Paris Junior College Baptist Student Ministry

Hey Students!
Come eat lunch with us today from 11 to 1.
Don’t forget Bible study tonight at 7 pm!

The BSM welcomes Dr. Benson to the community and looks forward to working alongside him as he seeks to enrich the lives of the students of PJC!

Spring Break week!
No BSM activities on Monday March 11.
We will resume lunches and bible study on Monday March 18th.

Great bible study tonight with an overview of the book of Ecclesiastes.
We had a semester high with 10 students in attendance.
Thank you Lord Jesus!

Heroes
"And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae,; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:32-34)

Every man needs heroes. Even as boys we looked up to certain men as those we would like to emulate. Heroes about in the bible, but who are our heroes of the faith beyond the covers of our bibles? Have we read of stalwart men like Jim Elliot, Oswald Chambers, Watchman Nee, Ben Carson, and others? Do our children or grandchildren know these men?
May God let us be the best version of these heroes God sees in us. May the heroics of past men of faith show us the way.

"God is preparing His heroes. And when the opportunity comes, He can fit them into their places in a moment. And the world will wonder where they came from". -A.B. Simpson-
-KJV Devotional for Men-

Free lunch Monday kicks off today for the spring semester!
Students and faculty are invited to join us from 11 am to 1 pm at the BSM BUILDING @ 911 23rd SE.

A Man Who Will Not Fear
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah." (Psalm 46:1-3)
Every man is prone to some sort of fear. he may fear financial lack, relationship failure, vocational loss, health decline, and more. But every one of those fears and all others are vanquished when God is our very present help in trouble. Nothing can shake the man whose life is rooted in the providence of God.
When a man is easily shaken, it's time to become unshakeable. It's time to shift our burden from our shoulders to God's strong back.
A man's fears may be few or many, but every one of them is conquerable through Christ. The very purpose of trouble in our lives many be God's way of proving Himself as trustworthy while making us unshakeable.
"God incarnate is the end of fear; and the heart that realizes that He is in the midst...will be quiet in the middle of alarm." -F.B. Meyer-
-KJV Devotional for Men-

Seasons
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)

What season of life are you in now? Every man goes through changes as he ages that are, for the most part, God-ordained. Young men are called to bear yokes older men can no longer support. Older men bring wisdom to the table many young men lack.
Happy is the man who is content with whatever season of life he's in. Bitter is the man who laments the passing of one season to the next. God has called us to live the allotted years He's assigned us. We must never look back to a previous season with regret, nor should we look ahead to the next season with presumption. While we're alive today, let's love this present season and fully embrace the gift of life while we can.

-KJV Devotional for Men-

We Are Warriors
"Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh;(for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)

Many men, when they were boys, often pretended to be great warriors, fighting for the triumph of good over evil. Now as men, that game of pretense has become reality in that we are called to be spiritual warriors, not wielding "carnal" weapons, but pulling down satanic strongholds wielding "mighty" spiritual weapons. Praying men are in the front lines of battle today. But they must not battle alone. Every Christian man must join them, equipped for spiritual battle. Passive warriors are an oxymoron.
Today God is calling for men to see their battles for their families, their countries, and their faith for what it is-a tremendous assault from a ruthless enemy. The spiritual army God is assembling is not a volunteer army, it's an army of conscripted men. To be saved is to be enlisted.

"You must watch, pray, and fight. Expect your last battle to be the most difficult, for the enemy's fiercest charge is reserved for the end of the day. -Charles Spurgeon-
-KJV Devotional for Men-

The Complete Man
"Ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power." (Colossians 2:10)

A man is incomplete without Christ, but when that man is born again and has become a new creation in Christ, he is reckoned by God as "complete in Hm."
The full import of that truth may take years to fully appreciate. In fact, many Christians men wander through life for years still feeling incomplete. Recognizing the many benefits of Christ's redemption will clearly continue for as long as a man lives and is worth a lifetime of pondering and appreciating. While many men may strive for a sense of completeness, from God's point of view, a man is already complete when he is "in Christ." What many men assume as a goal, God sees as a starting point.

-KJV Devotional for Men-

Overcoming the Past
"Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and the rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:18-19)

What man does not have events in his past he regrets? However, if a man is remembering past sins that God has Himself has forgotten because of the forgiveness we find in Christ, those memories are at best wasteful and at worst destructive.
Many a man has labored for years without success to overcome memories of a sinful past. And needlessly so. Every man must acknowledge his past failures and then move on. In doing so, God is enabled to open a way through that past wilderness and bring forth rivers in that forsaken desert.
What events of your past still haunt you? Confess them, acknowledge God's forgiveness, and then forevermore, let those memories become monuments to God's mercy and grace.

"Being in Christ, it is safe to forget the past; it is possible to be sure of the future; it is possible to be diligent in the present." -Alexander Maclaren-
-KJV Devotional for Men-

Take No Thought
"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6:34)

One of the clearest indications the enemy of our souls is at work is when we're thinking of the future and hear the enemy whisper "WHAT IF"...followed by worry-inducing scenarios that shake our faith. Such scenarios as, "what if there's a food shortage? What if there's another pandemic? What if there's an atomic war? What if Christians are sent to jail? What if I lose my job? What of my wife leaves? What if my child turns away from the Lord?"
The list is endless. Endless!
But the good news is that our resources in God are also endless. Beyond endless. There is simply no way God's going to run low on anything we need. As for what happens in the future, God is already there. He will not be surprised at world events or at the events that will shape our individual futures.
So as Christian men, we must stand firm against every whispered "what if" and answer it with "God's got this!"

"Worry is the cross which we make for ourselves by over-anxiety." -Francois Fenelon-
-KJV Devotional for Men-

Role Models
"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)
We never know who's watching us. As Paul notes, we are all epistles, read by those we meet along the way. Even this very day, someone may be influenced by observing how we react to an unexpected circumstance. Paul could encourage the recipients of his letters to follow his example. Why? Because he followed Christ.
For each of us, following Christ must lead to the kind of life others can likewise follow. We must each make sure the "epistle" of our lives, read by all men, is one worth reading.

"The example of the godly man is a living, standing memento to all around him of Christ, death, and eternity." -Cornelius Tyree
-KJV Devotional for Men-

The Secure Man
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. (1 Corinthians 16:13)
Our source of strength as men is from the God who first created us, now empowers us, and will eventually welcome us to a heavenly home in His presence. While we're here in this earthen body, let's be not just men but strong men. Men of true faith; virtuous men who stand up for right and object when we see wrong. Let us be men who are possessed by the Spirit of God.
Let us be active men. Passivity in Christian men is a shame. And sadly, it can be contagious. But so can strength become contagious when true men are willing to be counted as righteous, denying evil and promoting good.
Be strong in the day at hand. Be a man.

"Christianity makes men, not babes. Adorn the doctrine of Christ by your manliness. In the church, in the world, in business, in conversation, in prosperity, and adversity, act like men! Let no man despise you; and let no man despise the Gospel because of you."
-Horatius Bonar
-KJV Devotional for Men-

Jesus: Lord of Salvation
Jesus lives in every believer through His powerful Spirit.
December 25, 2023

Matthew 1:18-25

Throughout human history, God has initiated a relationship with the people He created. Though He often seemed far away, He consistently revealed Himself in personal encounters and even came to be in the Israelites’ midst (in a pillar of cloud and fire, the tabernacle, and the temple). But eventually, God’s presence—in the form of His own Son—came as a man to live among humankind.

Before Jesus was born, He was given two names:

Immanuel means “God with us,” which speaks of Jesus’ identity. He lived on earth, walked among men, and suffered the weaknesses of humanity. Yet He also displayed the power of almighty God as He healed the sick, calmed the sea, and raised the dead.

Jesus means “The Lord is salvation,” which describes His purpose—to save us from sin by means of His death on our behalf. Jesus took on a human body to offer Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

Although Jesus is no longer physically on earth, He is still “God with us.” He lives in you through the Holy Spirit, and He has the power to deliver you from any bo***ge. No sinful habit, painful past, doubt, guilt, or struggle is too difficult for our Savior to overcome.

In Touch Ministries