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Month: February 2023

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The Gift of God’s Peace

The Gift of God’s Peace

February 26, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.  For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.  And always be thankful.” (Col. 3:15 NLT).

We live in a chaotic world.  This chaos is the result of living in a world that is enveloped and governed by sin.  Division strife and conflict is everywhere.  Sadly, discontentment, bickering, strife and turmoil is the norm rather than  the exception.
We see and hear it in the newscasts daily.  It is pervasive in individuals, families, communities, organizations and nations.  This chaos is the result of sin which expresses itself through selfishness and a self centeredness.  It even impacts churches, whenever God’s people take their eyes off of Jesus and become distracted and focused on  the weaknesses, flaws, failures, and imperfections of others within the Body of Christ.  It is interesting to note how we somehow expect and even demand that others,  walk more perfectly than we do; all the while forgetting that we  also have feet of clay and are usually blinded to our own flaws.  We deceive ourselves into thinking that our weaknesses and flaws, which we even may acknowledge,  are not nearly as bad as those we see in others (Mat. 7:3-5).   

But into this chaos comes Christ!  And with Him comes His peace!  It is His gift to us;  personally and corporately.  It is available to  our family,  our community and our fellowship.  One of the amazing things about Jesus was that He was always at peace.  He rested in the Peace of God, the Father.   He was never anxious.  He was never worried.  Jesus  was at perfect peace even when the ship  carrying Him was tossed on the waves and appeared (at least to His disciples) to be sinking (Mat. 8: 24-27).  As He  stood before Pilate, knowing full well what awaited Him, He was a peace!  He was at peace because He had fully committed Himself into the hands of His Heavenly Father (Mat. 26: 39-46). and He completely trusted  Him to take care of Him in and through all circumstances.  (John 18: 36-37).   

This same peace is available to every follower of Christ.  It comes with our salvation. It is a part of living and being in Christ. But notice the passage: “let the peace of God, that comes from Christ, rule your hearts.”  The peace comes from Christ, but we  must allow (or let) His peace  rule and reign!  We do that by surrendering ourselves unto Him, relinquishing the chaos to Him, and letting His peace lift us above the chaos. The chaos may not change but we change. We change our perspective and we change our position. And because we have chosen to surrender ourselves and our chaos to Him, His peace is then released so that it can have full reign in our lives. 

James W. Black

How Can You Tell If You Love Jesus?

How Can You Tell If You Love Jesus?

February 19, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15 NKJV)

It  is very easy for someone  to say: “I love Jesus.” But how can you tell if that really is true? Jesus made it simple and clear. He said in essence, “If you love me, you will do what I ask you to do.” Genuine obedience to the Lord is born out of love for Him! If we love Him, obedience is not hard because we know that whatever He asks us to do is because of His great love for us!   He always has our best interest in mind.

 Therefore, we seek to honor Him, not out of duty or coercion but because of our love for Him. We love Him because of what He has done for us (1 John 4:19).  Jesus has redeemed us by His own blood (Col. 1:14). He has forgiven us and made us sons and daughters of His royal family (Gal. 4:6-7).  He came to us when were totally bankrupted by sin and gave us the wealth of His mercy, forgiveness, grace and love! He gave us His very own righteousness (Rom. 3: 21-22).  And if that were not enough, He gave us eternal life (John 11: 25-26). The power of  sin and death was broken by His resurrection and no longer has a claim upon us (Col. 2: 13-15). It is absolutely amazing! And He did all of this out of His great love for us. He did that for us before we even knew Who He was (Rom. 5:8). How could anyone truly know that not love Him?

Therefore if we truly love Jesus , we will want to honor Him! We will not want to do anything to bring a reproach upon His Name. We will not want to live in a way that would cause others to question whether or not we are a follower of Christ (1 Thess. 5:22).  If we love Him, there will be a consistency in our life that reflects Christ. The key word is consistency, not perfection!  No follower of Christ lives perfectly. But there will be, in spite of our failures at times, the willingness and the ability to get back up and keep following Him. When we love Him, He always empowers us to do that and whatever else  He wants us to do. 

James W. Black

Revelation Knowledge

Revelation Knowledge

February 12, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“Now  it came to pass, as he sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.” (Luke 24: 30-31 NKJV). 

In (Luke 24: 13-35) the Word of God gives the account of what happened on the Road to Emmaus. Two followers of Christ were walking together on their way to Emmaus, a small village about 7 miles from Jerusalem. While they walked they were discussing the events that had transpired in Jerusalem. Jesus, whom they truly believed to be the Messiah, (vs. 21) had been crucified and buried. But now some were saying emphatically that Jesus was alive; that He had risen from the dead! The two men were confused and trying to make sense of it all.   

As they walked a stranger joined them and inquired about their discussion. They were surprised at his inquiry (vs. 18) and shared with him their confusion over everything that had happened to Jesus. Then the stranger began to share and explain from the scriptures how that the Messiah would be killed and then raised from  the dead. It was right there in the Word of God, but they had not been able to see it before. They were amazed at what this stranger shared with them. They were so blessed by the conversation  that they encouraged him to stay at their home for the night. Then as they were eating together, as the stranger blessed, broke and gave them the bread, “their eyes were opened” (vs. 31) and they recognized Jesus for the very first  time! He had been with them all along. But they did not know it!

What happened? They received “revelation”! Revelation is knowledge and understanding that is given only by the Holy Spirit. Revelation is not learned. It is given. When the Holy One gives revelation, we see things that before were unseen. What a joy it is to know that we have Someone who can show us truth that before we had been unable to see! When our eyes are opened and we receive revelation, everything changes! Let us so align ourselves with the Lord in our walk that He will give us deeper revelation about Himself! 

James W. Black