This Week With Jesus

  *Pic from premier Christianity Have you ever had the feeling of doing or not doing something which you were planning? Of being guided? Being nudged? Do you call it a sixth sense, or gut feel or something else? Or do you think it is God speaking to you?  T oday, to understand this, we will draw from a devotional post from "Pray Daily", the link to which is given below.  But back to the topic. In Acts 9:4, we read about the moment when Saul, later known as Paul, fell to the ground and heard a voice asking him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”. This was the moment that transformed Saul’s life as he realized that the voice of that of Jesus himself. Like Saul, many of us have moments in our lives where we were going down the wrong path or were completely unaware that we needed to change our ways. If we listen to that voice, we stand transformed. If we don't, we may (or may not) get that opportunity again.  Because , just as Jesus spoke to Paul, He speaks to us today

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. Isiaah 11, 1-4 Our lives take different turns each day and our situation may call for one or the other of these gifts of the spirit.  In Francis Taylors words, we don't know God's plan any more than the Israelites did, and there are times when we can even question God's wisdom or His faithfulness. I'm sure that the Israelites kept waiting for relief just as we often do. However, as we wait, we can pray for wisdom to understand our situation and have faith in Gods hand of mercy. For the Israelites it would take several lifetimes for God's promise to be fulfilled. For us, as we may wait for an answer to our own prayers, it can seem like that, but if a promise has been made specifically, be sure it wi

 

  The Story of David and Goliath is extremely well known to most if not all the earth, regardless of one's beliefs.  Goliath was a descendant of the Nephilim—the offspring of the “sons of God” and their human wives.  The Israelites failed to wipe out the Anakites—a subset of the Nephilim—in their conquest of the Promised Land, and so the Anakites survived in Gath and its surrounding cities, eventually becoming what we know as the Philistines.  Goliath was a Philistine warrior from Gath—a powerful symbol of Israel’s previous failures. Like the Israelis, we all have, have had or will have a Goliath in our life and will have to face it someday. A Goliath could be anything - a debt, failing faith, a family tragedy, a life threat, a mortgage, addiction, losses, or so many things this world has to offer. David's story teaches us two things - a. It is possible to defeat Goliath no matter how big and strong he is. And 2. the way to do it. David was in constant communication with God. M

It is easy to be distracted by various choices we tend to make in our daily lives. What clothes we will wear, what will be do, what will we eat, what TV show to watch, a.d so on. However, the primary choice we need to make is something we keep putting off - to some time in the future: Choosing God. What does it mean to choose God? Firstly, choosing God does not simply mean that one believes in God. Choosing God means choosing to live a life following Gods word, His instructions and the way of life He has specified. This becomes the primary choice and once we make this choice, everything else is secondary. Deuteronomy 30, 19-20 tells us that choosing Him is choosing to live in this life as well as the next. Choosing Him and walking in His ways leads to blessings for generations; it brings to life His promises specially where He says His thoughts are not to harm us but to prosper us.  But choosing God involves overcoming the world's biggest hurdle: Ourself. We are our own enemy. C

We really don't know the future, no matter what we read or believe. The fact is: we don't know about tomorrow, and as the song goes, in reality we just live from day to day. How does one accept this reality? Suppose we knew that today would be our last day here on earth, what would one do? How would we spend it?  Surely, we would make each second count, mend broken relationships, seek forgiveness for things we know we have done wrong talk to people we may have ignored, smile at a stranger and many things we wanted to do but put on the backburner. Take time to appreciate the people in our life and let them know how much they mean to us. We won't obsess about trivial inconveniences, as we are wont to do today, or ruminate about small affronts to our ego. We wouldn't brag, as there is nothing to brag about- what we had is about to become someone else's; we wouldn't gossip. We would focus on what matters. We would desperately believe that there will be something

Before we jump to preconceived definitions or understanding of manna, let's take a step back and understand what manna was. Was it only for the Jews when they wandered in the desert and didn't have food? Manna has a Greek root that comes from the Hebrew "man", and although it literally means "substance exuded by the tamarisk tree," it's almost always used to refer to God's nourishment, in the Bible. Figuratively speaking, you could say that when I was ravenous in the morning - The doughnuts my coworker brought in this morning were like manna ...." Combining both statements, the key here is Gods provision at the time when you most need it! With this background, can we think back and remember all that God provisioned us when we most needed? It could be health, food, money, a shoulder to cry on, a friend who dropped by when we were down and out? When He enabled us to achieve something. When we or someone we prayed for had a successful operation?  M