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My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace,Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;‘Tis His to lead me there—not mine, but His—At any cost, dear Lord, by any road. Several years ago, while going through some papers, I found a document in which I had listed several short and long term goals. I was very pleased to find that I had accomplished many of the goals. I also was amused to find that some of the goals involved things in which I no longer had any interest. It is important to have goals  and to periodically re-evaluate our goals and our progress toward meeting them. Long range goals should include intermediate goals: steps on the way toward the final goal. But it is also imperative that we recognize the ultimate goal.  My goal is God Himself . . .At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.“At any cost . . . by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal. Recognizing that God is the ultimate goal is a sign of spiritual maturity. Being good, even pleasing God, is not the ultimate goal… God Himself is the goal. The next level of maturity […]

. . . whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31 Kairos #50 just finished at Angola and by all accounts it was wonderful, a true hilltop experience. I did not take part but I know what the participants are going through this week. In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God. We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!” If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no […]

Peter . . . said to Jesus, ’But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ’. . . what is that to you? You follow Me’ —John 21:21-22 We are incapable of running our own lives. This is often the realization that brings us to the cross. We make such a mess of our lives that we realize that our only alternative is to turn it over to  God. But our desire to control is strong. Sometimes we decide that since we can’t control our own lives, maybe we can control the lives of others. One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, “He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t.” You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, “What is that to you?”  God does use us to assist and often advise others; but that comes out of our relationship with Him.  […]

As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me . . . —Genesis 24:27 As we discussed earlier, we know that we are His because we are different. We want different things. Our “consciences” are also different. They are more attuned to His will. We are more sensitive to His leading. We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance.  His desire and direction for us becomes part of our being. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will. As His child we also become more aware of the unfolding of His plan as we move through life. We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed […]

. . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me —Galatians 2:20   As Christians, we are new creations, with baggage. Much of the old man remains. Part of that remainder includes our moods, feelings, and emotions. These constitute our experience. We are used to relying on our experience. If I haven’t done, see or felt something, I tend to believe that it isn’t so. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, “I haven’t had this experience or that experience”! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . .” (1 Corinthians 1:30). If our faith in Jesus seems insufficient to replace our “experience,” it is likely we are focusing on the “wrong” Jesus. We must continually focus and firmly place […]

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new —2 Corinthians 5:17 It is sad to consider that many believe that you can’t know if you are saved. Or worse, that you are never really saved. Some believe that you can know that you will go to heaven if you die today; but the same might not be true tomorrow, next week or next year.  But we can know, we can be sure. When we become His, things are different. The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and […]

He said, ’Take now your son . . .’ —Genesis 22:2 The Power of Now.  If I could just forget about the past and stop worrying about the future. I could get to now. Now is the only thing we have, the only medium in which we can make a difference. The only reality of following Christ. The only time that really matters.  I also have to admit that I sometimes live by the axiom, “Why do it now when it could be done tomorrow.” God’s command is, “Take now,” not later. It is incredible how we debate! We know something is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it immediately. If we are to climb to the height God reveals, it can never be done later— it must be done now. What are you doing now? What could you be doing now? What should you be doing now? Do it and be blessed. Nick

. . . fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ . . . —1 Thessalonians 3:2 I have 11 years of military experience where I learned computers when the industry was new. I am a law school honor graduate and have practiced law for nearly thirty years.  Yet my principal purpose these days seems to be as a babysitter. I also get to set up and run websites and prayer request systems and a daily blog, but seriously I’m principally a babysitter. So today’s Utmost is for me. After sanctification, it is difficult to state what your purpose in life is, because God has moved you into His purpose through the Holy Spirit. He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself, thinking, “God has called me for this and for that,” you barricade God from using you. As long as you maintain your own personal interests and ambitions, you cannot be completely aligned or identified with God’s interests. This can only be accomplished by giving up all of your personal plans once and for all, and by allowing […]