Author: Nick

This is St. John’s Wort. It’s suppose to help control moods. We are obsessed about our moods. I have to admit that I tend to be controlled by my moods. My decisions to tackle projects require a certain mood. I don’t write well, without the mood (or is that the muse?) Moods affect my spiritual life as well: a mood for prayer or worship or service. I also know that moods should not control me. Praying about it isn’t enough. There are certain things in life that we need not pray about— moods, for instance. We will never get rid of moodiness by praying, but we will by kicking it out of our lives. Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle not to listen to the moods which arise as a result of our physical condition, but we must never submit to them for a second. We have to pick ourselves up by the back of the neck and shake ourselves; then we will find that we can do what we believed we were unable to do. The problem that most of us are cursed with […]

Pray without ceasing . . .  1 Thessalonians 5:17 Our biggest misconceptions about prayer are that it is an occasional conversation with God which He occasionally answers. OC beautifully refutes those mistakes. “Prayer is the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered.  We are learning that the answer to our problems is Jesus. Any confusion in life is cured by focus on Him. Any temptation is best dealt with by looking to Him. Guidance is found in seeking His mind for us. It is a natural conclusion that our life will be improved in direct proportion to the percentage of our time spent focused on Him. Our goal should be constant, unending communion with Him. When we know that we will know complete blessing. Lord teach us that anything that distracts from You is worthless distraction. Keep us looking to you, the only source of our love, our hope and our life. Nick

Look at the birds of the air . . . . Consider the lilies of the field . . . —Matthew 6:26, 28 I wore my National Day of Prayer T Shirt today. I just felt like I was suppose to. I can’t say the voice of God told me to; but maybe He did. It made a couple of my breakfast buddies uncomfortable. A little old lady in a wheel chair asked me about and we had a good conversation. At the end of the day, I am sure I was suppose to wear it. I know it’s not a big deal. It wasn’t a great “Christian” move. I’m not sure what impact, if any, it had on anyone. It was just what I was suppose to do. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin”— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful. Jesus said […]

    And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.”     Luke 24:51    In the early days of Jesus’ ministry, what did the disciples think of Him? They could tell He was a wise man by His teachings. They could tell He was a special man by His miracles. They didn’t always understand the teachings or the miracles. There was yet another big leap of faith that would have to take. Jesus is more than man. He is God. This teaching began at the Transfiguration; when man was granted just a glimpse of the glory that was His. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race can enter into the life of God; by His Resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to any man, and by His Ascension Our Lord enters heaven and keeps the door open for humanity. On the Mount of Ascension the Transfiguration is completed. If Jesus had gone to heaven from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone; He would have been nothing more to us than a glorious Figure. But He turned His back on the glory, and came down […]

My Dad died about a year ago. We have now been through that difficult first year of holidays and events without Dad: first Christmas, first basketball season. I was not present at the moment of his death, but I recall vividly the process. He was ill and fading for many weeks. By the time God took him he was more than ready and so was the exhausted family. I think as Christians we don’t so much fear death as the process. In the back of our minds we have concern that we will not handle it well. Will we lose faith or courage? Will it be painful? This evening at 6 in our Fearless series at Amana we will discuss Fear of Life’s Final Moments. I think it will be helpful to just about anyone. Even if you have come completely to terms with your demise, I know you know folks who have not. Please join us. \And those who missed on Mother’s Day evening, we missed you;; we understand and look forward to seeing you again tonight. Be blessed. Nick

. . . you may be partakers of the divine nature . . . —2 Peter 1:4 It is ridiculous for anyone in this country to complain about a lack of provision or to feel needy. The least of us are rich when compared with almost everyone else in the word. Further, as Children of God our provision is unlimited. One of our problems is our vision and circles are so narrow. When we compare our circumstances with the owner of the nearest mansion, we feel deprived. We don’t live in that mansion nor are we aware of the misery and lack that might reside therein. I grew up in a financially poor family. My folks had nine children. We didn’t own a car until after I graduated from high school. Yet my memories of my childhood are rich. At Christmas,  I remember how grateful we were for the one present we got to pick from the Sears catalog. Our parents raised successful children who, in general, love and serve God and who grew up to be good parents to their children.  We talk as if our heavenly Father has cut us off without a penny! We think it is a […]

. . . that you may know what is the hope of His calling . . . —Ephesians 1:18 How is the life of Jesus manifest in us? It is evidenced by how we live. How we deal with the adversity of life. How we are changed. You did not do anything to achieve your salvation, but you must do something to exhibit it. You must “work out your own salvation” which God has worked in you already ( Philippians 2:12  ). Are your speech, your thinking, and your emotions evidence that you are working it “out”? If you are still the same miserable, grouchy person, set on having your own way, then it is a lie to say that God has saved and sanctified you. God is the Master Designer, and He allows adversities into your life to see if you can jump over them properly We are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants. Once we realize this, He will make us broken bread and poured-out wine with which to feed and nourish others. What is God trying to work through us this day? We can know it by the apparent adversity we face. How […]

. . . that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body —2 Corinthians 4:10 With God there is always more. We may have come to Him after we recognized what a mess we have made of our lives and we want a second chance. We may be concerned that our lives of sin have taken us so far away from Him that hell is our destination. It is certainly true that God wants to save us. He wants our lives to be better. He had a better plan for us than we did. He wants us to live with Him forever. But He wants more for us. “We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” – We skim over those parts of the gospels that talk about Christ in us and being part of His Body. Our eternal purpose begins now. It should have begun long ago. We are here for a purpose and that purpose is to manifest Christ […]