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Category: Personal Transformation

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Holy Communion

In all Christian denominations, communion is celebrated in one form or another. In the Catholic faith it is celebrated at every mass. In others, it may be weekly or monthly. No matter the frequency, there is something sacred about this practice of drinking His blood and eating His body as Christ commanded. However, as sacred as it is, there is more. There is a mystery; a deeper communion to which we need to surrender daily… hourly.

However, it requires letting go of the lie of separateness. If His Spirit is in us, then we are never separate from God; always in communion with Him. Yet why are we are always seeking to get to some state where we are one with Him? Aren’t we the body of Christ? Yes! Somehow, spiritually, we are the very body of Christ! Somehow, we can partake of the life of Christ. In fact, we are called to share His entire life throughout time and space!

We share in His suffering:

Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

Romans 8:17a

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings

We share in His death:

Romans 6:4a

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death

Colossians 3:3

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

We share in His resurrection:

Romans 6:5

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Colossians 3:1

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

We share in His glorification:

Romans 8:17

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

We will share in His second coming:

Colossians 3:4

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

These are amazing truths! I do not want us to come away from these scriptures feeling that all that they mean is that we must be like Christ or that it is all symbolic. I believe that the life of the Christian is so united with Christ that we reach out across time and space and partake with Him in His suffering, death, resurrection, glorification and second coming. As we commune with the eternal Christ now, we inherit all He ever was and who He ever will be because He exists in eternity!

We are called to eternal communion with Christ! Right here, right now… He is here.

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

Matthew 28:20b

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

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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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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.

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The Christmas Gift For Everyone

The whole set up for the birth of Jesus is amazing. Consider first of all the simple fact that He came! God left His pure, ethereal, glorious existence and took on physical form. If I had unlimited power and existed in a world outside of time and space I’m not sure I would have willingly chosen to become a mere mortal confined to time and space. I mean consider that Jesus (God incarnate) had to be fed, have His diapers changed, learn to walk, go through puberty, make friends in school, study, get a job, work hard, feel tired, feel sad… the full range of what it means to be human.

Why did He do it? Love. Jesus is the ultimate expression of love in the flesh. He is an exemplar of ‘practice what you preach’. He showed us the way to live by example. And even more shocking is that His purpose was to effect the most scandalous gift exchange of all time. He gave His life so that we could gain eternal life. He took on humanity so that we could have godliness. He suffered so that we would suffer no more. He took away our sins so that we could become righteous. He left heaven so that we could have a home in heaven. He lay down His glory so that we could become glorious. The king became a servant, so that the servants could become kings!

Who is worthy of such a gift? The answer is no one and everyone. None are worthy, but all are accepted. The circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus were intentionally orchestrated by God to let us know that Jesus came for EVERYONE. He could have been born in a palace but instead He chose a stable. He could have been laid in a fancy hand-crafted crib but instead he chose a feeding trough for animals. His first visitors could have been the elite of the Jewish people at that time but instead He chose his first visitors to be the low-class shepherds and three wise non-believers. And when they did take Him to be dedicated at the temple who met Him there? An ordinary but devout parishioner named Simeon and an old devout widow. It wasn’t the who’s who but the ordinary faithful.

The bottom line is that Jesus was surrounded by believers and non-believers of humble and sincere hearts regardless of station in life or religious order. This is Jesus. The Saviour of the world. He came for us all. He does not care what denomination we belong to or if we have a denomination at all. He does not care about our social status or how many followers we have on Instagram. He is holding out His arms longing for all to come and receive Him. The Gift is free. The worth is inestimable.

Joyfully,


Copyright Matik Nicholls, 2018.
All rights reserved.
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Is Your Image Important?

Ever so often in my life, the question of my image rises to the surface. Typically, I could care less about my image… or put another way; I could care less about the opinions of people who do not know me. But every so often, those ‘people who don’t know me’ are also people who can influence the course of my life. Thus, it is in my interest to care about the opinions of such people. 

On one such occasion, I had just started a new management position and my boss suggested that we meet weekly to check up on projects that I would be working on. I thought that that was a bit excessive, so I suggested less frequent meetings. She didn’t go for it. A few months later she gave me my first performance feedback and admitted that there was more to me than first met the eye. She had not expected the level of competence that I exhibited. On another occasion, a senior manager was kind enough to let me know that my happy-go-lucky surfer dude persona was negatively impacting my management aspirations. He admitted that I had the intelligence and competence for the position, but some who worked less closely with me were concerned about my image.  

To be blunt, this type of thing pisses me off. I have no problem when people have an initial opinion but then take the time to get to know me before passing judgment (like the first boss I mentioned above). But I have a serious issue with people passing judgement from afar, not based on my performance, but based on who they think I am as a person. However, this is the reality of the world. People make decisions about you based on their opinion of you whether they actually know you or not. 

The question is; should we be concerned about our image? Should I be concerned about my carefree image? Should I try to change it? Such questions can be unsettling, at least for me.  

As I discussed these thoughts with my bff, she shared an interesting perspective. She has an image of always having her hair and nails on point and lately she was becoming concerned about the signal that she might be sending to the young women in her sphere of influence. She wondered if she was contributing to the current ethos of superficiality. Are nails and hair the most important things about a person? In the world of fake eyelashes, fake nails and weave have we become a society that is more about image than substance? 

She gave me food for thought and solidified my commitment to authenticity. There is a beauty and peace that comes with being yourself that for me is not worth any job promotion. I laugh loudly in the office and dance down the place at Christmas functions. That is not some people’s opinion of management behaviour. And I’m OK with that. You do you and I’ll do me. At the end of the day it would be nice to be judged only on your contribution to achievement of the company objectives but the world is not fair like that and I’m OK with that too. I am willing to pay the price for an authentic life. I believe in a higher justice. And I hope that my sacrifice will redound to upcoming leaders; that they will be able to shake the shackles of other people’s expectations and actualize their own authentic life.

Joyfully,

Copyright 2018, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

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Newsflash – Authentic Joy now available in R.I.K. book stores nationwide (Trinidad)

Here’s a sneak peek inside: 

Ann and Andrew were not very religious. In fact, at birth, Govinda and Celeste were registered as having no religion. Not Roman Catholic like their mother. Not Anglican like their father.None. It was completely without precedent and caused quite a furore when the time came for Govinda’s primary school registration. “He will choose a religion for himself when he is ready,” they said to the bewildered registrar.

So concerned were Govinda’s teachers for the state of his soul that he was automatically chosen to participate in anything religious. One teacher cast him as Joseph at every Christmas play. While another made him pray for the class regularly.

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The Fire Series: Making Disciples

 

Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19 has become one of the most popular verses of the bible. It has come to be called ‘the great commission’ and it has been used as the basis for the stereotypical ‘missionary’ who travels to remote places of the globe bringing the good news of the gospel.

In recent times, there has been arising a movement that is calling the church back to discipleship. Many have noticed that the missionary foundation of the early church has largely been replaced with evangelism and church attendance. ‘Winning souls for Christ’ has become an exercise in getting your programme on television or radio or social media and then getting people into your church service and then making an altar call so that they give their lives to Christ and eventually get baptized. And voila! There it is the modern interpretation of Mat 28:19! I don’t believe this is what Jesus wanted His church to look like for one main reason; this can all happen without a single genuine relationship between two people. Christianity is personal and relational because Christ is personal and relational. Discipleship cannot be impersonal and non-communal. But before I dig into that, let me talk about what the reaction to this commercial church ethos has been.

I have seen two reactions:

  1. Some church leaders have sought to have a greater missionary focus in their church. Sending people out to reach untouched people groups in some churches has again become a central pillar.
  2. Some people have abandoned the current building/service centric church culture altogether and returned to the early church model of meeting in small groups that are less hierarchical and more intimate.

The fact that there are people who have heard the call of God back to discipleship (and I believe this is a move initiated by God) and who have been convicted enough to do something about it is wonderful! I love it! But what I want to talk about today is less about what we do and more about who we are. I believe too often we do things out of a reaction to something bad and we create an exaggeration in the other direction. Like a pendulum, we swing all the way to the other side bringing criticism, division and cliquishness. Instead, I want to invite us to see what God is calling us to be and let that truth shine right where we are (which probably has some good things that God does not want us to throw out completely). I believe that as the church matures, we will see less moves of God that have been immortalized (or more correctly; mortalized) into denominations (Protestant, Pentecostal, Charismatic to name a few) and more continuous unification and maturing as we build upon the truths that brought us to where we are now, adding to it the current revelations of God.

OK so what are the truths that I believe God is calling us to embody today whether we are part of a mega church or a small study group? We can learn a lot from the added context of verses 18 and 20:

  1. The centrality of Christ: A) The whole mission is based on the fact that Christ has been given all authority in heaven and in earth (vs 18). Christ is on a mission to build his church and nothing can stop Him. B) We are discipling others in obedience to Christ (vs 20a). We are not making disciples of ourselves really; we are exposing others to our own discipleship to Christ and inviting them to emulate us. Only disciples make disciples. Conversely, converts make converts. The emphasis is on obedience to the commands of Christ not on the profession of faith. C) Christ Himself is part of the process. (vs 20b). Discipleship takes place in the presence of Christ. This is not some remote activity that we perpetuate until Christ returns. Jesus wants to be in this thing with us. Intimacy and partnership with Christ must be deep within our identity and the heart of what we bring to the world.
  2. Discipleship is personal: A disciple in the most practical sense is a life-student. A disciple emulates the totality of the teacher’s life. The disciples practically lived with Jesus. He opened up His life to them like he did with no one else. We cannot make disciples at arms-length. We must demonstrate to others how we are wrestling with the practice of observing all that Jesus has commanded us personally. We must show what discipleship looks like in practice. We must have the humility to allow others to interrogate our lives to understand our motives and struggles and even our failures.

So here are three things that I am excited about! Three things that I am eager to see arising in the church:

  1. Leaders that disclose more of their personal lives from the pulpit. Don’t just tell me what God says and what I should be doing. Tell me what God has been pulling on you about. Tell me where the rubber is hitting the road for you. What are you struggling with? What are you contending for? Why is this message that you are preaching burning for you right now? I want to know where Christ is at work in you and what that looks like in practice.
  2. Believers that build authentic friendships. Don’t just come to church and go home. Find one or two believers and build a friendship. Have people in your life with whom you can share your heart and your failures without condemnation or judgment. Talk about real issues like your struggle with porn or your struggle to be submissive to your unsaved husband. Get real and let that speaking the truth in love build us up into mature Christians. Build safe spaces with people in our lives where we can be vulnerable and allow Christ to touch us in the midst of authentic community.
  3. Missionaries re-invented. True missionaries do not really go to convert people. (Yes there were/are lots of false missionaries in my opinion) True missionaries go to demonstrate the love of Christ, sow the seeds of the Word, water it and leave the conversion business to Christ. As I have said before, making disciples is about demonstrating up-close our own discipleship to Christ. In the current context where almost any corner of the globe can be reached instantly, I believe that the urgency to reach people with the gospel is far less of a commission to travel somewhere geographically and much more of a mandate to take Christ with us into our sphere of influence. Every facet of our lives must be missionary; our profession, our marriage, our parenting, our recreation. We must be demonstrating Christ to the world in every thing we do! Are we discipling our children? Are we being open with our lives at work? Are we sharing the reason for our hope in our professional circles? And please do not picture the corrupt image of the portrayal of a perfect Christian life and a holier-than-thou attitude. I mean authentic Christianity. I mean being open about why you are different, imperfect but different.

You can do all of these things without starting a ministry or leaving your church (and I have nothing against either). Just choose to live a missionary life. It’s that simple yet that profound. You can start today!

Joyfully,

Copyright 2018, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

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Stop Judging and Start Relating

 

One of the most common mistakes that I’ve made in my life is judging people that I don’t know. We all do it right? Right? (Please tell me it’s not just me.) We assign characteristics and even worse, motives, to people we have never even talked to! When you think about it, it’s crazy. Or sometimes we’ve met a few people from a particular religion or political party or ethnicity or neighbourhood and we judge the whole based on the few. Everybody who crosses our path who fits the demographic is destined for our bad books. Crazy!

One of the most constructive habits we can cultivate to counteract this bad habit is to try to have authentic interactions with as many varied persons as you can. They say one bad apple spoils the whole bunch, but I have found that it works just as powerfully the other way around; one person can change your perspective of a whole nation. That’s one of the reasons that I love travel so much. I just love to touch, taste and see what looks different to me; what I’ve never experienced before. I love the practice of discovery.

I think the art of building bridges across divides of misunderstanding is even more critical in this fake news world that we currently inhabit. Don’t stay behind your computer/smartphone and pelt stones at the particular group that you love to hate, go out and meet them. One of my favourite examples of this is Daryl Davis. Daryl Davis is a black guy who befriends Klu Klux Klan members. So far, according to this article , he has persuaded 200 members to give up their robes. Now that is someone I would like to emulate. I’m not saying that we will always get someone to agree with our point of view, but we might gain a friend and we definitely will learn something.

Frankly, I don’t think I have ever convinced anybody to my way of thinking (I probably haven’t tried very hard) but I have learned a lot from people with vastly different views to mine and in some cases I’ve come around to their way of thinking. I believe 200% in Christ but I’ve learned a lot from agnostics. I used to believe in beating my children but due solely to a few people in my life with strong views against corporal punishment I am now trying different disciplinary methods. (Admittedly, I am tempted to return to my old ways at every major disciplinary impasse). I used to think Brexiters were myopic but recently I actually met one guy who was outspoken enough to share his views. It was enlightening. His reasoning was sound, and I left the conversation feeling a bit convicted for judging my Brexit friends so harshly and convinced that both sides of the argument had merit.

And this brings me to the final point I wish to make. Please, don’t be afraid to share your views passionately. The most you could be is wrong. There is nothing I find more frustrating than someone who has a strong view but refuses to share it! I know not everyone may be as comfortable (excited even) with debate and confrontation and conflict as I am, but I find it so sad to walk away from someone without ever receiving the gift of their viewpoint. Some say people walk away from these debates unchanged but I disagree. Rarely will I change my view on the spot but I always think about it for days after and a fresh perspective does change how I view things. Even if it is a small adjustment, it’s worthwhile. Some say you should never discuss politics or religion (basically anything that will upset anyone). I say that’s precisely what we should be talking about. It’s what matters. That’s how we evolve as a species, by taking the best of everyone’s ideas and moving forward together.

OK OK I’m off that soapbox…. So…. Get out there and go talk to someone new today!

Joyfully,

Copyright 2018, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.

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The Fire Series: Have You Heard His Voice?

I woke up one morning this week with the epiphany that there are a vast number of Christians who have never heard the voice of God. Not only did I wake up with this thought in my head, but I also felt God’s emotions in my heart. He has such a deep grief over this fact, because His longing is for all of His children to hear His voice.  He is always speaking but we often do not recognize it.

But today, if you are reading this, He wants you to hear Him!

The first thing He wants you to know is that hearing His voice is normal. Do not believe the lies and fallacies in your mind that say that only special people hear from God or that that was only in biblical times. NO, God is speaking to you every day!

The second lie that many of us have accepted as truth is that God is impersonal. God speaks through creation and through the scriptures. That is true. But that is often interpreted in an impersonal way. As in, He speaks to everyone in general. His grandeur and majesty and wisdom are there for all to see in the splendour, beauty and intelligence of creation. That is a wonderful truth! His statutes and commands and truth has been laid out in the scriptures for all who would search it out! Also true! But…. have you heard His personal whispers to you in the dawn? Has your heart burned as you read a verse that you knew was put there specifically for you in that moment? If not, God has more for you.

God is personal. He wants to relate to you personally; one on one.

Here are three truths that have helped me to hear God’s voice more clearly:

  1. God speaks your language. God does not speak English or Spanish or Greek or Hebrew for that matter. God speaks to your heart and soul in a way that is easiest for you to understand and it is precisely for this reason that we often miss His voice. Because hearing His voice is amazingly natural to us, it is easy to think that it’s just our own thoughts. For example, I heard a woman once talking about the way in which her husband heard God that was quite amusing but also very powerful. Her husband loved G.I. Joe and God would often bring to his mind scenes from the tv show to guide him in situations. He would know what God wanted him to do in a situation based on a scene in the  tv show that God would bring to his mind. Let that sink in. What are you into? How do you process things? What’s your personality? Expect to hear God in your own language. Don’t look for a deep voice from heaven or the appearance of an angel. Don’t relegate God to speaking only through a bible verse, He has so much more resources at His command to get to you. God is in you. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. He is speaking in the very mundane dialogue of your life.
  2. There are absolutely no coincidences. Your co-worker did not just happen to mention that issue that you are thinking about. That verse that popped up in your email was not randomly applicable to something that is troubling you. God is using all the resources at His disposal (which is the entire universe) to reach you personally. He loves you that much. He wants a relationship with you that much.
  3. God can handle your mistakes. This is critical because the number one fear where hearing God’s voice is concerned is the fear that we mistake our own voice or the enemy’s voice for God’s. This fear has crippled us into disconnected orphans who only believe what we read in the bible or the preacher says on a Sunday. This is NOT how God intended us to live! Living by faith also means taking a chance that that feeling you have or thought that you cannot shake is God. What you need to know is that even if it is not, God will honour your pure intention and take care of you. The first ways in which I learned to hear from God was the distress in my spirit that I felt when I went the wrong way. You heard that? Going down the wrong path is just another opportunity to hear God! Listen, God is BIG; HUGE. He really can handle his children fumbling as they try to discern His leading in their lives. It is really not a big deal.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I’m praying that you start a new journey with God today, confident that He is speaking to you and that you absolutely are able to hear His voice!

Joyfully,

Copyright 2018, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.