Abba, Father!

For Friday, May 8, 2026:

Romans 8:15 NLT: “You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’”

A spirit occupying a human body is more common than you think. The bad ones are demons, sent by Satan to get us off track. Most people don’t talk about it nowadays, but Jesus would repeatedly cast out demons, so we need to take notice of this.

In a way, becoming a believer, a Christian, is trading a bad spirit for a good one. Evil thoughts and deeds depart, replaced by the Holy Spirit of God himself. When filled with the Holy Spirit, we become children of God, adopted into the holy family. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven...”

Believers are no longer tied to the evil one. When tempted, we can tell that spirit, “Don’t waste your time. I’m a child of God!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

No Vacancy!

For Wednesday, May 21, 2025:

Luke 11:24-26 NLT, Jesus speaking: “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”

Jesus is speaking of the danger of someone being delivered from a demon, but not yet committed to God and the Savior. Remaining neutral on eternal life’s decision isn’t possible. You might as well hang up a “vacancy” sign. If your soul is unoccupied, demons will assume they can move in. Pick one – hot or cold, but Jesus doesn’t like lukewarm!

Life doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Everything interacts. So if we’re evangelizing and a demon leaves our candidate, it’s important to fill that space with Jesus – right away! Don’t afford Satan an opportunity to return.

Do the same for yourself. I was once told that the Holy Spirit is like gas in our cars. We need to top off our Holy Spirit tanks daily. Then we’ll be safe and protected. We’ll be armed for whatever life throws at us!

Therefore, fill any vacancy with Jesus!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Closer to God!

For Friday, July 19, 2024:

1 Peter 5:8 NLT: “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

In the Bible, we read about Satan and his minions. Two thousand years have passed since Jesus walked alongside mankind, and in that time, we seem to have forgotten about the devil and his evil spirits. Listen to this: They did not quit; they did not give up; they are still a huge threat nowadays. Every word in the Bible is true. Therefore the Bible wouldn’t warn us of these beasts if they weren’t still a danger!

We are told to guard against something we can’t see. At times that’s difficult, but still quite necessary. More problems in the world than you’d guess are rooted in evil spirits.

There are two solutions: #1 Cast out the demons. That’s what Jesus did with people who didn’t yet know him as Lord. #2 Since you’re reading this, you’re probably already a believer, and believers know Jesus as Lord. You can pray more Jesus into your hearts, and you can pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Since good and evil cannot coexist, more God means less room for Satan.

The Apostle John says believers become children of God, members of the Holy Family. So c’mon brothers and sisters! Let’s crawl right up onto Dad’s lap. You won’t find any evil there! (Remember: Closer to God...)

Think of the Holy Spirit like the gas tank in your car. Every once in a while it’s a good idea to top off your Holy Spirit tank!

You don’t want to run empty!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Faith!

For Wednesday, January 31, 2024:

Mark 9:22b NLT, Father of a possessed boy pleading with Jesus: “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

The evil spirit repeatedly threw the young lad to the ground, often into fire or water, trying to kill him. The boy’s father brought him to the disciples, but they were unable to cast out the demon. When Jesus arrived, he shouted, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” He was going to solve the problem!

When the spirit saw Jesus, it threw the boy to the ground. It wasn’t giving up without a fight! Jesus commanded the demon to leave the boy and never return, and the spirit screamed and then left. Interestingly, evil spirits always scream as they’re being cast out. Jesus explained: “This kind (of evil spirit) can be cast out only by prayer.” We need to pray for God’s help in difficult situations.

There are many take-aways from this encounter. The obvious one is the healing power of Jesus. Then there’s the lesson that God can easily do what mankind cannot do. But another lesson is the importance of faith – faith in God, faith in Jesus, in who he is and in what he can do. Faith in Jesus resulted in a healing miracle. And faith in Jesus results in our ultimate salvation. That’s why we’re called “believers!”

O Lord, fill us with faith!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Greatest!

For Wednesday, May 24, 2023:

1 John 4:4 NLT: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them (the evil spirits of the Antichrist,) because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

If I asked you to number every living thing in the world from greatest to least powerful, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit would be 1-2-3. Surprisingly, evil spirits wouldn’t be at the bottom of the list. They have power to deceive mankind, to disrupt our spiritual paths and to wreak havoc in our lives. But believers are blessed to have Jesus living in our hearts, a power much greater than the evil in the world. We are both protected and redeemed!

Jesus said that we will experience tribulation in this world, but to take heart because he has overcome the world!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Hope Eternal!

For Saturday, January 7, 2023:

Matthew 4:23b NLT: “And he (Jesus) healed every kind of disease and illness.”

When Jesus first healed someone, detailed notes were taken, like, “He touched them, said these exact words, commanded evil spirits to leave, etc.” He became known as a healer, and people would bring their friends and family for the Holy touch of this heaven-sent Savior. Jesus healing someone became so commonplace that after a while, the writers simply say, “He healed those who needed healing.”

We would do well to also remember all the times Jesus’ healing solution included casting out demons. Nowadays we seem to look at only medical problems and solutions, ignoring the fact that Satan and his minions could be the source of the problem. Since our Lord and Satan cannot exist in the same place, a good solution is to get closer to God. Ask Jesus into your heart. Invoke his Holy name when confronting evil. When everything seems to be going wrong, curl up on Father God’s lap. You’ll be safe there!

We’ll all die of something someday, but let the Lord decide that date, not Satan. With God in control we have eternal hope!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Fill 'er up!

September 03, 2012 Monday Message:

Fill ‘er up – with the good stuff.

Jesus did a lot of healing, relieving sickness and disease for many. As the Gospels begin, they describe in great detail how these healings occurred. People flocked to Jesus, who had become known for this kindness. It became so well-known that in later chapters, is says simply, “Jesus healed those in need.”

If the affliction was caused by an evil spirit, Jesus would order it to cease and desist. We learn that Jesus and evil don’t occupy the same space. If Jesus came to rescue someone, the demon knew him, that he was Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, and it was time to leave.

What was true 2,000 years ago is still true today. If a person needs healing, sometimes the best solution isn’t to try to drive out evil; it’s to fill up with more Jesus.

At Jesus in the City Fellowship, we mentor many who are possessed by the demon of chemical dependency. They’ve been trying and failing to drive the evil from their lives. We find the better solution is often to fill them with more Jesus. Then there’s no room for the evil.

We all need to recharge our Holy Spirit batteries from time to time.

Norton Lawellin

Sunday, Sept. 09, JICF worships in the Oliver Ministry building, 27^th Street & Bloomington Avenue, 10:30am. Pastor Michael continues our journey through Luke.