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Yesterday I did something spontaneous. I took my wife and daughter-in-law to a movie in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week. I highly recommend that exercise. I also highly recommend the movie, The King’s Speech. After the death of his father King George V  and the scandalous abdication of King Edward VIII, Bertie  who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth, the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric and not very successful speech therapist, Lionel Logue . After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill, the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio-address that inspires his people and unites them in battle. Now I must warn that the movie is rated R for language. It seems the future king doesn’t stammer when he sings, is angry or curses. So we occasionally hear him curse. But […]

 “Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11 The problem is we aren’t satisfied with daily bread. We want the assurance that we will have bread next week, next month and next year. We fail to recognize that a person with a loaf of bread is not better off than the person whose father owns a bakery.  What Jesus was trying to teach us when He taught us the Lord’s Prayer is dependence. God wants us to be dependent on Him, to trust Him for all that we need. I am over 60 years old and God has provided abundantly all that time, and not just bread and water. He has provided french bread, muffins, and unending variety of not just what I need but what thrills me.  Yet I still find myself worried about tomorrow. I don’t know what it will take for me to trust and relax; but I hope it happens soon. Be blessed and, pass the butter. Nick  “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him or a lifetime” G

 “”But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 NLT This is one of those scriptures we tend to skip over. We know we’re not perfect. We know we’re not close to perfect. Yet, In today’s scripture, Jesus tells us to be perfect. How can we do that? One moment at a time.  We don’t have perfect lives or years or months or even days. But we can have perfect moments. And, after all, we live best when we live in the moment. When we choose to respond to any given person or circumstance in a godly way, we have a perfect moment. We have fulfilled Jesus’ command—in that moment. Every time we handle a situation in a godly, loving way, we have a perfect moment. We can be holy because God is holy. “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy (Leviticus 19:2 NIV). Holiness is an outflow of God’s nature. By resting in God’s love and following His will, we can act in healthy and positive ways. But we can’t do it alone. Problems develop when we expect ourselves to accomplish perfection relying solely on our own efforts. […]

Do you feel wronged today? Is there something in your heart eating away with you because of a hurt or slight? I know what you’re thinking because it’s usually what I’m thinking. “So and So needs to come to me and apologize. He’s the one who is wrong.”  But Jesus said, “No, you go to him.” Whether you are in the right or whether you are in the wrong, as a child of God, you are to go to that individual. Isn’t that what God did in the Garden of Eden? Adam and Eve sinned against God and the Bible tells us that God came looking for them: “Adam, where art thou?” That was not the voice of a detective. That was the voice of a God Who pursues us to forgive us. Stop right now and ask God to show you if you have an unforgiving spirit toward someone. Then, in His power and strength, call that person and ask his/her forgiveness. It’s going to be impossible in your strength, but remember, God does the impossible. You’ll be even more blessed. Nick

I attended a one day retreat at Angola today. The topic was The Beatitudes and I was asked to give a talk on “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4. I discussed the  mourning process that accompanied the death of my son and went on to discuss some general principles about mourning. I believe we don’t mourn enough. We should mourn when we lose something and then move on. A failure to mourn leaves us in a limbo between our past and our future.  I further told the guys that are many things we should be leaving behind: our old lives after we come to Christ, habits that we enjoyed but which are sin and need to be left behind.  It is interesting that Jesus call the Holy Spirit the Comforter. One of His purposes is to lead us through mourning as we transition from the life of a sinner to the life of a saint. That transition, that period of mourning and comfort, explains why he is blessed who mourns. Upon returning home I found something new to mourn. I discovered that nearly a month of my postings have not been delivered to […]

I just realized that my daily devotionals have not been posting to the Amana Prayer Partners since mid December. It is of some concern that no one mentioned it until now. I am encouraged that my pastor is the one who mentioned it. I thought I did some pretty good posts. If you would like to review my posts for the last month, you can do so at http://nickswalk.blogspot.com/ I am not sure whether to apologize or expect appreciation for the vacation I have provided. I think I have fixed the problem. I hope that’s good news. What you have missed is the end of the Utmost for His Highest postings and the new more original postings since January 1. I know some people have problems when the year changes in things like writing checks, but this is ridiculous. Maybe we could add a class to Wednesday night, “Catching Up with Nick’s Walk”? Then again, maybe not. Be blessed. Nick

LUKE 15:1Now all the tax gathers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. We know that when the world looks at us, they should see Jesus. It’s important that those who need Him, the lost, see Jesus, not just our buddies in the church. Do you really want to attract sinners? Even if so, how? Should we be like them? Jesus attracted “the tax gathers and the the sinners.” How did He do it? What was there about Him that did it? Power. In Jesus, folks saw power. The world knows it’s in trouble and that trouble won’t be fixed by anything natural. We need supernatural power and Jesus showed it. Hope. Jesus had hope about Him. He made it clear that we we see now; the life we have now, is not all there is. Truth. It has been sad to observe politicians trying to take advantage of the tragedy in Arizona. But most are not fooled. There is no element of truth in what is heard. Just as folks don’t normally fall for television ads or folks who walk around with a mask. Jesus was honest and candid and open. The naked truth is […]

“And God said to the man, “I can’t use you. Consider your past and you will understand.” Notthere 4:1 God is not fond of rear view mirrors. Satan loves them. The above “verse” appears no place in scripture. In fact, nothing like it appears. God seems to relish taking folks with a questionable past and doing great things through them. He also likes to move those comfortable with where they are to places that will stretch them. Consider Abraham. God called him away from his home and his family, his entire history. He took Him to a strange land and made him the father of a nation. Consider Paul. God took a persecutor of Christians to become the apostle to the gentiles.  Consider Moses. God through him took His people out of slavery. Remember how they kept looking back. Even considering that being a slave wasn’t so bad back in Egypt. None of these men could risk looking back, they had to focus on looking forward. Have you ever considered how large the front windshield of a vehicle is compared to the rear view mirror? We should use the same approach. An occasional glance backward can be helpful, but […]