Editor’s Note

I greet you all in the matchless name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Our God is full of grace and mercy, because of His goodness He overlooks all our shortcomings. He has not destroyed us because of His compassion.Micah 7:18 – Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.

To the Lord our God belongs mercy and forgiveness.Daniel 9:9 – To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

When we pray to our God to forgive us all our seen and unseen sins, and cry out to Him to help us come out of all our wicked and sinful ways, and help us to walk according to His will, and ask Him, “Lord make me worthy to call you Abba Father.” If we pray like this with a contrite heart, our compassionate and merciful God will forgive you and bless you and lead you. Do not quench the Holy Spirit.

In this worldly life if there is something lacking in us, the evil will mock us, saying your life is finished, you will not be able to get up anymore, with many harsh words they will trouble and hurt us. In the holy Bible we see about a barren woman named Hannah. We see how her husband’s other wife Peninnah mocks at her. But did the Lord allows Peninnah to continue to mock Hannah? No, reason being Hannah poured out all her sorrows to the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:15 – And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

She got more than what she expected from the Lord. She asked one child, but the Lord gave 1 Samuel 2:21 – And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.

The Lord shut the mouths of all those who mocked at her. Yes our Lord will not forsake those who believe and serve Him. Our enemy the devil and his instruments however much they may mock and trouble you, our God of Peace will crush the enemy and give you peace. Romans 16:20 – And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Instead of you being put to shame, He will put the enemy to shame. Isaiah 61:7 – For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

In this world many types of bondages bring weakness in our lives. Psalms 18:4 – The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

When we, the servants and children of God turn to Him, He loosens all our bondages. Acts 8:32 – The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

When the Holy Spirit comes into you, He will free you totally. 2 Corinthians 3:17 – Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Your bondages may be big or small, our God will crush all, for our God is Almighty.

Do not worry, trust our God, go to Him and pray in His presence. Psalms 116:6 – The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

Whatever your weakness, look unto the Lord and He will strengthen you and lead you. Philippians4:13 – I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

We will look at King Asa, who when he was very weak looked at the Lord and prayed in faith. 2 Chronicles 14:11 – And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

If we also have the same faith and pray as Asa, our problems also will disappear and God will give us strength in our spirits. Psalms 138:3 – In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

Cry out to the Lord and pour out your sorrow before Him, for He has died on the cross to take away all your sorrow, shame and pain.

So my dearly beloved whatever your troubles, have faith in God and look to Him, He will give you and your families freedom from all your problems and bless you. Till we meet again.

Pastor Saroja M.

Our God, the God of Jeshurun!

Pastor Saroja’s Message Rajasthan – April 22, 2015

Deuteronomy 33:26 – There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.The Word saysthere is no other God like the God of Jeshurun. Who is Jeshurun? In the bible his name has been referred to in two or three places. The Word today may be strong but God will give you His grace to understand it for the Word is given by Him. Jeshurun means ‘Israel’ – you and me are thus Israel. The Word says that there is no other God like ours. Deuteronomy 33:5 – And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together. Deuteronomy32:15 – But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.Isaiah 44:2 – Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.God chose Jacob (i.e. Jeshurun) in his mother’s womb. God called Jacob ‘Israel’. Thus the meaning of Jeshurun is also ‘Israel’; Israel means you and me viz… those who have accepted the Lord God, who are changed, who are separated in this world, who are separated from families, who are chosen by God are all Israel. Thus there is no other God like the God of Israel, and there is no other God like your God and mine. Our living God is above all Gods. He came into this world, lived for us, took all our trouble and pain, was crucified on the Cross and rose again on the 3^rd day. This truth we have to

believe, when we believe whatever the problems we face in life or in our congregation, God will come through the clouds to help us. Those who are chosen by God, when problems engulf them and when there is problem in their families or in the congregation, our God who rides upon the heavens, will come through the clouds to help us and deliver us.

Deuteronomy 33:26 – There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.God will come in His excellency on the clouds to help and rescue us. When the Israelites were being brought out of Egypt and they successfully crossed the Red Sea, they were singing and praising God.Exodus 15:11 – Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?Our God did this mighty miracle and helped the Israelites cross the Red Sea. Hence the Israelites were singing and praising God “Who is mighty like You, among the Gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders”? Who will rescue us? No one can rescue us from our problems except our mighty God. Thus, if there is a problem within our congregation or if there is problem where our family lives, remember, our mighty God will come through the clouds and rescue His people. This must be our faith. Yes, there is no other God like the God of Jeshurun. There is no other God like the God of Israel. We must believe in our Almighty God.

We run an old age home in Mumbai. Even in our ministry we do face problems and trials. Last year when filing the IT returns, there was no balance in the account. Thus, the CA would question us as to how we will be able to run the Old Age Home without enough funds. We thus prayed to our Almighty God that there should be enough balance in our account before filing returns. On the third day itself our prayers were answered, we received a donation of Rs. 1 Lakh from a brother, for the Old Age Home. There is no one who can be compared to our Almighty God. Today, we have a Rs. 1 Lakh balance in the Trust Account for the Old Age Home.” This is the mighty doing of our great God. When we are in deep trouble, sorrow and pain, our God who rides upon the heavens will come down through the clouds and rescue /deliver us. This must be our faith. Isaiah 41:10says Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Our faith and trust should not wander in this world. Our faith must be stayed only upon God who will help and rescue us. In His time, He will rescue us; no man can help us when we want their help, but our God alone can help us. Hebrews 13:6 – So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Thus we can say boldly “What can man do for us, God is our help and refuge”. When we call out to Him in times of troubles, He will make the impossible possible in our lives.

The evil one will always test us; put us in problems, trials and pain. The evil one is always there to rob our wealth and money, our God is our Redeemer and Saviour. The evil one did not leave Jesus Christ even after Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights. He was physically weak and Satan came before Jesus to tempt him. In our lives too, when we are in deep sorrow and pain and alone, we are in disbelief and it is at this time that Satan will come to tempt us. Hence we must never be alone, we must all the time keep singing praises and be in prayer with God, we will be able to face Satan and defeat his plans. Matthew 4:11 – Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. The evil one did not leave Jesus Christ, but came to tempt Jesus too. But Jesus countered him with the Word and Satan had to flee from that place and immediately after that the angels came and ministered to Jesus. Similarly, during our weakest moments the evil one will come to tempt us too, but we must remember the Word of God; we must rebuke the evil one and say “There is no other mightier than my God, the evil will immediately flee away from us”. Thus we can then praise and glorify the name of our wonderful God. It is written in Ps 91that we will fall from a height, but our foot will not dash against a stone. We have also seen how Satan tempted Jesus and asked him to convert stone into bread in Matthew 4:3 – And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.Immediately the evil one fled from that place.Matthew 4:6 – And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. We should never let pride and ego get into us for that will be the beginning of our fall. We should never be carried away by compliments. The evil will always lift us higher and higher to bring about our fall at a later time. Just as Satan told Jesus that it is written in the scriptures that even if you jump from the mountain nothing will happen to you. Matthew 4:7 – Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.Yes, our Lord God will come through the clouds to rescue His children from all troubles. He is the only God who died for us and rose up again on the 3^rd day to life forever more for our sake alone. Thus there is no other like our God. We should never fall into the trap laid by the evil one; he lays a trap by lifting us up, thus we must always beware. The evil will bring ego and pride into our lives. But when we do not pay heed to the evil one, we will conquer this world and together praise and glorify the holy name of God in His holy congregation and be blessed daughters and sons of God.

Our life should be like the 3 friends in the Holy Scriptures viz. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. We know that a huge statue of the King was made in gold and the people of Babylon were asked to worship this statue or else they would be put in the furnace of fire. But these three friends firmly decided whether our God saves us or not, we will not bow down to this statue. We know what happened, how the three friends were put into the furnace of fire and the flame of the furnace was increased seven times. But we also know that the fire did not quench them. Truly there is no other God like our God who rescues us even from fire. The King saw that along with these three there was a fourth man – who was He? He was the very same Son of God who will come through the clouds to rescue us. Yes, we may also be in such a furnace today; the enemy may have surrounded us from all corners, the enemy may have put disbelief in our heart – at that time we must remember “Who is like our God, there is no one mighty like our God” When we have this faith and belief in us, remember God will come through the clouds and rescue us. Daniel 3:16-25 – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and

said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. This is our Almighty God… Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We must remember this Word of God always when we are faced with adversity in our lives. There is no other God mightier than the God of Jeshurun and the God of Israel, the evil one can give us sorrow, pain and bring hardships in our lives, put us in the furnace of fire… but it is our living God who will come down through the clouds and rescue/deliver us. Thus, it is important for us first to know that our God is mightier than any help that we can get in this world. Many a times, in our personal lives too we know it is wrong to do something, yet we pray to God “If it is your will take me or if it is your will can I go here or there”. We must remember do not tempt God. Thus, when we know it is wrong or it is a sin, we must not take a step forward and do it at all. Like these three friends did not check with God whether they should bow down to the statue or go into the furnace of fire. They decided on their own that “Whether our God rescues us or not, it does not matter; we will not bow down to the King’s statue”. They did not tempt God. God did not let them perish in the furnace, but delivered them out of it. Hence, remember we must never tempt God. Matthew 4:7 – Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.Many a times, we tempt God in spite of knowing in our heart that it is not the will of God.Did God ever leave the hands of those who have put their faith and trust in Him? Never! God has never let any of His children down. We have seen here in the furnace how the Son of God came down through the clouds and rescued the three friends from the fire. We have read in the scriptures that the King saw the 4^th man; He looked like the Son of God. Remember, it is our livingGod who will come through the clouds and rescue and deliver us in times of trouble.

Zechariah 2:5 – For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.God Himself will be the glory in the midst of our trials and tribulations. When we put our faith and trust in God, God will give us His grace and show His mercy upon us. But, when we do not believe in Him, He cannot work in our lives. E.g. In your field, you only sow the seeds. It is the work of the fertile land to bear fruits. Similarly when we put our faith in God, we will experience His blessings in our life. When we do not believe in Him, how can He bless us? It’s like an agreement between the farmer and the field… the farmer sows and then the field bear fruits. In our lives too, there is an agreement between God and us; if we keep His command God will bless us. Romans 4:21 – And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.When God makes an agreement with us, He has the strength to fulfill this agreement in our lives. He is not a liar to run away from us; if He was to run away He would not have sacrificed His life on the Cross for our sakes. Whatever promise He has given us, He is a God who will fulfill the same. Our fields can let us down – if there are no rains it will not bear fruits. Unlike this, our God is a God who fulfills His promise. Romans 3:22 – Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:All those who believe in Him, there is no difference and God will fulfill His every promise. When Jesus was in this world, He did the same; whoever came to Him, He asked “Do you believe? If yes, be healed.” If we have no faith in God, promises given to us cannot be fulfilled – it will be futile. In faith alone we can be blessed. Remember, it rains on the righteous and the unrighteous too. That is not a blessing in our life. E.g. In some places, people get BMC water only for a limited time; but even after that time when you keep getting water little by little and it thus helps you complete all work in your house as it happens in our Old Age Home; this is God’s blessings that we can see in our lives. Thus it is only our faith that can bring these blessings into our life. Then we can boldly say “Who is like God, there is none other like Him.” When we believe in God, only then He will be able to accomplish all that He has promised in our lives.

Why does it rain on the good and the bad? Why do the righteous and unrighteous both get water from the taps? This is only because it’s a testimony to Him, it is not a blessing! Blessing is when the oil and flour in our home never gets over. In the Holy Scriptures we have seen that when the widow served the prophet with baked bread and oil, her house never lacked for oil and flour. Acts 14:17 – Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.This is only a testimony to God, it is not a blessing. Jesus came into this world, did many wondrous things: He made the blind to see, the dumb to speak and the lame to walk. He healed many infirmities and bondages. Now came the time for Jesus to go to the Cross. He questions His disciples inLuke 22:35 – And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.Jesus questions his disciples “You followed me when I called you – did you lack for anything?” They answered “No, there was no lack of anything”. This is God’s blessings on them. There are different types of blessings viz. Abraham’s blessings, Isaac’s blessings, Jacob’s blessings. Abraham believed what God said to him and thus God blessed Abraham. How did God bless Abraham? To be able to give to others!

Matthew 4:18-20 – And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.We know that fishing nets are very important to a fisherman. But when Jesus called them, they left their nets and followed Him. So Jesus told them from that moment onwards they would be fishers of men. Matthew 4:20-22 – And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.With the first call they left their nets for Jesus; with the second, they left the boat and their father for Jesus’ sake and followed Him. Matthew 10:9-10 – Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.Jesus says to them that they did not need silver or gold, nor purses or belts. Jesus fed them. Why do men work so much in life? They do so only to fill their stomach. People educate themselves so that they get good jobs. Why? They do so only to fill their stomach. But Jesus tells these disciples who chose to leave everything behind and only follow Him that a worker is worthy of his food. Jesus first asked them to leave the fishing nets, and then He asked the other disciples to leave the boat and their fathers. Later Jesus asks them to leave their belts and purses, their silver and gold. Why? This is because our God feeds the needy. There is none other god in comparison to our living God. If we truly love God, our house will never lack for oil and flour. There is no comparison for the God of Jeshurun; there is no comparison for the God of Israel. This must be our faith.

Come let us believe in this living God: a God who is in the furnace of fire and is with us always. He will come through the clouds to rescue and deliver us. When our faith is strong, we will never be defeated. Before Jesus went to the Cross, this is what He asked in Matthew 6:25 – Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?Our God says do not worry about all these things; when we believe and trust that our living God alone is our provider, just as those who left their fishing nets, boats and fathers when Jesus called; when we put our trust and faith in Him, we should not worry about anything.Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.First we must pursue our God, give everything into His hands; then He will bless us. Many of us pray without believing that God can work in our lives – it’s like the frog croaking during monsoons. Such a prayer avails nothing. But when we believe in our God, put our trust in Him, recognize that only He can work wonders in our lives, accept Him wholeheartedly; then even a silent prayer of few minutes will be heard by God. For those who believe that God is living and He hears our prayers; to them He will answer prayers immediately. God needs a heart for prayer, we may pray in any place, in any language, in any situation; He will hear and answer us. It is very important for us to know what our God can do for us. It is

important to believe that our God can do anything and everything for us, but we must ask in faith and believe He will bless us. Philippians 4:6-7 – Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. We should never listen to others, but have blind faith in God just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They did not consult anyone – if they would have, they would have lost their peace. Instead they put their faith and trust in God alone. Likewise, we must also surrender and submit our lives into God’s hands; no one can rob us of our peace. Isaiah 43:1-3 – But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. The God of Jeshurun says “If you go through the waters, I will be there. If you go through the fire, I will be there”. Yes, our God will deliver us out of all our trials and tribulations, out of our sorrow and pain. Now we must believe in Him. Remember, we must always wait upon God for our blessings – as we wait for our salaries after working for a whole month. But before that we must not grumble against God. When man helps us, sometimes he may not have enough to bless us – unlike man, God has abundance of blessings in store for us. He will bless us today or tomorrow, but the blessings will definitely come in His time.

Genesis 12:1-2 – Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:God commanded Abraham to leave his family, his dwelling place and go to the place He had prepared for him. Abraham willingly left everything and followed God. When we obey God’s command, He will bless us. Genesis 12:4 – So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. Here we see Abraham obeyed God and left his home. Will we obey God in this manner? Will we follow him where ever He asks us to follow? Genesis 12:8 – And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.Abraham did not forget God after that; this love was enduring and continuous. Abraham built an altar for God in His new dwelling place. Our faith in God must also be continuous; we must never forget God’s love for us. We must never let the evil one to steal our faith and love for God from us. The evil will try in many ways to snatch our blessings from us. The evil comes only to destroy our lives. Matthew 13:19 – When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.Our heart should not be like this. When we have no faith, the Word that is sowed will be such like that sowed by the wayside, which

the birds will come and eat away. The evil one is very cunning and will snatch the Word that is sown in us. When we hear God’s word, we must not let the evil take it away from us or we will lose the blessing of the Word. Matthew 13:3-4 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:Jesus is the sower, the bird is the evil one. Thus, when we do not have faith and trust in God, the evil will snatch away our blessings in a similar way. Abraham did not let the evil snatch his blessings; he believed in God, obeyed His command and was blessed. Psalms 68:19 – Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.God is our salvation, He carries our burden every day; He loads us with benefits every day. Many a time we do not attentively pay heed to God’s word and do His will and we lose our blessings. The fault lies in us and never in God. He is a God who will never burden us; we must know this truth, only then He will deliver us from our illness, sickness, sorrow and pain. Surely there is no other God in comparison to our God, the God of Jeshurun!

Let this Word be a blessing in everyone’s life.

Pastor Saroja M.