Author: Nick

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man . . . —1 Corinthians 10:13 Temptation is common to all men; but unique to each. We all face temptation; but the temptations we face fit our individual natures. For some, we are drawn into the traps into which we have a habit of falling. Satan is no fool; he will continue to use methods that work until they work no longer. Once we successfully resist; he will move on to something else. Some of the most beguiling temptations do not tempt us to do evil,but suggest a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Such temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong.These temptations raise the old end-justify-the-means arguments. Such temptations have led to the downfall of many ministries. The basis is usually a failure to trust God and a reliance on ourselves to know his goals and to accomplish them. Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential […]

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place . . . —Matthew 6:6 Find an inner room in which to pray where no one even knows you are praying, shut the door, and talk to God in secret. Have no motivation other than to know your Father in heaven.   God does not hear us because we pray earnestly— He hears us solely on the basis of redemption.  “Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8). We pray religious nonsense without even involving our will, and then we say that God did not answer— but in reality we have never asked for anything. Jesus said, “. . . you will ask what you desire. . .” (John 15:7). Asking means that our will must be involved. Whenever Jesus talked about prayer, He spoke with wonderful childlike simplicity. Then we respond with our critical attitude, saying, “Yes, but even Jesus said that we must ask.”  Ask and Be Blessed. Nick

We have renounced the hidden things of shame . . .  —2 Corinthians 4:2 When we begin to follow Jesus, His light falls upon some of the dark areas of our lives, past and present and we feel shame. When this light falls we should immediately renounce these things and move on. Easier said than done. In any church on a Sunday morning you would think there are no such hidden things of shame amongst the people. You would, of course, be wrong. This is a very harmful lie because it causes us to believe that we are alone in our struggles. That solitude can lead to doubt and confusion and withdrawal for Christ and His  Church. Thus, it’s a favor deception of Satan. We have decided it is inappropriate, or maybe just to embarrassing to admit our struggles in renouncing these things in our lives. This is one of the many ways a “prayer and share” group can be a life saver. A prayer and share group is just a small group of believers who have developed enough trust in each other that they can opening discuss things that weight upon them, like these  “hidden things of shame” […]

. . . the simplicity that is in Christ —2 Corinthians 11:3 Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die. These famous lines are from The Charge of the Light Brigade by  Alfred, Lord Tennyson. They refer to soldiers in battle. We should apply them to ourselves in our Christian walk. Too often when we God calls us to do something, we respond by trying to reason “why” He so calls us. You cannot think through spiritual confusion to make things clear; to make things clear, you must obey. In intellectual matters you can think things out, but in spiritual matters you will only think yourself into further wandering thoughts and more confusion. If there is something in your life upon which God has put His pressure, then obey Him in that matter. Bring all your “arguments and . . . every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” regarding the matter, and everything will become as clear as daylight to you ( 2 Corinthians 10:5 ). Your reasoning capacity will come later, but reasoning is not how we see. We see like children, and when we try to be wise we see nothing […]

If I am in a vehicle, I much prefer to be the driver. When watching TV, I like the remote control next to me. I am much happier as a solo practitioner, than I was as an employee or even a partner (which I was for most of my life.) I like to think that God is my Co-Pilot. I guess you could say I have control “issues.” I believe I am a control freak. This makes the concept of surrender a difficult one for me. It’s not much consolation that I’m not the only one. or that control freakism is rampant. There is great anxiety in our country now principally because most of us feel things our out of control: the economy, politics, national morals. It is no consolation that these things have been out of control for most of my 61 years. There is no worse feeling in the world. than loss of control.  The feeling is almost universal that things are “out of control.” It is also no help that “control” is mostly an illusion. We are never really “in control.” It is no wonder that we give but lip service to the spiritual concept of […]

Jesus answered and said, ’You do not know what you ask’ —Matthew 20:22 We are not meant to always understand what God is doing in our lives. Spiritual confusion is natural and should be expected. If we hold to basic truths we can walk through periods of confusion. We must hold on to the fact that God is God; God is in control. God loves us. God is all powerful. God wants the best for us. Sometimes it may seem that God is not in control or that He doesn’t love us or can’t handle some situation or delights in our discomfort. These things are never true. When we are challenged with these assault on our basic faith our response is to keep on walking, to keep on trusting, to keep on believing. Eventually, the fog will clear and we will, once again discover that hindsight is 20/20. When will look back on what has happened, His faithfulness, power, control and love for us will, once again be proven. Is this a period of spiritual clarity or spiritual fog? It matters not. Walk on child of God. Your Father in heaven loves you and leads you onward. Be blessed. […]

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet —John 13:14 I love my daughter. She is very cool. Recently I  asked  if she had ever considered being a missionary. She said that she had until she realized she didn’t like kids or bugs. With those two dislikes how she ever serve as a missionary?   It’s clearly the way we think. . . of serving God in far away places with radically different environs or with people we just don’t handle very well.   That’s not how missionary service really is. It is being willing to perform the most menial task in His name, whether it’s washing feet, listening to the broken hearted, or raking leaves. This kind of service is so important that Jesus made an example for us the night before He died.  There are many spiritual needs out there and most can be met with little spiritual expertise. and no exotic travel. We can listen to the lonely.  We can help the disadvantaged. We can pray with the lost and confused. God places these opportunities in our path. We don’t have to travel to places […]

When you were under the fig tree, I saw you —John 1:48 Football season seems to have begun this week. The Saints are hoping to Two Dat and start with a game against the Vikings tonight. College teams will play their second games this weekend. But for those who play the game, the season never ends. These guys work to stay in shape year round. Actual practice has been going on for college for a month and preseason games have separated the players from the watchers in the professional ranks. For those who have not worked and prepared there is no season opener. We need to do the same. It is easy to say when God calls on me to do something great, I’ll be ready. Well, we will only be ready if we are preparing now. If we aren’t doing the little things now, we won’t be asked to suit up for the big game. In fact, maybe we have already been called up and found wanting. Have we had a crisis in our life in which we floundered, doubted our faith, held back from making a necessary move?  Crises don’t make our character they just reveal it. […]