EDITOR’s NOTE

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, I greet you all in the matchless name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

When our good and glorious Lord created this world,on the sixth day he created animals and man. He made man in his own image and put his glory in him with his own breath. God also came down to earth and walked with man.

It was our Lord’s will to give man a divinely glorious and perfect life.But Satan made a plan against man. He wanted to make man like an animal, deep in sin like a pig – to wallow in sin and be under his bondage. He wanted to train man in sin and take him into hell fire.

For some he gave the mind to drink liquor and fall into the muck like a pig.For some he gave the spirit of anger that they become like animals…

The Bible says in Revelation 22:15 “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”

It shows us clearly that people having such qualities cannot enter into the heavenly kingdom.

When the Lord created man, he gave him wisdom and authority to choose holiness or sin, and the choice of death and life was before him. The Tree of Life was kept before him to choose good and evil.

Since man did not heed our loving Lords words and instead listened to Satan, he fell into sin. 

When the man ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and bad,he first lost God’s form, then he lost God’s glory and then he lost the oneness he earlier sharedwith the Lord. He lost the authority to call God, Abba Father and thus it came to pass that Adam and Eve lost the Garden of Eden. They lost the place of fellowship with the Lord for sin had now come between man and God.

Today check yourself whom you are going to choose. We see in those days Abraham chose God. But Lot going against God’s will, chose what was pleasing in his own sight, viz. the beautiful land of Sodom. However the people of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.

Do you want to give yourself to the lust of the flesh or the fruit of the spirit? The apostle James writes that we praise God with our tongues but with the same tongue we curse man who is made in God’s image. Thus from the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. James 3:9-12 “There with bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeded blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs?So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”

Beloved children, the choice ofwhom to choose is yours. Whether to go to Nineveh or Tarshish – the decision had to be taken by Jonah himself. Lord counselled Prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh but the Jonah got onto the boat to go to Tarshish, because of which he faced a lot of problems.

My beloved readers and children, whatever you do, obey the Lord and hear his voice. Then He will be with you.

Every soul is precious.The Lord went to deliver the adulteress lady of Samaria in the heat of the afternoon sun forgoing his lunch… He went to the Bethesda pond to deliver a man who was sick for 38 years… He went to give sight to a man who was blind from birth in Jericho.

Every soul is precious. You may be caught up in many problems wondering who will deliver you; but God is coming searching for you. He has shed His blood for you and He loves you abundantly. He is going to make you a new person. What is your choice?

May God Bless all my readers.

Yours in His service

Pastor Saroja M

Praise the Lord. I hereby testify on behalf of my granddaughter Saloni who is 5 years old. She was suffering from severe stomach ache and she had a dance performance. We gave her prayer oil and also called Pastor Saroja for her prayers. After prayers she was alright and could perform nicely. I praise and thank God for healing Saloni and I also thank Pastor for praying for her.

*Sis.Tara  Kushwa, Jogeshwari.

Praise the Lord. I am Sis.Anita from Kolkatta. I regularly view the Rose of Sharon Television program and contact their prayer numbers for many of prayer needs for my family. I was not keeping well and the doctor had asked me to undergo a lot of blood tests. I asked for prayers from ROS prayer line regarding this matter. I praise and thank the Lord that all my reports have come normal. I thank the Lord for my healing and also ROS for their prayers.

*Sis.Anita Sengupta, Kolkatta.

Praise the Lord. On my way back home from work I suddenly started feeling uneasy. As I entered home I was continuesly vomiting and simultaneously fever started to rise. Within a span of half an hour I was feeling completely weak. I called up Pastor Saroja and requested her for prayers. Immediately after the prayers I felt relieved and slept peacefully post which I was completely okay. I thank my Lord for His healing touch and Pastor Saroja for her fervent prayers and advice.

*Sis.Joy Shalaka Salins, Mira Road.

Praise the Lord. My son Irwin had boils on his joints. When we showed to the Doctor he said it is a new type of disease like chicken pox only where the boils come only on the joints. I then told this matter to Pastor Saroja and she prayed for him. From the very next day onwards the boils started drying up whereas we all know that chicken pox boils take 3 – 4 weeks to dry completely and also marks remain behind. But by Lord’s grace, within a week the boils vanished  and there were no marks. I give all glory to the Lord Jesus for healing my son Irwin and thank Pastor Saroja for her fervent prayers.

*Sis Esther Patel, Goregaon East.

Praise the Lord. I was having a lot of problems in my family, financially and healthwise too. One day, I was watching the Rose of Sharon TV program and I immediately called the number on the screen and the prayer warrior prayed for me. After ten days, I called again as I had pain in my throat as it was discovered that I had a hole  in my throat. The prayer warrior prayed for me again. I praise and thank God that within days the hole in my throat has healed and I am fine. I thank and give all the glory to God and the Rose of Sharon prayer warriors for their prayers.

*Sis. Kaveri, Gulbarga, Karnataka (via SMS)

SCARS OF LIFE

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.

His mother in the house was looking out the window saw the two as they got closer and closer together.  In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.

From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go.

A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn’t let go.” You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, or anything quite so dramatic.But the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go.

In the midst of your struggle, He’s been there holding on to you. The Scripture teaches that God loves you. You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way.

But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations. The swimming hole of life is filled with peril – and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That’s when the tug-of-war begins – and if you have the scars of His love on your arms be very, very grateful. He did not and will not – let you go.

He won’t let any of us go, thank God … to Jesus !

Do not harden your hearts!

Revelation 16:15 “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”  God had commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of knowledge, but when they disobeyed God’s command and ate of this tree, they lost their covering. They could see their nakedness. God sacrificed an animal and clothed them with the skin of the animal, thus covered their nakedness. The same God has covered our nakedness today by sacrificing His life on the cross of Calvary. He has given us the clothing of righteousness. Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” We must not lose this clothing of ‘righteousness.’Revelation 16:15 says“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”It is a known fact that the thief comes to make us naked. Hence we must always safeguard the clothing of righteousness that God has given us to cover our nakedness. We know that that the end timeis getting nearer and nearer and God will come anytime. But, when He comes, He must not find us naked, rather He must see the clothing of righteousness upon us. Adam and Eve did not realize when they lost the original ‘clothing’ that God had covered them with,and they found themselves naked. Only when they heard God’s voice in the garden did they realize that they were naked. We must not be in a similar situation as Adam and Eve, in our lives. God tells us “I will come as a thief in the midnight, hence ensure that the clothing of righteousness is upon you.”Revelation 19:8 “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”It is only our clothing of righteousness that can save us. God has chosen us as His children and made us kings and priests. For our sakes, He has sacrificed His only son, Jesus.

What is the kind of life that we need to lead to keep our righteousness and spirituality intact? There are many things in this world which defile our lives, and we cannot see them entering our life. Just as we do not know how disobedience entered into Adam and Eve, similarly we will never know how some of the qualities of this world will enter into us and defile us. Mark 7:21- 23 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”Here we have read of all these above qualities that can defile us. But we must always remember that God gave His life on the cross for us and separated us from these things, thus giving us a life of righteousness. We must ensure that the evil one does not take the clothing of spirituality, grace and righteousness from us. When we disobey the commandment of God, we tend to lose His spirituality, grace and righteousness from our lives. All of the above mentioned evil comes from within us, creating a veil between God and us. The work of the evil one in our life takes us away from God. He makes a way for us to hide from God and keep ourselves away from Him. He makes us unworthy to be able to stand before God, when He returns to judge the world. The qualities viz.adultery, fornication, murder, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, blasphemy, pride, ego, etc. all are manufactured within us itself, and they defile our lives. We cannot purchase them from any shop. None of these qualities will qualify us to stand before God for they are an abomination to Him. Remember, all these qualities are generated within us itself. Thus, we must fill our hearts with the love of God, rather than with futile qualities. God’s sacrifice and His love for us must fill our hearts, rather than all these wicked qualities. We must make an agreement with God in our heart itself. We must not listen to the holy Word from one ear and let it out through another; rather we must fill our heart with the Word of God, it should be a storeroom for us. Every Word of God we hear, we must store in our heart and then use it in our life. Our life will be futile if we do not change with the Word that we hear, for every Word is preached from the throne of God. We must chew the Word as the cow chews the cud. We must churn the Word well within our life and be a fruit bearing tree for the Lord.

God has given His life on the cross, so as to cover our nakedness with His righteousness. Daniel had made an agreement with himself, even before he went to Babylon;that He would not defile his life with anything unclean. He made this agreement with God. Because of this, his life was blessed and successful. Daniel 6:28 “So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”Similarly, our lives too can be blessed when we live our lives according to the will and commandment of God. God will dwell amongst us and prosper every work of our hands. We will never know when we may lose our clothing of righteousness. In the Holy Scriptures, we know of the life of Samson, who never realized when the grace of God had left him and when he became powerless. It was only when he awoke to fight his enemy, that he realized he had become powerless some time ago. Similarly in our lives too, we must be alert and vigilant all the time, for God will come as a thief at midnight. If God informs us of His coming, we will only pretend to pray, read the Word and keep singing praises to Him. Many of us do that to satisfy our own self. But our God must be satisfied by our singing, praising and prayer and they must bring a sweet aroma to His kingdom. When our heart is pure and without any of the a fore-mentioned evil qualities, then God will accept our prayer and praises and they will be pleasing in His sight. Those who have the above evil qualities within their hearts must remember that God will never accept any praise and prayer from such a heart. This is impure in God’s sight. God says to us “Ask in my name and it shall be given to you.” But for us to ask in God’s name, we must be pure in heart. Thousands of people pray to God and ask of Him, but when there is jealousy, pride, arrogance, ego and attitude in our hearts, how can God answer our prayers? It is futile to call out His name with all this in our hearts. We must ensure that we are never naked, for our Lord Jesus did not give us the clothing of righteousness easily. He paid a price for it -He sacrificed His precious life for us on the Cross.

When we make an agreement with the Lord, He is our true God who is able to do all things in our life. Jude 1:24 “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”Everyday we must submit ourselves into His hands and ask Him to lead and guide us. Jesus will keep us from falling, He will protect us and present us faultless before His Father God. Our God is a holy God and He wants us to be holy too. Our God never has pride, ego or jealousy. He never has any such filthy qualities within Him ever. When we go to God with a pure heart, He will bless us. We must safeguard our hearts, because out of it will flow the living waters. Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”When our heart if full of filthy qualities, then from it will only come out the issues of life. God wants a pure heart from each of us. We must take good care of our hearts and not let it be defiled with all these qualities. Psalms 34:13 “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.”Whatever is in our hearts, comes out of our mouth. In the Holy Scriptures we know the story of Miriam; how she spoke against her brother Moses. But God’s anger fell on her immediately and she was inflicted with leprosy. Proverbs 18:21 says “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”Out of our tongue comes both life and death. How we control our tongue and use it, is very important in our lives. If we use our tongue in a good way, we will reap much; whereas if we use our tongue wrongly, it can destroy our lives. Miriam had jealousy in her heart and hence she said “Does God only speak to Moses? He also speaks to us likewise.” Hence God’s anger came upon her immediately. We must work in our lives towards removing all the negativity and dirty qualities within us, only then we will be blessed. What qualities we allow in our lives is very much in our hands. God has already given his life as a living sacrifice for us and has clothed us with the clothing of righteousness. But the evil one wants to make us naked before God, he does not want to allow us to reach God’s heavenly kingdom. Hence he fills our heart with all negative qualities viz. pride, jealousy, ego, anger and sinful thoughts. The Word says “The way we will use our tongue, we will reap the reward accordingly.”

In the bible, we have read the story of Nabal. When he was in trouble, David helped him. Because of David’s help in his life, Nabal prospered and became rich. He also became very strong,such that nobody could rob his cattle. He had good pastures to graze his animals because David gave him a good place to dwell in. Nabal became very rich and an owner of a huge herd of animals. Once a time came in David’s life when he needed Nabal’s help. He sent his people to Nabal with a request for help. David thought that Nabal would have a heart of gratitude towards him and would surely come forward to help him. But when David’s men went to Nabal for help, He yelled at them and asked them “Who is David who has sent you all to me?Why should I help him?” Nabal asked David’s men to go away. Nabal’s servants immediately went and related the incident to his wife Abigail. They reminded her how David had helped Nabal and how they had prospered because of David’s help. Immediately, Abigail took all that she had and went to David; she fell at his feet and asked for forgiveness for her husband’s arrogant behaviour. When Abigail returned home, she saw Nabal feasting with his men, intoxicated with wine and enjoying himself. She decided it was not the right time to tell him anything. The next day after his hangover, Abigail told Nabal of all that had occurred. Nabal’s heartbeat stopped immediately, meaning that he spiritually died. In reality he died ten days later. Many of us too forget the love of God in our lives and we speak against the Lord and His mighty doings. Our heartbeat too can stop immediately, though we may not physically die. We must remember God loves us till the end, but when we have any such negative quality within us, the evil robs our clothing of righteousness from us. We must never be arrogant and stubborn, for we will never know when our heartbeat will stop and when we are separated from God. God warns us that “I will come as a thief in the night”. All our qualities will be exposed to Him and God will see our true self.

 1 Samuel 25:36-38 “And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.”Next morning when Nabal’s hangover was finished, his wife Abigail told him of all that had occurred with David. Immediately his heart died within him and he became as a stone. We must remember that ‘one day with God, is equivalent to a thousand days of our lives.’Because of Nabal’s arrogance, pride and ego, he ate the fatted calf and drank wine. All these things swelled his heart and he forgot the goodness of David in his life.God’s anger came upon him immediately, though he died only ten days later. Yes, it is in our heart itself that all these qualities are formed and then we forget the love of God within us. We must remember that for us to live in peace, God took all the shame of this world upon Him and bore all our sorrow and pain on the cross of Calvary. He broke His body and gave us His blood, thus clothing us with His robe of righteousness. We must safe guard this clothing!

Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”Proverbs 8:32 “Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.” Our ears must be inclined to God alone, and we must walk in His ways – only then will we receive His grace. What God teaches us we must always remember, and we shall never be put to shame. God will bless uswith what we hope and want, only when we are obedient to His Word. Psalms 1:3 “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” When we do not forget the love of God then whatever we wish for, God will bless us with it. We must become worthy to ask for anything in God’s name. When we are in unity and oneness with God in a congregation, family or society,we can win every battle in our life. We know that God had given Lucifer a lot of authority in heaven, but when pride entered Lucifer, God kicked him down onto this earth from heaven.We must never let pride enter within us. We must always be humble to our calling. What is our calling? Ephesians 2:6 “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” God has called us to keep us in heavenly places with Him. In this world, we see disbelief, ungratefulness and unrighteousness all around us. A man cannot change overnight, when God touches Him. The changes in his life are brought about slowly. God’s anointing itself brings about changes in his life slowly but steadily. We cannot bring about any changes in our lives; only God can take our stone hearts and put a heart of flesh within us. Our God is a gentleman, He stands at our door and knocks until we open the door from within. He will never force Himself into our lives. Our life is a curse, but it is God alone who can change this curse into a blessing. Deuteronomy 23:5 “Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee.” Our God lovesus,hence He became a curse and took our curse upon Him. We must understand from this, how holy and complete God’s love for us is!Galatians 3:13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

We should therefore take much care of the clothing of righteousness that He has given us. How pure we should be from within and how much care we should take, that what comes out of our mouthmust always be pure and holy! Our God loves us very much. Let us ponder and see if our heart is pure today. If it is, then out of it will flow rivers of living water.But if our heart forgets God’s grace and love, then we will become ungrateful and our heart will become stone hearted like Nabal’s heart and we will die spiritually. Finally one day, God’s mighty hand will fall upon us and we will die physically. Because the love of God in our life is no ordinary love, His life on the cross was not an ordinary price paid by God for our sakes. We must always keep this love precious in our life. When we look to the cross, we must see His love, we must see the anointing that Father God has givenJesus. We must keep all these things close to us in our heart i.e. the storeroom. From time to time we must remember this love of God for us and thus fight our every battle. Our God is a good God. We know that evil is mighty but our God is almighty! We know that whatever miracles were done by Moses in the land of Egypt in the presence of Pharaoh, were also done by the magicians of Egypt. They copied Moses in different ways. But in the end the victory was God’s alone. We know that when Moses converted his rod into a snake, the magicians also did the same, but in the end Moses’ snake ate up the magicians’snakes.

Exodus 9:8-11 “And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.”Here we see that when Moses and Aaron took the ash of the furnace and threwit inthe air,boils like blisters sprang upon the skin of all the Egyptians, including themagicians. Finally, what did the magicians say to Pharaoh? Exodus 8:19 “Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.”The magicians said to Pharaoh “We see the hand of God upon them.” Whatever Moses did, sodidthe magicians; but finally the magicians realized that thehand of God was upon the Israelites. Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened,for God Himself had hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God wanted to destroy Pharaoh completely, hence He hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

Even when we harden our hearts, we must check why our hearts are hardened? We must pray to God, and questionwhy this is happening to us. We must check ourselves and examine our lives. We must pray to Godto replace the heart of disbelief from within us. We must ask God to remove our heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. We must let good things dwell in our heart. Only if we prevail in good faith till the end maywe hope to win the crown of life. Luke 11:20 “But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.” Jesus says “With the hand of God, I drove out demons.” This is the same hand that was seen by the Egyptian magicians too, and they knew how mighty this hand was. We must pray that the same mighty hand that fell upon the Egyptian magicians should never ever fall upon us. We must never forget the love of God upon us. We must always be humble before Him. When we were nothing and had nothing, we cried at His feet and humbled ourselves. Similarly, today when we have everything we must remain humble and not forget His grace in our lives. We must never forget the early days of our life where we had asked Him for many things and He had granted everything to us. Is there anyone who did not get anything from God? We have all asked of God and received from Him. We should never die spiritually thereafter.Thus every day we need to remember God’s good works in our life and be humble before Him.

God’s blessings in our life are not for a day but for generations to come.

May this message be a blessing to many. Praise the Lord!

This month the kids learnt about the kings of Israel. In the old times Israel was ruled by judges.

God chose the Israelites to be His own special people.  They were living in the land of Egypt where the ruler of the land turned them into his slaves for over 400 years.  God sent His messenger Moses to Egypt and delivered His people from slavery.  God gave Moses laws for His people to follow so they could be protected from the evil that surrounded them.  His laws made His people very unique to the other people living around them. Their differences would cause others to see God and all of His greatness.

The Israelites settled in the land God gave them as promised and He gave them leaders who helped them with any difficulties they had.  Whether God’s people realized it or not they had a mighty King who ruled over them and kept them safe from their enemies.  They could not see Him but He was never far from them because He spoke to them through His messengers.

At this time in the Israelites’ history God’s leader over His people was Samuel.  Samuel obeyed God and led His people faithfully.  Because Samuel was getting old he allowed his two sons to be leaders over the people in Israel.   Sadly, his two sons did not follow the example of their father Samuel.

That’s the time when Saul was anointed as the 1^st King. The children learnt how Saul was obedient and humble when his father had sent him to search the lost donkeys. That was a time when he was chosen and anointed as king. However over the years his disobedience drew him away from the Lord.

Of the 1^st King of Israel the kids learnt how important it is to be obedient to the Lord always. The key totake away was to be obedient and run the race of life with all diligence till the end.

Praise the Lord.

Joy Salins