Spirit World!

For Thursday, May 14, 2026:

Colossians 1:16b NLT: “Christ made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.”

There is an entire reality, parallel to our world, that we cannot see. But it affects us greatly. Many Christians dream of going to heaven, a spirit reality, but balk at believing the size and complexity of the spirit realm. It’s truly difficult to believe in what we can’t see, what we can’t verify with our own eyes.

The risen Jesus delayed Paul on the road to Damascus. Christ cleared up who he is and proved that he can do everything he promised. I believe he also gave Paul a glimpse into the life after this life. As Paul describes it to the Colossians, the world we cannot see may be greater than the one we can see. He includes kingdoms with kings on their thrones and battles between them. Just as there is good and evil on the earth, there are spirits on God’s team and demons on Satan’s team. We’d do well to watch out for the latter.

Humans live this life, and then transition to the life after this life. Very few ever return, Lazarus and a few others. Jesus is the only one who existed in the unseen reality, came to earth to forgive mankind’s propensity for sin, and then returned to the spirit realm. These facts may or may not affect our earthly lives. But God doesn’t want to hear us say, “I didn’t see that coming!” Knowing what’s ahead, we can better conform to God’s commandments.

When we approach the pearly gates, they’ll say, “We’ve been expecting you!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

God's Top 10!

For Tuesday, February 17, 2026:

Romans 7:1 NLT: “Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living?”

God gave us laws, sometimes called commandments. They are not optional. God’s laws define sin, and help us get along with God and with one another. Laws are for the living. There may be other laws when we reach the next reality of heaven. We’ll find out on a need-to-know basis.

There are 613 commandments in scripture, things God said we should do. Some are to honor God, while others keep us safe and healthy. Some help us interact with others. A few laws were given from the start, from creation. Others were added along the way. Moses received the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai as the Jews were relocating from Egypt to the Promised Land. Most Christians only know about God’s Top 10! It’s not a bad start!

A lot of what we call commandments are really common sense nowadays. If we’d stop and think a situation through to it’s logical conclusion, we’d already know the best way to proceed. The New Covenant gave mankind a conscience, so that we’d instinctively know right from wrong. God’s laws are written on our hearts so we can’t forget or lose them. We advise people to “do the next right thing.” You should already know what it is!

If you’re alive, you’re living under God’s laws. As we counsel others to follow Jesus, they too need to know about God’s laws. Once everyone understands that the words in the Bible are God-inspired and are the true, obeying His commandments will make a lot of sense!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and 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

Jesus Messiah!

July 21, 2025, Monday Message:

John 12:10-11 AMP: “The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus also, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away [from the teaching and traditions of the Jewish leaders] and believing in Jesus [following Him as Savior and Messiah].”

Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. You may recall that Lazarus became quite ill and eventually died. It was Jesus, Son of God, who brought him back to life four days later! Jesus was intentional about waiting four days to arrive, so that observers could be certain of the miracle and glorify God Almighty! This same Jesus would eventually hold all power over sin and death.

2,000 years ago, there was no radio, TV or internet. So when someone returned home and asked, “What’s been happening,” they expected detailed information. “Tell me everything!” Lazarus being brought back to life was #1 on the local buzz. People couldn’t stop talking about it, and many perceived Jesus to be the prophesied heaven-sent Messiah. Many shifted their allegiance from the Jewish priests to Jesus. Nowadays, we’d call it a Church Split.

Sidebar, just my opinion: I believe that faith in God’s Son, Christianity, was never intended to be a separate religion. It should have been just Judaism Chapter 2, a continuation of God’s relationship with Earth’s people. Jesus was raised Jewish, and observed and taught the centuries-old commandments and traditions. Replacing the Old Covenant with the New Covenant should have been a continuation, not a complete break and a restart. Count on humans to get it wrong!

The Chief Priests first plotted to kill Jesus, and now they’re planning the demise of Lazarus. When your religious leadership has murder on its agenda, you know for certain that it’s time to make a switch. Clearly the train had gone off the tracks.

God always favors life. First, he created everything from scratch, and then he commanded all creation to, “Go forth and multiply!” Reproduce your own kind. Make more like yourself, and fill the earth! God never said, “Figure out who to kill, and make a few animals extinct. There are far too many _____.” (snails, tortoises, dolphins, birds – you pick!)

One more thing. Last Friday, I was at the Rice County Fair in Faribault, MN. A couple had brought their newborn baby, and everyone wanted to take a look. A young girl, all smiles, told me excitedly, “He’s not even a week old!” By the time I backed off, at least 35 people had gathered to see God’s creation! They were ignoring the cows, chickens, goats and horses on display and focusing on the infant! The parents should have been awarded a blue ribbon for their exhibit! Moments like this make God smile!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God's Forgiveness!

For Friday, February 28, 2025:

Exodus 32:10a NLT: God speaking: “Leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against the Israelites, and I will destroy them.”

The impatient people of Israel built a golden calf to worship. Had they forgotten that the real God just rescued them from Egyptian slavery? Isn’t agreeing to be one of God’s people a forever decision with eternal ramifications? Had they forgotten that promise?

God is upset and angry. He’s had enough of these fickle Israelites. If they can’t stick by him after all he did for them, God thought he might as well wipe them from the face of the earth!

Moses, in panic mode, intervenes on behalf of the Israelites. He makes his case: “Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth?’” That behavior doesn’t sound typical of God Almighty, and in fact God relented. Forgiveness better fits the God-trend we know!

Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, saw the calf and the people celebrating, and he lost his temper! Rightfully so! He burned their calf and ground it into dust. In his anger, he threw the tablets inscribed with God’s commandments, smashing them. God would later replace the tablets. The faithful Levites were ordained as priests of God. Those who opposed God were eliminated from the group.

Moses was never going to get his group to the Promised Land unless they all shared the same goal. They needed to all be on the same page, pulling in the same direction. If your church and your ministry are going to grow, your group needs to understand the organization’s goal, the overall plan, and be willing to work to implement those goals. Jesus said, “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.”

Working with Jesus is a great plan with long-term benefits!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Commandments!

For Sunday, February 23, 2025:

Exodus 24:12 NLT: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.”

How many commandments did God give mankind? Jewish tradition says 613. God highlighted 10 key points on the tablets he gave Moses. Jesus simplified it further, saying that if we’d love God and love our neighbors, we would be on the right path!

If there’s something important that you need to remember, write it down! God did it himself in the Bible, so it’s good advice for us all, not just for religious things, but for business things and life’s lessons as well. Nothing is lost due to faulty memory or misguided oral translations. Print the principle in big letters and post it on your wall! Or put the principle under the glass on your desk. That implies that the principle can’t be changed since we can’t reach it. Or do as God did: etch it in stone! Tradition says he wrote on the stone with his finger! Can you do that? (Rhetorical question; you don’t need to answer!)

Why was Moses given the tablets? Why have we been given the Bible? So that we can teach others! Let’s all use our gifts and talents to share the Good News! It seems that would please the Lord!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

10 Commandments!

February 17, 2025, Monday Message:

Exodus 19:16, 18 NLT: “On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on Mt. Sinai. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled. All of the mountain was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently.”

God showed up, so don’t expect the earth to be still! Only Moses and Aaron were allowed on the mountain with God. God gave them non-negotiable instructions. Nowadays, we call these “The Ten Commandments.”

The first four commandments are about loving and honoring God. The remaining six are about respecting and living with our fellows. “Don’t be afraid,” Moses told the people, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”

Isn’t that what we all want, something to keep us from sinning? It should be our desire to live in harmony with God’s edicts. After all, he is our God, and we are his people!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Desire!

For Wednesday, December 18, 2024:

Deuteronomy 5:21 NKJV, God’s words: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

This commandment is related to, “You shall not steal.” Don’t take what belongs to someone else, and don’t long for what belongs to someone else. Desiring what is not yours is a stepping stone to becoming a thief, and in our hearts we all know that’s wrong.

Similarly, coveting your neighbor’s spouse is a stepping stone to adultery. This serves as a reminder for those who didn’t “get it” the first time.

Part of becoming a Christian is adopting God’s value system, God’s definitions of right and wrong. Those who have tried it both ways agree that God’s way is the right way, the only way! Give it a try!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Generational Disfunction!

For Tuesday, December 10, 2024:

Deuteronomy 5:9b-10 NLT, God’s words: “I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.”

Our God claims to be a jealous God. He wants 100% of your allegiance 100% of the time. But friends, think about it: there really are no other gods, so I don’t know if God is jealous as much as he is a truth advocate. He has no patience for competing with fictitious, made-up gods. His desire is that everyone get on-board with him, the one true God, and the only God!

Children attend church with their parents. Therefore any spiritual misinformation gets passed down from one generation to the next...and the next, and the next. As we’re still to honor our parents, it’s a difficult pattern to break. Understand that God doesn’t automatically condemn the third and fourth generations, but it’s bound to happen when children follow in their parent’s footsteps.

God wants us to have enough courage to step away from what we were taught, read our Bibles and then pursue truth. v10 “I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.”

Get on the right track, God’s truth track!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Commandments!

For Sunday, December 1, 2024:

2 Thessalonians 1:3 NLT: “Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.”

Jews searched the Torah and found 613 commandments, things believers should do to please the Lord. This exhaustive list was difficult to remember, and also difficult to execute.

Twice in the Old Testament we were given 10 Commandments, key points that really mattered. Mankind still wasn’t successful at being perfectly obedient, but it became easier. We were part of God’s value system, the rules made sense and the success rate increased.

Jesus made life even easier. In Mark 12:30-31, he said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” I sometimes shorten that to, “Love God and love your neighbor.” It’s simple, repeatable and somewhat achievable.

Paul was praising the Thessalonian church. Their faith was flourishing which is loving God, and they took care of one another. In short, they loved God and their neighbors, which is what Jesus said to do! It’s what we all should do!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God-given Instinct!

For Friday, November 29, 2024:

1 Thessalonians 5:21b-22 NLT: “Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.”

As a person becomes a loyal believer, a follower of Jesus and the New Covenant, we can easily separate life into two categories: things we should do, and things we shouldn’t do. With the New Covenant, Jesus taught that these laws are written on our hearts. Therefore we don’t need long lists of rules, lists of commandments, because we should instinctively know right from wrong.

And if we know what to do, we also know what NOT to do! God gave us intelligence and a gift of discernment. He gave us brains and expects us to use them! We need to slow down and lose our knee-jerk reactions to life’s problems. Take a minute and ask yourself if your reaction is good, right, fair and honest. Ask yourself, “Should I be doing this?”

Many bad decisions are put in motion when we don’t take the time to stop and think things through, to use the minds our Creator put in our heads!

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

Obedience!

For Wednesday, September 11, 2024:

Deuteronomy 6:2 VOICE: “You are to fear God and obey His rules and commands, just as I’m teaching them to you now. Do this your whole lives—you, your children and your grandchildren—and you’ll live in the land a long time.”

The Lord, speaking through the Prophet Moses, promises a long life as our reward for loyalty. And in the 10 Commandments, we’re promised a long life if we honor our parents. It seems as if our days may be increased through obedience. But that’s not the end of the story.

Obedient people are useful to God. There is much to be accomplished as we share the Good News of forgiveness and redemption through our Savior Jesus, and we are presently the hands and feet of our Lord. Believers have all been appointed to the “Jesus Team,” because God knows well our capacity for usefulness.

When you’re still accomplishing goals for the Kingdom, your days will be increased. When your work is finished, God will call you home, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship