“But whosoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”
(Proverbs 1:33 NKJV).

As we witness the unfolding events around us both here and around the world, we see the continuing rise of evil. It is insidious, pervasive, and is everywhere. When we try to comprehend it, it becomes overwhelming. For it is not just one issue or one area. It is a multitude of issues all cascading upon one another. All of these things together can cause fear to rise up within us.

But if we stop and think about it, the world has always been an unstable place.

The evil of every kind has always been present in every generation because evil is resident in the human heart (Jer. 17:9) and that evil ultimately expresses itself. It always has. Evil first expressed itself in humanity in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) and has been doing so ever since. And down through the history of humanity, the only restraint against evil has been the Spirit of God.

It was the Spirit of God Who gave us the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). And the power of that Word was revealed once and for all in and through the Person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1; 14)! Jesus is God’s final answer to the evil of this world (Heb. 1: 1-3). The cross destroyed the power of evil (1 Cor. 15: 54-57). And the resurrection forever sealed its ultimate destiny (Rev. 1:18)! The day will come when all evil will be put under the feet of Jesus at His return (1 Cor. 15: 19-28) and every evil act will be ultimately judged and all evil will be ultimately destroyed (Rev. 20: 11-15).

Therefore, no matter what may be happening all around us, we have nothing to fear! Thus, It is vitally important for us to listen to the Lord. And it is vitally important for us to listen to His Word. If we focus our hearts and our minds upon Him, then we will not have to be in fear of the evil of this world! We will find our safety and our security in Him! And that is the absolute safest place we could possibly be (John 10: 27-29).

Rev. James Black

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flocks shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18 KJV).

Habakkuk, a Prophet in Judah near the end of the 7th Century BC, was overwhelmed by the wickedness in his nation. Corruption and sin was rampant everywhere. He was one of many prophets that the Lord has sent to call the nation to repentance, but they had refused to listen. Now the Lord had let him know that judgment would soon come upon the nation of Judah because of her sin and her unwillingness to return to the Lord.

The Lord had revealed to Habakkuk that some hard and difficult times would come upon the nation. The impact would be devastating. Crops would fail because of drought. Herds would be decimated because of the lack of food. Hunger and deprivation would be common place all throughout the land. And on top of that, the Lord would deliver Judah into the hand of her enemies, the Babylonians, and they would be carried off into captivity. To Habakkuk, this made no sense to him. Why?
Because the Babylonians were more wicked than the nation of Judah!

Habakkuk was faced with a choice. Would he trust God, even when he did not understand? That is a situation that each of us will face at one time or another as the people of God. There will be times, when nothing around us makes any sense at all! In spite of our prayers, our loved one is not healed. In spite of our faithfulness, we still experience the loss of a job or a business, or even our health. In spite of standing and confessing the Truth of His Word, the situation does not change. And all the while, the enemy is at the gate of our mind, taunting us and telling us that it is useless to keep trusting God.

Habakkuk helps us to understand what to do in those situations! We can choose to trust God, even when nothing makes sense! We can choose to trust Him no matter what we may be going on at the moment. We can choose to trust Him with whatever may come in the future. Why? Because the Sovereign Lord, is on the Throne! He knows the beginning and the end of all things! And no matter what we may being going through, if we will cling to Him and trust Him, the Lord will eventually bring us out of where we are to the place where He wants us to be! We can trust Him because He is faithful! He will not abandon us no matter where we are or what we are going through! We can choose to be like Habakkuk, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Yes, we can still trust God, even when nothing makes sense!

Rev. James Black

In Proverbs 18:10 the Word of God says: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.” (NKV). The great power of our God is revealed even in His name! The world at large does not mind talking about God, but it despises the name of Jesus. One of the reasons is because of the mighty power of that name. There is no other name like the name of Jesus. At the name of Jesus, demons tremble! At the name of Jesus love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness are experienced by those who trust in Him. Only the redeemed have the privilege of calling upon that name. And when we do, the power of that name is released on our behalf (Luke 10:17).

Jesus is our Refuge: Then and Now

During World War II, Corrie Ten Boom and her family hid Jews from the German Gestapo in Holland. They were eventually betrayed. When the Gestapo burst into their home, they crashed through the door of Corrie’s bedroom, pulled her out of bed, and began slapping her across the face demanding to know where the Jews were hidden. As the officer continued to slap her, Corrie cried out in desperation: “Lord Jesus, help me!” Suddenly it seemed as if an invisible hand grabbed the officer’s hand and stopped it in mid-air. With an angry snarl the officer said: “If you speak that name again, I will kill you!”

Mercifully, the officer stopped beating Corrie and arrested her along with the rest of her family. They suffered horribly in the German concentration camps. Corrie was the lone survivor. But Corrie learned that day the power that is in the name of Jesus.

What a joy and blessing it is to be able to call upon the name of the Lord! His name is a refuge and strength for us. Let us with reverence, adoration, and love call upon that name. That name is Precious! And it is the inheritance of the redeemed!

Rev. James Black

In John 14: 13-14, Jesus makes a powerful statement: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.”

What a statement! What a promise! We literally stagger at the magnitude of it! Look at those words: “whatsoever”, “anything” and “I will do it!” The prospects are limitless! Can we believe it? Is it really true? The answer is an emphatic “Yes!”

But how does this actually happen? The key is understanding what has transpired before. We must “believe” (that is have absolute trust and confidence) that Jesus is who He says He is (John 14:11). That is more than mere mental assent. It is KNOWING in the very core of our being (our spirit) the reality of Christ and being completely submitted to His will and purpose in our life.

It is understanding that we now have the great privilege of praying as Jesus prayed.
In fact, it is now the Holy Spirit Who actually prays through us (Romans 8:26-27).
Therefore, the praying that has access to such an astounding promise is praying like Jesus prayed.

Jesus never prayed for anything that was not in the Father’s will. Jesus never prayed for anything that would not bring honor and glory to the Father. The only time that Jesus ever prayed for Himself was when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and even then Jesus was completely surrendered to the will of the Father. His prayers were always concerned with the Father’s plans and purposes. Not His own!

If we know the Father’s will and we only desire that He be glorified, we can then pray His will and have absolute confidence that the prayer will be answered. Where we all struggle is in coming to the place where we truly discern the Father’s will and all that we truly want is what He wants. We want His will to be done; not ours! And when we get to that place “whatsoever” we ask for will most certainly be answered!

Rev. James Black