faith Archives - NCC Cartersville

When God Is Silent

December 7, 2024 by James Black in Pastor's Corner

“And behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and cried unto him saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil! But he answered her not a word…”

Matthew 15:22-23 KJV

Have you ever cried out to the Lord in desperation about a situation and in spite of the urgency of the matter, He was silent? When we are young in the Lord, He often answers quickly. The purpose is to assure us of His presence and His abiding love as we learn to walk in our new life in Christ. But as we mature in Christ, we will notice from time to time that although the need is urgent and the situation is desperate, at least from our perspective, the Lord is silent when we call out to Him!

When that first happens to us, we are often confused. Then, on top of that, we are then assaulted by the lies of the evil one! He immediately begins to condemn us and accuse us and then proceed to tell us lies about God. He tells us things like: “God does not love you!” Or “God has abandoned you.” Or that, “You have done so poorly and failed so badly that God has given up on you!” All of these are lies of course, but they can cause us great distress if we listen to them.

The thing we must remember is that when the Lord is silent, He still hears us! In this passage Jesus heard the cries of this desperate mother, but He did not answer her immediately. He waited. He said nothing. He did nothing. It appeared as if He was ignoring her altogether. She naturally interpreted His silence as rejection! But she knew that Jesus was the only One who could help her daughter! So, she continued to ask. And she continued to believe that He would answer! (Luke 18:7-8).

We know that because when Jesus did answer (Matthew 15:28), He commended her for her “great faith”. Sometimes God is silent because He wants us to learn to be confident that He always hears us; even where there seems to be a delay. He also uses such times to deepen and strengthen our faith.

So, whenever you experience the silence of God, remember that He does hear you! Just keep trusting Him! Just continue to keep your heart and mind focused upon Him! Just continue believing Him! Just continue asking Him. (Luke 11:9). The Lord is growing you. He is maturing you in your walk with Him. He wants you to learn to trust Him; not just for what He does, but simply because of Who He is!

Rev. James W. Black

What To Do When You Have Been Wronged

August 3, 2024 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God’s] wrath…”
Rom. 12: 19 AMPC

We live in a fallen and broken world. Because of that, there are times when we will experience hurt and betrayal by others. Those who hurt us the most are the ones who are closest to us; family, friends, and other followers of Christ.

When those things happen, the natural tendency is to want revenge; to make them pay; to see justice done; and to have the wrong made right. If we are not careful we will find ourselves entertaining thoughts about how to get even. The evil one will readily provide an abundance of such thoughts. If we allow them to linger, a stronghold of anger, bitterness, or resentment will gain a foothold and begin to take root in our minds. We cannot afford to embrace such thinking.

The best thing to do is to release that individual or situation into the hands of the Lord and “leave the way open for God’s wrath”. Our fleshly nature would like to “assist the Lord” in bringing about His wrath. But we must take our hands off of it so that He can deal with the situation on our behalf. We must remember that the Lord gave a very strong warning to those who would “offend His little ones.” (Matthew 18:6). He will deal with those situations far better than we can.

We release them by forgiving them and then praying for them; not asking the Lord to “smite them” but to reveal Himself to them, to change their heart and allow them to fully realize what they have done. If they refuse to repent, the Lord will deal with them according to what needs to be done. We can rest assured that He will not allow the harm they have done to go unpunished (2 Tim. 4:14). Every wrong will be made right either in this life or in eternity! (Psalm 37:1-4). When we do that, then we are free of the burden and can then receive and experience the Lord’s peace and joy.

Rev. James W. Black

How Faith Works

January 14, 2024 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
Galatians 5:6 KJV

Sometimes in the Body of Christ we struggle with the concept of faith. We struggle with knowing how to exercise our faith. And we struggle sometimes to know how faith operates. Sometimes we feel that our faith is weak. Sometimes we feel that we have no faith at all. Sometimes we struggle to produce faith and we feel that nothing is happening. The problem is that we try to measure our faith by our feelings.
Faith is not a feeling. It is simply trusting and putting our confidence in what we know to be true.

Faith is not something that is produced by us. Faith is a gift from God Himself (Eph. 2:8). Even the faith to be saved is a gift! It was the Holy Spirit working in our heart that revealed to us our lost condition. It was the Holy Spirit who revealed to us Who Jesus truly is. And it was the Holy Spirit who revealed to us that the only hope of salvation, (that is being cleansed from our sin and made right and acceptable in the sight of a Holy God) could be found in Him. The Word declares that every follower of Christ has been given a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3).

The Word declares that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17). Faith is built up and released within us when we “hear” and believe that God’s Word is true! Then we act on that Word by faith because we believe. In acting on the Word by faith (not feelings) the truth of the Word is affirmed to us. When the truth of the Word is affirmed to us it produces within us a deeper love for the Holy One and for the Word of God that He has been given to us.

Our faith then continues to grow and is motivated by an ever-deepening revelation of His love for us. Love is truly the factor that causes us to operate in faith. It is our ever-growing love for Him and His Word that deepens and strengthens our faith in Him! If we do not love Him and His Word we will have no foundation by which faith can be activated as released in our lives.

Rev. James W. Black

The Faithfulness of God

November 18, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations”
Deut. 7:9 KJV

One of the most wonderful attributes of God is his faithfulness. When we surrender our lives to Him, He binds Himself to us in a powerful covenant relationship that cannot be broken (John 10:28). He becomes our Heavenly Father and we become His children. We literally become a part of His eternal family.

As our Heavenly Father, He commits himself to us to love us, provide for us, guide us, direct us, watch over us, correct us when necessary (Heb. 12:6), and mold us and shape us into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). If we are not experiencing these things in our life, we might seriously consider whether or not we are truly walking with Him and belong to Him.

It is as we continue walking with Him that we begin to discover His faithfulness. It is revealed to us day by day. We begin to realize that each day is a “gift from God.” (Psalm 118:24). It is another opportunity to walk with Him and to experience Him in our personal lives. As we begin to walk in obedience to His Word, we begin to see His hand operating in our daily lives. He reveals Himself by affirming the truth and the power of His Word to us as we walk in obedience to it. Sometimes we see Him in the big things. But most often He is working on the little things in our lives. We simply have to align ourselves with Him and ask Him to open our eyes in order to see Him!

In a culture that does not comprehend the meaning of faithfulness, it is comforting to know that there is Someone (The Holy One) Who is always faithful to us. It is a part of Who He is! It is simply a part of what He does! There is no one anywhere who can compare to Him! His faithfulness alone makes it worth following Him! He is the Faithful God!

Rev. James W. Black

Does God Answer The Prayers of the Unredeemed?

March 19, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” (Pro. 15:29 NKJV)

Over the years, I have heard lost people say that they pray and that the Lord hears their prayers. While I do not doubt that sometimes the lost do find themselves in difficult situations and will on those occasions offer up a desperate cry to the Lord, it by no means implies that God has a relationship with them or that they have a relationship with God. They don’t! The only reason God will answer their prayer (and there are times when He does) is for the purpose of revealing Himself to them and to help draw them to Himself. He answers their prayer only out of mercy; not because of relationship. To think otherwise is to be deceived. It simply is not true (Isaiah 1:15, & 1 John 1:6).

The unredeemed do not have ready access to the Lord. They have no basis of such access. It is only the Blood of Jesus, applied to heart of the redeemed, that gives anyone access to the Throne of God (John 14:6)! For the wicked, the lost, the unredeemed, those who have no regard or interest in the Lord, the scripture is clear; the Lord is far from them. He does not hear their prayer.

But the inheritance and privilege of a Child of God and being a part of His Kingdom, is the reality of knowing that we always have access to Throne of God! Christ alone has made that possible for us (Eph. 2:13-16). Christ alone has brought us into a right relationship with God. Christ alone has made us righteous by His own blood (2 Cor. 5:21 & Rev. 5:9). And the scripture is clear that the Lord always hears the prayers of His redeemed! (Psalm 37:4, John 14: 13-14).

One of the differences between the lost and the saved is this. The unredeemed cannot pray with confidence. They have no basis by which they can. But the redeemed do! It is our relationship that gives us confidence (Heb. 4:16). Therefore let us be joyful in the relationship that Jesus has made possible for us. And let us pray often (1 Thess. 5:17) Our Heavenly Father always hears us!

James W. Black

Don’t Expect The World to Love You

March 12, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. …They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (John 17: 14; 16 NKJV).

One of the things that happens to those who have fully received Christ as their Savior is the discovery that those who have not, often do not like us or accept us anymore. In fact there will be those who not only dislike us, but there will be those who will despise us and hate us! That can be somewhat shocking at first. The shock is the realization that they have rejected us when we have not rejected them. And some of the first ones who reject us is lost family members. That can be especially painful and difficult. Of course the reason for that is because Jesus, has translated us out of the kingdom of darkness into His Kingdom of Light! (Col. 1: 12-13).

And while this is difficult to understand at first it helps us to know that such rejection affirms the reality of Christ that they see in us! In essence, it is not just us they are rejecting, it is Christ Who is in us (Col. 1:27) that they are rejecting. And Jesus reminds us that if the world rejected Him, then the world will also reject us! (Math. 10: 24-25).

When Jesus came into this world He brought the Light of God into this world (John 8:12) for He was God clothed in human flesh (John 1:14). And although He was in this world, He was not of this world. His light exposed the darkness of our sin, not for the purpose of condemning us, (John 3:17) but for the purpose of redeeming us and delivering us from its bondage! (Rom. 6: 11-14).

And that is exactly why the world will hate us. Because the Light of Christ in us exposes the darkness of sin. Those in the world are not only uncomfortable with that but they become angry about that. They hate that (John 3:20). They were perfectly content until the Light of Christ exposed the darkness of their heart. When that happens they will either flee from us or will attack us to try to extinguish the Light. But the one thing they will not do is love us.

But it is not our responsibility to get them to love us. It is our responsibly to love them. And through that love, that Christ Himself gives, bring them to the same Light that transformed us! (Math. 5:44).

James W. Black

What Is Our Motive?

January 22, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord pondereth the hearts.”
(Proverbs 21:2 KJV).

Have you ever heard someone say: “The Lord knows my heart!” I have heard that statement numerous times over the years. It is usually made by those who seek to justify their non Christian actions or lifestyle in comparison to others. But in reality that statement is true! The Lord does know our hearts.   The Lord knows not only our actions, but He also knows our inward motivation. He knows what our real intentions are. He knows what really drives us in our actions and decisions.

When the Holy One looks upon us, He knows every motive of our heart. Although our outward actions may appear to be good, the Lord knows what is really motivating us.
(1 Samuel 16:7).    Are we seeking to promote ourselves? Are we seeking to justify ourselves? Are we seeking the praise and the approval of others? Or are we seeking to genuinely honor and please the Lord? The Lord knows the difference.

While all of us desire the approval of others (spouse, co-workers, neighbors and friends) we must realize that there are times when, in spite of our best efforts we are misunderstood and our actions are mischaracterized. We may experience rejection because of that. That rejection can be devastating. It can be difficult to bear.

But if the motive of our heart is pure, if there was no selfish motive or ambition, then the Holy One will become our defender (Math. 18:6-7). He will help us to overcome the feelings of rejection and move forward with peace and joy. If our motive is not pure, then we are left to handle it on our own until we are ready to surrender all of it to the Lord and allow Him to cleanse us and renew us by His Blood (1 John 1:9-10).

Ultimately is is the Lord’s approval that we desire above all else. If we have His approval, then we will not covet the approval of others, We we will be free to be our selves.   And that is a very liberating place to be!

James W. Black

A New Beginning

January 15, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saithe the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev. 1: 8 KJV).

In this statement, Jesus affirms two important things. (1). He is the Almighty God.
(2). All things have their beginning and ending in Him.

With the beginning of a New Year we are reminded once again of just how swiftly time passes. When we were children time seemed to move very slowly. But as we entered adulthood we soon began to notice how each successive year seemed to increase in speed. As we got older the passing of those years seemed to accelerate even more. We wonder in amazement as to where the time went! And we begin to realize just how short life really is (Psalm 39:5). Of course time always moves at the same rate of speed. It never changes. After all, God is the One who created time! His laws of time and space never change. Man can neither create nor control time. He can only measure it.

Although we are aware of the swiftness of time, we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus is “timeless”. He exists outside of time. He exists in eternity. Because we are in Him ad He is in us, we literally have eternity dwelling in our hearts (John 17:23). And each new year is an opportunity to enjoy and savor that eternity as we pass thought this vacuum of time.

One day we will step out of time and step into eternity. At that moment we will see the Eternal One who always has been and always will be (1 John 3:2). We will be in the fullness of His manifest presence! We will behold the wonder of His Person in all of His majesty and glory! Oh, what a day that will be! Until then, let us rejoice in this new year and seek to continually delight in the Eternal One who lives in the heart of the redeemed (Ecc. 3:11 NKJ). His Spirit within us enables us to “taste” the joy of the eternal that awaits us! (Psalm 34:8).

Only Jesus can make such a promise! Because He is the only One who has demonstrated that He has the power to keep such a promise! (John 11:25, Rev. 1:18).

James W. Black

How Do You Handle Your Weaknesses?

January 8, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know now what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself makes the intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Rom. 8:26 KJV).

In Romans 8:26 the Apostle Paul explains how the Holy Spirit is our helper. He says “…the Spirit helpeth our infirmities…”. The word infirmities in the KJV means weaknesses. As human beings, we all have strengths according to how the Lord has wired us. But we also have weaknesses. All of us have weaknesses. These weaknesses are the result of our fallenness. But the good news of the Gospel is that we have help!

When Jesus ascended to heaven after the resurrection, He sent the Holy Spirit to help us (John 14: 16-18). The Holy Spirit provides “righteousness” when we feel unrighteous; “peace” when we are tempted to worry or doubt; and “joy” when we face difficulty (Rom. 14:17). He provides “instruction” when we do not understand and “comfort” when we feel alone (John 14:26). And He helps us to pray even when we do not know the best way to pray (Rom. 8:26).

What a joy to realize that in the midst of our weaknesses, whether they be temptations or trials, we have Someone (The Holy Spirit Himself) to help us! Call upon Him! He is already here and ready to help you!” (Jer. 33:3).

Rev. James W. Black

The Gift of Being Made New

January 1, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“And he that sat upon the throne said: “Behold I make all things new. And he said unto me, “Write for these words are true and faithful.” (Rev. 21:5 KJV).

There is something powerful about the word “new”. Advertisers know this and use it in promoting their products. The word “new” catches our attention. It sparks interest. It literally calls us to look more closely. It is indeed a powerful word.

But that word is even more powerful when it is used by God! Whenever man makes something new, it does not take long for it to become old. We enjoy the look, smell and performance of a new car. We look forward to the new phone, the new computer, the new dress, or the new boat. But it does not take long for the new to wear off. And then that which was new soon becomes old. But what God makes new is eternal! It never goes out of date. It never gets old. It remains just as fresh and new as the moment He created it.

God specializes in making things new! He promises “new life” to those who surrender to Him and walk with Him. Jesus calls it the “new birth” (John 3:16). With His mighty resurrection, He made a “new covenant” (Heb. 8: 7-11). This covenant is an eternal covenant that produces a new kind of righteousness. It is the very righteousness of Christ Himself (Rom. 3:22). It is a righteousness that is imparted (or given) rather than a righteousness that seeks to be earned by our imperfect, flawed effort (Rom. 6:23). Jesus promises us a “new body” when we die (1 Cor. 15: 49-58, 1 John 3:2). And He promises a “new heaven and a new earth” for those who are redeemed. This current body and this current earth is temporal. It will not last. But the new body that the Lord gives is eternal! The new earth that He will make is far greater than anything that we know today. And it will culminate in a new life in eternity!

It will not be marred by sin , sickness and death. The light of Christ will illuminate it (Rev. 22:5) and the peace of God will fill it with unspeakable joy (Rev. 5: 11-14). And the best thing about all of it is that it is a gift! And like any gift, all we have to do is to simply receive it (Eph. 2:8-9).

So, as we begin this new year, let us be mindful of the fact that all of the evil, anger, hatred and noise that we see and hear during this present time, will one day soon give way to the reality of all that God makes new. Therefore while we wait for it, let us live and rejoice in the One who makes all of this possible!

Rev. James W. Black

Tag: faith