Rejection?

For Saturday, August 3, 2024:

2 Peter 2:21 NLT: “It would be better if they (false teachers) had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.”

If sin wasn’t fun, nobody would sin! Think about it: Satan can’t tempt you to try something icky! No one would do it! But sin’s pleasurable endorphin rush is short-lived, leaving much bigger problems in its wake! So when Jesus counsels us to not sin, it’s not to deny our pleasure; it’s protection from an aftermath of misery!

Can a believer change his/her mind? Are we able to jump in and out of God’s holy family? Sounds ridiculous, right? John says that believers become “children of God.” And we can’t be adopted as a son or daughter of God, and then say, “I quit!” It doesn’t work that way. My take is that if someone can know about God and the saving grace of his Son Jesus and quit, they were never really convinced in the first place.

I guess it comes down to faith. Due to our arrival date on the forever timeline, our faith is having confidence in the testimonies of those who were eyewitnesses 2,000 years ago.

Do you believe? Do you have faith? Is your confidence in the eyewitnesses so strong that it can never be taken away?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Eternal Life!

For Friday, August 2, 2024:

2 Peter 2:12 NLT: “False teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed.”

False teachers speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption. They will receive the wages of unrighteousness. Let me explain:

Whereas God is spirit from the heavenly kingdom, false teachers are only of this world. Souls belonging to God’s kingdom are eternal, but those carousing through this world (sinning) will die when the Lord brings us the New Heaven and the New Earth!

Judgment Day is something to be feared if you’re not on the “Jesus team!” God has no time for sin. I don’t think it’s impatience on God’s part, so much as the fact that there’s only one possible outcome, so we might as well git ‘er done!

Remember that those who have placed their faith, hope and trust in Jesus have “Assurance of Salvation,” a promise of life-after-this-life in the presence of the Father. So lock in your relationship with the risen Jesus. Follow him and you too will rise!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Plucked out of Danger!

For Thursday, August 1, 2024:

2 Peter 2:9 NLT: “So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.”

We are either on God’s side, or the wrong side! Sheep are separated from the goats, and God keeps track of who’s on which list. On the day of reckoning, the wicked will see condemnation, while the righteous will be plucked out of harm’s way, rescued as part of God’s eternal plan.

When the entire world was evil, Noah was warning against God’s impending judgement. So Noah and his family were plucked away from the evil and rescued from the flood. God takes care of those who believe and are loyal. Likewise, Lot was plucked out of Sodom and Gomorrah. This righteous man was saved while the sinful cities were turned into ashes.

At that time, the percentage of people loyal to the Lord was dismal, and God instituted a plan to raise that average. By sending Jesus to rescue mankind, God put his new plan in motion. We think of our God as a God of second chances. And third chances, fourth chances, etc.

God’s plan worked like this: Jesus would take the sins of the world to the place of the dead, giving mankind a fresh start. And without the burden of sin, believers would be suitable residents of the eternal kingdom, forever in God’s presence. That gift of a second chance is called ‘grace,’ an unmerited gift from God. We receive it by faith, faith in who Jesus is and belief that everything will work out just like Jesus said it would!

Place a lot of faith in the wisdom behind God’s plan!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship