Saturday Vespers

                                          

Studying Gods word is essential to a Christian, and prayer is essential to be able to study and understand Gods word & put it in practice. Yes, it includes intercession, it includes a call for help, it includes thanks and praise, but prayer is so much more.

Prayer is essential in studying the Bible. Asking the Holy Spirit for understanding and guidance can illuminate passages and reveal deeper truths. Prayer also helps apply the Scriptures to one’s life, aligning actions and decisions with God's will.(Crosswalk)

But most of all, that prayer helps us to dwell in the secret place of the "Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty".

So today, we pray for our own daily devotions, where the Holy Spirit opens our minds to understand the message God wants to convey. We also want to pray for:

1. A Pastor in Melbourne who needs continued strength and healing to become fit to continue Gods work. We than God for His blessing till now.

2. We pray for Matt for healing of his tumor and strength for his family.

3. For Beth Laurens son who is suffering from mental illness. For her home and strength and wisdom to prevail.

4. For a senior citizen in India who is suffering from Dementia. May the family find a good elders home where he can be treated with love and dignity.

5. For a senior citizen in India who is suffering from Parkinsons. May she be blessed with Gods peace and strength and the caregiver may be blessed mightily with patience, strength and love.

If you have any specific prayer requests or would like Pastor Rajiv to pray for you, please send us a mail or simply write in the comments box. If you want anonymity that is guaranteed as neither your mail nor your comment request will be published. 

Seeds of Faith

                                                    
Gods blessings are not limited by our circumstances. He can bring abundance and increase in the most unlikely of places. As we faithfully sow seeds of kindness, love, forgiveness and generosity, we can expect a harvest of blessings in due time.

Remember, the harvest may not come immediately, it requires patience, perseverance and unwavering faith. But, rest assured, the Lord will bless us abundantly, according to His perfect timing and plan. Today let us take inspiration from Isaacs story and sow seeds of faith in our own lives, even during adversity, and give thanks and honor to the Lord knowing that every good thing comes from Him.

Psalm 91 is a perfect reminder of Gods protection and provision during every adverse situation that may surround us.

Who Do You Trust?

                                                 

Life is lived on trust. When we consult a doctor or an architect for example, we trust that the outcome of their work will be good for us. When we board an aircraft, we trust the pilot and the technology to reach our destination. When we eat our food, we trust the farmer has not used dangerous fertilizers. Even when we cross the road we trust the walk sign. When we sleep, we trust that we will wake up the next morning. In all these situations where we trust, we trust fully. No halfway trust, no partial trust. There is no such thing. 

When we completely trust all these things throughout our life so easily, why is it a challenge for us to trust God who made, maintains and runs all these things that we, so easily, trust?

Jeremiah 17 Says  

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit. (7-8)"

Sunday Quotes

                                 

“When we work, we work. When we pray, God works.”—James Hudson Taylor
“Joy is the infallible proof of the presence of God.”—Madeleine L’engle
“Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.”—Elisabeth Elliot
“For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.”—Saint Teresa of Ávila
“Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”—Garth Brooks
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”—C.S. Lewis
“Christ literally walked in our shoes.”—Tim Keller
“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”—Saint Augustine

Saturday Vespers

                                                  

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 do not have good intentions for the company and for others, protect us from individuals with selfish ambitions and designs. For it is in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ that I do pray believing and trusting (everything has to have an end many people have been frustrated by this one person, enough is enough please consider the majority of us) Amen.

For Latvia and its people: After decades of Communism, the Soviet Union's collapse left a moral vacuum in Latvia which was quickly filled by opportunistic negative influences. Drug and alcohol abuse, a widespread sex trade, and high rates of abortion and suicide all point to significant needs. People often feel numb or even helpless. Latvia has done relatively well from a technology and development perspective, but needs prayer for the deeper and eternal needs of its people.

For all those who are without jobs, facing financial stress or health issues. 

PLEASE MAIL YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS TO: THISWEEKWITHJESUS@GMAIL.COM

Learning from Covid

Remember this picture? A frequent picture during the dreaded Covid-19 days. 

Since you are reading this post, you have obviously survived Covid. You are among those who got past the gate. Sadly, not everyone survived those days of trauma, dread and heartbreak. Lives were lost. Businesses were lost. Families were ruined. Covid experiences are deeply sobering. One of the most tragic things about Covid-19 is the way that people dying from it so often had to say goodbye to their loved ones via video-link rather than in person. 5 million people gone and the aftereffects of Covid are still being experienced today, 3 years later.

But for those who did survive, the question is what did we learn? Did we gain anything new?

For me, I learnt a few lessons which changed my life.

Lesson no. 1. Life is not to be taken for granted. No matter how many times we quarantine ourselves, hide ourselves, evil can and will always find us. Our only protection is God.

Lesson No. 2. Don't take others for granted. Family and friends and strangers. They all are part of who we are. They are part of Gods family. When we lose them, a part of us dies with them. All that is left are memories. Let us honor and love those we have with us today.

3. Learn to live with the minimal. That's resilience. Never, ever, again, become dependent on luxuries. Covid taught us what we knew but forgot: Needs outweigh luxuries.

These are a few lessons among many. But by far, the biggest learning was and is, that there is a God who rules the Earth, who protects and provides for us even though we may not understand the events around us. That we have hope through Jesus Christ who, went to the extent of undergoing the worst suffering from evil, for us, opening the door for our hope. That He continuously guides us through His Holy Spirit, if we care to listen. That if we look, we can find His hand at work in our everyday life. We have to trust.

Some say Where was God during Covid? Honestly, I do not know. What I do know and believe is that Covid was an attack of evil against a Humanity that God established, and God was part of that attack, along with us, and suffering, along with us. 

Jesus was among us then and with us now; in life & death. And we believe that those who died are seeing Him in paradise. Those who lost this life, are cradled in His bosom and those who are left back are consoled in this life.

God Bless everyone.   

In Case You Missed

 

Dead Ends
Have you ever encountered a situation so dire that it was beyond any conceivable thought or plan? Read More....

What Part of the Word did you Practice today?
Reading the word of God is great, but do we really practice it? Read More...

Sunday Quotes

How wonderful to know that Christianity is more than a padded pew or a dim cathedral, but that it is a real, living, daily experience which goes on from grace to grace. Jim Elliot

The Gateway to Christianity is not through an intricate labyrinth of dogma, but by a simple belief in the person of Christ. Norman Vincent Peale

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. C.S.Lewis

If only Jesus' followers shared his personality. That one shift alone would correct so many of the ridiculous and horrifying things that pass for popular Christianity. John Eldredge

The great redemptive religion which has always been known as Christianity is battling against a totally diverse type of religious belief, which is only the more destructive of the Christian faith because it makes use of traditional Christian terminology. John Gresham Machen

For Christians, they need to access the power of Jesus and not look at Christianity as a religion. It is our Lord Jesus that makes you change, and Christians need to actualize it and put it into practice. Erwin McManus

Saturday Vespers

 

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.

For Upper Room readers who have requested prayers-

Kait  requests prayer saying:

Please pray that God relieves the pain in my body after a hard days work. Please pray that God will allow me to fulfill his calling for me for a long time. Thank you God for the many blessings you bestow

RN requests prayer saying:

Please pray my doctor’s appointment goes well tomorrow. Thank you so much.

Jlow requests prayer saying:

Prayer for my freedom. God bless those who are not.

For a senior in India suffering from Dementia. We pray for her peace as well as strength for her caregiver.

Please pray for Jim. Pray that he can work thru an issue that happened today. Pray for it to go well.

John requests prayer saying:

Please pray that my dad's hearing will be corrected and that at least one of his ears will start working again properly. Please pray in Jesus' precious name. Thanks.

Jason requests prayer saying:

Please pray for The Lord to Bless my Family and Myself with, PEACE, Good Health and Laughter.

Please pray for Jim. Pray that he can work thru an issue that happened today. Pray for it to go well.

Tressa - I have been depressed as my sister, whom I love, is in the hospital for her kidneys. I will gladly give her one of mine. Satan keeps bothering me with hopeless thoughts. I have listened to praise music, asked for prayers for her & and her s.o. They are so stubborn as to reconciliation., Please lift up J and J. I am so encouraged by prayer of the Body of Christ. Amen.

PLEASE MAIL YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS TO: THISWEEKWITHJESUS@GMAIL.COM

The Weatherman

Matthew 16:2-3 "He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?"

Man predicts weather, stock trends, economic performance, poll results and what not. Anything that has a binary chance is what we attempt to predict, based on trends and indicators we recognize.

The sad part is we don't recognize Gods signs in our own lives. God does not ignore anyone. He sends His indicators amd messages of where we are headed as well as ways to turn back and change course, to each one of us.

Do we recognize them? Do we change course and follow His road signs to His way?

We need to be able to read the signs in our lives. We even have a "guidebook" to help us. Yet, many miss the turn.

Because we need to reach our destination safely, we need to pay attention to the road.