Dear Subscribers,
I hope you're having a great week.
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, Ph.D.
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JCSM's Weekly Devotions
Philippians 3:12-14 "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."
Hebrews 12:1, 2 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Insight: It's easy to get lazy and complacent when there is "nothing to play for." However, if people can get you to try harder and longer to reach your goals, be it directly or indirectly, it'll help you focus and continue. Look to people you admire, who have been there before or who are there now for this sort of encouragement.
Prayer: "Dear Lord, help us reach our goals. Thank you for encouraging and empowering us. Forgive our sins and bless us. Help us to make an adequate assessment of ourselves and see where we are and find where we need to be. Thank you for my personal goals and please help me reach them. Thank you Lord for this journey of life and how You are faithful through the tack and sail. In Jesus' name, Amen."
God is still doing miracles. We've just found some names and reasons for some of them.
Try to think of a few things in nature that God has done or is doing right now that cannot be explained. Now, try to think of a few things God has done or things He started doing and is still doing that are now explained and attributed to scientific laws and things. What you'll see is the fact that miracles from the law of gravity to ones such as the production of oxygen through plants and trees can be explained scientifically AND be attributed to God at the same time. Things simply don't create themselves and they certainly do not fall into perfect living order and stay that way without assistance (e.g. God).
God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
deeoko (Greek, see Philippians 3:12): to flee, to pursue, ensue, follow after, press onward
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:
Matthew 4:5-8 - The devil kidnaps Jesus and takes him up to the top of the temple, and then to the top of "an exceedingly high mountain," high enough to see "all the kingdoms of the world." I guess the earth was flat in those days.
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:
The scriptures don't indicate that Jesus was kidnapped. Matthew 4:1 states that Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the Devil. They were taken to a place where they could see all the kingdoms of the world.
These verses don't say that the Earth was flat. Most people think they were given a vision of all the kingdoms of the world.
This Greek word for "showed," in the phrase, "showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory," can be used figuratively.
(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.)
There are no new quotes this week. However, if you like to read wise quotes, you can either visit our Quotations Archive or get 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.
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Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.
Executive Director
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