The Answers to Our Questions - #571 - JCSM's Weekly Devotions

Dear Subscribers,

I hope you had a great weekend.

Although I was looking forward to attending my first Amazing! meeting in Las Vegas, I didn't go this year. On Friday, I spend time with my family instead. I hope and pray that the unbelievers who spoke and attended will see the error of their ways and repent.

After a lot of prayer and consideration, I decided to resign as worship pastor for the Church at the Beach church plant. There were a number of reasons for my decision, but it simply wasn't a good fit. If the plant continues and has some services in July, we hope that many people get saved and edified.

Welcome to the new readers of this message! Here is your Devotion, some Cool Facts, 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

JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"The Answers to Our Questions"

Genesis 1:1-3 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light.'"

Psalm 86:7, 8 "In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me. Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works."

Mark 12:29-31 "Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 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."

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

2 Timothy 3:16, 17 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Insight: The Bible gives us answers to life's most important questions. It tells us where we came from, how to have everlasting life, that we should love one another, and that we can be successful and blessed by obeying the scriptures. Seek God's answers and you'll find them!

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and make us like You. Thank you for loving us more than we understand and deserve. Thank you for giving us the answers to life's questions. Help us to understand You and your ways. Thank you for having mercy on us and patience with us. Help us to love others as we should and help us to love You more. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Cool Facts

On February 27, 1932, an article in an issue of Nature Magazine announced the discovery of the neutron. British Scientist James Chadwick (1891-1974) had detected this tiny component of matter during collision experiments between subatomic particles. The neutron is one of three basic atomic particles, along with protons and electrons. From these three particles all the elements in the universe are constructed. The Creator formed endless variety in nature using just three building blocks.

This excerpt was taken from Donald DeYoung's book called, "365 Fascinating Facts From the World of Discovery."

A Moment of Introspection

When is the last time you asked God a question?

JCSM's Challenge

Seek God and ask Him something you need to know. Pause and listen for His response. You may want to have a pen and paper handy, so you can write what He tells you.

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

Word of the Week

awnaw (Hebrew, see Psalm 86:7): properly to eye (generally) to heed, that is, pay attention; by implication to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:

Matthew 1:12 - God prophesied in Jeremieah (22:28-30) that Jeconiah would be childless, but this verse says Jeconiah's son was Salathiel.

"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:

Jeremiah 22:30 reads, "Thus says the LORD: ‘Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah.’” It is clear that he would have descendants, but they would not prosper on David's throne.

(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.)

Quotes of the Week

There are no new quotes this week. However, if you like to read wise quotes, you can either visit our Quotations Archive or get a copy of "10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings"! It's the largest collection of Bible-based quotations in the world.

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