I don't know about tomorrow: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

 

As we near the end of 2022, we cannot but recall the horrid years the world has spent since 2020, those dark Covid times. And every now and then, even now, we see that pandemic raising its ugly head. We cannot forget the mass graves in New York, the mass of funeral pyres in India, the daily death counts in China, Europe and the world, and the constant fear of death looming over our heads. No one in this world was spared loss, directly or indirectly.

Sadly, some did not survive. They went on ahead to prepare a place for us.

For those who did, that time was spent in fear and or heartbreak. 

Today, in retrospect, what do we feel and think? What have we learnt?

The past defines the future and There is one truth which has kept many of us going -

1 Samuel 7:12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

The truth is that we all have come through the worst, with the Lord’s help.

Each one, anyone of us can confidently say this for our life. Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health, at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea, in honor, in dishonor, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph, in prayer, in temptation, “hitherto hath the Lord helped us!”

If you are reading this today, you are blessed. And as we write this, we are blessed. We each need to fall on our knees and thank the Almighty, for hitherto He has helped us. Each day, He has protected us. Each day He has provided for us, Each day He has participated in our lives.

And because of this, as this year ends, we can look forward with confidence to 2023 in the surety of that one line – “hitherto our Lord has helped us”. Let us prepare ourselves for the New Year, looking back on His Blessings and looking forward to living with His help. 

 

 

 

It’s our 1st Anniversary and a very special reflection today.

 

It’s our 1st Anniversary! Yes, we are ONE year old.

It’s been a year since Pastor Rajiv and his team started sharing his messages and other reflections. We wish to thank our readers and contributors through the year and on this occasion share a special reflection.

In the Upper Room today, Terrie Hellard-Brown recounts a miraculous Christmas experience which we would like to share here -

"As worship leader in my church, I always planned the Christmas worship services with great care and excitement. One year I asked a soprano named Rebecca to sing “O Holy Night” during the last Sunday morning service before Christmas.

As the date approached, Rebecca called me and said, “I keep feeling like God wants me to sing ‘O Holy Night’ in French. Is that weird?”

I told her I thought it would be glorious, and that if God was leading her to do it, then she should. Our church had an English-speaking international congregation with 15 countries represented weekly. We were not aware of any attendees from French-speaking countries, but we both felt certain this was God’s plan. We had no idea just how beautiful God’s plan was.

That week in our Sunday service, a French businessman was depressed because he had to spend the holidays far from home. He was feeling discouraged and alone until Rebecca sang. As he listened to the hymn, he was flooded with the love of God and knew he was not alone. God encouraged and blessed that man through our simple act of obedience. That Christmas will forever remind me that Jesus truly is Immanuel, God with us".

This exemplifies the mission of This Week with Jesus. We will never know who will be touched by one of our reflections or messages. We will never know who needed to hear it or read it. Like Rebecca we are directed to write and share. Nothing is planned.

In the last 365 days, we have put out 172 posts and 24 videos of Pastor Rajiv with his message. Stats show more than 3600 readers, spread across America, India, France, Germany, Australia, Russia, Holland, Jamaica & the Caribbean, U.K., Sweden, Brazil, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Peru and a few more. Yet we have a long way to go. This world has 195 countries and 8 Billion people! 

As Pastor Rajiv shares his weekly message, other anonymous writers also share their reflections, thoughts and experiences. We are all stakeholders, and anyone can contribute, including you. You can write to us or simply share this with your friends and family. Together we can reach the world. Together we can reach that one person who needs the message. God can move the whole universe for us, even for just one of us. Even when we are going through the worst, rest assured, just like in the story, God moved a whole church because He cared about what this one man was going through, He cares for each one of us.

Today, we also have a New Year gift for you as well. We have made an app envelope for Android so that you don’t ever have to login or browse. You can download it here:

http://www.appsgeyser.com/15357662

Once again, we thank you and request you to continue your support by contributing your reflections and/or sharing in your network. God Bless you all and a Happy New Year to you and your family.

He Stooped to Conquer

People who are alive today, possibly are witnesses to the biggest tragedies the world has seen. The world wars, epidemics, nuclear accidents and the latest being Covid. During this covid time I doubt there will be a single person or family who has not lost a friend or a family member, near or far, or has not been affected in some way. But the very fact we are here today is because of the grace and mercy in our life. When one journey ends, another begins. For some maybe on their second journey, but for us we can only say "Father, thank you for your grace and mercy in our life today. Truly we have walked through the shadows of death, but your grace has been with us throughout"

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me".

As we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate that this day God came down to be with us. Today He stooped to conquer () so that we could have a life. 

So let us not only celebrate Christmas Eve but celebrate Life with Christ. A life of Joy, of Peace and of everlasting love. 

Give or Take: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

In continuation to our post of yesterday, another thought that comes to mind is - is Christmas all about giving or is it about receiving?

There is not one human in this wide world who has nothing to give. Everyone has something and everyone has time.

Time for children, for parents who live their life now through you, for the elderly who are lonely, for the sick who need some care. Each one of us has a need and each one has something to share.

Our needs are known to God. God has given us His gift. But what will we share? What present will we lay at the manger? 

If we come to him with gifts, then we put him in the position of a needy person, and we become the benefactors, which is incorrect. We live on His grace, His provisions and His protection. 

Therefore, the only gifts that we can bring Jesus are gifts of praise, thanks, longing, and neediness. And out time for His creation. 

The Gift: Our Daily reflection

Come Christmas, and the business of gifting starts with a bang. I know the excitement one gets when we receive a gift, but I have also seen the excitement and love of people when they give a heartfelt gift.

From their childhood, my children have loved to give something, from time to time. Maybe a piece of candy wrapped loosely, or a drawing made at school, some pastries when they were older. Thier excitement knew no bounds looking at our joy. Even today, they do the same things, surprise gifts, surprise visits and more. Their eyes still shine, and their delight is in seeing the joy of their parent.

As I sit thinking about them and the joy, they bring to us nearly every day, in terms of the love they share, I wonder what God would have felt when He gave us the priceless gift of His son' life? Was He excited that He would save mankind? If I am called upon to gift Him something, what would that be?

Today, the Advent season calls from us a spirit of generosity that is often not seen in our actions during the rest of the year. In fact, there is a song written about this that repeats in the refrain how nice it would be to have Christmas all year long. What else should be present in our lives throughout the year?

As Ms. Francis Taylor so rightly has written -

"Perhaps we need a spirit of forgiveness, a spirit of compassion, a refraining from judging others, a willingness to speak our truth without fear". 

The Wise Man: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflection

John 14:23

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.


1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

There's a story about an abbey in a forest where the monks were so happy they sang while they worked and prayed and people flocked to them. Then something changed, and the cook started fighting with the gardener and the shepherd with the houseman and the singing stopped and people stopped coming and the Abbot didn't know what to do. 

So he went to visit the wise man in the woods. He said to the Abbot, tell them the Lord is in their midst. He went back and told them what the wise man said.

The cook thought to himself, what if it's the gardener. The shepherd wondered if it was the houseman. Everyone began to treat everyone else as if he was the Lord. Soon the joy returned to the Abbey and the singing and then the people.

God is in our midst, today and every day and we need to bring back the joy of seeing Him in each of us. Then only will we have peace, love, joy and hope. 

Do you have a Vision: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflection

Proverbs 29:18

"Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the Law"

Every life is unique. Every person is different. Every profession needs a unique skill set and a unique personality.

As we prepare celebrate Christmas, maybe it's time to think about who we are and our personal vision for our life. As a person, who would I like to be? Where do I see myself? What does God want to accomplish through me? What tools or talents has He equipped me with?

Let's understand this. God has a vision for Every follower of Christ.

So, What does it mean to run with the vision God has given you? First of all, it means to see the picture that God sees for your life. Know the plan He has for you, and then go after it with full force, giving it everything you’ve got. It means to be committed to God’s call with your whole heart, not halfheartedly.

This also means we will need to o be able to overcome our personal vision and accept Gods vision. The question is how do we get to know Gods vision for ourselves?

There are three questions we can use to shape a God given vision -

A. What has been my past? Am I proud of it (legacy, including talents etc.) and what would I have done differently (regret) . What is a dream I dream of (ideal)

B. What have been the various influences or influencers who have helped me shape that dream (role models)

C. Is that dream, minus the regrets plus the legacy, in line with the life of Christ? Does it reflect Biblical principles?

Once we have answers to these questions, answers which have been well reflected on and reflect the truth about us, we can start building a vision. Do note that this vision will evolving over time. Becoming better and better, reducing the gap as we continue to reflect, maybe daily, on our progress towards it.

Example of a personal vision statement could be

“My vision is that people whose lives are limited by poverty, lack of education, or deficient training will experience the love of Jesus through me as I give them employment, encourage their education, and offer them training so they feel successful and are able to support a family.”

See, right there is a vision - where one is reflecting the light of Christ to make someone's life better, showing the world what a Christian life is all about.

This Christmas shall we reflect and create a Personal Vision for ourselves? 

For more examples and details, please do visit https://www.faithward.org/how-to-discover-gods-vision-for-your-life/

Between Christmas & Easter: Our Daily reflection

1 Corinthians 11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
1 John 2:3-6 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ...

In one week it will be Christmas Eve and then another Christmas day. Christ was born, Christ lived, and Christ died. Three important milestones. The world celebrates His birth and mourns His death, but do we celebrate the life of Christ?

Jesus life on earth is a picture of how God wants mankind to live. He was and is an example before us. World over we celebrate His birth and death, but true followers celebrate Him by following His life throughout the year.

BBreon Wells, in Life for Leaders, says - "The best way to commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is to live how he lived every day. Jesus’ life was not comfortable, and sacrifice was the theme of his existence. Every action he did was on behalf of others. He was not building for himself, not trying to achieve success (after all, he was already successful), nor was he lording his status over anyone. At all points he was a servant, driven by his mission to reconcile humanity back to the Father. Those of us who are Christ followers must commemorate Christ’s life by living our lives totally for God, and not for ourselves. As disciples, let’s celebrate Christ correctly."

And that is the tough part. The truth is that following Him leads to difficult choices. Sometimes turning back may seem very appealing, or "practical" in our heads. Not only big things, small as well. As small as overlooking spending time with God because we have more important stuff to attend to. Or not paying attention to work that we may have been called upon to do so in our respective jobs. Making excuses, and so many more. 

We need to ensure that we are true followers in small and big things - integrity at our place of work, making tough decisions even at the cost of being unpopular or maligned, not gossiping, politicking and so much more. When we follow Jesus, we need to showcase Him in our lives and the way we live. 

The first step to ensuring the above is to sync up our plans with Gods plan for us and we shall cover this tomorrow.  

Peace: Pastor John Muhhamad

One of the central themes of the Sermon on the Mount, as well as the core message, is Christ's expectation that His followers be characterized by peace—not violence or war. In the famous opening to this great sermon known as the Beatitudes, Jesus taught, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Today, pastor John talks about Peace of Jesus Christ and what we can do about it. 

My Way or the Highway: Our Daily Reflection

Isaiah 55:8-9 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

No matter how much we have experienced Gods hand in our lives, man's character is to primarily depend on himself/ herself for counsel and any work. Few are the people who are​​ 100% truly dependent on God, right from the start.

And then there are folks who decide their path and then pray to God to help them travel that road. They don't realize it may not be the same road that God has planned for them. Yet it is their way, their will, they choose until forced to turn back, causing much hurt, sadness and disappointment.

What we don't realize is that man's foreseeable future is limited to a moment. But God sees a lifetime and beyond.

So why is Gods way better? the Lord’s ways are the result of wise deliberation; they are proactive whereas Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear, is reactive and is followed by regret and alteration; but nothing can take the Almighty by surprise or happen otherwise than he has foreseen. Beings act according to their nature: when those natures change, their conduct varies also; but Gods nature does not change. He is the creator: no external forces can change His way. Whereas anything we do according to our own will has a force majeure clause attached.

Man’s ways are variable, but God’s ways are everlasting.

We need to stop demonstrating to God that it's my life and my decisions and my way. Faith and trust are an outcome of this simple, yet difficult truth.