Ask The Book, P. O. Box 3166, Camarillo, CA (2026)

05/06/2021

National Day of Prayer:
Today marks a special day in our nation. By proclamation, Americans are asked to lift up their prayers and petitions to the Lord.
Our country is facing the greatest challenges today more than ever in history.
While we may not be facing enemies at the gate, we are clearly in a battle for the heart and soul of our nation.
We need to fall on our knees as a nation and ask the Lord for forgiveness, mercy and open up the flood gates leading to a great spirit of revival to bring about repentance among people to turn away from evil, sin and ask the Lord to come into their hearts as their personal Lord and Savior.
Let all Christians heed our Lord's request today-
"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." II Chronicles 7:14
Will you join in prayer today?

BE ENCOURAGED!

04/23/2021

Message With A Purpose
Biblical Earth Day

Psalm 24:1-2
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.

This passage says it all!

BE ENCOURAGED!

04/20/2021

Message With A Purpose
Christ Ever Present
Psalm 23

Good morning!
Psalm 23 tells us that the Lord is near us in all circumstances.
And, its through the challenges of our lives that He works best and He works out everything for His purposes and glory.
We are told at the end of Psalm 23 the ultimate destination of our journey with the Lord- eternity with Him ( . . . all the days of our life).
Praise be to our loving Lord!

BE ENCOURAGED!

04/14/2021

Message With A Purpose

The Good Die Young
Ecclesiastes 7:15
“In my vain life I have seen everything [King Solomon]. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.”

It’s been said- “The good die young so they may not be corrupted and the wicked live on so they may have a chance to repent.”

Whether you are young or old, all lives are corrupted the moment they enter into this sinful world. At the fall of Adam and Eve, their original sin was inherently passed down to everyone after them. It was for this very reason that the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to be the ultimate sacrifice for everyone’s sins- past, present and future.

The Bible speaks of everyone reaching an age of accountability, where they are consciously accountable for their actions. No one knows with certainty when that is. However, good and bad behaviors leading up to that age form early in life. Some children don’t fully mature until their late teens. Others are fully cognizant of their actions and the consequences in their pre-teen years.

The bottom-line, scripture tells us- “. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. . .” (Romans 3:23.

Pray for the young, the old, the believer in Christ and the anyone who is still needing a Savior in their lives.

BE ENCOURAGED!

04/01/2021

40 Days of Prayer: Keep moving forward . . .

Day 38 April 1, 2021
Passion Week: Thursday

Pray Without Ceasing

Mark 14:1-52
The day and evening events encompassed- Jesus anointed by Mary with perfume; Judas agrees to betray Jesus; Jesus shares a last meal before His impending death the next day; Jesus and the disciples walk to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and finally, Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested.

This was no ordinary day by any means by any standard. And yet, our Lord, prayed that night in the Garden of Gethsemanes so much regarding His impending death, that He sweated drops of blood. But He found solace before He was because the Father sent Him an angel to strengthen Him.

We know that no ordinary person could ever endure the sufferings Christ suffered. Paul also gives a reminder in Romans 8:17-18 that even though we are heirs to the Kingdom to come, our sufferings “are not worthy to be compared to the glory” that will be revealed to us in Heaven and eternity with Christ.

Are you going through suffering in your life today? Be comforted that our Savior, Jesus, suffered much more. But, our reward for enduring through our suffering on earth pales in comparison to the glory of Heaven which waiting for us.

Pray and ask the Lord to send you strength in your current suffering, so that you may endure. And, pray for someone in your life that also needs strengthening. And, you want to know what Jesus prayed for in the garden, read John 17:1-26.

BE ENCOURAGED!

Message With A Purpose
Pastor Jim Olaiz, Jr.

03/31/2021

40 Days of Prayer: Keep moving forward . . .

Day 36 March 30 2021
Passion Week: Tuesday

Reciprocal Forgiveness

Mark 11:24-26
“25 Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.
26 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your offenses.
27 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your offenses.”

Jesus covered a lot of ground on Tuesday of the Passion Week. He started off the morning by cursing a fig tree. He did this to reveal his righteous indignation towards at “religion” without substance.

But, one of the pivotal teachings He did was to address reciprocal forgiveness. In other words, exercising mutual forgiveness. He stated that if we have anything against someone, we must first forgive them before coming to the Father and asking for forgiveness from Him for our sins.

Remember, we do not earn God’s blessing by forgiving one another. Our forgiving spirit is one evidence that our hearts are right with God and that we want to obey His will, and this makes it possible for the Father to hear us and to answer prayer.

Is there someone in your life that you have not forgiven? Ask yourself, how many times have I come to the Lord and asked Him to forgive me and yet, I still haven’t forgiven that person in my life?

Pray and ask the Lord to give you a forgiving heart with someone now or in the future.

BE ENCOURAGED!

Message With A Purpose
Pastor Jim Olaiz, Jr.

03/24/2021

40 Days of Prayer: Keep moving forward . . .

Day 31: March 24, 2021
Never Give Up

Colossians 3:12
“Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.”

What kind of a Heart do we need to serve others, in spite of whatever we are going through?

Merciful
Kind
Humble
Meek
Longsuffering (patient, forgiving)

Better yet, look what Paul wrote in Philippians 2:6-8, about the servant character of Jesus-

He gave up His divine privileges
He took the humble position of a slave
He came to earth in human form
He humbled Himself in obedience to His Father
He died a criminal’s death on the cross (for us)

He did all this with never asking for a “Thank you” from us. He simple wants us to love the Father and accept His forgiveness.

Pray that the Lord gives you a servant’s heart in spite of what you are going through. Remember, in an eternal perspective, our time on earth is short compared to our eternal life that awaits us.

BE ENCOURAGED!

Message With A Purpose
Pastor Jim Olaiz, Jr.

03/15/2021

40 Days of Prayer: Keep moving forward . . .

Day 23: March 15, 2021
A Changed Life

II Timothy 6:6-14
“9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.”

In Paul the apostle’s letter to Timothy, Paul talks about the power of Christ to changes lives: God calls us from lives of sin and wrongdoing to follow and serve Jesus (II Tim 1:9).

As believers of Jesus as our Savior, we experience a changed life throughout our entire journey here on earth going forward. It’s not a matter of “can I change”. The real question is- “Do I want to change the things about ourselves that are not pleasing to the Lord”.

We in of ourselves cannot make any real changes apart for Christ. It’s only through the power of the Holy Spirit and our willingness to let Him work in us that change happens.

Remember back to the day you accepted Jesus as your Savior. Remember how excited you were and remember the commitment you made to accept a new calling in your life. In doing so, you will move ahead in life knowing with confidence that you can make changes with the Lord at your side.

Pray for those you know that need to change their lives for the better. Pray that they seek a better life and yield themselves to someone more powerful than themselves. Only then, will change happen.

BE ENCOURAGED!

Message With A Purpose
Pastor Jim Olaiz, Jr.

03/10/2021

40 Days of Prayer: Keep moving forward . . .

Day 18: March 9, 2021
In Good Times and Bad Times

Ecclesiastes 7:14
“When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other.”

A Chinese proverb teaches that a difficulty can be a blessing in disguise and vice versa. This ancient wisdom has a close parallel in Ecclesiastes 6:12, where King Solomon observes: “Who knows what is good for a person in life?”

Undeniably, none of us know what the future holds. However, an adversity might have positive benefits; and in contrast, prosperity might have ill effects.

Each day offers new opportunities, joys, struggles, and suffering. As God’s beloved children, we can rest in His sovereignty and trust Him through the good and bad times alike.

Remember, the Lord has “made the one as well as the other” (7:14). He’s with us in all the events in our lives and promises His loving care.

Pray and ask the Lord to trust in Him in every situation- good and challenging. Also, pray for those you know who are going through difficult times and maybe reach out an encourage them. You’ll be blessed!

BE ENCOURAGED!

Message With A Purpose
Pastor Jim Olaiz, Jr.

03/05/2021

40 Days of Prayer: Keep moving forward . . .

Day 14: March 4, 2021
Upsetting The World Right-side Up

Acts 17:6
“These men who have upset the world have come here also; . . .”

Paul the apostle was called by the Lord to preach a radical message that the Messiah, the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world was Jesus Christ. The old Jewish establishment found this claim to be heresy. And, they sought to kill Paul.

A crowd of Jewish leaders stormed the house of Jason, a converted Jewish-Christian, hoping to find Paul. But he was not to be found. So they dragged Jason before the Roman leadership to be punished for treason. However, he only had to post a bond to gain his freedom.

The Jews involved, shouted that Paul and followers were upsetting their world and wanted it stopped. But what those opposing Jewish leaders didn’t realize is that the power of the Gospel was revolutionizing lives, breaking down social barriers and exposing social injustice. Sound familiar?

Our world today needs Christians to turn this world right-side up by sharing the Gospel at every opportunity. The Gospel is not in the business of merely improving programs and encouraging go conduct, but dynamically transforming lives!

Pray and ask the Lord how you can help spread His “Good News”, the Gospel all over your world.

BE ENCOURAGED!

Message With A Purpose
Pastor Jim Olaiz, Jr.

03/03/2021

40 Days of Prayer: Keep moving forward . . .

Day 13: March 3, 2021
How Can We Please God?

Hebrews 11:6
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

Pastor Chuck Smith put it this way-
“It doesn’t take much to please God. Just a little bit of faith blesses God’s heart. It’s a biblical fact—profoundly simple, but glorious in the extreme. From cover to cover, the Bible exhorts us to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).

Oh, how God smiles when we put our trust and our faith in Him. In the same way, God’s Word urges us to put our faith and confidence in the promises of God. “Trust in the Lord,” we hear repeatedly, “and He will deliver you.” That’s His promise.”

You may be asking, “What is biblical faith? Faith is the assurance that the things revealed and promised in the Word are true, even though unseen, and gives the believer a conviction that what he or she expects in faith, will come to pass. ... In other words, it becomes so tangible that you now possess it.

The critical question is- Do you believe in God? If not, why? Is it a trust issue? Unbelievers and believers alike struggle with trusting the Lord. Many times we struggle with trusting the Lord because we can’t see Him working. But what we forget is the many times He has already worked in our lives. Even before we invited Jesus into our life, He was working in it.

In John 20:29, he wrote- ““Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

All our lives when have heard “seeing is believing”. However, once we move away from that thinking, we then can exercise true “faith” and make it possible for us to please the Lord.

Remember, without faith, it’s impossible to please the Lord. It simply can’t be done!

Pray and ask the Lord to work with you to increase your faith in Him and for those who you know that are struggling right now with trusting the Lord.

BE ENCOURAGED!

Message With A Purpose
Pastor Jim Olaiz, Jr.

03/03/2021

40 Days of Prayer: Keep moving forward . . .

Day 12: March 2, 2021
Ask me no questions and I won’t tell you no lies

Jeremiah 23:16-31
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. . . .”

We live in a world where we are bombarded with people who are talking at us from all directions. Politicians, news and TV pundits, self-interest groups, friends and even family. In all the confusion and propaganda the common question is- “Who do we believe?”

The real question we should be asking ourselves in all of this ball of confusion is- “What is the standard that I use to decide what’s is true or not?

Like in the Old Testament, false prophets are still with us. So called “Experts” dispense advice and insights while ignoring the Lord altogether or twisting His words to suit their purposes. But through His Word (the Bible) and Holy Spirit, the Lord has given us what we need to begin to discern the false from the truth. If we gauge everything we hear or read by the truth of the scriptures, then we will have a clear understanding of right and wrong.

Pray that people would stop believing everything they listen, see and read before they filter everything with the truth- God’s Word!

BE ENCOURAGED!

Message With A Purpose
Pastor Jim Olaiz, Jr.

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