Obedience!

For Saturday, March 22, 2025:

Leviticus 26:1a, 2 NLT: The Lord said to Moses, “Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them. You must keep my Sabbath days of rest and show reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.”

If you had wood from a tree trunk or stone from the ground, it’s pretty obvious that those things aren’t any kind of God. Yet ancient people would carve the wood or sculpt the stone and proceed to worship the resulting man-made image. God admits that he hosts a bit of jealousy, saying, “You shall have no other gods before me,” – especially man-made pretend gods!

It’s not that hard to get along with God Almighty. First, make the real God #1 in your life. And #2, just be nice. Get along with people. Cut out the gossip. Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s what Jesus said to do.

Because we’re humans with free choice, some will choose to follow the Lord and some will not. For the disobedient ones, there are consequences. God’s punishment will fall on the unbelievers. Diseases, failed crops and losses in battle may befall those no longer protected by God’s hand. In other words, Satan will have a field day when God steps back from protecting his people.

The punishments described in Leviticus ch. 26 get progressively worse. The more you disobey God, the worse the punishment becomes. That’s fair; the punishment should fit the crime. Continued disobedience results in increased punishment. The solution of course is to repent and return.

In spite of the Israelites’ disobedience, God says He will still remember the Covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These are his people and He is their God, and that will never change!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Friend of God!

For Saturday, March 16, 2024:

Isaiah 10:1 NLT, speaking as a prophet of the Lord: “What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws.”

Jesus taught that we should be kind and help widows and orphans. At that time, people were living in a very misogynistic society. Women and children without a patriarch were at a supreme disadvantage. God is on that same page, because his Prophet Isaiah was teaching those things 700 years before Jesus! Isaiah said, “Unjust judges prey on widows and take advantage of orphans.” Woe to them!

Our God is always fair, honest and kind to the downtrodden. God is “just.” When you meet someone as honorable as God, you want to become their friend, to spend time with them. You eagerly look forward to your next encounter, and thoughts of your God fill your heart with joy!

God has thousands of cattle on thousands of hills, and he wants to share that abundance with believers. That way we can help the widows and orphans. We can be benevolent. The problem is that humans tend to be selfish and not share their wealth, which bothers God a lot! That’s why it’s easier to push a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter heaven.

My father taught me to run decisions through his little test: “Is it good? Is it right? Is it fair? Is it honest? Should we be doing this thing?”

If we want to be a friend of God, we need to act like a friend of God!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Judgement!

For Saturday, September 10, 2022:

Psalm 62:12b NLT: “Surely, O God, you repay all people according to what they have done.”

David was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be the next king of Israel while he was still a little shepherd-boy. Many years would pass before the death of Saul, before David could claim his position. Back then, disagreements between individuals were often settled by fighting, and many who wanted the kingdom for themselves made very real threats against David’s life. The future king David was forced to flee and hide, rather than be killed.

David’s loyalty to God Almighty was repeatedly tested, but David never flinched. God was his unchanging rock, the solid foundation upon which all things were created. He waited quietly for the Lord, knowing that in God’s time he would ascent to his calling, to lead the nation of Israel.

Almost an afterthought, David comments that surely God will repay people according to what they have done. God is fair and just, in addition to his being holy and righteous.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

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

Psalm 7

July 13, 2015 Monday Message:

“I come to you for protection, O Lord, my God. Save me from my persecutors—rescue me!” Psalm 7:1 NLT

Psalm 7 finds David pursued by Cush of the tribe of Benjamin. Many days of David’s life were spent trying to stay alive, and David regards each successful day as a gift from above.

David uses the logic that if the other person is basically evil but he is basically good, then God will protect him. If he has come up short, repentance is in order, but all in all, he is the better person and God should be on his side.

The premise is that God is honest, fair and just. Those who plot evil should receive evil in return. Those who live for the Lord will receive his protection.

And when God is good to you, protects you, remember to thank him. “I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.” Psalm 7:17

How curious that when his enemies are pursuing him, David would take time to compose a new song to the Lord.

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) gathers at 10 a.m. every Sunday in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This Sunday, July 19, Pastor Van Dickerson presents Psalm 51.