Niki’s Thoughts

“Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said,...

  “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing…’ Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken.” Jeremiah 13:8-10; 13:15 [Deeper Reading: Jeremiah 13:1-27]   We cannot be humble before the Lord and also have pride in ourselves. The two contradict one another. As we study the Bible, we see time and again the people of God in this power struggle between humility and pride. They humble themselves, submitting fully to God (as we are all called to do). He then blesses them for their faith, humility, and submission. They have years of peace, prosperity, and abundance. They get prideful, forgetting that it all came from God (every piece of treasure, every animal th...

“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬ ‭ “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John‬ ‭14‬:‭27‬  The other day, I saw a quote by Pema Chodron that said, “Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.”  I wanted to like it. At the surface this sounds like solid advice. We know that God’s opinion is the only one we should be concerned with. We also know that we cannot control how others act or the situations we may encounter, but we can discipline our emotions surrounding them. Certainly, we all long for peace in our lives, in our minds, in our hearts and souls. It is easy to hear or read this as sound, helpful guidance for life. Right? Unfortunately, I don’t believe this is a Biblically accurate ‘truth.’ The Bible clearly tells us that peace c...

Let’s preface by praying for Israel: Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your grace, mercy, and love. We praise You for Your creation, Your power, and most of all for all of Your kept promises. As Your Word says in Deuteronomy “And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” (31:8) we ask that You be with each and every one of Your precious people around the world, but especially in Israel. Help them to remember that You are always with them, and please Lord remember Your promise to never forsake them. We ask all this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Lots of people are speculating that Jesus is coming back soon, pointing to the events in and regarding Israel. My social media platforms are all inundated with people insisting Jesus is coming back any day now. On one hand, I believe that He can and may come back as soon as today. I certainly pray I am ready if He does! Moreover, I earnestly pray t...

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬ Our pastor, Dr. John Taylor Brantley, said this today: “One great flaw in the study of theology is caused by man's compulsive desire to understand and rationalize every aspect of every thing. That doesn't mean that we should not try to understand, but it does mean that we must be willing to accept that some things are simply not meant to be understood.” It made me think of Hebrews 11:1, as well as II Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Faith is about trusting God fully. Trusting God, trusting anyone, fully means believing completely in what we know to be true about them even if we can’t always see it.  We exercise faith daily in many ways. Sometimes we put our faith in the wrong things or people - we can end up hurt or disappointed. We trust the weatherman when he says it will or won’t rain. We get frustrated when he’s wrong. We trust our friends will always...