This Week With Jesus

Someone defined forgiveness as the sweet smell given by a rose as it is crushed!  What a powerful expression of forgiveness. In our experience, the closest expression to it that  we have experienced is that of Graham Staines.  In 2003, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his family were evangelizing in a remote part of the world, when one night, as Staines slept with his two sons in the back of their vehicle, some people set fire to the car and burnt the three of them alive. Staines was survived by his wife and one daughter. The murderers were caught and went on trial. When Mrs. Staines was asked for her comments, she simply said, "I forgive (them)" !  In 2005, she was awarded the fourth highest honor a civilian can receive in that country  in recognition for her work . In 2016, she received the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice. I cannot ever imagine what Mrs. Staines and her daughter must have gone through and what courage and faith it mus

 

You trust God. Can God trust you? “But not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust.” (Numbers 12.7). That’s God speaking, by the way. Very clearly differentiating between those of His people He can trust those He can't. There is a lot of discussion and talk around the fact that we need to trust God and have faith in Him at all times. Very true. But very clearly, we need to have God trust us as well!, which may not always be the case as we can see from the opening verse. This is a game changer! Think about how God can build His trust in us. But first let's think about how we can lose Gods trust. Let's talk about Trust Breakers and Trust Builders. What are they ? Trust Breakers A. Broken promises when we were down in the dumps praying for God's helping hand? And have we kept that vow? If we haven't that's a trust breaker right there. Did not the Israelites, Gods own people, break His trust and wander around in circles for 40 years? B. God a

"You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) What is your name?  Shakespeare debunked the name theory when he said what's in a name? to quote "What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet" ; Biblically, names of people were important. So important that God chose them at times. So now, the question is do you determine your name or does your name determine you? Biblically, God changed names of people to determine who they would be. Consider Abram becoming Abraham, Jacob becoming Israel, Simon becomes Peter the rock. Names are deeply important to human beings, a crucial way of understanding not just the world around us, but each other.  A surname roots us in history and family tradition. For example, the name 'Adam' is so common in Western society now that one might not think to enquire about its meaning. However, the Hebrew word Adam doesn't simply mean 'generic f

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” -Ephesians 5:15-17 Social media has "glitched" our lives. The days of dinner without cell phones or family meetings where people talked and not stared into thier watches and phones are Kong over. There is an incessant demand on our time - from the time we get up to the time we sleep. In all this it is difficult to spend time with God. Please note I am not saying it is difficult to find time for God. Spending time with God is a little beyond that. It goes beyond daily devotions and adds meditation and prayer. It also involves thinking about our life with God, our failings and our successes. And most importantly it involves speaking to God. Speaking to Him in praise, thanksgiving, sharing problems, asking for solutions... in utmost concentration within  the silence of our bodies and

 How to pray

"Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come". Do you remember this Psalm? This for all old people of my age...  Age is just a number as they say. As we grow old and older, our years, spent in experiencing God, are like the chapters of a book for younger people to get motivated and inspired. It is very important to remember Gods work in our lives not just to thank Him and be grateful, but for others to see Him at work in our lives, believers and non believers alike. Every Storm that comes, every great wave that nearly drowns us, every mountain we have climbed, every weakness we have experienced is a story of Gods strength. Shall we then say we have lived by a daily abundance of Gods grace? If we have to be able to say that, we must search and find Gods hand in each day, in each challenge we have faced and in each outcome of those challenges. In each happy time w