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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.
Contact Us: http://jcsm.org/contact.php
JCSM's Weekly Devotions
"Looking Back and Looking Ahead"
Proverbs 6:6-11 "You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!"
Psalm 37:37-40 "Keep your eye on the healthy soul, scrutinize the straight life; There’s a future in strenuous wholeness. But the willful will soon be discarded; insolent souls are on a dead-end street. The spacious, free life is from God, it’s also protected and safe. God-strengthened, we’re delivered from evil—when we run to him, he saves us."
Insight: We must look both back and forward in order to be sanctified. Sanctification doesn't just fall in your lap. It takes work. Decide to do good and to grab hold of the fruits of the spirit.
Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and help us to be introspective. Don't let us be drifters who float mindlessly through life, but mold us into people who think and pray, people who hope and love. Praise You for your faithfulness. Thank you for giving us a divine instruction manual. Help us to read it, know it, understand it, and live it. In Jesus' name, Amen."
"The way we conceive the future sculpts the present, gives contour and tone to nearly every action and thought through the day. If our sense of future is weak, we live listlessly. Much emotional and mental illness and most suicides occur among men and women who feel that they “have no future.” - Eugene Peterson (The Message Bible: Introduction to 1 and 2 Thessalonians)
Spend some time considering the past. Spend more time considering the future. Set realistic goals for 2009 (and beyond) and strive to reach them.
God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
akhahreeth (Hebrew, see Psalm 37:37): the last or end, hence the future
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:
Matthew 5:22 - Jesus says that "Whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Yet he often calls his critics and disciples fools. Paul is also in danger of going to hell since he liked to call people fools.
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:
In Matthew 5:22, Jesus warns people against calling people fools without correcting or loving them. Therefore, He isn't in danger of hell fire. Paul took much time and effort to preach and explain to people why they were foolish. Therefore, he isn't in danger of hell fire, either.
This verse is directed to unbelievers. It is to point out their sin and explain how an evil attitude was also sinful and worthy of punishment.
(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.)
“Christians’ primary area of disobedience today is to the commands of
doctors. They say Americans do not eat right, they choose to eat wrong,
and they don’t exercise nearly enough. The church is suffering (and
suffering greatly) from their disobedience as much as any other group.”
- Me
“Your body is just like a car. If you put the right things in it, it’ll
run smoothly for a long time. If you put the wrong things in it, it’ll
break down quickly.” - Me
“The average lifespan is probably from being average.” - Me
“I’m mad at mundane.” - Me
“To some, New Year’s Resolutions are a joke, but to me, they mean
revival.” - Me
If you'd like to read more 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.
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.
Executive Director
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