EP 38 Fresh Perspective with God's Word - Nichole Wilkinson

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after a

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decade of gathering women together for prayer were inspired to bring our words of encouragement to you. This is Iraq. Welcome to hire a fresh where we're ordinary women who desire to do extraordinary things for the power of prayer In God's word, Today I have a friend of mine named Nikolay Wilkinson that we go back decades. But we won't talk about that. We'll talk about she is just an amazing woman of God that I had the opportunity to listen to her teacher Bible study. And I was very inspired, just her passion for the things of God and how she taught the word of God. And today, that's really gonna be part of our highlight. But I would love her just to introduce herself.

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Yeah, I'm Nicolle, and I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me. Um, I have a background in clinical psychology with a marriage and family counselor for years. Been married for 30 years, mother of two. I have two adult Children who are thriving and doing well. And for the last 20 years, I've been taking Bible. So that is my great path.

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That's awesome. How are you doing? You were teaching Bible while you were also doing. He says clinical, Um, counseling. You kind of do both at the same

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time. Well, the counseling the career came first. Okay, um, and then it it's kind of story how I ended up as a Bible teacher. But

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that's what I would like to find out. You transition yet? Really, Because you're not doing counseling per se anymore. You're doing more just full time by staying.

spk_1:   1:41
Well, what I say is, once a counselor, always a counselor, my clientele, for a while was a husband and two small Children. You know, Hat did their time on the couch from behind. Yes. My husband likes to say we're all very well adjusted because we live with a counselor, Mom. But, um And then when I was home with my Children and they were little, I just began to seek the Lord. I was helping lead a Bible study, and, uh, the lady that contacted me and asked me to be in leadership over that said it was very clear to her here she was supposed to call and so got involved as a pretty young woman in Bible study leadership And so I was actually, um, previewing the the the video that we had okay, and and watching a teacher talk about loving God and having passion for him and I had gone. I grew up in the church, so I had always been familiar with the word and we'll have to go back a little in time to answer where the passion for the word went round. The knowledge of works will be back up to that later. But at this particular time, as I began to ask the Lord about that passion and I thought I've known the Lord I've known his word. Uh, pretty much all of my life. I walked with him, Um, but I thought, Do I have that passion when the doors closed and no one's looking? Can I say that I have that kind of passionate love for him beyond doing the right things? And so that night I got down, my couch became an altar and I said, Lord, can you teach me that? Who? And that symbol Prayer was life changing because he is so I didn't expect him to answer right away. Everybody bid. And he said, Give me a year, and I didn't know what we were going to do for that year. But in following him I began to to pull myself out of several things that I had been involved in good things, really good things, but not the things he wanted at that time.

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So he's had a shift for you because even know they felt before you were supposed to do those things. But you felt even though they were great things, they weren't right for the moment,

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they were good things. They just weren't his idea for the time. And so that took following him to be willing to step out of some things that that that I was doing and and so I got on board and so that was first stepped after I took that first step in this one of the things that I've learned. If you follow the Lord with the first step, then he gives you the next one and then you give it to the next one. He doesn't always give you the whole knowing

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he doesn't. It's always a surprise because you don't know when he's coming to tell you what's next. It's just Ah, it's a leap of faith,

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right? It is right. And so I did that and the next thing was steady. Peter and I began to do that. And I remember the day that my husband and I were actually on a trip out of town and we were sitting on a bench outside of an ice cream shop and I said, I feel like I'm being called to write a Bible study. I don't have time to write a Bible study. I had a two year old on a five year old at the time, and my wise husband said, Come on, Nikolay, We all make time for weather, but we want to make time for And so I I just followed the Lord and that didn't tell really anybody. It was just between the Lord of me and I began to study the Apostle Peter and I began to write down what I was learning in depth research study of all the commentaries just really digging in and just writing it as if I were writing it to an audience, because that's the only way I knew. And before I finished it, I was called upon to someone said. I told one other person outside of my family. And she said, What are you gonna have that ready? And it one thing led to another, and I was teaching it okay at my church, and then the phone started ringing, asking for that study. So how do people find out

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that you are right ahead? Written up a Bible study?

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Because I taught it to a large group of women at my church. And so what women

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talk? Yeah, they did as

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we are today. Women talk. And so word began to spread and, um, so focused on the phone was ringing, asking me for it. And one thing led to another, and and I began. It's funny because I wanted the Lord to send the Bible study. I believe in the power of the word and of that. The message of that book I was not particularly looking for him to send me And what? And yet he did that I kept going with it to different places. And so I have the privilege of going try ability.

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So you traveled with the Bible state that particular biosphere. You went around from different towns and cities, just Okay, so you took that just the same study and use went and they invited you into the different churches and Bible study

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groups. Okay, and so usually I would I would make an appearance is they were doing the study either the beginning or the ending and get to greet the ladies and get to know them. And it was quite an experience. And so that's That's kind of where the start him teaching the word came from. And so, for the last nine years, I taught in ongoing weekly class

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right. That's where I got to hear you. Yeah, I was great. And that's where you know, I don't know how many different studies that you've had over the years to is. I think it's interesting, though, Is that passion? From what I can hear, you've always been in the church, and there's been an ongoing Did you like study that even in school as

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well? So good question that, because that's where that's where the beginning company having been raised in the church. I knew about the Bible, but as a kid, it's kind of hard to know what you're what you're looking at, what it all means, how it applies when I was, um, going into ninth grade the summer before, and I have great. I went with my church's youth group to camp, which was a great fun thing to do that we did every year. And at that particular camp, the cabins had competition for, like, having way right, and as a part of the cabin you had to choose. You could either do choir, and I don't have a musical bone in my body or you could do that drama, and that was pretty much out okay, or you could do Bible Quiz. And so I got by default and

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I did. Bible quiz E. I did

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ended up doing Bible Quiz

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one. I don't want you about our team one. So

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they would say, Study this chapter and we'll ask you questions and turned out it was good at that. Who knew? And eso they sent me. They kept sending me back to get points for the cabin, and someone there said, We have a program that runs through the whole year. That's much bigger than this, that you you learn large passages of scripture and and quiz over them. And so they told me who who at the church led that or head let it in the past. And I did not know her. OK, but I found her. She played the piano. And so she was sitting at the around the church, and I found her one day very tenacious teenager that I was and said, You need to start that back out because I want to quit. And she said, Well, okay, then and so. Well, so I got in. And so night through 12th grade, I was in about quiz program, which was a national program. So all around the United States that kids like me, we're memorizing the passages of large passage books of the Bible and quizzing over them. And I credit my my coach is still a dear, dear friend of mine, and she taught us not only to know it but toe love it. And so I began to discover, as a teenager the power of the word, you know, in those formative years when everyone is

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because you on that. Okay, okay. For people there maybe not well versed in that word of when you say I discovered the power of the word for somebody who's maybe new in Christ, new tube, a church or whatever. What would you What does that mean? And maybe, in layman's terms, the power of a like the benefit for you personally. How in your daily life did it resonate with you?

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Well, first of all, it gave me a profound perspective when it one of the things we have not talked about yet is something that makes me very unique. I was your most terrible policy. And so I had some challenges that I lived with and as a teenager, and you're to everyone's trying to figure themselves out and what it is all about. And in those years he planted me in his word. And I am so, so grateful for that because the first thing I would say is perspective that I was learning passages of Scripture that said, My Grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness, uh, and impose went on to say most gladly. Therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me for when I am weak. Then in my strong I mean, that's perspective, That is, while we look not at the things which are saying, but the things which are unseen for the things which you're seeing. Her temporary things with your on scene are eternal, and these were the things I was learning. And and if you can see, as God sees, it's life changing and I begin to see there's a different reality, you know, and there's a different purpose, and that is the power of the word. Also, I would say, besides perspective of looking at your life and your circumstances, and seeing that God sees it differently than you do is I learned that you can know God through his work that how do you

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do that? Like for somebody who's never really experienced God, where they feel hurt And maybe they blame God. How do you get them to quiet down and gain that?

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Well, I would say the first step is to realize, and I think this is why, um, a lot of times we don't press into no God is we don't realize that we can't we can know God. He wants to be known by us. He invites us to know him. He's has come to me, and so one of the best ways we do that. I mean, we have to interact with him. And in an inter relationship with him, we talked to him. He talks to us and and get into his presence, and we can experience him. But one of the best ways is through his work because it is his autobiography. He hasn't. He has left like to us to reveal himself because he wants to be known. Jesus said this is the work that God requires, that we would know him. And so that is really it for life is to know him and to walk with him. And so he has laid it out for us. I love the fact that in my lifetime I have only have so many years and so many experiences to to know him and to to experience him. But through his word, I have all these other people and and a history, his history, you know, generations and generations of those who have gone before us and how they walked with the Lord and what their experience with him was and what he did and what he didn't do and what he said and how he interacts and what his purposes are. He has a personality for lack of a better word.

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Okay, okay. Give me some of the things that you see as a personality of God. Like what would define somebody, doesn't know anything about God or even an atheist. What is it? That would be intriguing to even an atheist of that who got ISS personality wise.

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Well, he doesn't change. Um, you can count on him to be who he is all the time. That's that's something that gives me great comfort. I know who he is, and he's not going to change. He's faithful. He's completely dependable. You can trust him. What he says he does. He I believe he has a great sense of humor. And you can you can find it in the word if you big and

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I agree. It seems on the miracles, you know, are kind of humorous. Yes. You know, I'm

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liking his interactions with the disciples. I gotta kick studying Peter. Some of the ways he interacted with Peter, right? And thinking that he would say because he understands us, right? And he's he's patient. He is full of mercy and compassion. You give him an inch, and he's gonna squeeze mercy into it at the same time. He loves justice and and that, you know, that's an interesting aspect of him. But his ways are higher than ours, and he just thinks differently, Sees differently, responds differently. But But

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you've gained that because you've been studying the word for years and what I think would be really great for us to see for people that they've kind of been especially beginning a year, maybe they'll start reading through the Bible. But what do you think would be some things that would help someone who many like They try to read the Bible, but they just didn't understand it, So they put it back down. What are things that you would try to really give encouragement to like? This is some steps I would suggest if I had three steps or a couple steps. What would you have encouraged? Someone who is try, but, like, eyes don't I don't get it. I don't understand what this means.

spk_1:   15:35
Well, you can get different versions, okay? And so I would I would recommend you

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recommend. Yeah, a couple of you would recommend for our listeners.

spk_1:   15:45
I used the N i v a lot new international version Growing up, I like the new American standard. Okay, so those those air a couple, But But you can find one that that that you understand you can read more easily and know what it's saying. Uh, the other thing. Another thing that's imperative is when you just start where you are, you know, it may be that you have to go to that front and look up. What page? The book of the Bible that want starts on because you don't That's fine. Start where you are diggin because God wants you to know him and he wants you to know his word, and so he will help you. So what? One thing that I think is imperative is that you pray before you read it. That's got great. You you open after you say, Well, we're Show me yourself who show me your ways helped me to see what she would say to me today. That's another power of the words that he can speak to us through his word. That's 11 of the profound ways that he does. I believe it is. It is a guide to our life. What? One of the things that blows my mind is that this is the information age. And we have all this information coming and going through the Internet. And even if you think back in the day, I'm gonna show my age here. But grew up with my parents big set of encyclopedias that I was a big report. You know,

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my dad still hasn't. Yes.

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And so you even think of that. And how much information You know how much how many books it took. And God put everything he gave us, uh, in a book that we can carry in her hand. That's true. Isn't that a good point? And so he says there is and he invites us to know so there to start it. Get it? Get the version of

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what? Okay, Okay. Where? What book? If someone wants to get back into what book you think would be a easy way to get into reading the Bible again

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well, we often recommend the gospel of John because in the basement, as as a good way to start because it is kind of every man's book, it's it's practical. Through it, you're going to read the story of Jesus here on the earth, who he is, what he came to Dio and what the salvation in life that he offers its in Jon at 10 10 that he says that they've comes only to steal, kill and destroy. But I have come that they might have life and life more abundantly. That's his purpose. Um, if Asians in the New Testament is a place that that you can go to learn more about your identity in Christ, what it means to be in Christ and who you become once you're in Christ and a believer in him, of course, the Old Testament is very valuable. That's where you get a lot of good action story of how God interacts with people, psalms. A lot of people love it. The songs my husband says I can only commiserates with David for so

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long, you

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know. But with the ups and downs that David went through and the other psalmist, then you also get that they always turned to But God.

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Now see, don't you think though when you think about psalms like you know, guys were but emotional too? Because, you know, it would be at the beginning. Like, why have you forsaken me, You know, Where are you? Oh, God. My enemies air after me. But usually by the end of a you know, a psalm There was he chose. I do choose. I will bless you, Lord. No matter once. But you're right, though. I mean, David really went through the ups and downs, but I mean, obviously, no, he was. But I love the way that at the end there's always a hope. And there's a choice at the end that David made way.

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And we all always have that choice, right? And so we go through things we still dio. And so David sets of a fabulous example of somebody, and I think that that was the key to his success in the key of the depth of his relationship with the Lord Is that whatever it was, he poured it out to God. If it was good, he celebrated like nobody else celebrated with the Lord of Bad. He poured it all out and and asked the Lord to come and be part of it s so we can gain that from the sounds of it. In David's doing that he has identified for us who God is and what he does. And so a lot of just understanding the nature and the character of God you're gonna find in the Book of Psalms. So those were those were some places to start, but

spk_0:   20:08
that's really helpful. I know. It's a well, versus you are in the word. Okay, I can do a little quiz with you, since you were, like Quiz Champion. Oh, okay. Just a couple. Okay. So what I'm thinking of, though, is saying someone's out there and they're feeling may be very lonely because we've talked about this in a different episode about how some people go through a lot of loneliness. Where would you maybe direct someone to To read through, whether it's a book or certain scriptures that come to mind that you think what? This would really be a comfort to someone who is really going through a lonely season.

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Okay, well, in in Isaiah, there are passages in around the forties and I they talk about Don't be afraid. I am with you. When you walk through the waters, I will be there when you want to fire. You will not be burned because I will be with you. That's a favor, man. Yes, and so that's a powerful. But you know, Google is very great instrument. Okay, if you if you Google passage of Scripture verses on loneliness and and up, it will kind of

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this type in scripture and then loneliness. So like whatever your whatever you might be walking through, Do you write the word scripture in there and then then put in the whatever you're going through. Maybe your deal with anger, you know, or you're challenged by certain different emotions or what you're struggling through. And that's good, because I have done that before because I'm, like, will be praying for someone. And I'm like, OK, there's a scripture and I'll have maybe a part of a phrase and I can't remember what it is. And then I'll start to Google and like, Oh, that's is And John Yes, of course.

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Now let me as a as a Bible teacher, I have to add one thing,

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OK, good, because

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that that's very effective and you can pull those up and you can get him quickly. And there they are, and it is the word and it is powerful. But as a teacher, I would add, Every text has a context. Oh, the teacher. I would encourage you then to take those verses and go read the passage and what was going on in that passage. And so we're not just looking. I expect to know where that verse came into play and what the contact, what was going on in that circumstance in that situation, Because you may gain more from reading the passage, the whole passage that that's in and what why it was written and who had involved in what was going on. You may. That's good. Lord may speak through that. So back to the power of the word. One of the things that I think it's so crucial to the body of Christ is that the word of God is the only offensive weapon in the armor of God. Everything else is for protection in our defense that we have one offensive weapon, and that is the sort of spirit which is the word of God. And so there is power. Sometimes you have to fight because, as we already talked about, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. And so he he walks about like a roaring lion, staking whom he may devour. But the word also says greater is he that is in us and he lives in the world. And so we are not without weapons. The weapons are warfare, are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. The word says so we have to know what they are. And sometimes we have to be able to draw it the word of God and use it. And as that sword that he intends it to be. And to do that, we have to know, Know it that's good. And he spoke to me years and years ago as I was starting in the Bible study and said, My people cannot lay down their swords, so

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that's true. And you know, you haven't done that. And one of things I wanted to really encourages those who were wrapping up. So, too, is Nichole's looking son has done a Bible state was on our on Peter. Uh, and how would they? Can you tell him how they could get access to get in there? A copy of that?

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Um, well, the best way is is to contact me. It is so purpose Ministries. Okay, so

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and we'll put that link. So if you will subscribe to our podcast or go online and I refreshed on that will also be putting the information of how you can link up and get access to it. I mean, it is a powerful, very thorough study, and it really begins to help you enhance your understanding of God's word. And the one thing it's I enjoyed even and being part of I refresh over the years and what I really love about what you're doing is is the emphasis of the word of God. Because it's whatever we are needing and needing help with God's got an answer in the word and the more that we stay in tune with with reading the word of God and asking God for they understand. Like you said. Then all sundials scriptures start coming up. You know, I have learned that while praying all sudden something comes up that I'm starting to quote something from the word because that's what we do. We can meditate, and it helps to center our mind to be thinking on those things they're above that are pure lovely, and you probably finish the scripture

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of Good Report if there be any virtue. And if there be any praise, think on these things

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and that when this inverse words opinions for 80 K. C. She is my walking Bible, which I It's a gift and actually sounded so the gift. It's a discipline. She chose to be disciplined. And that's where if you really want to know God and you really are desperate and you need help, it is that God wants to help us. He wants to walk into a place with you and help you realize he's present, and he has an answer for you. So one thing we do offer on our fresh dot net is a whole list of different topics where we break it down and we actually list out the scripture. And underneath there is we personalize that. So you begin to learn how to pray the word of God in your life so you can pray for yourself or for a loved one. So go out to our first on that and take a look at that and also speak sure to connect with us. And so you get Teoh meet and get to know people like Nikolay. Okay. Is there such an amazing, gifted people that love to be able to connect with you? So subscribe on our YouTube channel or even on Facebook? You can also, like, follow us and until then, go change your world.