This Week With Jesus

*Image: Addicted to success One key element of success in all aspects of life is persistence and or perseverance. Perseverance separates the winners from the losers. Those who persevere understand that luck is something you dent depend on.  Success in life depends on your willingness to never give up, even when the reward is delayed. Persistence is a force multiplier. Let's look at what the Word Says about persistence in Luke 11 Ver 5-10 5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you n

1 Timothy 4: v 2-4  3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. A good lie is usually hidden within the truth. As a citizen of Gods world, it is important to be able to uncover a false narrative. Had Adam and Eve been able to cut through the smooth lies of Satan, man would not be where we are. We think that if part of what we are told is true, then the rest of it must be as well. Media is a perfect example of how this works whether the lie is hidden in a picture, music or written message. The best example is Satan in the garden of Eden, when he gave a explanation of why God did not want Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit. It was plausible, it was based on an aspect of the truth, so they fell for it. They did not stop to think of the qualities of God: That He did not want them to eat it because

  One of the four pillars of management is planning. It is also a natural outcome of living - we make plans for every minute of our day. For our careers, our families for every aspect of our life, we have a plan. We, each also have a certain vision for our life as well, which we plan to achieve. Some plans fructify into the desired result, some don't and some actually have the opposite effect . Then we quickly alter our plan to cater to the new realities we face. What we don't realize is that God, our creator, also has a plan for us and one which does not change (that's the scary part) . Therefore, the degree of success of our plan lies in its proximity to Gods plan because we all have a God given purpose and which needs to be fulfilled. End of the day, God is NOT a rubber stamp!  Incidentally, the word “plan” appears 205 times throughout the books of the Bible. It begins with and concludes with Revelation; such is the importance accorded to that word.  Proverbs 21:5 says

The evening and the morning were the first day. — Genesis 1:5 "Was it so even in the beginning? Did light and darkness divide the realm of time in the first day? Then little wonder is it if I have also changes in my circumstances from the sunshine of prosperity to the midnight of adversity.  It will not always be the blaze of noon even in my soul concerns, I must expect at seasons to mourn the absence of my former joys. Nor am I alone in this, for the sun shines on all and the night darkens all.  We all have had to sing the mingled song of judgment and of mercy, of trial and deliverance, of mourning and of delight. It is one of the arrangements of Divine providence that day and night shall not cease either in the spiritual or natural creation". ( KJV Bible Study) The fact is we cannot control the good times or the bad, nor their time that we must face . But also true is the fact that what we can manage is how we respond to those times. Good times are an opportunity to show hu

  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. 1 Peter 3:15 After an unintended gap of a few months, we once again have Pastor Rajiv with his mid-week message. 

"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes" .  Song of Solomon 2:15  Did you know foxes love grapes (among other fruits). In fact, the term "sour grapes" comes from the story of the fox who tried to eat the grapes on a branch but couldn't reach them so after several failed attempts he gave up muttering - "they would have been sour anyway". Little foxes are smaller animals that cannot reach the hanging grapes, so they gnaw the vines off at the ground, causing the out of reach fruit to fall with the ruined vine. It is one thing to lose some of one seasons grape, but it is far worse to lose forever a vine that took 12 to 14 years to mature. Like little foxes, there may be little faults and sins in us that seem little but can destroy the fruit we produce. These could be "little" lies , "little" selfishness, "little" greed, "little" envy, gluttony of food, gluttony o

"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.  If we treat the word FEAR as an acronym, the full form will be "False Evidence Appearing Real". Fear is mostly based on an untruth. The best of sales people use a technique called FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, wherein they sow the seeds of fear and doubt to "help" you make up your mind about buying their product.  But as a follower of Christ and God, and with the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, we do not need fear. We need to  Trust in God and wait patiently for Him. Our wisest course is to do as Mos