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

                                                      Prayer is Where the Action is - John Wesley Does God see? Does God care? Scripture calls us to believe that God really does see, know, and hear. The question is do we call?  Today, we thank God for the recovery of your servant in Australia, in India and those who were sick and needed your intervention.  Today we request you, our readers, for prayers for all these people. We do not know them nor they us. Yet we believe, your prayers will help them and give them hope:  Brandi says - Can you please pray for God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, Mother Mary, The Angelic Hierarchy, The Saints, all those that help us, me (Brandi), my family and my friends. WE are going through a very challenging time right now and could really use your prayers. Thank you! Tanu Prays -  Heavenly Father I come before you praying for resources and money to build our family home, I pray for your blessings and favor, remember me and my family in a special and mighty wa

We have often said a single quote can teach us more than a sermon. Today's quotes are on the theme of faith - "It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters."  - Mother Teresa "Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light."  - Helen Keller "It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable."  - Maya Angelou "What is to give light must endure the burning." - Eleanor Roosevelt "In God's eyes our words have only the value of our actions."  - St. Ignatius Loyola "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."  - Martin Luther King Jr. "What does the Lord require? Only to act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."  - Micah 6:8 "Faith is the bird that feels the lig

Author Unknown A wise woman who was travelling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. when she asked him why he returned the stone, he said, "I've been thinking: I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone." In today's circumstances, sometimes it may make more sense and wisdom to give someone in need a skill, a tool or a job, rather than just money. It may have more impact.  Remember: A little boy gave up h

  Comforting God, you promise to be with all who suffer in mind, body, and spirit. We pray for those whose bodies and minds are captive to disease or injury and for those whose minds and spirits are captive to grief or fear We pray today especially for those affected by the school shooting in Sanski Most, Bosnia, for those harmed by the spread of mpox in the Congo, and for all the people of Israel, Palestine, the Ukraine and elsewhere whose souls and bodies are captive to war and injustice. Give us your compassion, so that we might proclaim with our words and our actions the hope that comes from your loving presence. We Pray for a revival among Christian families across the world.  We prayer for the Pastor in Australia who needs sustenance and strength to recoup from his illness to be able to continue God's work. We pray for a lady in India who is undergoing medical tests and needs prayers for all to be fine. We continue to prayer for a senior in India who is a patient of Parkinson

Every human being has a secret place where he or she retires from time to time, when they seek solace or rest from the world. This place is deep in the recesses of the mind, in a museum of memories. It's like a room which may house all the fantasies, ambitions and dreams. But that's all this secret place can be, a fantasy, which cannot provide or change reality, no matter how much we try. But, if we let in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit into this secret chamber, and fill it with their knowledge and presence, the secret place starts becoming a reality because we see the physical manifestation of the works of this Triune in our life. The peace one enjoys with complete freedom from worry, having put off the mountains of our "what if" problems in the hands of the triune, beats any form of escape.  When they occupy that secret chamber, there is no room for anything else. We long to meet them and talk with them. Our wrong doings and our problems become minuscule and fade aw

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)

Have you noticed how angry so many people in the world seem to be? They are angry with themselves, with their jobs, with their governments, with other people, with stores, with products with life, with their surroundings, in short nearly everything. According to the Gallup Global Emotions Report, anger around the world has been rising since 2016, with 23% of respondents now feeling angry on any given day. That's about 2 billion people being angry every day. Wow! What makes people angry though? Harvard Health says one of the main reasons is a sense of powerlessness. But a kind of overarching reason maybe the difference between what we expect and what we get in life. This is not to say one can't have dreams to work towards, dreams are goals, not expectations. Problem is the outcome of anger only leads to more trouble and holding it in causes health problems. So what do we do? Let's see what the Bible says . The Bible showcases expectations not just as the anticipation of an o

 

"Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: Amos 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD and shall not find it". As believers and followers, we are extremely dependent on the word. We may not be regular, we may run to in times of trouble only, we may not be familiar with it, but the truth is our lives are centered around the word of God. The word acts like a rudder as we sail to the other end.  What then would happen if suddenly we were left bereft of the word? Bereft of the rudder? Can we imagine such a scenario in our lives? We would panic at the slightest mishap; we would feel directionless.  The fact is that we realize the value of something, when we are left without it. It could be a person, a blessing or anything we take for granted like food

 

8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life... The concept of Karma has become a byword in the lives of people today. Knowingly or unknowingly, directly or indirectly, we start believing in it. We do not realize that the concept of karma is temporal while grace is eternal.  Just to be clear, karma is not a religion but a philosophy. The philosophy of karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in the schools of eastern philosophy and spirituality. In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life, as well as the nature and quality of future lives. What you do always comes back to you - much like the boomerang. It is also widely believed that a semblance of karma is reflected in the Bible where it refers to reaping what you sow, in Galatians 6 verse 8 as quoted above. But it's not to be taken out of context. The reference is to the spir

  “When worry is present, trust cannot crowd its way in.” Billy Graham