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Month: November 2023

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God’s Rest

God’s Rest

November 25, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“And he said, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”

Exodus 33:14 KJV

We live in a hectic, fast-paced world.  And that pace seems to increase during the Christmas Season.  Mothers especially struggle to find time to get everything done during the  Holiday Season.  It can be overwhelming. 

 That is why it is important that we realize that God is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34).  Which essentially means that God has no favorites. That means many things, but in this case, it does mean that God gives each person the same amount of time each day.  Everyone gets 24 hours a day.  No matter what part of the country or the world we live in each person gets the same amount of time each day.   Our tendency, especially as Americans,  is to  “fill up” every moment of every day.  Thus our “stress level” is amplified which affects every aspect of our lives.  The remedy for that is learning to enjoy God’s rest.

The “rest of God” begins with being conscious of God’s Presence in our lives as followers of Christ.  His Presence is with us constantly whether we “feel it” or not. 
The Hebrew word for “rest” in this passage is the word: “nuwach” which means “to settle down, give comfort to, to rest and to be quiet.” (Strongs #5117).  The Presence of God comforts us, reassures us, quiets us in the midst of a noisy, busy, and chaotic world, and fills us with His Peace on the inside.

The “rest of God” is a promise to each of God’s children.  Just as it was given to Moses and Israel in the wilderness, it is given to us in the wilderness of our lives today.  The “rest of God” is the revelation of the Person of  Christ,  who indwells us.  It is becoming conscious that He is with us each day and in each moment of our lives. The consciousness of His indwelling Presence gives us rest.  He encourages us.  He strengthens us.  He guides us and fills us with joy.  If we simply take some time to “be still” (Psalm 46:10) we will become conscious of Him.  And the consciousness of His Presence gives us rest, even in the midst of busy and tumultuous times. 

Rev. James W. Black

The Faithfulness of God

The Faithfulness of God

November 18, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“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

Gratitude Is An Expression of Salvation

Gratitude Is An Expression of Salvation

November 11, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  (5). For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth  endureth   to all generations.” 

Psalm 100:4-5 KJV

One of the hallmarks of being truly “born again” is a heart that is full of gratitude!  When we consider where we once were, (blinded to the Truth, walking in darkness,  totally separated from God and on our way to an eternity in hell,  which we justly deserved) and then to be redeemed, washed, and cleansed by His Precious blood; forgiven and made totally righteous in His sight and transferred by the power of the Holy Spirit into His eternal Kingdom,  we should be forever filled with heartfelt gratitude for what He has done for us!   The awe and wonder of that reality should cause us to be eternally grateful to Him! 

Gratitude toward God the Father for His goodness and grace is the normal response of those who follow Christ.  Paul the Apostle was forever in awe at the grace of God which would transform him from being one of the greatest enemies of Christ (Acts 9:1-2; Gal. 1:13) to becoming one of His greatest defenders (2 Cor. 11: 23-28).  Paul was overwhelmed by the depths of such love!  He was eternally grateful for God’s goodness and grace that had been poured out upon him. 

Gratitude is expressed through our worship!  Genuine worship flows from a heart that is grateful for being redeemed.   Such gratitude is spontaneous, genuine, and ongoing.  And gratitude  is expressed through service

Paul’s unwavering and unselfish service to the Lord Jesus was an expression of his deep gratitude!   The Scripture says that those “who have been forgiven much, love much.”  (Luke 7:44-48).  All that we do for the Lord flows out of our love for Him and is an expression of our gratitude toward Him!   Could it be that one of the reasons that so few are willing to serve the Lord in any capacity is that they have forgotten what it means to be grateful?  When God’s people live in conscious gratitude, there is never a shortage of servants. 

Rev. James W. Black

The Power of the New Covenant

The Power of the New Covenant

November 4, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance —now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Heb. 9:15 NIV 1984 Edition). 

The Old Covenant which gave us the Law of God (revealed in the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20) was weak in that it could not make anyone righteous in the sight of God (Heb. 7:19).   It is not that the Law is bad.  No, it is very good.  The Law reveals the Holy, just, and righteous nature of God.  The problem was the weakness of our humanity.  Because of our sinful nature, we were unable to keep the Law consistently and continually.  In other words, the Law was unable to deliver us from the power of sin.  No matter how hard one tries, everyone inevitably fails in their effort to keep the Law. (Rom. 3:23).   Thus,  the weakness of the Old Covenant was not in the Law itself but in us. 

In  Christ, God gave us a “better covenant”.   In this Covenant, the Law was not done away with, but was fully kept by Christ (Heb. 10:10).   He was sinless in every possible way.  When He became our substitute on the cross, our sin was vicariously placed upon Him!  At that moment He became our substitute and was subject unto death because death is the result of sin (Rom. 6:23).  It is not that He sinned, but the fact that He took our sin upon Himself. And there God the Father judged Him just as if He were judging us!  (Col. 2:13).

After His resurrection, His blood that was offered once and for all for our sin was placed upon the Mercy Seat before the Throne of God (Heb. 10: 16-18).  And now all who put their trust in that Blood and personally accept the sacrifice that He made by surrendering their life to Jesus are made absolutely holy and righteous in the sight of God (2 Cor. 5:21)!  It is no longer the keeping of the Law that makes one acceptable in the sight of God.  It is the surrender to the finished work of Christ and receiving from Him what was impossible for us to do ourselves!   (Rom. 6:23, Eph. 2:8-9). 

Our life afterward is simply a daily acknowledgment and surrendering to the Power of the cross  (Gal. 2:20).  What follows is a heart full of gratitude and love which motivates us to follow Him.   Our service for Him is now born out of love and gratitude rather than obligation!   And the best part of this New Covenant is that He gives us the Holy Spirit to live within us Who empowers us to do what we could never do on our own (John 14:20, 25; John 15:26; John 16:13)!    This New Covenant is truly better than the old!   

James W. Black