* A MESSAGE FOR OUR HEARTS

 

Some years ago in a difficult time I was lying on the floor at home praying.

 

God suddenly spoke to me:  “You know how much I love Jesus?  That’s how much I love you.”

 

His presence and love were intense.

 

I think I knew that before, but this was God the Father saying it directly to me.

 

Overwhelming.  I lay there overwhelmed.  Engulfed in him.

 

God.

 

He loves all believers in Jesus the same way, you know.  The Bible actually says that (John 17:23).

 

God.  The focus of our lives above everything and everyone else.

 

Our role is to love God in return and keep him above everything else in our lives.

 

Jesus once said that ^“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:37).

 

 Of course we are to love all those people, just not more than Jesus.

 

Remember the ten commandments?  What is number one?  Just this:  You shall have no other Gods before me.

 

What is the way to God?  Through Jesus.

 

God – Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit.

 

There is nothing more important in life than knowing Jesus and being in the right relationship with him. 

 

 

 

                                                                            September 2024

 

                                                                            Copyright © 2024 by John Newlin

 

Please forward copies of this to whomever you would.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS!

JOHN NEWLIN MINISTRIES
P O BOX 1038
CARY, NC 27518
https://johnnewlinministries.org
email: john@johnnewlinministries.org
Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin
Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com
tel 910 395 1465

* GOD MOMENT: THE RICOCHET HEALING!

A man and his fiancée had been coming to our weekly programs for several weeks.  One night during the prayer time at the end of the service, they both came forward for healing prayer for her back.

The next week before the program began I saw the man standing at the back of the room and waving for me to come to where he was. So I did. He had a praise report. He had been healed of hemorrhoids, which he had not even mentioned when we had prayed for his fiancée the previous week!  He was thrilled by the healing but a bit embarrassed to describe it to everyone present, although later that night after the praise and worship music he could not contain himself and shared with those present.  He also did mention to me privately that his fiancée was upset she had not been healed.

I call this our ricochet healing, as if the prayer bounced off the fiancée and hit the man. But really, of course, what we see is his faith in Jesus and in healing, and Jesus' compassion for his specific problem.

                                                                                                                          Copyright © 2018 by John Newlin

[This article may and should be copied, printed, or forwarded by email to others so long as it is copied, printed, or forwarded in its entirety with appropriate attributions included (including the copyright and the ministry contact information).  It may also be quoted in part as long as appropriate attributions are given.  We in fact encourage you to do all this and to give printed copies to those who you know would benefit and do not have access to computers.]

 

NOTE:

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Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

(All contributions to John Newlin Ministries, Inc. – whether money or material goods or stocks or bonds – are tax deductible.  John Newlin Ministries, Inc. is a 501 © 3 nonprofit corporation.)

P. O. Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408       910 395 1465        www.johnnewlinministries.org

Email: info@johnnewlinministries.org       Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin                     Blog:  johnnewlin.blogspot.com

* GOD MOMENT: THE CLOGGED ARTERIES HEALING

One night after a program, a woman came forward who informed Cathy and me she would be going into the hospital that Friday for a medical procedure to deal with clogged arteries at her heart. We then prayed for healing for these blood vessels, for there to be no clogging.

When Friday night approached, I telephoned her house to speak to her husband since I had known this woman for a few years. She answered the phone and gave a wonderful report!  She described how she had been taken to surgery, how a tube had been inserted in her thigh and pushed up to her heart.  Suddenly the doctor had jerked the tube out and whisked her to recovery.  He then had come into the room and announced to her and her husband "Not only do you not have clogged arteries, but you have the arteries of a young woman!"

She was not a young woman. She was delighted and of course thankful to God for this healing. The lesson here is just faith in Jesus and what he has done for us. This woman had such faith and also a good understanding of divine healing, as did her husband.

                                                                       Copyright © 2018 by John Newlin

                   

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

P. O. Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408       910 395 1465        www.johnnewlinministries.org

Email: info@johnnewlinministries.org       Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin                                                Blog:  johnnewlin.blogspot.com

GOD'S GREAT FORGIVENESS OF YOU

Yesterday for a moment I thought about my mother.    I don’t know why, but I was just thinking about her and about various things over the years, especially the last several of her life which were hard for her.  And I thought about things I did, decisions I made regarding her care and her life and really all sorts of other decisions and actions over the years.  Some of them I debated at the time.  Some of them perhaps should have been handled otherwise. 

And as I was thinking about things she might not have liked, I said I hope she forgives me.

 

Almost immediately a smile broke out on my face.  Well, how ridiculous, I thought!  Of course she forgives me!  How silly!  My mother?  Of course she forgives me.  There is no question of that.  Of course she would and does.

It was not even an issue.  I know deep inside how much my mother loved me.  And I know that of course she would forgive me for anything.

Aha!  Now then the next thought.  If I can have such absolute certainly about my mother’s forgiveness that it is not even a question, what about God? What about his forgiveness?

It is the same absolute. It is there and real and absolute.  No question.  Jesus paid the price for that.  Realize it.  Take it.  Think about someone who truly loved you, like maybe your mother or father or some other family member or friend, and think about how of course they would forgive you for anything.  Then magnify that forgiveness an infinity of times to get to God’s level of forgiveness of you.

Forgiven.  That’s what you are.  You as a believer in the Lord.  Forgiven.

                                          
                                                                                                                          Copyright © 2018 by John Newlin

[NOTE:  This article may and should be copied, printed, or forwarded by email to others so long as it is copied, printed, or forwarded in its entirety with appropriate attributions included (including the copyright and the ministry contact information).  It may also be quoted in part as long as appropriate attributions are given.]   

(All contributions to John Newlin Ministries, Inc. – whether money or material goods or stocks or bonds – are tax deductible.  John Newlin Ministries, Inc. is a 501 © 3 nonprofit corporation.)

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

P. O. Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408       910 395 1465        www.johnnewlinministries.org

Email: info@johnnewlinministries.org       Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin       
Blog:  johnnewlin.blogspot.com

A MUST-READ CHRISTMAS STORY - CLEMENTINES

God loves us. He really, really does. That’s a key part of the Christmas message. Why else would He ever have sent His son here to go through what he went through? And why else would Jesus ever have willingly gone to the cross? 

I was reminded of that this past weekend in a way only God can arrange. Sunday afternoon a friend was coming to visit us at home. Late in the afternoon the doorbell rang, and I opened the door. There stood our friend, holding out a box of clementines. For those of you who do not know, clementines are small citrus fruit, like small oranges, and they seem to make an appearance in grocery stores about this time of year. They come in small but clearly distinct boxes. 

Our friend handed me this box of clementines. “God told me to get this for you,” she said. And she went on, exclaiming that God was very specific and strong about it. “So I went into a grocery store and I couldn’t find them. I thought that I would just get a poinsettia, but well, God said to get clementines.” So she stuck with her search, and she found them. Later in the kitchen she spoke with Cathy and asked if clementines were my favorite. Our friend couldn’t get over how insistent God had been. 

Later I thought more about this. I remembered how as my children grew up we would always get a box of clementines sometime around Christmas. It was a regular feature in our house. The box could always be found sitting somewhere in the kitchen. Everyone liked them. To this day when I see a display of clementines in a store, I want to buy a box. 

And I thought some more. Here we are in the ministry involved in our usual activities and praying for guidance from God on key issues, like where and how to proceed in the expensive television ministry, where and what meetings to arrange, whether to begin another regular meeting in southeastern NC, and more. For months, even years, we have been going steadily forward, always fighting and overcoming attacks of the evil one which do come whenever anyone steps out for God. Into the midst of all that God sent an obedient woman friend to bring a box of clementines. Even when I write this the Holy Spirit is so strong in the office I keep stopping and reflecting. Is that love? Yes! And much more. That is God saying - John, even in the midst of all this, I’m still here, and I love you, and look, I even know little things about you, like how you like a box of clementines and what that means to you. 

So I've been feeling really warm every since. God sent me a box of clementines for Christmas. God knows where you are and what you’re going through. He knows every hair on your head. Every day, if we’ll just look around and take time to see with spiritual eyes, we’ll see God directing our paths. 

What a heavenly Father we have! 

                                                                                Copyright © 2007 John Newlin 

[NOTE:  This article may and should be copied, printed, or forwarded by email to others so long as it is copied, printed, or forwarded in its entirety with appropriate attributions included (including the copyright and the ministry contact information).  It may also be quoted in part as long as appropriate attributions are given.  We in fact encourage you to do all this and to give printed copies to those who you know would benefit and do not have access to computers.] 

                    

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

P. O. Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408       910 395 1465       

www.johnnewlinministries.org

Email: info@johnnewlinministries.org       Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin      

Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com

* GOD MOMENT: SIGN OF THE DOVE

Cathy and I had long loved the beach environment and we one day finally realized we could live and work there.  Our goal was to find a house close to the ocean with a good view.  But after weekends of driving two hundred miles from our home and then searching and finding little that fit our desires or pocketbooks, we were becoming a bit depressed.  Finally, we decided to rank what we had found.  Two houses came out at the top of the list.

A second-row house had a great view but a walk-through revealed wood floors suffering from water damage, repair work underway on interior walls and floors, and a general musty smell.

The other house had been decorated by someone with great taste and flair, but it had no ocean view, and huge threatening dogs lived in a pen backing up to it. 

We turned to prayer, seeking God’s guidance.  One day I came home from work to hear these words from Cathy: “I think our house has something to do with the word, ‘dove.’  That’s what I keep hearing when I pray.  And I also hear it is “farther down the beach.”

So we returned to the shore yet another weekend.  We scoured maps and searched everywhere for Dove Street, Dove Avenue, just any street that included the name dove, or for a development with that name.  We also looked farther down the beach.  Nothing was found. 

Just before driving home, we visited a house under construction.  It was a few hundred feet from the ocean, on about the fifth row of houses.  As we looked about, the couple that lived across the street came to meet us.  After telling us how wonderful the neighborhood was, the husband said, “We would pay fifty thousand dollars just for the right to live in this neighborhood.”  Quite an endorsement.

The next weekend we returned and drove again to the house under construction.  We had by now realized it was indeed “farther down the beach,” about four blocks farther down. 

Cathy and I walked through the construction rubble into the house.  The rooms were taking shape, and the wood sub floors were down.  As I looked about the main living area, Cathy continued out the back door.

Suddenly in a firm but not loud voice, I heard her say, “John, come out here.”

I walked to where she was standing.  She had a finger at her lips, motioning me to be quiet.

Cathy said not a word but pointed down to the right.  There standing quietly and looking back at us was a dove, a real, living dove.  For a moment we were overcome and absolutely still, looking at the beautiful bird and realizing the incredible hand of God.

We quickly checked out the entire house and even climbed onto a high unfinished deck.  No stairs had yet been built so we had to use a ladder.  Once there, we stood in awe, shocked by a spectacular view of the ocean.

We bought that house, the house farther down the beach, the house of the dove, the house to which Cathy had been guided.  It was also the house with our desired view of the ocean and, as has proven to be the case and as we were told, with a great neighborhood.  God is so good!

                                                                          Copyright © 2017 by John Newlin

[NOTE:  This article may and should be copied, printed, or forwarded by email to others so long as it is copied, printed, or forwarded in its entirety with appropriate attributions included (including the copyright and the ministry contact information).  It may also be quoted in part as long as appropriate attributions are given.  We in fact encourage you to do all this and to give printed copies to those who you know would benefit and do not have access to computers.]

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

All contributions to John Newlin Ministries, Inc. – whether money or material goods or stocks or bonds – are tax deductible.  John Newlin Ministries, Inc. is a 501 © 3 nonprofit corporation.

P. O. Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408       910 395 1465        

www.johnnewlinministries.org

Email: info@johnnewlinministries.org       Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin      

Blog: johnnewlin.blogspot.com

* GOD MOMENT: THE TWO YEAR OLD GIRL

Shortly before Christmas one year a woman called our office.  She had attended many of our weekly programs several years before.  Her granddaughter was suffering from a cancerous brain tumor, and the medical world had no more steps to take.  The major hospital treating her had sent her home, evidently to die.  The little 2 year old girl was passing out frequently, and the family just thought that one day she would pass out and not wake up.  The woman asked to bring the girl to our office for healing prayer.  I knew from our past relationship that the woman had great faith.

So the woman and the granddaughter and the mother of the granddaughter came to the office.  The little girl was precious.  Cathy held her hand and showed her around the office.  I spoke about healing for a short while to the grandmother and the mother, covering the basics of what the Lord has done for us.  And then while the grandmother held the granddaughter, I prayed healing for her.

Sometime after Christmas there was a message on the office telephone.  The family had taken the little girl to the major hospital for a checkup.  And the grandmother announced on the telephone message that the doctors said that 82% of the tumor had disappeared!  She thanked me for praying.  I called her back and we rejoiced together.

A few weeks later another message appeared on our telephone system.  It was the grandmother again, joyfully announcing that another hospital visit showed that 94% of the tumor had disappeared.  I called her back, and said, “You know what is going to happen the next time you take her there!”

Then a few weeks later came the message: 100% of the tumor has disappeared.  The grandmother was thankful and joyful. "You can use this account anytime, anywhere," she exclaimed.

Praise God!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Copyright © 2017 by John Newlin

                                                                                                                                        

[NOTE:  This article may and should be copied, printed, or forwarded by email to others so long as it is copied, printed, or forwarded in its entirety with appropriate attributions included (including the copyright and the ministry contact information).  It may also be quoted in part as long as appropriate attributions are given.  We in fact encourage you to do all this and to give printed copies to those who you know would benefit and do not have access to computers.]

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

P. O. Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408       910 395 1465        

www.johnnewlinministries.org

Email: info@johnnewlinministries.org       Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin       

Blog:  johnnewlin.blogspot.com

* GOD MOMENT: JUST FOR YOU

Perspiration trickled steadily from my forehead after standing three hours in line with my wife and perhaps ten thousand other people outside the coliseum.  We had driven several hundred miles the day before to attend a series of wonderful crusade meetings.  Now we were waiting for the doors to open for the last and likely most eventful session.

The line finally began to move, and slowly we crept forward.  For more than twenty minutes we moved until at last we were able to enter the building.  Quickly we hurried to entrance ramps to the seat sections.

         

Every meeting had been crowded.  In fact, a few thousand people the night before had been unable to get in.

 

As we emerged inside the arena, our hearts sank.  It appeared that every seat already was taken.

         

Quickly we went back down the ramp and hurried as best we could in the dense crowd to another section.  Again, no seats.  We repeated the process over and over.

         

Slowly we began to realize that we might be among the ones forced to go outside.

         

As a last attempt, hurrying before the announcement was made that all standing must leave, we walked around to the section beside the stage.  We struggled to get to the top of the ramp to the seats.  Looking about, I saw no available seats.  I looked down.  Nothing.  I looked up.  Nothing.  I was panting now, and I just stood, damp from perspiration, tired from the day of waiting and standing in the blazing sun.

         

Slowly I turned to where my wife was standing and, I assumed, looking around.

         

Cathy was staring directly into the stands to our right, not moving at all.  I looked in the direction she was staring.  A seated woman was staring back at us.  Two empty seats were to her right, and another to her left, but no people were moving towards them.

         

“It’s Joan,” was all Cathy could say.

         

It really was Joan, the wife of the former assistant minister of the church back home, hundreds of miles away.  Joan had been fighting a serious illness for years.  She and her husband had moved from our city a year ago.

         

Shocked at seeing her in this huge crowd, we did our best to walk around others and go towards her.

         

As we came nearer, Cathy shouted, “I can’t believe it’s you!  We’ve been looking everywhere for seats.  There just aren’t any.” 

         

“We’ve been saving these two,” Joan replied, stunned at seeing us.  “I guess we were saving them for you.”

         

We all knew God had arranged this, for Cathy and me to be able to participate in the final session and to sit beside Joan and her minister husband Bob, who was dumbstruck by our presence when he returned in a minute to claim his seat on Joan’s left.  We even had time to pray together for Joan’s health before the night ended.  Another precious moment orchestrated by God.

                                                                                        Copyright © 2017 by John Newlin

[NOTE:  This article may and should be copied, printed, or forwarded by email to others so long as it is copied, printed, or forwarded in its entirety with appropriate attributions included (including the copyright and the ministry contact information).  It may also be quoted in part as long as appropriate attributions are given.  We in fact encourage you to do all this and to give printed copies to those who you know would benefit and do not have access to computers.]                     

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

P. O. Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408       910 395 1465        

www.johnnewlinministries.org

Email: info@johnnewlinministries.org       Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin        

Blog:  johnnewlin.blogspot.com

* GOD MOMENT: VANISHED, NOT TO BE FOUND AGAIN!

A few years ago I was sitting in a church chapel while another man led a healing service.  A woman came to the front for healing.  She had a large lump in her thigh, a tumor the size of an orange.  Her sister had died from a similar such tumor.

The man put his hand on the tumor, and I got up, walked to the woman, and put my hand on top of his hand on the tumor.  We then spoke healing words over this and in Jesus' name ordered the lump to be gone. 

A couple days later my telephone in the office rang. It was the church secretary.  They had been trying to reach me.  The woman had called the church to report what had happened.

After leaving the chapel service she had gone to see her doctor.  He could not find the lump!  So he sent her to the hospital for an MRI.  That procedure confirmed it: the lump was gone!

Vanished!  She had been instantly healed!!!

There is even an interesting addition to this wonderful event.  Some years later a woman and her husband came to our office for healing prayer for the husband.  While there she said she believed in healing, that some time back she had had a lump in her thigh and she had gone to a service and she then proceeded to repeat what I just wrote above. 

I told her, "I was there.  That was me, along with the other man." 

She rightfully did not even remember who I was, for it was Jesus who had healed her so long ago, and she had just received it that day.  It is always Jesus.  By his stripes, we are healed and made whole.

                                                                     Copyright © 2017 by John Newlin

[NOTE:  This article may and should be copied, printed, or forwarded by email to others so long as it is copied, printed, or forwarded in its entirety with appropriate attributions included (including the copyright and the ministry contact information).  It may also be quoted in part as long as appropriate attributions are given.  We in fact encourage you to do all this and to give printed copies to those who you know would benefit and do not have access to computers.]                     

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

P. O. Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408       910 395 1465        

www.johnnewlinministries.org

Email: info@johnnewlinministries.org       Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin        

Blog:  johnnewlin.blogspot.com

* A CHRISTMAS GIFT - A MUST READ FOR ALL!

[This true, wonderful, and amazing demonstration of God's love for each of us occurred in my life in December 2007.  I am reprinting it one more time to encourage us all now!]

God loves us. He really, really does. That’s a key part of the Christmas message. Why else would He ever have sent His son here to go through what he went through? And why else would Jesus ever have willingly gone to the cross? 

I was reminded of that this past weekend in a way only God can arrange. Sunday afternoon a friend was coming to visit us at home. Late in the afternoon the doorbell rang, and I opened the door. There stood our friend, holding out a box of clementines. For those of you who do not know, clementines are small citrus fruit, like small oranges, and they seem to make an appearance in grocery stores about this time of year. They come in small but clearly distinct boxes. 

Our friend handed me this box of clementines. “God told me to get this for you,” she said. And she went on, exclaiming that God was very specific and strong about it. “So I went into a grocery store and I couldn’t find them. I thought that I would just get a poinsettia, but well, God said to get clementines.” So she stuck with her search, and she found them. Later in the kitchen she spoke with Cathy and asked if clementines were my favorite. Our friend couldn’t get over how insistent God had been. 

Later I thought more about this. I remembered how as my children grew up we would always get a box of clementines sometime around Christmas. It was a regular feature in our house. The box could always be found sitting somewhere in the kitchen. Everyone liked them. To this day when I see a display of clementines in a store, I want to buy a box. 

And I thought some more. Here we are in the ministry involved in our usual activities and praying for guidance from God on key issues, like where and how to proceed in the expensive television ministry, where and what meetings to arrange, whether to begin another regular meeting in southeastern NC, and more. For months, even years, we have been going steadily forward, always fighting and overcoming attacks of the evil one which do come whenever anyone steps out for God. Into the midst of all that God sent an obedient woman friend to bring a box of clementines. Even when I write this the Holy Spirit is so strong in the office I keep stopping and reflecting. Is that love? Yes! And much more. That is God saying - John, even in the midst of all this, I’m still here, and I love you, and look, I even know little things about you, like how you like a box of clementines and what that means to you. 

So I've been feeling really warm every since. God sent me a box of clementines for Christmas. God knows where you are and what you’re going through. He knows every hair on your head. Every day, if we’ll just look around and take time to see with spiritual eyes, we’ll see God directing our paths. 

What a heavenly Father we have! 

                                                                                Copyright © 2007 John Newlin 

* YES GOD IS LOVE - HE IS ALSO A LOT MORE THAN THAT

I am increasingly concerned with the continuing modern focus on the love aspect of our wonderful God.  Yes, God is love.  We know that.  The Bible tells us that.  Look at Jesus’ actions in going to the cross for us.

Yes, it is true.  God is love.

He is also many other things.  And this is where so many today who profess to be Christians just turn a blind eye.

God is patience.  He is long-suffering, but that patience does not last forever.  Eventually people have to realize who he is and what he expects. 

And he is jealous.  He is a jealous God.  You cannot have other gods before him.  You cannot put other things in life before him.  You just can’t.

And he is a just God who indeed does avenge.  Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. 

If you read the Bible you know that God will only tolerate evil so long, even in his chosen people the Jews.  Notice how he brings all sorts of calamities on the Israelites over the years when they are out of line.  Eventually at one point he even lets Jerusalem be overrun and the leaders taken away to Babylon.

And he makes it clear in the Bible that all these things that happen aren’t just necessarily by accident.  The book of Nahum notes the Lord’s way is in the whirlwind and storm.  And the book of Amos asks has disaster come to a city and the Lord not caused it?

Pretty chilling, is it not – certainly .  Except for the fact that we also do know the goodness and love of God!

Yes, God is God.  I wrote about that quite a bit recently in the newsletter in March titled NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.  People today just can’t seem to get a grip on the immensity of God.  All powerful.  All knowing.  All present.  He is God. 

We humans can hardly imagine God! 

One approach is to look at some movies where an emperor or other powerful figure is portrayed.  Maybe a movie about Caesar or Genghis Khan or some other powerful historical figure.  I expect you have all seen something like that.  Remember how sometimes a trembling subject or stranger is brought in before the ruler, and the subject is kneeling or crawling on the floor.  They are terrified because of the great power of the ruler.

Well, they should be.  The ruler can just decide to end their lives, or maybe send them off to some battle, or take their possessions away, or whatever.

I tell you, none of those rulers have even a tiny percentage of the power that our God has.  If people fear someone who can take away their life, how much more should they fear someone who not only could do that but also could send them for an eternity into a horrible place to exist?  Here is the actual scripture that makes that point:    “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  (MT 10:28 NIV)

Most people just don’t appreciate the immensity of God or who he really is because they don’t know him – let’s be honest.  They just don’t.  God to them is someone in a book or someone talked about once in a while or at church.

But we are talking about God.  Yes, he is love.  Yes, he is patient. 

But do you remember when he killed everyone on earth except Noah and seven members of Noah’s family, because he was so upset by the behavior of people? 

And do you remember when he was going to eliminate all the Israelites because of their behavior, and start over with Moses?  Moses interceded and God decided not to do that.

God is love all right.  The actions of Jesus in his first visit to earth were love, all right.  Lots of demonstrations of compassion.  And his love for us comes through in our times of prayer and communication with him. 

But even Jesus is returning as the great leader of the army of angels and saints to win at Armageddon and then to establish his rule from Jerusalem.  Jesus himself kills everyone in the army opposing him at Armageddon.  Jesus.

I am telling you all this because I am so concerned that people today just look at the love aspect of God.  For sure he loves us and he forgives us and he wants the best for us.  But he also wants his plans to be fulfilled and his words to be obeyed. 

We are very near the time Jesus will come to collect his believers and take them away, giving them a new glorious body.  During the time they are away in heaven, the seven year tribulation will occur.  Yes, terrible things are done during that period by the antichrist, the false prophet, and the devil.  See Chapter 13 of Revelation, for example.  But many horrors poured out during that seven year period described in many chapters in Revelation beginning in Chapter 6 are horrors poured out on the remaining humans on earth and on the earth itself by God.  They are the wrath of God.  At the time of the seven year tribulation, God will have been long-suffering for long enough.  He still will be seeking those who will turn to Jesus, but he will also be pouring out his wrath.

Don’t let anyone mislead you so into thinking that God is only love.  Remember, he is absolutely God.  Someone to be feared as well as loved.  And yes, that advice about fearing the Lord is in the Bible too.

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

                                                                                                    (APRIL, 2016)

                                                                                        Copyright © 2016 by John Newlin

[NOTE:  This article may and should be copied, printed, or forwarded by email to others so long as it is copied, printed, or forwarded in its entirety with the appropriate attributions included.  We in fact encourage you to do so and especially to give printed copies to those who you know would benefit and do not have access to computers.]

P O Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408       910 395 1465      www.johnnewlinministries.org

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A CHRISTMAS GIFT

[This true, wonderful, and amazing demonstration of God's love for each of us occurred in my life in December 2007.  I am reprinting this for all who have not seen it.] 

God loves us. He really, really does. That’s a key part of the Christmas message. Why else would He ever have sent His son here to go through what he went through? And why else would Jesus ever have willingly gone to the cross? 

I was reminded of that this past weekend in a way only God can arrange. Sunday afternoon a friend was coming to visit us at home. Late in the afternoon the doorbell rang, and I opened the door. There stood our friend, holding out a box of clementines. For those of you who do not know, clementines are small citrus fruit, like small oranges, and they seem to make an appearance in grocery stores about this time of year. They come in small but clearly distinct boxes. 

Our friend handed me this box of clementines. “God told me to get this for you,” she said. And she went on, exclaiming that God was very specific and strong about it. “So I went into a grocery store and I couldn’t find them. I thought that I would just get a poinsettia, but well, God said to get clementines.” So she stuck with her search, and she found them. Later in the kitchen she spoke with Cathy and asked if clementines were my favorite. Our friend couldn’t get over how insistent God had been. 

Later I thought more about this. I remembered how as my children grew up we would always get a box of clementines sometime around Christmas. It was a regular feature in our house. The box could always be found sitting somewhere in the kitchen. Everyone liked them. To this day when I see a display of clementines in a store, I want to buy a box. 

And I thought some more. Here we are in the ministry involved in our usual activities and praying for guidance from God on key issues, like where and how to proceed in the expensive television ministry, where and what meetings to arrange, whether to begin another regular meeting in southeastern NC, and more. For months, even years, we have been going steadily forward, always fighting and overcoming attacks of the evil one which do come whenever anyone steps out for God. Into the midst of all that God sent an obedient woman friend to bring a box of clementines. Even when I write this the Holy Spirit is so strong in the office I keep stopping and reflecting. Is that love? Yes! And much more. That is God saying - John, even in the midst of all this, I’m still here, and I love you, and look, I even know little things about you, like how you like a box of clementines and what that means to you. 

So I've been feeling really warm every since. God sent me a box of clementines for Christmas. God knows where you are and what you’re going through. He knows every hair on your head. Every day, if we’ll just look around and take time to see with spiritual eyes, we’ll see God directing our paths. 

What a heavenly Father we have! 

                                                                                                         Copyright © 2007 John Newlin 

                                                                                                          (December 7, 2007)

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!

                                                                                                                                      (December 2015)

                                                                                                                      Copyright © 2015 by John Newlin

[NOTE:  This article may and should be copied, printed, or forwarded by email to others so long as it is copied, printed, or forwarded in its entirety with the appropriate attributions included.  We in fact encourage you to do so and especially to give printed copies to those who you know would benefit and do not have access to computers.]

P O Box 15797, Wilmington, NC 28408 * 910 395 1465

www.johnnewlinministries.org           Email: info@johnnewlinministries.org      

Twitter.com/johnnewlinmin         Blog:    johnnewlin.blogspot.com