This Week With Jesus

  Todays Reflection: Forgiving evil.  Genesis 37: 26-28 Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed. 28So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt . Forgiveness is not blind. It's does not happen at the spur of the moment. It's a process. I take example and inspiration from Joseph. Why and how did he forgive his brothers? His brothers had sinned against Joseph and God. But God had a different plan. He wanted to use Joseph for ensuring continuity of his family. Joseph forgave his brothers, after their true repentance. The Agape Bible study explains this so well and the following points are taken from here  https://www.agapebiblestudy.com/Genes

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all." Ecclesiastes 9:11 God is good and great. He created the heavens and the earth and everything therein. He also created time to govern the earth. When Adam was created, God gave him the chance to practice his supremacy over the all earth and name the plans and animals. Yet, he blew it!  Like God did with Adam, He does with all. He gives each of us time and opportunity. How we use them is up to us, because we have freedom of choice. The difference between the poor and the rich, the great and the not so great or small is simply this: The use of the time and opportunity available to them.  Therefore, we must be  conscious of the time God has given to us  and alert to opportunities that He may present. And then, we must choose wisely on h

Acts Chapter 5 Verses 1-11 Yesterday we talked about what we are willing to offer God. We also talked about what God may accept. As a sequel, today lets look at what God expects from us through two extreme characters in the Bible. Abraham and Ananias . As we all may well know, "Abraham" means "the father of many". From a barren man to becoming the father of Israel was the blessing God gave Abram. But do we know the meaning of Ananias? The name Ananias is a boy's name meaning "God has given". Ananias is a New Testament name of three different figures. The two good ones were a high priest and a disciple of Paul. The not so good Ananias was the husband of Sapphira who conspired to deceive the apostles and was struck dead. What did he (the third Ananias) do to deserve to die? Simply, he was trying to cheat God! Cheat Him of what He had given! Even his name means "God had given" and yet, he tried to go back on what he had promised. Both he and

4 Tremble and  do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. 5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord We all want to offer God something - be it a tithe or some gifts for the church etc. But God has a condition - that our offering comes from a contrite heart, which essentially means that we are aware of, and stop sinning. Thinking about our actions and making choices that God approves of. The right sacrifices or offerings that God accepts are thanksgiving, praise, kindness, charity, tithes, and our bodies, ridding them of bad habits or practices we may have fallen into.   What did Abraham think when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac? We will never know in this world. But God does not want sacrifice in the flesh, but sacrifice in the heart. Abraham was prevented from sacrificing Isaac and was given a ram instead, and for his willingness was promised great blessings.  The big question is this: What are we willing to offer God? And the bigger

  Mark 5:  14-16 -  You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven A verb is a doing word. Not static but active, just as our religion is.  Being active in Baptism is not only about going around preaching to the world but first about change in ourselves and then about showing the world. Christianity is a way of life, not a religion of do's and don'ts only. When we choose to practice it, our psyche and our behavior, change. It effects the choices we make, the people we meet and the language we speak. It effects how we work, our profession, our relationships with people, and with the world.. In short it brings about change within us. This change is then visible to the world which acts as an example for

 "Not mine, but your will be done"

I, you and we belong to a world where more is less. We want more of everything, from food to clothes to cars, to education and other luxuries. When we get what we wanted, we dream and want the next level. We want it for ourselves as well as for our children, which is natural. And our children want the same for their  children. And the story goes on till it can no longer,  because we die. And we spend the last few years of our lives deciding who to give what, of what is left of what we have collected. So we spend 20 years dreaming, 40 years acquiring and then the last phase where we are giving or rather planning to give. Covid broke that vicious circle for me.   I and my family were stuck in a foreign country for more than 2 years. We had planned travel for 1 month but spent  2 years and more. Everything we had was in our home which was locked up and deserted. We had to learn to manage on less. Less money day by day, less clothing, less fashion, less friends, less access to things we to