This Week With Jesus

"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name".  — Psalm 29:2 Are we Gods' rivals? Do we compete with Him? Unfortunately, throughout the ages man has competed with God by glorifying ourselves in our ego and our belief that we are responsible for all the good in our life. We proudly claim to be "self-made". Sounds familiar? Lucifer too had similar thoughts. He too rivalled God. He led Eve to believe she could be God too! ( “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”).   It seems to be inherent in man to try and rival God, even as we read and believe His word and even as we are strongly advised to humble ourselves.  A small example: do we donate to the needy or do we pass it on? Think about it. When God commanded "thou shall have no other Gods before me" - it included us!

  Based on the KJV devotional and Pastor Chuck Swindoll's Insight for Living.  All things are possible to him that believeth. — Mark 9:23 "Many professed Christians are always doubting and fearing, and they forlornly think that this is the necessary state of believers. This is a mistake, for “all things are possible to him that believeth” But I believe, that believing is not enough! Remember Moses?  God works best when we give up. When we lose that last sense of independence, of control and the smallest iota of self dependence.  Let me draw on Pastor Chuck Swindoll now, and see what he has to say about such times -  "Moses felt as low as a slug's belly. Way down there. He still hadn't rid himself of the idea that he was supposed to be the deliverer, and that he was somehow failing. How many times had God explained it to him? Yet, like many of us, he had trouble keeping a grip on the Lord's assurances". Are we not like Moses?  What was Moses to do now? ...

                                       *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 sure

There are very many people in this world who may have or may be going through situations which create extreme hopelessness and helplessness, and life becomes unbearable. It may be a burden of debt, or personal circumstances, death of a loved one, joblessness, poverty, injustice, sickness and so on. Such burdens can become overwhelming, and Many have taken their own lives, many have thought of it, many have attempted it. Sleep, if it comes becomes the only rest. Some turn to drugs. Some to alcohol. Some to God. This is nothing new. Fear made the prophet Elijah request God that he might die (1 Kings 19:3-4). Jonah’s anger and dissatisfaction brought him to ask God to take his life (Jonah 4:3). Job was so tormented that he loathed his life and was bitter to the point that he wished he had never been born at all (Job 10:1, 18-22). In one's lifetime, there is a high probability that one will face such a phase. We are not going to question why God allowed it. The question rather is: wha

                                                                           Image: Scout Life Magazine Prayer is a pillar or actually the cornerstone of Christian life.  A typical prayer may include giving thanks, intercession, blessings, praise etc.  And we may ask for help with the problems and challenges we face. Tom Clark from Life, Home and Truth has this to say -  ... "do we always pray for the right things? Let me illustrate this with a paraphrase of a story by Peggy Porter on usscouts.org that I read many years ago. Eight-year-old Gilbert had only been in Cub Scouts a short while when the scoutmaster handed everyone a block of wood, four tires and a sheet of instructions, and told them to go home and “give it all to Dad.” Unfortunately, the dad part was not an option for Gilbert, so the block of wood sat untouched for days as a befuddled Gilbert struggled to figure out what to do. Finally, without a better option, Gilbert’s mom sat down with Gilbert one evening to guide

Ruth 1:16 “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” Reading the story of Ruth has always been an inspiration. Naomi is devastated, Ruth's decision to tie herself into the hopeless situation of Naomi and her life changing decision to jump from the frying pan into the fire is incomprehensible by today's standard. She faced complete devastation yet became an inspiration for us when we face hard and terrible tragedy or circumstances. Joy Burgess puts it so well when she says - "When life brings devastation, it’s not easy to hope. It’s hard to have faith. But when things are the most difficult, that’s when we need faith and hope the most. In the moments where life feels like it’s crushing you, start with a little faith. Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And looking a