"For to Me, to Live is _________" - #415

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Hello!

I hope you had an excellent weekend.

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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!)

"For to Me, to Live is ________"

2 Timothy 3:1-5  "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!"

Philippians 3:7-10  "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."

Philippians 1:21  "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

Insight: For you, what does it mean to live?  What do you live for?  In this world, most people live for pleasure.  It's not easy to focus on Christ and live for Him, but this is what we're supposed to do.  Only some know the joy of giving up one's self and living for the Lord.  Do your best to try this and you'll only do it more and more.  Only God is worth living for.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and make us like You.  Show us the joys of living for You.  Forgive us for living for others and for other things.  Give us wisdom and insight.  Help us see and understand what our behaviors are doing to and for us and others.  Lift us up and remove our worries and fears.  Give us strength and determination to follow You; despite anything.  We love You, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

Jean Baptiste Lemoyne, Sieur de Bienville (1680-1768), the Colonial Governor of Louisiana and founder of New Orleans, wrote in his Will:

"In the name of the Father, etc. Persuaded, as I am, the necessity of death, and the uncertainty of the hour, I wish, before it arrives, to put my affairs in order.  First, I consign my soul to God . . . I implore the mercy of God and of Jesus Christ, my Savior."

Citation: From his Will.  Grace King, Makers of America Series - Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Seuer de Bienville, p. 325.  Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 32.

A Moment of Introspection

What do you live for?  Why?

Living for Christ means obeying Him and following the Holy Spirit's lead.  Make an effort to do this.  God's commands aren't suggestions and they aren't arbitrary.  They have been given us to protect us, help us, bless God, and bless others.

God bless you as you live for Christ!

kerdos (Greek, see Philippians 1:21): gain (pecuniary or general)

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 26:33 - Who named Beersheba? Isaac as this verse says, or Abraham as is said in 21:31?

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

Genesis 26:23 also calls this location Beersheba.  This place wasn't named Beersheba by Isaac for the first time.  Water was found there, so they continued to call this place Beersheba.  Even more so than now, ancient names used to change.  If this well had been dry, Isaac would have called the place by a new name.  However, there was water here, so they kept the old name that was given by Abraham (and actually, he was simply calling it what it was "The Well of the Oath").

(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.)

There aren't any new quotes this week, but 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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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.

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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."