Niki’s Thoughts

 "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." James 1: 16-18 Deeper Reading: James 1:1-27 (whole chapter) These three verse from James was part of an Advent Devotion that my closest friend and I are reading this month together. This is what I said after I read it: I have heard, and quoted, James 1:17 so often...but James 1:18? That [verse] I have glazed right over before now... I could say SO MUCH about this! I think the first thing that jumps out at me is that when read together, with verse 17, it seems to say that WE are good and perfect gifts from God. We are created in His image after all and He is perfect! In Leviticus 23:9-14, God tells Moses how the Israelites are to honor Him with the firstfruits of their harv

"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." I Peter 5:10  "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Daniel 3:25 Deeper Reading: I Peter 5:5-11, Daniel 3:19-25 I have read the verse from I Peter numerous times in my life. In different seasons, I have honed in on perfect, establish, and/or strengthen multiple times. Today, in His amazing glory, God revealed to me that I had been neglecting to let the last few words sink in. As we take in the whole section of the fifth chapter of First Peter, we notice this promise, of God granting and doing these things in us, is preceded by some important instructions and warnings.  There are times in our lives that we can get overwhelmed by life. Sometimes, we're overwhelmed with busyness. O

  "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." II Timothy 1:7 If you know me well, you know that II Tim. Chapter one Verse seven is one of my favorite verses. It is one of the great reminders in the Bible to not let fear take root. I have heard it said that "fear not," or some form of "do not be afraid" is referenced in the Bible 365 times, one for every day of the year. I've even referred to this myself in previous Thoughts posts about fear. However, I have been digging deeper and that may not be the case. Test everything against the Bible, right?  So how many times is fear referenced in the Bible? The sources I was able to skim over before writing today were not in agreement on this. I don't think the point is to nitpick how many times this phrase, or similar sentiments, appear in God's Word. I believe the point is that there are many places in the Bible to which we can turn for the reminder that

  I got a sliver in my foot last night. It was extremely painful to walk on my foot last night, and this morning too. My husband suggested I peel away the rough layers of callused skin until I was able to remove it. It was in an awkward spot, very difficult to remove on my own because of the angle I had to pull my foot onto my lap at to see it. My husband offered to try, so I handed him the tweezers. "Ow!" I almost immediately said. He handed me back the tweezers. I kept working at it myself. My hip started to become sore because of the pressure I was causing at pulling my foot awkwardly across my lap. My hand that I was holding my foot with was cramping. I stubbornly ignored them and kept at it until I finally expressed my discomfort to my husband and said, "I can't even tell if I'm getting close." He gently suggested I try to stand up, on my foot, to see if it still hurt. Success, the pain was gone!  I started to think about the painful, difficult situatio

  "Jesus wept." John 11:35 Deeper Reading: John 11:1-44 (The story of Lazarus' death) In the eleventh chapter of John, we see Jesus weeping for His beloved friend, Lazarus. He truly felt the sadness that we all experience at the sight of a loved one dying. Friends, Jesus knew He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead! He knew that his death was not permanent, and yet He still wept. So why would He mourn a death that wasn't permanent?  I think there are three plausible reasons that Jesus wept: compassion for His grieving friends, grief over death in general as it relates to sin, and sadness over His friends' lack of faith. I haven't done enough deep diving into this to tell you which reason is accurate - and since the Bible does not elaborate I don't know that anyone besides Jesus Himself can say for certain. Let's dive into all three... Compassion stems from love, and we know that Jesus loves deeply. He loves us in a way that we will never fully com

  "Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light." Genesis 1:3 "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Genesis 1:27 "Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin." Proverbs 13:3 NIV A few days ago, I was reading the daily reflection in my "The Read Through The Bible in a Year Planner," and this verse from Proverbs was the focus of the day. I would like to quote what they said: It's no mistake that in several places in the Bible, emphasis is put on the dangers of what you say. Would you have less regrets in life had you faithfully kept your mouth as Solomon advises in Proverbs? Life is the outcome for those who are wise and uplifting in their words. But destruction waits for those who use their words carelessly.  I underlined the first and last sentences in my book. I wrote in my notes to "Remember:&quo