This Week With Jesus

 

How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts! - Benjamin Franklin This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people. - C.S. Lewis I believe there are too many practitioners in the church who are not believers .- C.S. Lewis Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends. - Henry Ward Beecher Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us. - Charles Spurgeon Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite. - Charles Spurgeon Experience tells us that each man most keenly and unerringly detects in others the vice with which he is most familiar himself .- Frederick W. Robertson Steal the hog, and give the feet for alms. - George Herbert The Pharisees broke Moses' tables into pieces, and, gathering up the fragments, took to themselves what part of duty they pleas...

Reference: 2 Timothy 2 14-26 Our world revolves around two things - assets and liabilities. We define and classify people around us with these two scales. That is of course in the material world. In the Christian world, a similar question arises: are we an asset to Christ? Firstly, let us understand that we are NOT a liability. We, each one of us are valuable to God. Not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of what we have cost . Second, just because we are not a liability does not mean we are an asset. An asset is something or someone who is useful to the world, people around us and to society at large. As assets we become agents of change for the better. Last, and following from the above, as assets we become agents of change for God. His word tells us what we need to do, how we must behave and act. How we need to build a relationship with Him as well as the people around us. That we, become a lighthouse for Him, guiding others to Him. If our light starts to dim, w...

Did you know there was a 4th Wise man who didn't make it?  Long ago in the late 1800s a man named Eric Van Dyke wrote a short story about a "fourth" wise man (accepting the tradition that the Magi numbered three), a priest of the Magi named Artaban, one of the Medes from Persia. Like the other Magi, he sees signs in the heavens proclaiming that a King has been born among the Jews. Like them, he sets out to see the newborn ruler, carrying treasures to give as gifts to the child - a sapphire, a ruby, and a "pearl of great price". However, he stops along the way to help a dying man, which makes him late to meet with the caravan of the other three wise men. Because he missed the caravan, and he can't cross the desert with only a horse, he is forced to sell one of his treasures in order to buy the camels and supplies necessary for the trip. He then commences his journey but arrives in Bethlehem too late to see the child, whose parents have fled to Egypt. He saves...

          A whole Sermon can be compressed into a single quote   The true call of a Christian is not to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way - Dean Stanley. A real Christian is a person who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip - Billy Graham A man ought to live so that everybody knows he is a Christian... and most of all, his family ought to know . - Dwight L. Moody Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion - it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ - Billy Graham As a Christian, Christ died so that we will have eternal life in Him in Heaven. What it looks like doesn't matter, what it smells like doesn't matter, as long as Christ is there it will be Heaven to me - T . D. Jakes The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then only can i change - Carl Rogers. You have to look at what a person does with his life. Anyone can say that he's a Ch...

                                    Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to God’s love and the future to God’s providence .  Augustine It is just as important to trust God as it is to obey Him. When we disobey God we defy His authority and despise His holiness. But when we fail to trust God we doubt His sovereignty and question His goodness. In both cases we cast aspersions upon His majesty and His character. God views our distrust of Him as seriously as He views our disobedience .  Jerry Bridges To some degree Satanism is purely a kind of disease of Christianity. You've got to really be Christian to believe in Satan . Alan Moore No Christian can be a pessimist, for Christianity is a system of radical optimism. William Inge Christianity helps us face the music even when we don't like the tune. Phillips Brooks Christianity means a lot more than church membership . Billy Sunday We mi...

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...

  The Tipping Point  :  Fire in the belly of every believer The Wind and the Sail  : Partnering with God

The Christian Way "I can honestly say I am a Christian, but my spirituality has been developed on the road and is based on my experiences with God." Justin Timberlake The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'   Billy Graham I wish not merely to be called Christian, but also to be Christian.  Saint Ignatius When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes industrious, trustworthy and prosperous. Now, if that man, when he gets all he can and saves all he can, does not give all he can, I have more hope for Judas Iscariot than for that man!  John Wesley A man ought to live so that everybody knows he is a Christian... and most of all, his family ought to know .  Dwight L. Moody I'm just like you - I want to be a good human being. I'm doing my best, and I'm working at it. And I'm trying to be a Christian. I'm alwa...

Did u know that Satan also blesses. He is not deaf. He too hears when we ask God for some blessing which may or may not be His will for us. The devil works with counterfeit information and what we have asked for, he will send us as a counterfeit blessing. Terms and conditions attached.  The exact meaning of the word "counterfeit" is something  made in exact imitation of something valuable with the intention to deceive or defraud . And without knowledge and wisdom to discern, a fake, seems to be genuine.  This is why it is wise to pray for discernment so that nothing passed us by surprise, and we miss what God really wanted for us. 

A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness . It is an expression of humility . It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer , faith , courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being . James E. Faust " Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you ." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

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...

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...

                                  Addiction is so prevalent in the world today that it encompasses nearly a quarter of the world. And if we add food addiction that figure would probably be three fourths. Food addiction will probably include you and me. Addicts of all kinds are looked down on, sometimes with sympathy and sometimes with disgust. Seldom with empathy. Addicts need to be treated not with sympathy or disgust but with kindness and support. Pastor David Jacobs says - "No matter where you are from, if you are old enough, you have been exposed to some form of addiction. Whether you have battled addiction yourself as I have or you have seen it grip somebody that you know, the depths of addiction and the hold that it can have on people is terrifying. Knowing all that we do about addiction and the harms that it brings, how are we not more wary of it? How do we not do more to resist its temptations?...

Rabindranath Tagore, an Indian poet, writer and composer of the Indian National Anthem said - "Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man" It is inevitable that at some point in our life we face being left alone. By parents, by a spouse, friends and family. The reasons could be one of many - most common being death. As an adult, the pain and sense of abandonment can be overwhelming as can be insecurity and hopelessness.  Yet two things come to mind in such a situation. Two verses which can rebuild hope and life. John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. King James Version And then you have Isiaah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. These two verses give me ho...

                                       Sometimes, simple quotes from people can be more effective than the longest or best of sermons. A couple of lines can leave a lasting impact, simplifying some of the most complicated messages. Today we bring you some quotes around the theme - A God Lead Life 1 . Coincidence is Gods way of remaining Anonymous - Albert Einstein . (For all those who believe in coincidences), 2 . Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is whether I am on Gods side, for God is always right. - Abraham Lincoln. 3. Life is Gods novel. Let Him write it - Isaac Singer 4. We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls. - Mother Te...

The phrase "A tick in the box" is used to refer to a way of doing things that involves following rules or instructions that are the same in every case, with no possibility of someone using their own sense, knowledge or ability to do something. Today the question is: Do we lead "tick in the box" lives?  David Jacobs says this:  "If you and/or your family is anything like mine, the act of prayer has become repetitive. We say a quick prayer before eating, sometimes go to church and say quick prayers that we read off the bulletin, and overall any time that we pray it is of very little meaning or consequence. There is not an ounce of focus spent on the words and meaning of the prayer. It is almost like we are not even there. What do we want from these prayers? What are we asking for? " You see it’s not the atheist who is a hypocrite, it’s the apathetic believer who is satisfied with the “whitewash” of the lifestyle and social standing of being part of a church ...

 

In his book, Pastoral Grit: the Strength to Stand and to Stay (Bethany), Craig Brian Larson writes: "In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. According to Leon Jaroff in Time, the satellite's primary mission was to reach Jupiter, photograph the planet and its moons, and beam data to earth about Jupiter's magnetic field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan, for at that time no earth satellite had ever gone beyond Mars, and they feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could reach its target. "But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much, much more. Swinging past the giant planet in November 1973, Jupiter's immense gravity hurled Pioneer 10 at a higher rate of speed toward the edge of the solar system. At one billion miles from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune at nearly three billion miles; Pluto at almost four billion mil...

Some people know the true meaning of the words "God provides", because they have lived with nothing in hand, no idea from where they will meet their daily expense and yet they are able to. Quietly and without fanfare, through some God given providence. While Gods provision is true for all, these people have lived on the edge of collapse, with nothing in sight except hope for Gods provision, unlike other people who have wealth or jobs or plans which they depend on, not realizing that even those were provided by God. One is not better than the other. We all go through hard times, possibly living on the edge. We may feel let down or that life is unfair, but there is another perspective: it brings about true dependence on God. Such times remind us of the journey of Israel as they walked to the Promised Land. They were not allowed to store manna as an exercise in trusting Gods daily provision. Why? Ms. Francis Taylor explains it beautifully - "We take these troubling events a...