“But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20). 

When we think about prayer we often think in terms of  what we need or want to say. We  concern ourselves about saying the right thing.  Or we concern ourselves about not knowing what to say.  And because we may not seem to be as  eloquent in our expression as others,  we think that our prayer will not be heard or received before the Lord.  We forget that prayer is not about the eloquence of the words but the attitude of the heart.  Prayer, like everything else in the Christian life,  is  a matter of the heart. 
If our heart is fixed upon Him (that is  we genuinely  know Him, follow Him, and seek to please Him)  then everything else falls into place. 

One of the aspects of prayer is learning to sit silently before the Lord.  Although the Lord welcomes us into His Presence and delights for us to express to Him what is on our heart and mind  (Phil. 4:6), it is equally important for us to learn to simply sit silently before Him.  Why?

Because when we are silent, we have the opportunity to reflect upon the wonder, the majesty, they mystery and the awesomeness of God Himself.  Picture in your mind what the Lord has revealed about Himself in scripture.   Think about His Person.  Think about the attributes He has revealed about Himself.   His grace.  His love. Her mercy.  His forgiveness.  His goodness. His provision. His faithfulness. His holiness. And above all His great salvation!  Think about His power that is revealed in creation. (Ps. 19:1).

In the silence, picture in your mind what the scripture reveals about the Lord seated upon His Throne! (Isaiah 6:1-6). Picture the myriad of angels along with the redeemed giving Him honor praise and glory! (Rev. 5:9-14). Then think about the fact that this awesome God knows you personally by name!  And this awesome God, longs for you to be there with Him in eternity! 

But most importantly, in the silence  we give the Lord the  opportunity to speak to us personally.  And it is there in the silence that we learn to recognize His voice.  (John 10:27).

James W. Black

“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”  (Luke 16:10 KJV). 

Most who are followers of Christ would not think of engaging in things we call “big sins” (stealing, adultery, lying, etc.).  And sometimes we can pride ourselves (if we are not careful) in not doing those things.

However, we sometimes fail to realize that we must be just as diligent in guarding against what we call the “little things”; things like looking at someone and thinking that  because they are not “like us” that we are somehow better than they are.  It is easy to look at someone from another race, culture, social or educational background and be critical and condemning of them because they are different from us.  We forget that every human being is made in the image of God. 

We must also be diligent in guarding our thought life.  Christians can have unholy thoughts enter their mind just like anyone else. We must guard against allowing those thoughts to stay and take root.    We have been given the ability, through Christ, to capture those thoughts and cast them out of our minds.  (2 Cor. 10:5).

Diligence is also required in cultivating our personal relationship with Christ.  It is easy to become so busy in life that we push our relationship with Christ to the bottom of our priority  list.  We think that just going to church will be sufficient.  But church only enhances and encourages our relationship.  It is no substitute for cultivating  own personal relationship with the Lord. 

There are many other things we could name.  But the point is that if we neglect the little things, we can easily find ourselves doing things that we never thought we would.  It is in doing the little things that we build the foundation upon which we can stand against the bigger things that come against us.

James W. Black

“And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, ‘Follow me.’ And he arose and followed him.” (Mark 2:14 KJV). 

Matthew (or Levi as he was called here) was a businessman. He was engaged in the business of collecting taxes  for the Romans.  It was a lucrative profession. The Romans set a fixed rate for their  taxes.  The Tax Collectors could arbitrarily add a percentage to the amount that was collected.  That was their compensation.  And they became quite wealthy as a result.  But their wealth came at a cost. Because they were Jews who worked for the hated Romans, they were considered to be traitors and thus they were ostracized for the most part by their own people. 

 But one day, Jesus stopped  by Matthew’s place of business.  Jesus looked at him and said:  “Follow me.”  There was something about His words and His gaze  that  penetrated Matthew’s  soul. And he got up and followed Him!   That decision changed his life.  He would never be the same again. 

Jesus is still extending that invitation today.  It is the same for everyone.  His invitation is to:  “Follow Me.”  He does not invite us to preach, teach, be a missionary, sing, or serve in the  kitchen.   No.  He simply invites us to Follow Him!  And when we do, He alone  leads us to where He wants to go.  And  He alone empowers us to follow. 

We often make the Christian  life hard or difficult. We come up with all kinds of rules and regulations.  But all that Jesus asks anyone to do is to “Follow Him.”  Nothing more. Nothing less.  And  It is only  when we choose to follow Him that we experience the joy that He promises to bring.  All that we have to do is simply go where He goes, do what He does, and say what He says.  And if we do, we will be like Matthew.  We will never be the same again. 

James W. Black

“For I am the Lord, I change not…” (Malachi 3:6 KJV). 

One of the things that we all face in life is change.  Life is constantly changing.  Our children who at one time were toddlers are now grown and have children of their own.  Many of our loved ones have passed into eternity.  Places we once shopped have been torn down to make way for something new.  The highways we once traveled have changed.  Change is an inevitable part of life.  Some change is good.  Some of it is not.  And sometimes it is difficult to adjust to the change. 

But the one thing that does not change is the Lord Himself.  He makes that declaration in His Word.  In (Hebrews 13:8) the Word of God declares that Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Which affirms His Deity!).  The Lord’s unchanging nature should be a source of comfort for us. In a world that is constantly changing, the Lord never changes!

We know and serve the same God that Abraham did.  Not another God, but the same God!  He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and He is our God too!  The God of the Old Testament is the same God revealed (through Jesus) in the New Testament (Col. 2:9).  Jesus reveals to us exactly what God is like (John 14:9).  Jesus reveals to us the love, compassion, mercy, and grace of God.  He reveals the holiness of God.  And He reveals the justice of God that was satisfied on the cross for us! 

He is the eternal and unchanging God.  He is the anchor for the soul and the beacon of light and hope in the midst of the darkness!  Cling to Him!  Rest in Him!  Trust in Him!
He is always with us (Matt. 28:20)!  And He is always for us (Rom. 8:31).  He never changes!

Rev. James W. Black