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 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16   Life goes by so quickly, doesn’t it? An old friend of mine said it best when he told me, “Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes!” Remember as a kid, a month before Christmas, it seemed the magical day would never come. In the time that month would take to pass, now an entire year goes by. Life is moving so fast, and with it our opportunity to leave an eternally significant mark. If we failed to make a deliberate effort to leave such a mark, we will never do so. We need to abandon thoughts about “one day.” […]

 I want everything my God has for me in 2011. I want a productive fearless life. What we achieve is very dependent on our attitude. On what have we focused? What do we seek? Much of today’s devotional is based on Pastor Doucet’s New Year message. We are told in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be open to you.” I think it is significant that the word used is “ask” not “demand” or even “request.” There is a certain amount of inquiry involved. We go to our God with a questioning heart. He is the one who knows what we need. It’s not a question of our desires or whims. We want what is best for us and no one knows that better than Our Lord. Often our askings go askew. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:3 I am reminded of the small child who will repeatedly ask for candy or to go out to play in the rain or to be left on their own near a busy street. All […]

The Key for Success in the New Year is to live it without fear. There are four reasons why we can do so, based on promises of God. Adrian Rogers put them this way: The Contentment of His Provision Contentment is not getting what you want, but it is wanting what you already have. First Timothy 6:6-8 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us therewith be content.” If you know Jesus Christ, you have contentment. If you’ve got clothes on your back, something to eat, and Jesus Christ in your heart, you’re rich!  Do you know why we have fear? Because we think our needs or the needs of someone we love are not going to be met. Or we fear that the things we think are meeting our needs are going to be taken away from us. The deepest need of your heart can only be met in the Lord Jesus Christ.  When I look back over my life I see clearly that He has been forever faithful in meeting my needs. There is […]

You shall not go out with haste, . . . for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard —Isaiah 52:12   These are insecure times, politically, physically and fiscally. There is much to unsettle and create fear. Security is the great gift of the saved, security in Christ. With security comes joy and the absence of fear. It is His gift to us; don’t let Satan steal it from you.  Security from Yesterday. New Years tends to be very forward looking. At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our past can drag us down. Satan can use the past to condemn and distract us from the all important now.  Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very […]

A bit over a year ago my Pastor suggested that I use Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest as a basis for my daily devotional for 2010. After some prayer and thought I agreed. I have been greatly blessed by the process. Sometimes I simply quoted the devotionals word-for-word. On others I picked out and tried to explain one aspect of Chambers’ thoughts. On still other days, Oswald’s words led me to share on something only generally related. It has been a great experience. I considered repeating it for 2011, but have decided against it. Beginning on Saturday I will be embarking on more “original” daily postings. I have subscribed to several devotionals which I hope to draw from in the year ahead. I pray I will receive guidance from the Lord on what and how to share in the year ahead. I also pray these sharings will be of some benefit to each of you. Looking forward to 2011. Nick

We have natural talents. They vary person to person. Folks who are successful in life are those who correctly identify and develop those talents. and apply them to the puzzle of life. It is important to know what gifts we have been given and focus on those. The frustrated are those who try, maybe all their lives, to “develop” talents they have never been given.  When we come to Christ it is “natural” to want to use these natural virtues in a new way, to glorify Christ. But this ignores the fact that we are new creations and the glory should not go to what we have been given naturally, but to glorify Him who know resides in us. We want to cling to our natural virtues, while all the time God is trying to get us in contact with the life of Jesus Christ— a life that can never be described in terms of natural virtues. It is the saddest thing to see people who are trying to serve God depending on that which the grace of God never gave them. They are depending solely on what they have by virtue of heredity. God does not take our […]

Visions are greatly misunderstood by Christians. God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives us a clear vision of His will.  This can be a personal vision of what He is calling us to do, or a group vision, His plan for a church or ministry. When received, we must “walk in the light” of that vision (1 John 1:7).  These visions are personal. We get ourselves into trouble when we apply our vision to others or try to apply the vision of others to our situations. God has plans for all His children; they are not all exactly the same. Take a moment now and give it some thought. Has God revealed His plan for you, a vision. If not or if you are not sure then more time with Him and His word is called for. Visions are never contrary to the word of God and are usually conveyed through it. Visions become clearer and more real as we begin to walk in them, one step at a time. Group visions require additional effort. We should openly discuss the vision with other members of any Christian group we are part of. Failure to have a common vision […]

. . . unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven —Matthew 18:3 Kaydence is sick. She is running those triple digit temperatures and has a running nose and a cough. Because of that we have spent much time together. Her on my lap, playing with my phone, just talking or watching TV. Grandchildren, and even more so, great grandchildren come to us at just the right time in life. When they arrive we have begun to use youth and the positive attributes of youth: whatever beauty we formerly possessed, energy, dreams for a future.  When they come we have reached a stage where we don’t feel particularly loved and are way behind on our hug quota. Into this world they bring their energy, trust and unconditional love. One of the reasons why the Christ Child is so venerated is because He represents a God of unconditional child like love who hugs and kisses without reason or excuse.  That’s also a model for how we are to be: trusting, unconditionally loving, giving out kisses and hugs at random. Our natural tendency is to “grow up” to lose our […]