Provision!

For Saturday, June 13, 2026:

Luke 5:3 NLT: “Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon (Peter), its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.”

Have you ever been on a shore and clearly heard a conversation taking place on a nearby boat? Voices carry quite a distance over water. Jesus had been preaching the Word of God from shore, but the crowd had grown too large for everyone to hear. His solution was to hop in a boat and use it as his podium. His voice would then carry well over the water! Problem solved!

Jehovah-Jireh, God the provider, already had two boats nearby. Finding no fish that day, the crew was back in port cleaning their nets. The lesson here is that God will often provide what you need even before you know that you need it! Jesus would later repay their favor by taking them fishing for more fish than both boats could hold, but that’s another lesson!

The Bible says that people were “pressing in” on Jesus to hear the Word of God. Soon he might have been under the waves in the Sea of Galilee! The boat was a much better solution! God is good!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Creator!

For Wednesday, May 20, 2026:

Colossians 1:17 NLT: “Christ existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.”

The Bible describes Jesus as the firstborn of everything, present before anything else was created. He himself is not a created being. But he was an active participant when our world was created.

We often take much of our world for granted, giving little credit to the creator. Mankind doesn’t generally question commonplace occurrences, but some are actually miracles. We are given air to breathe, with enough oxygen to keep us alive. The Earth’s temperature is perfect for sustaining life, warmed by a sun 93M miles away. We have a seemingly endless supply of water. Rivers carry away pollution, which settles in oceans. Only pure H₂0 evaporates into clouds, wind blows them over our land, raining down fresh water! It’s a genius system!

Gravity holds everything together. Even though the Earth speeds around the sun eight times faster than a speeding bullet, we don’t fly off into space! There are more insects in a square mile than there are humans on the planet! A single human chromosome contains twenty billion bits of information. Won’t fit on my phone, my iPad or my laptop – not even close!

God is very good, even when we don’t fully realize it!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Kingdom At Hand!

For Saturday, March 14, 2026:

Luke 3:16 NLT, John the Baptist speaking: “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

In Jesus’ day, Hebrews were plagued with Roman oppression. They hung on tightly to a prophecy about a Messiah coming to rescue them. People would come to the Jordan and confess their sins, wanting to live a better life. They desired to get right with God. As John baptized the repentant, they questioned him: “Might you be the Messiah for whom we have been waiting?”

John assures them that he is not that Messiah. According to John, there’s a huge difference. He can only baptize with water. He warns the group that the Kingdom of God is near. They will see it soon, baptism with the fire of the Holy Spirit and the Son of God walking on Earth alongside mankind. It’s kind of hard to explain, as no one had ever seen anything like this before! John had a little inside information, being a cousin of Jesus.

I could repeat John’s message today, and the information would still be correct. We should all repent and return to the Lord, because the Kingdom is at hand. Jesus said he would return. Everything he told us has been true, and we expect that this would be likewise – true! Jesus gave us signs to watch for, hints that his return was imminent. We see more and more of them all the time as the date draws closer.

Churches pray for world peace, but Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars until he returns. There are currently about 40 wars in the world, people shooting real bullets at one another. The wars we hear about on the news are the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East. Russia and communist North Korea are attacking Ukraine with soldiers and weapons. The US and other NATO allies are pouring defense assets into Ukraine. What we have here (just my opinion) is Communist Russia fighting a world war against Democratic countries. It’s just not obvious because the fighting is all on Ukrainian soil! That war is bigger than you think!

As for the Middle East, it’s Islam vs Judaism. Christians come down on the side of the Jews, our ancestors. Russia has been supplying intelligence and weapons to Iran, while Israel and the US intend to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In 2001, when hijacked airplanes demolished the World Trade Center towers, I told my Jewish friends that this was a Holy War. I still believe that.

Jesus said that there will be wars and rumors of wars until he returns. If we read those signs, Jesus should be on the way. With each passing day, we’re one day closer to his return. Friends, the Kingdom of God is at hand!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Water, Please!

For Wednesday, February 12, 2025:

Exodus 16:3 NLT: “In Rephidim, the Israelites continued to argue with Moses. ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?’”

Moses was frustrated by the people’s lack of faith in the Lord. In desperation, he called out to God: “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!”

“Is the Lord here with us or not?” That was the question of the day. The fickle people are wondering if perhaps God had abandoned them – the same God who said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you!’ Moses asks it as a rhetorical question. He already knows the answer. God is indeed with them all, directing their every step from Egypt to Canaan. But why can’t these people of Israel show faith, make a decision to trust the Lord, and then stick with it? Good question! It’s no different than what we need to do today – trust God and His Son through faith and then stick with our decision.

Once again God came through for his people. He told Moses to strike the rock on Mt. Sinai with his staff, and water would come gushing out. Problem solved. Everything happened just as God said it would. Would this ignite the faith of the Israelites? We’ll see...

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Creator!

For Friday, September 9, 2022:

Psalm 124:8 NLT: “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

The new James Webb telescope is sending us images of faraway places heretofore unseen. While scientists are amazed at this look into our galaxy, know that there are at least 100 billion other galaxies, and that number is expected to increase as our telescopes improve! God has certainly been busy!

Planet Earth is unique. Astronomers have discovered no other planet the right distance from its sun with water and an oxygen atmosphere that could support human life. Our presence here is a gift that should never be taken lightly. God has a plan and you’re a part of it, or you wouldn’t be here! God doesn’t make mistakes!

If I’m explaining God and Jesus to an unbeliever, I call him the Creator! It makes sense to revere someone who could design all this. The plants, animals, water and air are no accident. And if we need help – if we need divine intervention – it makes sense to trust the one who made it all in the first place!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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