“Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Psalm 37:4 KJV

There are many simple joys that one can experience in life. They come in a multitude of ways. The joy of sharing a meal together with family and friends. The joy of children and grandchildren. The joy of a quiet afternoon sitting beside a mountain stream, experiencing the sounds of nature. The joy of walking along a beach and watching the waves crash ashore. The joy of driving through the hills and mountains in the fall and being awed by the blazing colors of the leaves. All of these things and more bring us joy. These are things we can all delight in.

But the greatest joy that one can possibly experience can only be found in the Person and the Presence of God Himself! All other joys in life, though rich, meaningful, valuable and important, pale in comparison to experiencing God Himself! It is in His Person and Presence that we find peace, contentment and ultimate joy. It is in His Presence that we discover the meaning of life and the purpose of living. (Psalm 16:11).
Jesus came to this earth to redeemed lost humanity and make it possible to experience the fullness of His joy! That does not mean that life is always easy! It is not! Life can have many challenges, trials and disappointments. Some of which can be overwhelming! But if we have discovered the Person of God, if we have come to the place where we can actually delight in Him, we will find that God Himself satisfies the deepest longings and desires of our heart! We discover that in His Presence we are truly complete in Him! (James 1:4).

That is why the Word of God tells us that if we delight in Him then He will give us the desires of our heart! What that mans is, that if we learn to delight in God Himself, we will discover that He is all that we want and need! It is there that we=e come to the place that all we want is what He wants! When we reach that place, God will indeed give us the desire of our heart. It is in that place that every request will be answered!

Rev. James W. Black

“For every tree is known by his own fruit.  …A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth  that which is evil…”

Luke 6: 44-45 KJV

One can always determine the identity of a tree by the fruit it produces.  Apple trees do not produce pears nor do walnut trees produce pecans.  Each tree is identified by the fruit that is produced.  Likewise, the life  of an individual  is recognized by the fruit that is produced.   There is  good fruit.  And there is bad fruit.  Whatever fruit is produced reveals the heart and character of the individual.     

If one is a genuine follower of Christ, the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23) will be manifested in their  life. The character of Christ will be revealed in the  character and nature of the individual.  When one truly  comes to Christ, a metamorphosis (or a great change) takes place (2 Cor. 5:17).   One is  instantly transformed from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. (Col. 1:13).   As a result some things change immediately.  Other changes occur over  time.  (Rom. 12:1-2).   

Just as an apple tree bursts forth  with beautiful blossoms  in the spring, the life transforming power of the Holy Spirit produces a new beauty and fragrance in one’s  life the moment they  receive Christ as their  Lord and Savior.   But like the apple, it takes time for the actual fruit to appear.  The fruit is produced  over time simply by staying connected to  the tree.  In other words the apples are  not produced by their own effort. They are produced by remaining  intimately connected to the tree.   Likewise as one stays intimately connected to Christ, over time, His fruit  begins to be manifested in their  life.   

The longer the  fruit remains connected to the tree, the richer, fuller, and more fragrant  that fruit becomes.  Eventually that fruit matures. The beauty and fragrance of that fruit begins to appeal to others.   Soon, others desire to partake of the fruit. 

Which brings us to the ultimate purpose of the fruit.  The fruit is not produced for ourselves. It is produced for others.  Its purpose is for others to  be drawn to the fruit.  Its purpose is for others to want to taste it for themselves.  Fruit has no value unless others taste it for themselves.  (Psalm 34:8).   Therefore, it is important that we remain intimately connected to Christ.  Over time, we will begin to mature and others will be attracted to the Christ they see in us!  Christ is then glorified.  Not us!  And we will have accomplished our greatest purpose in life!     

Rev. James W. Black     

“Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites!  For ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.  (28) Even some also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” 

Matthew 23:27-28 KJV

Jesus lived by the truth revealed in the Word of God, regularly attended Synagogue, on the Sabbath, observed  the Jewish Feasts and taught and worshipped at the Temple in Jerusalem.  Jesus did these things not because He was religious, but because He loved the Father and He loved the Word of God.  His words and deeds were born out of His relationship with the Father and His understanding of the  Power contained in the Word of God!

Because He loved the Father, He also loved the Word  of God. Everything He did was based upon His relationship with the Father.   He spoke with power and authority. His words were kind, loving, compassionate,  strong  and full of hope. His words  brought  comfort, revelation,  understanding and joy to those who really wanted to know the truth about God!  And all of that was accompanied by mighty works of God expressed in undeniable miracles that revealed God’s glory!  Although Jesus said and did all these marvelous things, He was not religious!  In fact, He reserved His harshest words for those who substituted religious form and ritual for a genuine, living  fellowship with God the Father.  (Matthew 23).

Jesus did not mince words when it came to addressing religion.  His most scathing words of rebuke were leveled at those who were rigidly religious  in their actions, but were empty of life!  Jesus declared that although they looked good on the outside, in reality they were dead on the inside.   In other words, they had no life!   Jesus addressed them openly and publicly, pointing out to them the difference between religion and a genuine relationship with God.     It can be summed up in one word.  Life. Religion brings death.  Jesus brings life!   It does not get any simpler than that. 

Rev. James W. Black   

“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

Philippians 1:21 KJV

As followers of Christ, we often speak about the freedom we have in Christ.  We know that we are free from the penalty of our sin as well as the guilt, shame, and condemnation our sin produced in our lives. (Rom.8:1).  However,  sometimes God’s people struggle to walk in that freedom.  The struggle is not with the fact of our freedom but with the implementation of that freedom in everyday life.

The Word of God, however, explains to us the place we must come to if we are to actually experience that freedom. The place we must come to is the place where all that matters to us is Christ.  Paul had come to that place. He had come to the place in his life-changing encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).  From that moment on Christ was more than a creed or a religion.    Christ was the resurrected, living, and glorified Lord!    Paul would never be the same again!   

Paul had come to the place where his past did not matter; his accomplishments did not matter; his position in society did not matter and his current circumstances did not matter (Phil. 3: 4-9).  All that mattered to him was Christ.  Christ was not just a part of his life.  Christ had actually become his life.  Because Paul fully understood that his life was in now Christ and that he now belonged to Christ, then nothing else really mattered.  (Phil. 4:12).

If Christ wanted him to live, then he would live for Christ.   And if Christ wanted him to die, then he would die for Christ.  So, whether he lived or whether he died it did not matter.  Either way, he belonged to Christ and would submit to whatever Christ wanted for his life. 

When we come to that place (the place where all that matters is Christ), then there is absolutely nothing in this life that can touch us. We are His and He is ours and there is absolutely nothing in this world or the next that can separate us from Him!  (Rom. 8: 36-39). That is the ultimate place of freedom!

“…baring confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” 

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

Have you ever started a project and never finished it?  Many years ago, when I was in my mid-twenties,  a close friend and I asked  a retired farmer if we could tear down a dilapidated old barn  that was on the back of his  property.  The barn was literally falling down.   Our goal was for each of us to  obtain enough usable lumber to build a small storage shed on the back of our property.  The farmer readily agreed.  It was a win win situation. The retired farmer  would get rid of an eyesore for free and we would get the lumber we needed to build our storage sheds.  However, as we began the project, doing it after work and on Saturdays,  we soon discovered,  after a few weeks, that the project was much bigger than we thought.  The work was taking much longer than we had anticipated.  And then  life happened!   Our jobs began requiring more of our time and our  ability to work on the project began to quickly diminish. Finally we had to abandon the project altogether because of limited time. That was a disappointing experience for us as well as the farmer.   I have always regretting not completing that project and fulfilling  our agreement.   I had to apologize to the farmer and ask his forgiveness.   The farmer gave the remainder of the usable lumber to someone else and burned the rest.

The wonderful thing about Jesus is that whenever He begins a project,  He always finishes it!   He is never caught by surprise or overwhelmed by  the size of a  project.  [After all He created the entire universe.  John 1:3].  He knows from the beginning exactly how long a project it will take and what is required to complete it.  Nothing  catches Him by surprise!  He is not limited by time and space.  He exists in eternity and always has the eternal perspective and the finished work in mind.   

Jesus has promised  that the work which  He began in us on the day of our redemption, will be fully and perfectly completed on the day when He returns and establishes His eternal Kingdom!   That is indeed good news!   

We may think that we are too old, too broken down, too unsightly, too messed up, too useless and too hopeless  for God to do anything with us.   We may wonder how God could possibly do anything with us in out condition!    But Jesus has promised to “make all things new”; including us!  (2 Cor.5:17; Rev.21:5). And because nothing is impossible with God, (Mark 10:27),  we can therefore trust Him to complete what He has begun in us!  We are not yet what  we want to be.  And we are not yet what we  are going to be.  But thank God, we are not what we were!  We are a work in progress!  And we can  rest assured that the work that He has begun in us will be completed  and it will be perfect! 

James W. Black   

“But whosoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.  This is the way we know that we are in union with him.”  (1 John 2:5 NASB). 

When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, the Spirit of God came to  dwell within us.  (Rom. 8:9).  That was the moment of our New Birth. (John 3:3).  For the first time in our life  we experienced  the indwelling love of God. (Rom.5:5).  That was the beginning of a new life and an entirely new way of living.  Before we lived in the darkness.  Now we live in His Light. (Col.1:13).

But the New Birth is just the beginning of our journey.  The Lord desires for His love, which we have received, to be perfected within us!   What does that mean?  The word “perfected” here is translated  from the Greek word “telioo” which literally means:  “to complete, accomplish, consummate, finish, or fulfill.”  (Strongs #5048). 

We know that God’s love in and of itself is already perfect and complete! Nothing can be added to it and nothing can  diminish it.  But  while God’s love is perfect, we are not. Now that  we are  in union with Him, we  are on a journey of  being perfected. (Phil. 1:6). What  the Lord is wanting to do is to complete,  finish  and  fulfill the work that  His love began in us on the day we were truly  born again.  That completion will take place when we finally see him face to face in glory!  (1 Cor. 13:12).

God’s love, which is already in us, is revealed and released more and more as we learn to walk in obedience to His Word!    Each time we obey we experience His pleasure and we see the power of His Word released in our lives and circumstances.   That in turn reveals more of His love to  us.  Our understanding of His love deepens.  And our love for Him grows. 

In essence, God’s love is perfected in us as we learn to walk in obedience.  That makes it simple.  Just do what He says and His love will be perfected in us.  (John 14:15).

Rev. James W. Black