Dear Subscribers,
I hope you had an excellent weekend!
In the first week of 2009, JCSM will send its 600th devotional message! We are going to make some radical changes to our newsletter (and possibly to our web site). We're excited about the future and welcome your input. If you think we should add or remove something, please let us know and we'll consider it!
If you're outside on Halloween, please be careful and safe. Although it's a rather secular holiday, most Christians celebrate it anyway by going to carnivals or trick-or-treating. Remember the God of all holidays and have a fun, safe time this year.
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
Hebrews 10:24, 25 "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."
Insight: Are you communicating with others on a regular basis? Some people tend to remain isolated too much. If you're one of those people who haven't been connecting and reconnecting, look for simple ways to do it. For instance, you could potentially find any old friend or relative on web sites like Facebook and MySpace.
Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and help us to connect and reconnect with others. Thank you for the precious memories in our lives and thank you for the people who shared them with us. Thank you for the times when we were a blessing to others and thank you for all of your blessings through others. Forgive us for the times when we were a bad friend or a bad listener. Help us to learn from our mistakes and show Christ-like love to our friends and relatives. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Do you remember when we were very little and didn't discriminate at all when we chose our friends? Many times, I've had the most interesting conversations with the people who were neglected the most.
Connect with someone new or reconnect with someone you already know. Pray for God to reveal ways for you to do this and ask for wisdom to pick the best one. Pray also for the fruits of the spirit (e.g. love, peace, patience, self-control, etc.) you will need.
God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
paroxoosmos (Greek, see Romans 10:24): incitement (to good), provoke
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims:
Matthew 4:1 - The Son of God is led by the Spirit of God to be tempted by the devil.
"The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds:
The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to pray and fast for 40 days. During this time, He is tempted by the Devil.
(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.)
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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