Nick’s Walk

. . . Jesus . . . said to him, ’You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:22-23 Every real relationship has a “fish or cut bait” moment” a time for making a commitment. For the rich young ruler, this was the time. Jesus knew he wasn’t ready, but the rich man pressed and when Jesus asked for his riches, the young man wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to be devoted; he was discouraged. Marriage used to be a an example of this for us. It had a point where the parties faced the commitment decision: do I go all the way with this person? Is this for real? Is this forever? Do I forsake all others and go with this one for better or for worse? Am I ready to give all I have to get all they have? In exchange for that commitment we got real love, security, and life long faithfulness. Not so much any more. The generation that gave us one night stands, hooking up and living together has also […]

He calls his own . . . by name . . . —John 10:3   We had a great Sunday at Amana today, a day filled with hope as Dr. Dave Regan discussed, “What happens when you die.” But that great hope is based on our relationship with Jesus. Do we know Him? Does He know me? There are occasions which challenge a relationship: Disinformation, Doubt and Denial. Any of these will cause us to question our relationship with Him. When I have sadly misunderstood Him? (see John 20:11-18 ). There are times when the Jesus of scripture just doesn’t seem to be the Jesus we believe that we know.  When Mary  went to the tomb on Easter morning it was empty. When Jesus appeared to her, she didn’t recognize Him. A Risen Lord is not what she expected. There are times when the Jesus we experience is not the Jesus we expect. We misunderstand who He is. Mary’s doctrine was challenged. She had to trust in her experience.  Doctrine meant no more to her than the grass under her feet. In fact, any Pharisee could have made a fool of Mary doctrinally, but one thing they could never ridicule was […]

You must be born again —John 3:7   New birth is miraculous; and radical. The answer to Nicodemus’ question, “How can a man be born when he is old?” is: Only when he is willing to die to everything in his life, including his rights, his virtues, and his religion, and becomes willing to receive into himself a new life that he has never before experienced ( John 3:4  ). This new life exhibits itself in our conscious repentance and through our unconscious holiness. “But as many as received Him. . .” ( John 1:12  ). Is my knowledge of Jesus the result of my own internal spiritual perception, or is it only what I have learned through listening to others? Is there something in my life that unites me with the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior? My spiritual history must have as its underlying foundation a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. To be born again means that I see Jesus. “. . . unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” (John 3:3). Am I seeking only for the evidence of God’s kingdom, or am I actually recognizing His absolute sovereign control? The new […]

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him —Hebrews 12:5  We quench the Spirit when we don’t listen to His voice. It is very easy to grieve the Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming discouraged when He rebukes us. We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, “Oh well, I can’t help it. I prayed and things didn’t turn out right anyway. So I’m simply going to give up on everything.” Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives! Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me— sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me. Lord clear our minds of what we think sanctification means. Place us where you would have us, in your will, make us what you would have us be. Blessed to be Yours, Nick

Do not quench the Spirit —1 Thessalonians 5:19   I believe that we quench the Spirit not so much by dumping cold water on His Fire, but by failing to be in close enough relationship with Him to be able to hear His voice.  The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze— so gentle that unless you are living in complete fellowship and oneness with God, you will never hear it. The sense of warning and restraint that the Spirit gives comes to us in the most amazingly gentle ways. And if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice, you will quench it, and your spiritual life will be impaired. This sense of restraint will always come as a “still small voice” ( 1 Kings 19:12  ), so faint that no one except a saint of God will notice it. We develop a habit of hearing the Spirit. We hear the still small voice; we respond; we realize by the results that it must have been the Spirit. The next time, it is easier to recognize that voice.  Why does He speak so softly? Because He respects our free will. If He […]

Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? —Matthew 8:26 How can we measure how our walk is going? One reliable way is to consider how much we fear. Trust in God and fear are inversely proportional. I learned that in algebra or something. It means the more we trust the less we fear. As we walk with God our confidence in His guidance, our trust, should be growing and our fear of what lies around the next bend should be less. I understand that there are no atheists in foxholes. When we are afraid, we turn to God and hope He is there.  When we are afraid, the least we can do is pray to God. But our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His name have an underlying confidence in Him. “. . . O you of little faith!” What a stinging pain must have shot through the disciples as they surely thought to themselves, “We missed the mark again!” And what a sharp pain will go through us when we suddenly realize that we could have produced complete and utter joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in […]

Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha . . . saw him no more —2 Kings 2:11-12 I once belonged to a fellowship with a very charismatic leader. The group experienced great growth and saw much movement of the Holy Spirit. Then the leader left; and the church was never the same. Later when asked members seemed more enamored of the church and its past leadership than it was of Christ.  In the days of Promise Keepers we were taught that each of us should have a mentor and be a mentor to another. This is great advice; but a mentor should always point to Christ not be a substitute for Him. It is not wrong for you to depend on your “Elijah” or mentor for as long as God gives him to you. But remember that the time will come when he must leave and will no longer be your guide and your leader, because God does not intend for him to stay. Even the thought of that causes you to say, “I cannot continue without my ’Elijah.’ ” Yet God says you must continue. Who is your mentor? Who are you mentoring? Are you […]

Yesterday I saw the movie Despicable Me. It’s the story of an aging villain, past his prime, and three adorable orphans. It soon becomes clear that he needs them more than they need him. The movie impressed me so that last night I dreamed of orphans and having too much time on my hands. We live in a world starving for the love of Jesus. His love is sufficient, but it’s not getting where it’s needed. The failure is in the delivery system: Us. If we are not doing everything we can to convey His love to a suffering world, then we need to apply the movie title to ourselves, Despicable Me or maybe Poor Poor Pitiful Me. Be a conduit of His love today and be blessed and not Despicable. Nick