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Month: February 2019

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Pure Bliss

I have often associated the state of bliss with a feeling of euphoria or deep contentment. A blissful moment is one where I would think, “I could just stay in this moment forever.”

Over the years, different things have triggered this feeling for me. It’s currently carnival time in my country and I can’t help but remember one such moment early in the morning chipping to an infectious rhythm behind a music truck for J’ouvert. The first orange streaks of sunrise washed over faces full of joy and bodies covered in paint moving in unison to the music. Time slowed. The celebrations in the street seemed a fitting compliment to the sunrise.  Both seemed to overflow with a joy of just being alive. Pure energy. Pure vibes.

Another time I remember was at the beach with my three kids. We were just frolicking in the waves. We were all children and the ocean was our playground. We ducked waves and dived into the surf. We splashed each other and pinched each other’s toes pretending to be a crab or a fish. When a particularly big wave came we all screamed in mock fear or pretended to be Hulk and smash the wave. We were jubilant. We were alive.

For me, moments like these make life worth living. They somehow remind me that I don’t just exist, I live. I have always been in pursuit of a blissful life.

One online dictionary defines bliss like this: Bliss is a state of complete happiness or joy. Marriage is often associated with this joyous feeling: people who are married and still in love are described as living in wedded bliss. Another common association is heaven or paradise, as in eternal bliss.

Bliss is a state of complete joy… That is exactly what I’m after; complete joy! Yes, I have had and continue to have the blissful moments described above but I’m not satisfied with moments of bliss. I want a state of bliss; perpetual bliss if you will.

It is this quest that has led me inexorably to Christ. In the presence of God I find pure bliss. Sometimes people ask me incredulously why I’m not going to any parties or not having sex. I’m guessing that they don’t understand what could be worth giving up those blissful moments. And I totally know where they are coming from because I’ve been there, and had I not experienced what I’ve experienced, I would still be there. But having tasted the goodness of God… Oh my! I can’t get enough!

That’s why I have no interest in religion. It’s just not attractive to me. It has nothing to offer me. I’m not interested in looking righteous or avoiding some future hell. Religion is dead. But Jesus Christ offers life and life more abundantly than we’ve ever known. It’s like when He rose from the dead, the life force that rushed into His body exploded in the earth, overflowing to every heart that would receive it.

Every time I think of Jesus and reach out my heart to His, He floods my soul with peace and love and joy. He makes even the bad days better and the times playing with my kids or dancing and singing in worship to Him are ten times sweeter. I have found that bliss comes with doing what you were born to do. I was born to dance, born to play, born to love and be loved but most of all I was born to worship God. I’m a Christian hedonist pursuing eternal heavenly bliss.

Join me,

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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Where Has Your Zeal Gone?

When I was in my early twenties there was a group of us who were full of zeal for the Lord. We wanted to do great things for God. We talked about God and following His will for our lives and doing greater things than Jesus did endlessly! Every day was an adventure!

Today I look back at our group and I wonder what happened to us. I would say only a couple of us still have that fire burning. Why? It seems that life got in the way of our dreams. We got married. We had children. The mundane became the norm and soon it seems that the mundane was all that we expected. We relegated the stories of the bible to the domain of a few…not applicable to us; to normal people. The sad truth is we lost faith.

Church leaders will warn against backsliding from the pulpit. If you take part in carnival, you are a backslider. If you stop coming to church, you are a backslider. But I propose that there are hundreds of backsliders in church every Sunday. Christians who have absolutely nothing supernatural about their lives. Churchgoers who are just good people with no Living Water flowing into or from their lives. Jesus aches for these people to return to Him. If only we would believe again.

One of the phrases that I’ve come to view with extreme suspicion is, “With age comes wisdom.” Almost every time I’ve heard this in church its not been wise at all… it’s been a faith cop-out. A sad attempt at an excuse for playing it safe and ignoring the call of God to extreme risk for His cause. We were made to put it all on the line for the name and fame of Christ! Nothing less will do! We are called to forsake ALL and follow Christ!

There are people who will try to quench your faith and squash your dreams… Don’t let them! When they call you young and zealous say “YES I AM!”. Run with those who are laying it all down. Gravitate to the older heads who will stir your passion and give you real wisdom; the benefit of their experience to help you go further than they did.

Beloved, stir up your faith again like when you were young and full of zeal.

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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Everybody Wants To Be A Hero

Everybody wants to be a hero. We want to be the hero for our children or in our company or maybe in our community. It’s a natural desire but pushed to the extreme it can do more harm than good.

When we have this hero complex, what often happens is that we do not allow others to shine. Much has been published about helicopter parenting and the negative effects of solving all your children’s problems for them. Our children can only actualize their full potential if we are willing to step down from the pedestal of needing to be idolized and allow them to rise to the challenges of life. Self-esteem comes from observing yourself achieve something that was not easy to accomplish. This growth in our children is what we sacrifice when we put on our cape and swoop in.

The same is true in other arenas. The old adage is true; “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Heroism shies away from giving away the secret of your success. Instead of focusing on empowering others we perpetuate a dependency on ourselves so that we are always the ones who get the accolades. This has been the strategy of successive governments in Trinidad and Tobago and it has been to the detriment of the country. The message on the political platform in some form or other has been, “Choose us. We will save you.” I eagerly await the day when some courageous leader will transform the dialogue from dependency to empowerment.

Another arena that is a passion of mine is the church. Many church leaders have also devotedly perpetuated this dependence syndrome in their congregations. Instead of teaching everyone how to hear from God and interpret scripture for themselves there has been a sick ultimate leader syndrome that discourages respectful disagreement or independent thought. Blind obedience is glorified and taking the initiative is discouraged as causing confusion or being overly-zealous. Of course, the need to covet glory for ourselves is part of the unsanctified human condition that has reared its head from since the early days of the church until now. Religious men have always set themselves up as THE middleman to God. Instead every pastor, elder and priest should be consistently and earnestly pointing everyone to Christ. “Do not depend on me, depend on God alone. Don’t look to me to solve your problems and give you guidance. Look to God.” This should be the message. There should be a constant redirection of worship and dependence and glory to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

In THE story; the unfolding epic saga of the whole universe for all time, in my humble estimation, there is only one hero who deserves all the glory and His name is Jesus Christ! He is the real hero!

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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The Fire Series: What Proverbs Has To Say About Love & Sex

Some of the most interesting Proverbs for me are the ones that start with the statement, “Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:” or “Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:” The lists of spectacles that come next have always intrigued me. As I came across these sayings again last week, two in particular stood out in a fresh way; “the way of a man with a virgin” and “an unloved woman when she gets a husband”.

I wondered what it was about these two things that the writer saw that was so wonderful and mysterious and earth-shaking? The wonderful mystery of sex I understood right away but I was not really getting the significance of the unloved woman getting a husband.

Then I reflected on my past romantic relationships and it hit me; women have a deep desire to feel treasured; to be loved above all other women. When this need is met a woman blossoms and it truly is beautiful. I am not by any means saying that I was a great love-er by the way. Far from it. Perhaps I should have had this revelation earlier in life because I believe if we men really understood this, we would be amazed at the difference it would make in our relationships. Maybe we would feel the earth tremble. Lol.

Similarly, when I went back to the verse about the man with a virgin I saw that it dealt with the deep need of men to know that they alone are the objects of their wife’s desire. Sex is as important to men as love is to women. I wonder if more women need to appreciate this truism?

So wives, I encourage you, make your man feel like a stallion. Tell him and show him how much he does it for you, regularly. It’s biblical! And husbands, I encourage you to tell your woman you love her every day. Take the time to find out her love language and make her feel treasured beyond compare.

OK coming back to my bible study… God had more to say. Because I thought about all those men and women who have not yet found a partner and asked, “What about the deep need of those women to feel loved and treasured God? What about those men with the unfulfilled need to be respected and admired?”

I believe His answer was this: “I am the ultimate fulfillment of all your needs. I am the love that is beyond compare and the pleasure above all ecstasies. My love for you is too wonderful for you and beyond your understanding. My love for you makes the earth tremble.” I believe there is complete wholeness in God. Maybe we will not fully experience it until the bride of Christ, the church, is united with Jesus Christ Himself… but even a taste of the love of God is beyond anything this world has to offer!

Joyfully,

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.