Same God!

     For Sunday, February 1, 2026:

Hebrews 13:8 NLT: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

This scripture tells us that God and his Son Jesus are consistent. If God gave a command 2K years ago, it’s still in effect nowadays. We can have confidence in the prophecies given to us. Rules are rules, and laws are laws. What God wants us to do doesn’t change. Tell everyone about the Father’s love and forgiveness. Tell them about Jesus, that he paid the penalty for our sins. Tell the people that our Lord has offered us a second chance, a do-over – and a third chance, and a fourth chance… His desire is that everyone would repent and return.

We can put our faith, hope and trust in the God of Abraham. He’s the same God yesterday, today and tomorrow. Our God is powerful enough to create an entire universe, but still quite interested in each of our lives. He wants us to talk to him today. He wants to favor us with his blessings today – right now, so connect with him frequently. Share not only your hurts and sorrows with him, but your good news and blessings as well. Get to the heart of the matter. You can’t just do small talk when conversing with God. Smile when you meet with the Lord!

God and his Son desire a relationship with you. Make a point of including him in your life!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Compassion!

For Wednesday, January 14, 2026:

Hebrews 13:2 NLT: “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!”

How we live our lives on earth is (among other things) a test of our compassion. I hope everyone reading this gets at least 50% on this test. 80 or 90% would be better. Only Jesus scores 100%!

Most of the civil laws and rules to which we conform are manmade laws, not God’s laws. Other than God giving the Promised Land to His Chosen People, I don’t believe he drew any lines on a map. We’re all citizens of planet Earth, and our Creator wants us all to get along. Historically, mankind hasn’t been very good at it!

Jesus said we should love the Lord and love our neighbors. God is always first. Our neighbors could be next door, in our city, state or country, or the country across the ocean. God created a lot of people to populate the planet!

Even when a man-made law is violated, we need to remember that the perpetrator is still one of God’s creations. The ones who appear wrong to us were still made in God’s image, and should be treated with love, kindness and respect.

I remember a scene from a movie. As a couple of religious types walked down the street, they encountered a falling-down drunk begging for food. His clothes were torn, he was dirty, and intoxicated beyond belief. One of the religious leaders commented as they passed, “That man is a disgrace. He needs to get his life together.”

The other replied, “Perhaps the Lord’s testing your compassion!” Guilty!

Dear Lord, please give us more compassion than criticism, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Instinctively Right!

For Tuesday, September 23, 2025:

Hebrews 10:16 NLT: “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

The New Covenant represents a better deal for mankind. God’s desire is that none would be lost and that all would repent and return. So instead of having to read God’s Laws and try to memorize them, his commands have been permanently placed within us as instinct. No longer can we say, I didn’t know about that rule or I don‘t understand that policy. Now we intuitively know right from wrong. Thank you, Jesus!

This applies regardless of whether the person is a believer. For example, we have civil laws saying that murder is wrong, but we don’t need those laws to teach us. The Bible teaches us! Everyone from the priest to the prisoner in solitary already knows that we shouldn’t murder one another. It’s written on our hearts. We should love God, be kind to our parents; we shouldn’t steal, lie or covet what isn’t ours. Everyone already knows. Our minds have been pre-programmed to do the right thing!

God wisely put every inhabitant of Earth on the same page, giving us a uniform code of conduct. We all have the same rules, the same behavior standards. If a behavior is wrong in Washington, D.C., it’s wrong in Los Angeles. If a sin is wrong in Kansas City, It’s wrong in Moscow too. God has codified His value system and written it on mankind’s hearts. So we already know the right way to live our lives – God’s way!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Compassion!

For Wednesday, February 19, 2025:

Exodus 22:21 NLT: God’s words, telling Moses what he must teach the Israelites: “You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.”

We should all remember where we came from. If you were mistreated in Egypt, resolve to do better than the Egyptians did when foreigners enter your land.

Aliens walk a tightrope. They want to follow the traditions and rules from their homeland, but also honor the laws of the country where they now live. If someone does not follow the rules of their new country, they will not be welcomed.

What is your background? If you were ever in jail or prison, you should show compassion toward those who are incarcerated. If you were delivered from addiction, counsel and assist those still fighting the devil. If your life is pretty good, then freely share the Gospel with your fellows. They deserve to know Jesus just like you do!

You do know Jesus, don’t you?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

New Covenant!

For Friday, November 8, 2024:

3 John 11 AMP: “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but [imitate] what is good. The one who practices good [exhibiting godly character, moral courage and personal integrity] is of God; the one who practices [or permits or tolerates] evil has not seen God [he has no personal experience with Him and does not know Him at all].”

With the New Covenant, God’s laws are “written on our hearts.” That means that we instinctively know the way God would want us to live. For example, we all know stealing is wrong. You shouldn’t take something that belongs to someone else. We don’t need the government to write laws to tell us this. Everyone already knows. Everyone!

Similarly, God should always be first in our lives, murder is wrong, and we should keep our hands off our neighbor’s wife (or husband.) Don’t yearn for what someone else has that you don’t have. Thoughts like that can only lead to sin. Honor your ancestors and don’t lie about anything. Like I said, we don’t need laws to teach us these things, because God’s value system is now written on our hearts!

God says that he’ll do the final judging, but we should learn to spot evil and false teaching. Stick with those who–through their actions–show that they have personal experience with God. That’s the side on which you want to be!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

New Covenant!

For Thursday, September 12, 2024:

1 John 2:27 NLT: “But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.”

Believers no longer have to memorize long lists of complicated laws and strive to obey them all. That’s the Old Covenant. But Jesus gave us the New Covenant. (Hebrews 10:16) “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” (Romans 2:15) “They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.”

You might say that Jesus invented our conscience, our inherent sense of knowing right from wrong. We receive that gift when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. And since the Spirit is our triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), he cannot lie. He cannot send us in a bad direction. God is our Father, and believers are his children, and parents only want the best for their progeny.

We can count on the guidance of the Holy Spirit!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Worthless Garbage!

For Thursday, May 2, 2024:

Philippians 3:8 NLT: “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.”

Q: What’s the most valuable gift you’ve ever received?

A: If you’re a Christian, it’s the gift of eternal life in the presence of the Father as the result of the work Jesus did on the cross, freely given to you out of the Father’s love. If you were thinking of any earthly possession, you’re thinking far too small. Jesus went on ahead to prepare your forever residence, and eternity is a lot longer than we can even imagine!

You know that your human limitations don’t apply to God. So don’t you be the one to limit God by assigning him your human attributes.

Paul had been raised up with certain rules, certain traditions, certain values. He had been taught Jewish laws and was schooled as a Pharisee. And here he testifies how worthless it all is! Garbage! The New Covenant has replaced the Old Covenant. Instead of penalties, Jesus brokered forgiveness. Paul’s world had been turned upside down, and he loved the new way. On a scale of 1-10, the old ways and traditions would only get a 1. But partnering with Jesus gets a 10!

Believers are the hands and feet of God on earth. According to Paul, there’s no better way to live!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

New Covenant!

August 16, 2021 Monday Message:

Mark 7:9 NLT: “Jesus said, ‘You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.’”

That day Jesus was addressing what appear to be good people. They’re observant Jews, quite interested in things religious. They tithe, supporting their local synagogue.

Those things are all good, but it turns out that their parents were neglected, and that’s not good. God didn’t give them a pass on that one commandment. God never gives us a pass on any of his commands, but he did set up a system whereby we could repent and return, and he would welcome us back into the Holy Family, and that gives us eternal hope.

Mankind falls into the trap of making excuses for why we should be the exception to God’s rule. We rationalize our way into accepting that which is never OK. Time to get back on track!

In the New Covenant set forth by Jesus, God has “written his laws on our hearts.” We call it a conscience. Deep down, we already know right from wrong. We no longer need a list of God’s rules – I call them ‘Principles for Good Living’ – because we already know. If there are questions, you can always double-check your value system against what the Bible says.

We don’t get to make the rules – God makes the rules!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406