This is the Weekly Devotional Message from

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

www.JCSM.org

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Hello!

Hey you, I'm into Jesus!

My wedding is this Saturday! Please pray that the rehearsal and wedding go well. We are all excited and taking care of last minute details.

I'm so happy that I've been blessed with a beautiful, godly wife! Thanks for your prayers, gifts and encouragement. We really appreciate it.

Monday was baseball's Opening Day. Since I'm from San Diego, I'm rooting for the SD Padres. They barely lost to the San Francisco Giants, 3-2. Have fun watching the games this year! You can see statistics, standings and up-to-the-minute scores at AOL Keyword: Baseball.

Last week, I created a site for the United States' military branches. It contains home pages for many armed services, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, FBI, CIA and several more pages. If you'd like to visit this site, simply go here: http://www.jcsm.org/Contents/USMilitary.htm

Do you know the three most important sites to visit every day? It takes about one minute to click through the following sites, and if you do, you'll donate food to the hungry and Bibles to the needy. Don't worry, it will cost you nothing. Simply bookmark these sites and go there each day: www.thehungersite.org, www.TheBibleSite.org, www.stopthehunger.com.

Would you like the world to know about your church? Please take a minute to enter your church into our International Church Directory. It will be very helpful when people need to find a great church in your area. Here is the site: http://pub.alxnet.com/guestbook?id=1321937

JCSM had a record amount of hits in March! The main site received over 1500 hits (second highest in recent history). It averaged 49.2 hits per day! Praise God for this growth!

God bless you as you read these devotions and grow spiritually! Please pray for God to make you into the person He wants you to be. It can be an exhausting process, but you'll be blessed and rewarded, so it will be very worth it.

*** Are you receiving about twelve pages with this message? If this message is truncated, and perhaps you're only receiving half of it, you can always find these devotions on my web site! Simply go here: http://devos.jcsm.org.

This is your ministry, so please feel free to link to JCSM and forward these devotions to your friends and family. On the JCSM website, there are over 1500 links (pictures, midis, Bible lessons, humor, proverbial stories, links, devotions, poetry, prayer journals and much more!) and it has registered over 43,000 hits!

If this ministry has touched you in a special way, please pray and consider sending a gift to Jesus Christ Saves Ministries. On the web, we're encouraging the believers and sharing the gospel with unbelievers. We're also doing counseling on a regular basis. As we do full-time ministry on the web, love and help others, there is never a charge for our time and services.

Would you like to support God's work on the web? You can join us in our vision to reach people on the web with the good news! Please email me or see our address below.

Welcome to the new screen names or recipients of this message! Here are the devotions, challenge, moment of introspection, the Bible trivia question, last week's answer and the quotations for the week. Have a fantastic week and God bless you!

Love in Christ,

Jason J. Gastrich

ICQ#: 20731140

The Weekly Devotional Message

Day 1: "He Who Has An Ear"

Revelation 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."

Revelation 2:11 ""He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death."

Revelation 2:17 ""He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."

Prayer: "Thank you for speaking to the churches, Lord. Thank you for always directing us from your love. Thank you for never giving up on us. Help us to overcome sin. Let us be overcomers, like You overcame the world! Encourage us and lift us up. Help us not to worry or fear. Thank you for making us like You! There's no other God like You, Lord. Thank you for giving us blessings and rewards when we obey You (even though obeying You is partly a way to have joy and for protection, anyway!). You are an awesome God. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 2: "God's Awesome Creation"

Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork."

Psalm 104:1-10 "He sends the springs into the valleys; They flow among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst. By them the birds of the heavens have their home; They sing among the branches. He waters the hills from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man, That he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man's heart. The trees of the LORD are full of sap, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, Where the birds make their nests; The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high hills are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers. He appointed the moon for seasons; The sun knows its going down. You make darkness, and it is night, In which all the beasts of the forest creep about."

Psalm 139:12-14 "Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well."

Psalm 33:8 "Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him."

Prayer: "Thank you for being such a great Creator! You are so awesome. Thank you for creating beautiful things. Let us stand in awe of You. Thank you for making things that we can't even understand or recreate on our own. Let us respect You and worship You. Thank you for being so worthy! Let us see your creation in a special way. Help us to respect the things You have made and not abuse or neglect them. Thank you for making great things for us! In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 3: "Don't Lie, Cheat or Steal"

Ephesians 4:25 "Therefore, putting away lying, 'Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,' for we are members of one another."

Proverb 17:4 "An evildoer gives heed to false lips; A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue."

Proverb 19:22 "What is desired in a man is kindness, And a poor man is better than a liar."

Exodus 20:15 "You shall not steal."

1 Corinthians 6:8-10 "No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God."

Prayer: "Thank you for being an honest, loving God. Help us to be like You. Forgive us for our sins, Lord. Thank you for listening to us and being a faithful God! Let us value You and the truth. Show us how to be godly people. Purify us and change our ways. Let us walk like You walked. Praise You for being our perfect example! There's no other God like You. Remind us that Your ways are not our ways and we need to continuously ask ourselves WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?). In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 4: "The Consequences of Sin"

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Proverb 19:16 "He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But he who is careless of his ways will die."

James 1:12-15 "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."

Romans 5:12-21 "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned--(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Prayer: "Thank you for being a great Father, God. Let us understand how and why You discipline us. Thank you for caring enough about us to discipline us. Thank you for making consequences for sin. Remind us how evil sin is and how it is the total opposite of You. Thank you for being our God and our Savior. Thank you for saving us from the consequences of sin! Remind us that You have overcome the world and been sinless. Help us to cling to You and ask You for mercy and grace. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 5: "Let Go of Bitterness"

James 3:14-16 "But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."

Ephesians 4:31, 32 "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."

Prayer: "Thank you for healing our bitterness, Lord! Thank you for forgiving us and showing us a better way. Than you for revealing bitterness to us. Help us to give it to You. Thank you for giving us such awesome grace, mercy and love! Let us extend these things to others. Thank you for healing our bitterness at the roots, not giving us a surface cure like some religions do. Praise You for being the only true and living God! Let us continue to praise You and become like You. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 6: "Daily Devotion"

Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

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

Hebrews 12:9 "Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and life?"

Matthew 22:37, 38 "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment."

Prayer: "Thank you for wanting our daily devotion! Thank you for being so worthy of it, too. Thank you for giving us awesome things when we give our life to You. Remind us that You are faithful and a God who honors His promises. Thank you for always being the same. Give us more faith in You and more love for You and others. Forgive us for half-hearted efforts and complacency. Thank you for loving us without condition! Thank you for showing us great and hidden things when we come to You. Remind us of how awesome it is to be in your presence! In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 7: "The Person and Functions of God's Spirit"

John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

John 15:26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."

John 16:7, 8 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:"

2 Peter 1:21 "Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

1 John 5:7 "For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one."

Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit."

2 Timothy 1:4 "That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us."

Hebrews 2:4 "God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?"

Prayer: "Thank you for giving us your Holy Spirit, Lord! There is no other God like You. Thank you for not wanting us to be alone in the last days. Thank you for the wonderful functions of Your Spirit. Help us understand how You work through us and in us. Thank you for being such an awesome God and living inside of us. Thank you for giving us power and awesome things through Your Holy Spirit! Thank you for teaching us how to be. Thank you for comforting us. Thank you for giving us awesome, spiritual gifts! Show us how to use our gifts for your glory. Teach us your ways, Lord. Thank you for giving us a part of You! To You be all the glory, honor and praise, forever and ever! In Jesus' name, Amen."

Challenge

Describe a fascinating part of God's creation!

What do you love about God's creation? Take a few minutes to describe it. He has made so many awesome things. If you need help thinking of them, consider these: the sunset, clouds, the entire animal kingdom, the human body, etc.

God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!

A Moment of Introspection

What have you learned from the consequences of your sins?

The Bible Trivia Question

What did Judas get, as a fee, for betraying Jesus?

Last Week's Bible Trivia Answer

Judas Iscariot is the disciple who betrayed Jesus. See Matthew 10:4.

Quotations

Recognize Satan's power, but don't exaggerate it.

If the Bible is silent about a specific issue, we must be careful when speculating on it.

The Bible should be the first book a person learns to read.

There is nothing more important than God.

Become a biblical scholar.

The Bible is our manna.

Nothing in the Bible is done without purpose.

Adolf Hitler was a practicing Catholic.

The county of Israel is about the same size as the San Diego county.

Is it biblical to give away land for peace that was given to Israel by God?

No plan will go as smoothly as God's plan.

What does creation reveal about God?

Take steps to help and heal the environment.

Sin hurts, strains and changes your relationship with God.

A new president or policy won't fix what can only be solved by God.

Even though we know the consequences of sin, why do we sometimes still choose to disobey?

Learn from the consequences of sin.

All of humanity has been born with a sin nature because of Adam and Eve's original sin.

Satan and sin are the opposite of God.

If you don't see the consequences of your sin, perhaps God is exercising His grace on you.

Since Jesus overcame every sin, we can have hope to overcome sin, too.

Imagine how much better your life would be if you hadn't have sinned.

Let God know your feelings and tell Him your frustrations.

Past sin can bring difficult circumstances.

Godly people lift up others with their thoughts and tone of voice.

Neglecting to discipline your children is showing them incomplete love.

Isolate a major problem you will face today. Choose a Christian response to it.

Why is it easy to spot bitterness in others, but difficult to see it in our own lives?

Put the past behind you and trust God for the strength to forgive.

Who or what can evoke a bitter response from you?

Bitterness reflects a smoldering resentment and reveals inner hatred.

We can feel bitterness when someone sins against us.

Bitterness is based on sin that involves a bitter person and the one who sinned.

The closer the sin is to you, the easier it is to become bitter about it.

Look for joy in difficult times.

How can others benefit from your struggles?

Look beyond the pain and find God's purposes for your struggles.

Pray for the bitter people in your life.

A bitter heart sees the one weed in thousands of beautiful flowers.

Everyone will sin, but not everyone will have a God-loving, repenting heart.

Bitterness can corrupt and divide the church.

Jesus removes the roots of bitterness.

Bitterness causes defilement.

Bitter people remember and review the times they've been sinned against.

Hatred is the sea that leads to murder.

Revenge and remorse don't remove bitterness.

Acknowledge sin, confess is, accept God's forgiveness and surrender to Christ.

If anyone has the right to be bitter, Jesus does.

These quotes came from God, me, the Inspirational Study Bible (with Max Lucado), the Life Lessons Bible Study (with Max Lucado) on "The Book of Genesis," Kent Hildebrand and John Leeder.

These quotes can be used for sanctification and fun. Most of them are directly based on scripture and scriptural principles. Some of my quotes are humorous or rhetorical. Some are written from sermons and Bible studies. Others are lyrics from songs. If you'd like me to go into more detail on any of them, please email me.

Like most verses in the Bible, they can be debated. To use what I have written in the most beneficial way, try and trace them back to the scriptures they were derived from and apply the true principles to your life in a meaningful way! Please don't sell my quotes or publish them for profit. If English is not your first language, you may not understand some of the quotes. I'm sorry, but some of them are English metaphors and deal with multiple word meanings. God bless you all!

Please make a commitment to pray for this ministry. As every believer is tempted and tried, this ministry faces trials also. God has blessed me, JCSM and the people who have been reached! Unfortunately, the enemy knows this and spiritual warfare is the result. Please, at least pray that the devotions continue to be sent religiously, the web pages stay on the www and the subscribers are blessed, sanctified and protected from evil. Thank you very much in advance!

Do you want to help people receive the good news? We have sent over 500,000 emails, encouraging people with God's Word! Please join us in the great commission. We're reaching new people every day with God's awesome Word! If God has blessed you and you wish to send a love offering to me and my ministry, please send it to the address below.

You can join our vision and help this ministry! Your donations will keep these ministries running and further our visions for evangelism. Hundreds of web pages have been created to lead people to the Lord. Frequently, we make new ones and they are used to bring more and more people into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. We're certain there will be more ways to reach people in the future. Along with getting support, we also give support! I regularly give to my church and frequently give to needy people. Lastly, I do a lot of research on religious topics on the internet and library. You will definitely see the results of our work and your support, in the web pages, and in the weekly devotional messages!

For more about me and my service history, go to http://resume.jcsm.org. For what I do, my ministries and giving, go to http://vision.jcsm.org.

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The devotions are sent on Monday nights. The gospel is sent on the 11th of every month and the monthly newsletter is sent on the 20th. These are the only messages I send, however, please email me if you wish to be removed from this list. If you prefer to receive the devotions in Spanish, send me a request because the devotions have been reaching the Spanish speaking community for over a year!

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please email me! I would love to share the gospel with you. The Bible is very straightforward when it speaks about Heaven, Hell and eternal life. If there is any doubt that you are going to Heaven when you die, please let me know today!

Are you having trouble in life? Do you need someone to talk to? You can call the youth crisis hotline at 1-800-HIT-HOME, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Their motto is "help, not hassle". Hotline counselors will listen to you and encourage you. If you are hurting and need someone to talk to, please feel free to call. YDI pays for these calls and has helped over 1 million people! They are also looking for people to answer calls. Their web site is at www.1800hithome.com.

Would you like to feed starving people by simply clicking a button and paying absolutely nothing? Sponsors pay to donate food to hungry people all over the world. I click these nearly every day. It takes about 10 seconds and it donates food to needy people! Go here: www.thehungersite.com and here www.stopthehunger.com.

Go here to donate free Bibles to people: http://www.TheBibleSite.org. If you want to join an organization that helps feed and clothe poor people, check into World Vision. You can see their site here: www.worldvision.com.

JCSM now does regular mailings! If you are getting rid of your email or know someone who wants the devotions, but doesn't have email, please give me their address and we'll send them the devotions. If you don't have internet access, but want to read a certain web page or Bible lesson, let me know. I could copy and paste something into an email message for you. If you have internet access and need a great, online, study Bible, go here: www.biblestudytools.net

Since April of 1997, the weekly devotional message has been sent on the internet. This message currently reaches over 12,000 people in 98 countries. To read a list of these countries, go here: http://www.jcsm.org/misc/countries.htm. To read the archived devotions online, go here: http://devos.jcsm.org.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

http://www.jcsm.org

Over 1500 links!