I recently attended a wedding where a Catholic bride was wedded to a non-denominational Evangelical groom 😊. Before the nuptials his pastors had hoped that she would get ‘saved’ and baptized and her priest had impressed upon him that the Catholic Church was the only true church. They each listened politely but were unfazed. Their love for each other and respect that they had for their equally fervent but slightly unique faiths in God had been cemented in Christ by the Holy Spirit beyond the reach of doctrinal dogma.
The wedding
started with the Latin song Veni Creator Spiritus, inviting the Holy Spirit.
And He came. The church filled with joy, peace and love, mirroring the natural
ambience created by the sunlight that filtered through the stained-glass
windows and a light breeze that wafted through the sanctuary.
I suppose men
will be arguing points of doctrine until Christ returns but you know what you
can’t argue with? Love. God IS love.
“You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all
the Law and the Prophets.”
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things.Love never ends. As for prophecies,
they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will
pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the
perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a
child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I
gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is
love.
Love is the greatest! There is no higher law. Everything else will
fade, everything else will give way under the sheer force of love. In the midst
of our dark ignorance, constant failures and stumbling faith, God will still
show up… for love.
In the midst of that church, a bridge of love was forged in the
Spirit. Pastor and priest joined hands with bride and groom and God smiled. Two
families united and the Holy Spirit danced. A multitude of sins were covered
over and Jesus was glorified.
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
Newsflash!
There are fake Christians. Yep. This is no surprise I’m sure. There are lots of
people who call themselves Christians but within that group there is a
subset that I refer to as the true disciples of Christ. So how do we
tell the sheep from the goats or the wheat from the tares? Let me introduce you
to the Acme Christian Test.
But before I
do that, sniffing out fake Christians doesn’t in itself seem very…well..Christian
so let’s change the question… How can I tell if I’m a real Christian? I’m so glad
you asked. Here’s how:
I’m going to
bring together a few concepts from the bible that hinges on this passage:
John 15:1-8
1 “I
am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch
in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear
fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are
clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 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. 6 If anyone does
not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches
are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in
me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for
you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and
so prove to be my disciples.
Voila! I’m
sure you see verse 8 jumping right out at you. Jesus’ disciples bear much fruit
which is proof (evidence) that they are:
Connected to the vine (Jesus), and;
Being pruned
Let’s focus
on the fruit first. What is this fruit? For that we will turn to another
passage:
Galatians 2:22-23
22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there
is no law.
So, the first
part of the test of a real Christian is to ask yourself if you are exhibiting
the following qualities:
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control
Spend some
time on each word. Do some introspection. I find that some of them make me
wince a bit (or a lot) while others I feel I’m ok with. That last one, self-control,
always makes me cringe. Ouch. But we need to be bearing all the fruit
not just a few.
However,
bearing fruit is not enough, we also need to be pruned. The second part of the
test is to ask yourself if you have been increasing in these qualities. We
may all start at different places so a snapshot of a point in time is not
really the acid test. Let me illustrate. If I came from a really bad home
situation where all the examples around me contained very little of these qualities,
I might be quite impatient. Maybe it’s so bad that a single badly chosen word triggers
a violent response from me. On the other hand, if Jane was raised in a
wonderfully loving home it might take quite a lot to even get her to become
angry. Now, Jane and I both convert to Christianity at the same time and after
a year through the work of the Holy Spirit I’ve stopped beating up people, but
I still get angry pretty easily compared to Jane. But the comparison with each
other is irrelevant. The true comparison is with our former selves.
The true
disciple is in a constant process of transformation that leads to more and more
fruit. Jesus calls it pruning so that we bear more fruit. All true disciples (branches
that bear fruit) are pruned. So, you want to know if you are a true Christian? Look
back and examine yourself. Do you have more joy, more peace? Have you become
gentler, kinder? The moment you stop growing is the moment you were a
Christian. You see, a person living in constant contact with Christ cannot help
but be transformed. Relationship with Christ changes you at the most
fundamental level.
I have found
that these are not the questions that trouble most Christians and that
troubles me. We are caught in a quagmire of doctrine and religion. The fake
tests for fake Christians are for the fake fruits:
Church/mass attendance
Bible verses memorized
Doctrinal accuracy
Spiritual gifts
What church/denomination you belong to
Not going to parties
Political affiliation
None of these
are fruit. They are not evidence that you are being transformed by Christ. They
are not even evidence that you have any relationship with Christ. Measuring
yourself by such external attributes leads to destruction:
Matthew
7:15-23
15
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are
ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are
grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So,
every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18
A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20
Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many
will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out
demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And
then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of
lawlessness.’
Every day I
have to ask myself, am I a real Christian?
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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In the Catholic bible there are two
books called 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. The books chronicle the history of
the Jews during the period 175 BC to 134 BC. The introduction sets the scene…
Alexander the Great had advanced his kingdom to the ends of the earth,
plundering many nations. All nations were forcibly brought under his domain and
paid him taxes. His world reign as emperor lasted 12 years and then he fell ill
and realizing he was about to die, divided his empire among his generals. The
story begins with Antiochus Epiphanes who was a descendant of one of
Alexander’s generals. In 143 BC, he set his sights on the land of Israel and
the city of Jerusalem. He slaughtered many of the people, desecrated their
temple and took woman and children as prisoners. After a couple murderous
campaigns he decided to unite the world by commanding all nations to abandon
their own customs. Many Jews adopted the official pagan religion and abandoned
their laws and customs under the penalty of death.
Then one day a Jew called
Mattathias stood up to the enforcers of the king’s decree and refused to obey
the decree in public. He also killed one of his fellowmen who was offering a
pagan sacrifice and killed the enforcer. This was the start of a rebellion of
all those faithful to the Law and that is the main subject of the Maccabean
books. The faithful Jewish people rallied around Mattathias and when he died he
appointed one of his sons Judas Maccabaeus as commander of what was now an
army. Judas waged war on all who opposed Israel and the Law with great zeal.
His exploits were great and the Israeli army grew to the thousands. They
routinely defeated enemies who were better armed and in far greater numbers.
What is noticeably absent from
these books is a relationship with God. Hitherto the hallmark of the Jewish
nation was that God was with them. There are no prophets or words from God in
Maccabees. God was silent. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why these books
were omitted from the King James Bible? I don’t know but when I read these
tales I couldn’t help but think of some Christians today who have similar
characteristics; we live a bible-centred life but have little relationship with
God.
As I read the heroic exploits of
the Maccabees, defeating all in their way in their zeal for the Law, I could
not help but superimpose bible-thumping, hell and damnation preaching believers
cutting down sinful idol worshipping pagans with their words left and right. Like
the Maccabees some of us are self-styled heroes. Lost without a personal
relationship with God but yet carrying on desperately clinging to the bible
while our soul lies dead inside. Without a relationship with God, the law, the
bible, the church attendance… it all means nothing and it is all for nothing.
To me, this is the great tragedy of
the Maccabean tale. A read through the majority of the Old Testament describes
the Jewish people always in relationship with God. He spoke with some of them
directly and addressed the nation through the prophets. Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah, Isaiah, they all walked with God. It was
Moses who said, “If Your Presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from
here.” He refused to journey on through life without God. David said, “Cast me
not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.” What had
happened to the Israelites that caused them to go on without God? How is it
that they went out against the enemy time after time without seeking God’s
counsel forsaking hundreds of years of a heritage of, “Lord, shall we go up
against them?” How was relationship so easily exchanged for religion?
When I look at my own life, I see
how easily it can happen. It takes work to have a good relationship with
anyone. God is no different. While it is easy to neglect our human
relationships, it is even easier to neglect a God we can’t see. It takes a
deliberate seeking. A deliberate pulling away from all distractions. A
deliberate waiting to hear that small still voice.
Sometimes we say we are walking by faith but it is not faith in what God has told us, it is a resolute soldiering on (or even grasping at what we want and want now) in the absence of any communication from above. The Maccabean tale is a solemn reminder not to keep walking obliviously along the path when our divine travelling companion has paused. Wait. Wait on the Lord!
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
Let me take you on a trip; a power trip. According to a study by social
psychologists John R. P. French and Bertram H. Raven in 1959, there are 5 types
of power used within organizations:
Coercive
Power: This type of power relies on threats or punishment to force compliance
against a person’s will. Use of this type of power is destructive, leading to
unhealthy and unproductive behaviours within the organization.
Reward
Power: This form of power is based on the idea that as a society we are more
inclined to do things well when we are getting something in return. The problem
with this form of power is that when the reward does not have enough perceived
value to others, the power is weakened. One of the frustrations when using
rewards is that they often need to be bigger than the last time if they are to
have the same effect.
Legitimate
Power: This type of power is based on a person’s role or position. This is a
weak form of power as it only lasts as long as the person has the title or when
they are operating in an official capacity.
Referent
Power: The leader in this form of power is often seen as a role model. This
power emanates from a person that is highly liked and people identify strongly
with them in some way. Celebrities often wield this type of power.
Expert
Power: This form of power is based on in-depth information, knowledge or
expertise. The rarer and greater the demand for the expertise, the more power
the person wields.
The challenge leaders’ face is to organize people in a coordinated
effort toward the achievement of some goal. This necessitates giving directions
and delegating tasks. Leaders must use some combination of these types of power
to achieve their objectives. What we have realized over the years is that some
forms of power are more effective than others in creating sustainably
successful results. Leaders who rely heavily on legitimate and coercive power breed
compliance at best and undermining behaviours at worst. Successful leaders rely
more on referent and expert power. While this has been well understood but
woefully under-practiced in secular circles for years, I am continually
surprised at the prevalence of unhealthy leadership paradigms and practices
within the church world.
The Christian world seems hell bent (pun intended) on subscribing to
legitimate power as THE paradigm for the church. Typical church structures are
very hierarchical with the pastor/priest at the top and unquestioning
submission to authority required right down the chain of command. I would have expected the church to have the
best leaders! I mean Jesus is the most influential and charismatic leader who
ever walked the planet! So much so, that according to a Pew Research Center
2010 survey there are approximately 2.8 billion people on the planet who claim
to still be following Him!
What I’ve come to realize, unfortunately, is that most people do not
understand the culture of the kingdom when it comes to power. THE #1 principle of
the kingdom when it comes to power is that God
is not trying to force us to comply with His will but He is wooing us like a
lover into an amazing partnership. The #2 principle is that God is determined to give His power away
to the furthest possible person and the widest possible group. If we
remembered these two principles, we would do church completely differently.
Jesus was the embodiment of this kingdom principle. Motivated by love, He
left His all-powerful mantle in heaven and came to earth for the sole purpose
of giving us power over sin, death and the devil. He allowed death to overpower
Him for 3 days so that, when He ascended back to the highest position of power
over all power, He could bring us all up there with Him! Consider that!
Consider that the omnipotent God became a frail little human and subjected
Himself to a humiliating death so that we lowly dust creatures could walk in
His power! His heart is that not one should perish but that all should have
abundant eternal life. Yet, the choice is ours; He will not put out His hand to
coerce us to follow Him.
If you spent time with Jesus and took note of what He did what, would
you see?
You would see Him training a group of 12 people who would finish the
work He started and whom He would be excited to see do greater works than Him. Do
we do that?
You would see Him teaching, healing, delivering and feeding thousands.
Caring for the physical needs and internal hearts of others. Do we do that?
You would see Him passionately and consistently confronting the leaders
who are controlling, dominating and abusing people from their religious
positions. Do we do that?
You would see Him eating meals and washing the feet of a man who He knew
would give Him up to be killed. Do we do that?
You would see Him interceding for forgiveness for a people that murdered Him unjustly. Do we do that?
How we use our power is the hallmark of our knowledge of Him. Do we know Him?
Joyfully,
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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.
What do I mean by living on the margin? I mean to walk the line of non-conformance.
I mean to be unwilling to swear allegiance to any particular group. As kingdom
believers, our allegiance is to the King alone, which means that on this earth
we are always on the margin.
Jesus lived on the margin. He went to church every Sunday and he hung
out with the sinners during the week. He didn’t belong anywhere on this earth.
To the sinners he was saintly. To the supposed saints, he was sinful. They
called Him a glutton and a drunkard. They exaggerated of course but the point is
this; Jesus was not concerned about fitting
in with society’s norms and neither should we.
The margin is my favourite place. Am I conservative or liberal? Both. Do
I believe in capitalism or socialism? Neither. Am I Catholic or Pentecostal?
Both and none. Am I a corporate executive or a surfer dude? Yes. When we refuse
to join the in-crowd or conform to the social boxes, we live in a world where
we are a bit of an enigma. Sometimes chastised and frequently misunderstood but
always free to express the kingdom unfettered by public opinion.
And that is the issue; freedom. Those who pander to public opinion are slaves
to that opinion and cannot truly execute their kingdom assignment on this
earth. If we must belong to or support a particular political party, we are slaves.
If we must be a member of the ‘right’ denomination, we are slaves. If we cannot
associate with a particular person because in Christian circles he or she is
known as a heretic or a backslider, we are slaves. If we cannot go here or
there because it is a place of ill repute, we are slaves. Every box we put ourselves into, shuts off the kingdom from reaching
those outside the walls through us. Who will reach the prostitutes? Who
will reach the drug dealers? Who will reach those living alternative
lifestyles? Who will bring balance to the group with a lop-sided theology? Who
will lift up the preacher fallen in sin? Who will heal the heart broken
divorcee? Who? Who? WHO?
The reason that Christians are described as lights and commanded not to hide their light under a bowl is because our assignment is to dispel darkness wherever that darkness exists. The mandate to enforce kingdom rule on this earth as it is in heaven must be so compelling that our need to be accepted or to be seen as right or righteous is overwritten by our zeal to reach the lost!
Dancing on the margin,
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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 allI was born to worship God. I’m a Christian
hedonist pursuing eternal heavenly bliss.
Join me,
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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.
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.
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.
