“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,  but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
(Psalm 34:19 NKJV).

Everyone encounters difficulties in life.  Some difficulties are greater than others.  But for all those who truly seek to follow the Lord, He has promised to deliver them. Jesus affirmed this in (John 16:33 NKJV) when He said: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. “ (NKJV).   

Now exactly what does this look like in the real world?  There have been times when the Lord  sovereignly intervened in the situation  we were facing.   It  caused us to rejoice.  It strengthen our faith.  But we have also seen situations where we  were not delivered.  We prayed for the circumstances to change and they didn’t.  We prayed for a loved one to be healed and they weren’t.   And yet His word emphatically declares that He does deliver the righteous (the redeemed) out of them all.   So, how then  can we reconcile the two in light of scripture?

 We must learn to look at life  from God’s perspective.  God works from the standpoint of eternity, not time.  There are times when the Lord delivers quickly.  At other times  the deliverance takes much  longer than  expected.  And  the evil one whispers  that the Lord has abandoned us.   There are times when  the Lord delivers us from a situation.  At other times, He delivers us through a situation!  But in each situation the Lord is still the One who delivers! 

In all situations we must learn to trust the Lord.  He will deliver us in His time and in His way.  He will deliver us in the  way that will be for our greatest good and for His greatest glory.  It is in trusting Him that we discover His faithfulness.  It is in trusting Him,  when all the voices  around us  tells us not to,  that our faith in Him is deepened. 

Sometimes He delivers in life.  Sometimes He delivers through death.  But we can trust Him because  both in life and in death we belong to Him.  And He will deliver us in and through it all!   We can trust the One who has conquered death, hell and the grave!
 So, trust Him in the midst of all   you are facing right now.  He is faithful!  He will deliver!  He has never failed!  He never will! 

James W. Black 

        “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” (Prov. 23:7 NKJV). 

What we think impacts our life.   We are not talking about just random disconnected thoughts that race across our mind occasionally.  No.  We are talking about the thoughts that shape our understanding of life.  These thoughts impact the way we live.  We make our decisions in life based upon the way we think. 

If we think that we have little worth as an individual, then  that is the way we will live our life.   It will often result in self destructive choices.    It we think that life itself has no meaning, then life will become empty to us.  If we think that life centers upon us, then we will become self absorbed.  If we think there are no consequences to evil actions then we will live  a life of lawlessness.   If we think money and possessions will bring us joy then we will live a life constantly seeking for  more but never have enough. If we think there is no hope, we will live a life filled with darkness, depression and despair. 

But if we  think the way God wants us to think, then everything changes.  If we think that love, mercy, grace, joy, peace,  forgiveness and salvation from sin can only be found  in Jesus, then we will run to Him.   If we think  that  eternal life can  only be 100% guaranteed by Jesus, then we will cling  to Him. If we think that Christ alone gives life meaning and purpose, then we will embrace Him fully.   If we think that the Bible is true and that God will actually speak to us  through His Word,  then we will read it and treasure it.  And if we believe that God’s  Word  teaches us how to live  so that we  can have  clear guidance and direction in life,  then we will walk in  it. 

So, what we think is important.  It’s important  because  it determines how we live our life. Our thinking affects everything in our life.  And if we will think on the things that God says is important, we will have peace and clarity  in a world that is filled with noise and chaos.  We will not only know where we are going, but we will know exactly how to get there. (John 14:6, Phil. 4:8). 

James W. Black

“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” (Psalm 13: 5-6 NIV -1973 Edition). 

There is no song like the song of the redeemed.  The ability to express what we know and feel in our heart through song is  a gift from God.  Often we think that only the talented or the gifted can sing.  And while we  are blessed by those who who do have those gifts, the privilege of singing is available to all.  That is why when we assemble for corporate worship, we use music and singing to express our joy and gratitude to the Lord for Who He is and what He has done for us.  Whenever we sing corporately everyone can join in and be a part.

The cumulative blending of our voices together in genuine worship creates a sound that ascends to the Throne of God!   In the combined expression of voices , no one hears the individual but the cumulative expression of the whole.  The Lord sees and hears our singing and rejoices over us by manifesting His Presence in our midst.   (Psalm 22:3).   And He, Himself rejoices over us with singing! (Zephaniah 3:17).   

So often we feel inadequate in our ability to express with words,  what we feel in our heart toward the Lord.  We feel at a loss as to what to say.  But the Lord gives people the talent and ability to write music and pen words that we can use to express our heart to the Lord.  The words of those  songs become our words.  The expression of those words  become the expression of our own heart.  The song is a gift  that helps us declare  our love for the Lord. 

The reason we can sing is because of the goodness of God that He has poured out upon our lives.  We  rejoice in our salvation, His love, His mercy and His amazing grace!  Above all people on the face of the earth, the redeemed have the greatest   reason to sing!  So whenever we gather together to worship, let us join our voices and sing to the One who is worthy of all praise! 

James W. Black

“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”  (Mark 11: 23 KJV). 

This passage of scripture is powerful.  It’s implications overwhelm the mind.  Is it really true?  Can we actually do that?  Yes, we can.  But we must be careful to make the proper application. 

When faced with a mountain (obstacles, setbacks, disappointments, hardships, and difficulties of every kind) we are not to speak just whatever comes to mind, but we are to speak what God says in His Word!  The late author and speaker Judson Cornwall once said:  “You  do have the right to speak to any mountain.  Just be sure that when you  speak, you  speak what the Lord told  you to speak.  When you do, then you can expect the mountain to be moved.”   

The power of what is spoken is not in what we say, but in what God says!  The Lord of the universe always backs up His Word!  There is power in His Word.  And when His Word is spoken in faith (absolute confidence and trust in His Truth) then His power is unleashed into whatever situation we may be facing.  And we can expect the mountain to be moved in God’s time and in God’s way.  So just keep speaking to the mountain what God told you to speak.  The mountain must move.  It has no choice. 

The perseverance in speaking is not to convince God to move.   It is  to convince the evil one and the mountain he has created,  must yield to the Name of Jesus and the Power of His Word.  The adversary will  resist until he is convinced that we are convinced of the absolute truth of God’s Word.  Once that is established he (the evil one) and the mountain that has been created by him has to move. 

Rev. James Black

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36 KJV).

It is important for us in the Body of Christ to be reminded of the fact that through the love of Christ that was demonstrated on the cross and the power of His Mighty resurrection from the dead,  we have been delivered from the wrath of God!

In John 3:36 Jesus declared that “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth upon him.”   When we were outside of Christ we were the “children of wrath.” (Eph. 2:3).   In other words, were under the judgment of a Holy God.  God is so holy that by His very nature He is required to pour out his complete judgment upon sin (of any kind).   But Jesus took our place  upon the cross.  There our sin was placed upon Him!   And the full weight of God’s Holy wrath was poured out upon Him instead of us!  Then He offers to anyone who will personally accept and receive what He alone has done for them,  total forgiveness and deliverance from the wrath of God! 

That is the good news of the Gospel!   Because of our sin, we were all under the judgment and the wrath of a Holy God.  But now, because we have surrendered our lives to Jesus, we have been completely forgiven and delivered from that wrath!  (Rom. 6:23, Eph. 2:8-9).   

The revelation and the understanding of that truth should cause us to humble ourselves in love, adoration and worship before Him!  Each time we gather as the redeemed of God we are celebrating our deliverance!   That is why we gather. That is why genuine worship  is filled with humility, awe, wonder and unspeakable joy!  The amazement of being loved, forgiven and delivered from the wrath of God should cause us to be grateful and desire to worship Him with abandon! 

James W. Black

“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