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

"See God As He Really Is"

Matthew 7:7, 8  "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Luke 17:5  "And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.'"

Acts 9:17-20  "And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.'  Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.  So when he had received food, he was strengthened.  Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.  Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God."

Hebrews 5:12-14  "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Insight: We all need to try deeply to see God as He really is.  This isn't always easy to do.  However, when we see God as He really is, we can begin to understand the deeper things of God and life and everything in between.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and make us like You, Lord.  Let us see You as You really are.  Thank you for having patience with us and revealing things to us bit by bit.  Increase our faith.  Remove our worries and fears and impurities.  Thank you for loving us more than we realize.  Praise You for being amazing.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Congress of the United States of America (January 25, 1988, by a Joint Resolution of the 100th Congress, declared the first Thursday of each May to be recognized as a National Day of Prayer.

PUBLIC LAW 100-307 - May 5, 1988
One Hundredth Congress of the United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight
AN ACT
To provide for setting aside the first Thursday of each May as a date on which the National Day of Prayer is celebrated.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the joint resolution entitled “Joint Resolution to provide for setting aside an appropriate day as a National Day of Prayer,” approved April 17, 1952 (Public Law 82-324; 66 Stat. 64) is amended by striking “a suitable day each year, other than a Sunday,” and inserting in lieu thereof “the first Thursday in May in each year.”

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.)

The Christian life involves a good deal of reading.

We are prone to consuming when we need to be consumed by Him.

The obstacle between us and God was our sins.

God fills us up to take us through the difficult times.

If you're on a mountaintop today, prepare for the valley.  If you're in the valley today, prepare for the mountaintop.

God allows things to get in our way; not to stop us, but to grow and prove our dedication to Christ.

Freedom is the opposite of frustration.

How biblical is your viewpoint of Jesus Christ?  Are you sure?

We have so much potential, but we only realize a fraction of it.

Sometimes Jesus calls us to do things that seem stupid.

There's a difference between having faith and walking by faith.

What is the issue that keeps you from bearing fruit?

It's as important to rescue a carnal Christian as it is to rescue an unbeliever.

We settle for addition when God has called us to multiplication.

It's a sin to settle for mediocrity when God has called us to be great.

If you're not in the Word, you're going to miss what God has for you.

God speaks to us in 5 ways.  They are through 1) His Word, 2) Prayer and Listening/Meditating, 3) Authority, 4) Peers, and 5) Circumstances.

God will speak to you in the silences; especially if you give Him more than one chance per day.

If you're a Christian and someone around you is having a spiritual conversation, you have an open door to share your faith.

Intimacy with God equals spiritual power.

Discipleship involves exposing yourself.

If a church would die tomorrow if their pastor left, they've been worshiping the wrong thing.

If you can't take a break from your everyday activities to get spiritually fed, you're going to break down.

The church is anemic and the iron supplement is the Word.

Don't become so pious that you're useless.

If you can forgo some of your earthly currency, you'll be rewarded with heavenly currency.

The real eternal currency is relationships.

There are 3 ways to fill up your child's tank with what he/she needs: 1) Eye contact, 2) Verbal praise, 3) Quality time.

Date your spouse, then date your kids.  Spend quality one on one time with them.

In a world full of fears, we must be overtaken with love.

These quotes were inspired by the Holy Spirit and Pastor 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.