This Week With Jesus

                                          By Ms. Francis Taylor "Do you honestly confess to your sins? On the surface of it, it is easier to confess and own up to the largest errors when one has clearly been caught, for these sins are the most blatant and glaring.  However, for the true follower of Christ, who knows there is no realm which may hide or obscure itself from God's light, real courage comes in facing the darkest desires of one's heart, even if they have not yet been committed, or have instead been covered up. In asking for forgiveness not because one is caught, or for fear of retribution, but rather in clearing one's conscience, in obedience to a moral order of purging one's heart before one's maker, this is a mark of the truly faithful, the truly courageous.  Evil often stems from weakness, of not being able to look it in the eye fully or giving it a disguise. ...

  Read Genesis Chapter 13  The Bible indicates that being wealthy is no sin, but wealth seriously increases a believer's responsibility. God's people should therefore view wealth with a sense of stewardship rather than ownership. ( 1 Tim 6 9-11).  We see an example of this in Genesis chapter 13. We need to keep in mind that wealth, at that time, was counted by cattle, silver and gold, of which Abraham and Lot had plenty. So much in fact that the "land could not support them", basis which Abraham suggested a split.  This is where we now see how our choices play out and implications of those choices.  Abraham had the first right to choose but he gave that choice to Lot. He entrusted His future to God, walking by faith.  This act by itself is an ideal for us to follow, living our life in such a way that others see the love we share for one another.  Lot "lifted up his eyes" to see carefully and identify the best land for himself, without a thought for Abr...

Read Genesis 12 Post floods the world moved on and we come to Abraham, originally named Abram by his father Terah. Joshua 24: 2 tells us that Terah worshipped other God's as did their community. So Abraham actually grew up in an idolatrous family and nation. While the Bible doesn't give a detailed "conversion" story in the modern sense, it clearly presents that Abraham's transformation into a follower of the one true God was a result of God's direct call and revelation to him. God chose Abraham. It is said of Abraham that the symbol of his life was a tent and the secret of his life was an altar. Rarely do we read of Abraham living in a city and the altar speaks of his fellowship with God. He built an altar on every milestone of His fellowship, four in all. Why did God choose Abraham? Well because it was His sovereign choice and because He knew Abraham's character, his faithfulness, obedience and trust. God always looks beyond the obvious. Thus God chose Ab...

Read Genesis 10 and 11 Many things changed after the great floods. The human race was restarted, we changed from being herbivores to carnivores, lifespans became shorter, and people dispersed all over. Along with all this, surfaced ambition, the inherent traits in all humans. Today, let us reflect together on the threads that weave through Genesis chapters 10, 11 and 12. These chapters, seemingly disparate, actually paint a powerful picture of human ambition, divine intervention, and the dawn of a new beginning. Let's delve into the Genesis of ambition as portrayed in the early chapters of the Bible. It's a fascinating and complex topic, revealing both the potential and the peril inherent in our desires. We see the very first stirrings of ambition not in humanity, but in the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). The serpent's ambition is clear: to usurp God's authority and elevate humanity to divine status. He whispers the seductive lie, "For God knows that w...