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

"The One and Only Faithful Friend"

Deuteronomy 7:9  ". . . The LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments."

Psalm 9:10  "And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You."

Psalm 119:89, 90  "Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.  Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides."

Proverb 18:24  "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Hebrews 10:23  "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."

2 Timothy 2:13  "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself."

Insight: Despite what anyone thinks about us, despite what anyone says or does, God is always faithful.  He is our faithful friend who we can trust and confide in.  Even when our best friend doesn't want to hear us, God does and He even wants to bless us.  Develop your relationship with your One faithful friend because others will always be less important than Him.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, thanks for loving us so much.  Thank you for being our one and only faithful friend.  There is no other like You!  Increase our faith in You and remove our worries and fears.  Praise You for being an awesome God.  Remind us that You are always faithful.  Help us to always set aside time to talk to you, listen to you, and worship You.  Thank you for helping us in our time of need.  We love You and praise You, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Congress of the United States of America (1954), approved in both the Senate and House of Representatives if the 83rd Congress, a joint resolution calling for the establishment of:

A room with facilities for prayer and meditation for the use of Members of the Senate and House of Representatives. This small room in the Capitol, just off the rotunda, is always open when Congress is in session. It is for the private prayer and meditation of members of Congress, but is not open to the public. An open Bible is open upon an altar, and located above it is the focal point of the room, which is a stained glass window showing George Washington knelling in prayer. Behind him are etched these words from Psalm 16:1, "Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I put my trust."

Of note is that every session of the House and the Senate begin with prayer, each house has its own chaplain. President also conclude their oath of office, having their hand upon an open Bible, with the words, “So help me God.”

Inside the rotunda is the figure of the crucified Christ, as well as a picture of the Pilgrims about to embark form Holland on the sister ship of the Mayflower, the Speedwell. The ship’s revered chaplain, Brewster, who later joined the Mayflower, has open on his lap the Bible. On the wall of the Capitol dome very clearly are the words, “The New Testament according to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” On the sail is the motto of the Pilgrims, “In God We Trust, God With Us.”

The phrase, “In God We Trust,” appears opposite the President of the Senate, who is the Vice-President of he United Sates. The same phrase, in large words inscribed in the marble, backdrops the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
On the Great Seal of the United States, the phrase Annuit Coeptis is inscribed, which means, “[God] has smiled on our undertaking.” Under the Seal, the phrase from Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg address is engraved, “This nation under God.”
The Dirksen Office Building, in bronze relief, has the words inscribed, “IN GOD WE TRUST.”

If you'd like to have the citations for the footnotes above, please email us.  If you'd like to see more quotes from those who framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Dr. Jason Gastrich.  This book is on CD and gives over 4,000 answers to alleged Bible errors, regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.  There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)

If you've only been to a large church, you need to see what a small one is like.  If you've only been to a small church, you need to see what a big one is like.

Let God speak to you.

God can speak through earthquakes or through whispers.

We often mistake God's intentions.

God does things for everyone; not just for you.

We are epistles and people are reading God's message through our lives.

Some churches and some Christians are spiritually anemic.

Are your beliefs structuring your behaviors?

We receive hope, strength, and fellowship when we are connected with other Christians.

The Devil wants us to be divided.

On Judgment Day, if you're saved, it won't matter which denomination you were.

Jesus' sheep need to stop biting each other.

Take the notes God tells you to take.

Pressing isn't easy or fun because it's exhausting.

Don't work for God to get approval or praise from others.

God hasn't called us to a lazy affection.

Grown ups assess things and judge quickly.

Pressing is a labor of hope.

Most churches take an offering to pay a professional to do the ministry.

Even if you're just teaching one, you're still a teacher.

God will make things clear to you.

We can all trace our biblical heritage back to the ministry of the original apostles.

We are a caterpillar culture, called to soar like butterflies.

It takes time and quiet time to discover God's will.

We need to marinate in God's presence, so we can be useful to Him.

Righteous Christians should look forward to Judgment Day.

Hell's non-existence is a lie from the pit of Hell.

God can teach you many things in a short period of time.

Christians should be like the firemen after September 11th, seeking desperately for people who need to be saved.

Conflicts with believers are ok, if you resolve them.

Conflicts can be resolved when you're joined together for the same vision.

The man who prays about everything is wise because everything is an answer to prayer.

The things that you don't faithfully pray about are things you don't take seriously.

Memorize God's Word.

Preaching is useless without the obedience of the saints.

These quotes came from me, the Holy Spirit, and Howard Everett. If you'd like to read more quotes, you'll want a copy of my book called, "10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings"!  It's the largest collection of Bible-based quotations in the world.