May God bless you and keep you, and

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

A Devotional from Jim:

               This year, a lot of people are feeling anxious and curious about the conflict in Israel. Many have asked me for my thoughts on this, and as I look at these world events through the lens of Scripture, there is one thought that I would like to share with you for this Christmas season.
               Please take a moment and read Psalm 135:1-12. I want to pull out three things from this passage. First, God has chosen Israel for Himself (v. 4)! Second, God will do whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth (v. 6), and finally, God removed Israel’s enemies from their land and gave them that land as their heritage years ago (v. 8-12).
               You might wonder what this has to do with the Christmas season. To understand, we must turn to another passage from the Bible, since we must always interpret what God is doing through the lens of Scripture. Please read Luke 1:26-55. Just as we must do in these days, Joseph and Mary had to turn to God’s Word, to what God had already said, to guide them through the chaos of their lives being turned upside down by God’s plan. God did what He was pleased to do in heaven and on earth through Mary and Joseph, and they clung to His promises as their lives were eternally changed.
                Notice how Mary did not understand fully what God was doing, but she submitted herself to what He asked of her. She acknowledged that God is God, and she was His servant. She took comfort in the many promises that God had made to Abraham that He promised to fulfill, and she worshipped God for what He was doing in her life, even if she didn’t fully understand it.
                As we live in this time where we see the world heading to the prophesied end, we don’t have to understand it fully either. We must simply submit ourselves as servants to the One who gets to do whatever He pleases with His world and His people! As we look back at Mary and Joseph’s time, we understand God’s good purposes in that chaos a little better than they did, and we celebrate and thank God for what He was doing at that time (bringing the Messiah into the world)! Trust that God’s purposes are just as good in these days as well, as He is setting the stage for the Messiah’s return.
                Don’t let politics shape your worldview, but let Scripture give you encouragement and peace amid the chaos of this world! Trust the same God that Mary and Joseph did.
                We love you! Merry Christmas!!

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  –Romans 15:4-7, 13

Bible Cruise 2024

               We hope you will join us for the 2024 Bible Cruise! Jim will be speaking on the Parables of Jesus, a series titled "What is God Trying to Tell Us?" The Bible cruises are a great time for discipleship, fellowship with other believers, and outreach to the other guests and the crew on the ship. If you have never been on a Bible cruise with us before, come see what you have been missing! We meet for Bible study on mornings and afternoons while we are at sea, eat together in the dining room at dinner each evening, and relax and fellowship throughout the entire week!
               We have staterooms held at terrific prices! Please consider booking your stateroom as soon as you can. Cruises have become more popular than ever, and now it appears that most cruisers are booking early, up to two years in advance. To get the stateroom and location that you want, it is best to book early. Deposits made within our group holdings are refundable until mid-July, 2024. Please email or call Becky Johnson at beckyj@mmvagent.com or 321-591-5993 to reserve your cabin or find out more.

CLICK HERE to Find Out More

Thankfulness & Giving Freely

          When we started this ministry in 2005, we never could have imagined how God would use it and how blessed we would be because of His work. We have been faithfully following God’s calling for over eighteen years, and over the last few years, God has been exploding our reach even more than we had previously imagined. Because of tools like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Jim’s book on Revelation, “What Will Happen Next,” we have been able to reach people from all over the globe (literally! Jim’s teaching has been seen by people in Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, India, Ireland, Kenya, Kuwait, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Zimbabwe)! Praise be to our God who knows the end from the beginning and can use things that we don’t understand (even social media!) to further HIS Gospel, in His timing. We continue to freely give of our resources, believing as we always have that the truth of God’s Word is and should be free to everyone. Because of this, we have given away over 12,000 copies of Jim’s two books over the years, as well as many copies of Jim’s teaching on CD and DVD. In addition, Jim has been able to travel and speak in churches completely free of charge.

          This is possible because of God’s generosity to this ministry through your giving. You may not have realized this, but when you give to Justapreacher so others can receive the Word, you are living out the exact same attitude of the early Church that started at Pentecost (Acts 2:44-45, 4:34-35)! Those believers gave generously so that any who could not afford what they needed would be taken care of. The Holy Spirit shines through you in the same way, as your generous gifts to this ministry make it possible for other believers, who might not have the same resources as you, to receive the same teaching and materials that you do. Your giving makes it possible for us to give everything away.
          In Matthew 10, Jesus gave His disciples instructions as they went out two by two. One of those instructions was this: “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8). God has freely blessed us, and therefore our desire is to freely give to anyone who wants to hear God’s Word. Thank you all for being the instruments that God continues to use to bless our ministry. Proverbs 11:24-25 says that blessing comes to those who give freely, and many other passages reflect that same teaching (2 Corinthians 9:6-12, Malachi 3:10-12, 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Psalm 112:5-9). We pray with confidence that God will bless you because of your commitment to give freely and generously.
          Thank you for being obedient to give as God leads you to. We trust that God will continue to provide exactly the resources that we need to complete the work that He wants to do through us, and it is our greatest joy to be partners with all of you in this. We praise God for another year of His clear blessing and provision amidst the chaos of this world. Trust that no matter what this next year brings, God holds each day in His hands, and every day is one day closer to an eternity of face-to-face fellowship with our Father. Hold onto Him through every wind and wave of this changing world.

          We are thankful for you. Have a Merry Christmas, and a blessed New Year!

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