Q & A with Author Nick Harrison

I first met Nick Harrison maybe eight years ago at the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference (now the CLASS Christian Writers Conference). He had a gentle spirit that impressed me. As I began to peruse his catalog of books, I was even more impressed.

He was, and still is, an editor at Harvest House Publishers. Now a senior editor at Harvest, he has been there for twelve years. He has written ten books – five of which are devotionals. They have a richness and depth to them you might enjoy.

I asked him to join us here at The Spiritual Man Cave for a Q & A and he was gracious with his time. I hope you will stop by his website and pick up one or two of his books to use during your devotional time.

Thanks for joining us here at The Spiritual Man Cave, Nick. We appreciate your time.

I’m happy to join you, Lee. The internet has opened up so many great opportunities for people to connect.

You have written a number of fabulous devotional books that use insight from saints of old, including His Victorious Indwelling: Daily Devotions for a Deeper Christian Life, and Magnificent Prayer: 366 Devotions to Deepen Your Prayer Experience. Obviously you think it is important to read and contemplate what saints of old had to say about the faith. Why is that?

To be honest, I just think these men and women from ages past had a depth to them we don’t often find today. They knew God and when they wrote, their words were packed with authority that remains today. 

Is there one story or quote that stands out to you from one of these two devotional books?

I’m a quote junkie, so to speak. It would be hard to find just one that stands out. Usually when I read a quote and it produces an “aha” moment in me, I assume it will do the same in my readers ... and it usually does. I can almost randomly select a quote from one of my books and find that it still speaks fresh truth to me.

I enjoy finding quotes from men and women who may be lesser-known Christians from the past. Many people have heard of Andrew Murray, Charles Spurgeon, and Hannah Whitall Smith; but how many have heard of Englishman George Wigram? He was foundational in the early days of the Plymouth Brethren.

Here’s a quote from my book “His Victorious Indwelling” that epitomizes the sort of thing I want my readers to understand about their riches in Christ. Wigram wrote: “You would not be easily startled by events if you saw all that you have in Christ to enable you to meet everything calmly.”

I like quotes like that for needy people, because I’m a needy person. I need to hear that I have everything I need in Christ to meet the challenges in my life.

Here’s one (also from “His Victorious Indwelling”) from John Newton, best known now for “Amazing Grace.” He wrote, “When first we enter into the divine life, we propose to grow rich; God’s plan is to make us poor.”

So many of our troubles come because we don’t understand that God uses events in our lives to bring us to the end of ourselves so we must depend fully on Him. When we realize our poverty, we’re ready for His spiritual riches.

Here’s a quote by Dwight Moody that I used in “Magnificent Prayer”: “Spread out your petitions before God, and then say, ‘Thy will, not mine, be done.’ The sweetest lesson I have learned in God’s school is to let the Lord choose for me.”

That’s a lesson I’ve learned too. God has chosen a life for me that has exceeded my hopes and dreams. And when I trace it back to one life-changing event, it was when I was in a place I had no business being and I prayed, “Lord, help me. Get me out of here. And if anything good ever comes out of my life, I’ll give you the glory.”

He did get me out of that situation and set me on the right path, so I truly do give Him the praise. I know where I’ve come from and I know what God has given me in terms of my family, my calling, and my relationship with Him. God has chosen the best for me. It’s no wonder one of my favorite Scriptures is Psalm 16:6, which reads “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.”

My new book (as yet untitled) will be out January 1 and once again I refer back to some of the wonderful writers of old. The book is about the promises of God and here are a couple of quotes that urge us to claim God’s promises in our lives:

“Is Christ yours? Then His promises are yours.” –Andrew Bonar

“Thank God, none of those promises are out of date, or grown stale. They are as fresh and vigorous and young and sweet as ever.” –Dwight Moody

“The Bible is a Book of precious promises; all the way we have to travel, they seem to be like a series of stepping-stones across the stream of time, and we may march from one promise to another, and never wet our feet all the way from earth to heaven, if we do but know how to keep our eyes open, and to find the right promise to step upon.” –Charles Spurgeon

Good stuff there!

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Come back tomorrow for Part 2 of the Q & A with Nick Harrison during which he discusses his own daily devotional time as well as offering some practice tips for us to implement.