This Week With Jesus

Psalm 125 ver 1 "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." – Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) Man by nature is associated with careful consideration, prudent planning, and a sensible approach. Recklessness is irresponsible. But when it comes to trusting God, we'll, a reckless faith is what God wants! Complete and total dependence on Him alone. That does not mean a person needing medicines should not take them. But what about "reckless faith"? It sounds almost irresponsible, doesn't it? Yet, when we look at the lives of many biblical heroes, we see a striking pattern of audacious, seemingly reckless trust in God. Consider Abraham, who left everything familiar to go to a land he'd never seen, simply because God told him to. Or Moses, confronting the most powerful ruler of his time with nothing but a staff and God's promise. Think of David, a young shepherd boy, facing a giant with just a sling and five smooth stones. These ...

We are so like the Israelites. Just when we get what we want, we decide that we want more. The Israelites have been saved from slavery and then God brought them through the sea, and now they're complaining again. God again provided what they need, but they do have to follow some rules. They were only to gather what they needed for the day and on the sixth day they collected enough for the Sabbath. What they gathered was measured so that each had what they needed and no one had more. They were instructed not to save some for the next day and, of course, there were those who didn't follow instructions and what they saved became foul. On the sixth day, they could prepare enough for the next day so that the Sabbath could be a holy day dedicated to Yahweh. Let's think deeply about this: can we call it greed? Some may call it wisdom, saving up for a rainy day. What we call it, it reflects doubt on Gods ability to provide. It also reflects more trust in ourselves over God and in f...

In Numbers 15:39, the word "fringe" (Hebrew: tzitzit) refers to tassels that the Israelites were commanded by God to wear on the corners of their garments. The primary meaning and purpose of these fringes are clearly stated in the verse itself: "It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot." Just like the Israelites, we too can become easily distracted by the things around us. We can get caught up in our own wants and desires, leading us down a path away from Gods will for our lives. That’s is why t is important for us to have reminders of gods commandments so that we can stay on track with His plan for us. We can find these reminders in different ways such as reading our Bible daily, praying or even wearing jewelry with across or other religious symbols. Whatever works the best for us. The important thing is that we hav...

 

                           "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. " - John 15:13 In a small village in Japan, there was an old house that had been abandoned for many years. One day, a man decided to renovate the house. As he started to remove the wooden wall panels, he noticed something unusual. A small lizard was nailed to the wall by one of its feet. The man felt sad for the lizard, which must have been trapped there for a long time. However, as he examined the lizard more closely, he noticed something even more surprising. Another lizard was bringing food to the trapped lizard, ensuring that it didn't starve. Despite the hardship of being nailed to the wall, the trapped lizard had been sustained by the unwavering care of its companion. The free lizard had dedicated itself to feeding the trapped one, showing an incredible level of devotion and compassion. This story serves as a...

In our last post we talked about Jesus being the way and why we need to follow Him, if we want salvation. Following Jesus means commitment to living a life that mirrors his teachings, values, and example, prioritizing his will above all else, and striving for spiritual growth through faith, love, and service. In short it means "living Jesus" every day. Addressing challenges He faced - His way. Relating to people - His way. How we can do that is to ask ourselves in every situation - what would Jesus do? And then do what He would do. If we don't know- go to the Word. Ask. Rev Francis Taylor says this - "Everyone faces temptation every day. It may be something as unimportant as having an extra piece of candy, or skipping exercise, but it could be as serious as giving in to road rage, drinking too much, cheating, gambling, taking drugs, or – (insert your favorite vice here)! Jesus was tempted to let us know that this is something we all must overcome. When you face a te...

Did you know that the Early followers of Christ were called followers of "the way" ? The term "Christianity" came much later. Let us pause and think why were they called that? What was "the way"? The answer will open the door to another basic question: why should anyone follow Christ? Because Christ offered true followers a pathway to salvation. Jesus was and is the way to our salvation. Thus, our ultimate goal to follow a resurrected Jesus is because He is the way to salvation.  How may you ask? Jesus said to take up our cross and follow Him - essentially symbolizing the end of our earthly self and a new beginning. When a person carried a cross in Jesus’ day, no one thought of it as a persistent annoyance or symbolic burden . It was literal! "To a person in the first century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: death by crucifixion. To carry a cross was to face the most painful and humiliating means of death human beings could develop. Two...

If you were told to empty a bathtub and the choice was to use a bucket, a glass or a spoon, which would you use?  The answer of course is none of the above. The smart way would be to simply pull the plug, because using any of those above-mentioned alternatives would never completely empty the tub. There would be a remnant of water remaining.  Similarly in our spiritual life, if you don't pull the plug there will always be remnants of our previous sins which will remain.  The problem is when called upon to pull the plug, our strength fails us. We are unable to empty that tub completely because of our attachments to our earthly desires and possessions. But Jesus can!  He sacrificed himself to pull the plug and drain out sin from the world, including for you and me.  Today, as we fill our own tubs, let us be careful that we fill it with what Jesus wants, not what we desire from this world.  Reply Forward Add reaction

  Play to Win or Play Not to Lose! 

As we read Revelations, trying to understand, one thing stands out: the significance of the 7 churches to our lives today, with 7 different types of Christians in the world. Let's take a look: The Loveless Christian : First, we have Ephesus, a prominent city with a church mentored by Paul and pastored by Timothy. They are doings things right and yet do have their faults, primary among them is that their devotion to Christ had declined. What can we learn from this church? Like the Ephesian church, we can easily fall prey to a cold, mechanical observance of religion. Like the Ephesians, many tend to focus solely on doctrinal purity and hard work, to the exclusion of true love for Christ. As this letter shows, no amount of zeal for the truth or moral rectitude can replace a heart full of love for Jesus. Persecuted Christians :  Then we have Smyrna. Persecuted Christians. Jesus encourages them to remain faithful, for more persecution is to come. Like the people at Smryna, many today fa...