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Dear Friends, I hope you had a great Independence Day weekend and we pray you are blessed as you celebrate the 4th of July, tomorrow! This week's devotional message is the second in a three part series on worship. We hope you are blessed and encouraged! Last week, we asked for help with our ministry to Muslims. We still need help with that evangelistic effort, so please reply to this email if you would like more information. Additionally, you can support JCSM by donating either color copies/printing, an HP 97 color ink cartridge, or the money to get this printing. We sold nearly all of our CD-ROMs last month and need to print more covers for the next CD duplication. If you'd pray about supporting these two ministries, we would appreciate it. I've challenged an atheist named Doug Krueger to a debate. He believes that the scriptures record an instance where Jesus Christ lied. We've been discussing this on a skeptical mail list, but I've challenged him to a one on one, moderated debate on an atheist forum. Please pray that he steps up to the challenge! Right now, he is backpedaling and making excuses to avoid this debate. Today, I begin teaching keyboard and electric guitar lessons at a local community center. Please pray that we get plenty of students for the classes. I'm looking forward to teaching them! Welcome to the new readers of this message! Here is your Devotion, A Moment of Introspection, JCSM's Challenge, the Word of the Week, a faith-builder from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained," and the Quotes of the Week. Have a fantastic week and God bless you! Love in Christ, JCSM Contact Us: http://jcsm.org/contact.php
JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!) Psalm 28:2 "Hear the voice of my supplications When I cry to You, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary." Psalm 63:4 "Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name." Psalm 119:48 "My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, Which I love, And I will meditate on Your statutes." Psalm 134:2 "Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD." Lamentations 3:41 "Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven." 1 Timothy 2:8 "I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." Insight: God wants us to lift our hands to Him in surrender and praise. Worship God this way and you'll be blessed. Prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for loving us so much. There is no other like You. Help us to lift our hands to You. Remove our worries and fears. Help us not to worry what others may think or say, but let us obey You with all of our heart. Thank you for being patient and merciful to us. Remind us of the fact that You want to bless us as we obey You. In Jesus' name, Amen."
George Nixon Briggs (1796-1861), was a governor of Massachusetts, a Congressman for six successive terms and a philanthropist. In May of 1850, while President of the American Baptist Missionary Union, he addressed the missionaries in Buffalo: “You go to an embassy compared with which all the embassies of men dwindle into insignificance. You go forth as ambassadors of Christ. You go to crumble idols - to convey light to benighted minds - to kindle love to God in the souls of ungodly men. “Who can overestimate the qualifications necessary for such work? The fervent, effectual prayer shall ascend to the mercy seat for you. “You shall never see the day when your brethren who sent you out shall turn their backs on you; but look higher, the Saviour has told you, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ The Almighty Friend will always be at your side to sustain you.” ¹ ¹ May, 1850, in Buffalo, addressing the missionaries of the American Baptist Missionary Union. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 48. ¹ If you'd like to see more quotes from those that framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.
We're close to God's heart when the things that grieve God grieve us and the things that please God please us.
Lift up your hands in praise, worship, and surrender to the Lord! God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
nawsaw (Hebrew, see Psalm 134:2): to lift, literally and figuratively, exalt, extol, magnify, regard, respect
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims: Exodus 7:4 - God will make sure that Pharaoh does not listen to Moses, so that he can kill Egyptians with his armies. "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds: This verse indicates God's desire to free His people. Incidentally, there are verses that indicate God hardened Pharaoh's heart and there are verses that say he hardened his own heart. Therefore, we know that he did the hardening, but God allowed it. As the biblical author wrote about a sovereign God, it was sometimes impossible to separate the fact that God could allow something without making it happen. The Egyptians were unrepentant sinners. They had foreign gods and enslaved the Israelites. God hardened Pharaoh's heart, but he had hardened his own heart, too. (This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained". This book is on CD and gives over 4,000 answers to alleged Bible errors, regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org. There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)
The account of David and Goliath has permeated our culture as clothing companies, the media, and even unbelievers use its imagery. Are we handling our giants as God would have us? Face your giants through the eyes of God. Goliath is a picture of the things in life that intimidate us. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, our circumstances become less intimidating. If you're a Christian, you must see as God sees. Challenges to God's people are like challenges to God's power and authority. If you're filled with the Holy Spirit, you'll have courage. Do you realize that God wants to give us courage to deal with the Goliaths in our life? Don't take out things on your family members. If we're going to effectively deal with the giants in our life, we need to cultivate our relationship with God. A relationship with God will give us confidence in God's presence. Too often, Christians get consumed with current battles and forget past victories. The world's ways won't win spiritual battles. God's presence changes the odds and puts them in our favor. No other humans are responsible for fighting our spiritual battles for us. If God has allowed a Goliath into your life, realize it's not just an obstacle, but a faith-builder. Are you hearing God's words in your life? There are no new quotes this week, but we have we have thousands in our archive! Visit http://quotes.jcsm.org. Plus, if you'd like to read a new quote every day, please go to http://jcsm.org/Wisdom.htm and bookmark it!
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