The Peacemakers

The Colt Peacemaker revolver was named for the sentiment that an armed society was a polite society. The presence of a Colt revolver was thought to discourage troublemakers from picking a fight. The Colt Peacemaker was also seen as an equalizer for women, the elderly, and those who were physically smaller.

In a warped sense, the very instrument of violence was thought to bring about peace.

But Christ talked of a different peacemaker. Men and women who are empathetic to others.

The peacemaker initiates reconciliation when others have wronged them. The peacemaker is also quick to repent when they have wronged others. In a world, where we have been discipled to avoid conflict, peacemaking takes a commitment to move toward it.

The human peacemaker does not enforce peace with the threat of violence but brings about peace with love.

When we contemplate the profound words of Jesus in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God,” we understand the inheritance that peacemakers receive – the kingdom of heaven itself.

Temptation is Beautiful

Good for the Eyes, Bad for the Soul (Adapted from the KJV Devotional) 

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise…” Genesis 3:6 KJV

Satan never lures people with repulsive bait, but he always uses things that appeal to our greatest desires. The truth is that God has already provided everything that we need, but Satan incites a dissatisfaction that began in the Garden of Eden. He creates counterfeits of God's blessings and falsely presents that he can give even more, as in the case of Eve and the forbidden tree. The tree was not just pleasant to look at and with good fruit to eat, but it offered something extra—it seemed to make one wise. But in the end, what the devil offers may look good, but it is always destructive to one's soul.

Stories To Tell

"But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds".
Psalm 73:28

"Looking back on life, we observe countless moments when God has intervened in our lives or the lives of others. He bestows upon us numerous blessings and miracles beyond our understanding. We each have a story to tell and a witness to share. We will shout praises to God from the mountaintops and continue to look for opportunities to tell all we meet about the mighty works of the Lord". Pastor David Jacobs. 

These stories could be of protection from our own or others mistakes or from health issues or about healing; they be could of provision when all sources were finished. Different people will have different stories and each story can be an inspiration to someone somewhere. Sharing it is also a thanksgiving for deliverance, as we let our life itself become a witness.

Today we urge you to share your story. Send it to us so we can share it with others. You can do so anonymously as well. Even if you don't want to do that, we encourage you to share it in your church group or fellowship.

Our mail is id thisweekwithjesus@gmail.com.

Stale Food and Soiled Currency

                                           

"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 soiled 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 less, but give with honor, not in boasting but in humility.

The Terror of The Night

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 the robbers. To face possible death. Your heart is beating, fear is making you cringe, paralysed. You think of your family, their images fleet before you. You know it's the end of the road. You tried but failed. You fall, defeated.

Can you feel the fear and defeat? What would you feel and do if you ever came into such a situation?

Back to our story.

As you lie there hopeless and helpless, you see the robbers closing in. As their eyes adjust to the dark, suddenly a door opens behind you; strong hands reach out and pull you in and lock he door again. You see that you are in a room with many people, all smiling and comforting you. They offer you water and make you sit. You start to feel safe.

If this happened to you what would you feel? Do you think this can never ever happen to you?

This story is fictional of course. What is not fictional is that the same situation actually befell the Hebrews as they tried to escape the Pharoah. Before them was the red sea and behind them was Pharoah. While a lot has been written about what happened after their experience, no one really thinks about what they felt prior to the event. What fear and hopelessness they may have felt. They may even have said farewells to each other, knowing surely that some, if not all, would die. They would not know then that God would fight their battle that day. He would use His weapons of the wind and the waves to give the Pharoah a final defeat. What sword can fight of the wind? What shield can protect against a tsunami wave? What human can outrun a tsunami?

Today, our battles are as real as they were for the Hebrews that day. What protects us against known and unknown dangers? Only the Almighty. (Remember the pandemic).

You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
Isaiah 54:17

Does God have a sense of humor?

Good question, but the answer depends very much on the definition of humor. Perhaps the best indication that God does have a sense of humor is that He created man in His image (Genesis 1:27), and certainly people are able to perceive and express humor. 

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a “sense of humor” as “...The ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is comical or funny.” According to this definition, then, God must show an ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is comical. The difficulty is that people perceive what is comical differently, and what sinful man perceives as funny would not amuse a holy and perfect God. Much of what the world calls humor is not funny but is crass and crude. Our humor is expressed at the expense of others (tearing down rather than building up), again something contrary to God’s Word.
To understands Gods sense of humor let us look at His word - the Bible and its historical narratives.
Here we find a humorous side in many, many situations. Imagine Jonah being brought back when he was running away. Or remember Balam and Balak? While Balak is surely drawn as a caricature of a monarch, their ridiculous stance is increasingly absurd with each stupidly unresponsive reaction.
Going further, what about the satire of Jotham in his story about the trees? Though in that day, as in every subsequent age, there was no room for a satirist in the kingdom of an incompetent ruler.
What about Elijah's ridicule of "the priests of Baal who wailed and slashed themselves in the hope that Baal would send fire from Heaven. "Shout louder!...Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling; or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened!" (1 Kings 18:27). Infact, an Indian person can surely understand the sarcasm in the answer "I am who I am" which is actually a retort when translated into Hindi.
In the NT think about when Rhoda finds Peter at her door, she gets so excited she forgets to open the door!
Hyers says "Jesus freely used humor, irony and satire" and offers the examples of "the blind leading the blind; straining out a gnat, then swallowing a camel; meticulously cleaning the outside of a cup while leaving the inside filthy; maintaining whitewashed tombs that are outwardly beautiful but inwardly full of dead men's bones; loudly honoring past prophets while plotting to kill present ones who preach the same message."  These are examples of what Whedbee describes as "Jesus as the cynic sage."
The Bible has inspired a multitude of art and fiction in many genres, including humor and comedy. William Shakespeare's comedy The Merchant of Venice includes elements from the Book of Daniel. Biblical references can be seen in films with Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. Modern examples include Monty Python's Life of Brian, and sketches by Rowan Atkinson.
But what I find most funny is the thought of weak and silly man trying to match wits with an almighty and all-knowing God; it is comical, and I can just picture God smiling indulgently as He watches our feeble attempts.

Our 8 Watt Abilities

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 miles. By 1997, twenty-five years after its launch, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun.
"And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back radio signals to scientists on Earth. 'Perhaps most remarkable,' writes Jaroff, 'those signals emanate from an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light, and takes more than nine hours to reach Earth."
The Little Satellite That Could was not qualified to do what it did. Thats a lot like many Biblical characters and a lot like us. 

An ability we think is low, may actually be just what God needs to accomplish something. The question we need to ask ourselves is: What can I do for God? How can God use me? I can cook and clean: Is that good enough (Yes). I can run errands, is that useful (Yes). I can sew. I love to drive. I have green fingers. Yes. Yes to all. Think about yourself today. God made you for a purpose. And if you can't figure it out, go ask God. He is available 24X7! 

Remember, God does not need great orators, scientists, businessmen or women, leaders, etc.  In fact He does not need greatness at all, because He will make you great. All He needs is a contrite heart and a grateful mind. 

The Higher you Grow, the deeper you must Bow*

Have you noticed how the tallest trees bow the most before the wind, while humans (mostly) bow before none, not even God? 

1 Peter 5 Ver 6 remains a verse in the Bible, to be referred to once in a while. 

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time".

Commenting on this topic, Chipo Biti wrote - "When we try to live our lives according to impulses inspired by pride and our egos, we are simply setting ourselves up for failure. There is no good that can ever come from thinking that we know better than God. When we try to rush for opportunities that we are not ready for, we simply end up setting ourselves up for embarrassment.

When people are not used to delayed gratification, they believe that they deserve to get whatever they want whenever they want it. This is not a wise way to live. When this happens, we ignore God's instructions and we choose to follow our own way instead because we believe that it is far better than the path that God has planned out for us".

The problem is humans have been conditioned to be goal oriented with complete dependance on self. The truth is we think God is just a helping hand and we are the main cause of our success or failure. We are so proud of our own knowledge, we become so arrogant that we lose the ability to recognize our own arrogance.

"But", Chip Biti says, "the truth is: we cannot do anything significantly meaningful without God. If we try to live our lives on our own terms it means that we are turning our backs on God."

Genuine humility lies in the fact that we put God's will, direction and timing before our own desired outcomes. The Bible defines humility in Proverbs 22:4 as - "...the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life." (Please read "fear" as reverence). It not only defines humility it also states it's benefits.

It is of critical importance that along with other things, we pray for genuine humility to fill our lives. 

Humility is an important characteristic to develop as a follower of Christ, because "pride and arrogance" are the biggest barriers to a relationship with God.

It’s hard not to gloat about the praise, glory and all the accolades that come our way. But humility requires us to point that recognition back to God.

* Old Chinese saying

Does the Ends justify the Means? Pastor Rajiv's Mid Week Message

 

A.S.K : Pastor Rajiv's Mid Week Message

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.