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Category: Personal Development

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The Three Power Habits of Christianity

I have come to be convinced that there are only three root practices that underpin the life of every thriving Christian. There are many beneficial habits or disciplines but they all draw from these three in my opinion. It may sound like an oversimplification, but I have found that most truth is simple. It is not necessarily easy to walk out but it is not complicated. Here are my three power habits of Christianity:

  1. Intimacy – Pursuing deepening relationship with God.
  2. Transformation – Pursuing hearing and obeying His voice with greater and greater frequency, accuracy and immediacy.
  3. Dominion – Pursuing expansion of God’s kingdom in your sphere.

Put another way:

  1. Connecting more and more with Christ.
  2. Becoming more and more like Christ.
  3. Connecting the world more and more with Christ.

These habits are sequential and cyclical. By sequential, I mean that we can only become like Christ to the degree that we are intimate with Him, and we can only expand Christ’s dominion to the degree that He is in us. This means that intimacy with Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit is the #1 pursuit of the Christian life. Everything we do such as praying, worshipping, fasting, and bible study, should be mainly toward this end. If it is not, then we are wasting our time.

The second habit is the transformation of our lives by hearing AND obeying God’s voice. Some of us may assume hearing simply means reading the bible. Let me be absolutely clear here – we can read the bible and never hear His voice. Only those intimate with God hear His voice. There must be an unmistakable awareness that our lives are guided by a person, not just biblical principles. We must be constantly led by the Spirit. The final habit, dominion, is the demonstrated power of God in our lives. Our Christianity must actually work. Demons must flee. Sickness must flee. Christ must transform our families and businesses and communities from brokenness to wholeness.

By cyclical, I mean that this is not a one-time 1-2-3 and then we have arrived at the pinnacle of Christianity. It is more like we get a little closer to Him, then we become a little more like Him, then we influence our world a little more, and then we draw a little closer again, and on and on in a beautiful upward spiral of grace.

These three things are a pattern that can be observed in scripture from beginning to end. Let’s take Moses and Joshua taking the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. We have Moses refusing to go without God’s presence and building a temple for Him to dwell among His people. We have God giving the law on Mount Sinai and commanding the Israelites to walk in obedience to all His laws and commands. And we have Joshua leading the Israelites to displace the inhabitants of Canaan and occupy the land. Temple, Law, and Land. Intimacy, Transformation, and Dominion.

Consider also the Israelites returning from captivity in Babylon. There are three waves of Jews returning from exile. The first wave is led by Zerubbabel and the focus is on rebuilding the temple – Intimacy. The second wave is led by Ezra and the focus is on re-establishing obedience to the law – Transformation. And the third wave is led by Nehemiah and the focus is on rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls – Dominion.

Finally, all is fulfilled in Christ who is the way (making a way to true intimacy with God), the truth (the Word made flesh – our model and means for transformed life), and the life (living with absolute kingdom dominion over sin and death).

So, if you want to thrive make these practices the foundation of your life:

  1. Commitment to the single-minded pursuit of intimacy with God.
  2. Commitment to hearing God better and obeying Him more completely.
  3. Commitment to a lifestyle of stepping out in faith to see results in real life.

Christ be with you!

Copyright 2022, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

If you haven’t yet, check out our FREE Spiritual Growth Foundation Course in which we cover the four foundational principles for spiritual growth and much more! In addition to on-demand videos which you can watch at your leisure, there are downloadable handouts for those who prefer written content.

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Kingdom Innovation

I have been working for the same company for 18 years. I started as the Marketing Officer and then got promoted to Vice President Marketing. That’s a long time to be working in the same department. My job was never boring. I liked what I did and there were plenty of opportunities to get involved in initiatives and projects that kept me learning. Nevertheless, I began to feel a yearning in my soul for something more. It didn’t help when a few organizational changes also contributed to my growing demotivation.

Then God spoke. Or maybe I listened for the first time (to God and to my wife), instead of just telling Him what I wanted Him to do. Whichever it was, it was clear that He was calling me out from this malaise to re-engage with my job. “Alright if You insist,” I grudgingly obeyed. “OK Matik, you are going to re-invent yourself!” This was my inner pep talk as I began to brainstorm ways to enhance myself and my portfolio in ways that were meaningful to me. I had a masterplan, and I was excited.

The very next week my boss called me into his office. “Matik, I want you to disrupt yourself.” As he began to challenge me to come back to him with a plan to re-invent myself, I was laughing like a child and praising God on the inside. He had no idea how ready I was for this challenge. LOL.

Moments like these always cause me pause. Moments when the realness of God at work in my life becomes so tangible. It’s like a tree root bursting out at the surface of the earth, that evidences the vast root system that lies unseen below your feet. Oh God, thank You for unveiling Your goodness in my life. Every time I make one tiny step towards You in obedience, you make ten giant ecstatic leaps towards Me.

A few conversations later I was appointed Vice President Innovation and Corporate Agility – a new assignment for me and uncharted territory for my company. However, just how strategically God had set me up, only dawned on me when I began to do some reading in preparation for my new responsibilities. I realized that to be an innovative organization required a culture that was hugely diverse and collaborative; a place where trust was high, and people felt valued and safe; where it was OK to try new things even if you failed. Little epiphanic explosions began to fire all over my brain. You see, for months God had been speaking to me about creating kingdom community where people are valued for who they are, empowered to become spectacularly great and outrageously loved; a place where people find belonging and safety instead of shame and judgment. Creating such a community of believers had become an obsession but I never saw this coming; I never expected God to put me in the forefront of creating kingdom community in my workplace. Sure, I always advocated this type of culture and tried to make it the culture of my team in Marketing but I never expected to be given the opportunity to have such an integrated work and spiritual life in a secular space.

I do not know if this is what happens for all faithful Christ-followers in one way or another – if as we forsake all and follow Him, our paths inextricably lead into greater and greater purpose… or if this is just my peculiar path… But most of all I am grateful… Grateful to God for giving me work that is meaningful and fulfilling and challenging (as all meaningful work should be). Grateful to my boss and the board of directors for trusting me to lead this mission. And grateful to all those who believe in me and support me and wished me well in this new venture.

I do believe that there is no one more innovative than God. The picture of the body of Christ is a picture of what an innovative community looks like. God knows that when diversity is undergirded by deep love and unity in community, miracles happen. This is what the early church looked like. This is what an innovative community looks like. Many different parts. One body. Unconditional love.

As I step into the unknown, I’m putting my trust in Him, trying to love people well, and making this my mandate:

“To create an organizational environment that unlocks the greatness in every employee and brings them together to create a community of collective genius that consistently and profusely innovates.”

Copyright 2022, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

The Authentic Joy team is starting another cycle of the Spiritual Formation workshop series!

If you are hungry for a deeper walk with God and are looking for a group of like-minded people to journey alongside you in this season then why not join us?

Let’s grow together!

For more information & to register click here: https://authenticjoy.org/online-event-spiritual…/

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ONLINE WORKSHOP: SPIRITUAL FORMATION 101

DATE: Mondays from 19th September 2022 to 21st November 2022

TIME: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm AST

VENUE: Online Zoom Event (Cameras On)

FACILITATORS: Matik Nicholls, Tricia Celestin-Nicholls

DESCRIPTION: Participants will be taken on a 10-week journey that explores topics such as intimacy with God, identity, transformation, what it means to be a mature Christian, and how we can become mature. The sessions will include teaching, discussion, reflection, and activation in an environment of loving community.

TARGET AUDIENCE: This workshop is open to anyone seeking to walk more intimately with Jesus Christ and become more like Him.

COST: FREE

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Spiritual Formation 301 was EXCELLENT!!
Like the previous Sessions SF 101 & 201, packed with solid Biblical content, thought provoking, life transforming activities and discussions. I believe the facilitators through the leading of Adonai took us all on a journey each session where we were confronted, inspired and motivated to pursue authentic deeper intimacy with our Father. All my relationships have benefitted significantly from what I have gleaned as a participant in these sessions and if possible I would be willing to do them over again!

Thank you Matik and Tricia for making yourselves available and willing to process life with us in community as we provoke each other unto good works, and grow up into mature sons. God bless you and your ministry. We love you.

Rose, Turks & Caicos

It was a great pleasure to be a part of Spiritual Formation 101, 201 and 301. It has been a very enlightening, informative and eye-opening experience.

The purpose of these sessions was to encourage spiritual growth; to move from a place of immaturity to a place of maturity in Christ. It was about teaching the participants how to form new habits to help us grow and be more intimate in our relationship with others and with God. We identified where we were at in these relationships and through teachings and practice, looked at ways to find our identity in Christ. We learned and discussed ways to move from individual mindsets to a Kingdom mindset.

I loved that this was an open place to share. I had quite a bit on my plate at the start of 101, and being in that space was a healing in itself. It renewed my trust in God. At that time, my husband was having some issues with his sight; he couldn’t see. But listening to the teachings and hearing what others had to share helped me to see God’s hand working in my life, and that of my husband, even in that situation.

It seems like there was something happening in my life for each fraction of Spiritual Formation. In 201, I was having some issues with my alcoholic brother. He was drinking and getting into fights. But being in a place that I felt safe to share and being taught about God’s continued grace, helped me through. During 301, I was not in the best place spiritually; I wasn’t giving God His due, not spending enough time in His presence. But Matik’s presentations (practice and
assignments) helped to pull me out of that place and be more focused on my
relationship with God.

I truly believe that spirituality is much more important than religion. I also believe that God isn’t about saving only one religion but all of mankind. These three ‘courses’ reiterated that fact. Interacting with people of different countries, religious persuasions and socio-economic backgrounds, taught me that I take a lot of things for granted in my life.


I truly enjoyed these sessions and looked forward to them. I would this again if given the opportunity, because there was so much to learn that I’m sure I missed something(s).

Thanks so much for this Matik! May God continue to bless your efforts to spread His Kingdom message to others.

Jeneil, Trinidad & Tobago

Hi everyone. My name is Gillian. My husband and I met Matik and Tricia virtually during our search for a greater level of understanding of the Kingdom of God and desiring a greater daily impact in our lives through a deeper intimacy with God. I have had the great opportunity to sit expectantly through the Spiritual Formation sessions for the 201 and 301 courses. At the time when the 101 course was being offered, I was not available, but caught up, I believe, with the Basic, and Phase One sessions on the Authentic Joy website- https://authenticjoy.org/.

The Authentic Joy journey has been a real eye opener for me. In their loving way, I was encouraged to ask myself some deep questions, that allowed me to understand who I am and who God created me to be. My fellow course-mates helped in the process by sharing their experiences and what they gleaned as well. I especially liked the exercises and the habits we were encouraged to develop. Journaling is still a challenge but I appreciate the value of it and will settle in one day. Our model was always Christ Jesus and I learnt that real life was thriving in His love, joy and peace and not the false self of the survival mode where I had the tendency to perform for acceptance.

We are all to continue to seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and in this, mature in love and purpose. I encourage you to go on this journey of Spiritual Formation. For me although the course has ended, the transformation journey continues. I am committed to ardently pursue intimacy with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. My life depends on it.

Thank you, Matik and Tricia for your passionate pursuit of God and joy in giving this course. I love you both.

Gillian, Jamaica
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How Do You Become A Kingdom Leader?

Back in the day, we thought that leaders could only be born. We thought that either that ‘leadership charisma’ came naturally to us or it didn’t. Thankfully, we realized that this was not the case. In more modern times, we were taught that leaders could be trained. I do not believe this is entirely accurate either. It is definitely not the case if you want to be a leader in the kingdom of God. Kingdom leadership is not a communication style, or of a set of tools, or emotional intelligence skills (although all of these are beneficial). Therefore, it cannot be taught. To become a kingdom leader, you must be processed or refined. I propose there are three steps involved:

  1. Calling
  2. Crucifixion
  3. Co-creation

Calling

Every believer is called to be a leader. If everyone is called, then you may well ask, what’s the value of this step? The significance is that I believe everyone has a very specific assignment or purpose to fulfill on this earth. Therefore, it should be one of our primary tasks to determine our purpose.

We have been given the gifts, talents, abilities and personality needed to fulfill our assignment and our assignment alone. Only you can be a good you and that is precisely why everyone is a leader in the kingdom. It’s not a position or a title, it’s a particular facet of God that only you carry to be expressed in a specific sphere of life on planet earth.

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 (NLT)

Crucifixion

Kingdom believers must serve from a place of selfless love. What stops that? All our self-serving agendas. The only way to truly become a vessel fit for God’s use is to crucify the flesh of our selfish desires.  This is a painful and often protracted process. The good news is that life gives us ample crises and trials that offer us the opportunity to become like Christ. Yes, that is good news! The trials of life are gifts – the potential of a better us on the other side.

This is where many exit the process and instead of becoming leaders that glorify God, we become pariahs in the body of Christ. There is nothing more heartbreaking than men and women in positions of great responsibility who refuse to do the inner work of maturing in Christ. There is no room for ego, selfishness, greed, domination, empire-building power-seeking, and the like in the heart of a Godly leader.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ~ James 1:3-4 (NLT)

Co-creation

Should we make it this far, there is one final step – learning to lead in partnership with God. Ultimately, kingdom leaders are persons who are actively expanding the kingdom of God. That means that they are actively making more and more of earth like heaven. This cannot be done by human will and understanding.

Kingdom leaders need to be actively working by the wisdom and grace of God. These leaders live their lives led by the Spirit. The successful leader in God’s eyes is not one who has the largest church, the most followers, or the greatest number of books, it’s the one who has most diligently built according to His blueprint and commands.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” ~ Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT)

Let’s Do This!

I would argue that the most dire need in the world today is for selfless servant leaders. The world needs you to become the leader that you were born to be. The internal, personal work of developing our leadership capacity is one of the greatest things we can do to contribute to humanity. Let us not neglect this noble work of character development. The world needs us. Let’s do this!

Copyright 2022, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

If you haven’t yet, check out our FREE Spiritual Growth Foundation Course in which we cover the four foundational principles for spiritual growth and much more! In addition to on-demand videos which you can watch at your leisure, there are downloadable handouts for those who prefer written content.

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How To Achieve Spiritual Growth Part 2

In the first installment of this series, I introduced two foundational principles of spiritual growth:

  1. Only Jesus transforms. Not religion. Only a real face to face relationship with Jesus. Sure, anyone can change their behaviour and manage their sin but only Jesus can change our desires – change us from the inside out. John 15:4-6 (ESV) says: “4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” It is the abiding connection with Jesus that transforms us.
  2. We change more through relationships than through information. We have been fooled into a left-brained approach to spiritual formation. We have been told that if we study our bibles and attend to our church sermons we will grow. These are helpful, but what really transforms us is loving relationships and strong bonds with people and with God. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV) “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Today, I want to continue with three more principles:

  1. Transformation works from the inside out
  2. Fruit not gifts/accomplishments is the evidence of transformation
  3. Jesus is our model of maturity

Transformation

Transformation is one of the core values of Authentic Joy. We are about inside-out transformation. We are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that no lasting change comes through external means such as rule-keeping, sin-management, or behaviour modification. Transformation starts with the Holy Spirit re-connecting our spirit with Christ, progresses through a heart regenerated by His love and a mind renewed by beholding His glory, and finally ends in an incarnated Christ-like life. The imperative for transformation then is not more education, more willpower, more effort, or more external motivation (whether through fear, shame, or the approval of men) but rather more encounters with God (the only one who can truly change us).

Fruit

Giftedness is not a measure of maturity. God gives gifts freely to all men. It does not require maturity to be a gifted soccer player, musician, public speaker, businesswoman, pastor, evangelist, or prophet. This is huge because we often erroneously choose highly-gifted people as our role models, mentors, or worse yet, spiritual advisors. Mature people are those who have put in the inner work of growth in Christlikeness. The result of a life abiding in the vine and submitting to the Master’s pruning is fruitfulness.  According to Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit looks like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Only mature trees bear fruit!

The Model

Our role model for maturity is Christ Himself. He is the standard. While we may emulate different aspects of Christlikeness that we see in people, only Christ is perfect and complete. We like to give a relational perspective of Christ’s maturity:

  • Intimately connected to the Father.
  • Discipling, empowering and unifying our brothers and sisters.
  • Sacrificially and powerfully demonstrating the unconditional love of the Father to the world.

If we keep these principles in mind, we will have a good foundation for the spiritual growth that we all want to see in our lives.

Live long and grow!

Copyright 2022, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

If you haven’t yet, check out our FREE Spiritual Growth Foundation Course in which we cover the four foundational principles for spiritual growth and much more! In addition to on-demand videos which you can watch at your leisure, there are downloadable handouts for those who prefer written content.

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Finally, It’s Here! Authentic Joy Online Courses!

Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions:

How do I achieve spiritual growth?

How do I measure spiritual growth?

How do I maintain spiritual growth?

How do I increase spiritual growth?

How do I become spiritually mature?

How do I know if I am spiritually mature?

How do I grow in spiritual maturity?

Well, we have been working feverishly behind the scenes to provide these answers to you in the most affordable and succinct way possible.

Over the past few months, we have spent some time clarifying our mission and improving our value-offering to you.

What’s our mission you ask?

To promote, accelerate and support your spiritual growth.

This is what gets us out of bed in the morning! Sooooo, I am super excited to launch a new Authentic Joy offering – online courses to support your spiritual growth!

We have two tiers of courses available at the moment:

I really hope these courses are a catalyst for your growth in Christ. I have put what I’ve learned from my life successes and my life failures into these online resources. I pray that it blesses you.

Joyfully,

Copyright 2021, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

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ANNOUNCING Transformation + Coaching Institute

Announcing the launch of Transformation + Coaching Institute (pronounced Transformation Plus)!

My amazing wife, Tricia Celestin-Nicholls, is now a professional coach y’all! Tricia has been coaching people for eighteen years now, but I have watched her grow to a whole new level as she refined her craft over the last four years while pursuing certification.

While Tricia has a lot of experience and is well equipped with the tools and techniques of her profession, what I personally think is the best thing about what she offers is that she coaches in partnership with Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate Helper and that’s what coaching is all about – helping you on your journey of spiritual growth!

Behind the scenes, Authentic Joy has been undergoing an overhaul. God has been refining us and focusing us on bringing greater value to our online community. First, we added Bible Study Plans to our offering. Today, we are launching our coaching offering. Next, we will be rolling out a series of online courses. All of this is in line with our core purpose – to support the spiritual growth of our community. We are believing God for exponential growth in your life!

So, check out the Transformation + Coaching Institute or contact Tricia at celestintricia@gmail.com to book a FREE 30-minute exploratory session!

Stay tuned for more resources in the weeks to come!

Joyfully,

Copyright 2021, Matik Nicholls.
All rights reserved.

To receive more content like this in your inbox please subscribe to www.authenticjoy.org.

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Sunshine Blogger Award!

Well 2020 is off to an awesome start! I was nominated by Rest & Chaos for the Sunshine Blogger Award! Please check out Rest & Chaos for a healthy dose of inspiration. And I’m not just saying that because they nominated me. The Rest & Chaos blog is truly refreshing, genuine and insightful. You won’t be disappointed!

The Sunshine Blogger award is given by bloggers to bloggers who inspire positivity and creativity in the blogging community. The rules are:

  1. Thank blogger(s) who nominated you for a blog post and link back to their blog.
  2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
  3. Nominate up to 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
  4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

So, here are the answers to the questions that Rest & Chaos asked me:

1, If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? And why?

This may sound cliché but I really want to have lunch face to face with the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I imagine that it would be the most wonderful, inspiring, loving and edifying meal I would ever have! I imagine the tangible love that would flow between them! I imagine the playful banter and the mysteries of the universe explained! I imagine I would understand more fully what it means to be a member of the family of God! I believe it would change me forever.

2. If you had an hour to yourself what would you do?

I would take a nap, catch up with the wifey, spend time with God, write, read a book, or watch Netflix… it really depends on my mood.

3. What made you decide to start writing?

I was just coming out of a dark season in my life but a season where I had found Jesus in a whole new and much more tangible way and I had this burning desire to share my story. So, I decided to write a book. Then I felt that I should complement the book with a blog and thus Authentic Joy the blog and the book were both born. The book was actually published about nine months after I started the blog.

4. Who has inspired you the most in your life?

This is without a doubt Jesus. He inspired me for most of my life in a far-off kinda way. He was the God-Man from the bible who walked this earth with such gloriously absolute perfection. In the scriptures I beheld Him as authoritative and gentle, just and merciful, always working yet at perfect rest, sitting with the sinners and then shining like the sun at the right hand of the Father. On those pages I saw love personified. But in more recent years He has inspired me up close and personal! I have encountered His love and His glory. I have wept as he has touched my brokenness with His love and mercy. He causes my heart to burn and exult with every word He whispers in my ear and every touch of His Spirit deep in my heart. I have met love personified.

5. What is the one character trait you want to be remembered for?

Authenticity. For me, this is not just a nice character trait that I want to have, this is my calling. I was created to be authentic like a bird was created to fly. Sometimes I feel pressured to be less than that… to be politically correct or diplomatic or superficial… And I don’t wear it well. I am most inspired, fulfilled and at peace when I am truthful to who I am. Many times, that means being vulnerable about my failures, weaknesses and sins. Sometimes it means saying the unpopular thing or swimming against the prevailing current and dealing with the consequences. But it is for me a small price to pay for living wild and free before God.

6. What is your fondest memory of your childhood?

I think my fondest memories are of the days when my dad, my mom, my sister and I would spend the day at the beach. My parents would be up before sunrise cooking lunch and packing the car. Then we would be bundled in the back seat for the hour and a half drive into the sunrise; to Manzanilla (a beach on the East coast of Trinidad). As the cold morning air blew through the windows, we would slowly wake up to the brightening sky and the anticipation of a day frolicking in the sea and sleeping under coconut trees. We would take walks along the miles of beach, dig for chip-chip (miniature clam-like shellfish) and try to catch the fish that always seemed just out of reach. We would jump waves and swim underwater until our fingers crinkled. But I think what really makes these memories the fondest for me is that on those days my parents were always happy and carefree and even playful.

7. What is your greatest strength?

I think my greatest strength is my weaknesses. To be very honest, I think if I did not have such huge weaknesses (and reaped the fruit of them) then I would be much too full of myself for God to reach me. Thank God for my weaknesses!

8. What is your greatest weakness?

If I had to pick one, I would say my lack of self-control. I can be described as a ‘free spirit’. I want to experience everything, and I don’t want to be controlled by anyone. This sort of recklessness is an asset in my ‘no holds barred’ pursuit of Christ but a liability when it comes to resisting sin. Especially, when one comes from a country like mine that celebrates revelry, sexuality and licentiousness. ‘Free up yuhself!’ is a stereotypical Trini credo.

9. If there is one thing you could change about your life what would it be? And why?

This is a tough one. There have been many negative choices and experiences in my life but I’m not sure I would change anything because each one contributed to the person I am today and where I stand in Christ. So, I will give a lighter answer – my voice. I’ve always wanted the baritone singing voice of Barry White. In reality let’s just say that my wife jokes that her voice is deeper than mine 😑.

10. If someone gave you a million dollars what would be the first thing you would do with the money?

Invest it! Immediately! And take time to really think about what would be the best way to leverage God’s purpose with it (while it collects interest of course 😊)

11. Do you have goals for 2020?

Yes! I am a big planner. My wife and I did a review of 2019 and set our goals for 2020 a couple weeks ago. We do this every year and we have found it to be very effective. We have four categories – physical, spiritual, vocational and relationships.

Unfortunately, I do not subscribe to 11 blogs. I try to have a minimum number of things coming into my feeds and email. I only subscribe to things that really contribute to my growth. So, here are my 2 nominees:

  1. Sara, Living Free
  2. janbeek, Loving One Another

And here are my 11 questions:

  1. Who is your favourite author and why?
  2. What was your biggest life lesson from 2019?
  3. How do you normally hear from God?
  4. What country would you like to visit and why?
  5. What do you most admire about your spouse and why?
  6. What do you do to fuel your passion for God?
  7. Describe an event or revelation that significantly changed your faith journey?
  8. What is one way in which you think that you are often misunderstood?
  9. What is one pet peeve you have about the church?
  10. What is one thing you love about the church?
  11. Why do you blog?

That’s it! Looking forward to reading the answers!

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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What’s The Formula For Breakthrough?

We love formulas. Give us five prayers that unleash the power of heaven or three steps to walking in victory and we are all over it like a hog in mud! We approach the bible with this same mindset. We read about Daniel and all of a sudden we have a new formula called the Daniel fast! We read about the worshippers who circled Jericho and we have another formula: leading spiritual warfare with praise! However, as I study the scriptures I’m becoming more and more convinced that the only formula is that there is no formula! I mean, if we made a list of all the different strategies the people of Israel employed to win their battles, it would be quite a long and diverse list. No two strategies seemed the same. It seems that God emphasized not a formula-based faith but a God-dependent faith. The formula is to hear from God all the time, every time.

This was brought home to me in a fresh way as I studied Matthew chapter 2 yesterday. It is a really interesting chapter in that it contains the fulfillment of three Messianic prophesies. It starts with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Israel. Then Joseph has a dream by which the Lord warns that Herod will seek to kill the child and directs Joseph to take his family to Egypt. Finally, after Herod dies, Joseph takes his family back to Israel (but to the town of Nazareth this time), again prompted by divine direction. The author of Matthew is careful to point out that there is a prophecy about the Messiah coming from each of these three cities; Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth.

So I tried to put myself in Joseph’s shoes but with a 21st century mindset… I know, quite a mind-twister lol. Ok so here I am, I got the Saviour of Israel in my care… (no pressure). I’m also a Jew so I know the scriptures pretty well (like by heart) and I know that there are three prophesies about where this child comes from. So what’s the formula for successfully raising God’s promised Messiah? Which city should the child be born in? Do I plan a visit to each city? When? In what order? To figure it out, I naturally pull out my Strong’s Concordance and study all the Hebrew words in the prophecies and Google all the articles and YouTube videos on Messianic prophecies. (By the way, this exercise kinda reminded me of the eschatological gurus who keep getting the end of the world wrong… hmm.. whatever happened to all the blood moon fanfare last year?… anyhoo, I digress…)

The thing is, that was not how Joseph approached life…not at all. He simply did what God told him when God told him. An angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and told him to go to Egypt, so he went. Another angel appeared in another dream and sent him back to Israel when Herod died and he went to Nazareth. Simple. No formula. Just a simple faith that totally trusted God to direct his path.

As I begin to think about my 2020 goals, I’m thinking in 2020 I want to get back to a simple yet powerful faith. I want to grow in obedience to the Holy Spirit, step by step, day by day… there are no formulas, only a life fully surrendered to Christ and completely led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

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GUEST POST: IF YOU HAVE A PULSE, YOU HAVE A PURPOSE!

Hello my friends!

I recently did a guest post on the Godly Chic Diaries. June (the author of Godly Chic Diaries) produces wonderfully uplifting content. She has been awarded and featured for the Top 30 Positivity Blog 2019 and top 100 Christian Women Blog 2019. So head on over and check out her blog!

Here’s my feature on her site:

via GUEST POST: IF YOU HAVE A PULSE, YOU HAVE A PURPOSE!