Niki’s Thoughts

" Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to  Himself  and said to them,  “Assuredly, I say to you that   this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury;   for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had,   her whole livelihood.”" Mark 12:42-44 ""Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob Me. "But you ask, 'How are we robbing you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - your whole nation - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."" Malachi 3:8-10 Talking about money in church these days feels pretty taboo. I remember growing up there was a givin...

(It's Saturday morning when I am preparing this - I plan for it to post on Wednesday night.) All morning I have been thinking about the beach. If you know me even a little, you know I love the beach. The beach is my happy place. The beach is where I feel the most calm. The beach is where I feel closest to God... Lately, when I get stuck on something random, I try to dive into the why. What am I supposed to be learning, or realizing, or remembering about whatever is stuck in my thoughts? More importantly, what is God trying to teach me, or remind me? So, I did that this morning. I thought what is it about the beach that God wants me to focus on. Here's what smacked me in the face... In Genesis 1:9-10, on the third day, God created the land, separating it from the waters. I feel like I have read it in multiple places in the Bible, how it's recounted that God told the water, "this far you may come, but no farther." Most recently, I read this in Job 38:10 (well, verse...

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, the the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." John 14:13-14  Last week we looked at a few Bible verses that are often misquoted, or rather taken out of context. We dove a little deeper into two in particular (Matt. 7:1, and Phil. 4:13), and we save two for a little spin-off this week. This is the first time I planned ahead to write about something on purpose - let's see where God takes us today!  I think these two verses (Matt. 7:7 and John 14:13) have some similar and some different meanings and contexts behind them. One of the major themes of the Bible seems to be that no matter what we do (actions, words, thoughts, deeds, asks, seeks, knocks, etc...), everythin...

I have posted Niki's Thoughts across various platforms over the years. For a while, I used an old feature on Facebook called "Notes." Sadly, Facebook has done away with Notes making it impossible for me to share them easily. And I'm not sure if anyone besides me can even find them online. The below came up in my "Memories" on my personal page, as a share from my Niki's Thoughts FB page. It touched me to reread it so I felt drawn to re-blog it here, hopefully making it easier for all y'all to find and to share if you feel led to do so... “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4 I read a devotional this morning, Day One of a seven day plan called, “Restoration,” by Lecrae. Lecrae wrote, “Instead of interpreting our faith through the lens of suffering, we are encou...

 "Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' and 'in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Luke 4:9-11 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." I Peter 5:8 Did you know that scripture taken out of context can lead you to sin? This very section of Luke is entitled, "Satan Tempts Jesus." Temptation can be the path to sin. Of course, Jesus knows God's Word better than Satan, so He of course resists the devil's seedy plan. We don't always resist temptation, we're not perfect. But it is even harder to resist temptation when folks quote the actual Word of God...out of context.  "Judge not, lest ye be judged," is used to ...

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” ‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ I think this is one of the most misunderstood, and misquoted verses of the Bible. If we grew up in the church, we probably remember hearing (again and again), “we aren’t given more than we can handle.” But that’s not what it says, this verse tells us, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,” which is different than saying He won’t give us more than we can handle.  Let’s consider what Jesus himself said in Matthew 19:26, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” On our own, we are not capable of much. We must rely on God for everything. (That doesn’t mean we pray to ask for all we need and sit back waiting for Him to make it all happen, but tha...