Nick’s Walk

4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15   Last night I once again had a recurring dream. I am back in the Navy and having to pack out my locker. I guess I am being transferred or discharged. In addition to my uniforms, the locker is full of purchases that seemed wise and valuable when acquired, but are now obviously junk: things like cameras and radios that no longer work, things that seemed like a good idea at the time. I don’t think we really believe that without Christ we can do nothing. In fact, I think we believe that we can do most things. It’s just the occasional challenge that requires His help. It’s thinking like that which leaves us with […]

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30 Years ago Rose and I had friends that never seemed to stop. They were good Christian people whose lives were a blur of activity. They seemed to live on the edge of exhaustion. It made us weary just to be in their presence. It seemed they did much; but I’m not sure they accomplished anything. One of the great benefits of encountering God is rest. Not rest in the sense of lack of activity for in a God encounter we get activated to carry out his will. Not rest in the sense of lack of challenge or conflict, because once we encounter God we begin to get his mind and his view on life. That motivates us to concern and battle. Not rest in the sense of being burden less. For to have the heart of God is to be heavily burdened for the loss. It’s […]

I hope I never forget my first date with my wife. It was forty-five years ago and my memory isn’t what it once was. It’s a memory I never want to lose. It was so magical. We talked, a lot, we laughed and had a great time. I remember thinking this girl is pretty and funny and interesting, and most importantly, I think she might like me. For me, it was love at first sight, just like in the movies. I remember that I wanted to spend ever possible moment with this girl, for the rest of my life. Encountering God is something like that. After I get over the fact that He is so awesome and that I am so unworthy of Him, I begin to get a glimmer that He might just like me. I think we overemphasize the universal nature of God’s love and forget the very personal nature of it. Sure He loves the world, but He loves me. He wants a relationship with me. We begin to realize that encountering God is so much more than an obligation. It is something we seek and want like air and water. It is completely essential to life […]

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 The end of a God encounter is a change in us. The beginning is recognition of who we are and who God is. Too many attempt to have a spiritual transformation without a God encounter and, particularly, without the first step of recognition. This leads to all kinds of confusion. Many have “accepted” Jesus without recognition. Unless we realize that we are sinners in need of a Savior, no real relationship with God is possible. Many see God as a valuable counselor, loving grand father, potent provider, or future landlord. God is all these things, but these are not the greatest relationship He desires with man.  Many see God as a loving creator who desires that none should perish. He is. They fail to acknowledge that without a miraculous change, they are doomed to perish. God wants to restore us to the Eden relationship. He wants intimacy with us: the ability to enjoy His presence in quiet walks though the garden. For this to be possible, we must be pure enough to […]

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7 Yesterday I heard a great sermon on “Encountering God.” The bottom line is that we don’t change unless we encounter God. We may engage in various spiritual exercises but they are without substance unless God is encountered. The purpose of life is to know God. We gain that knowledge through encounters. Those encounters lead us to increased knowledge and the knowledge of God changes us and the way we act, the things we do. I grew up thinking that God was encountered in church. I remember the quiet solemness of the church building. I remember the reverence of the music and the humbleness of those in attendance. We can encounter God in church. We can encounter Him in prayer and in reading His word. I think […]

Today is my sixty-fifth birthday. By all accounts this is a real milestone. I get to trade Obamacare for Medicare. I have my little Medicare card in my wallet. Not too impressive. It’s made of paper. I get mail every day reminding me it doesn’t pay for everything and that I really need a supplement. Many of the clichés about aging turn out to be true: If I would have known I would live this long I would have taken better care of myself. Sixty-five doesn’t seem nearly as old when you’re sixty-five as when you’re twenty-five or forty-five for that matter. I am a much firmer believer that we need to respect the elderly and love to babble on about the “good old days.” It will be a great day. My granddaughter is cooking for me. She is a great cook. The whole family will be there. The Cajuns and Gators are both playing for conference championships. I may have to  miss my traditional nap. I really have had a great life so far. I spent eleven years in the Navy part of it working for the National Security Agency as an electronic spy and part as a paralegal. […]

I have been an attorney for nearly 35 years. I am familiar with scheming. However, I learned about it long before I passed the bar. Some of the worst scheming I’ve witnessed didn’t occur in court, but in church.  There was scheming for the 11 years I was in the Navy.  Spend some time on Facebook. There’s lots of scheming going on. I have seen scheming in all aspects of life. Scheming is everywhere and lately seems to be epidemic. It doesn’t take talent to be a schemer. There’s nothing complicated about it. Proverbs 24:8 says, He who plots evil will be known as a schemer. If you have ever plotted evil, you’re a schemer. Notice even if you don’t carry out your evil plots, you are still condemned as a schemer. Scheming is a bad thing for a number of reasons. It’s a rejection of the will of God. When we scheme we try to bring about what we want instead of being satisfied with what God wants. Can’t be anything good about that. Scheming is a conspiracy. We involve others in our rebellion. A plot requires more than one person. Solo sinning is bad enough; involving others multiplies our guilt. Scheming […]

Last night at our home church we were challenged with the challenge of staying challenged. It’s not as silly as it sounds. Facing and overcoming challenges is what makes life meaningful. It’s not always easy to stay challenged. Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows I’m a sports fan and in particular a Florida Gator fan. It’s a great time to be both because Florida’s mens basketball team is number one in the country. They just completed the regular season only losing two games. They were undefeated in conference play. This week is the conference tournament. To win the tournament Florida has to win three games over teams they probably beat twice during the regular season. Any coach will recognize this as a trap situation. The Florida coach will have to work hard to keep his team focused and aware that no matter how favored his team is, each game must be played with complete energy and focus. Compare lowly Mississippi State. They only won three conference games all year. To win the tournament they will have to win five games against teams they have already defeated them, sometimes twice. They face an entirely different challenge. They […]