This is the Weekly Devotional Message from

Over 2500 Links!

Hello!

Have you ever been in 114 degree heat? Well, I'm in Phoenix, Arizona, USA and it was 114, yesterday!

This week, I'm still ministering to kids through Uncharted Waters. We led over 30 kids to Christ in Colorado, then we drove to Arizona for more soccer camps and evangelism. We'll be sharing the gospel with them on Thursday, so please pray that many of them accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Very important: Please come and visit our forum. In order to get people to visit our forum, I was going to put this message there (instead of email). However, it was too big to post.

In the last 2-3 weeks, we've gotten over 900 messages on the forum! This is phenomenal, however most of them are in the "Debate An Atheist" topic.

Have you ever been to a forum? The JCSM Forum is a great place to meet new friends, chat with old friends and post messages about things like upcoming concerts, sporting events, hobbies, internet stuff, etc. Please visit the JCSM Forum and post a message or two. Just like our forum has been able to reach many atheists, it will minister to you and other Christians, only if you come and post messages. Link: http://forum.jcsm.org.

Are you ready for the Compass conference? On August 23-25, many, great Christian speakers are coming to Colorado Springs for a conference. I'm going to hear Tim LaHaye, Frank Peretti, Kent Hovind, Chuck Missler, John Ankerberg, John Morris and many others. If you'd like more information, please go here: http://www.compass.org.

A special thanks goes to my wife, Sarine. She has been working hard for God and updating a lot of JCSM's web pages. You will notice an improved look that includes a navigation bar, meta and keyword tags, a larger font and our copyright logo. Thanks Sarine!

On June 6, our monthly broadcast failed. We noticed that there were many people ready to listen, but for some reason, it wouldn't work. We even checked the software on the previous night and everything looked great. We apologize to everyone who was ready to listen, but couldn't. We'll make sure to get everything working for next month's broadcast.

We pray that God blesses your spiritual growth! Keep loving Him and looking to Him and He will bless you.

Did you know that our web site has over 500 pictures of Israel?! If you'd like to see pictures of the Holy Land, just click the link above.

Are you getting this message every week? Are you receiving about twelve pages with this message? If this message isn't reaching you consistently or if it's shortened, you can always find these weekly devotions on our web site! Devotional archive: http://www.jcsm.org/devos.htm. Plus, if http://www.jcsm.org isn't working, please try http://www.jcsm.net.

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 2500 links (pictures, midis, Bible lessons, humor, proverbial stories, links, devotions, poetry, prayer journals and much more!) and it has registered over 75,000 visits!

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! Either email me for more information or simply go here: http://donations.jcsm.org.

If you need to email me, please see the address below. Hitting "reply" to this message won't send an email to me. I'm sorry if this is an inconvenience to you, however, rest assured that I will answer all of the emails I receive.

Welcome to the new recipients of this message! Here are the devotions, challenge, moment of introspection, the Hebrew Bible word of the week and the quotations for the week. Have a fantastic week and God bless you!

Love in Christ,

Jason J. Gastrich

http://jcsm.org/contact.php

ICQ#: 20731140

The Weekly Devotional Message

Day 1: "The Same, Radical, Minimum Standard"

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not love less his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple."

Matthew 16:24-26 "Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Matthew 5:48 "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Matthew 22:37-39 "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."

Insight: God's biblical standard applies to everyone. Pastors, missionaries, teachers, convenience store employees, doctors and lawyers are all called to be godly and Christlike. Don't settle for a sub-par standard or think God's standards don't apply to you.

Prayer: "Thank you for giving us an awesome standard, Lord. Help us to live up to it. Thank you for giving us a standard that doesn't change. Bless us and help us memorize it. Thank you for being an awesome God who cares about every detail in our lives. Let us put away our foolishness and seek You. Praise You for being righteous and pure. Thank you that there are many other people striving for your righteousness. Let us be encouraged and encourage others. Thank you for your awesome Word. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 2: "Situational Ethics?"

Matthew 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

Matthew 5:48 "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

Psalm 29:2 "Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."

1 Peter 1:15, 16 "But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy.

Insight: God never changes and either does his laws. Do you think it's wise to have ethics or standards that change with your situations? God says be holy in "all" your conduct. His unchanging standards aren't dependent on your thoughts, feelings or ideals.

Prayer: "Thank you for giving us laws and statutes that are perfect. Let us apply them to every area of our lives. Thank you for being unchanging. Thank you for telling us exactly what You expect from us. Help us to be consistent in our godliness. Help us to be wise, too. Forgive us for having situational ethics and bending the Word of God to fit our desires. Let us cling to the truth of your Word and stay close to You at all costs. You are our God and we love You. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 3: "God's Powerful Voice"

Psalm 29:3-9 "The voice of the LORD is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; The voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, Yes, the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth, And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everyone says, "Glory!"

Insight: God's voice is what makes things move and happen. He spoke and things were created. Now, He speaks and things are changed, the Earth shakes, animals give birth and all other things keep going as they should. God is the Sustainer and Creator of everything.

Prayer: "Praise You for speaking. Help us understand how You command things to happen like You commanded things into existence. Praise You for having more powerful than we are. We lift You up and praise You, Lord. Thank you for being a God that defies our imagination. Let us see You more clearly. Thank you for speaking to us. Help people to listen closely, hear and discern your voice. Thank you for having patience on people who never take the time to listen to You. Thank you for being persistent in trying to get our attention. Keep loving people to You, Lord. Thank you for promising to complete the work You began in us. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 4: "Is It Hot, Now?"

2 Peter 3:10-12 "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?"

Revelation 14:9-11 "Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."

Psalm 11:6 "Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup."

Revelation 20:14, 15 "Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."

Insight: Do you think things are hot, now? Well, if you don't turn to Christ for salvation, you should get used to the heat. It's going to be extremely hot, forever. Pray for the ones that are headed into "eternal heat".

Prayer: "Thank you for the heat in this world and universe. Thank you for creating warmth for us. Help us understand how You will punish the wicked with intense heat. Thank you for promising to save the Christians. Let Christians love You deeply and appreciate the things You have given, the things You are and the things You will give to us, later. Thank you for being a just God. Help people understand your entire character. You are so great! Thank you for being so obvious to people. Let people let go and embrace You. Thank you for showing us things in Creation that could never have come to us without You. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 5: "Hands Open"

1 Timothy 6:6 "Now godliness with contentment is great gain."

Acts 20:35 "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Mark 10:21 "Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."

Luke 6:35 "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked."

Insight: We are to have our hands open; open for God to give us what He wills and open for Him to take what He wants. Our possessions belong to God. We are merely the stewards. We can't take anything with is when we die, so use God's things wisely.

Prayer: "Help us to keep our hands and hearts open, Lord. Thank you for telling us to give to others. Let us understand when we should give and what we should give. Thank you for being the giver of awesome gifts! Nobody else could ever give us the things You give. Help us to emulate You and give to others. Show us who is in need. Change our hearts and let us see people as persons who need to be blessed by God through us. Thank you for giving us so many chances to bless others. Let us be consistent in our giving and loving of others. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 6: "International Ministry"

Matthew 28:19, 20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen."

Matthew 18:14 "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."

Insight: God cares about people on the other side of the world. Have you ministered to them, lately? Don't forget about them.

Prayer: "Thank you for the chance to do international ministry! Bless everyone who lives in another country. Help Christians to reach out to people who are different than them. Thank you for making international ministry much easier with the advent of the internet. Let people be motivated to witness to others and bring them closer to Christ. Thank you for giving us your awesome Word. Help us to obey every part of it. You are an awesome God and we need all of You. Thank you for your love for us. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 7: "The Law of Grace"

John 1:17 "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."

Romans 5:20, 21 "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."

Romans 6:14 "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace."

Galatians 2:21 "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

Insight: Through Jesus Christ, we are under the law of grace. The Old Testament laws were part of the Old Covenant. They haven't been erased, but they've been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Now, we cling to Him through faith and His grace gives us forgiveness and salvation.

Prayer: "Thank you for putting us under the law of grace. Praise You for giving us what we do not deserve. There is no other God that gives pure and edifying gifts like You do. Help us understand your heart and your will. Thank you for having an awesome plan and the ability to make it happen. Thank you for extending your grace to everyone who will accept it. Thank you for touching me and making me a person that I could never have become on my own. Let more people know your power and glory. Thank you for sending Jesus Christ to show us how to live and die for our sins on the cross. Give us great hope for eternal life because He was raised from the dead. To You be all the glory, honor and praise, forever and ever. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Challenge

Pray for God to increase your faith!

When the disciples were with Jesus, they asked Him to increase their faith. They knew they needed more.

This week, make sure you ask God for more faith! God bless you as you meet this week's challenge.

A Moment of Introspection

Are you changing your actions or your standards?

God has given us a standard to live by. His standard is in the Bible. We can either live up to that standard or "lower the bar" and make our own standard.

It seems to me that we discover we are not living up to God's standards, we can either change our actions or our standards. Which one are you doing?

The Hebrew Bible Word of the Week

Abba: Father

The Quotations of the Week

With the present, dramatic increase in knowledge, many have found earthly ways to explain and excuse God's supernatural works.

I hesitate in calling this the age of enlightenment. More accurately, it's the information age.

Think honestly. What else really needs to be built?

If your knowledge isn't bringing you closer to God, then maybe it's not knowledge at all.

Do you know how much of a spiritual battle it is to proclaim Jesus' name to the world?

Is your faith strong enough to help you through your struggles?

Don't work so hard, even in a church, that you miss the sermons.

Don't be surprised if God calls you to do something you presently don't have the means or ability to do.

Sin will always be judged by God.

Consequences for our past often come back to haunt us.

Turn away from the sins you're enjoying.

Seek help to remove the sin that reoccurs in your life.

Don't let patterns of sinfulness destroy your life; repent and seek Christ's help.

God sees our inadequacies much differently than we do.

To be an effective witness to the world, believers need to be introspective and reaching out to others.

Sometimes God gives us victories of the heart and sometimes He gives us external victories.

How many times does God call you before you answer?

Everyone's calling is to lay their lives at Jesus' feet and obey Him.

There is an overwhelming amount of Christ-less life within the church.

Entrance into Heaven isn't what you shoot for. It's where you begin.

The minimum standard shapes the culture; not the extraordinary standard.

Don't pretend that holiness is unobtainable.

Are you changing your actions or your standards?

Lukewarm Christians keep "lowering the bar", so they can jump over it.

Fools have made God's laws seem unreasonable.

The 10 commandments aren't an extraordinary standard, but they keep people from dehumanizing one another.

Raise your standard to God's standards.

Does attending church feel like being scolded?

Have you cheapened God's grace?

Have you ever known that you were getting closer to God and covering new ground?

A holiness standard applies to everyone, not just the ones with "high callings".

Sometimes I don't think we take God's name in vain with our lips as often as we do our lives.

These quotes came from God, me, the Inspirational Study Bible (with Max Lucado), Jim Olson and Chris Conrad.

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 share the gospel over 2.5 million times each year! 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 email me and I'll give you our mailing address.

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://www.jcsm.org/misc/Resume.htm. For what I do, my ministries and giving, go to http://www.jcsm.org/Give2.htm.

If you need to buy a book, some software, a game or a variety of other things, Amazon.com will have it! If you go to Amazon.com through the following link and buy one of those things, JCSM will receive between 5-15% of the total price! Plus, you get the same discounts and great prices Amazon.com offers all of their customers! If you're interested, here's the link: http://amazon.jcsm.org.

Have you signed our guest book? If not, please go here: http://guestbook.jcsm.org. Did you know that we have some great, original, Christian music on MP3.com? Click here to freely listen to some encouraging tunes: http://jcsm.org/MP3.htm.

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 Mondays, our Bible lesson is sent on Fridays, the gospel is sent in the middle of every month and the monthly newsletter is sent on the 1^st. These are the only messages we send, however, please email me us you wish to be removed from this list.

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! If you'd like to discover the biblical doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ, please go here: Audio Gospel Message - http://www.jcsm.org/godsplan/TheGospel.mp3. or the Textual Gospel Message - http://www.jcsm.org/GodsPlan/TheGospel.htm.

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: http://www.stopthehunger.com and here http://www.thehungersite.com.

Go here to donate free Bibles to people: www.TheBibleSite.org. If you want to join a Christian organization that helps feed and clothe poor people, check into World Vision. You can see their site here: http://www.worldvision.com. Compassion International is another, great Christian organization that rivals World Vision. You can visit them here: http://www.ci.org.

Do you believe in evolution? If you can prove that the evolution of species has happened, Dr. Dino will give you $250,000. I know Kent Hovind and this is a legitimate offer. For more information, please see his web site: http://www.drdino.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: http://bible.jcsm.org. I recommend using either the King James Version or the New King James Version Bible.

JCSM operates in Oceanside, California, United States. This ministry has been certified by the Evangelical Ministries to New Religions. EMNR is an accrediting body for sound, Christian ministries that preach the true gospel of God to people in other religions and cults. Their web site is located here: http://www.emnr.org.

Since April of 1997, the weekly devotional message has been sent on the internet. This message currently reaches over 39,000 people in 99 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://www.jcsm.org/devos.htm.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

http://www.jcsm.org

Over 2500 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."