This Week With Jesus

Well, it's that time of the year when we all decide to bring in some change in our lives, even though that resolution may fade in a week or two. So, we thought we should delve into the biblical perspective of change and how to respond to or react to it. To start with, let's understand change. Change is a transformation. Change can be internal or external. It can be good or bad. Our reaction to it can be acceptance, rejection, or (as it happens most of the time) silent condonation of it. How does the bible view change? The Bible is very clear we need internal change. That is because God and His principles never change (even though His methods may). If we need to be more like Him, we need to change. Our old self has to die and be replaced by our new self. This new self then needs to shine so that people around us see the Goodness of our God, encouraging external change in the environment. The Bible gives enough guidelines of what is to change in ourselves and how, before we can h...

Our choices decide our relationship with God. Whether we take Him seriously or not. How involved He is in our life and how much we depend on Him. David Bowman has this to say - Every day, we have the choice, every moment in fact, to decide who gets to decide—us or God. This should not be a hard choice. The conclusion should be apparent. Yet somehow, I have rationalized exceptions to the rule, alternate outcomes, even truly fantastical courses of action. The one thing all of my better ideas have in common is that none of them were better ideas. (David Bowman) As we start the new year, think about how we make choices: our choice or Gods choice. In truth, while sometimes we do decide to follow Gods will, most times it is our own human nature who gets to decid3. But, we can discipline our hearts and minds to desire to be in line with Gods choice. While it is extremely difficult, it will be worthwhile to align this year and the rest of the years we have, to God's will and His decisions.

"One day, a very rich father took his son on a trip to the country to show him what it was like to be poor. They stayed for a few days and nights on a farm where a very poor family lived. After they returned home, the father asked his son how he liked the trip. “It was great, Dad,” the son replied. “Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. “Oh yeah,” the son answered. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father. The son thought for a moment and said, “I saw that we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool that goes halfway across our garden, and they have a creek that never ends. We have fancy lanterns in our garden, and they have the stars at night. Our patio is big and reaches the front yard, but they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land, but they have fields that go as far as you can see. We have servants who work for us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow their own. We have walls around our property to keep u...