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JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"Christ the Conqueror"

John 16:33  "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Hebrews 2:14  "By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death."

Revelation 3:20-22  "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.  To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Romans 8:37-39  "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Insight: Jesus Christ lived a sinless life.  He overcame all trials, temptations, and tribulations.  He conquered the Devil and overcame the power of death.  Ask God for His power to help you overcome your trials, temptations, and tribulations.  The One who has already overcome them can help you do the same.

Prayer: "Thank you for overcoming the world, Lord.  Thank you for remaining perfect through your trials and tribulations.  Help us to see what You did and ask You for help.  Thank you for being faithful and wanting to help us.  Forgive our sins.  Bless us and lift us up.  Give us spiritual strength to overcome adversity.  Thank you for promising to never let us be tempted more than we are able to bear.  Thank you for all of the awesome promises in your Word.  Let us know You more.  Increase our faith.  Purify us.  Draw us closer to You.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

Sir Henry Vane (1612-1662), was an English colonial administrator, statesman and the Governor of Massachusetts in 1636.  He was knighted by King Charles I in 1640 and was elected to Long and Short Parliaments.  He also served as joint treasurer of the English navy.

Sir Henry Vane is noted for having helped Roger Williams secure the Rhode Island Charter in 1644, which bore Vane's signature as one of the commissioners for the plantation.

After Oliver Cromwell's "Protectorate" government, 1653-59, Charles II took the throne and executed Cromwell's loyal followers, one of whom was Sir Henry Vane, who wrote:

"They that press so earnestly to carry on my trial do little know what the presence of God may be afforded me in it, and issue out of it to the magnifying of Christ in my body, by life of by death.  Nor can they, I am sure, imagine how much I desire to be dissolved and be with Christ, which of all things which can befall me I account the best."

"As the present storm we now lie under, the dark clouds that yet hang over the Reformed Churches of Christ, which are coming thicker and faster, so the coming of Jesus Christ in these clouds in order to a speedy and sudden revival of His cause, and spread of His kingdom over the face of the whole earth, is most clear to the eye of faith, even the faith in which I die, whereby the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, Amen!  Even so come, Lord Jesus!"  - Jacob Sparks, Library of American Biography, p. 293.  Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, OR: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 471.

A Moment of Introspection

There is one page in your Bible that you can tear out.  Is your Bible handy?  Are you ready to remove a page?

You can tear out the page after Malachi and before Matthew.  Why?  Because the entire Bible is the Word of God.  It is all a message from Him.  Why divide it in half with a blank page?

Pray for the upcoming movie called The Passion and the people that will see it.  Many people will watch it and get saved.  Many believers will watch it and draw closer to the Savior.

Plan to see the movie.  Let it change you and prompt you to be serious about your relationship with Jesus Christ.

God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!

paskho (Greek): passion - to experience a sensation or impression (usually painful), feel, suffer, vex

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 7:8-9 - Here Noah is explicitly told that both clean and unclean animals are to go into the ark in pairs. This is in direct contradiction with the instructions God gave Noah in 7:2-3.

Whether by twos or by sevens, Noah takes male and female representatives from each species of "every thing that creepeth upon the earth." Now this must have taken some time, along with expert knowledge of taxonomy, genetics, biogeography, and anatomy. How did Noah manage to collect the endemic species from the New World, Australia, Polynesia, and other remote regions entirely unknown to him? How, once he found them, did he transport them back to his Near Eastern home? How could he tell the male and female beetles (there are more than 500,000 species) apart? How did he know how to care for these new and unfamiliar animals? How did he find the space on the ark? How did he manage to find and care for the hundreds of thousands of parasitic species? How did Noah obtain and care for the hundreds of thousands of species of plants? (Plants are ignored in the Genesis account, but the animals wouldn't last long after if the plants died in the flood.) No, wait, don't tell me. A miracle happened. Millions of them.

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:

* Noah was instructed to bring additional clean animals for the post-flood food and sacrifice.

* The Bible never uses the word "species." The Bible uses the word "kind." This is different and part of the interpretation problem at hand.

* Undoubtedly, God caused the animals to come to Noah. This was not a huge miracle since the Earth was in its pre-flood state and didn't contain the vast oceans or freezing poles. The Earth was relatively flat before the Great Flood.

* The animals that he put on the ark were not like the animals we see, today. These animals had few genetic defects, therefore they were more hardy and their diets were not as regimented as some of the animals, today.

* The ark was very large and large enough to house all of the types of animal "kinds" that are listed in Genesis.

* The animals in the New World, Australia and Polynesia were largely absent from those places before the Great Flood. Their migration occurred after the flood waters receded.

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Jason Gastrich.  This book is on CD and explains over 3,000 difficulties regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.)

There are no new quotes this week.  However, if you'd still like to read some, we have thousands in our archives!  They are located here: http://quotes.jcsm.org.

These quotes can be used for sanctification and fun. Most of them are directly based on scripture and scriptural principles. Some of the quotes are humorous or rhetorical, others are written from sermons and Bible studies, and some are lyrics from songs. If you’d like me to go into more detail on any of them, please email me.

Like most verses in the Bible, they can be debated. To use what I’ve written in the most beneficial way, try and trace them back to the scriptures and apply the true principles to your life in a meaningful way! Please don’t sell my quotes or publish them for profit. If English is not your first language, you may not understand some of the quotes. I'm sorry, but some of them are English metaphors and deal with multiple word meanings. God bless you all!

Please make a commitment to pray for this ministry. As every believer is tempted and tried, this ministry faces trials also. God has blessed me, JCSM and the people who have been reached! Unfortunately, the enemy knows this and spiritual warfare is the result. Please at least pray that the devotions continue to be written religiously, the web pages stay on the www and the readers are blessed, sanctified and protected from evil. Thank you very much in advance!

Do you want to help people receive the good news?  We’re reaching new people every day with God’s awesome Word! If God has blessed you and you wish to send a love offering to JCSM, please send your gift to the address below.

You can join our vision and help this ministry! Your donations will keep these ministries running and further our visions for evangelism. Hundreds of web pages have been created to lead people to the Lord. Frequently, we make new ones and they are used to bring more and more people into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. We’re certain there will be more ways to reach people in the future.

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization.  If you wish to contact us in the mail or send support, please make checks payable to Jesus Christ Saves Ministries.  Here is our mailing address:

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

3219 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. #212

San Diego, CA 92117

Along with getting support, we also give support! JCSM regularly gives to churches, Christian ministries and needy people. Another function of this ministry is to do counseling. We are always answering questions about life, the Lord and everything in between. Lastly, we do a lot of research on religious topics on the internet and library. You will definitely see the results of our hard work and your loving support, in the web pages, and in the weekly devotions!

Fishes and Loaves (FALO) is a great, missions organization.  They have helped many people embark on missions trips to the uttermost parts of the world.  If you are interested in missions, please visit http://www.gofalo.net.

Do you need to find a solid, Christian church?  I've attended numerous, Calvary Chapel churches and I've been very blessed by their Bible-based sermons, inspiring worship, and kind members.  If you don't have a home church, if you're traveling, or if you need to find a new church, I recommend visiting the following site and locating a Calvary Chapel near you: http://www.calvarychapel.org.

OCCM (Online Christ-Centered Ministries) has certified JCSM as a ministry that preaches the true, biblical gospel of Jesus Christ.  OCCM is a professional membership association for Christian ministries and people that reside on and off the internet.  Are you OCCM certified?  For more information, go here: http://www.occm.org.

Would you prayerfully consider supporting JCSM with $5 per month?  If God leads you to take this step of faith and bless this ministry, PayPal will process a donation subscription for you.  It will only take a minute and you can join us in this dynamic ministry that constantly reaches people all over the world.  Here is the link for $5 donations: http://5.jcsm.org.

Over 70,000 web pages!

Jesus loves you!

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."