"Each and Every Day" - #419

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Hello!

I hope you had a great weekend.

We are midway through our outreach to San Diego's sex offenders.  This year, we are sending letters to all 1200 of them.  We need 600 unused, .37 postage stamps.  If you'd like to donate them or the funds to get them, it would be appreciated.

JCSM is sending every San Diego, sex offender in the Megan's Law database a letter.  This letter includes a gospel message, our toll-free phone number, and some information about local churches and Christian radio stations.  Please prayerfully support this endeavor.

Please visit my friend's web site because she is spreading the love of Jesus into the community.  Gilda's site is called http://askjesusnow.org and she has been spreading the gospel with billboards, bumper stickers, and more.

I hope you walk in the light and experience the blessings of obedience.

A special thank you goes to everyone who has prayerfully and financially supported JCSM's move to Los Angeles!  You are in our prayers and appreciated.

Last week, we sent my daughter to Vacation Bible School (VBS) and she had a fantastic time.  I highly recommend finding one in your area and sending your child or children.  Jordan can't stop talking about it and she can't wait to go, again.

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!)

"Each and Every Day"

Proverb 8:34, 35  "Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.  For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the LORD;"

Psalm 88:9b  "LORD, I have called daily upon You; I have stretched out my hands to You."

Joshua 1:8  "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

2 Corinthians 4:16  "Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day."

Matthew 6:11  "Give us this day our daily bread."

Luke 9:23, 24  "Then He said to them all, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.'"

Acts 17:11  ". . . (the Bereans) searched the scriptures daily."

Hebrews 3:13  "But exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."

Insight: We need to seek God each and every day.  If we forget or avoid Him, we will suffer for it.  God will make us prosperous and successful when we seek Him daily with all of our heart.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and draw us closer to You.  Forgive our sins.  Lift us up.  Thank you for wanting us to seek You each and every day.  Forgive us for the days when we did other things or settled for lesser blessings.  Remind us how awesome You are and how much we need You.  Thank you for your gentle conviction.  Thank you for the way You prod us with your Holy Spirit and help us return to You.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

America's Foundation

John Eliot (1604-1690), called “The Apostle to the Indians,” was the first minister to teach Christianity to the Indians of New England. A graduate of Cambridge, he traveled to Boston in 1631, where he became a teacher and pastor. A young Indian who had converted from paganism to Christianity helped Eliot learn various Indian dialects. John Eliot was responsible for having written the grammar book. In addition, he established 3,600 Indians into over a dozen self-governing communities. In his work, The Christian Commonwealth, 1659, which was a draft of a plan of government for the Natick Indian community, Eliot explained that:

“[It is not for man] to search humane Polities and Platformes of Government, contrived by wisdom of man; but as the Lord hath carried on their works for them, so they ought to go unto the Lord and enquire at the Word of his mouth, what Platforme of Government he hath therein commanded; and humble themselves to embrace that as the best… [The] written Word of God is the perfect System or Frame of Laws, to guide all the Moral actions of man, either towards God or man.” ¹

In 1640, John Eliot along with Richard Mather and Thomas Welch, printed the very first book in the colonies. Using the first printing press in American colonies, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this book became the approved hymnal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Known as the Bay Psalm Book, it was entitled:

“THE WHOLE BOOKE OF PSALMES faithfully TRANSLATED into ENGLISH Metre, Whereunto is prefixed a discourse declaring not only the lawfulness, but also the necessity of the heavenly Ordinances of singing Scripture Psalmes in the Churches of God.” ²

Citations:
¹ 1659, in his work, The Christian Commonwealth: or, The Civil Policy of the Rising Kingdom of Jesus Christ. John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1987), pp. 23-24. Gary DeMar, The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision, Inc., 1993), pp. 125-126.

² 1640, The Bay Psalm Book. Sydney E. Ahlsrom, A Religious History of the American People (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1972), pp. 149-150. Gary DeMar, The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision, Inc., 1993), pp. 45-46.
 

A Moment of Introspection

Separation from God makes you feel empty inside.

Pray for your relationships.  Seek to improve yourself and you will improve your relationships, too.

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

epeeoo-seeos (Greek, see Matthew 6:11): for subsistence, that is needful: daily

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Genesis 28:5 - Who was Laban's father? Behuel or Nahor (29:5)?

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

Laban's father was Bethuel (see Genesis 25:20).  Nahor was the grandfather and brother of Abraham.

Incidentally, the Hebrew word for "son" in Genesis 28:5 and Genesis 29:5 can have several meanings, such as "grandson, subject, nation," etc.  Laban wasn't Nahor's literal son.  Genesis 29:5 is designating a relationship between Nahor and Laban, but not a father and son relationship.

(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.)

When you submit to the will of God, He subdues your ungodly characteristics.

Relationships improve when people repent and gain the fruits of the Spirit because the lack of these fruits causes all kinds of interpersonal problems.

In resolving a problem with one of your relationships, first look to improve yourself and repent from any wrongdoing.

These quotes came from God, me, and Steve Carr.

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.  We also support three kids in Kenya through Compassion International.

We have a great number of ministry tasks.  If you'd like to see how we are reaching people, then please go here: http://jcsm.org/JCSM/Details.htm.

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, organizations, business, schools, and people that reside on and off the internet.  Are you OCCM certified?  For more information, go here: http://www.occm.org.

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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."