This Week With Jesus

  *Adapted from a KJV Devotional Deuteronomy 5:24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Man’s eye is not single, he has ever a side glance towards his own honor, has too high an estimate of his own powers, and so is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. and this is the reason why he brings his people ofttimes into straits and difficulties, that, being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when he comes forth to work their deliverance. We learn the power of God , when we feel the littleness of man. Thank God, then, if you have been led by a rough road: it is this which has given you your experience of God’s greatness and lovingkindness. (Based on the KJV devotional)

 

Have you ever been pricked by a thorn while trying to imbibe the perfume of a rose? My guess is everyone has. The thorns are part of the stalk of the rose flower. Similarly, when we try to imbibe the perfume of God's word and try to practice it, we also get pricked by the thorns which are a part of our life. They could be derision, opposition and even persecution thorns. Essentially, they will be things which our ex-friend, Satan, will throw at us to keep up his friendship with us, usually things which we are most scared of. Being a friend of our past life, Satan knows us as well as God does, so he knows our weaknesses. He will keep throwing things to prick us, as we try and break that friendship and move away from him. And those thorns are not going to go away anytime soon. According to the Webster dictionary the phrase is an idiom meaning: a person or thing that repeatedly annoys someone or something or causes problems. Paul had a constant thorn, which he prayed for removal three

Some people know the true meaning of the words "God provides", because they have lived with nothing in hand, no idea from where they will meet their daily expense and yet they are able to. Quietly and without fanfare, through some God given providence.   While Gods provision is true for all, these people have lived on the edge of collapse, with nothing in sight except hope for Gods provision, unlike other people who have wealth or jobs or plans which they depend on, not realizing that even those were provided by God. One is not better than the other. We all go through hard times, possibly living on the edge. We may feel let down or that life is unfair, but there is another perspective: it brings about  true dependence on God . Such times remind us of the journey of Israel as they walked to the Promised Land. They were not allowed to store manna as an exercise in trusting Gods daily provision. Why? Ms. Francis Taylor explains it beautifully -  " We take these troubling e

 

    We are not Robots. We all have the ultimate freedom - the freedom of choice. “Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee” (Moses 3:17). As did Adam, we are also free to choose between good and bad and live our life the way we choose to. These choices reflect both in our professional and personal lives. I can choose to make good decisions or bad decisions for both.  God has given us this gift of free will, the freedom to choose. Why?  Because He would have us as His children, not as His slaves or robots . God created humanity in the image of Himself and called them to  partner with Him  in expanding his creation. But partnership requires trust, so God trusted us and gave humanity the freedom to choose.  So, we can either choose to work and live with God,  following His wisdom or we can choose to live our life, according to our minds and heart. Sadly, humans often make the choice to trust their own wisdom over God’s, and our own understanding while making choices.  Lik

* Corrie ten Boom Showing the places where she hid the Jews during the holocaust “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” ~ Corrie Ten Boom The future is always unknown. Who can say "tomorrow I will achieve this or do abc"? Will he or she be alive tomorrow? Who can say "I won't lose my job"? Who can say anything of the future? Every day we wake up, is a second chance from God. We therefore do what we have to today, trusting in God for tomorrow. Each day we wake up is a second chance to live the way He taught us to live, with His help. Corrie Ten Boom learnt this through circumstances we cannot even imagine today. Arrested by the Nazis along with the rest of her family for hiding Jews in their Haarlem home during the Holocaust, she was imprisoned and eventually sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp along with her beloved sister, Betsie, who died there just days before Corrie's own release on December 31, 1944. Inspired by Betsie's