"Spiritual Growth" - #377

The JCSM Study Center

America's Christian Foundation

Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

NKJV Web Hosting and Services

JCSM's Sermons, Debates and the Bible on MP3

The Online Christ-Centered Ministries

The JCSM Chat Room

Seminary Notes and Papers

The Picturesque Photo Albums

Hello!

I pray that you had a great weekend.

Would you like a daily dose of godly wisdom?  Click http://jcsm.org/Wisdom.htm for JCSM's Quote of the Day!

Do you need a free email account?  JCSM offers free and inexpensive accounts through our BelieveandRepent.com domain name.  We give more space than Yahoo and Hotmail, plus you can use our service and evangelize without saying a word!  See http://believeandrepent.com for details.

This is your ministry, so please feel free to link to JCSM and forward these devotions to your friends and family.  On JCSM, there are over 70,000 web pages of pictures, forums, midis, Bible lessons, humor, proverbial stories, links, devotions, poetry, prayer journals, and much more!

JCSM has encouraging sermons, exciting debates, and the Bible on MP3 online and you can freely stream and download them!  Come and listen at http://sa.jcsm.org.

Visit the JCSM Study Center!  We have over 1GB of resources like English and foreign Bibles, thousands of sermons, maps, ancient literature, commentaries, Greek and Hebrew dictionaries, and concordances and much more!  Plus, it's all free.  Link: http://study.jcsm.org.

Welcome to the new readers of this message!  Here is your Devotion, A Moment of Introspection, JCSM's Challenge, the Word of the Week, a faith-builder from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained," and the Quotes of the Week.  Have a fantastic week and God bless you!

Love in Christ,

Jason Gastrich

Contact Us: http://jcsm.org/contact.php

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

"Spiritual Growth"

Proverb 27:17  "As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

Luke 11:1  "Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.'"

Ephesians 4:21-24  "If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."

2 Thessalonians 1:3  "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other."

Revelation 3:15, 16  "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."

Insight: Are you growing spiritually?  If you are pursuing the person of Christ, then you probably are.  Seek to be like Jesus and less like your old self.  God will change you and bless you.  Pray and ask for the things of God like faith, love, and all of the fruits of the spirit.  You will be much better off with more Christ.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for wanting us to be more like You.  Thank you for meeting us where we are and taking us where You want us to be.  There is no other God like You.  Praise You for being good and perfect.  Forgive our sins.  Help us to see them and call them what You call them.  We love You, Lord.  Help us all to grow spiritually.  Let us be upset at being lukewarm.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

A Moment of Introspection

The scriptures tell us that one thing makes God sick.  Do you know what it is?  Being lukewarm.

Look at your life and see if you're grown spiritually, lately.  If you haven't, then seek to do so.  Ask God for His qualities and do your best to be like Him.  Repent from any sins that you can recall and you'll become like Christ.

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

khalee-aros (Greek, see Revelation 3:16): tepid, lukewarm

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 16:1-4 - Sarai is the first of a long line of barren women who were desperate for children. (In the Bible, it is the women who are barren, never the men.) She sends Abram into her handmaid, Hagar, so that she can "obtain children by her." Abram gladly complies.

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

This is an account of a sinful plan.  The Bible never claims to contain perfect individuals.  Only God is perfect.

(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 is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)

Do you have a plan in place to leave a positive legacy?

Make a positive impact on people.

Twelve is the number of governmental perfection.

The more you're afflicted, the more you grow.

Thank God for the growth He wants from you.

Discomfort is only bad because we don't like it.

It's not a bad thing to get challenged or worn out.

You can always point to things in your life that aren't ideal, but what is ideal?

What we think is irrelevant compared to what God thinks.

These quotes came from God, me, Miles McPhearson.

Do you need more quotes?  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.  We host tens of thousands of web pages 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.

Would you like to support God’s work on the web?  If this ministry has touched you in a special way, please pray and consider sending a gift to JCSM.  You can join us in our vision to reach people on the web with the good news!  Either email me for more information or simply go here: http://vision.jcsm.org.

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization.  If you wish to send support, please make checks payable to Jesus Christ Saves Ministries.  If you are sending support or simply want to contact us through the regular mail, 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!

For more about me and my service history, go to http://jcsm.org/misc/JasonGastrich.htm.

If you have never repented from your sins and believed, trusted, and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please email me!  I would love to share the gospel with you.  The Bible is very straightforward when it speaks about Heaven, Hell and eternal life.  If there is any doubt that you are going to Heaven when you die, please let me know today!  If you’d like to discover the biblical doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ, please go here: Audio Gospel Message - http://www.jcsm.org/godsplan/TheGospel.mp3. or the Textual Gospel Message - http://gospel.jcsm.org.

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.

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."