This Week With Jesus

Following the terrorist attacks of September 1, 2001,  Billy Graham spoke to the people of USA. He said: “I’ve been asked hundreds of times in my life why God allows tragedy and suffering. I have to confess that I really do not know the answer totally, even to my own satisfaction. I have to accept by faith that God is sovereign, and that He is a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering”. This following verse probably answers that question which baffles most of us. Why me? A question asked through the ages from Job till now. Why me? Why this? Isaiah 48:10 (KJV) "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction". What is quite clear is that no man, good or bad, rich or poor, man or woman, will not go through the tribulations and afflictions of the world. Remember Covid? Remember the fear? Remember who all we lost? Anyone and everyone were at risk.  We all have to go through that furnace. The difference is we

BIBLE PASSAGE – 1 PETER 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light". As we saw yesterday, the key phrases are – A. A chosen people B. A Holy Nation C. Gods special possession. All gearing us towards our purpose which we are called for. All these four descriptive phrases are similar to the titles used for Israel in Exodus 19:5 & 6 5 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” These verses talk about a moment of sacred bonding for the people of Israel, Peter uses the same words as being inclusive of the Church, of you and me. Both these verses talk about our responsibility

Based on 1 Peter, Chapter2, Verse 9 What if someone came up to you and told you, “You are a peculiar person”, how would you react? surprise? anger? irritation? stunned silence? Well different people would react differently with different emotions. The truth is that if someone did say that to you it would be taken as a negative comment a derogatory statement and maybe you would not want to associate with that person in the future. This week we will focus on the fact that we, as followers of Christ ARE a “peculiar people”, as stated in the first half of 1 peter 2:9 in the KJV which says  “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;” So why does the Bible, again and again, set God’s followers apart to the extent of calling them peculiar? Because we have been charged to exhibit properties which are strange and peculiar to the commonly accepted traits of man. In 1 Peter 2:9, He says “ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nat

Hard Fact : One-third or 33 percent of the food in the world is wasted. When food is lost or wasted, all the resources that were used to produce this food - including water, land, energy, labor  and capital - go to waste. In addition, the disposal of food loss and waste in landfills, leads to greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change. What a tragedy that while 10% of world goes hungry, the world wastes 33% of food. This essentially means that 90% of the world has 123% of what they need, to be nourished. This to my mind is one of the most inhuman and most unchristian like behavior, fueled by greed and covetousness. and contradicting the 10th commandment. Everyone knows the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. Yet I will urge you to read it again. Matthew Verse 20 says - "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over". What was left over was not wasted. What we learn is that God provides b

What is divine strength? we believe it is a God given power to overcome personal and professional challenges. Gen 49:24 says " But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)" Every character, from Adam to the apostles received divine strength. As did then, even now, challenges are a part of everyday life we all face, no matter who we are. How do we get divine strength to overcome our challenges. Reading the quoted passage closely, you will see that award of divine strength is a very personal act. It is Gods power passing to man through a personal touch.  Being that it is such a personal touch, it follows that we need a personal relationship, one that is strong and open enough to enable us to "ask". Ask and it shall be given is a familiar passage, but to be able to ask one needs to know Him personally, and to do that we need to overcome pride and re

There are so many points of conflict in the world today. Between people, nations, continents, races, gender, age and so on. You name it and it is there.  Is it conflict what God created us for?  We have to learn that people of other faiths, color, gender etc., are not only created by, but also sustained by, God the Creator. The Biblical understanding of God as creator should lead to understand that all people, their cultures and spiritualities are within the sphere of God's love. Respect for people includes respecting who they are and acting out that respect. It is part of the commandment to love your neighbor. Why Is Respect so Important in the Christian Community? In the Bible we learn that it is firstly God who respects man:  "Since you are precious and honored (respected) in my sight, and because I love you" (Isiaah 43:4)  If man thus opens to God, he always receives his reverence, because respect is the permanent state of God. In return, Reverence for God. Honor fo

I cannot forget a Book by Robin Sharma called "Who will cry when you die". The title inspired me to think,  and often I ask myself the same question: who will cry when I die? Maybe not literally, but who will genuinely grieve?  Apart from my family and a couple of friends, I really can't count any. We are so involved with self and careers and God knows what else, we forget to carve out a legacy which we can leave behind. And why should we ?  Because "Life" is not a career; life is not about just us. There is nothing wrong about doing things for us but that is not the ends. Life is the means to the end. Life is living in harmony with the world around us. Taking care of the world and people around us. Using our talents wisely for the benefit of others.  Everything we have comes from above. Do we even stop to give thanks? here is how Hen Smith defined it nearly 50 years ago and presented by Rosemary Seimens in a musical format https://youtu.be/qCm8isaSoiI But serio