Nick’s Walk

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . . —Jude 20 It’s natural to be impulsive; not good, but natural. In one of our first “teachings” on a Kairos weekend we tell the guys the difference between reaction and response. “Reaction” is  unthinking. “Response” adds some thought and some time to the natural knee jerk situation. Most of the inmates are there because they reacted to a situation without thought and certainly without prayerful consideration.  We tend to “react” because we are not at a peaceful place with our life situation. We don’t have the quiet assurance that comes from a relationship with Christ. Impulsiveness is born of the natural man who is childish and self-centered.  Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline. At our men’s prayer session, this morning we discussed what it means to be “holy” in today’s world. Holiness  is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. A holy man walks confidently, patiently and quietly day-to-day. It requires the grace of God to walk that way on a daily basis. The result is an attractive and beautiful being, completely different from what the world is accustomed to. A […]

This is the will of God, your sanctification . . . —1 Thessalonians 4:3 Am I really willing to be sanctified?  He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul said that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). Do I really want the change that sanctification brings? I am truly ready to turn from the things that hinder that process? Am I really willing to completely let go and let God? Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ. It is possible only through the magnificent atonement of Christ. Yet my consent is constantly required. My willingness to completely accept God’s will for me.  Am I willing? If I say that I am willing but sanctification is not occurring, then I am lying.  His part is done and complete. The process only awaits God’s Will becoming my will. Be blessed. Nick

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world —John 18:36 The Christian is not identified by what he says or, even, by what he does, but by the Fruit of the Spirit which he displays, the outward evidence of the life of the Holy Spirit within. The church today does not lack for activity. We have programs and broadcasts. We sport clever signs and billboards. We gather in fairly impressive numbers on Sunday mornings and less impressive numbers on Sunday and Wednesday nights. We are greatly organized and have learned to use the management and marketing systems of the world.  In most churches there is  endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not […]

. . . they went forth for His name’s sake . . . —3 John 7 Agape love, the unselfish love which expects nothing in return, wants the best for others, and places self last, is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is not natural. It is supernatural. It is exhibited by a desire to respond to Our Lord’s inquiry, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17) with “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” It seems that we have a world that knows neither how to love nor how to be loved. We have young men who show no respect for women. We have young women  “looking for love in all the wrong places. Love is not something we can demand or a feeling we can self-generate. It is a fruit of the life of God inside us: “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . .” (Romans 5:5). Our Savior teaches us how to love, provides us the ultimate example of what it means to love, but most of all indwells […]

. . I say to you, he who believes in Me, . . . greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father —John 14:12 Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work.  We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered; a “wise” man does not (see Matthew 11:25). Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. We must learn to work according to God’s direction, and He says to pray. “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38). Pray and be blessed. Nick

Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest —Matthew 9:38 Anyone who has ever had the honor to be used by the Lord is well aware of the necessity of prayer. For our Kairos weekends, we arrange to have someone praying 24/7 from the beginning of the weekend through the end. Read any history of great moves of God and you will find they were birthed and maintained by prayer. From prayer the worker gets his direction, confidence and strength. Through prayer he lays all credit for the result at the feet of the Master.  Prayer moves us from the ordinary, common sense, and a trust in medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. “Pray the Lord of the harvest . . . .” In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view. No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, “a servant [who] is not greater than his master” (John 13:16), and someone who does not dictate to […]

He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world —1 John 2:2 Propitiation is God’s Wrath Appeased and it’s the key to the missionary’s message: His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. That’s why it’s so important that we don’t shortcut the gospel message. It begins with God’s justifiable wrath for our SIN. Starting with anything else: His love or His “plan for our life” undermines the message. Christ’s work is multifaceted:  healing, saving, and sanctifying. But— “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”— that is limitless (John 1:29). The missionary’s message is the limitless importance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is someone who is immersed in the truth of that revelation. A missionary is someone who is bound by marriage to the stated mission and purpose of his Lord and Master. Paul did not say, “Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me,” but, “. . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). And this is the gospel— “the […]

Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’ —Matthew 28:18-19   Interesting that the reason we should “go” is because of Jesus, His authority and not because of the need. He doesn’t say “The world is lost. Go and give them the good news.” The focus should always be on Jesus. When we look to Him we seek the solutions, not the problems. We know what can be and not what has been. We see the power and not the powerlessness. It is so easy to give too much focus to the lost or to ourselves. Salvation is in neither place. It is in Him.  Notice what He does say to the needy and the missionary, “all you who labor and are heavy laden . . .”: “Come to Me . . .”— that is the place to meet Jesus— (Matthew 11:28). We first come to Jesus. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you . . .” (John 15:7) We abide in Him but we don’t stay, while abiding, we go. “Go […]