Month: February 2021

Wisdom and Understanding

Wisdom and Understanding

In Proverbs 4:9 the Word of God gives us this powerful admonition: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding.”

Wisdom, which comes from the Lord (Prov. 2:6), is the basis of all understanding. Without the Lord’s wisdom, we truly have no understanding.

The difference between wisdom and understanding is this: Wisdom is the revelation knowledge of knowing WHAT needs to be done. Understanding is the comprehension of WHY it needs to be done!

The Lord can give us the revelation of Wisdom! But if we do not apply that wisdom to our lives or circumstances we will have no way of knowing or understanding its power and effectiveness in our lives. It is through the application of the Lord’s Wisdom that we gain understanding. It is then that we begin to see and understand the WHY! Wisdom and understanding must go together.

It is the Lord’s desire that we grow in both wisdom and understanding. As we do, we will treasure His Word even more and also have a greater and deeper understanding and appreciation for what Christ has actually accomplished for us!

James W. Black 


The Power of Faithfulness

The Power of Faithfulness

“Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault: for as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.” (Daniel 6:4 KJV).

Those who seriously follow Christ, have had encounters with God that have powerfully impacted their life. Those are the moments that mark us. We never forget them. They become anchors for our soul! But what about those in-between times?

What about those times when the Lord seems distant? What about those times when we do not seem to feel the intensity of His Presence? What do we do during those times? The answer is that we remain faithful!

All of us enjoy those moments when the Presence of God is undeniable. But we must also learn to follow the Lord in the midst of the mundane; to follow the Lord in the everyday grunginess of life! It is during those everyday mundane things of life that our faith really grows.

We all remember those powerful moments in Daniel’s life when he experienced the Mighty Hand of God working in his circumstances; in the Court of Belshazzar, in the Lion’s Den, the visions of the end times, etc. But what we forget is that between those powerful encounters, there was everyday life. The mundane. The ordinary.

And in the midst of the ordinary is where Daniel’s faith grew and deepened.

It is when we are faithful in the ordinary that God teaches us and establishes us in our walk with Him! What that means is that between those powerful encounters, with God (and we all long for them), we just keep faithfully following Him! We continue fellowshipping regularly with our brothers & sisters in Christ (church). We continue reading the Word of God. We continue spending time with Him alone (prayer). We continue doing what we know to be is right (according to the Word of God) in all circumstances of life. And when we do that, we are laying a foundation that will sustain us in both the difficulties of life and in the highest spiritual moments in life. It is learning to be faithful in the ordinary that prepares us to experience God in the extraordinary!

James W. Black


The Three Anchors of the Soul

The Three Anchors of the Soul

And now abide the faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”(1 Cor. 13:13 NKJV). 

Those who follow Jesus, cannot live without faith! Faith is the key that opens the door to our relationship with Him! It is the vehicle that brings us into the richness of His life that He alone so freely offers unto us! Neither can we live without hope! It is our hope in Christ that strengthens us, encourages us and sustains us in the midst of trial and difficulty. It is hope that looks beyond the now. It is hope that looks beyond the darkness and sees the Light of His Glory! It is hope that looks beyond death and sees the promise and the guarantee of eternal life! The faith and hope that Christ offers to us are powerful anchors of the soul! But there is a third anchor that is even more powerful than the other two. And that anchor is love! Of the three it is the greatest and the most powerful! 

It is the conscious reality of His love that gives meaning to faith and hope! It is the revelation of His love for us that gives purpose and meaning to life! 
Because we are aware of His love, we can put our faith in Him! Because of the reality of His love, we can put our trust in Him and hope in Him even in the darkness! 

The reality of His love was demonstrated by the fact that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8). He did not wait for us to get better or to get our lives together! No, He died for us while we were in the midst of our mess. He knew we we had no power to change ! It was His love for us that held Him to the cross! Not the nails! It was His love for us that enabled Him to conquer death ad hell on our behalf (Rev. 1:18). 

It is His love for us that continues to offer us His righteousness and eternally life! (2 Cor. 5:21). Receive His love! Embrace it! Walk in it! It is the most powerful force in the Universe! It will literally transform your life. 

James W. Black