Look What God Has Done

Author: Niki Kirk

  • Maturing in Christ

    I’ve been following Jesus for 29 years, and I’ll tell you plainly: I’m still growing. Spiritual maturity isn’t a finish line you cross — it’s a direction you walk. And the beautiful thing is, you can look back and see how far He’s brought you.

    I know where I started. There was a season when my reactions ran my life. Somebody hurt me, I hurt them back. Something went wrong, I spiraled. My mouth moved faster than my prayers ever did. That was the old me — controlled by my circumstances, manipulated by my emotions, conformed to a world that taught me escape was the answer.

    But God doesn’t leave us where He finds us. I wrote in my journal once: “Our behavior shows our spiritual maturity — especially under pressure.” Pressure doesn’t create what’s in you — it reveals it. And little by little, God has been changing what’s in me.

    Here’s what I’ve learned maturity actually looks like:

    1. You react differently. The old me would’ve snapped. Now I pause, I pray, and I choose wisdom. Self-control is a sign of spiritual growth — maturity shows up in your responses.

    2. You recognize distractions faster. Every opportunity isn’t God. Every connection isn’t covenant. Every open door isn’t destiny. You learn to discern.

    3. You obey quicker. I used to delay obedience until it was convenient or I understood everything. Mature faith obeys when it’s inconvenient, costly, or unclear.

    4. You can have peace without answers. You stop needing every detail. You stop demanding full clarity. You trust God in the process, not just the outcome. Peace is proof of trust.

    5. You value presence over performance. You stop chasing platforms and start chasing God. You stop trying to be impressive and start trying to be surrendered.

    I look at the spiritually mature women God has placed in my life — and what sets them apart isn’t perfection. It’s compassion. Kindness. Understanding. They’re non-judgmental, and their faith in Jesus is the real thing. That’s the kind of maturity I’m growing toward.

    And here’s the daily work: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” — 2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV). Not to condemn yourself — to grow. I ask myself: what would Jesus do here? Am I being controlled by my circumstances, or led by my Savior?

    One prayer I pray often says it best: “Father God, I can do nothing of myself. Please show me what you are doing, so I can do the same thing.” That’s maturity — not independence from God, but dependence on Him. The more I need Him, the more I grow.

    So if you’re wondering whether you’re growing — look back. Are you reacting differently than you used to? Trusting Him with less proof than you once demanded? Then you’re maturing, friend. Keep going. He’s not finished with any of us yet.

  • A Lamp to My Feet

    Psalm 119:105 (ESV) “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

    A lamp doesn’t light up the whole road. It lights the next few steps — and that’s all you get. For the longest time, I wanted God to show me the whole map. Where I was going, how it would end, proof it would work out. He rarely works that way.

    I know what it’s like to walk in the dark. In my addiction, I stumbled through years where I couldn’t see a foot in front of me — tripping over the same things, falling into the same holes, terrified of what was ahead because I couldn’t see any of it.

    Then I started actually opening the Word. And step by step, the path lit up. Not all at once — God didn’t hand me the whole road. He gave me light for the next step, and when I took it, light for the one after that. That’s how I walked out of the darkness: one illuminated step at a time.

    Maybe you’re standing in the dark tonight, wanting the whole map before you’ll move. You don’t need the whole map. You need the lamp. Open His Word, take the step you can see, and trust Him for the rest of the road.

  • The Royal Law

    James 2:8 (ESV) “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.”

    James doesn’t call it good advice. He calls it the royal law — the law of the King Himself. Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s the standard, and there’s no loophole in it.

    I know what it feels like to be the neighbor nobody wanted to love. In my addiction, in my brokenness, people crossed the street to avoid me. But then there were the ones who didn’t — the ones who saw past what I was and loved who God said I could be. That kind of love didn’t just comfort me. It carried me until I could stand.

    Here’s the part we like to skip: “as yourself.” Some of us are generous with everyone except the person in the mirror. Others are kind to themselves and harsh with everybody else. The royal law doesn’t split the difference — the same grace you need is the grace your neighbor needs.

    And your neighbor isn’t just the person next door. It’s the difficult coworker. The family member who hurt you. The stranger sitting in the pit you used to live in. Jesus said everything hangs on this: love God, love people. All the rest is commentary.

    So today, ask Him: who are You putting in front of me to love? Not to fix. Not to judge. To love. You might be the only glimpse of Jesus they get.

  • Renew Your Mind

    “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” — Romans 12:2 (ESV)

    I wrote in my journal once: “Expecting change, when you are still doing the same thing, is insanity.” I was talking about habits — but it starts deeper than habits. It starts in the mind.

    For years, my mind was conformed to the world I lived in. It told me escape was the answer. It told me I couldn’t change. It told me God had given up on me. And I believed every word of it — because when your mind is shaped by the world, the world’s lies sound like the truth.

    But God didn’t just change my circumstances. He changed my thinking. That’s what “be transformed by the renewal of your mind” means — it’s not positive thinking, it’s a whole new mind. The old scripts get torn up. “My life will never change” gets replaced with “This is only temporary, it will get better.” Despair gets replaced with hope — not because I tried harder, but because He renewed me.

    Here’s what I’ve learned: you can’t keep thinking the old way and expect a new life. If I keep telling myself nothing will ever get better, then nothing will — because I don’t even believe it can. But when God renews your mind, you start to discern His will — what is good, acceptable, and perfect — and you walk in it.

    So today, check the scripts running in your head. If they sound like the world, hand them to God. Let Him renew your mind — and watch everything else follow.

  • Don’t Forfeit Your Soul

    “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” — Mark 8:36 (ESV)

    I know what it is to chase the world with everything in me. For years, I ran after the next high, the next escape, the next thing that promised to finally make me feel whole. And I caught pieces of it — but every piece cost me more of myself. That’s the hidden price of the trade: you don’t notice your soul slipping away while it’s happening. You just wake up one day in the wreckage, wondering where you went.

    Jesus doesn’t ask this question to shame us. He asks it to wake us up. He’s holding up a mirror to every one of us who has ever traded what matters most for what matters least — our time, our peace, our integrity, our walk with God — all handed over for things that can’t love us back and won’t last.

    But here’s the good news tucked inside the warning: a forfeited soul can be redeemed. Mine was. Jesus paid the price I never could, and He bought back everything I’d thrown away. The world takes; Jesus restores.

    So today, take an honest look. What have you been chasing? What’s been getting the best of your heart? If it’s the world, don’t stay there. Lay it down at His feet. Your soul is worth more than everything this world could ever offer — and He already proved it at the cross.

    Prayer: Father, forgive me for the times I’ve chased the world and neglected my soul. Thank You for buying me back when I couldn’t buy myself back. Teach me to hold this world loosely and to hold onto You with everything I have. In Jesus’ name, amen.

  • No Condemnation

    Romans 8:1 (ESV)

    “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

    No condemnation. Not less condemnation. Not condemnation with a payment plan. None.

    The enemy loves to replay your worst moments on a loop — the things you did, the people you hurt, the years you wasted. And shame whispers that you should carry it forever, like it’s rent you owe.

    But the cross tore up the receipt. “There is therefore NOW” — not someday, not when you get it together — “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

    Are you in Christ Jesus? Then the case is closed. The gavel already fell — on Him, not you. You don’t have to keep punishing yourself for what He already paid for.

    Walk out of the courtroom, child. You’re free.

  • His Workmanship

    Ephesians 2:8–10 (ESV)

    “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

    You didn’t earn it. You couldn’t have.

    Your salvation was never a paycheck for good behavior — it’s a gift, handed to you while you were still in the ashes. Not by works, so no one gets to brag, and no one gets to feel disqualified either.

    And here’s the part we miss: He didn’t just save you FROM something. He saved you FOR something. You are His workmanship — His masterpiece, His handiwork — created in Christ Jesus for good works that He prepared beforehand.

    God already wrote the good works into your story before you ever showed up. Your job isn’t to invent your purpose. It’s to walk in the one He already prepared.

    So walk. Not to earn His love — you already have it. Walk because you’re His, and His workmanship doesn’t sit on a shelf.

  • While We Were Still Sinners

    Romans 5:6–8 (ESV)

    “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

    He didn’t wait for you to get it together.

    He didn’t wait for you to stop sabotaging yourself — or to stop tearing others down. He didn’t wait for the cleaned-up, church-ready version of you.

    While we were still weak. While we were still sinners. At the right time — His time — Christ died for the ungodly.

    That’s the scandal of grace: He loved you at your worst, so you don’t have to earn Him at your best. You could never be good enough to deserve the cross, and you never have to be. It was finished before you ever got it right.

    So stop running. Stop hiding. Stop trying to clean yourself up before you come to Him. Come as you are — He already proved what you’re worth.

  • When Believing in Myself Isn’t Enough

    Sometimes I just have a hard time believing in myself.

    I look at everything God has put in front of me, and this voice whispers: who do you think you are? And for a minute, I listen. I replay the conversations. I count all the ways I fall short. I’m human — I will always fall short on my own.

    But then I remember: I’m not on my own.

    I have a relationship with my Father God. With Jesus Christ. With the Holy Spirit. And with God, all things are possible. Not some things. All things.

    The world says “believe in yourself.” God says something better: believe in Me, and I’ll carry what you can’t. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13, ESV). Not through me who has it all together — through Him who holds me together.

    My weakness isn’t the end of the story. It’s where His strength begins. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV).

    So on the days I can’t believe in myself, I believe in Him instead. And that has never failed me yet.

  • He Goes With You

    Deuteronomy 31:6 (ESV)”Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

    Moses spoke these words to Israel as they stood on the edge of everything unfamiliar. He would not be going with them — but God would. That was enough. It still is.

    Courage was never the absence of fear. It was the presence of God in the middle of it. Whatever you’re facing that feels bigger than you, you don’t walk into it alone. He goes with you. He will not leave you. He will not forsake you. That is not a wish — it is a promise.

    Prayer: Lord, when fear whispers louder than faith, remind me who walks beside me. Make me strong and courageous, not because of who I am, but because of who You are. Amen.