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Month: January 2024

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Praying For One Another

Praying For One Another

January 27, 2024 by NCC-Admin-1 in

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;  that ye may approve the things that are excellent;  that ye may be sincere and without offense till the Day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God.”

Phil. 1: 9-11 KJV

Often when we ask for prayer or others ask us to pray for them, it is usually about a specific issue that we or they are facing or dealing with at the time.  And we should pray for one another concerning such things.  That is called “bearing one another’s burdens”.  (Gal. 6:2). 

But in the Body of Christ, it is equally important that we pray for those things that strengthen and deepen our understanding and walk with the Lord.  In Philippians, Paul lists those vital things that we should continually pray for one another.  These things will help us individually and will help us corporately as a Body. 

  1. Pray that we will grow in love for one another. Our love for one another should be genuine and continue to grow and deepen as we walk with Christ.  Such love should permeate the entire Body.  (John 13:35). 
  2. Pray that we will continue to grow in the knowledge and truth of the Lord Jesus. Our understanding and knowledge of Christ and Biblical Truth should continue to grow and increase.  (John 1: 14, 17). 
  3. Pray that we will continually focus on those things that are excellent (those things that have real value and meaning). We should not allow ourselves to get distracted by non-essentials.  Pray that in all things we will keep our focus on Jesus!  (Heb. 12:2). 
  4. Pray that our hearts will be genuine and sincere in our walk with the Lord, doing our best to not bring a reproach to the Name of Christ or to be offensive toward one another. (1 John 1: 6-7).
  5. Pray that the Fruit of Christ (the fruit of the Holy Spirit) might be manifested in us and through us individually and corporately as the Body of Christ.  (Gal. 5: 22-25).   

If we pray for one another concerning these things we will grow individually and corporately as a Body!

Rev. James W. Black

When Our Heart Condemns Us

When Our Heart Condemns Us

January 20, 2024 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.

1 John 3:20 KJV

Do you ever feel that your walk with the Lord Jesus,  just does not measure up?  That you are not good enough?  That no matter what you do, you just don’t do enough? Do you ever feel like just giving up?  Every follower of Christ has been assaulted by these feelings and these thoughts at one time or another.  These thoughts and feelings describe what the Word God calls the condemnation of the heart. 

These thoughts and feelings originate from two sources.  First, they originate from the Adversary who seeks to heap guilt and condemnation upon us by attacking us with these thoughts and feelings. Secondly, they originate with us when we get caught up in focusing on ourselves instead of focusing on Christ. 

When we focus on ourselves it is easy to see our shortcomings.  Then we find ourselves comparing ourselves to someone else who “appears” to be more spiritual than we are and we begin to agree with those thoughts and feelings by affirming them. But the reality is that none of us measure up, are good enough, or can ever do enough to fully satisfy the requirements for being fully accepted by a Holy God! We must accept and believe (by faith) that Christ’s finished work is completely sufficient to satisfy the wrath of God (John 3:36).  And that His Blood is completely sufficient and able to cleanse us of all our sins and make us righteous and fully acceptable in His sight (1 John 1: 9).  All of which is based upon what Christ has already done, not on what we think we can or should do. If God says it is sufficient then surely we can believe that it is! 

With that firm understanding, we can then realize that God is indeed greater than our heart!  When we choose to take our attention off of ourselves and focus on Him and what He has accomplished for us,  we will then find victory over those thoughts that would assault our hearts and minds.  (Rom. 8:1, Phil.4:8).

Rev. James W. Black

How Faith Works

How Faith Works

January 14, 2024 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”

Galatians 5:6 KJV

Sometimes in the Body of Christ we struggle with the concept of faith.  We struggle with knowing how to exercise our faith.  And we struggle sometimes to know how faith operates.  Sometimes we feel that our faith is weak.  Sometimes we feel that we have no faith at all.  Sometimes we struggle to produce faith and we feel that nothing is happening.  The problem is that we try to measure our faith by our feelings. 
Faith is not a feeling.  It is simply trusting and putting our confidence in what we know to be true. 

Faith is not something that is produced by us.  Faith is a gift from God Himself (Eph. 2:8).  Even the faith to be saved is a gift!  It was the Holy Spirit working in our heart that revealed to us our lost condition.  It was the Holy Spirit who revealed to us Who Jesus truly is.  And it was the Holy Spirit who revealed to us that the only hope of salvation, (that is being cleansed from our sin and made right and acceptable in the sight of a Holy God)   could be found in Him.  The Word declares that every follower of Christ has been given a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3). 

The Word declares that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17).   Faith is built up and released within us when we “hear” and believe that God’s Word is true!  Then we act on that Word by faith because we believe.   In acting on the Word by faith (not feelings) the truth of the Word is affirmed to us.  When the truth of the Word is affirmed to us it produces within us a deeper love for the Holy One and for the Word of God that He has been given to us. 

Our faith then continues to grow and is motivated by an ever-deepening revelation of His love for us.  Love is truly the factor that causes us to operate in faith.  It is our ever-growing love for Him and His Word that deepens and strengthens our faith in Him!   If we do not love Him and His Word we will have no foundation by which faith can be activated as released in our lives. 

Rev. James W. Black

The Work of God

The Work of God

January 6, 2024 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“Then said they unto him, ‘What shall we do, that we might work the works  of God?’
Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom  he hath sent.’

John 6: 28-29 KJV

So often we think that it is in the doing of particular works that demonstrates the Work of God. While it is certainly true that the Lord Jesus has redeemed us  “unto good works” (Eph. 2:10 KJV), and it is equally true that our faith is demonstrated by  “good works”  (James 2: 17-18), the work of God is far greater than that!

Jesus stated emphatically that the true work of God is believing in Him (totally and completely with all that we are and all that we have. Mark 12:30) .   In other words, it is our complete faith and trust in Him that brings genuine and lasting transformation.  The work must be done In Us before it can be done Through Us!  Everything begins and ends therefore with our believing in Him! 

It is our belief in Christ and what He has accomplished for us that brings about salvation.  It is our belief in Christ that brings forgiveness. It is our belief in Christ that brings peace with God, with others, and with ourselves.  It is our belief in Christ that unleashes the power of the Word of God in us.  It is our belief in Christ that releases the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit in our lives and our fellowship.  It is our belief in Christ that brings hope.  It is our belief in Christ that brings joy.  It is our belief in Christ that brings deliverance from the powers of darkness.  It is our belief in Christ that brings healing to our bodies, to our lives, to broken relationships, and broken families.  It is our belief in Christ that brings purpose and meaning in life.  It is our belief in Christ that gives value and meaning to our work and all that we do  (1 Cor. 10:31, Col. 3:23).  It is our belief in Christ that motivates us to honor Him and serve Him!

Indeed, everything rests upon the fact that we truly believe in Him!  This means that we believe that Jesus is Who He says that He is and that He does what He says He will do!  Everything that flows into and out of the Christian life rests upon that foundation! (1 Cor. 3:11).  This is truly the Work of God! 

Rev. James W. Black