This Week With Jesus

  Hemant Mehta, author of "The Young Atheist's Survival Guide , wrote in  New York Times, "prayer is useless (without action... It lulls believers into a false sense of accomplishment". ) All of us at some time in our life have faced situations when, in spite of intense prayer, the answer does not seem to be forthcoming. When that happens fear, uncertainty and doubt creep in. We may feel that it is futile to pray as God does not seem to be listening. It may be  a prayer for a job, or the life of a loved one, or sickness or financial disaster. It could be so many things life throws at us. Or  it could be something we crave for- like a new home or a car or a life partner. When we feel it is all futile, we need to remember that delay in answer is not dismissal.  Furthermore, what is the purpose of prayer?  Dr. Michelle Bengtson says this - "  Our prayers are not just an avenue of petition. While God does encourage us to ask Him to meet our needs, it’s only part of

Read James 2:17-26 17 "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead....." A gift needs to be accepted. I can buy the best gift I can think of and afford for someone, but if he/she/they do not accept it, it is a wasted effort. Non acceptance can be through silent rejection, recycling or any other way of getting rid of it. We all do it sometimes. God's gift to us is Jesus. How do we show acceptance of that Gift? In the quoted verse James makes that pretty clear- that the way we show acceptance and appreciation of God's gift is through our actions. As Rev. Francis Taylor says - " Our works will never earn us salvation, but it will let God know that we have accepted the gift". Is God's gift reflecting in our day-to-day life? Do we show prejudice? Do we show integrity in even small things, at work or at home? An example of integrity, very common at work, is simply doing what one has promised to do. Not making a commitment and

Have you ever wondered why is a structure called a building when it is already been built?   The simple truth is nothing is ever completely built, whether it's a building, or a company or a human being. Everything is work in progress . This also reminds about Nehemiah in the Bible, the governor of Persian Judah, and his efforts in rebuilding the temple and one often wonders Why is it in the Bible in the first place?  Is it for historical reasons or is God trying to tell us something today? This rebuilding of the temple, in the face of great odds, represented the people's renewal of faith, and the reforming of their conduct.  Like the Israelites of old, we too backslide and tend to forget our God. We tend to let life overcome our duty. Nehemiah was not an ordinary man, he was an important man and occupied a high position. Yet he made it a point to make the time and effort for this great endeavor. Today, we are the temple of the Lord 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and as stated in the ope

*** Image from Mashable We take War too lightly. We even teach our children war and other violent games on video games, XBoxes and other devices, including phones. Gaming is big industry and war gaming as big and as popular. We have call high level meeting rooms as War Rooms.  Yet, when it happens in real life, we are shocked. Why?  On the 8th of October #Israel was attacked once again, after 50 years, to the day, by a terrorist uprising in Gaza. A huge public outcry followed, with one of our readers sharing the Israel PMs speech (available at the link below).  What does this war mean to us? Will it end in a peace treaty with lots of fake handshaking by world politicians and we soon forget the thousands of innocent people who have and will have, lost their lives, families destroyed, and homes lost, as we, the people of this world are prone to do? Some countries have sworn to destroy Israel. Can they? Zechariah 12:3–4 God says, “I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that mak

  *** Pic from Wikipedia Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. — Lamentations 3:41 Why do we pray? Boyd Packer said -" Prayer is your personal key to heaven.". Here is a deep but beautiful explanation from the KJV devotional . "The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us Favours without constraining us to pray for them, we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty.  While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The healthiest state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it sh

Read Luke 14: 15-24 Those of us who have said "yes" to the invitation, must continue to say that "yes" with the quality of our lives. It's not always the believers who say yes to Jesus' invitation to the banquet. But those who do accept, must ready themselves (as one would if one was invited to the King's table). One would pick the best clothes we have, make sure they were clean, learn table manners fit for the kings table and practice good behavior. How do we ready ourselves for Jesus' banquet? By the quality of our lives that we lead. And that quality is mentioned again and again in the Bible. Here is a quick recap : First off is the Fear of the Lord. Possibly the most difficult as well. It's not about being afraid but embracing and respecting His authority by putting Him first. What comes in the way of this is our own pride, selfishness, materialism and love of the world. These are our idols, and when added together, you have the perfect formu

“Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews.” (Esther 8:3) Shock. Horrified. Anger. Weeping.  These words are not light nor meant lightly. We are reeling at the sights and stories flooding our screens and phones from Israel. The attacks on Israel over the weekend by Hamas is the most serious threat to the security of that nation in 50 years. It is no coincidence that the attacks were orchestrated while Israelis enjoyed a public day to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. As families gathered and IDF members relaxed at home, thousands of rockets were fired into Israel and 100s of armed militants crashed through border fences and began killing and kidnapping. Sneaky, treacherous, intent on cruelty and slaughter - as terrorists are want to do. Their cruelty and horrid torture does not spare man women or child. Even foreigners who have nothing to do with the en