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

Reciprocal Love!

For Thursday, December 4, 2025

Romans 5:5b NLT: “We know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Love is reciprocal. Bi-directional. God loves us so much that it becomes easy to love him back. So put the Lord up on a pedestal and add worship to your lives in abundance!

God’s timing is always perfect. When mankind was floundering, he sent Jesus to rescue us. Now that Jesus has returned to the Father, the Holy Spirit has been sent to be our helper and our advocate. As children of God, Heaven is where we belong. Eventually. God is trying to make it easy for us to come home. The Holy Spirit will guide us. Home is where when you go there, theyhave to let you in!

 When we become believers, we’re adopted into the family of God. We receive the rights, privileges and benefits of being a family member. We can inherit salvation! As we transition from this life to the next, Jesus will be there to welcome us with open arms. Jesus is the light of the world, and we should always pursue light, not darkness.

I wish churches would teach more about the Holy Spirit. He’s one-third of the Trinity, but seems to be on the short end of receiving screen time. Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations, but I don’t think I could ever do that on my own. The Earth is just too big! But a team with each member possessing different God-given gifts and talents can bring Jesus’ goal into focus.

Can you heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons? By yourself, no. With the Holy Spirit, maybe, if it fits with God’s purpose and timetable. For example, if someone is dying because God is calling them home, we should leave well enough alone. But if someone is dying because demons are disrupting things, we should cast out the demon(s) and heal the illness. God’s way is always the right way! The Holy Spirit will help!

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He’s already loving you back!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Shalom – Peace of the Lord!

For Friday, October 24, 2025:

John 14:27 ESV, Jesus speaking: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

God dispersed mankind after the Tower of Babel incident, and gave different languages to different groups. The number of words varies. Sometimes more words are required. For example, the different native Inuit tribes of Alaska and western Canada have 40, 53, and as many as 70 different words for snow. Light, fluffy snow; wet, heavy snow. In English, we have to describe it. In Inuit, they have a distinct word for each. Scandinavian natives have over 300 words relating to snow! Now I’m really confused!

Sometimes we need more words. Here, Jesus is speaking about “shalom,” a Hebrew concept, written down in Greek and then translated for us into English. As the saying goes, something is lost in the translation!

Since it’s “the peace of the Lord,” perhaps “serenity” would be closer to the original meaning. The concept requires faith, believing that with God in charge, everything will be OK. Trust in the Lord... If we survive the world's tribulation, we’ll still be alive, and that’s good! If we don’t survive, Jesus will welcome us into God’s eternal Kingdom, and that’s also good! Either way, we’ll be OK. If you’re a believer, worry isn’t necessary and would be a waste of time!

"Shalom” is a traditional Hebrew coming and going prayer, a blessing for each other. “May the peace of the Lord be with you.” Free of worry and fear and trusting in God Almighty, life will be good. After all, believers have been adopted into the Holy Family!

Shalom!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Walk in the Light!

For Tuesday, April 15, 2025:

John 12:36 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.”

Jesus, God and heavenly things are light. Satan, demons and all evil are darkness. Addressing the crowd, Jesus shows that he still has a sense of humor, stating the obvious in a “duh” moment: “Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going!”

Ever the evangelist, Jesus is recruiting for his team until the end. For him, sharing the Good News is a 24/7 task. That job has been reassigned to today’s believers. We’re to make disciples of all nations. Jesus has delayed his return so we can add to our number. He wants to give everyone the chance to have an abundant life after this life!

The Apostle John, arguably Jesus’ best friend, said it best: “To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God,” daughters and sons of the Most High! We’ve been adopted into the Holy Family!

Walk in the light!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Adopted by God!

For Wednesday, September 16, 2020. 

Galatians 4:5 NLT: “God sent his Son Jesus to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.”

We can easily picture one human helping another, and we can probably picture God helping mankind. But adopting us into the Holy Family? I’ll admit I didn’t see that coming! That’s more than we have a right to expect! Nonetheless, that’s God’s intention for those who believe in his Son! 

The author Paul had in mind a Roman model of legal adoption, where adopted children were given equal privileges in the family and equal status as heirs. He’s saying that believers have the same rights and privileges as any other family member, and that’s Good News for all of us!

Our God is a God of forgiveness, mercy, love and second chances. He’s in the redemption business. He wants to reach out, rescue you, and adopt you as one of His own. That’s what the Bible says, and that gives us hope! 

Blessings and safety,

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Family Members

For Thursday, July 9, 2020.

1 John 2:29 NLT: “Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.”

God uses the FAMILY as his model for Christian living, and we should too. Picture an ideal family, not the dysfunctional bunch up the street – a really GOOD family!

God is the Father, and that’s how it should be. Jesus is at his right hand, and the church is the bride of Christ. Therefore the rest of us, through faith and grace, have been adopted into that Holy Family. And when a child is legally adopted, they are heirs to all the benefits, rights and privileges that family has to offer. Welcome to God’s family!

The bottom line is that God wants to include you. He has made it easy for you to join the heavenly family. We are all free to say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ but God’s desire is that none would be lost!

Blessings and safety for everyone!

Pastor Norton

Jesus in the City Fellowship

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406