Posted by: pmarkrobb | March 29, 2026

two wills

He knew it was time. It wasn’t that every other day before was lived on the periphery of His central purpose—every day for our Savior was a purposed and deliberate step in the direction of where He’d now drawn near. Setting out from His home base of Bethany would be His pattern as this week began. A pattern in going and returning from appointments God the Father had set in eternity past. Today, at a purposed pause very near the capital city already abuzz, Jesus gave clear instructions to two. His entry would only be triumphant in its reception. His part would be exceedingly humble. His will was set. His will was his Father’s.

I expect there were ones in the crowd that day who had eyes to see. Although, I feel certain they couldn’t have known how quickly and violently the shouts of “Hosanna!” would turn to “Crucify!” I wonder whether the seeing ones were uneasy about how much of that day didn’t fit with the Jesus they’d experienced. Surely, they wouldn’t have believed His silence was acceptance, nor that His ride into town was meant for either adulation or a coronation.

What seems crystal clear from the biblical account, is how striking the difference was between His will and that of the thirsty throng. “Save us!” they cried. “Save us from hundreds and hundreds of years of brutal torment, exile and oppression!” But the rescue they longed for was from suffering at the hands of flesh and blood oppressors. The rescue Jesus would give, in the sacrifice of his flesh and blood, was from sin and death itself. They longed for a rescue from right now. He was here for a rescue that would be forever, world without end.

Lest we judge the ancients wrongly, can we attest to the moments and seasons of our own lives that are not wholly unlike that day (question mark deliberately omitted). The moments and seasons where we desired or expected Jesus to be or do something that wasn’t His will. In those moments and seasons, what kind of king were we hoping for?

In drawing attention to the two disparate wills, I do not intent to personalize a “lesson.” Walking deliberately through this week should not first—or most—draw attention to applications for our own lives. It should cast the brightest light on the Light of the World and what He deliberately walked through for us. The point is a Person. Our Savior. God With Us. May we find the space and time this week to see Him more. And in the same way He emptied Himself to save us, may we empty ourselves so He can fill us and use us for His will.

As He rode into the city that day, Jesus was not arriving for, He was submitting to. He hadn’t come there for a crown; He had an appointment with a cross … and He wouldn’t be late, and He wouldn’t be deterred. His will was set. His will was his Father’s.

 

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Posted by: pmarkrobb | March 28, 2026

Your words, Father…

It is my solemn privilege to renew what has been a mostly annual return to writing during a week that has deep meaning to every believer and offers an unfailing hope to all. Why things feel more labored as I sit and ask the Spirit to speak, I honestly cannot say. In one string of moments, ideas flood and a pattern seems clear and good. And then, all at once, nothing. But a nothing that suddenly becomes a something that brings doubt and a wrestle with the things that not so long ago felt right and sure.

And so I let go of a desire for things to feel certain. I let go of a thing that sometimes takes no time at all to subtly and suddenly become mine and not His. Your words, Father. Thank you for this privilege of pushing all else aside and walking intentionally through this week your Son walked intentionally through for us. Thank you to you each and all for your time and intention in reading and walking alongside with me.

In His dying and rising again love,
Mark

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Posted in Holy Week

Posted by: mikenicholsblog | December 31, 2025

Their story is our story

Each year begins a new journey in our lives. A new story is created that adds to our narrative and eventually becomes part of our legacy. There are lofty peaks and deep valleys along the way. In 2026, our Journey onWord Bible reading plan will look at many of the men and women of Scripture. They also had peaks and valleys, and left a legacy. You will find in many ways, THEIR STORY IS OUR STORY.

On January 1st, we’ll begin with Adam and Eve, then move to Noah and continue on to Abraham, Ruth, Esther and David. There’ll be other great characters of the Old Testament, too. 2026 will also include studying the life of Jesus, Paul and others who graced the pages of the New Testament. Our focus will be to look at each character through the lens of three statements: strengths I see, weaknesses I see, and today’s lessons in faith.

Purposely looking at the men and women in Scripture from the perspective of those simple statements will deepen our understanding of their stories and help us to apply their stories to our journey. The style of our 2026 reading plan is meant to gift ample time for reading, studying and reflecting on the life-giving and life-changing truths of the Bible. It is designed to read a single chapter each Monday through Friday. By concentrating on one chapter a day, you can go slower and deeper with each. This year’s model also gives you time to catch up on the week’s reading (if needed), or have days of reflection on the weekends.

The 2026 Bible reading plan is included below and should show as an attachment on the automated email notice related to this post. If you have any issues seeing or accessing it, you can also visit www.journeyonword.com. The plan document is linked in the DAILY BIBLE READING section at the very top right of the webpage. I invite you to open or print the reading plan and read the first paragraph to know exactly how to start. We pray you will consider taking a journey through Scripture with us in 2026!

A JOURNEY IN SCRIPTURE 2026

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Posted in Daily Bible Reading, devotional post

Posted by: pmarkrobb | December 21, 2025

His love

That sacred, snowy November ninth morning prompted two specific Advent thoughts by way of separate songs. The second was meant for this final week. That was, until the Spirit whispered a pivot through the words of a dear sister in Jesus this past week. She reached out to offer words of encouragement and shared a treasured and beautifully honest thought alongside. In this particular season of Christmas, she’d been wrestling with “We rejoice in His birth, but He came to die! Joy mixed with sorrow…” (the dots were hers)

My heart instantly joined her ache, and my mind began to flood with words which centered on a truth that one must tussle with when engaging with God’s Word and faithfully following Jesus. The truth of “both, and.” Countless times in a walk of faith, one must hold two apparently opposing things in tension. Hold them and trust God in their equal truth. “But how do we do it even once, let alone time after time … after time?” These were the words that seemed to answer from the ache.

As I continued to consider, these few words washed over me. “We must grow deeper into His love.” My experience of faith and repeated study of the life of God With Us have most certainly taught me this life isn’t about the head but all about the heart. Belief isn’t about making sense of a story; it’s about opening all our senses to the Baby at its center and experiencing how it touches the place in our own center meant only to respond to—and be completed by—Him.

The only chance we have in rejoicing and sorrowing rightly—and especially at the same time—is to live with His love. The love that chose to become our King by being born as a baby swaddled and laid in a desperately lonely feeding trough. The love that chose thorns for a crown and a cross for an earthly throne. The love that gives us each and all a choice, knowing we might choose other than Him. So many things that can’t possibly be true but are and are only understood—even dimly—as we grow deeper into His love.

At the dawn of everything, God placed a particular tree in the garden and asked us to trust Him for what we didn’t know. At the birth of our Everything, God took on flesh in the form of a precious Baby, who would grow in the way we do in order to do what not a single one of us ever could—pay the price of that mistrust and choosing other than Him and every sin since. This is our rejoicing for a sorrow He gladly accepted so that we could choose Him and be with Him. You came, You came, Emmanuel! You came for. Glory to God in the Highest!

Dear brother and sister and seeker, the cradle, cross and grave are empty! May we day-by-day empty ourselves to be filled with Him. In the process, growing ever deeper into His love. Denying our head’s desire to understand. Not for the purpose of blind faith but embracing the trust He invited when He made us. In a few days, most will gather in settings which don’t resemble the one into which our dear Savior was born. But God does not wag his finger in caution or condemnation. He does not demand somber in honoring or worshiping. Hallelujah, He came and lived and died and lived again! In our celebrating and giving of gifts, may we simply, humbly and joyfully do so in gratitude for the greatest gift He gave us. Eat, play, sing, dance! Welcome others. Go into the margins as He did. Grow deeper into His love.

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Posted in Advent

Posted by: pmarkrobb | December 14, 2025

It isn’t always, but He’s Emmanuel in that too

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

They’re the words which ring out at the very end of a thrilling brass flourish that opens the beloved Christmas song by the same name.

And it’s simply not true for everyone.

Lest we fall into the trap of believing that there’s something new under the sun, this isn’t a lament that began with us or our world today. It’s a truth rooted in the very first garden whose through-line pierces the manger and knits it to our right now. As I’ve thoughtfully navigated this Advent’s begin, I’ve been especially moved by one particular thought. The story of Christmas is gloriously saturated in promise and purpose, but at the root of its purpose was a problem. His coming was a coming for.

Yes, it was the very real birth of our glorious Hope. Yes, it was a holy night. But God the Father did not “prepare Him room.” Things on earth were not made right in order to receive its King, nor were they made right by the simple act of His arriving. He came in a manner akin to how He would later describe Himself—gentle and lowly. The announcers may have been a heavenly host, but their audience was the least of these. The King of Kings was born to and for the common and broken. He was a friend of sinners not a patron to the powerful. The Father didn’t spare any injustice, insult, lash or loss that we experience. In every way, He was like us—except in the way He was the only One who could save us.

Redemption’s plan was birthed at His. And yet, it would yield—as He did—to the rhythm of evening and morning for the exact number of days the Father prescribed. Those days were many times good and joyful like ours, and they were many times hard or mournful like ours. He laughed, served, fed and healed—but He didn’t always. With His arriving, it wasn’t finished. In dying and rising again, sin’s price was paid and power broken, but brokenness remained. Sin’s author was left to roam free on the earth, and all is not yet well.

In some way, shape or form, this is the reason your heart may not be a confetti cannon at Christmas. The longing God knit into our sacred center, when He made us in His image, is an ache only further irritated by the things of this world. But take heart, dear brother and sister and seeker! He has overcome the world.

In becoming one of us, He began cooing then crawling then walking His way to the cross and out from the grave. It is finished, even if it doesn’t feel that way sometimes. Dear brother and sister and seeker, let not your heart be troubled. May it be glad and filled with wide-eyed wonder and unshakable hope. And when it isn’t always, He’s Emmanuel in that too.

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Posted in Advent, devotional post

Posted by: mikenicholsblog | December 12, 2025

never thirst again

What quenches thirst more than anything else?  For me, it is always water! There is just something about cool, clean, clear water that is refreshing, nourishing and often life changing.  Most Americans reading this article have all the cool, clean, clear water they need readily available. Around the world, that is not always the case. And that is where my story begins. It is a tale of seeking to hear God’s will on a Christmas project and looking beyond our borders to provide cool, clear water.

For Christmas every year, our Bible Study group seeks to give beyond ourselves to help projects that can change lives and spread the gospel message. This year, in my struggle to find the right project(s) for the group, I was praying for God’s clear direction. In my quest, I had found a potential need in Romania and called a couple who work in Romania and beyond. One of my struggles is, am I listening and God, or just following my own inclinations, and I wanted to sense the Spirit’s leading.

When I called my friends to ask about Romania, it took about 10 seconds to find Romania was a hard no. But they told me that a strong leader from the Congo just happened to be in their truck (as we spoke) and had a need. Well of course, tell me more! They are trying to build a well on mountainside in the Congo that would give clean water. And oh, by the way, it would help provide water to 5000 people. I learned in that conversation that on one of their medical mission trips, a doctor shared that 90% of the children’s illnesses he treated were water-born. It made sense to me that if you bathe, use the bathroom and drink water from the same stream- who wouldn’t get sick?

So, on that day, discussing water played a role in what I wanted; to hear God’s direction! I am constantly learning that to hear God is not as hard as I make it. I just need to be sensitive and listen! You may struggle with hearing Him also (just be sensitive and listen). What started with feeding kids in Romania, became building a well on a mountain in the Congo that will  help serve 5000 thirsty (physically and spiritually) people. There was no doubt that our group should attack this relatively inexpensive project. Our goal this year is to “Change the World” with our projects. Clean water in the Congo can change the world.

And not coincidentally, I was taught once again that if I am thirsty to listen to the Father (not always my first response), He knows how to communicate with me. And in this case, just maybe 5000 souls get clean water and have an opportunity to hear the gospel and “never thirst again.” Jesus’ words to the woman at the well say all we need to hear.

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
John 4:13-14 (KJV – my emphasis added)

God loves for us to listen, to be world changers and eternity focused!

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Posted in devotional post

Posted by: pmarkrobb | December 7, 2025

His coming for

The first snow of the season fell on November 9th where I live. It began as a very unsatisfying half-and-half that gifted neither nature’s nurture—in the form of a soft rain that feeds the grass—nor my own pleasure—of a snow globe-like squall (I have not yet aged out of the wonder and love of snow).

On that quiet and reflective Sunday morning, I chose to set down my study notes and simply stare out the picture window. I embraced the hush and the view. The longer I sat, the more the longing grew for some music to deepen the experience of the winterish wonderland I was enjoying. Near the end of a series of songs was a hauntingly beautiful cover of a four-stanza 1930s folk song, I Wonder As I Wander. In researching the song’s backstory, I observed the modern artist had chosen to honor the simple inspiration for the songwriter’s original adaptation (he authored additional lyrics in composing the hymn that is sung to this day). A simple, twice-repeat of three lines of verse a young preacher’s daughter sang for quarters in the downtown square of a rural North Carolina berg.

I wonder as I wander out under the sky
That Jesus my Savior did come for to die
For poor on’ry people like you and like I

These three simple lines speak a central truth of our dear Savior’s birth. A truth we too often attribute to a different season of advent and celebration. Hallelujah, He came. Yes! But Hallelujah, hallelujah, He “did come for to die.”

In eternity past, God chose a plan. His highest form of creation would choose other than Him, and their bite would birth a curse whose cost and ransom could never be paid by them or any one of their children whose number would exceed the count of stars in the sky. And yet, there was Another who was able … and Who would.

As the One who breathed all of creation into existence took His first human breath, it set into motion that plan authored in eternity past. His very first cry pierced the air with the collective weight of human sorrow and struggle and foreshadowed His forward ones in the garden and on the cross. Beginning at the moment of a conception like no other before it nor since, God the Father put pen to paper and began writing the gospel story. A story where the One offended would pay the penalty—of that first offense and every one since—by giving His life as the only possible ransom for ours. His death forever breaking sin’s power and satisfying its price. His rising again—as He said He would—putting death to death and opening the narrow gate to life now and forever with Him for those who believe.

For me, Christmas is a season of wonder. This year, my Advent has been deepened by the Wonder sung by a young preacher’s daughter nearly a hundred years ago. Yes, Christmas is about His coming. Hallelujah, He came! But the fullness of Christmas is in His coming for—”for poor on’ry people like you and like I.”

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Posted by: mikenicholsblog | November 5, 2025

the day I met a raven!

What a moment! I met Raven a few weeks ago, and—to say the least—he was intimidating. He perched right in front of my wife and I as we looked across the Grand Canyon. That bird looked powerful and proved his strength by diving off a tree limb, soaring over the Canyon, and then coming back. To say the least, it was captivating. But who cares about a raven? More on that in a moment.

Our tour guide shared that a raven can remember a face for two years. That set me on a course to find out more about these jet black, menacing creatures. I found that ravens are exceptionally intelligent and possess complex problem-solving skills. One source said they can associate positive or negative experiences with particular people and will hold grudges or show favoritism according to the interaction. But who cares about a raven?

GOD DOES!

Now, for the rest of the story. Have you experienced a moment when God was speaking to you? You had better not miss those. Early the next morning after meeting the raven, I had a God moment. You would think the beauty of the Grand Canyon would have been the source of that moment. Surely not an encounter with a raven!! But my raven moment really was an encounter with God’s wonderful Word.

Everyday a verse appears on my iPhone. Which one do you suppose appeared on Wednesday, September 23rd—the morning after I met the raven?

Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?
Luke 12:24-26

Saying that I am one of those guys who never worries might sound spiritual but wouldn’t be true. Reading that verse the day after seeing a powerful raven, however, gifted a Spirit-filled moment. God feeds ravens (including that specific one), and I am far more valuable to Him than them! God was speaking, and, in that moment, I reflected on my value to our Sovereign God and my failure in worrying. If you ever wrestle with a preoccupation to worry, a raven may not be God’s chosen method to help challenge you, but don’t miss the moments when it becomes obvious that God is speaking. In them, I encourage you to reflect on your value to the Father and His desire for you to stop worrying and simply trust Him.

God cares for ravens. He cares far more for you!

Think about it!

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Posted in devotional post

Posted by: pmarkrobb | April 21, 2025

why

So, here’s a question <insert smiley face emoji here> …. Why do I keep writing about the week that just passed?

Over ten years ago, after writing through each individual day of Holy Week for the very first time, I remember wondering what in the world would I have to write about if I was brave enough to do that again? In those early years, I was convinced the next year was going to be the one when I discovered I’d run out of anything newly notable or meaningful to say. How long can you talk about the same days in the same week before what you have to say about those days and the week sounds the same? I guess I’ll let you know when I find out.

To answer my original question, I write because He gave everything for me, and because I believe love for something and—most importantly—Someone, can be contagious.

I pray this year has been uniquely good for all who walked alongside in reading. But what I care most about, is that you love Jesus and have made the decision to believe in Him and what He did for you and how He loves and has forgiven you. If you haven’t yet, I pray you don’t wait another minute. If you have, I pray you’re following Him faithfully—albeit, imperfectly—and reading daily from the Love Story He’s written that was breathed through the hearts and hands of flawed followers, who were truly no different from you and me.

Thank you, dear brother and sister, for taking the time to walk alongside in the week that just passed. It has been a profound privilege to share this stretch of road with you.

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Posted in Holy Week, Uncategorized

Posted by: pmarkrobb | April 20, 2025

His heart beat

Good morning? Yes, dear brothers and sisters. It was (and is) a good morning.

He is Risen!

It would take a mind that still waits for us in the place He’s prepared for us to plumb the depths of the mystery of all that was true of the span of three days and three nights after the human heart of Jesus stopped on the cross. Sin may have been the reason, but sin’s power was not great enough to do it. It demanded a power only God possessed and the willing submission of His only Son—our perfect Lamb. Equally true was that very same power was the only one equal to reviving the heart of Jesus and His rising again as He said He would. In a moment I cannot begin to comprehend, the same power that lives within us compressed the chest of our Savior and made His precious heart begin to beat again. His first breath closely followed. Can you even begin to see what those profound moments looked like? To hear what that first beat and breath sounded like? The percussive nature of both must have been seismic. Can you even begin to imagine that? He is Risen, dear brother and sister!

His heart began beating again then, does yours beat like His now?

 

P.S. I encourage you to listen to Andrew Peterson’s song His Heart Beats on this glorious celebration of Resurrection Day. I do not only hear this exquisitely beautiful song, but I also quite literally feel it. I pray you can too today as you celebrate our Risen Savior.

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Posted in Holy Week, Uncategorized

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