Nick’s Walk

Joshua said to the people, ’You cannot serve the Lord . . .’ —Joshua 24:19 Joshua told the people that they could not serve the Lord, because they had served other Gods. We may not serve graven images, but when we rely on anything but the Lord Our God, we are serving “other gods.” We do well to frequently review our actions to see exactly on what we rely. Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? The purer our reliance on Him; the greater our growth and productivity. When we fully rely, we are fully blessed. Nick

. . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . —Joshua 24:15   This day whom have I decided to serve? We serve something. We may think we are Masters of our lives; but we serve something. There is a default. Unless we choose something different, we will serve Satan. It is only in his best interest for us not to decide.  We must choose to follow Christ. This is not just a one time decision. We must make that decision “this day” and every day. By choosing to follow Christ we are taking control by releasing control. Self control of our lives is not an option. Choose to be controlled by the One who loves you more than anyone. The One who has proved that control by dying for you and wanted the best for you. The Christian life is a life of willful exercise of following Him, a daily decision and a daily walk. If we want direction and meaning in our lives there is only one way: a constant and repeated decision to follow Him. Openly declare to Him, “I will be faithful.” But remember that as soon as you choose […]

Enter by the narrow gate . . . . Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life . . . —Matthew 7:13-14 I have a tendency to take the easy way. When I do that I know that I am settling. Accepting less because it is easier is not the Christian way. It is interesting that Christians are considered weak. The Christian walk is the most difficult of all. It is, indeed, narrow. But it is so worth it. We should never consider that we are doing it the hard way now, in exchange for heaven later. For the Christian way is the best way now. It is life as it was meant to be: life now and life eternal. We can’t shy away from the difficult; for the difficult it what we are called to.  Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest—our best for His glory? Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. […]

The parched ground shall become a pool . . . —Isaiah 35:7 Yesterday we discussed that planning is not really for the Christian, at least not planning without God. God has the plan, He conveys orders to us to guide us in the fulfillment of the plan. He sometimes gives a vision of His plan. We all have visions. A vision of warm beaches or cool mountains can lead to a vacation. A vision of a wonderful meal can lead us to a restaurant or the supermarket. A vision of unemployment can get us up and to work in the morning. Visions arise from our lives and the people in our lives. If we have a relationship with God, they will come from Him. The receipt of visions is a mountain top experience. We see the final product; but He sends us into the valley to work out the fulfillment of the vision. Let me give you a practical example. Last week before going on mission, Pastor asked me to convey information to the church on the events of the trip. He would text me updates and I would get them to the  church via the web. That was […]

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass —Psalm 37:5   Most of us spend way too much time planning. Since we don’t know what tomorrow holds, planning on our own is just guessing. It leads to worry and the misplacement of resources. Consider I have a dollar. What should I do with it? Save it. Give it to missions. Buy something for a family member. Treat myself. If we are walking life alone we have to make a decision and planning will come into play. But if we are in relationship with God, He tells us what to do. In the first case we are just guessing as to what is best and we are setting ourselves up for worry. Did I make the right decision? If we are walking with God, we just do what He says knowing it is right and trusting in him for today and tomorrow.  We can tell when we have been walking on our own rather than in relationship. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get […]

Do not fret— it only causes harm —Psalm 37:8 Fret comes from an Old English word which means to devour. When we say “fret” we normally mean to worry unnecessarily. The Psalmist warns us not to fret because it causes harm. Like the root word from which it comes, fretting devours. It devours our time, our energy, our productiveness. A fretter is wasting God’s great gift of time. It’s easy to say, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” ( Psalm 37:7  ) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people.  Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself. We sometimes convince ourselves that worrying is natural. We think it shows that we are aware of the dangerous world in which we live and that we are showing wisdom by being concerned. In fact, when we fret we are either trying to accomplish our own agenda or lack the faith that God will empower us to carry out His agenda in our lives. In short, we are demonstrating a lack […]

Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips . . . —Isaiah 6:5 It is not really hard to admit that I am a sinner. After all that is the case with all men. There is nothing personal in that general admission. It is a different thing to recognize and admit specific sin in a particular area of my life. After all, that is something for which I have responsibility. It is not general. It is personal.  There is something about coming into the presence of God which focuses our attention on the specifics of our sinful condition. Not all the specifics; God is merciful and we could not handle or react to so much bad news at once. But He will point out a specific, something we can focus on, confess, turn away from and give that area of our life to Him. This experience is universal for those blessed with an audience with God, time spent in His presence. None of us is without sin. All of us have something God would have us deal with, from the newest Christian to the one who has walked faithfully for years. It […]

 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also . . . . And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me . . . . So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple —Luke 14:26-27, 33   A disciple has a primary relationship with Christ, a relationship that is above all others. We say we understand that Christianity is a relationship; but we keep falling back into dogma, theology. Christianity is a relationship like no other. It has to be; for it is a relationship with a person we can not see or touch. Our passion for Our Lord is a gift from the Holy Spirit, we can not love Him on our own.  The Spirit Filled Life is a life of relationship with Jesus. You can’t have one without the other. Be blessed. Nick