“And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, “Fear not, Zaharias; for thy prayer is heard and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.”

Luke 1:11-13 KJV

Zacharias was a priest and a godly man who was chosen to minister in the Temple before the altar of incense. The altar of incense represented the prayers of God’s people. He and his wife had no child and were beyond the normal childbearing age. For a long time they had prayed for a child, but the answer had not come.  Then in the midst of engaging in his ordinary duties as a priest,  Zacharias was confronted by an angel from the Lord.  He was surprised.  He was startled.  He was afraid.   After all, it isn’t every day that one sees an angel!

The message of the angel was nothing short of miraculous.   The prayer of Zacharias had been heard.  He and his barren wife would have a son.  And they were to name him John!  He was shocked.  He was amazed, for he was well aware of the natural impossibility of his circumstances.   Although he could not deny what he had seen and heard, he struggled to accept and believe the message!  Zacharias had experienced God in the midst of the ordinary and he was overwhelmed. 

Whenever the Lord reveals Himself to us, He always does so in the midst of the ordinary.   He steps into the ordinary circumstances of our lives and suddenly we are conscious that He is there!  And like Zacharias, we are normally surprised and amazed. Knowing that the Lord can reveal Himself at any time, should encourage us to live our lives with a sense of expectancy! 

The Lord’s revelation of Himself to us may not be as dramatic as that of Zacharias, but if we live with expectancy our eyes and ears will be trained to see Him and hear Him however He reveals Himself.   After all,  He has promised that if we are looking for Him, we will find Him!   (Jer. 29:13).

Rev. James W. Black 

“You are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5: 14-16 NKJV

In every generation the darkness of evil has sought to be the dominant influence in the culture. It has been the calling of God’s people in every generation to engage the darkness and push it back by the power of the gospel; a gospel that is both proclaimed and lived out in the culture.

There have been times when the people of God have risen to the challenge.   And there have been times when they have not.  Whenever God’s people fail to meet the challenge, darkness fills the vacuum and began to permeate and corrupt everything.  To those seeking to live out the life of Christ in the face of such darkness, the challenge can be intimidating!   Imagine the challenge of our brothers and sisters in places like North Korea and Iran!  And yet, the light of the gospel still shines in those places!     

It is vitally important to remember that the Light of Christ is always greater than the darkness!  There is no darkness that has the power to overcome that.  Light.  John 1:5 declares:  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”  (NLT).

The Light of the gospel of Christ impacts one life at a time. Transformation of the culture occurs one life at a time; one family at a time; one community at a time.  The Light has a greater capacity to impact the culture than the darkness.   We are not called to do everything.   But each of us is called to do something.  We can do what we can do right where we are; beginning in our family,  in our workplace,  in our neighborhood and in our community at large wherever that may be.   

Therefore let us determine to be His instrument of light wherever He places us. We will be amazed at how people will be impacted by His Light if we merely allow it to shine through us!

Rev. James Black

“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear Him.”

Psalm 103:11 KJV

In this passage the Hebrew word for “mercy” is “checed”  (pronounced as “kheh-sed” and sometimes as  “hesed”.   It means favor, loving-kindness, compassion,  and pity.  (See Strongs #2617).   Webster’s Dictionary points out that mercy is especially significant because it is extended to someone who is an “offender”, or “one who is “guilty” of a trespass and is “undeserving”!   (Webster’s 9th Collegiate Dict. Page 743).  To receive only a warning instead of a ticket from a Police Officer when we were guilty of speeding is mercy.  To have a debt canceled that we obviously owed is mercy.  To be forgiven when we know we were wrong is mercy.  In each case, we were undeserving! 

Scripture reminds us again and again of the mercy of God!  We can only appreciate His mercy when we begin to understand His Holiness!   The Lord is so Holy,  so righteous,  so pure and  so removed  from any  possibility of sin that we cannot even begin to imagine it!  Likewise, we are so unholy, so unrighteous and so impure and so corrupted by sin, that we had absolutely no hope of ever being accepted or received into  His Holy Presence. (Exodus 33: 20; Rom.3:10; 23).

But the mercy of God is so great that when He saw us in our hopeless and helpless condition, He determined that He would do whatever it took to bring us to Himself! (John 3:16).   The depth and height of such mercy are beyond our ability to understand fully!  We who were once cut off and separated from this Holy God,  have been washed and redeemed by the precious Blood of Jesus! (Eph. 2:12-13). Because of that Blood, we have been made holy and righteous in His sight! (2 Cor.5:21).  We are now fully accepted and received by Him!  Not only that but He has made us members of  His very own family!  We are now Sons and Daughters of the Most High God!   That is true for everyone who has received Him, regardless of where He found us!   As we ponder that,  it should cause us to be ever humbly grateful for the mercy of God! 

Rev. James W. Black

 “…I came that they they may have and enjoy life, and have  it in abundance (to the full, til it overflows!). 

John 10:10 AMPC

In this passage, Jesus declared the reason for His coming. He came to give us life with such abundance that it overflows!  But what does it mean to have life with abundance? To some, it means having plenty of everything (food, shelter, clothing, transportation, a job we enjoy) and enough resources to buy not only what we need but much of what we may want.  To others, it means being healthy, being together with family, and being safe. And while many of these things are indeed necessary and important, having them does not ensure that our life is full and abundant. Many unredeemed and lost people have all of these things but do not have an abundant life.

What then is the abundant life?  The Holy One gives us a number of promises that reveal to us exactly what it means. It means:  1.  Joy (John 15:11); 2. Peace despite our circumstances (John 14: 27); 3. Contentment in life regardless of our station in life (Phil. 4:11);   4. Sufficiency (Phil. 4:19) and most importantly (5). Eternal Life both now and when this present life is over (John 11:25-26).  To summarize, it simply means that In Christ we have all these things and more. (Matthew 6:33).  They are abundant and literally inexhaustible! 

When we realize that our enjoyment of life is not based upon the acquisition of things or even in being in the best circumstances, we are free to discover that our ultimate fulfillment and satisfaction in life is found in knowing and walking in Christ. It is in Christ that we discover our ultimate purpose and meaning!   We were created to know Him and to fellowship with Him; the eternal God, King, and Lord of Glory!   There is absolutely nothing greater or more fulfilling than that!   And there is no one who can offer that to us except Christ! 

Rev. James W. Black

“As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’  So he arose and followed Him.”

Matthew 9:9 NKJV

Matthew was a tax collector.  Tax collectors were viewed by the Jews as traitors because they worked for the Romans. Most tax collectors gouged the people.  The Romans had a set amount for the taxes that were required.  Goods were taxed and individuals were taxed.  The tax collectors were appointed by the local governor in the region. Those positions were often bought and sold because they were so lucrative.  It was not unusual for the governor or local magistrate to get a small percentage (under the table) over and above what was required. This actually amounted to a fee (or bribe) for being appointed to the position.   The tax collector would then add his own percentage to the tax amount raising the taxes even higher.  It is easy to see how greed and corruption flourished.  Consequently, the tax collectors became quite wealthy. They were shunned by most of the Jewish population. 

Jesus encountered Matthew sitting at his tax collecting booth.  Jesus looked at him and said, “Follow Me.” No doubt, Matthew had already heard of Jesus. It is possible that he had also witnessed some of His miracles.  When Jesus looked at him and spoke to him personally, everything changed. The eyes of Jesus pierced his soul. His words gripped his heart!  Matthew saw himself in the light of His holiness! And yet at the same time, he experienced His overwhelming love! 

In a moment of time, Matthew went from being despised, hated, and rejected to being unconditionally loved!   As a result, he left everything and followed Jesus!   

That is what happens when we truly see Jesus for who He really is!  His love touches us at the very core of our being.  It transforms us and motivates us to leave everything in our past and follow Him!   In reality, there is no other way to follow Him! 

James W. Black