2023
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Making it through tough times is easier when we have a purpose, when we pursue a goal, when we love others and can see the good in them.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens available at Amazon/ https://www.amazon.com/New-Old-Sayings-Robert-Owens/dp/B09TWMS37T/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3KE6XHNRUYLIJ&keywords=new+old+sayings+owens&qid=1654866223&sprefix=new+old+sayings+owens%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-2
Shadows Dancing On A Wall May 1, 2023
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The idea that everything came out of nothing is an assault upon reason. Since creation is often presented this way as a straw-man argument by the opponents of faith, many thinking people fall for this siren song of secularism.
But that isn’t what the Bible presents. In the beginning, in Genesis we’re told that God called all things in this physical reality into being out of nothing physical. This reality did not exist before God willed it to be here. God said, “Let there be,” and there is.
But this doesn’t mean that everything came out of nothing. In the letter to the Hebrews Paul put it this way, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” It was God’s word and His faith in His word that created everything. And it’s God’s faith that sustains all that we see.
Ponder for a moment the incredibly complex relationship between physical reality and our perception of it. The computer screen you’re reading this article on is made up of more empty space than matter. As is the table or desk it’s sitting on. As are you and me. From the dark matter and dark energy that scientists theorize makes up the vast majority of the Space-time continuum to the sub-atomic world which goes as far in as the stellar expanse goes out this physical reality is actually tiny bits of matter held together by invisible forces.
Accepting ourselves as the center of the universe because that’s the only point of observation each of us has we look at our macro view of the micro world and see solid things and we accept that this is the totality of reality. However, that’s only how we perceive things. That’s not what they really are. All matter is enveloped in emptiness powered by energy and the fabric of creation is sustained by faith.
Long before modern science revealed the mirage of solid matter or the inability of perception to account for an expanding universe without a preponderance of dark everything, one of the greatest of secular thinkers aptly described the shifting sands upon which our understanding rests.
In his book The Republic Plato used the allegory of the cave to explain the relationship between perception and reality. His story goes like this; prisoners are chained in a cave, only able to look forward at the shadows on the wall. The shadows they see are real to them, but in reality, the shadows are just the shadows of real objects in the room and shadows of the prisoners themselves being projected on the cave wall from a fire behind them. The sounds they hear and images they see are real to them, even though they are unaware of the true source. The allegory of the cave is a theory put forward by Plato, concerning human perception. Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that, to have real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning.
Thus, even those who knew nothing of God could see that what we see is not all there is and that what we do see is more a representation of what it is than what it appears to be. However, the wisdom of the wise is foolishness to God and the wisdom of God is foolishness to the wise.
The problem with this thinking past the shadows is that we can’t reason our way to God. He’s outside the bounds of our reality, the source and summit of that reality and therefore, beyond anything we can think or imagine. If He didn’t reveal Himself, we could no more reason what He’s like than an ant could reason its way to man.
God used an allegory to teach the Israelites about the death-defeating life-giving nature of the Messiah’s mission.
Since the days when the Jews were slaves in Egypt the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb has been the symbol and the purchase of redemption. Originally Moses ordered the Jews to sacrifice the Passover Lamb and then apply the blood to the door posts of their homes. Seeing the blood of the sacrifice the Angel of Death passed over God’s chosen people. For more than a thousand years the Jews sacrificed the Passover Lamb every year to cover their sins never knowing this was a shadow of things to come.
Christ’s ministry was first announced to a fallen world when John the Baptist said, “Behold the lamb that takes away the sins of the world.” And from that moment on His life brought the true form of reality out of the shadow.
Following the command of Moses as interpreted by the elders every year each Jewish family chose a lamb and took it into their home to live with the family for five days. During this time, they examined the lamb for blemishes. Only after it was found to be perfect could it become the Passover Lamb. Then the lamb was sacrificed, and the blood poured out on the altar of God to cover the sins of the people.
Jesus, the Lamb of God entered Jerusalem on the same day that the lambs entered the homes of the Jews. For five days He was examined by the Chief Priests, the Scribes, and the Pharisees. After He was found to be without guilt, they were forced to bring in false witnesses. Than on the fifth day; the Day of Preparation just as the Jews were sacrificing the Passover Lamb the light of revelation pierced the darkness of a fallen world as thousand year old shadows took on flesh and blood for when Christ was nailed to the cross the shadow became real.
At the time of Christ’s death and resurrection even His Apostles didn’t understand what it was all about. They scattered and hid fearing they would be the next to go. It was only after they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost that they boldly proclaimed the Gospel. It was only then that they finally grasped that Jesus came to fulfill the scriptures, to make the shadows real.
We may ask ourselves, “How did they miss it?” But just as the proof is in the pudding so faith is in the living. Do we live consistently in a way that reveals our grasp of God’s revelation? Or do we judge our acceptance with God by how well we’re doing? Do we live each day in the full knowledge that we’ve become eternally acceptable to God only by our faith in Christ? Our ability to walk boldly into our Daddy’s throne room must never be measured by how good we are. If it is we can never enter.
People say that hindsight is 20/20. Yet we all know those who fail to learn the lessons of History are doomed to repeat it, and all around us we watch as History repeats itself over and over. We who’ve confessed Jesus as Lord and who believe in our heart God raised Him from the dead have the benefit of revelation. We’re given insight into the shadows which still lie over this vale of tears like a fog. We can see the forms which to those without Christ are nothing more than shadows dancing on the wall of a cave.
This is an excerpt from the book Hope by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 29, 2023
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A God centered life doesn’t consist merely of acts of worship, it needs to be an act of worship.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens available at Amazon/ https://www.amazon.com/New-Old-Sayings-Robert-Owens/dp/B09TWMS37T/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3KE6XHNRUYLIJ&keywords=new+old+sayings+owens&qid=1654866223&sprefix=new+old+sayings+owens%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-2
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 27, 2023
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Dreams don’t magically appear they’re born through the determined hard work of a dreamer.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 26, 2023
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It’s a sad thing when we work hard but just don’t have the talent to accomplish our goal. It’s a tragedy when we have the talent but won’t invest the hard work to reach our goals.
Lead Me Not Into Temptation April 25, 2023
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The title of this essay is a line from the model prayer Jesus taught us something the Apostle James also points out, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” Or, as it says in the Message, “Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, ‘God is trying to trip me up.’ God is impervious to evil and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust.”
It’s us and only us who choose to sin, to turn our backs on good and embrace evil. “Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood and becomes a real killer.”
Just like everyone else who’s wandered this earth since the fall of man I struggle with temptation. It matters little that I know these struggles come from my own lust. I still have a battle on my hands. And just like everyone else I can stand strong against most temptations but I do have those sins which so easily ensnare me in their web of momentary pleasure and future guilt. These are the things I struggle with. Anyone who’s honest with themselves will admit they have the same situation.
Recently after a service I had a man asked for counsel about this very thing. All I could do is all I can ever do; share my witness.
When I’m faced with the temptation to fall into my pet sins, which I face daily, I admit I’m not strong enough to resist the temptation. These sins have years, decades even of practice in enticing me to wander from God’s path of obedience. My own lusts have their spiritual hands on all the right levers to pull me away. How can I resist? Who’ll save me from myself?
Christ has come to set us free and when He sets us free we’re free indeed. I know that’s what the word says. But how do I get in on all this freedom when I’ve spent so much of my life as a willing slave to these sins?
The first step is to admit my inability to resist the sin. And to realize that these thorns in my flesh are there to protect me from pride and to shape me into what the Lord intends me to be. It’s the act of surrender, of admitting my inability to resist that makes a way. You see when I get to the end of my rope if I give up my struggle and ask Jesus to use His strength to resist the temptation for me, I can walk unscathed through the fires of my lust. When I’m weak then I’m strong because Christ’s strength is perfected in weakness.
We’ll never be tempted by more than we can endure and in every temptation there’s a way of escape. This is one of the many promises we can hold on to when we face our pet sins across the gulf of temptation. Think of how the Lord himself resisted temptation in the wilderness. He used the Word of God to rebuke Satan.
In the same way we need to have the Word of God in us if we want to have the strength to admit our weakness so we can find His strength.
Walking with God can sound and feel like walking backwards to anyone steeped in the wisdom of the world. For the wisdom of God is foolishness to the wise of this world. Just as the weakness of a sinner becomes the strength of the saint as hand in hand with the Man who stilled the sea we give it all to Jesus so He can give it back to us.
Those who seek to keep their lives lose them and those who give their lives away keep them for all eternity.
How do we resist temptation? We trust Jesus to do it for us since every sin was paid for at the cross. Accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. And you will be saved. That isn’t pie in the sky. That isn’t a hollow promise for the great by-an-by. That is a constant reality for the here and now.
When those pesky old sins reach up and try to drag us down remember we aren’t out here all alone. Once we’ve given ourselves to God in and through Jesus it’s no longer just us facing these struggles it’s Christ within us the hope of Glory.
This is an excerpt from the book Hope by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 22, 2023
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An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 21, 2023
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The two biggest mistakes we can make on the way to success are not going at all and not going all the way.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 20, 2023
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There is always a way for those who know where they are going.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 19, 2023
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Getting up with determination leads to going to bed with satisfaction.
Lead Me Not Into Temptation April 17, 2023
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The title of this essay is a line from the model prayer Jesus taught us something the Apostle James also points out, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” Or, as it says in the Message, “Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, ‘God is trying to trip me up.’ God is impervious to evil and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust.”
It’s us and only us who choose to sin, to turn our backs on good and embrace evil. “Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood and becomes a real killer.”
Just like everyone else who’s wandered this earth since the fall of man I struggle with temptation. It matters little that I know these struggles come from my own lust. I still have a battle on my hands. And just like everyone else I can stand strong against most temptations but I do have those sins which so easily ensnare me in their web of momentary pleasure and future guilt. These are the things I struggle with. Anyone who’s honest with themselves will admit they have the same situation.
Recently after a service I had a man asked for counsel about this very thing. All I could do is all I can ever do; share my witness.
When I’m faced with the temptation to fall into my pet sins, which I face daily, I admit I’m not strong enough to resist the temptation. These sins have years, decades even of practice in enticing me to wander from God’s path of obedience. My own lusts have their spiritual hands on all the right levers to pull me away. How can I resist? Who’ll save me from myself?
Christ has come to set us free and when He sets us free we’re free indeed. I know that’s what the word says. But how do I get in on all this freedom when I’ve spent so much of my life as a willing slave to these sins?
The first step is to admit my inability to resist the sin. And to realize that these thorns in my flesh are there to protect me from pride and to shape me into what the Lord intends me to be. It’s the act of surrender, of admitting my inability to resist that makes a way. You see when I get to the end of my rope if I give up my struggle and ask Jesus to use His strength to resist the temptation for me, I can walk unscathed through the fires of my lust. When I’m weak then I’m strong because Christ’s strength is perfected in weakness.
We’ll never be tempted by more than we can endure and in every temptation there’s a way of escape. This is one of the many promises we can hold on to when we face our pet sins across the gulf of temptation. Think of how the Lord himself resisted temptation in the wilderness. He used the Word of God to rebuke Satan.
In the same way we need to have the Word of God in us if we want to have the strength to admit our weakness so we can find His strength.
Walking with God can sound and feel like walking backwards to anyone steeped in the wisdom of the world. For the wisdom of God is foolishness to the wise of this world. Just as the weakness of a sinner becomes the strength of the saint as hand in hand with the Man who stilled the sea we give it all to Jesus so He can give it back to us.
Those who seek to keep their lives lose them and those who give their lives away keep them for all eternity.
How do we resist temptation? We trust Jesus to do it for us since every sin was paid for at the cross. Accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. And you will be saved. That isn’t pie in the sky. That isn’t a hollow promise for the great by-an-by. That is a constant reality for the here and now.
When those pesky old sins reach up and try to drag us down remember we aren’t out here all alone. Once we’ve given ourselves to God in and through Jesus it’s no longer just us facing these struggles it’s Christ within us the hope of Glory.
This is an excerpt from the book Hope by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 16, 2023
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Lazy people always dream of tomorrow and never seem to notice today.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 14, 2023
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If we’re disposed to see the worst in life it will usually appear.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 13, 2023
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Getting the farthest in life is directly related to how much we are willing to risk. Those who seek safety above all else rarely accomplish much.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 12, 2023
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If we did everything we’re capable of doing we’d not only astound ourselves we’d astound the world.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 11, 2023
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There’s no way to find a new world until we are brave enough to leave the one, we know.
Resurrection Reflections April 10, 2023
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As we hunker in the bunker and wait for the Death Angel to pass over it’s good to remember that being negative is positively one of the worst things we can do. Not only is it a waste of time, it’s depressing. God tells us in many ways “Do not worry” more times than He tells us “Do not steal.” And we all know what stealing is. Can any one of us by worrying add a single hour to our life or add an inch to our height?
As with almost anything that happens it doesn’t take long for Christians to start asking, “Do you think these are signs of the End Times?” The Bible tells us we’ve been in the End Times at least since the writing of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. All I can do is repeat what Luke told us so long ago, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
Wars and pandemics shake our world. In a moment we’re in a brave new world wondering, “Will we ever get back to the way it was?” Things can seem so dark, so forbidding, so bleak it’s easy to lose our focus on Christ and the life He’s given us in the middle of so much sickness and death. If we focus on the negative, we may lose sight of the positive reality: Christ triumphed over death. He conquered it through His death on the cross where He died so we may live.
He lived a life of love and perfection. He died a death of hate and rejection. He rose to share joy and perfection. Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Accept Him and find life. Reject Him and reject life.
God is so vast yet so personal, so sublime yet so simple. We are His creation, yet He adopts us as children. He sustains the universe and all that’s in it, yet we ask Him to find us a parking space at MegloMart. The wisest humans who’ve ever lived could never devise a system of religious rules or disciplines that can lead us through the snare of the flesh to the liberation of the spirit. Or, as Paul expresses it, “For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.”
In these times of stress, we need to stand strong, keep our eyes on the prize, and refuse to waver. The government may try to become our all in all but believing that will be the surest way to fall. We may be riveted on the daily briefings and the emergency alerts in the natural, but in the spirit we need to turn our eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
“Don’t be misled no one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others — ignoring God! — harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.”
Here’s some good advice from the days of a war long ago which was also based on truths from the Bible:
Johnny Mercer began his #1 hit by saying, “Gather ’round me, everybody.
Gather ’round me while I’m preachin.’ Feel a sermon comin’ on me. The topic will be sin and that’s what I’m ag’in’. If you wanna hear my story
then settle back and just sit tight while I start reviewin’ the attitude of doin’ right”
Then he crooned:
You’ve got to accentuate the positive
eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
But don’t mess with mister in-between
You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
have faith, a pandemonium
Libel to walk up on the scene
To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the Whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
just when everything looked so dark
They said we better
accentuate the positive
eliminate the negative
latch on to the affirmative
But don’t mess with mister in-between.
As I reflect upon the Resurrection, I can see this is still good advice today.
This is an excerpt from the book Hope by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 7, 2023
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When confronted with obstacles we may have to change our direction, but we shouldn’t let obstacles change our determination to get where we are going.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 5, 2023
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I may be only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. And just because I can’t do everything, I won’t let that stop me from doing something.
It’s a Battlefield Brother April 3, 2023
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We’re in a spiritual war every day whether we recognize it or not, and if we ignore the Bible’s exhortation to fight the good fight we’ll inevitably become a casualty.
As soon as Jesus was resurrected, after triumphing over Satan and taking the keys to death and Hell away from him He had the legal right to completely reclaim the earth Adam had given over to Satan. But He didn’t do it.
Have you ever asked yourself why didn’t Jesus set everything right when He was here? Maybe you haven’t asked this question specifically, but have you wondered, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” or “Why do evil people seem to prosper?” or the classic, “Why did fill in the blank have to get cancer, get hurt, die, etc. ?” If you’ve asked any one of these questions or any one of the million variations you’ve asked, “Why didn’t Jesus set everything right when He was here?”
Here’s the short answer; He didn’t do it because if He had there would’ve been no opportunity for us to make the faith choice to join Him in His work of ruling all things. As a matter of fact, if He’d taken it all back more than two thousand years ago we never would’ve been born let alone have the opportunity to be born again.
As we fight our battle against the darkness in this world we have to realize we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. And since this is the case, we need to use the weapons that God provides not the weapons we can devise. For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare aren’t carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
And all this depends on what we decide to do with our salvation. Are we going to be secret agent Christians hiding our light under a bushel so we can go along to get along? Or, are we going to be bold warriors for Christ doing our best to share what isn’t just good news but is in fact the best news ever?
Once we’ve made the quality decision to spend our lives, the lives God has given us, sharing the light which is the light of the world with those lost in the darkness, we’ll find ourselves standing in a hurricane of resistance. The assaults of the enemy, the assaults of the world, of our families, our friends, the government, the culture will try their best to knock us down and knock us out. But we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and no matter how strong the headwind against us we must do our best to stand our ground.
And having done all to stand we need to stand therefore, having truth as a belt around our waist, putting on a bulletproof vest made of righteousness, stepping into shoes designed to deliver the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith with which we’ll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. If we forget any of this armor, we can’t expect the enemy to play fair and not attack us in that area. We can’t say, “Don’t hit me there I’m not prepared.”
Yes, in the world we will have tribulations but we can be assured Christ has overcome the world.
Years ago, I wrote a song that expressed all this in a slightly more artistic form:
When we see the darkness all around us
We don’t wring our hands and cry about sin
We just light one candle it will burn by faith
Then we ask the Holy Ghost in.
It’s a battlefield brother
It’s a battlefield sister
It’s a battlefield not a recreation hall.
There’s nothing that the enemy can do or say
That could make me give up on God
And when I’m tested, I know I’m never tested
More than what I’ve got to handle the job.
It’s a battlefield brother
It’s a battlefield sister
It’s a battlefield not a recreation hall
God knew we can’t reach high enough
So He sent Jesus down to us.
And He knew we can’t be right enough
So He gave us His righteousness.
It’s a battlefield brother
It’s a battlefield sister
It’s a battlefield not a recreation hall
This is an excerpt from the book Hope by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 2, 2023
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We shouldn’t let where we are in life discourage us. Everyone who ever got anywhere started right where they were.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens April 1, 2023
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So often the little things in life turn out to be the big things. We should enjoy what we have while we have it.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens March 31, 2023
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It’s necessary to take risks because the greatest risk of all is taking no risks at all.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens March 30, 2023
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We should learn the lessons of yesterday, apply that knowledge to today, and breath hope into tomorrow.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens March 28, 2023
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We need to choose wisely every choice we make creates our future.
How Can You Stay So Optimistic? March 27, 2023
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People ask me often “How can you spend so much time following the news and writing on the bizarre twists and turns of our political theater of the absurd and still remain so happy and optimistic?”
The answer is, “It’s easy because my hope is in Christ, and all of this is just a soap opera.”
Sure, I tune in multiple times every day to see what my people are up to. Yes, I follow every twist and turn in the plot. I cheer when my favorite characters triumph and I hiss when the evil nemesis unfairly pulls them down.
However, all in all I realize I’m something like Horton. I hear the Who. And like Horton I realize there’s a whole world living on a speck of dust flying along oblivious to the fact that dust in the wind is not the most stable place to exist.
Fleeting flowers and beautiful sunsets like snowflakes and icicles dazzle the eye inspire the imagination and then they’re gone. Look at the sweep of History. We read of empires long ago. The amazing DNA tests available through a multitude of sources can tell us where we come from. Ancestry web sites tell us who we come from.
But, what do we know of those billions who’ve gone before? What were the names of your eight great grandparents? If by some miracle you can name all eight, what do you know about their lives? Can anyone reading this name their sixteen great-great grandparents? I would wager 100 to one no one can. In our own lives our knowledge of History dissolves before 100 years has elapsed. We can read and memorize facts about the past but how far back does that really go? At most 5,000 years.
Conservatively the earth is at least four billion years old. The universe itself is estimated to be at least thirteen billion years old.
And our direct knowledge goes back maybe one hundred years. Our knowledge gained through study maybe five thousand. Get the picture? We are the Who.
If that was all there was, I would jump up on a table and sing,
Is that all there is, is that all there is?
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing.
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball!
If that’s all there is.
And for the first thirty years of my life that’s what I did. The emptiness and futility of it all led me to the edge of sanity and beyond. I wandered about aimlessly muttering, “I’ve got to try something. I’ve got to try something.”
Until a voice in my ear said, “Why don’t you try God?”
That day changed my life. That day led me to the road that led me to Christ and from that day to this I have hope and joy and nothing I see prancing across the stage of this earthly drama can take it away.
In America our standard greeting is, “Hi, how you are doing?” Not that anyone really cares. Not that anyone ever really listens to your answer. That is just a customary greeting. I always answer, “I’m blessed.” This often brings questions such as, “Why?” This gives me an opportunity to tell them I’m blessed because I have eternal life and that Jesus gave it to me and the devil can’t take it away.”
Sometime people answer, “I am too.” And it’s always a joy to meet a brother or sister wherever they may be.
Though it’s interesting and it helps pass the time as we hang on to our speck of dust swirling about in the wind don’t let the storyline get you down. Just skip to the back of the book and you’ll find out that Jesus is God, God wins in the end, and no matter how bad it gets we should pray, “Come Lord Jesus.”
This is an excerpt from the book Hope by Dr. Robert Owens. This and all his books are available from Amazon in paperback or kindle at Amazon.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens March 26, 2023
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Loving too much can lead to pain but loving to little leads to misery.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens March 25, 2023
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When we’re truly ourselves, we add something to the world that has never been there before.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens March 24, 2023
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What we do for ourselves vanishes when we die. What we do for others, lives on as our legacy.
An excerpt from New Old Sayings by Dr. Robert Owens March 23, 2023
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Any road will work when you don’t know where you’re going.
Dr. Robert Owens Chronicles the History of the Future 