"Stop Complaining" - #379

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Hello!

I pray that you had a great weekend.

I was blessed with the opportunity to attend and serve at the Promise Keepers conference in San Diego.  I heard some awesome speakers and was in charge of the prayer booth.  If you'd like to see what I learned, please read the quotes below or go to http://www.jcsm.org/biblelessons/PK2004.htm.

I pray that God blesses you richly as you follow His Word.

Last week, I got The Passion of the Christ Soundtrack.  It's the one with Third Day, Steven Curtis Chapman, Scott Stapp, P.O.D., etc.  It's very good!  I recommend checking it out.  In particular, I liked Scott's song called "Relearn Love."

In the next three weeks, we'll be searching for boxes, searching for some helpers to help us move, finding a good moving truck company, and doing all of the other things you do when you move.  We'll only be moving about 15 miles, but it will still be an ordeal.  Please pray that it all goes well and that we don't break anything by accident!

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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

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

"Stop Complaining"

1 Corinthians 10:10  "And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel."

James 5:9  "Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.  Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!"

1 Timothy 6:6  "Godliness with contentment is great gain."

Philippians 4:8  "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."

Insight: It can be easy to whine and complain.  Some do it like a bodily function.  However, we should have self-control and watch our words.  We need to use our words to build others and glorify God.  Pray for contentment and meditate on the good.  Don't worry about the bad, but pray about it and give it to God.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, give us godliness with contentment.  Remove our worries and fears.  Help us to avoid complaining.  Remind us that You are faithful and that you're listening.  Help us to dwell on the good and not worry about the bad.  Let us see things like You see them.  Let us try and see things in light of eternity.  Thank you for the difficult things that grow our character.  Thank you for the things that seem mediocre to us that really bless others.  Help us to think of You, then others, then ourselves.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

A Moment of Introspection

If you had little time to live, what would you ask of God?

If you had little time to live, what would God ask of you?

If you had little time to live, what would you change?

Answer the three questions above.  God bless you as you meet this week's challenge.

hayah (Hebrew, See Exodus 3:14): ("I Am"), to exist, be, cause, do

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 16:15 - Ishmael was Abraham's first son, and Isaac was his second. Yet Gen.22:2 and Heb.11:17 claim that he had only one son.

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

In Genesis 21, Ishmael and Hagar leave Abraham and Isaac.  They enter the wilderness and do not return to Abraham's family.  We do not see or hear about Ishmael again until Abraham dies.

Isaac was the child of promise.  Simply because his mother and father were impatient, this didn't make Ishmael the child of promise or Abraham's legitimate son.

In Hebrews 11:17, we see the phrase "only begotten son" used to describe Isaac.  This phrase has also described Jesus Christ.  Both of these were prophesied children of promise.  Therefore, they had a very special designation on them.  Although they technically had other brothers and sisters, as far as God's plan of redemption was concerned, they were their father's only begotten sons.

(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.)

Be a man of courage and honor.

Leave pride behind.

Why do believers live enslaved lives?

Many of us buy into the lie that we will only be happy if we're far from God.

Are you longing to be free?

The wrong choices we make rob our freedom.

Inside all of us, we desire to be free and unique.

Jesus is fighting for your heart.

Would you fight for the heart of your king?

The scriptures talk about the condition of the heart 830 times.

Many people are carrying around hurt as bitterness.

A watered down, lukewarm commitment is no commitment at all.

Either live like nothing but God matters or live like the naturalist who cares only about himself.

Despite the fact that we are pathetic, God saved us.

Don't fear sin.  Battle and conquer it.

Christians don't have the right to behave like the heathen.

Live like nothing matters but God.

Man was created on Day 6 to enjoy what God had previously created.

Adam and Eve tried to make themselves the center of God's story.

"Brother" is the Christian word for, "I can't remember your name."

If God is "I AM," then we should be called, "I am not."

My name may be "I am not," but I know I AM.

If Adam and Eve were given a day of rest to praise God just one day after they were created, then we can honor God on the 7th day as well.

I'm providing for others.  Who is providing for me?  I AM.

I don't know who's on my team.  I AM.

Nobody is listening to me.  I AM.

Christian success boils down to one word: obedience.

When a man is on fire for God, he doesn't die.  He lives.

A man of noble character takes all of his wealth, talents, and skills and gives them away to bless God and others.

Your potential is bigger than you know.

Noble people are grateful for what they have and don't complain about the things they don't have.

Stop complaining and start thanking God for what you have.

One way you can thank God for what He has given you is by doing what you're supposed to do with the things He gave you.

A man of nobility knows and lives the Word of God.

Who in your life can look you in the eye and ask you about your private life, your prayer life, or your walk with God?

The Bible says that iron sharpens iron as a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.  Get some iron in your life.

God hears your prayers; even when you're lazy and only say, "God, bless my food.  Amen."

These quotes came from God, me, and Reggie Dabbs, Joe White, Erwin McManus, Brad Stine, Louie Giglio, and 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!

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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.

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