This Week With Jesus

Life can sometimes make you feel hopeless: death, disease, misfortune dog our footsteps. No matter what happens in our life, there is hope. God is there. When we come to God in prayer, we do not come with our own righteousness but with a humble heart, seeking His great mercies. Sometimes, in the midst of our struggles, it may feel like God is not listening or paying attention to our cries, but, if we do as Hannah did, pouring out our soul for the Lord, God will hear our prayers. We come before you in awe Lord, acknowledging your greatness and magnificence. We humbly approach you with our prayers, knowing that you are the one who hears and answers. As we navigate through the challenges of this world, as well as our own personal challenges, we ask for your guidance and wisdom. In times of uncertainty may we find solace in knowing you are with us and your purpose for our lives will prevail. Almighty father, we praise you and thank you for your deliverance and protection of some of the peo

  In our world of immediate gratification, success is measured by grandiose achievements. Yet, God delights in small, everyday acts and things, as He does in those grandiose achievements. For Him, it's the heart of the matter, not the outcome. So today we pray - Heavenly Father, help us to see the value and significance of the small tasks we do every day. May we find joy in the ordinary and the mundane, knowing that you are present in every moment. Give us the strength to be faithful in small things trusting that you can use them in your Glory. We thank you for the recovery of your servant in Australia and those who were sick and needed your intervention. Today DeeSki asks for Gods help and says - "Please god do not let her give up on me and this relationship. I am completely lost knowing I could losing her and my children. I’m asking for all of the prayers I can get and for somehow someway god to help me keep this relationship and family together." David thanks God for

                                                     Gods blessings are not limited by our circumstances. He can bring abundance and increase in the most unlikely of places. As we faithfully sow seeds of kindness, love, forgiveness and generosity, we can expect a harvest of blessings in due time. Remember, the harvest may not come immediately, it requires patience, perseverance and unwavering faith. But, rest assured, the Lord will bless us abundantly, according to His perfect timing and plan. Today let us take inspiration from Isaacs story and sow seeds of faith in our own lives, even during adversity, and give thanks and honor to the Lord knowing that every good thing comes from Him. Psalm 91 is a perfect reminder of Gods protection and provision during every adverse situation that may surround us.

  As we relax on Saturdays, its time to not only think about ourselves but also all those people who need our prayers and support. We are sharing some prayer needs so that we all can support each other. For Upper Room readers who have requested prayers- Kait   requests prayer saying: Please pray that God relieves the pain in my body after a hard days work. Please pray that God will allow me to fulfill his calling for me for a long time. Thank you God for the many blessings you bestow RN requests prayer saying: Please pray my doctor’s appointment goes well tomorrow. Thank you so much. Jlow requests prayer saying: Prayer for my freedom. God bless those who are not. For a senior in India suffering from Dementia . We pray for her peace as well as strength for her caregiver. Please pray for Jim . Pray that he can work thru an issue that happened today. Pray for it to go well. John requests prayer saying: Please pray that my dad's hearing will be corrected and that at least one of his

"The measure of a person may not be in what they have, but what they are able to live without". Pastor David Jacobs. Humans measure each other only in one scale: how much does one have. If someone is extremely knowledgeable, they are respected. If some one has a lot of wealth, they are fawned upon. If someone is poor, they are endured at best. The whole point is How does God view us. Pastor Jacobs actually creates a new paradigm of measurement, and possibly God uses that measure. What can you live without? There is good sense when in Luke 12: Jesus says “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” In his message Pastor Jacobs goes on to say- "In the consumer world that we currently live, we are taught that we should always want more, more, more. We can never possess enough, as evidenced by the wealthiest among us. When is it too much? At what point does all of what a person has achie

Man giving his own slippers to a child. (The Kindness Blog) It’s a paradigm shift… Let’s look at this from 30,000 feet… At the end of the day… Let’s get our heads around this… The world us full of buzz words and jargon. I guess they make the speaker feel a little wiser and knowledgeable and "in". Dis you know that Christianity too has a lot of buzzwords ? One of the many is "The Living Word" . Yes we all know what it means but do we really live it? Jesus said many will say Lord Lord... Matthew 7:22. Yes, Jesus is the living word from God to us. His ressurection proved that. The problem is unless we don't live the word it's a dead word as far as we are concerned. He also made it so simple: love and honor God above all else and love people. Do we love people apart from Sundays in church? Do we help our neighbors even if it's inconvenient? If someone Need's medical support, though we may not be doctors, we could arrange for them to meet a doc. Or if som

                                            "Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts" . Malachi 1  When we have esteemed visitors over for a visit, we try and offer the best we can. Best crockery and cutlery, the best of foods, the best seat in the house and the best comforts. When God knocks, in the form of a hungry person, what do we offer? Stale food? When asked by beggars -do we give s oiled or unusable currency and keep the crisp notes for ourselves? It's not what we give. It's how we give. Let's not put terms and conditions to our giving. Recognize the need and give honorably, thereby honoring God for there is God in each human.  Give more or give l

In the 70s there was a very famous song called American Pie. It was a chart buster and remains popular till this day. A line in the song is very thought provoking and it says, "I saw Satan laughing in delight" .  Strange, isn't it? But think about it. What makes Satan delighted. Do you and I delight Satan? We spend so much time on developing our lives to delight God and trying to follow it, we seldom stop to think what about our life delights Satan. Let's think about it today. Possibly because we are a material society, we believe what we see, therefore we have a far-off belief in the spiritual wars we face and hence don't take the trouble to know our enemy - Satan. Big mistake because then we severely underestimate the tactics and character of our enemy. In the ancient Chinese military classic, The Art of War (attributed to Sun Tzu), it is commented, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know your

Remember Job? A character of much importance in the Bible. Some people joke and say that he innocently became the subject of a bet between God and Satan. Except that God does not gamble.  God also does not need to give points, but He did point Job to His truths. Yet, even today,  we humans want proof points. Proof of His creation, proof of His presence, proof of His love for us. We sure know about Him, but do we really believe in Him until he shows His presence? Humanity needs case studies like that of Job to show others of things like faith, Gods love, Divine intervention etc. If you look at it, Job is a typical human and, in the story, God lists out all the proof points you and I need that He exists, and He is God the Creator. He also gives proof points that He is the nurturer and the provider; that he is the protector of His creation and finally that He is the power that keeps the balance in His creation. The Story of Job is an important one for us. Not because it teaches us how to

Imagine you are being chased by violent robbers who not only want to rob you but do bodily harm. You run here and there, trying to find an escape route but they are relentless. There is a whole bunch of them, brandishing knives and pistols, shouting and screaming about what they will do to you when they catch you. You run and run, hard and fast but they are catching up. You know it's only a matter of a couple of minutes before they catch you. As you run you think of your family, friends. You also think of who or what can help you. You rue the fact that you did not put emergency on fast dial on your phone, because you know when they do catch you, they will take away the phone. Suddenly as you zig zag you see an alley... though it's dark but it does provide you with an escape route. You duck into it hoping to find escape. The robbers are right behind you. As your eyes focus in the dark you see that it's a dead end. A 20 feet fall blocks any thought of escape. You turn to face

 Lamentations 3:22-23 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness ". There is a traditional story in Africa which goes like this - "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.” That is nature. Each does what they were created to do.  For us too , every day is a new day, a new promise and a new beginning. Another chance to be what the creator wants us to be. To do what He wants us to do. Another day of hope for the brokenhearted. Another chance to live. Another chance to experience His love. What should we do with this new day? This new beginning? Will it be the same as yesterday or will it b

Adversity is part n package of life. Everyone goes through it, in some measure. It is our response to adversity which determines how well we overcome it and get through it. We can learn a lot from nature on various things on how to handle adversity. Take the eagle for instance. When a storm comes it flies above the storm. It have the strength and can sustain heights. On the other hand, there is the butterfly. It knows it cannot fly above or in the storm, so it quietly rests and waits for the storm to be over. It takes both kinds to make this world, and both know how to survive. Which brings us to humans. To us. Our God caters to both personalities - those who fly above the storm and those who shelter during it. Isaiah 40:31 is a passage we have read and heard many times. Songs have been written about this verse. Isaiah said, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not fa

Refer Luke 7:22 Anxiety and worry are crippling issues for many people. In this age of technology, it is easier than ever before to compare ourselves to one another, which can lead to a lot of thoughts of inadequacy, insecurity and worthlessness. "The two listeners" in their book called God Calling, describe this feeling as below: How can you be "joyful when days were rain-packed, nights tortured by chronic insomnia, when poverty and almost insupportable worry were our daily portion, when prayer went unanswered and God's face was veiled, and fresh calamities came upon us...... Disheartened, one of us would gladly have ceased the struggle and passed onto a another and happier life".  In truth many, if not all, some of us go through such times and feelings.  What do we do about it? Pastor David Jacobs has this to say and suggest- Consider  Philippians 4 verses 6 and 7 -  6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let

Ask, Seek and Knock.  Matthew &:7 says - "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you". But how do we know if what we are asking for is the Will of God? Pastor Rajiv discusses this very important aspect of the ASK principle today in his message.      

The Book of Ruth is one of only two books of the Bible to be named after women (the other is Esther). It's a short book and often easily overlooked. Yet it has always inspired us to look beyond failure and loss. The short Book of Ruth in the Hebrew scripture has three main characters, Ruth, Naomi and Boaz, from whom you can learn many lessons. The story of Ruth covers a period of loss and despair for Naomi, persistence and devotion of Ruth, a time of bestowing grace and favor for Boaz and an ending of joy and blessing for all three. As a woman in ancient Israel, Ruth's loss of a husband and her sons was equivalent to losing her security and future. All of her dreams were shattered. It is a study on how to respond to shattered dreams as we follow Naomi's development from a bitter, depressed woman returning home with nothing but a foreign daughter-in-law, into a joyful woman with an adopted son at the end of the story, and with the all important mission of establishing the li