This Week With Jesus

Genesis 37: 26-28 Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed. 28So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. Forgiveness is not blind. It's does not happen at the spur of the moment. It's a process. Let us take example and inspiration from Joseph. Why and how did he forgive his brothers? His brothers had sinned against Joseph and God. But God had a different plan. He wanted to use Joseph for ensuring continuity of his family. Think about this: If Joseph had been left alone to be a shepherd, would he have ever become the Egyptian second in command? Probably not. Would the race have survived? Probably not. But God does not work on probabilitie

 

                                            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 importan

  Starting with 12 followers 2000 years ago, Christ has a following of more than 3 billion people today. This is unprecedented growth. So how did it happen? The simple answer is sharing . Sharing the spiritual and the physical blessings, sharing Gods word and sharing strife. And that is our mandate even today. Sharing God's word doesn't always mean evangelizing to people who don't believe in Him. Sometimes, it means getting together with other believers and strengthening each other as well.  Today, we have one simple request to make of you, our reader: participate with us and share these posts in your Christian friends circles.  “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.” Someone, somewhere needs to hear God so please help us to spread the word as far and wide as possible. God Bless you. 

  Decision making is a much debated and much learnt subject with courses and books to guide us in our professional development. We are told there are multiple building blocks to this Decision making process, and which qualify the quality of our decisions. But one building block no one really talks about is the state of our mind when we are taking decisions. If we do so in a state of panic and fear, we are bound to make mistakes as our analytical abilities goes down. Psalm 37 verse 5 gives us the key to making good decisions when it says Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. In addition to committing, we also are given multiple resources, like wisdom, peace and understanding. James 1:5, says If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Proverbs 1:5, NIV let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance. Proverbs 11:14, NKJV Where there is no counsel,

  Flowers bring beauty and serenity to our lives. On every occasion we present flowers to our friends and family, to bring cheer to the day. Think about how a flower, becomes a flower and presents its beauty to the world and there is so much we can learn from it. Think about the dandelion. Dandelions are both fast growing and incredibly hardy. It can spread both by seeds and by new shoots from roots or root segments. The seeds are easily blown around by wind and will quickly spread into adjoining downwind areas. It needs no special treatment yet produces 13 benefits for humans.  But what is more important is this:  a flower blooms where it grows. The dandelion does not say I will grow here but bloom there. It does not put conditions to its blooming. It simply shares its beauty and its scent, wherever it is, and goes wherever the wind takes it. It does not put-up conditions for sharing its goodness. But we people do, don't we? "I wish I had more money so I could feed the hungry

*Image taken from Wikipedia Adapted from the KJV devotional. "But I say unto you, love  your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" ; Matthew 5:44 KJV Easier said than done! What does it take to forgive someone and love them despite of what they have done to us?  The answer lies in Agape, Greek agapē, in the New Testament, which is the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God. In Scripture, the transcendent agape love is the highest form of love and is contrasted with eros, or erotic love, and philia, or brotherly love. How do we apply agape in our lives?  "When Jesus says to love your enemies, does that mean allowing them to continually abuse you, maltreat you, or claim access to your life? Jesus Christ specifically gave us healthy tips on how to show God’s agape love to our enemies: to speak blessing upon them when they curse us, to pray fo