This Week With Jesus

Psalm 23 is quite strange. After all, after having walked through the "valley of the shadow of death" God prepares a feast for David in the presence of his enemies! Can we/ you ever feast or banquet during adverse times? The KJV devotional has this to say - "David faced so many challenges but remained confident in the power and provision of God. He knew how God could prepare a feast; not just in a secure place but even in the presence of enemies. This illustration shows us the richness of God’s care for His people and the confidence we can have in Him. We see here that God prepares the table and does not bother to remove the presence of enemies (or adversity). This means that there are times when God allows hardships to linger, but He still provides care, sustenance, provision, and strength while we are going through these adversities. We cannot always expect God to get rid of all of our obstacles for us, but we can be confident that even when surrounded by threats or ha

Today, we cover a book named "Time to Rise and Shine" by Janice Riley, a dear friend, book publisher, and ordained minister. She and her husband Rob, a professional and short-term missionary, have visited India, Honduras and the Dominican Republic for revival meetings. Their mission trips included construction projects, prophetic training, community outreach and more. The book highlights the changing needs of Christianity in today's world and the need for a Christ-like response to people and situations. According to Janice, "this book is a heart’s cry to come and be transformed into the likeness of Christ, calling the Bride of Christ into her destiny, her identity. While The Church has been told what to do, given the top five ways to make it happen and a comfy seat to sit in while they watch the sage on the stage preach one more sermon, and enjoy one more musical performance by the worship team, religious tradition has assembled a mass of spectators to watch a specia

How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts! - Benjamin Franklin This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people. - C.S. Lewis I believe there are too many practitioners in the church who are not believers .- C.S. Lewis Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends. - Henry Ward Beecher Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us. - Charles Spurgeon Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite. - Charles Spurgeon Experience tells us that each man most keenly and unerringly detects in others the vice with which he is most familiar himself .- Frederick W. Robertson Steal the hog, and give the feet for alms. - George Herbert The Pharisees broke Moses' tables into pieces, and, gathering up the fragments, took to themselves what part of duty they pleas

Life can sometimes make you feel hopeless: death, disease, misfortune dog our footsteps. No matter what happens in our life, there is hope. God is there. When we come to God in prayer, we do not come with our own righteousness but with a humble heart, seeking His great mercies. Sometimes, in the midst of our struggles, it may feel like God is not listening or paying attention to our cries, but, if we do as Hannah did, pouring out our soul for the Lord, God will hear our prayers. We come before you in awe Lord, acknowledging your greatness and magnificence. We humbly approach you with our prayers, knowing that you are the one who hears and answers. As we navigate through the challenges of this world, as well as our own personal challenges, we ask for your guidance and wisdom. In times of uncertainty may we find solace in knowing you are with us and your purpose for our lives will prevail. Almighty father, we praise you and thank you for your deliverance and protection of some of the peo

Reference: 2 Timothy 2 14-26 Our world revolves around two things - assets and liabilities. We define and classify people around us with these two scales. That is of course in the material world. In the Christian world, a similar question arises: are we an asset to Christ? Firstly, let us understand that we are NOT a liability. We, each one of us are valuable to God. Not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of what we have cost . Second, just because we are not a liability does not mean we are an asset. An asset is something or someone who is useful to the world, people around us and to society at large. As assets we become agents of change for the better. Last, and following from the above, as assets we become agents of change for God. His word tells us what we need to do, how we must behave and act. How we need to build a relationship with Him as well as the people around us. That we, become a lighthouse for Him, guiding others to Him. If our light starts to dim, w

Pontius Pilate: To Jesus And what is 'truth'? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours? What is truth? Pilate’s answer to his own question could be a question asked in despair. How do we know right and wrong, good and evil, what is the right thing to do in any situation? How can anyone believe in a universal truth that transcends this world of suffering and despair? Whatever his motive, he didn't get an answer because the truth was right there, standing in front of him. Today we, like Pilate, do not recognize the truth. The truth was standing in front of Pilate, to be judged to die or to live. Bob Kaylor says "For Pilate, anything that got him advanced in status in the eyes of the emperor was truth. Truth is whatever you decide it is, whatever is most pragmatic, kind of like throwing darts at the wall and drawing targets around them. Actually, Pilate would have been right at home in the 21st century, where truth is always relative."