This Week With Jesus

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye". In Matthew 7:3–5, Jesus reminded us not to be hypocrites and blame others but look at our own faults and limitations first.  It is in our human nature not to accept blame for something gone wrong and pass it on to someone else. Adam did it; Eve did it; Moses did it; Aaron did it (   Exodus 32:1-8); Saul did it; and, we do it all the time. Believe it or not, sometimes we even blame God! Why did God allow this to happen, is a question many have asked, including from Jesus' time (John 11, 37-38). Another favorite these days is: " God, I tried to wait but you’re not moving fast enough so I guess I’ll hav...

Does this image look familiar? Does it bring a feeling of Deja Vu?  "This is for all the lonely people Thinkin' that life has passed them by....." These are the opening lines of a song by a group called America which, in the late sixties, observed the depth of loneliness people were facing. What can be sadder than for someone to watch life pass by. Yet, the truth is that it's a reality for a lot of people, young and old, retired folks, people in old age-homes, rehabs, hospitals, aged care, widows and widowers and couples whose children have relocated due to marriage or jobs and hardly call them.  These are just a few. Today, loneliness is an epidemic, across age groups and in the elders. (Covid further exacerbated the problem). Loneliness or Social isolation is as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness can increase the risk of premature death by up to 50%. As Christians, in churches or fellowships, it is our duty to see to it that our fellowshi...

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away" Mark 13:31 This is an astounding statement by anyone! The quoted verse is typical of some of His assertions and can be viewed as a boast or something said to motivate His disciples. This verse is a great indicator, in human terms, to the truth of the rest of His teachings and claims as well. So how do we know if this, and all that He said is the truth? The biblia sacra "holy books" translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια (tà biblía tà hágia, "the holy books") or The Bible, is foundational to Christianity, but many believers struggle to articulate why they trust it and what is written, including the teachings of Jesus.   Today we shall attempt to provide some logical answers to this question. God's word and Jesus' works and His teachings are recorded in the Bible, which has been written, compiled and translated for the last 2000 years, recording history of the previous 5000 years!...

A Second Chance: Inspired by Corrie ten Boom Do you think you live in dire circumstances? Submerged in circumstances which drown you? Read on.... Corrie ten Boom was a holocaust survivor, who was arrested by the Nazis along with the rest of her family for hiding Jews in their Haarlem home during the Holocaust, she was imprisoned and eventually sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp along with her beloved sister, Betsie, who died there just days before Corrie's own release on December 31, 1944. This post is based on her story, her inspiration and her book, the Hiding Place, which is also picturized in the post. Join her journey of forgiveness as she meets one of her tormentors, torturers and Nazi guard, face to face in a church. The problems & issues we cry about are small compared to her story. AND , they are MICROSCOPIC  compared to what Jesus went through for us .  This Post is available HERE. Read On::  https://thisweekwithjesus.blogspot.com/2023/07/a-second-...

(This post is based on a KJV devotional & also refers to a sermon by Pastor Jolly Raj from Bethel Methodist Church, Noida, India. The link to the sermon is also given below).  Sometimes, we needlessly complicate our faith, and that can quickly put us on the wrong path. Fad teachings and new doctrines seem to emerge every day, as do new interpretations.  For example, a big discussion doing the rounds of some theologians is whether Judas was really to blame and if went to heaven or he'll. But we already have God’s word, and we already have the Lord’s Supper. Furthermore, "He values us so much he counted it worthy to die on the cross for our sins" (Chipo Biti) What more do we want? We need not reinvent our faith with extraneous rituals, they may only lead to polluted doctrine. Instead, let us hold to the simple gatherings and foundational truth that we have already been given. 2 Peter 2:1 clearly warns us - "But there were false prophets also among the people, even ...

"And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good". — Genesis 32:12 There are 8810 promises in the Bible of which 7487 are those made by God to man . The promises are ours for the asking—7,487 of them made by God Himself. These promises address all the issues we may face in life - poverty, death, betrayal, trust, war, Satan, you name it. Which also means that God has us covered in all aspects of life. He never is before his time, but he never is behind it. If you have a divine promise, you need not plead it with an “if,” you may urge it with certainty. God does not give his words merely to quiet us, and to keep us hopeful for a while with the intention of putting us off at last; but when he speaks, it is because he means to do as he has said. Those promises can change lives. How fast do we hold onto His promises? Do we even claim them like Jacob did? Do we demand? We go to church and sing, “Standing on the promises,” but some of us are simply sitting on them!