This Week With Jesus

Psalm 23 is quite strange. After all, after having walked through the "valley of the shadow of death" God prepares a feast for David in the presence of his enemies! Can we/ you ever feast or banquet during adverse times? The KJV devotional has this to say - "David faced so many challenges but remained confident in the power and provision of God. He knew how God could prepare a feast; not just in a secure place but even in the presence of enemies. This illustration shows us the richness of God’s care for His people and the confidence we can have in Him. We see here that God prepares the table and does not bother to remove the presence of enemies (or adversity). This means that there are times when God allows hardships to linger, but He still provides care, sustenance, provision, and strength while we are going through these adversities. We cannot always expect God to get rid of all of our obstacles for us, but we can be confident that even when surrounded by threats or ha

                                                    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. We want to pray for peace and normalcy to prevail in Bangladesh and protection of minorities there.  We ask for divine intervention:- For a Pastor in Australia and a senior citizen - : We pray for healing and strength allowing him to continue his work for God.  For a senior in India suffering from Dementia .  We continue to  pray for her peace as well as strength for her caregiver. For a senior in India suffering from a debilitating back pain , we ask for prayer of strength and healing.  Tanu requests prayer saying : Heavenly Father I thank you for the wonderful organization where you have blessed me and other families with a job. I continue praying that you look at us with mercy and favor, protect the organization from individuals who d

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Reference: Matthew 25: Ver 35-40 If God comes knocking at your door today, what will you do? Seriously. What would someone do? Would we be excited? Would we be afraid? Would we run around like chickens not knowing what to do? Or would we turn Him away? The fact is, God does come knocking at your door, at your car window or in your office . And every so often we turn Him away. The fact is, there is God in everyone. The hungry beggar, the homeless man or woman, the lame and the sick. He comes to our door in many shapes and forms, but we do not recognize Him. So little is our faith in man that we judge: "oh why should I give? Can he not work?" Or "He will only go and drink it away". Or simply "this is another way of thievery". Friends, we justify our apathy with judgements. Yes, everything we think maybe true. They might drink

Growing up there was no television and going to the movies was a treat. The daily entertainment came from reading books. Two such book are ones I will never forget - All things bright and beautiful and All creatures Great and Small by James Heriot, a vet surgeon in rural England.  His books are about his daily experiences as a vet and  Gods creation, farm animals, birds and other creatures in our daily life, as well as the challenges they face as do their owners and farmers. One common picture which will keep popping up is that of fences on farms, pens and enclosures where the animals are kept safe. A gate left open accidentally can result in tragedy for the animal, so the farmer makes sure all gates are shut. In case it is not and animals stray, they are sitting targets for wolves, speeding cars and other dangers, so the farmer immediately goes after the strays and tries to bring them back to safety. This is much like our own shepherd who may leave 100 of us while we are in the safe

All too often, in this great world, we seem to lapse into a state of ingratitude, taking for granted all of the blessings and comforts we enjoy or have enjoyed. We either revert into an attitude of self-satisfaction, expecting that peace and bliss will always follow us, or, become despondent and depressed and totally hopeless when face with adversity and think that our desperate situation is forever. During these times we should, with sincerity of heart, count our blessings! Maybe even write them down to keep reminding us. There is a song too, by the same name which has a history which demonstrates the reality and truth of this song. We may have heard this song in school or #Sundayschool, because maybe adults think it is childish to thank #God so simply.  Gipsy Smith, a famous evangelist of yesteryear, said of this song, "Men sing it, boys whistle it and women rock their babies to sleep to it." How did this song come about?  Johnson Oatman, Jr., born April 21, 1856, was a ci

                 I cannot forget a Book by Robin Sharma called  "Who will cry when you die". The title inspired me to think,  and often I ask myself the same question: who will cry when I die? Maybe not literally, but who will genuinely grieve?  Apart from my family and a couple of friends, I really can't count any. We are so involved with self and careers and God knows what else, we forget to carve out a legacy  of good which can live on after us. But why should we?  Because "Life" is not a career; life is not about just us. There is nothing wrong about doing things for us but that is not the end. Life is the means to the end but life is living in harmony with the world around us. Taking care of the world and people around us. Using our talents wisely for the benefit of others. Thats how we can create a legacy.  Creating a legacy is about making a lasting impact that transcends your lifetime. It involves living with intention and purpose , and making contribut

The celebrated Scottish preacher, James Stewart, made a statement explaining ....: "It is always upon human weakness and humiliation, not human strength and confidence, that God chooses to build His Kingdom; and that He can use us not merely in spite of our ordinariness and helplessness and disqualifying infirmities, but precisely because of them." This fact actually transforms our mental attitude toward our circumstances. Our cribbing and self-pity over issues we face, weaknesses we have and lack of resources, all fade away once we acknowledge all and yet commit to being ready to serve. We maybe financially broken, physically challenged or mentally destroyed, yet we are of use in His kingdom. How we will be used is left to Him. Let's take a look at some of our Biblical greats who served God . As a leader, Moses need to be a great speaker yet he couldn't speak straight. Jacob was deceptive. Abraham, too old to father a child, begot a nation. Did you know Elijah was