Turn Around - Face God!

For Thursday, February 12, 2026:

Romans 6:19b NLT: “Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.”

In the Hebrew language, a person caught up in sin is said to be far from God, whereas a righteous person is said to be close to God. That’s a good way to look at it.

If someone appears to have drifted from religion, they haven’t necessarily placed Satan in charge. But they have wandered farther and farther from God. It’s then time to turn, do a 180 and get back closer to God. Teshuva(h) means return, in this case, return to the Lord. Repentance requires acknowledging the sin, regretting it, and vowing to take a better path as the person changes directions and returns to be closer to God.

Who is Lord of your life? (Jesus.) Are you close to God, or far from God? (Closer is better.) If your eyes can’t focus on God, you may be facing the wrong direction. Time to flip around and head back the right way!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Home Eternal!

For Tuesday, November 4, 2025:

Hebrews 11:16 NLT: “God’s people were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has (already) prepared a city for them.”

People should always want to advance, to do better. Thinking that life can just settle in one place is lazy thinking. The truth is, we’re either moving closer to God or backsliding. Close to God should be our goal!

God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) created a lot more than inanimate objects. There are plants, animals and finally, human beings. After we were created, God declared the results to be “very good.” In fact, God loves us. He said so. His desire is that none would perish, that all would repent and return. When mankind got off track, he sent Jesus to take away our sins. He wants us to appear sinless so that we can join him in the next reality. There is a special place prepared for believers. We have a reservation in Heaven’s hotel! God said so!

It will please the Lord to have believers join him in the hereafter!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Bitterness and Resentment!

For Wednesday, July 16, 2025:

Luke 15:25b NLT: “When the older brother returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house.”

The Prodigal Son story hasn’t quite ended. We know the father welcomed him home with open arms. But we also must consider his assimilation into the remainder of the household. As Paul Harvey would say, “The REST of the story!”

One of my commentaries titles this section, “The bitterness and resentment of the older son.” In his mind, what mattered is what he wanted. But what really matters is what God wants! In this parable, the father represents our Father in Heaven.

The older son had never lived a prodigal lifestyle. When he heard the celebration, he refused to enter. “I never disobeyed...” he said, and, “You never gave me…,” clues that a deep-seated grudge lived within the older son. How long had he believed himself to be superior to the younger son?

Let’s get back to what God wants. God expects certain decisions to be ‘forever.’ If you want to be part of God’s team, great. That’s a forever decision. If you decide to be the ‘good’ son, you’ve got that position for life. When you ask Jesus to live in your heart and to be Lord and Savior of your life, that’s an eternal decision. Yes, eternal! God won’t come around daily, asking, “Are you still ‘in?’ Do you still believe? Great!” No, you told Him once that you were ‘in,’ and He expects your word to be good. So was the older son ‘in,’ or was he a backslider?

One more thing. The Hebrew word translated ‘repent’ really means ‘to turn,’ as in, “I was headed North but should have been going South!” It’s referring to turning our lives around. Repent and return. Instead of drifting farther from God, we all need to settle in closer to God, and make that permanent, a forever decision. Our word needs to be good.

Notice that heaven’s celebration begins with the radical transformation of even one sinner. “This son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So let he party begin!

When God celebrates, we should celebrate with Him. After all, heaven celebrated when each of us was saved!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Direct Connection!

For Sunday, April 13, 2025:

John 16:23 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Following my resurrection, you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name.”

On the cross, Jesus took the sins of the world to the place of the dead. And with sins forgiven and the penalty paid in full, mankind can directly approach the Father. When Jesus died, the curtain protecting the Holy of holies, separating mankind from God was torn – torn from top to bottom, so it was God doing the tearing! We no longer needed a middle-man, an intercessor, a priest. That is why we pray directly to God our Father in the name of Jesus.

 "You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.” In Hebrew jargon, a sinner is said to be “far from God.” Someone who repents and returns to the Lord is “closer to God.” Tearing down the curtain allows us to be closer to God. So apparently God desires us closer to him. He wants a relationship with each of us!

Many things changed with the New Covenant Jesus introduced to the world. A closer relationship with Father God gives us a foot in the door of eternity!

Today is Palm Sunday. Lift your hands and sing with joy! With your family, celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into the Holy City! See you at church!

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

It Is Finished!

For Tuesday, April 16, 2024:

Philippians 1:6 NLT: “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Israel is situated along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. If you sailed north and west over 800 miles, crossing the Aegean Sea and then another 25 miles inland, you’d find Philippi, home of the Philippian church. It’s well over 1,000 miles if you’re walking. I find it remarkable that the Good News would spread that far in Paul’s short lifetime! Keep in mind, though, that the population was primed for worship; they were determined to worship something. They prayed to the sun and the moon. They prayed for good weather and bountiful crops. They built elaborate temples to worship these idols. They knew about worship but had not yet identified the true God. Jesus was the answer, and many were now onboard!

God never starts a project and then abandons it, leaving it halfway finished. Some projects like the church in Philippi or like your church are on a perpetual growth trend. Knowledge increases and growth continues until Jesus returns. We as individuals should also be on a growth trend until Jesus returns or until God calls us home. (Churches are managed by people with human faults, so don’t be surprised if the church takes two steps forward, and then one backward! Churches aren’t perfect! But if you wait to find the perfect situation, you’ll never know fellowship!)

Has God finished his work in you? I suspect not! None of us is better than all the others seeking to be good Christians. But don’t worry – God will never give up on you! In fact, he’ll keep feeding you knowledge every day of your life! The day you’re called home will be the closest you’ve ever been to the Lord!

God always finishes what he starts!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

False Teachers

For Saturday, August 26, 2023:

Jude 4a NLT: “Some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches.”

In the USA, church membership is in decline. Historically, people drift away from God until they’re in deep trouble. Then they call on the Lord, pleading to be rescued. God tells those people to repent, and when they do, he puts his rescue plan in motion, and the people turn back towards God, get closer to God – until they become complacent and start falling away again. This cycle repeats, over and over. When will God say enough is enough and put an end to this folly?

To find prospective Christians, it’s necessary to be in the world. But when it’s time to worship or sit under Bible teaching, we need to hear only truth and honesty. We need to hear from people with a high view of the Bible, who believe every word is God-inspired and truthful.

Choose carefully where you worship!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Sustainable Wisdom!

For Saturday, August 5, 2023:

Psalm 111:10 NLT: “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!”

Believers are shown more and more wisdom, and those who are wise get closer to the Lord!

It’s far too easy to just take God for granted and fail to appreciate the genius in the design of our planet and of mankind. The sustainability is a miracle, the earth regenerating itself with the seasons. Every spring, more green leaves; every summer, new crops. Female and male coming together to procreate. God’s intelligent design allows these ideals to be perpetuated from generation to generation.

So take a moment to meditate on God’s gifts that allow our lives to continue. Thank him! Take in some of the wisdom he has shown you! Share God’s wisdom with others, that they too may become wise and grow closer to the Lord.

You’re at the game, so get off the bench and play for God’s team!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Constant Contact!

July 31, 2023 Monday Message:

Psalm 81:7a NLT: Words of God: “You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you”

God is sending a message to the Hebrew people, referencing their rescue from Egypt. The people had been miserable, they cried out to God, and God responded with a solution, with a rescue. If God did that once, he can certainly do that again! God (and his Son Jesus) are unchanging, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I call that the “God-trend!”

The point is that our Father should be our constant resource. We should always be connected with God, so problems can be solved while they are still small. God should be a constant part of our lives, not a just last resort only when there’s trouble, only when there’s no other solution.

Life goes better when we’re closer to God!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Worship the Creator!

For Friday, July 14, 2023:

Romans 1:25-26a NLT: “(Those who reject God) traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.”

You can see this over and over again if you look at the history of the Hebrew people. You could draw it on a graph – up and down, up and down, closer to God, farther from God, closer to God, farther from God, over and over again. Paul is telling the church in Rome that it’s time for an up-swing, to ride the wave that’s headed closer to God!

If you do not choose God, he will not force you. You were created with the freedom to choose God or not. He will not take that freedom away, but if you choose incorrectly, you’re on your own. God will not walk with you on the path to destruction.

It’s important to worship God, our Supreme Being, the Creator of all things, but NOT worship any of those created things. As much as we love planet Earth and are thankful for it, we shouldn’t worship Mother Nature. We live ‘green’ and try to do our part for the environment, cooperating with God’s plan for the planet. But the ultimate restoration will be as God creates the New Heaven and the New Earth. Everything will be restored just as God wants it.

God created the earth once; He can do it again!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Love and Forgiveness!

For Saturday, July 8, 2023:

James 5:16 NLT: “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

The Bible says that all have sinned, so we all have a little confessing to do. We are to confess to God and to our fellows. Today’s question looks at the other side: What should our response be when someone in our fellowship confesses?

We are to pray that they would be healed, that they would be protected from Satan and that they would be empowered to turn their life around, doing a 180 away from sin and coming back closer to God. Follow Jesus’ doctrine of ‘loving your neighbor.’ Help your fellow heal and reconcile. Jesus oftentimes declined to condemn the sinner, simply telling them to go and sin no more.

Read your Bibles – Jesus never sought revenge or punishment. In fact that was the root of his disagreement with the Pharisees. They knew all of God’s Commandments, and their mission had become enforcement, catching someone making a mistake. Jesus didn’t have much time for the Pharisees.

Jesus’ mission was love and forgiveness!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship