This Week With Jesus

Today again I thought about David, before he was a king and his battle with Goliath. This story is not just a story, it's an inspiration for all of us because all of us have one or many Goliath's in our life we need to fight and defeat. So it's important for us to understand the lessons this story teaches. Lesson no. 1 Mental preparation - before we take on our Goliath we need to be self convinced that we want to fight this battle a d win. With Goliath you cannot take a half hearted approach. "And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine." Lesson no 2 Draw on past experiences Experiences prepare one for the future. Experiences help us to figure out what will work and what may not. Based on experience we select the strategy and the weapons needed. David did just that. "And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb o...

I have always been in awe of David - a man after Gods own heart. Chosen to be king even as a shepherd, had human weaknesses yet was committed to God.  He put a smile on Gods face. Imagine, every day God is deluged with prayers-  sad ones, happy ones, thanksgiving ones. Just as He carries our burdens and sorts our life out and puts a smile on our faces, we should do the same, don't you think? So what did it take for David to make God smile? In the words of Pastor Chuck Swindoll David had " True spirituality. Genuine humility. Bone-deep integrity." "What do these qualities look like? They mean you live in harmony with God and you make His priorities your priorities. You won’t hesitate to roll up your sleeves and do grunt work in the shadows without getting a mention of the glory. They mean the private-you and the public-you are one and the same. Being good matters more than looking good." How do you do that ? Again quoting Pastor Swindoll - "anyone, empowered...

In management we are told that a plan B is important to have as a backup. In my private life I totally disagree though others may not.  You see, If we have a God led life, having a plan B is like trying to help God deliver on the plan He made for you. Gods does not have a plan B and when we make one we lose faith in His plan and thus become less resilient in it, in terms of work, faith and belief in God. The result can be disastrous. Remember Sarah, Abraham's wife? She laughed at Gods promise. She also tried to help God! Her action of having Abraham wife Hagar was just that! A plan B for Gods promise to come true. A back up to God! Needless to say her Plan B had some serious consequences, partly felt even today. What we learn from Sarah's story is relevant to us today as well, a we often doubt Gods will for us when things are bad and look hopeless. For example if I had a dollar in my pocket I would not plan a feast for a wedding, would I? But if I was sure that the wedding was...

Romans 14:12 "So then each of us will give an account of himself to God". In professional terms, Accountability eliminates the time and effort you spend on distracting activities and other unproductive behavior. When you make people accountable for their actions, you're effectively teaching them to value their work. When done right, accountability can increase your team members' skills and confidence. Accountability is extremely crucial for positive gain. Similarly in Biblical terms accountability is equally and most important. It could mean life or death. Physically and spiritually. It is about the value we place on God's word and our purpose in life.  Biblical accountability begins with taking responsibility for one’s own actions and making a conscious choice of allowing God and others to help in accomplishing what is right. Biblical accountability is three dimensional - Accountability to God  Making sure we walk the talk and take trouble to understand His pu...

Do we need Samuel ? 1 Samuel 7:3  "And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines". This verse has a lot of meaning even today. The strange Gods Samuel refers to can be anything which distracts us from our relationship with God. It could be money or riches or another person and in fact anything. If we look at our lives most of us have compartmentalized our time, even time for God. We have a time for devotions (if at all) and seldom are we in continuous communication with God. We have fixed times for prayer, for Church for fellowship etc.  Taking a cue from the quoted verse, isn't it time we prioritized God over anything else? Why does God have to take second priority? Why Can't we establish a direct and  constant communication ...