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

"The Suffering of the Saints"

Matthew 5:11, 12  "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

1 Timothy 4:10-12  "For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.  These things command and teach.  Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

1 Peter 2:20-25  "For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?  But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.  For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 'Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth'; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.  For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

2 Timothy 3:12-17  "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.  But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.  But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Insight: Christians will suffer for their faith and they will be persecuted.  Get ready for it now and be determined to stand firm.  We will be blessed and rewarded if we can keep God's commands and if we can avoid denying Him.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and make us like You.  Thank you for loving us so much.  Thank you for promising us persecution.  Help us to be ready and to understand the we grow in trials.  Thank you for blessing and rewarding our obedience during hard times.  Make us strong, lift us up, and increase our faith.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Congress of the United States of America (August 11, 1984, by a Senate vote of 88-11 and a House vote of 337-77, voted the Equal Access Act into law. The Supreme Court upheld it by a vote of 8-1 in the Westside Community School v. Mergens case in 1990. Section 4071 (20 U.S.C §§ 4071-74) explains that denial of equal access is prohibited:

Sec. 4071. (a) It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has limited open forum to deny equal access of a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any student who wishes to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings.

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/.

Submit your checkbook and calendar to God.

(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.)

We aren't just called to be students of the Word, but soldiers for God.

If the worship and the church are scriptural, the rest is negotiable.

Is the Word of God as important to you as the shows you watch?

My opinion means nothing.  God's opinion means everything.

Does your Sunday sermon compel you to live a different life?

It takes the power of God to help us give up what we want to someone else who wants it.

God has given us the instruments to make beautiful music for Him.

Christians are engulfed in mediocrity because they make powerless decisions.

Focus your ministry on what changes people's lives.

If we radically loved each other, people would be flocking to the churches.

We don't struggle with a lack of information.  We struggle with a lack of love.

Moses entered the Promised Land at the transfiguration because of His relationship with Jesus Christ.

The most painful part of Jesus' crucifixion was probably when God looked away while He suffered.

If Jesus was dead today, the church wouldn't exist.

My favorite translation of scripture is the Word of God translated into the lives of believers.

Lay whatever is standing between you and God on the altar.

These quotes were inspired by the Holy Spirit and Howard Everett.

If you'd like to read more quotes, you'll want a copy of Dr. Gastrich's book called, "10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings"!  It's the largest collection of Bible-based quotations in the world.