This Week With Jesus

Judas is a famous man. Famous for the greatest and most spectacular sin in the world. And yet he was part of Gods plan and chosen by God, followed Jesus, worked miracles and was an apostle. This can be perplexing, for if he was chosen by God to betray Jesus, was he really guilty? If he was preordained was he at fault? Here is a problem we all face. If things are preordained, why am I guilty or why am I blessed or why am I suffering? Can I be a follower of Jesus and yet not be? Judas example shows us that we can be Gods followers yet not be. By choosing from the beginning an apostle who was destined for apostasy and destruction, and by including him in his closest relations, and by giving him power over unclean spirits and over diseases, Jesus shows us that religious associations and religious practices and miracle-working are no sure evidence of being born again. And born again we must be to become a true follower of Jesus. Secondly Judas had a choice: that of begging God's forgive

"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD". Psalm 112 ver 7 We are no strangers to bad news. Not one of us. And we are no strangers to fear as well. Fear is the one thing that can undermine our belief and faith in our God. It is well written that fear is the sharpest tool of Satan and which he uses well. When we fear, it is because we see no hope for the future. We depend on man and human power to bail us out. But as a follower of Christ and God, and with the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, we do not need to fear. The KJV Bible Study says - "Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hop

"By his strength he had power with God: yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed...."  Influencing God through Prayer! Paul said to make our appeals to God through faith and thanksgiving. There are many examples in the Bible of people who had influence with God through prayer, and today we want to talk about this as well.  We call this prevailing prayer, something we can fall back on, when answers from God are not forthcoming.  Let's understand this. According to the Apolistic Faith Magazine, Prayer is the most intimate form of communication between God and His creation, because it is the heart of man communicating with the heart of God . What an amazing definition of prayer!  The word prevail means “to endure, accomplish, triumph or overcome, and have power or influence. A clear example of this is Jacob wrestling with God. Not for a moment do I believe that the night Jacob spent was only on a physical wrestle, I believe it was a spiritual wrestle as well, converti

Sunday the 4th was Father's Day in Australia and on this occasion, Pastor Rajiv delves into the parable of the Prodigal Son and the role of his Father

"This is the way; walk in it” Read Exodus 13 17 to 32 When Pharaoh let the people go, God didn’t lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though that was the shorter route. God thought, If the people have to fight and face war, they will run back to Egypt. - Exodus 13:17 Everyone, each one, go through a period of dark days, extreme needs and see no solution in sight. We pray, possibly day and night, for relief. Yet we don't see it in our sight. Over the years I have come to realize that dark days do not mean the end days, but a major turn that God has planned for us and because of our antipathy to change, has to close all doors but one: the one he wants us to go through. The Israelites were led through a longer way so that they would not run back to Egypt. I am sure that longer way would have been very painful, but God in His wisdom, needed them to do that. When all doors seem closed, I now try and look beyond what I want, to find that one door which is open becau

 

One of the principles of physics is that to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In essence, whatever we do has consequences - good or bad. In  Christian life, similarly there are consequences of wrong decisions, trusting ourselves rather than godly guidance, etc . While Jesus will not change those consequences, He will change us and our attitude if we ask Him to do that. David prayed day and night for his baby to be saved and not die. But that did not happen. When he realized he had to bear the consequences he stood up, had a bath, thanked God and moved on, having borne the consequence of his sin with Bathsheba. And that is one of the biggest disconnects in our understanding of Gods forgiveness. When we make a mistake and ask God for forgiveness are we truly looking to be forgiven or are we asking for an escape route from the consequences of our wrong doing? Let's understand this better with a fictional example. Let us say I owe the government 10,000 in taxes and