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July 2008 Newsletter (4th Anniversary Special) |
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FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK – Pastor Saroja M.
“O give thanks to the Lord for He is good”. Dear brothers and sisters, it gives me immense pleasure to bring forth again this Anniversary issue. As we recollect memories of the past years we can see how the Lord has been gracious and has showered His choicest blessings on all the branches of Rose of Sharon Church which are spread in different parts of India. The Lord has been faithful and has proved again that He is the only one that can be trusted.
Luke 4:18 says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
The Lord, in the old testament when the priests were being anointed said, “to serve me the priests have to first sanctify themselves.” But in the New testatment we see that whomever the Lord redeemed they are today priests before the Lord. Hence, each person who is saved has a work for the Lord to do and each Christian has to serve the Lord.
To worship the Lord is a service, as Mathew 4:10 says, “Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve” .
l To come before the presence of the Lord with a pure heart is also a type of service as given in 2 Tim 1: 3, “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing . . .”
l To serve Him in fear and trembling is another form of service as we see in Heb. 12:28, “ Therefore since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear”.
l To give our bodies as a living sacrifice which is holy and acceptable to God is another way we can serve the Lord as Rom 12:1 states, “I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Jesus Christ performed all the above mentioned services in His lifetime. To perform this, He needed to be anointed. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. Since the Father was with Jesus, He kept doing good and healed all those who were with evil spirits, as given in Acts 10:38, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with Him”.
The services Jesus did through the anointing of the Holy Spirit amazed the people as we see in the below mentioned verses, “So all bore witness to Him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said “Is this not Joseph’s son?” and “So they were all amazed and spoke among themselves saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” Yes, in His word there is power, grace and authority.
Dear children of God today accept the anointed oil and gifts of the Holy Spirit which is given to you through the Holy Spirit. It is time for you to shine for the Lord! Is. 60:1 says, “Arise, shine for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”
In the same way, I pray that in this coming year may all the children of the branches of Rose of Sharon Church serve and shine for the Lord and for His glory.
I also pray for all the readers of this magazine that may my good Lord bless them and use them for His Kingdom! Praise the Lord!!
Happy Anniversary to us !!
— Pastor Saroja M.
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But the next day another man named Sam who was passing by saw the donkey in the ditch. He called a few people for help and removed the donkey out. But he was not like Earl, he covered the ditch so that in future the donkey will not fall into it again.
Our Lord works in our lives, just like Sam. He saves us and also helps us, so that we will not keep repeating our mistakes again and again.
Shawn Jaykanth, VI Std.
Sunday School Report
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O most High”. Psalms 92:1.
We thank and praise our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for this wonderful year of 2008 in which the Sunday School has begun with the joy and wisdom from our Lord and Pastor Saroja’s guidance and prayers.
Every Sunday the little children gather in the Church at 10 am sharp in the morning and offer their praise and worship to our Lord almighty by singing melodious action songs and by sharing their testimonies of the mighty Works of the Lord in their lives during the past week.
The children are divided into three classes as per their age groups. The manual for the juniors is prepared by His servant, Bro. Roshan Salins from our Church which helps the children to grow more spiritually strong in the Word. The smaller children enjoy listening to stories from the Bible and learning their memory verses every Sunday.
Our Lord has blessed us with a new teacher, Sis. Sandra Daniels, from this year. We thank our Lord for counting us worthy to teach these little children the Word of God and to lead them in the path of the living manna.
We had a break of one and a half month during the summer vacation and have re-opened in the mid of June. During this vacation the children have revised the lessons taught to them earlier and also drew some Biblical pictures.
We ask our Lord to always lead us and guide us in the right way and to give us wisdom to teach these little ones of our Church the living Word as they are His precious pearls.
Finally, we thank our dear Pastor Saroja for always guiding and lifting the Sunday school in her daily prayers. Sis. Rovina Nander
Testimonies
I failed in my 10th exams so I had given the exams again. I requested Pastor Saroja to pray for my exams so that I get a positive result. Due to Lord’s grace and Pastor Saroja’s prayers, I have passed my 10th exams. Robin Das, Andheri
Two weeks before my daughter was suffering from severe vomiting through out the night. Next day I took her to doctor and inspite of taking medicines there was no change in her condition. Because of high dose of medicines, my daughter fainted. Then I called up Pastor Saroja late in the night and she assured me of her prayers. The very next day my daughter was healed and she had her food without vomiting I give all praise, honour and glory to Lord Jesus and I also thank Pastor Saroja for praying for my daughter. Arikmary Richardson, Goregaon
My house was under repairs due to which I had a problem in my throat and my voice couldn’t come out. I told this matter to Pastor Saroja who advised me to drink Prayer Oil in hot water. After I started doing this, I am completely healed. I give all glory to my Lord Jesus for this healing and thank Pastor Saroja for her advise. Lilaben Rathod, Khar
I have been experiencing severe vomiting and stomach pain. I told this matter to our Pastor Saroja. She advised me to drink lemon water mixed with Prayer Oil and assured me that she would pray for me. After prayers I have recovered completely from the stomach pain and vomitting. I give all praise and glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and thank our Pastor Saroja for her advise and prayers for me. Chhoti, Kalina
Two weeks back I had a bad chest pain and used to turn breathless while praying and felt very uncomfortable. I waited, hoping it would get well but it didn’t. Finally I informed Pastor Saroja about it and she assured me of her prayers and told me not to worry about it. Since then that uncomfortable feeling has completely disappeared and now I am completely healed. I thank Pastor Saroja for her fervent prayers and also thank Lord Jesus Christ for healing me of this problem. Jayantilal Patel, Jogeshwari
I was suffering from severe loose motions, I had called up Pastor Saroja concerning this. She assured me that she would pray for me and advised me to take prayer oil in water. After taking the prayer oil my loose motions completely stopped. I thank Pastor Saroja for her sincere prayers and thank our Lord Jesus Christ for healing me through the prayer oil. Thank you Jesus. Ramji, Jogeshwari
This is to thank the Lord for the wondrous work He has done in my life. As informed by the doctors I had to go though various blood tests, X-rays and a list of tests. A sputin maligence test was also done. Just before going for the tests. I requested Pastor Saroja for her prayers for the same. Thanks a million to Lord Jesus that all my reports are normal. I thank Pastor Saroja for her prayers for me. Ida Salins, Kalina
I was selected by Jet lite as ground staff and had to undergo a medical checkup. After my check-up, the report showed that there were blood cells in my urine. The problem was told to Pastor Saroja and she kept my problem in prayers. By God’s grace and Pastor Saroja’s prayers my problem has been healed completely. I therefore thank Pastor Saroja for her prayers and Jesus for the healing on me. Felix Benson, Jogeshwari
My son got a lump in his shin area. He was experiencing terrible pain and his skin had turned black. I requested Pastor Saroja to pray for him, Pastor assured me that she would pray for him. After my son returned from the Church picnic, he realized that the blackness on his shin had completely disappeared. Today he is completely healed. This was only possible because of the earnest prayers of Pastor Saroja and the Lord Jesus who heard and answered Pastor’s prayers. I give all glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I thank Pastor also. Mary Francis, Jogeshwari
Since two months whenever I attended the Church service, I used to feel as though my neck was choked and would have a vomiting sensation. I told this to Pastor Saroja who prayed over me and told me to apply the prayer oil. Also one of the days I came and personally met Pastor Saroja and requested for prayers. Immediately after the prayers, I was healed. I thank God for this healing and sincerely thank Pastor Saroja for praying over me. Natty Amanna, Asalpha
Since I was always feeling giddy, I told Pastor Saroja that I felt I had low blood pressure. But Pastor Saroja said, “No you have high BP” . She suggested to get a check-up done with the doctor. I did the same and my reports showed that I have high BP. Doctor said to start the treatment. I requested Pastor to pray for me and after prayers when I went to the doctor again for a checkup and all the reports showed that my BP was normal. Even the doctor was surprised. I give all glory, honour and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ only. I thank Pastor Saroja for sincere prayers. Victoria Anchan, Mira Road
My husband Amandas got severe cold and fever. He was also shivering. I applied the Prayer Oil on his entire body and also gave him some prayer oil in water to drink. He found immediate relief and to our surprise his entire cold and fever disappeared and he became normal. This is only the Lord’s work. I thank the Lord for healing my Husband through the prayer oil and I also thank Pastor Saroja for always remembering and praying for us in her prayers. I give all glory honour and praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Mary Amandar, Andheri
My sister’s son had passed an interview for an airline job. They assured him of the job but each time they kept postponing the date. This took nearly three months. One day they requested to keep this request in the fasting and prayer service conducted in the Rose of Sharon Church, Kalina. By the grace of God, my sister’s son has now joined work. I give all praise and thanks to Lord Jesus for this mighty work done in my nephew’s life. Sushela Pillai, Jogeshwari
I thank my Lord Jesus for giving me an opportunity to give this testimony for His glory. My neighbour’s daughter had come to deliver her first child at her mother’s place. After the due date also the delivery had not become, so my neighbour was very tensed and told me about the same. Their doctor told them to admit their daughter to the hospital as there was some complication seen on the sonography report. Before going to the hospital I told them about the prayer oil and gave her to drink little prayer oil in the water. She drank and went to the hospital. At the hospital the doctor’s checked her and told her that for one day they will keep her under observation, otherwise they will operate her the next day. But due to our Lord’s grace that same night at 11.30 pm she had a normal delivery and delivered a baby boy. All praise and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ for doing this wonderful work through the prayer oil. Savitha Roberts, Vakola
My mother (Veena) had a severe stomache. She had taken tablets and medicine but of no use. I telephoned to Pastor Saroja and informed her about the problem and she advised to apply prayer oil and prayed for my mother. Within half an hour the stomach pain had disappeared and she was feeling very much relieved. We give all the glory and honour to our living Lord Jesus for miracle, also I thank Pastor for the prayer. Manoj Sadarangani, Marol
My full body was paining since many days. On the Fasting Prayer day I kept a prayer request and the next day I was healed from all my body pain. I would like to give all my thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ who had healed me and also our Pastor Saroja for her prayers. Robert Francis, Goregaon
My daugher Aksha was severely ill and she had high fever. We immediately gave her prayer oil mixed with water to drink. By God’s grace and mercy she was healed miracuously. I thank the Lord for His wonderful healing on my daughter and even thank Pastor Saroja who fervently prays for her loving children. Jayantilal, Jogeshwari
I called up Pastor Saroja for my sister’s daughter delivery since the due date was near. I requested Pastor Saroja to pray for her so that the delivery should be normal and everything goes fine. Pastor assured me of her prayers. By God’s grace the very next day she delivered a baby girl without any problem. I give thanks to the Lord almighty Jesus Christ and also I thank Pastor for praying for my sister’s daughter. Kamala, Nalasopara
I suffered from severe cough and chest pain. I had called our Pastor Saroja and she assured me of her prayers. Now I am healed so I give all the praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for healing me and I thank our wonderful Pastor Saroja for praying for me. Kamala Kelkar, Nallasopara
I thank my Lord Jesus Christ for giving me an opportunity to praise His might works in my life and for helping me to pass in my FYJC examination with excellent marks and a very good percentage. This was only due to the Lord’s grace and the constant prayers of Pastor Saroja on me. I give all glory, praise and honour to my Lord Jesus Christ for my success and also thank Pastor for her continuous prayers for me and my family. Susanna Patel, Andheri
My daughter accidentally dropped a vessel of hot dal on my leg. I immediately applied the Prayer Oil on the affected area hence I did not have any kind of boil or swelling on the leg, I kept applying the prayer oil. I thank the Lord for healing me through the prayer oil and give all glory and praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Damyanthi, Gujarat
I had a severe pain on my right shoulder. The pain was so much that I could not lift my hand. I told this matter to Pastor Saroja and requested for prayers because the very next day I had to appear for my exams. Pastor prayed for me and due to Lord’s grace the pain totally vanished and I could write my exam paper the next day without any pain. I give all glory, praise and honour to Lord Jesus and I also thank Pastor for praying. Esther Richardson, Goregaon
I had requested Pastor Saroja to pray for me as I had very high blood pressure (count 180/100) and swelling of feet. My whole body was aching. After I requested for prayers from Pastor, my blood pressure came to normal, all the swelling reduced and my body-ache vanished! All glory to Jesus and I thank Pastor Saroja for her fervent prayers for me. Thank you Jesus! Bonie Anchan, Mira Road
The year 2007 was a year of blessing to me and my family. The Lord helped us in many ways. He has provided us with a new and a good home which is much more better than the one in which we were staying before. He helped us to purchase gold ornaments. He has provided us with all our needs and has done miracles in our life. I thank Pastor Saroja for her sincere and faithful prayers and we give all glory, honor and praise to the Lord Jesus. Venu & Family, Mangalore
My management informed me that I will be shifted to outbound that is to make sales which is very hard work and I would have to undergo lot of pressure and even stay back at office after work. I called up Pastor Saroja and requested her to keep me in prayer that my transfer should be stopped. Pastor assured me of her prayers and told not to worry. By the grace of God the next day itself I got the news from my team leader that my transfer has been stopped. I thank my Lord for this wonderful miracle He has done in my life. And a heartful thanks to Pastor for her fervent prayers for me. Hema Chilla, Dubai
My son Heresh was suffering from fever, we took him to the doctor thrice as no medicines were effective and I was worried. After the Sunday, Mira Road evening Church service I requested Pastor Saroja for her prayers, immediately Pastor prayed for him and instantly the fever subsided and next day he was completely healed I give all glory to my Lord Jesus Christ for this great miracle and answering His daughter’s prayer also I thank Pastor for her great attention on us and her faithful prayers. Lancelot Lobo, Mira Road
By the blessings of Lord Jesus Christ our Battery shop started on 26th August 1999. We tried for a long time to get a sub-dealership. Exide gave us sub-dealership with the promise that in due course of time it will be regularized as authorised dealership. Unfortunately even with our continuous follow-ups at higher level, it was being denied due to some or the other technical reasons. We explained our problems to Pastor Saroja and requested her to keep in prayer and resolve the problem. With the Grace of Lord Jesus and Pastor’s prayers on one of the Fasting Prayer day, after the service I received the call from the Exide officials that our matter is resolved and it would be regularized shortly. Now it has been documented and regularized. We give all the honour and glory to our living Lord Jesus for this miracle also we sincerely express our heartfelt gratitude and thanks to Pastor Saroja for her kind prayers for our family all the times. Manoj N.Sadarangani, Andheri
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Walking in His Spirit... Yielding
Some mornings we wake up feeling very close to God and some mornings we don’t feel so close. May be fears of yesterday or worries about tomorrow, expecting a stressful day ahead or may be our sins have separated us from Him... may be few of the reasons why we feel the absence of our Father. How can we once again feel His closeness? Scriptures are especially good at reviving us, helps us stay full of the living water of life. Gods’ word is changeless. It is His Holy Spirit that renews us of His love, strength and faithfulness through the scriptures. Romans 12:1 says - “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Thus, confessing of sin in itself is not enough to enable a believer to automatically walk in the Spirit. We must then become a yielded instrument for God’s service. What is it to be yielded ? Romans 6:13 says “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God”. James 4:7 says : “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” This submission involves both body and mind. Renewing our mind, doing what is good and acceptable in God’s sight in accordance to His perfect Will. Yielding does not mean willingness to do some specific thing, rather it is to do whatever God commands. Yielding leads not only to dedication but also separation from the world. As the scriptures says in Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. We all know that we live in a world opposed to God, one cannot revel in its lust and at the same time do the will of God. As the scriptures says in 1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- lust of the flesh, lust of eyes, pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. The world is passing away and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Yielding also leads to transformation of the mind. Romans 8:7 says “because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” ‘Transformation of mind’ is nothing but ‘Renewing of mind’ Col. 1:21 says “And you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by the wicked works, yet now He has reconciled and must be brought to the place where it thinks as God thinks.” Eph. 4:23 says “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Thus, Prayer is the key and constant meditation on the word, helps to renew our life in Christ. Transformation is a lifelong process and that will not be completed until we are with Christ. Ps 119:1 says Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Each day we need renewal of the Holy spirit within us. The living water provided by this renewal must flow freely in our life. Only then we can rejoice no matter what uncertainty the day holds for us. Our life will never feel “dry”, not even a bad bygone day or days to come. As the scripture in 1 Jhn 4: 4 says “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”. Hence, no matter what... God has given us His spirit that is stronger than all others. Spirit that comforts, loves, encourages, enriches, enlightens and reveals God’s purpose in our life. Sure along life’s way there is no greater healing than a guaranteed spiritual healing through the Spirit. Hence this is a good reminder for us, that it is not how ‘spiritual’ we may be on a particular day or it is not based on our feeling on a particular morning ....but its solely His Grace that continually reminds us to come back to the cross for our salvation. Hence, everyday we must walk in His Spirit... Yielding.
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My Soul, Wait Upon God...
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him. Psalms 62:5 Here in this verse David encourages his soul to wait upon God only, and he is sure that whatever he has by faith expected from God, he will receive it.
David - a man who loved and praised God David was a man who loved God very much. Once, when he was leading the flock of sheep in the wilderness, he was approached by a lion and a bear. We know from the scriptures that he killed both the lion and the bear and received the victory. How was this possible? It was because he was a man who trusted only on God. He loved God and waited upon Him. He would always approach God with all of his problems. On the other hand, God would always guide and deliver him out of all his troubles. Hallelujah! Thus, in the above verse he reassures his own soul to wait on God and keep trusting on Him. Whatever He desired to have, he knew that God only could give it to him. King Saul was fiercely pursuing David to kill him. Even in those times, David’s mind and heart would be towards the Lord his God. For example, many of us in our daily lives find people who fight and quarrel against us. In those times, we tend to blame God and question Him as to why these people are troubling us. How much sorrow these people cause us. We then question God, “Why are you not hearing us O Lord? Look at how this devil is troubling us” But we see in the life of David, he never blamed God for anything. There were times when Saul came very close to capturing David, but even in those times, David’s faith and love for God did not change. In times of intense trouble and sorrow, he never blamed God but rather trusted in Him. Notice how he is comforting his own soul to trust on God. Yes, indeed there are temptations in the flesh and confusion in the mind, but David’s soul, his inner life, would trust only on God. He very well knew that what he desired for can come only from God. Praise the Lord! It was in this kind of faith and trusting attitude that he always praised God. Whether there were trials, troubles or sorrows, David would always praise and thank His God.
When we praise, God’s presence descends We know very well according to Psalms 22:3; that God’s presence dwells in the praises of His people. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Whenever the people of God gather together for a prayer meeting or a church service in any nation or any place, the prayer service usually begins with praising and worshipping God. Whether it is a small prayer group or a large congregation, the usual practice is to begin the service with songs of praise and thanks. After this, follows the preaching of the Word, prayer for healing and deliverance and the rest of the activities. This is because it is during the praise and worship time that God’s presence is enthroned among us. Thus, David would praise God in the midst of troubles and sorrows. He waited for the presence of God to come and thus get whatever he expected from Him.
Our soul must praise and worship God Let us read Psalms 116:8; For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Imagine the troublesome situations that God had delivered David’s soul from. He always praised God. Read Psalms 103:1,2; Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Hallelujah! Like David, we must not forget even one of the Lord’s doings in our life. Our soul must praise our God for it. This is the main reason God delivered David from all difficult situations. David would never forget God’s work but instead his inner life; his soul, would praise God for His deliverance. Because David learnt to praise God in sorrow and troubles, God delivered his soul from death, his eyes from tears and his feet from falling. Praise the Lord! What more can we expect from God. When can this be possible? It can be possible only when we learn to praise God with our very soul. God can do great things in our life and give us great deliverances. God’s love, His mercies and His salvation comes towards us. Then, whatever our expectations are God will see and grant it to us. God speaks to us through His word, so that we can get the blessing. Today, if we forget to praise God, this can be the reason as to why sometimes we don’t receive our expected blessing. We may not get a clear revelation of God. What must we do for this? We must openly praise God with our soul.
What is our soul? Psalms 103:1,2; says Bless the LORD, O my soul: What is our soul? It is our very own inner life. God given life. After God formed man out of the dust God gave it life by breathing into it according to Genesis 2:7; And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. This breath of God is in all of us. No one knows how the life comes into the body of a new born baby. Who gave it life? It is God. This same inner life is within us. So it is this inner life that must praise God. We must praise God with our whole heart. God always looks at our heart. As we praise God with our whole heart, we too like David will experience God’s deliverance in all our difficult circumstances. Our soul will be saved from death, our eyes from sorrowful tears and our feet from falling. Hallelujah! What a mighty God we serve! Thus we see that whenever David experienced a great deliverance and salvation, he would praise God with all his heart. Let us not forget even one of God’s benefits in our life. As we remember these blessings, we will always have an attitude of praise and thanks.
King David granted eternal life Read Psalms 21:4; He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. Here we see that king David asked for long life in this world. But God not only gave him a long life on earth but also an everlasting life in heaven. Yes, his soul is in heaven yet praising and thanking God. Where is David today? We know about the book of Hebrews chapter 11. This particular chapter is known as the chapter of the heroes of faith. The saints mentioned in this particular chapter are described as the people who overcame every trial and sorrow and have reached the everlasting city of Zion. They are the people who have lived a life fulfilling God’s purpose. Yes, they have reached the presence of God in heaven itself. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. David is mentioned in this list of saints. He asked for life in this world but the Lord gave him everlasting life in His kingdom. Our God can do the same thing in our lives. We are living today in this world and this earthly body will one day without doubt decay and surely return to the dust. But on the other hand, our soul will never be decayed or consumed. Our soul will go into the holy city Zion. We know this will surely happen because our faithful Lord Jesus has promised according to John 14:1, 2; to take us to His Father’s house where there are many mansions. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Yes, there are many mansions in our Father’s house. These mansions are prepared not for our earthly bodies to stay, but for our redeemed souls. There are no more tears there, no more sorrow, no more troubles and no more night there. Indeed that is a city which is filled with the glory of the Lord. Yes, it is about this life that David is receiving, this length of days for ever and ever.
There is only praise in heaven Why did David receive this joy? It was because he never forgot even one of the benefits of the Lord. He praised God for all the blessings he received and expected from Him. He asked God for a long life so that he could praise God all those days of his life. And the gracious Lord not only gave him many days in this earth but unending days in the life to come. What is the main thing that he will do there? Yes, he will always praise the Almighty God who delivered him from all his troubles. There is always praise in heaven. Every corner of heaven, the angels are always praising God. Continually, there God is being glorified. When I had visited the holy land of Israel, I visited the garden of Gethsemane where there is a rock on which the Lord Jesus Christ rested his body and prayed according to Luke 22:41-44. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Now they have built a sanctuary around it and there is always praise going on there. 24 hours of the day only praise. This is because it was that very place that the Lord took that decision to die on the cross so that you and I could receive that everlasting life. Yes, in that place all the 24 hours of the day, people are only worshipping God. Just imagine then how it will be in heaven. To be able to praise God in that holy heavenly place, we must first be worthy to praise God here in on this earth. There is only praise in heaven! No other work. No washing clothes, no cooking food, no collecting water or any other work. We only have to praise the Almighty God there. David always praised God. He asked a long life to praise God and God in return gave him an everlasting life to praise Him forever. What a mighty God we have! What a loving God we have. What a good God we have. Let us never forget any of his benefits that He has given to us. We must continue to praise and praise Him for all His good works towards us.
Daniel a man who praised God continually Now let us look at the life of the prophet Daniel. Daniel was a man who loved God with his whole heart. They cast Daniel into the den of lions and God delivered him out of the mouth of the lions. When God delivered Daniel out of the den of lions, God’s holy name was glorified. Yes, he was delivered indeed but after this ordeal was through, it was God’s name that was glorified. Let us read Daniel 6:20; And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Here we see that the deliverance of Daniel was revolving around the God he believed. Why was it so? It was because Daniel had a reputation that he continually served, prayed, praised and worshipped his God. The king is referring to the God of Daniel, as to whether the God that Daniel served could deliver him out of the den of lions. The English version says, ‘serve’ but the Tamil version says, ‘aradhana’ which means worship and praise. Yes, Daniel was also a man who praised God in everything. He would never forget the benefits that the Lord his God had bestowed on him. So, the king is asking him whether the God whom he continually worshipped and praised was able to deliver him or not from the lion’s mouth. Yes, God’s name was glorified in this situation. Daniel was known as a man who continually worshipped his God. In the same way, God must be glorified in our lives. When can this be possible? This can be possible only when we learn to praise and worship God in every situation. We must thank God. We should never forget the good works of God toward us. God, on the other hand will never ever forget His own people. Your name, will not only in this world, but also in the coming world be in a way registered. Even when the name of one soul is registered in heaven there is a great celebration there. Yes, a great celebration like the functions we have here on earth. Praise the Lord! For the believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, this life is not the only life but there is a glorious life waiting for us. There is a place called heaven for us. Surely we must reach that holy place. There are mainly two places after the life in this world. One is heaven and the other is hell. We must have an assurance as to where we are heading today. For this, we must continually have an attitude of praise and thanks toward our God. Then we know that our journey is headed toward heaven.
Salvation of the soul cannot be compared to anything Once upon a time there was a rich man who lived on this earth. He planned many things in his mind. He wanted to earn even more. After earning more, he wanted to store up all his wealth in a place. Yes, he planned many things. But what did the Lord say to this rich man? Let us read Luke 12:19-21; And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Hallelujah! This man began to think in his soul and began to plan his future. But God speaks to him addressing him as a fool and that his soul would be taken that very night. Then what would happen of all the goods and things that he has earned? Whether he gives it to someone, or not, what will first of all happen to his soul? Where will his soul reach? It is of great importance for us to know it. As we heard before, that there are two places to go. One is heaven and the other is hell. It is important to know where our soul is heading. God may have given us wealth, property, money and goods, but we must remember to show our gratitude towards God. But this man on the other hand is comforting his own soul to be at ease and rest and enjoy all the goods that he has laid up. God looks up to him as a fool. The Bible says in Mathew 16:26; For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? We may have worked hard and earned a lot of money and property, but if we loose our own soul into hell, then what is the use of all that wealth that we have gained? There is absolutely no profit in this. We must be aware of this fact and give our whole love and praise to our God. When we eat our daily bread, let us praise God and eat, so that even though we are not alive tomorrow to eat bread, we will be able to enter into that holy place heaven. There we will eat the heavenly manna. Hallelujah! There is no hard work there, no sweat and tears. On the other hand, if we earn and store much wealth and loose our soul, we are heading to hell where there is fire and tears. In the above verse the Lord Jesus compares the whole world with our soul. Though the whole world is gotten by us and we loose our own soul in hell, yet what a great loss it is! What can be given in exchange to our soul? Nothing can value our soul in this perishing world. Nothing!
We should set an example to our children The love of our soul, the praise and fear of our soul towards God should not only remain with us, but we must also teach it to our children. Yes! Even our little children will begin to realise the love of God and the hate of Satan in their soul at a very small age. I have noticed this in quite a few of our children. They are immediately able to distinguish the things and beware the ways of the devil in their limited understanding. Who teaches these things to the little children? They are observant of the attitude of our soul. Yes! Our own children will pick up the love, zeal and faith that we have towards God. It will pass on in the blood. When we are right before God, our family will be a praising family. These things cannot be taught, but if you are free in your soul, your family will live in the freedom of the Spirit. That will be the Lord’s gift to you. Praise the Lord!
Lot lacked the wisdom to choose To make the right choice to fear God, we need God’s wisdom in our hearts. We know that Abraham and his nephew Lot came to a time when they had to separate from each other. When Lot had the choice to choose the land before him, he chose the place near Sodom and Gomorrah. If Lot knew before hand about the wickedness that was prevailing in those cities, he would have never chosen to stay in those places. It was God’s plan to overthrow Sodom and Gomorrah by sending down fire. Lot did not know this fact. Sodom and Gomorrah was very beautiful and good to look at and so he chose the place. But the time came that the cities were destroyed completely by fire and brimstone. If Lot knew about this coming destruction, I’m sure he would have never chosen to stay near Sodom and Gomorrah.
Judas lacked the wisdom to understand the consequence Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, betrayed our Lord for thirty silver coins. He did not know what was going to happen to him and how he would die. He hanged himself on a tree and fell down and his belly was burst open and he died. If he knew this would happen to him, he would have never sold and betrayed his Master, the Lord Jesus Christ for thirty silver coins. He was lacking in the wisdom in his soul.
Adam and Eve were blinded to know the outcome of their deed Adam and Eve saw the forbidden fruit that it was good to look at, good to eat and to make one wise. But eating the fruit brought their destruction on them. They were stripped out of God’s glory and disconnected with the Spirit filled life. They were cursed. They were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. If they knew this would be the outcome of their act they would have never eaten of the fruit. Yes! Sometimes we become blinded in our lives. The necessary wisdom is lacking.
Satan blinds people So what is going to happen tomorrow or even after ten years we don’t know. That evil Satan sometimes blinds God’s people. Satan’s words were very sweet to hear. His deceiving words were very pleasing and made the fruit also pleasing to eat. They ate the forbidden fruit. When Satan tempts you into something, he will never tell you what happens next. He will blind you from knowing, what is the next step. He will blind your understanding so that we may not realize what the consequences are. Yes. Adam and Eve had to hide from God and finally go out of the Garden of Eden. And out of the presence of God! Remember, we as children of God need the wisdom and understanding of God. When can we get this wisdom? It is when we thank the Lord for everything. God should be very pleased with you. He will then grant his wisdom to fear God. We will be truly His children, His son and daughter. And whatever we expect from Him, He will grant it to us. We will not lack anything.
God’s children will not lack anything Let us read Psalms 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. Hallelujah! Those who seek the Lord with prayer, praise and worship will never lack any good thing. Psalms 116:12,13 says; What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. The psalmist says that he can never repay God for all the benefits that he has received from Him. But what he wants to do is to call out and thank and praise God for saving his soul.
Nothing can separate our souls from God And Romans 8:35,37; Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Yes! Nothing can separate us from the love of our God. We have to prepare ourselves before the Lord. No matter or anything evil can separate God’s true children from Him. After we completely trust and love God nothing can by any means separate us from Him. Our God is Love and very loving. So we must give Him our complete love. And then we will begin to taste and experience His complete love towards us. Praise the Lord! Like David, our soul must wait and trust completely on God. David’s waiting for God was in an attitude of prayer and worship. Let us everyday remember His benefits and praise Him for it. Thus we will receive all that we expect from God. We will receive the everlasting life in the kingdom of God to praise Him forever. Like Daniel we must continually serve, praise and worship God so that we will be delivered from all troubles. Though we may have earned all the wealth and riches of the world and we loose our soul, there is no profit in it. We must remember His benefits and with our soul praise God for them. With the soul that God has given us we must praise Him and all our expectations from God will be fulfilled. Let the Lord bless each one of us with these words. Pastor Saroja M.
My Best Friend
I am glad to share with you about who my best friend is. His name is JESUS CHRIST! He is the one I trusted and so far He has been faithful to me all the time. I believe that He will be faithful till the end to all those who believe in Him. Wherever we go, He will be with us all the time from the very moment we believe. We may have our dear friends, mother, father, sister, brother, wife or husband in this world, but they cannot be with us all the time. There is a certain limit and approach where they can help or guide us and in some situation or the other we will find ourselves alone. But if we trust on JESUS CHRIST, He can be with us all the time, no matter where we go but we have to trust in Him completely and commit all our ways to Him. As the word of GOD says in Proverb 3:6 says, “In all your ways acknowledge him and He shall direct your paths”. It is my personal experience that whenever I am in distress and I do not understand how to solve the problems, I just remember my best friend, the LORD JESUS and He gives me success. I would like to share my testimony. About 4 years ago, I was working on the ENSCO OIL RIG in the Middle East. It was in the month of July and it was extremely hot with the temperature not less than 50 to 60 Celsius. The assignment given to me was in an open place and I was not able to refuse the same. Not knowing what to do, I just looked up, remembered LORD JESUS and prayed for His help before I started my work. Immediately to my surprise that very moment my LORD sent a cloud and covered the sun. I did not get any direct heat from sun and I could finish my work without any problem. It was only the faithfulness of my best friend in whom I believed. Besides this, He has done innumerable wondrous things in my life. Likewise, the Lord Jesus can do miracles in everyone’s life. His promises are true as we read in Mat. 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of of the age. He will be with us always according to this word but if only we are faithful to and obey Him. He will never leave us alone nor is He a man who would lie but He is a promise keeper and I would say He is the only one we can trust. Except Him, there is no one in this world whom we can trust. He is the only one faithful friend given to us from GOD. Therefore dear brothers and sisters take this opportunity and decide to accept JESUS CHRIST as your true friend and see in your life the wonderful things happen. Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and though the rivers they shall... This is His promise to us, so let us accept Him as our best friend and rejoice with Him in our earthly and eternal lives. Bro. Lancelot Lobo
Glitter Like Gold!
Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Ps. 119:127
Zechariah 13:9 – ‘And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.’ Gold is a precious metal for which mankind from the beginning has desired to posses. Almost every one is attracted to the glistening of gold and till today man is desirous of things made out of gold. However, the precious piece of metal has to go through many processes till it reaches its final finished state. Crude gold is skillfully purified by the goldsmith, once the mud and dust is separated, what remains is pure gold. This gold then with skilled hands takes the shape of precious ornaments which is highly valuable and desired by all. In the same manner, due to situations in life, we may think that we are of no use and are good for nothing, however, in the Lord’s eyes, we are more precious than gold, He desires to use us for His glory. He is a God who desires to change our life like gold and skillfully convert us from the crude state to the finished state which is precious and invaluable. For this, we have to first submit ourselves into His hands that He may skillfully change and mould our life, so that we may be an ornament of His glory. We should strive to obey and yield to each of His will, spoken in Spirit and Truth. This is His promise to each one of us, as Isaiah 48:10 says ‘Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.’ As the Lord says in John 3:17; ‘For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.’ True to this Word, the Lord did not come to condemn us, but to save us. The Bible in Mark 5:1-20 speaks about the people of Gadarenes who asked Jesus to leave that place as they lost all their herd of swine in the sea, because Jesus delivered the man possessed with evil spirit, named legion and told him to testify how the Lord had done this great thing in Gadarenes and had shown compassion on him. So, we should never lose hope but trust in Him always for our good Lord desires to do wonderful things in our life. So even as we step into the 5th year of the Rose Of Sharon Church, let us all look forward, prepare and submit ourselves that the Lord may give us grace to glitter like gold for His glory. Bro. Moses George
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God
Many of us do not know what is worship and how to worship God. Most of us follow the traditional way. It is a hereditary practice and we just follow it blindly. Tradition is good but sometimes traditional methods hinder in worshipping God, truthfully. Our fathers teach us what they learned. Sometimes they learn wrong doctrines and teach us the same. In the book of Jeremiah the Lord says in 16:11,12 …Because your fathers have forsaken Me, says the Lord; they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law. And you have done worse than your fathers. The Lord speaks to us here about 3 important points which we and our predecessors followed: 1. WALKED AFTER OTHER GODS: Bible clearly states in Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me. There is only one GOD with whom Abraham walked as a friend. Today we believe that Abraham’s God is our God, therefore be alert as other gods offer us temptations of this world. 2. SERVED THEM: Bible teaches us clearly in Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them nor SERVE THEM. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me. Jesus says in Matthew.6:24 No one can serve two masters… Some time we think we will keep good relations with all gods. So we keep idols at home, in our hearts and mind, but it doesn’t work that way. Today we have to check our selves, are we serving the true and living God and are we loyal to our God? 3. WORSHIPED THEM: The meaning of worship is respecting and giving. Giving means giving something precious from our side it could be praise, money, time etc… A perfect example would be Abraham, who was ready to GIVE up his only son for the Lord (Gen.22:5). We also see, when the three wise kings came from the east to see the child Jesus they fell down and worshiped Him. And when they opened their treasures they PRESENTED gifts to Him (Mt.2:11). Many a times we notice that we are earning quite enough but at the end of month we will not have any savings, the reason is as given in the main verse …have forsaken Me and not kept My law. We learn in the Holy Bible, that the Lord will return to us in 100, 60 and 30 fold. So what does it prove? Why don’t we have savings? It shows that our investment was not put in the proper bank that is why there is no balance. In this world only two of them seek WORSHIP. One is our true living God (John 4:23) and other is satan (Is.14:12-15). From the beginning when Lucifer (satan) was with God in heaven he wanted to become higher than God. He wanted every one to WORSHIP him as we have read in the above verse …I am a jealous God. Therefore, God kicked him from heaven and he fell on the earth. Then on earth also he started his work that is to deceive the Lord’s children and he succeeded with Adam and Eve. Jesus came into this world as a human to save us from satan as said in Matthew 4:9 And he said to Him, All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me. Jesus used the Word of God to fight with him. In our life also satan comes in many ways to tempt us to get worship. We must know whom to worship and how to worship. The three wise men came from far and worshiped CHILD Jesus and gave the gifts ONLY to Jesus. We see in Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness… Therefore we have to worship and give to whom the world belongs to. In our life also sometimes to achieve earthly things like job, promotion, relations, etc… we bow down in front of the evil by accepting or giving bribes or in any other ways without thinking. We read the above verse that the earth is Lord’s and all fullness then why must we bow down to get work, you should ask our Father in heaven through Jesus’s name. God is given higher authority to Jesus we see in the book of Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 1. Lord’s name is above every name. 2. Every knee should bow. 3. Jesus Christ is Lord the glory of God the father. There is the secret of trinity. Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit, these three are one and God. But there is an order between the Trinity. 1. Father 2. Jesus Christ 3. Holy Spirit. Above verse says in Jesus’s name every knee should bow, but glory to God, other verse says in 1 Cor. 15:28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. The Father says that Jesus’s name is above all, but Jesus says that the Father’s name is above all. One thing we have to learn clearly. Some time when we pray to God we start with Jesus and end with Jesus, sometimes Heavenly Father comes in between. But how does Jesus Christ teach His disciples to pray as given in Mt.6:9 “Our Father in Heaven”. Hence it is clear that we must pray to God in the name of Jesus. In the book of John chapter 14:14 says If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. Thus we must pray to the Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus. Some may have a question here saying we agree about the Father and Jesus but what about the Holy Spirit and how does it work? Roman 8:26 says Likewise the spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. A Samaritian woman once said to Jesus, our fathers worshipped on this mountain and we follow it as a tradition. Do you know what Jesus answered her? He tells her, you worship what you do not know, we know what we worship. It is true, we do not know what we worship and how we worship, we are following a tradition. We should follow the Holy Bible as all scriptures given in the Bible are by the inspiration of God for correction and instruction. Jesus says to the Samaritian women in John 4:23-24. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. Dear brothers and sisters we may be following Lord for a long time but sometimes the things which seem small hinder us in following the true doctrines and worshipping our Father in Heaven. Now on worship our Father in the name of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit will guide us. Bro. Jaykanth Victor
A Story
There was a man named Joel who worked very hard to earn his living. But he had a problem, whatever money he earned he would just keep the same and collect it in a small box and keep it away very safely. Even if he wanted anything he would not spend it nor did he allow anyone else to use it. Days kept passing, he would count the money everyday without fail. All his neighbors knew about his habit. One fine day, when he took his box to count the money he found that the money was missing and only a few scrap papers were left behind. After seeing this he was shocked and was in trouble. From the above mentioned story we learn that as the money which was to have been spent or multiplied was kept idle and eventually robbed in the same way we should not keep ourselves idle as chances are that satan can enter our lives and rob us. Therefore how can we keep ourselves busy? We have to keep ourselves busy in God and concentrate on Him by just continually praising and worshipping His Holy Name. Sis. Susanna Patel
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