Hello!

In addition to devotions, we hope you're ready for some interesting audio and video materials!

I've updated my online, gospel message!  It has went from 2 minutes to nearly 8 minutes in length!  No, I haven't added anything to the gospel.  *Laugh*  I've simply added some more details about sin, salvation and redemption.  I've encoded it in 16 bit mono (similar to AM radio), so it is less than 1mb and you can hear it here: http://www.jcsm.org/godsplan/TheGospel.mp3.

We made our first video of Jordan!  She is 2 1/2 months old and growing quickly.  This video is about 2mb in size and 1 minute in length.  If you want to see how cute she is, here is the link: http://jordanvideo1.jcsm.org.

Would you like to see some cool pictures of "The Earth From Space"?  I've uploaded over 30 of these beautiful pictures and you can see them here: http://pictures.jcsm.org.

Is Harry Potter all right for Christians or does he practice witchcraft?  The Apologetics Index is a fantastic web site and ministry.  Please take a minute to read their synopsis of the Harry Potter craze: http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/p03.html.

If you're looking for some relaxing music, you may like smoothjazz.com!  I've found some great, instrumental music that I play while I'm working.

I've completed correcting and explaining 29 of the Skeptic's Annotated Bible's commentaries!  Please pray that I continue this project and finish the remaining 37 books, soon!  This is an exciting and taxing project that needs your prayers and support.  In the very near future, this will be an important site for showing people the truth of the Bible.  Not only will it be great for skeptics and atheists, but it will also help seekers come to the knowledge of the truth.

My debate with Dan Krueger has been confirmed.  We will be discussing a variety of issues on January 7th, at 1pm PST.  This discussion/debate will be available for streaming and/or downloading, beginning on January 8th, from SermonAudio.com!

A special thanks goes to the loving friend who has purchased some digital recording equipment for JCSM!  Now, we will be able to record all of our debates without using anybody else's equipment or services.  Praise the Lord!

We are thankful for our newest subscriber for our devotions from the country of Lagos!  This is the 203rd country that receives these messages.  God bless you!

Please pray for my wife's friends in Chile.  They are considering a music career which would have them move to California.  They simply need prayer and guidance for the details.

Please pray for our brother Korang Kofi in Ghana.  He has asked me to send him a Bible and some preaching tapes.  I'm able to send him a regular Bible and a few copies of sermons on tape.  If you wish to help him more, please let me know.

I pray that God is blessing you richly as you discover more about His wonderful grace.  Steven Curtis Chapman put it well when he said, "There's no better place than the road that leads to Heaven!"

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 5000 links (pictures, forums, midis, Bible lessons, humor, proverbial stories, links, devotions, poetry, prayer journals and much more!) and it has registered over 93,000 visits!

JCSM has encouraging sermons and debates online that you can freely stream and download!  Come and hear them on SermonAudio.com!  Here is our site: http://www.sermonaudio.com/jcsm.

If you need to email me, please see the email address below. Hitting "reply" to this message isn't the best way to email 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 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

The Weekly Devotional Message

Day 1: "The Problems With Greed"

Ecclesiastes 5:10  "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.  This also is vanity."

Psalm 10:3  "For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; He blesses the greedy and renounces the LORD."

Proverbs 1:18, 19  "But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners."

Proverb 15:27  "He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, But he who hates bribes will live."

Luke 11:39, 40  "Then the Lord said to him, 'Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?'"

1 Timothy 3:8  "Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money."

1 Timothy 6:6  "Godliness with contentment is great gain."

Insight: What is the point of being greedy?  There are other people in the world that need things, too.  Christians should be able to share all of their things.  God will always provide.  Don't worry about how much you have.  You can never out-give God.

Prayer: "Thank you for warning us about greed, Lord.  Bless us and make us like You.  Thank you for giving us so much.  Help us to be good stewards of the things You give us.  Forgive us for wanting more things.  Let us see our circumstances and our needs through your eyes.  Give us contentment and godliness, Lord.  Thank you for giving us an awesome example by sending Jesus to Earth.  Thank you that He didn't exalt earthly riches and have mansions and gold.  Help us to live simply and keep our eyes on You.  Improve our focus, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 2: "Watch Out For Moths"

Job 27:13, 16-19  "This is the portion of a wicked man with God . . . . though he heaps up silver like dust, And piles up clothing like clay - He may pile it up, but the just will wear it, And the innocent will divide the silver.  He builds his house like a moth, Like a booth which a watchman makes.  The rich man will lie down, But not be gathered up; He opens his eyes, And he is no more."

James 5:1-5  "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter."

Matthew 6:19-21  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Mark 9:41  "For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

Luke 3:11  "He answered and said to them, 'He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.'"

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.'"

Insight: Where are you storing your treasures?  There is a place where you can store them that they'll never rust or corrode!  Doesn't that sound like a better place for them than the Earth?  Keep Heaven in mind throughout your day!  If Christ is your Savior, then you'll be the one day and you're going to want to have memories of things you did for God's kingdom.

Prayer: "Thank you for giving us eternal rewards for the good things we do on Earth!  Thank you for loving us so much that You are a just God.  Help us to understand how your heavenly system and kingdom works.  Forgive us for being too earthly minded.  Forgive us for only trusting the things we see.  Let us raise our hands to You and give You our lives.  Thank you for being so worthy of our efforts and our praise.  Remind us that we are merely stewards of your blessings, so we should be using them with godly wisdom.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 3: "The Prophesied Crucifixion"

Insight: Jesus couldn't have been killed any other way.  Long before He even came to Earth, His crucifixion was prophesied.  Remember how God had a plan for our redemption and know that He has a plan for all things. 

Prayer: "Thank you for the prophecies in the Bible, Lord!  Thank you for the incredible 'history in advance' that You have given us.  Let us read your Word and understand the things You have written.  Help the skeptics and atheists understand biblical prophecies.  Thank you for showing great and awesome things to the ones who diligently seek You with all of their heart.  Help us understand what it means to truly seek.  Praise You for showing yourself to us and helping us.  Thank you for Jesus Christ and how He died for our sins on the cross.  To You be all the glory, honor and praise!  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 4: "Thanksgiving"

Psalm 50:14   "Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. "

Psalm 69:30   "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving."

Philippians 4:6, 7   "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14   "But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Revelation 7:12   "Amen!  Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Insight: Giving thanks is an integral part of loving God.  A person who loves God will surely thank Him for the things He has done, is doing and will do.  Remember to thank God for your blessings!

Prayer: "Thank you for the things You have given us, Lord!  Thank you for giving us far more than we deserve.  There is no other God like You.  Thank you for giving us abundant and eternal life!  Thank you for making our lives exciting and interesting.  Forgive us for seeking other ways of satisfaction.  Remind us that You are the one that we need.  Thank you for being a God good and wanting the best for us.  Thank you for giving us eyes to see, hands to type and work, a mind to think and so many more 'simple' things that we often forget to thank You for.  Keep blessing us, Lord.  We will keep thanking and loving You.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 5: "Experience Liberty and Freedom"

Psalm 119:45  "And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts."

2 Corinthians 3:17  "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

Galatians 5:1  "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."

Galatians 5:13  "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

James 1:25  "But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."

John 8:38  "When the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Insight: When you're thinking about the 'rules' that God has for us, remember the freedom and liberty that He has given us, too!  We have been set free from the bondage of sin.  There is no greater freedom than the freedom that God gives.

Prayer: "Thank you for setting us free, Lord!  Thank you for giving us a deep freedom that transcends race, religion or even national authorities.  Help us to understand how You have blessed us greater than anyone else ever could.  Thank you for giving us freedom from the bondage of sin.  Help us to stay free and not return to our foolishness.  Thank you for the great liberties that we have.  Let us use them for your will.  Bless us, increase our ministry, lay your hand on us and keep us from evil.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 6: "How Should I Do This?"

Psalm 9:1 "I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works."

Jeremiah 29:13  "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

Colossians 3:23  "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."

Mark 12:30, 31  "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these."

2 Timothy 2:15  "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

1 Corinthians 6:20  "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."

Insight: Although not everyone heeds God's commands, we are to do everything with all of our heart.  Is this hard for you?  I know we don't always feel like having zeal and fervor in our daily tasks, but God asks us to do all things heartily, as if unto Him, directly.  Let God motivate you to do all things for Him and not worry what others think of do.  Do a good job in Jesus' name, for Him.

Prayer: "Thank you for exhorting and commanding us to do all things heartily.  Thank you for showing us what this means through Jesus Christ!  Thank you that He worked very hard and lived a life that was glorifying to You.  Forgive us for halfhearted efforts.  Forgive us for driving people away from You by having poor work ethics.  Forgive us for disappointing You and others for not finishing the things we begin.  Give us a fresh start!  Set us on a Rock that is You.  Help us to find the things we can do and do them as well as we can.  Remind us that You are a God of second chances and You want to improve our future and not keep reminding us of our past.  Lift us up and help us to do your will, God.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Day 7: "Praise the Creator"

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Hebrews 3:4  "For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God."

Ecclesiastes 12:1  "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, 'I have no pleasure in them.'"

Isaiah 40:28-31  "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

Insight: There is only one, uncreated Creator.  Are you worshiping and praising the Creator or the creation?  When you see something that makes you stand in awe, remember to give praise to the Creator!

Prayer: "Thank you for making such incredible things, Lord.  Thank you for making people with minds that create.  Let us always give You praise and thanks.  You are the Creator God.  Help people to know You.  Help the indigenous peoples to remember the Creator God that they left at Babel and remind them of the creation and flood accounts of their forefathers.  Thank you for showing us such incredible things that scream your name, Lord.  Let us be conscious of You and what You do.  Help us to give praise where praise is due.  Forgive us for looking elsewhere and praising the creation.  You are the one who deserves our love and exaltation!  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Find a mentor!

Every Christian can benefit from an older or more mature Christian mentor.  I've been mentored by several, godly men and it has really enhanced my life and spiritual walk.  After meeting with my mentor today, I realized this should be the challenge for the week.

If you need help finding a mentor, please let me know.  I have a list of people who email me about mentoring and I've been pairing them up.  Simply go to the following site and fill out the questionnaire about mentoring and email it to me: http://www.jcsm.org/Contents/Discipleship.htm.

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

Joseph: A Type of Christ

Did you know that Joseph's life typified Christ's in numerous ways?  Dr. Arthur Pink has even recorded 101 different ways!  If you'd like to read these (they are quite astonishing), please go here: http://gleanings.jcsm.org (click on 40. through 46.)  Here is one of them:

Joseph was the means of blessing to one, but the pronouncer of judgment on the other. His fellow prisoners had each of them a dream, and in interpreting them, Joseph declared that the butler should be delivered from prison, but to the baker he said, "Within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree, and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee" (Gen. 40:19). It is not without good reason that the Holy Spirit has seen fit to record the details of these dreams. Connected with the spared one, the butler, we read of "the cup" into which the grapes were pressed (Gen. 49:10-12), suggesting to us the precious Blood of the Lamb, by which all who believe are delivered. Connected with the one who was not delivered, the baker, were baskets full of bakemeats (Gen. 40:16, 17), suggesting human labors, the works of man’s hands, which are powerless to deliver the sinner, or justify him before God: for all such there is only the "Curse," referred to here by the baker being "hanged on a tree" (cf. Galatians 3:13). So it was at the Cross: the one thief went to Paradise; the other to Perdition.

* An audio sermon on this topic is forthcoming!

law: torah - a precept or statute, especially the Pentateuch or Decalogue

There were no quotes this week!  Wow, has this ever happened?  We have thousands of wise, biblical quotes in our archives.  Please go here: http://quotes.jcsm.org.

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!

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Do you need to find a solid, Christian church?  I've attended numerous Calvary Chapel churches and I've been very blessed by their Bible-based sermons, inspiring worship and kind members.  If you don't have a home church or need to find a new one, I recommend visiting the following site and locating a Calvary Chapel near you: http://www.calvarychapel.org.

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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."