Serve the Lord!

For Friday, January 23, 2026:

Romans 6:12 NLT: “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let sin reign in your body, which is subject to death.”

Bob Dylan sang that each of us winds up serving somebody. We get to carefully choose who we will serve. This is the same declaration that Joshua, Moses’ assistant, made 3300 years earlier. “Choose today who you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Your decision is an alliance and an allegiance. Which team do you want to play for, Jesus’ team or the other team? Jesus’ team aligns with our Creator God, while the other team is always battling their wrongdoings. Surprisingly, it’s easier to align with God, although at times we may be outnumbered!

Choosing Jesus’ team doesn’t instantly make us perfect. But deciding in favor of heaven’s ways gives us standards, goals for which we can strive. Believers wisely choose to adopt God’s value system, and the longer we bond with God, the better we get at serving him. We see progress, but our goal is perfection!

Satan’s sinners face death, while Jesus’ team is destined for eternal life in God’s heavenly Kingdom. Jesus made it possible for believers to view that Kingdom from the inside! Choose today who you will serve.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Step up!

For Thursday, September 5, 2024:

Revelation 3:2b NLT: “I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.”

God doesn’t want us wasting our time or his time. The church is Sardis had become lazy, still marching in place but not making any progress. And if we’re not moving forward, we’re falling behind!

This correction is for both the church as a group and its individual members. If you’re not on fire for Jesus, you need a course correction. Only you can make a conscious decision to put it in high gear!

There’s a saying in the Army: “Never volunteer for anything!” So when asked to help with something, we’re conditioned to decline. But church should be different. Within a church, not volunteering is quite a liability, for both the church and the volunteer. A senior pastor told my once that the same 18 people volunteer for everything! That in a church with 3,000 members worshiping just under a thousand each week! There’s something wrong with that picture, something that each of us can help correct.

As we approach the end times, time is growing short to step up and assist with Jesus’ mission. It’s time to get off the bench and get into the game!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Jesus vs Sin!

For Thursday, August 22, 2024:

1 John 2:6 AMP: “Whoever says he lives in Christ [that is, whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior] ought [as a moral obligation] to walk and conduct himself just as He walked and conducted Himself.”

The person who truly knows God will increasingly live a righteous life. None of us is perfect, but sincere believers endeavor to walk the path of Jesus, the one who was without sin. If a person does not do this, if that person is not increasingly dissatisfied with and distressed by sin, that person is not God’s child. While perfection is unattainable, much progress is possible, and those who love the Lord do better with each passing day.

Jesus is without sin while the devil is full of sin, and each of us is allowed to choose one or the other. God gave us free will with the expectation that we would choose wisely. Jesus walking on our planet affords us that prudent choice.

Spurgeon writes, “Sin may enter the heart, and fight for dominion, but it cannot sit upon the throne.” The throne in your heart is reserved for the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

So don’t just avoid sin; detest sin! Hate sin with all your heart. That’s Jesus’ position!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Teachable!

For Friday, August 11, 2023:

Psalm 25:5 NLT: “Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.”

People in the US seem to have a problem identifying truth. It’s what actually happened. It’s what eyewitnesses would tell you. Last Sunday I was told that truth is God’s opinion on everything! That works for me!

When we become Christians, become “saved,” we don’t instantly become perfect. Yes, our sin was washed away by Jesus, but odds are we’ll step into it again. But those who claim Jesus as Lord of their lives have agreed to be teachable. Are you teachable? The God who saves us will point us in his direction, and over time we’ll bet better and better at it. Being teachable implies progress, not perfection!

The key is to never give up. David says that he counts on the Lord all day long, and to that I would add “every single day.” Walking with the Lord should be a “forever” decision!

Today is a good day to start or continue to place your hope in the Lord!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship