nuggets from naq

  • Your weakness is your greatest strength

    It’s a popular verse in the Bible, proclaimed in worship songs and stenciled across home decor: “…when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10) How is it that you can be weak and strong at the same time?

    Weakness produces a need for God to move on your behalf. Recognizing your weakness breaks down pride and fuels a trust in God that grows the more you realize you’re incapable of doing anything without His leading or help.

    Weakness does not mean lack–you can “have it all” and still understand that God is your only source by placing your hope in Him alone.

    The moment you realize that apart from Him you can do nothing (John 15:5), you are at the strongest place in your walk and life.

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  • He remembers and cares

    Recently, a famous actress won an award for her performance and mentioned in her acceptance speech how a producer’s disparaging remarks regarding her talent had affected her. This life-changing incident happened 30 years ago yet as she spoke of it from the stage, she appeared to choke up a bit. It was a reminder of how words can hurt so deeply that even if you’ve aged decades since, we can still carry the pain of those moments.

    As believers, although we are commanded to forgive, it can be hard to forget our hurt. Yet we can find comfort in knowing the Lord sees, understands, and cares about our pain. He remembers our sorrows and collects our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8). Our pain is real and valid to Him.

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  • An everyday resolution

    Many times, our new year’s resolutions reflect the progress we want to make outwardly. But what good is it to look healthy and strong on the outside and be spiritual weak and malnourished on the inside?

    An everyday resolution is to hide the Word in our hearts that we might not sin against God (Psalm 119:11). This is how we walk out our lives with strength (standing firm in obedience to Christ), surrender (pursuing and submitting to God’s will) and pure service to Him (being equipped for every good work without selfish ambition).

    We can hide His Word in our hearts by reading and studying the Word daily, meditating on the Word throughout the day, and continuously remembering all He’s done.

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  • The best financial decision you can make

    One Bible verse that is shared so much that many people forget it’s a Bible verse is “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”, found in 1 Timothy 6:10. One might wonder, “Why shouldn’t I love something that can help produce so much good in the world?” And how could it possibly be the root of, or the source from which, all kinds of evil flow?

    The rest of the verse reads: “And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”

    Money and having access to it can be a blessing. Obviously, it takes money to care for your family, run businesses, support ministries and community organizations that help others, etc. But once we start to ‘crave’ money in our hearts, it becomes a problem. Because what we cherish in our hearts is reflected in our decision making and day-to-day behavior. In order to have a healthy view of money that produces godly and lasting blessings, it’s helpful to remember:

    1. God is our one and only true Source. Our desire should be for Him as we acknowledge the only way our needs can be met are through His loving hand.
    2. Desperately seeking money is an endless, empty pursuit. Ecclesiastes 5:10 reads, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”
    3. The love of money is a form of idolatry, which God despises. Matthew 6:24 reads, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

    Scripture also tells us when God brings wealth, He adds no sorrow to it (Proverbs 10:22). It sounds like loving and prioritizing God is the best financial decision you can make.

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  • Prescription for peace

    Nothing compares to peace. True peace cannot be manufactured or bought. The peace of mind and heart that gives you physical and emotional rest, even in times of chaos, is priceless. If you take your greatest gift or your most significant accomplishment and subtract from it true peace, you don’t have much. True peace is more ‘in spite of’ and much less ‘because of’. In life where there is very little you can control, how do you pursue, find, and maintain lasting peace?

    1. Keep your mind on Christ. Isaiah 26:3 – You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
      
    2. Keep your mind on things above. Colossians 3:2 – Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
    3. Renew your mind daily through daily prayer, Scripture reading, and worship. Romans 12:2 – Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

    Christ-centeredness produces true peace. There is no other way to obtain it.

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  • Campaigning for your pain

    Sometimes all you need to hear is “I feel you” or “I understand”. Short phrases that carry so much significance when you’re facing dark times or experiencing a soul-crushing season.

    You’re desperate to hear those words from someone. Anyone. It would mean so much.

    So you find yourself campaigning for your pain. Retelling your story, reliving it, rehashing it. Just to hear those balm-filled words so you know you have an ally in the valley.

    But the results of an internal poll show your burden is just not the biggest issue in America right now. The pain that is pummeling you isn’t something that gets the masses fired up. It may feel like no one quite understands.

    I don’t know what you may be going through at this time but you don’t have to campaign for me–you already have my vote. I stand behind you in support. And I want to see your hand raised in victory in the end–when you find healing and finally, the strength to move forward.

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  • 3 keys to promotion

    The story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis is truly a classic. From Joseph’s time being favored by his father and hated by his brothers to being unjustly thrown into prison, you wonder if things would ever end well for Joseph. As the story of Joseph’s life continues, God eventually positions him before Pharaoh, leading to unbelievable promotion for Joseph. There are three distinct keys that led to Joseph’s elevation in the land of Egypt.

    1. Living with integrity. When Joseph was being pursued by Potiphar’s wife who tried to seduce him into having an affair with her, Joseph turned her down flat. Not only did he call sleeping with a married woman “immense evil”, he acknowledged in Genesis 39:9 it would be a sin against God.
      “…So how could I do this immense evil, and how could I sin against God?”
    2. Stewarding your gifts well. God gave Joseph the gift of interpreting dreams and he used his gift to help others, even while he was imprisoned for something he did not do. Most important, he acknowledged that it was God working through him to give the interpretation. Genesis 40:8 reads, “…Then Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams’”.
    3. Walking in humility. Joseph was given what we may call “an opportunity of a lifetime” to come before Pharaoh and interpret his dream. Instead of using this opportunity to lift himself up before Pharaoh, a man of great power, Joseph remained humble and gave glory to God for his gift. When Pharaoh told Joseph he heard that he could interpret dreams, Joseph responded in Genesis 41:16, “I am not able to. It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

    The story continues with Pharaoh giving Joseph the number two position in authority over all of Egypt where God was able to use Joseph for purposes beyond Joseph’s wildest imagination.

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  • When you’re in love

    Listening to love songs to remind you of sweet times with that person is nice when you’re in love.

    Planning activities and events to experience with that person is fun when you’re in love.

    Doing something special for that person is a great feeling when you’re in love. And receiving thoughtful gifts or acts of service from them is special too.

    One of the clearer signs that you’re in love with someone? You can sit in one room all day with that person and do absolutely nothing. And it is the best feeling in the world. Nothing else compares. Their presence is different than anyone else’s.

    Sometimes our relationship with the Lord needs a lot of ‘extras’ to feel something. When you’re truly in love, all you need is to be with Him.

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  • Road trip

    From the time we are born, we are on a road trip. Going from ‘here’ to ‘there’ until we reach our final destination. The top 3 things you need on a road trip are food, water, and gas so that you stay nourished and hydrated and avoid getting stuck somewhere. The one resource God has given us is all of these three things yet may be rarely used throughout our trip. Are you feeling weak along the journey? Are you stranded somewhere? Eat up, drink up, fuel up with His Word and get going.

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  • I don’t know what to do

    Sometimes we think we have all the answers and that is usually when life is going well. The job is good, the family is fed, and our health is holding up. Truth is, we are always in need of God’s direction whether times are good or bad.

    During his reign in 2 Kings 17, King Jehoshaphat grew “more and more powerful”. Yet during these times of abundance, he rarely took his foot off the gas in seeking God. When he faces war from a vast army, Jehoshaphat did only what he knew to do–what he had already put in practice even during those times when he was riding high. He sought God and he prayed.

    “We don’t know what to do but our eyes are on you.”

    Jehoshaphat’s cry is to be expected when we’re facing difficulties. But how many times, with diploma or degree in hand or in announcing a promotion or while flourishing in business do we think to say, “Lord, I don’t know what to do but my eyes are You?” If we’re honest, this is rare. Yet this constant seeking of the Lord more so in the good times is the mark of someone who knows they truly need Him.

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