This Week With Jesus

 

  For many people, advent can also be a time of sadness as they may lost a lived one this year or in the years preceding. Christmas time can be full of sadness as well as it brings back memories of who we lost. It is also a time when we can turn those sad memories into pleasant ones. We can rediscover joy in small moments and family traditions in holiday celebrations—perhaps use your grandmother’s favorite pie plate or your mother’s treasured sugar cookie recipe. Let those memories bring us joy and gratitude for the time spent together. But above all, we can find great joy by being the hope that pierces through someone else’s darkness. Maybe some elders joy of visiting; maybe filling in a void being felt by someone; maybe simply sharing Christmas food stuff with someone who does not have; gifting a child something he or she wanted but could not get for some reason or the other. it above all, sharing your time and love with someone, in the family and outside. It's simply a matter of

For many people, advent can also be a time of sadness as they may lost a lived one this year or in the years preceding. Christmas time can be full of sadness as well as it brings back memories of who we lost. It is also a time when we can turn those sad memories into pleasant ones. We can rediscover joy in small moments and family traditions in holiday celebrations—perhaps use your grandmother’s favorite pie plate or your mother’s treasured sugar cookie recipe. Let those memories bring us joy and gratitude for the time spent together. But above all, we can find great joy by being the hope that pierces through someone else’s darkness. Maybe some elders joy of visiting; maybe filling in a void being felt by someone; maybe simply sharing Christmas food stuff with someone who does not have; gifting a child something he or she wanted but could not get for some reason or the other. it above all, sharing your time and love with someone, in the family and outside. It's simply a matter of s

They say time is money. If we would throw away money, why would we throw away time?  Many people say (specially the older ones) we are living on borrowed time. Well, consciously or unconsciously they speak the truth. Time belongs to God, not us. God created time. We have a choice - use time as our own luxury or use time as a lent resource, each day being a gift. No matter your age. So how does one use time? A Biblical guideline could be as below : 1. Use time with Biblical wisdom . Ephesians 5:15-16 says – “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil.” 2. Truly Recognize the brevity of life and seek God’s guidance in managing our time wisely. We say "truly" because for humans, especially younger ones, death is a distant dream. Psalm 90:12 says – “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” 3. Surrender our plans and endeavors to God, acknowledging His sovereignty over our tim

 

  A while back I read a story of a visiting pastor who attended a men's breakfast in the middle of a rural farming area of the country. The group had asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast. "Lord, I hate buttermilk", the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going. The farmer loudly proclaimed, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned. Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw white flour". The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable. Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So,  Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to ju

Yesterday we were challenged to change one thing in our life, to be in line with the 10 commandments, and present that sacrifice as a gift to the baby Jesus this Christmas. At first glance at the 10 it seems we have adhered to all and there is nothing much to change anyway. But a deeper look does throw up some interesting deviations. Lets look under the hood.  Take for instance the 2nd commandment. Surely, we do not make nor worship idols. Now when we think of an idol, we envision a man-made figure of wood or stone, or something in nature that we worship. And of course, we do not do that. Merriam Webster defines an idol as - an object of extreme devotion or a representation or symbol of an object of worship. The Oxford dictionary defines it as an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship; the Bible dictionary calls it an image or anything used as an object of worship in place of the true God. In short, anything that takes precedence over God can be an idol. For exam