James 1:13-15 says, When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Read that again, this time out loud. Now take a moment to process what this is saying. How many of us pass blame on our weakness? When we fall to temptation, who do we ultimately accuse? Every time I give in to sin, I immediately start looking for someone or something to accuse for my problems. I often ask God why He puts me in situations that He knows I am weak at. Truth is, it is my fault. I am the one who allows myself to be tempted by my own sinful desire. If I were an alcoholic, would going to social gatherings where alcohol is served be a wise choice? If my struggle was with lust of the flesh, would looking at porn be the right thing to do? If I worshiped money so much that I overworked myself to gain as much as possible be healthy? These are all circumstances that we allow our desires to control. The best advice would be to simply not put ourselves in conditions where we will be tempted. That's easier said than done though.
Whenever I am feeling the pressures of temptation, the first thing that I try to do is to get alone with God, pick up the Word and read what scripture has to say about the situation. And if I don't have a Bible available and am unable to get alone at the moment, I just simply close my eyes and pray, no matter how weird it looks to others who may be watching. For some, doing this might bring feelings of guilt. God does not want us to live in guilt, that is called condemnation, and that my friends comes from the enemy. God convicts us in our guilt (sins) and asks us what we have learned from it so that we can move on and grow from it.
Remember, God cannot be tempted! He is the ultimate example of strength. He gives us authority to be strong. In moments of weakness, we are called to lean and rely on Him. Once we make this a habit, our temptations will be easier to overcome. There will always be temptation as long as there is an enemy to throw it at us. We owe it to ourselves to be warriors for God and to fight the Good fight.
Peace!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Opportunity
I was thinking about some of the choices that I have made in the past in situations where I felt God was asking me to do something for Him. Some of the things that He has asked me to do did not make any sense at the time. For example: all my life, I dreamed of becoming an architect. I went to school, received a degree, accepted a job with a great architectural firm and started a career in something that I thought I had a passion for. At about the same time, I became a follower of Christ and my wife and I were about to bring our second child into the world. It wasn't long after Eleana was born when Ann and I pondered the thought of me being the stay at home parent. We prayed about it together and both of us felt strongly that God was calling me to do this. It didn't really make sense to me, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to do something for God.
When God asks us to do something for Him, everything in us tries to understand why. Why me? What if I fail? What do I get out of it? All of these questions rise up and bet God asks; why not you? What if you don't fail? What won't you get out of it? Our plans always seem to contradict God's plans for us. His plans trump ours. When He is calling us to do something for Him, He is providing us with the opportunity to do something great for His Kingdom. When we pray, "Your will be done, Your kingdom come", that is exactly what we are getting, a chance to be part of something divine.
I believe that our prayers can be very selfish. When we pray and ask for things such as, patience, strength or courage, do you think God just gives us these abilities? Maybe He does, but I believe that He would rather give us the opportunities to be these things so that we can grow and mature in them as we live them out. Let me share this. This past summer, I was driving and I saw an older lady out in her yard doing what appeared to be some pretty labor intensive work, especially for someone of her age and her condition. It was very hot and humid, and she looked frustrated. As I passed her up, I began to pray that God would provide someone to help her. I immediately heard, "Why don't you help her Nick?" "But", "what if", and "I can't because", were all things that rattled around in my brain, but I knew that they were just excuses because I was afraid that I would get rejected or I would fail God. He was giving me the opportunity to do something awesome and meaningful. I prayed about it for a couple weeks and then I decided to take a baby step. I wrote that lady a letter, offering my help and service to her. She responded with a hand written letter saying that she really appreciated the offer, but she rather enjoys doing yard work because it is good exercise for her. Her name is Edna and she is 94 years old. She thanked for being a good Christian man and asked me to stay in touch. The funny thing is, I didn't mention anything about being Christian in my letter to her. Maybe God told her about me. All I know is that I am glad that I took the chance.
Maybe God has been calling you to do something. What do you feel like that calling is? Are you afraid to take the chance of a lifetime? With or without you, His Will be done and His Kingdom will come, so why not get on board and be a part of something divine.
Peace!
When God asks us to do something for Him, everything in us tries to understand why. Why me? What if I fail? What do I get out of it? All of these questions rise up and bet God asks; why not you? What if you don't fail? What won't you get out of it? Our plans always seem to contradict God's plans for us. His plans trump ours. When He is calling us to do something for Him, He is providing us with the opportunity to do something great for His Kingdom. When we pray, "Your will be done, Your kingdom come", that is exactly what we are getting, a chance to be part of something divine.
I believe that our prayers can be very selfish. When we pray and ask for things such as, patience, strength or courage, do you think God just gives us these abilities? Maybe He does, but I believe that He would rather give us the opportunities to be these things so that we can grow and mature in them as we live them out. Let me share this. This past summer, I was driving and I saw an older lady out in her yard doing what appeared to be some pretty labor intensive work, especially for someone of her age and her condition. It was very hot and humid, and she looked frustrated. As I passed her up, I began to pray that God would provide someone to help her. I immediately heard, "Why don't you help her Nick?" "But", "what if", and "I can't because", were all things that rattled around in my brain, but I knew that they were just excuses because I was afraid that I would get rejected or I would fail God. He was giving me the opportunity to do something awesome and meaningful. I prayed about it for a couple weeks and then I decided to take a baby step. I wrote that lady a letter, offering my help and service to her. She responded with a hand written letter saying that she really appreciated the offer, but she rather enjoys doing yard work because it is good exercise for her. Her name is Edna and she is 94 years old. She thanked for being a good Christian man and asked me to stay in touch. The funny thing is, I didn't mention anything about being Christian in my letter to her. Maybe God told her about me. All I know is that I am glad that I took the chance.
Maybe God has been calling you to do something. What do you feel like that calling is? Are you afraid to take the chance of a lifetime? With or without you, His Will be done and His Kingdom will come, so why not get on board and be a part of something divine.
Peace!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The Woman Is Wise
We have all heard the saying, "Behind every good man, there is a great woman". While some may find this hard to be true, I believe it defines my wife. Ann has always spoken truth into to me. She has always believed in me even when I found it impossible to believe in myself.
So many times in my life I have heard people tell me, "Nick, you'll never be this or that", but not from Ann. For the most part, I have always relied on her wisdom and truth that had inspired me to believe in myself. So many times though, I have let the lies overcome me and blot out her truth. I have let my own pride get in the way of receiving true wisdom, not only from her, but from God as well. I believe that God knows when my pride is going to flare up, so He uses Ann to speak His truth to me, which can only strengthen Ann even more because she allows God to work through her to get to me. Now that is a wise woman!
The Bible is full of stories that testifies to the wisdom of women. The story of Abigail, found in 1 Samuel 25, is a great example of a woman's wisdom that saved the very life of her husband. Abigail was married to Nabal who was a mean and wicked man. King David and six hundred of his men had been watching over Nabal's property. David heard that Nabal was shearing sheep, so he sent his messengers to request some meat for his men. Nabal denied even knowing who David was and hurled insults at his messengers. The messengers returned to David with the bad news and this angered David, so he gathered four hundred of his men to go with him to kill Nabal. Abigail heard of this and immediately grabbed some wine, bread, sheep and some other supplies and secretly took it to David. When she arrived, she bowed at David's feet and asked for forgiveness for her husband. David's response was this, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.” Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request." (1 Samuel 25:32-35). Of course, ten days later, Abigail told Nabal what had happened and he suffered a heart attack and died, which allowed David to take Abigail as his wife.
Abigail was not only wise but also brave. I believe my wife would have done the same for me, and probably has saved my life at some point during our relationship. Last November, we had an argument that could have ended our marriage. I really don't remember what the argument was about. The one thing that I do remember is when she said that she doesn't know if she loves me any more. Those words alone could end it for most. I received them. I let them sink in. I took those words and some other things that we had talked about, and began to take a long hard look at myself. I discovered that I was not being a good man to her; I was a Nabal. I decided to go to a counselor and receive help in sorting out past issues of my life that had made me the man that I was being. It was hard and very painful, and sometimes it still is. But I was destined to fix myself to become the man that she needed me to be, and most of all, the man that God designed me to be. Ann's bravery to make a stand and to share those hard words with me could have wrecked me, instead, she saved my life.
I'm still struggling with being that man that I set out to be, but where there is struggle there is growth. My focus needs to be on God and what He wants for me, but I sometimes lose sight of that and make mistakes. God has put a powerful and wise woman in my life and I have to learn how to benefit from that.
"Behind every good man, there is a great woman". Brothers, do you consider yourself a good man? If married, do you believe your wife is wise? If so, can you accredit her wisdom to some of your success? What wise advice have you denied to receive? Just some things to think about in your search for wisdom.
My wonderful and truly wise bride.
Peace!
So many times in my life I have heard people tell me, "Nick, you'll never be this or that", but not from Ann. For the most part, I have always relied on her wisdom and truth that had inspired me to believe in myself. So many times though, I have let the lies overcome me and blot out her truth. I have let my own pride get in the way of receiving true wisdom, not only from her, but from God as well. I believe that God knows when my pride is going to flare up, so He uses Ann to speak His truth to me, which can only strengthen Ann even more because she allows God to work through her to get to me. Now that is a wise woman!
The Bible is full of stories that testifies to the wisdom of women. The story of Abigail, found in 1 Samuel 25, is a great example of a woman's wisdom that saved the very life of her husband. Abigail was married to Nabal who was a mean and wicked man. King David and six hundred of his men had been watching over Nabal's property. David heard that Nabal was shearing sheep, so he sent his messengers to request some meat for his men. Nabal denied even knowing who David was and hurled insults at his messengers. The messengers returned to David with the bad news and this angered David, so he gathered four hundred of his men to go with him to kill Nabal. Abigail heard of this and immediately grabbed some wine, bread, sheep and some other supplies and secretly took it to David. When she arrived, she bowed at David's feet and asked for forgiveness for her husband. David's response was this, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.” Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request." (1 Samuel 25:32-35). Of course, ten days later, Abigail told Nabal what had happened and he suffered a heart attack and died, which allowed David to take Abigail as his wife.
Abigail was not only wise but also brave. I believe my wife would have done the same for me, and probably has saved my life at some point during our relationship. Last November, we had an argument that could have ended our marriage. I really don't remember what the argument was about. The one thing that I do remember is when she said that she doesn't know if she loves me any more. Those words alone could end it for most. I received them. I let them sink in. I took those words and some other things that we had talked about, and began to take a long hard look at myself. I discovered that I was not being a good man to her; I was a Nabal. I decided to go to a counselor and receive help in sorting out past issues of my life that had made me the man that I was being. It was hard and very painful, and sometimes it still is. But I was destined to fix myself to become the man that she needed me to be, and most of all, the man that God designed me to be. Ann's bravery to make a stand and to share those hard words with me could have wrecked me, instead, she saved my life.
I'm still struggling with being that man that I set out to be, but where there is struggle there is growth. My focus needs to be on God and what He wants for me, but I sometimes lose sight of that and make mistakes. God has put a powerful and wise woman in my life and I have to learn how to benefit from that.
"Behind every good man, there is a great woman". Brothers, do you consider yourself a good man? If married, do you believe your wife is wise? If so, can you accredit her wisdom to some of your success? What wise advice have you denied to receive? Just some things to think about in your search for wisdom.
My wonderful and truly wise bride.Peace!
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