Jesus – Son of God!

For Thursday, October 3, 2024:

1 John 4:15-16 NLT: “All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.”

John knew and understood much about God, Jesus and the Kingdom. He was a 3+ year disciple, living with and taking meals alongside Jesus. God filled in the blanks with the Revelation visions that took place on the island of Patmos. We would do well to listen to John!

Paul’s credential is the same, but he arrived in a much different way. Paul was leading small armies opposing Jesus and the new Christian movement, when he was struck blind on the road to Damascus. Jesus himself did the teaching: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Jesus turned Paul’s values around 180º! The first thing Paul did when he regained his sight was to be baptized! He was “IN!”

Our faith is trusting Jesus and the eyewitness testimony of those who knew him. In today’s scripture, John says that if we declare that Jesus is the Son of God, we too can be “IN!” It’s that simple! Hopefully we can love God as much as he loves us!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Eternity!

For Wednesday, October 2, 2024:

1 John 4:9 NLT: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.”

It appears that the “mankind experiment” was a failure. Soon after creation, mankind succumbed to the serpent's temptation and disobeyed God’s instructions. Furthermore, mankind could not pay the penalty for their own sin.

Consider this if you ever question the Father’s love for us: In spite of our shortcomings, God himself through his Son Jesus paid the penalty for the sins of the world. He still loved us, even in our flawed state. God’s desire is that all would repent and return to him. Jesus went ahead to prepare a place for believers in the hereafter.

Our faithfulness gift is eternity in God’s presence, quite a generous gift considering mankind’s disobedient behavior. But God’s love cannot be shaken. The Bible calls it everlasting lovingkindness. We are blessed that our God is so loving toward us!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Jesus' Team!

For Tuesday, October 1, 2024:

1 John 4:6 NLT: “We belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.”

The Lord separates the sheep from the goats, and the sheep know their Shepherd’s voice and follow him. Goats of the world don’t (yet) know the Shepherd’s voice. They don’t listen to him and won’t follow him – unless God has opened their ears! My church calls them “not yet believers,” but still “potential believers.”

Jesus: “Anyone who has ears to hear should listen and understand.” The irony is that those who really need to hear the Gospel may have closed their minds to any new way of living. Believers can shout Good News at the top of their lungs, but unless the Holy Spirit has opened the ears and the minds of unbelievers, they will never hear or understand the redeeming message.

Jesus: “Whoever is not with me is against me.” It’s generally easy to tell who is on Jesus’ side. Those who adopt his lifestyle and value system are most likely “in.” But we still need to be cautious. Satan will lurk like a snake in the grass, unseen until he strikes out at the most inconvenient time!

So seek refuge in Father God’s lap in his big chair. Just as light and darkness cannot coexist, good and evil cannot coexist. Therefore the closer you are to God, the more you’ll be protected from evil!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship