Acts 3:6- But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”








People don't need anything from us! They need the presence of God!

I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last month about a story in the book of Acts. It comes out of chapter 16, and it's about Paul and Silas. They had just been beaten up and thrown into prison for casting a demon out of a young girl (which in turn cost her owners lots of money).

Anyway, the Bible says that at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. There was a earthquake, and all the doors were opened to the prison and all the prisoners chains fell off.

Did you catch that?! ALL of the prisoners chains fell off! Paul and Silas were the ones that were praising God, but everyone's chains fell off.

There is so much to glean from the examples of Paul and Silas here, but one thing has really struck me recently as I have thought about this passage.

When Paul and Silas praised God, not only did their chains fall off, but everyone else's did too. What I notice here is that this is NOT about Paul and Silas' songs or prayers alone. The prisoner's chains did not fall off because of their singing... they fell off because the Presence of Almighty God entered that prison and loosed their chains.

Do you catch the subtle difference in the way we can start to view our responsibility versus God's responsibility in the story. It would be easy to say (and not incorrect) that it was Paul and Silas' praise that loosed the chains; but I think that puts too much pressure on us as humans.

When you or I are praying for a loved one that doesn't know Jesus, it is not our responsibility to win them over. It isn't our responsibility to loose their chains. It is our responsibility to fix our eyes on God and speak (and sing) truth in the hearing of those that are bound up. God looses the chains, not me. It's not about how good I can praise, it's only about His Presence.

I don't know about you, but that brings such a feeling of freedom to my heart! My responsibility is to fix my eyes on God and praise Him for who He is. The Bible says that He inhabits the praises of His people, and it is His Presence that changes hearts and lives.

Be free to praise Him today for who He is. Be willing to look past the reality of perhaps your own midnight hour, and fix your eyes on the truth of God's Word. Be willing to release control of your own circumstance into His loving and able hands, and watch Him do what only He can do- in your life and in the lives of those who hear Your praise!  

Colossians 1:9-11 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.


There is a difference between being filled with the knowledge of God's will, and knowing God.

As I read this passage this morning, it smacked me in the face as a culmination of a lot of the things that I have been praying about and meditating on over the last 6 months or so.

• My prayer should be that God would open my eyes to see the way that He does.
• The fruit of the Spirit is something that grows in my life as I abide in the vine, for the benefit of others
• Experience can be my greatest asset, but it can also be my greatest liability.
• Endurance is a stretching of what I believe; character is the action based on that belief.
  
• I JUST WANT JESUS!

I noticed today that as Paul prayed for the Colossians, he makes a very similar statement in 2 different places. I have never noticed the profound difference in the wording of these statements until today. In verse 9 he says that he's asking that they may be filled with the knowledge of His will. In other words, he's praying that God would open their eyes to understand what God wants from them- to see things from God's perspective.

Let me digress for a moment: What an amazing thing to pray for ourselves and others!!!! God's understanding of what we as His children need is so much greater than we can understand ourselves. God, please open our eyes to understand Your will better; and may our prayer for others be driven by that same desire to see their eyes opened to a greater understanding of Your will for them!

Ok, back on track. In verse 11 Paul's prayer changes to a request that the Colossians would bear good fruit and increase in the knowledge of God. WOW! Do you see the significance of Paul's prayer?

It is an amazing blessing to have our eyes opened- to have a better understanding of God's perspective; but until that knowledge turns into action, we cannot actually know God better. The understanding of God's will is for the purpose of walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work... and increasing in the knowledge of God. Ultimately, God opens our eyes to see His will so that we can bless others and know Him more!


Thank You Lord for opening my eyes through this passage of Scripture. Would You continually fill me with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that I may walk in a manner worthy of You, fully pleasing to You, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of You?! 

Matthew 6:22,23-The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!




When I first started this blog, I titled it “Perspective”. One of the things that I believe to my very core is that we need to see things the way that God sees things. We need His perspective. The burning desire of my heart is to see God the way that He is, not the way I have interpreted Him to be. I want to see people the way that God sees them, instead of what things look like on the surface; and I want to see myself the way that God sees me instead of being held captive by others' (or my own) opinions of myself!

I believe that when I see God the way that He is, I no longer need to see Him act in the manner and timing that I think is appropriate, because I trust that He loves me more than I could ever imagine and He is faithful faithful faithful! When I see others the way that He sees them, I can love them in the way that He loves them; and when I see myself the way that He sees me, I am free to be who He has created me to be!

When I read this passage of Scripture today, I saw it in a slightly different light than I have before.

These verses are nestled in a section of Scripture where Jesus is talking about where we put our treasures. He says that, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”... and then He makes this statement about the eye being the lamp of the body....

I've heard it said that you are what you focus on. Literally, what you continually set before your eyes makes it's way into your worldview.

Let me put it this way: my wife Emily and I enjoy the tv show “Friends”, and we have several of the seasons on dvd. I can always tell when I have been watching too much “Friends” when I start talking like Chandler.

So, you say, I've heard this sermon a million times before... Of course, we should be careful of what we put before our eyes; but let me ask you this: What kinds of thought patterns do you allow to run rampant in your mind?

Jesus is of course talking about our literal eyeballs in this passage, but I believe it goes much deeper than that. What about my perspective? What about the way that I see the world? Am I seeking God's perspective in all things? Or do I choose to look at things through my own worldview, or through the worldview of those around me?

Is it wrong to get counsel from wise men and women? Absolutely not! We are designed to live in community, to glean from the wisdom of those we trust. The point I'm trying to make is that whether things are looking up for me or looking bleak, my life can be full of light if my eye is full of light. If my eyes are set on the Light of the world (John 8:12), then my whole body will be full of light; and my circumstances are subject to that light instead of the other way around.




Lord, today I declare that I treasure Your perspective! Let my perspective be full of Your light. Open my eyes to see myself the way that you see me. Open my eyes to see my circumstances the way that You see them. Open my eyes to see the people around me the way that You see them; and open my eyes to see You the way that You really are!!!!

Jeremiah 33:3-Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.




At the church that I am a part of, we have some property that is wooded. We have put a path in the woods that we use for different things throughout the year; and I like to go out there from time to time just to be alone and pray.

Most of the time I walk back and forth on the trail as I pray, speaking out loud to God as I walk; but recently I decided to sit down on a bench in the middle of the woods and just be quiet.

After a couple of minutes, I noticed a couple of painted turtles sunning themselves on a log in our little quarry... and then a goldfinch landed on a branch next to me... then an oriole flew overhead... and a woodpecker landed on another tree not far away. The best part was that I got to watch 2 foxes play for about 20 minutes without being noticed.

I wondered how many times I had missed all this beauty because I was being too loud and moving around- and I felt the Holy Spirit whisper in my ear. How many times do I miss what God is saying because I'm too busy talking in my prayer time to just listen for His voice?

This is a big challenge to my faith, because if I believe that the Creator of the Universe, the One who saved my soul and loves me more than I could ever imagine is present with me at all times, then why wouldn't I leave room in my time with Him for HIM TO BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION!

There is absolutely precedence in Scripture for speaking our hearts to God, but conversation is a 2-way street. When we bring a problem to God with thanksgiving, do we leave time for Him to give us His perspective in that moment? Or do we move on to the next problem as if we have to get through the list... as if we are just getting through the information.

Don't get me wrong, God has the biggest shoulders in the Universe, and can handle our laments. He can handle our soap boxes, and our efforts to try to communicate to Him what is really in our hearts; and I know that (at least for me) it not only takes speaking it out loud, but it takes a few tries to get it right.

Let's not get so caught up in what we have to bring to our God that we forget to just be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). There's beauty to be seen if we will take the time to wait in His presence.

1 Corinthians 4:1- This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.






You have given me a gift
So that I could give You a gift
But the gift that You have given to me
Is not the gift that You want in return
Lord, let me use Your gift to me as a tool to give You the gift that You desire!

What is it that God wants from me? Have you ever asked yourself this question? Does He want me to read the Bible and pray? Does He want me to use my resources to help the less fortunate? What is it that pleases God?

I think of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Wow! When I look at this passage, it eliminates all of the things that I would look at and say to myself, “God must be pleased with me...”

I think what Paul is getting at in this passage is that, though these things are great to display in and through our lives, they are not the point! He's saying that when I get focused on the gift instead of the Giver of the gift, I have missed it.

So, what IS it that God wants from us? It is so simple that it will blow your mind! What God wants from me is.... ME! God's ultimate goal is to have relationship with you and I. Everything that you and I DO in our lives should be focused on growing that relationship and perpetuating it everywhere we go and to everyone we meet.

Should we read the Bible? Yes! Should we pray? Absolutely! Every chance we get. Should we reach out to those in need? Jesus modeled it and commissioned us to follow in His steps; but our FOCUS should be on connecting with God. Whether I read 1 verse in my Bible today, or 18 chapters, I need to connect with God. Whether I pray 5 minutes today or 2 hours, my goal should be to connect with God; and as I live my life connected to God, He will direct me to speak and act in a way that will draw others to Himself.   

1 Corinthians 3:6,7- I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.









I was overwhelmed this morning at the revelation that God can open anyone's eyes at any time to His goodness… and when that happens, the choice to follow HIm or to continue on one's current path is almost irrelevant. God's glory is far more beautiful, far more desirous, and far more satisfying than anything this world has to offer.

Even as I had this revelation, I thought about what Jesus said to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe", and was reminded that it takes faith to see God; and then I thought about James 4:8 that says to draw near to God and He will draw near to us….

It seemed like we need some sort of a catalyst to compel our loved ones that don't yet know God to begin to draw near to Him- to begin to ask what if there is something more, something better than my current reality… and it hit me- the catalyst is YOU AND ME!

We hold in our hearts the most valuable substance offered to mankind- salvation by grace through faith! It is our words and our actions that are to be the catalyst that causes our loved ones to begin to draw near to God. He is so willing to reveal Himself to all who would draw near to Him.

Lord, please give us Your wisdom and boldness to really truly be Your hands and feet extended. Let our voices speak and sing of Your great love toward us. Consume us until You are all that remains!

Romans 7: 18,19- For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good that I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.







Wow! I dare say that more candid words were never penned by anyone throughout the ages. Of course, we see in these verses that Paul doesn't specifically say what action he is talking about, but we get the idea that he is more than a bit frustrated.

I don't know about you, but I know that I am my worst critic. My tendency when I feel like I haven't measured up is to beat myself over the head with the shame and guilt of my actions or thoughts or words. I feel like I have to spend some amount of time sulking away from the presence of God before I can return to Him.

Can you imagine? Our all-seeing, everywhere-at-once God, saying, “Nope. Sorry Nate. You messed up pretty good right there. You have to spend 48 hours thinking this over before you can come and ask for my forgiveness.”

HA! That sounds ridiculous doesn't it?! It's too bad that we believe that lie so often. The heart of God is so much the opposite of this. He waits with patience and excitement for His children to return home- no matter how long they've been away. He is FULL of mercy and grace and forgiveness and patience.

Is God holy? Yes! Does His holiness demand holiness on our part? Yes it does. Do we reap the consequences of the mistakes we make? Yes we do; but let me tell you that even as walk through the consequences of our choices, God will walk with us and make a way for us! 

The point is this: when you or I fall down, we have a merciful God whose arm is stretched out to help us up even as we are falling down. His mercies are new every morning. Even if and when we are unfaithful to Him, He remains faithful to us.

Let me encourage you today, don't waste one more moment in guilt or shame. That isn't from God. Condemnation would keep you looking at your mistake. Conviction would open your eyes to your mistake and draw your eyes to God. Know that Jesus paid for every mistake- past, present, and future.

When you fall down, don't stay down. Get back up!





Mark 12:30,31- And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

I may have mentioned this before, but I have the distinct privilege of being a worship leader. Every weekend I am honored to stand beside some of the most amazing musicians and people I know and sing praises to our God.

I remember when the Holy Spirit laid this passage of Scripture on my heart as the cornerstone for our worship band. Honestly, I could spend hours writing about the dynamics of worship ministry and still it would be- let's just say less than comprehensive... but today isn't about the inter-personal dynamics of worship ministry.

The point I'm trying to make is that, in any worship band, as well in the body of Christ, unity is so so vital to success. On the flipside of that coin, one of the fastest ways to kill unity in any worship band as well as in the body of Christ is by being self-centered.

You see, the key to a great band isn't how talented or experienced the musicians are, it's how well they play together. The prevailing attitude in a great band is, 'How can what I'm playing or singing accent what the other musicians on stage are doing?' In other words, how can I serve you? What can I do to lift you up? When everyone has this attitude of service, it makes the whole band better.

It is easy to see how self-centeredness in the form of ego or pride can kill unity. When I think I know better than someone else, I will be unwilling to listen and learn from someone else; and if there's one thing I've been reminded of in writing this it's that I can learn something from EVERYONE I come in contact with every single day.

There's another, silent side of self-centeredness... In a worship band setting it rears it's ugly head in the form of someone not knowing their part. It is impossible to listen and play to the rest of the band if you don't know your own part. Every piece of the band plays a vital role in the song as a whole, and when any band member is struggling just to play or sing the right notes, there's no room in their focus to listen to the rest of the band.

Can you see how this translates into fostering unity in our families and churches? It runs so much deeper than I can discuss right now, but put simply, every person plays a unique and specific role in the “sound” we make as the body of Christ; and while it's important that each of us knows our part, it's just as important that we submit our individual part toward the symphony that Jesus is conducting through us as a whole!