"Glorify God Through Fasting" - #392

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.

My fasting pages have been created and they show my reasons for this fast, my journal, and my diet.  If you'd like to join us our visit, please go here: http://jcsm.org/Fasting/FruitVegetables/.

Please pray for this 21 day fruit and vegetable fast.  My church, my wife, me, and several of JCSM's subscribers will be doing it and drawing closer to Christ.  If you feel God leading you to join us, please let me know and we'll include you in our prayers.

Did you know that Michael Newdow has another case against the words "under God" in our pledge?  He also has filed a suit regarding the President's inauguration prayer!  Please pray for this atheist's salvation.  He definitely needs Jesus.  In case you'd like to see how America was founded by Bible-believing Christians, please go here: http://michaelnewdow.com.

We hope that you have been praying for the living tsunami victims.  There is still a lot of suffering in that part of the world.  If you wish to give to them, here is a link where you can choose an organization to give through.  Link: http://jcsm.org/1on1/TsunamiSupport.htm.

Tonight, I'm going to a gathering of atheists and evolutionists.  It should be an interesting experience.  I'm hearing a lecture on evolution vs. creation.  I'm going to take notes and if they are valuable, I'll post them on the web and give a link to them next week.  I'll be praying for the attendees and trying to understand why they believe that non-life turned into life on its own.  This, of course, has never been observed and we believe this could only happen by the will of a Creator.

If you've moved recently, Home Depot will give you a 10% discount that you can use on anything in their store.  If you'd like one, go here and let them know: http://homedepot.com/tenpercent.

We pray that you have an excellent week as you seek Christ and His will for you.

Last week, my wife, my daughter, and I visited the snow.  We had to drive about 90 minutes, but we found a big hill of snow near Julian and we sledded down it!  It was a fun time, especially because we rarely visit the snow and never get any snow in San Diego.

My church flag football league is about to begin.  Please pray that nobody gets injured and that we all act in a Christ-like manner.  Sometimes, competition can bring out the worst in men, but we are all Christians, so we are hoping to maintain self-control and have some fun.

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!)

"Glorify God Through Fasting"

Matthew 6:16-18  "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

1 Corinthians 9:27  "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

Insight: It's God's will that His people fast.  The duration and types of fast are to be determined by the follower.  However, the scriptures make it clear that God's people will submit their lives to Him and this even means avoiding food for a time.  Obey God by fasting and you'll be blessed.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for wanting us to fast.  Thank you for the release of letting go of earthly desires like food.  Thank you for giving us a taste of the supernatural and what life will be like when we do not have to eat any more.  Thank you for giving us a taste of freedom as we reject the carnal desires to do things that we don't need to do; like wasting time, working too much or too little, holding grudges, acting foolish, mistreating people, etc.  Show us how You would act in all circumstances and let us be like You.  Forgive us for our sins.  Protect us as we fast.  Help us to have great strength and determination to finish.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

James McHenry (1753-1816), one of the signers of the Constitution of the United States, was a member of the Continental Congress, a state legislator, a soldier and the U.S. Secretary of War who supervised the establishment of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

He was also a physician, having studied under the renowned Dr. Benjamin Rush, himself a signer of the Declaration of Independence. James McHenry served with distinction under General Washington on the medical staff during the Revolutionary War. Fort McHenry, where, in 1812, the battle with Britain occasioned the writing of our national anthem, was named after him.

In 1813 he became the president of the first Bible society in Baltimore. He conveys the urgency of distributing Bibles to the public in an article to solicit funds for the society:

“Neither, in considering this subject, let it be overlooked, that public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures.

“The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness.

“In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.

“Consider also, the rich do not possess aught more precious than their Bible, and that the poor cannot be presented by the rich with anything of greater value. Withhold it not from the poor. It is a book of councils and directions, fitted to every situation in which man can be placed. It is an oracle which reveals to mortals the secrets of heavens and the hidden will of the Almighty….

“It is an estate, whose title is guaranteed by Christ, whose delicious fruits ripen every season, survive the worm, and keep through eternity. It is for the purpose of distributing this divine book more effectually and extensively among the multitudes, whose circumstances render such a donation necessary, that your cooperation is most earnestly requested.” - Bernard Steiner, One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society in Maryland (Maryland: Maryland Bible Society, 1921), p. 14. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), pp. 171-172.

A Moment of Introspection

What gives you a bad attitude when it is withheld from you?

Give.  First, give to your church.  The scriptures tell us to tithe 10% to our church.

If you do not give to your church, then start there.  If you already do, then give to the tsunami victims or another worthy cause.  There are people who are starving and in dire need of help and you could help them with a few dollars - either once or on a regular basis.

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

nace-tayoo-o (Greek, see Matthew 6:16): to abstain from food (religiously), fast

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 19:8 - Lot lied about his daughters being "virgins" in v. 8. But it was a "just and righteous" lie, intended to make them more attractive to the sex-crazed mob.

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

Lot's righteousness was not an eternal quality. He had periods of righteousness and some times when he sinned. No human being has ever been eternally righteous because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Lot was not praised for his sin. He was praised for his righteousness.

(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.)

Every one of our lives has a supernatural purpose.

There are certain victories that can only be secured by praying and fasting.

Fasting empowers your prayers.

People go too many places for help instead of going to God.

Many of us worship our meal times.

Why do you think you can put junk food in your body and have it operate efficiently?

The quality of your life will increase if you fast.

Some define wellness as your body's ability to circulate blood.

God doesn't need the pharmaceutical industry.  He can heal you on His own.

When you fast, you tell your flesh and carnal desires, "No!"

If you can say no to food, you can say no to anything.

Fasting is about meeting God and having an experience with Him.

You can't complain about something you voluntarily do.

Ask God how you should operate His machine (your body).

God honors people in public based on their good deeds and obedience in private.

Fasting is an act of self-denial for a specific purpose and period of time.

Fasting secures access to supernatural resources.

Establish a time and place to spend time with God.

These quotes came from God, me, 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!

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."