This is the Weekly Devotional Message from

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

www.JCSM.org

Over 1500 Links!

Hello!

It's finally here! This week's devos!

I'm sure you notice a couple new things about the devotions. We aren't sending them through AOL any more! This means we can include links, send longer messages, send emails more efficiently and simply have more fun!

I hope you enjoy the new format. All of the great web pages and services will be the same (we'll still be ministering on AOL). Feel free to email me with any comments or suggestions.

Have you heard of a book called, "Secrets of the Vine," by Bruce Wilkinson? It's his follow up book to "The Prayer of Jabez." I'm really enjoying it! It's about 126 pages and it extrapolates Jesus' message about bearing fruit. I won't ruin it for you, but I highly recommend going to your local Christian store (or internet store) and purchasing it.

Next week, I'm beginning my 40 day fast. Please pray that I plan everything well, have lots of spiritual strength, grow in Christ, enjoy the closeness with God, have ideas for ministry and most importantly, that I don't eat! I'm sure this 40 day fast will be as awesome or more awesome than the last one. I'll be journaling and posting my reasons, thoughts, etc. Woohoo!

The thief who stole some of my things has pled guilty. His sentencing will be on July 2. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Let's pray that I get everything that was stolen and he pays for the damage to my van.

Thank you for responding to my paragraph about weekly Bible studies! The response has been significant, so we will be having it very soon. This week I'll be emailing everyone who emailed me about it. We'll "bounce around" a couple times and locations. It should be an awesome study, so stay tuned! There's nothing like studying the Word and hanging out with some brothers and sisters in Christ.

So many people have responded to our past need of a person to send the devotions via the regular mail, we have a surplus of senders and not enough regular mail addresses. Do you know someone who needs encouragement, but doesn't have email? Is there a business, prisoner, missionary or co-worker who could use the devotions? If you feel you know someone who needs the devotions in the regular mail, please email me their address and we'll make sure they get encouraged.

I have a new guitar student named Kathryn. She's learning the acoustic guitar, so she can worship the Lord. We start this week, so please pray that lessons go well. My other two students have been progressing very nicely. Plus, I have several potential students that should begin lessons this summer. Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement!

I pray that God lifts you up as you grow spiritually! I hope He blesses you richly, too. He will be faithful to complete the work He began in you.

JCSM would like to apply to EMNR (Evangelical Ministries to New Religions). Basically, EMNR accredits ministers and ministries that have counter-cult ministries. The benefits include the following: people will be able to find JCSM on EMNR's list of reputable ministries, they will lend more credibility to JCSM, we will be in good company when we're listed with many other strong, Christian ministries, we'll get more traffic to our web page, people will trust JCSM as they're considering reading the Bible lessons, etc. There is a $35 annual fee for joining EMNR. If you feel led to donate this amount, for this purpose, please email me. EMNR's site is here: www.emnr.org.

Father's Day is next weekend! Don't forget to give your Dad a call, a gift, special email, etc. I pray that those who have lost a Dad are comforted. Please enjoy your weekend and time with your family! I'm excited about going to a baseball game with my Dad on Father's Day. Let's pray the Padres can win.

Have you been intrigued by the Left Behind books? Are you ready for the next one in the series? You'll have to wait until October, but you can get a big discount if you pre-order here: http://www.berean.com/SITE/desecration.html.

Would you like some vintage, Christian videos? An internet friend named Rex has sent a couple videos to me and I've deemed them good enough for your eyes to see and ears to hear. They are quite old, though! He has Larry Norman, Phil Keaggy, The Altar Boys and several other musician/band videos. They are good quality, so if you'd like more information, you can email him here: drex@hatboro.org.

* 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 our 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 47,000 hits!

Would you like to support God's work on the web? If this ministry has touched you in a special way, please pray and consider sending a gift to JCSM. 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 recipients of this message! Here are the devotions, challenge, moment of introspection, the Bible word of the week, the Bible trivia question, last week's trivia answer, an excerpt from "The Revised and Expanded Answers Book" and the quotations for the week. Have a fantastic week and God bless you!

Love in Christ,

Jason J. Gastrich

Contact Us: http://jcsm.org/contact.php

ICQ#: 20731140

The Weekly Devotional Message

Day 1: "Call On Love"

1 John 4:8, 16 "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."

Psalm 4:3 "But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him."

Psalm 18:3 "I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies."

Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble."

Prayer: "Thank you for being here when we call on You, Lord! Thank you for wanting us to call You. Praise You for being love! There's no other God like You. You created love and You are love. Let us love like You do. Make us like You. Forgive us for loving You and others halfheartedly. Let us forgive ourselves and learn from your awesome example. Thank you for always helping us and never turning your back on us! You are an awesome God. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 2: "Bear Much Fruit"

John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

Psalm 1:3 "He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper."

Titus 3:14 "And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful."

Ephesians 2:10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Prayer: "Thank you for wanting us to bear fruit. Help us to do good works. Thank you for not making salvation something that we had to obtain by works. Let us do good deeds because we love You. Thank you for setting us free from sin! Thank you for giving us the strength to do your will. Let us hear You and do what You want. Direct our footsteps. Keep us on the right path, Lord. Motivate us to bear a lot of fruit for You and your kingdom. Thank you for all the rewards, blessings and personal growth we experience during our good deeds. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 3: "With Your Whole Heart"

Jeremiah 29:12, 13 "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

Revelation 3:16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."

Colossians 3:23, 24 "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."

Matthew 22:37-40 "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. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Prayer: "Thank you for expecting us to do things wholeheartedly. Thank you for wanting us to love You and others with our whole heart. Forgive us for doing things halfheartedly. Reveal to us when we have done things improperly. Thank you for taking the time to correct us and teach us. Let us be like You, Lord! Thank you for holding so many awesome mysteries and blessings. Show them to us when we obey You. Show the people who are used to doing things halfheartedly that You are a serious God who doesn't tolerate lukewarmness. Rattle some cages, Lord. Stimulate your people to be on fire for You! In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 4: "Avoid Hypocrisy"

Matthew 6:5 "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward."

Matthew 7:1-5 "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Luke 12:1-3 "In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops."

James 4:8 "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

1 Peter 2:1-3 "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."

Prayer: "Thank you for warning us about hypocrisy. Thank you for wanting us to be genuine believers. Let us repent from doing anything for show. Reveal to us the times when we have done things to get attention. Forgive us for our sins. Let us walk in the light. Let us do things to impress You and not others. Thank you for seeing us and knowing everything. Thank you for purifying us. Let our love for You and others grow. Remove selfishness from us. Remind us that eternal things don't include lifting ourselves up. Reveal to us the people who are like white-washed tombs. Help them to repent. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 5: "Bad Animals"

Matthew 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

Matthew 12:34 "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."

Psalm 119:176 "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments."

1 Peter 2:25 "For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

John 10:12-15 "But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."

Matthew 25:32, 33 "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left."

Proverb 26:11 "As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly."

Prayer: "Thank you for giving us awesome illustrations through animals. Help us to be like You and not like the animals You equated to doing ungodliness. Thank you for being an awesome God. Thank you for taking dirty animals and making them righteous saints. Help us to be less and less like the fleshly animals we were. Thank you for having patience, mercy and grace on us. Remind us that we are godly and righteous because of You and your help. To You be all the glory, honor and praise! In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 6: "We Are His Sheep"

John 10:7-11 "Then Jesus said to them again, Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."

Psalm 95:7 "For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand."

Prayer: "Thank you for being our Good Shepherd! There is no other shepherd like You. Help us to follow You and listen to You. Thank you for taking the time to tend to all of your sheep. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for doing all the things we need You to do. Thank you for never neglecting us or hating us. Thank you for leading us to safe places and giving us awesome things! Let us trust You more and more, Lord. Increase our faith. Mold us and make us like You. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 7: "Wounds That Heal Wonderfully"

Proverb 27:6 "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."

Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Prayer: "Thank you for your Word, Lord. We love You! Praise You for giving us a source of infallible, constant, incredible truth. Let us memorize it and apply it to our lives. Help us to listen to our friends when they say something that we need to be hear. Give us self-control and wisdom. Thank you for the people who take the time to say things to us that we might not like. Give them courage and boldness. Help us to be good friends, too. Thank you for cutting us with the intent to heal us and make us better than we were before. No other God has a plan like You do! No other God has the abilities You do! Keep doing your awesome work, Lord. To You be all the glory, honor and praise, forever and ever. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Challenge

Read a Christian book! Some people have tons of books and read all the time. Others rarely read books.

Lately, I've found awesome things in Christian books! They were always there, but I didn't always read them. Don't worry about the book becoming your whole life or something. You can read a little bit at a time. You'll be blessed with God's wisdom.

Here are some of my favorite authors: Bruce Wilkinson, Billy Graham, Max Lucado, Frank Peretti, Tim LaHaye, Tony Evans, Becky Tirabasi, Chuck Swindoll and Greg Laurie.

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

A Moment of Introspection

How much fruit do you see in your life, today?

The Bible Word of the Week

Justification: an acquittal for Christ's sake

The Bible Trivia Question

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and ______"?

Last Week's Bible Trivia Answer

The Nephilim were either the sons of Seth (Sethites), ungodly offspring from ungodly people or extra-terrestrials. There is no factual or biblical information to back up the last possibility.

Genesis 6:4 tells us that they were giants. In this context, Nephil(im) is the Hebrew word for giants. See Numbers 13:33, too.

An Excerpt from "The Revised and Expanded Answers Book"

by Ken Ham, Jonathan Sarfati and Carl Wieland

Racism
One of the biggest justifications for racial discrimination in modern times is the belief that people groups have evolved separately. Thus, different groups are allegedly different stages of evolution, and so some people groups are more backward than others. Therefore, the other person may not be as fully human as you. This sort of thinking inspired Hitler in his quest to eliminate Jews and Gypsies and to establish the "master race." Sadly, some Christians have been infected with racist thinking through evolutionary indoctrination that people of a different "color" are inferior because they are supposedly closer to the animals. Such attitudes are completely unbiblical (e.g., Acts 17:26, Col. 3:11), Although out-of-context Bible verses are often conscripted in attempts to justify racist views.

The Quotations of the Week

God is the only one who loves us staring at us for indefinite periods of time.

I'd love to be more blind.

Heaven is one place we'll never have to leave.

God is better than any buzz.

Grab onto the moments when you can see the light.

When a smile suddenly slides onto your face, that's God's doing.

Trying to be someone else and doing a poor job at it isn't fun.

In God we trust.

Our dreams, like the disciples', are usually too small.

Fruit is your only permanent deposit in Heaven.

How much fruit do you see in your life, today?

The Father wants more fruit from us, so He tends our lives.

We are here to fulfill God's dreams.

We will bring God glory through a remarkably, abundant life.

After you start bearing fruit, you'll wonder why you've settled for so little for so long.

Bearing fruit is not some unique phenomenon reserved for certain kinds of Christians.

If your life consistently bears no fruit, God will intervene to discipline you.

The best good news you didn't want to hear is God telling you to repent from doing something you've loved.

Whatever happens, we'll be victorious with Christ in us.

All believers are important to God.

God promises protection to His believers.

There are 404 verses in Revelation and 808 Old Testament references.

Seven is a biblical numeric for completeness.

Most Christians seem to have many near-death experiences.

Have you completed what God has for you to do on Earth? Have you found what it is?

Christ's blood is our only redemption and purification.

Do you understand that you've been redeemed?

In Heaven, God's glory and countenance will be our light.

We should have a near-cultic, religious desire to follow and tell the truth.

God can't stomach lukewarm faith.

Make decisions based on what is important and eternal.

How can you reignite your zeal for God?

We hear God's voice through His Word.

If our church is lukewarm, what are you doing to help change it?

God speaks with a soft voice but His words are powerful.

We were born for abundant life.

Jesus is the One worth risking everything to follow.

Are you seeking God to win on your own terms?

God wants us to have a fruitful harvest for Him.

God doesn't call people to simply watch everything without every getting involved.

Become a contagious Christian.

God looks at us and sees us for who we really are.

We really need God.

If the sheep want to be cared for, they have to depend on the shepherd.

If you decide to take care of yourself, without letting God take care of you, you're deciding to let the devil take care of you.

Trust in God gives us rest.

What are you hungry for?

Satan will create improper, controlling hungers in your life.

All we need to be concerned with is this: "Is our Heavenly Father happy with us?"

Satan isn't smarter than Jesus, but he's smarter than us.

Satan creates false ideas of what is important and tries to convince you that you'll never get them.

Satan wants you to have arguments with people (even if they're just in your head).

Many people seem to be alive, but they're actually spiritually dead.

These quotes came from God, me, the Inspirational Study Bible (with Max Lucado), Tyrone Moore, Bruce Wilkinson and Miles McPhearson.

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've written in the most beneficial way, try and trace them back to the scriptures 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! JCSM regularly gives to churches and needy people. Another function of this ministry is to do counseling. We are always answering questions about life, the Lord and everything in between. Lastly, we do a lot of research on religious topics on the internet and library. You will definitely see the results of our hard work and your loving support, in the web pages, and in the weekly devotions!

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.

If you have received these devotions from someone other than JCSM, please email us and we will send them to you, personally, each week. Don't worry. We don't send forwards or any other junk mail. Plus, we refrain from giving your name to anyone.

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 we send, however, please email me us you wish to be removed from this list. If you prefer to receive the devotions in Spanish, send us 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 and need someone to talk to? You can call the youth crisis hotline at 1800HITHOME, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Their motto is "help, not hassle". 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 us 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 us know. We can 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 16,000 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!

Jesus loves you!

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should have everlasting life."