Nick’s Walk

We all, with unveiled face, beholding . . . the glory of the Lord . . . —2 Corinthians 3:18 Yesterday we discussed seeing Jesus in our kinsmen. We must remember the benefit comes from the glimpse at Christ and not from viewing the vessel from which He shines at any time.  Further, the vessels can fail. “[D]isappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “. . . no one stood with me, but all forsook me . . . . But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me . . .” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails.  We spread the light of Christ by absorbing that light in His presence and taking it to the world. We “eat” of Christ and “work” at our duties in the world. Having absorbed Him we can not help but carry His  light that can no.  As we work, we should carry out […]

“We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not.” I have long believed that church sanctuaries need to be re-arranged. We sit folks in straight rows. We don’t look at or consider the child of God sitting next to us. Sure we look at the worship team and the preacher, but if God exhibits Himself in His children aren’t we missing something. Not only do we not look at the other children of God with whom we gather, we don’t hear from them or communicate with them. Oh, we have fellowship times and those are great. But during those times we share very superficially. We don’t learn what God is really doing in the lives of his children. We don’t know each other’s struggles, problems or fears. I can’t help but think Satan likes it that way. Compare with this description of the early Church from the Second Chapter of Acts:  42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders […]

All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen . . . —2 Corinthians 1:20 Last Sunday night we finished the series of Extraordinary. It’s all about living all that we are meant to as children of God. It’s good to know the limits of our natural abilities. It is also good to maximize those abilities, by following the tenants of good health, by exercising our abilities to keep them sharp, by discovering and developing them. There is considerable focus on such maximization in our world. If we are not living up to our potential in the physical, intellectual or emotional, it’s usually our lazyness. God has gifted us differently, but we are responsible for putting the gifts He has given to maximum use. Unlike our natural abilities, the promises of God are back by all the goodness and power of the universe. “If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.” “Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether […]

The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones. Every good thing we have comes from God. He gives us some “natural” talents and they become a source of pride for  us. We begin to believe that accomplishments using those talents are ours. That’s pride and a fall can not be far away.  God is most glorified when he uses us in a area in which we have no “natural” talent. We hear of his servants who are afraid to speak in public. He calls them to preach and many are brought to Christ. It is not necessary that our “natural” talents be unusable by God. If we will keep our perspective and recognize we do no good think on our own, he can use us though the gifts He gave us at birth and the gifts He bestows on us as needed. If we keep faith, we can and will be used. We have to get up when we fall. We will see miracles. That’s what Faith can do. Lord, keep us humble. It’s the only way we can be useful to you and we want to be used. We want to bless as you […]

God called to him . . . . And he said, ’Here I am’ —Exodus 3:4 When God called to Moses from the burning bush, Moses was ready, “Here I am.”  Am I ready.? Moses was ready because God had put him through some preparation. He had moved Him from wearing fancy clothes in the house of Pharaoh to the simple fashion of the wilderness, a leader of Egypt to a tender of sheep. He had moved him for thinking he was a child of Egypt to the knowledge that he was a slave, a child of the people of God. He had moved him from thinking he could do something about the suffering of his people on his own, to knowing that alone he could do nothing. Am I ready? Do I know who I am? A Child of God. Do I know I can do nothing on my own? Can I recognize His voice coming from the bush, because I’ve heard it and responded to it before. Is my time in the wilderness at an end and is it time to go into Egypt and bring the redemptive word of God? “When God speaks, many of us […]

Fearless begins next Sunday night, April 25, at 6 p.m. at Amana Christian Fellowship in Maurice. Get started now. Chapter 1, your reading assignment for week one can be found here.  Please read the Chapter before next Sunday night and join us. Begin to live a life of Faith Not Fear. Click here for more info. 

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment . . . and plunged into the sea —John 21:7 Peter, Peter, Peter. So impulsive. Such a one to act without thinking. So quick to speak. If only I could be more like Peter more often. Peter heard it was the Lord and dove right in. Why won’t I dive right in? I’m more like the kid who can’t swim. He sees the other kids in the pool splashing around and having fun, but sits on the edge, one foot in the water. Afraid. It’s really a question of trust versus fear. I don’t dive in because I fear. I don’t trust enough. We recall the other incident with Peter and the Lord and the water. Peter didn’t dive in that time. He walked on. Sure his faith faltered and fear crept up on him and trust waned; but he took the first step. What is fear keeping you from today? What is He asking you to dive into that seems a bit too scary? Let’s take a chance. Let’s dive in. For once let’s act impulsively. He’s waiting. Be blessed. Nick

We love the mountain top. We love the feeling, the sense of God’s presence, the high. God can bring us to the mountain any time He chooses. He can surprise us with a mountain when we really need it. I like to make regular  planned trips to the mountain. The mountain, for me, is the place where I know I will see God work and know he will speak to me. For me that is Kairos. But we’ve been taught that we can’t live on the mountain tops.  We are told we have to live in the valleys. The mountain tops are not “real life.” These thoughts may be true to some extent. But we can bring the mountain top with us back into the valley. We must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there. Moses spent time with God on the mountain. He came down alone but he brought the glow and the law of God down with him. On the mountain He teaches us, by His word and by His presence. Hold on to that glow and word. It will help you through the valley times. […]