Editor’s Note

Praise the Lord. I greet you all in the most blessed name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”

Firstly, the Bible says that he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, are blessed.In those times there were some selected to read the word of God in a loud voice in the congregation.When they read the word, the congregation would hear very carefully. There may have been many in the congregation who may not have been able to read the Bible, while some may not have been able to see.Hence, in the congregation,some were selected to read the word of God and so when the Bible reading time came, they would read in a loud voice.

Secondly, to hear the word of God is blessed. The Lord has helped us to get the word of God in our own languages. It is a great privilege our God has given us wherein we are blessed to hear the word of God in our own mother tongues.

Many saints of God have sacrificed their lives to bring us this Holy Bible. Many have given their gold and silver, while others have sacrificed their time of day and night to bring us the word of God. Hence, by God’s grace we have received the Holy Bible in our hands.

Reading is a blessing, hearing is a blessing but more than that is obeying the word of God.This is a commandment of God. If we are not obeying the word of God, the word itself will give its judgment against us.

This is one of the teachings of Jesus to his servants in Revelation 1:1 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.”

The ones who read and hear the words of the prophecy will be greatly blessed. Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”

If we obey the word of God we will be blessed. It is because we can obey the word of God that the Lord is telling us to obey Him. It is the Lord’s commandment that we should not only be readers but also follow what we read, with prayer. If we pray and start reading we will get revelations which we can follow.

In the Old Testament many of the prophecies were sealed. But in the New Testament all the prophecies are open, so no one can say they cannot understand them. Revelation 22:10 “And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.”

God has promised plenty of blessings to all those who read this book. Yet, many will not read The Book of Revelation. The devil has blinded many so that they will not understand the spiritual meaning of this book when they read it. This is because in this book is written about the destruction of Satan and of his being cast eternally into the lake of fire. That is why the devil brings a hindrance for the readers to not understand the meaning of the prophecies in this book.

Jesus said in Matthew 13:11, 15 “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”

Jesus spoke to the Father in Matthew 11:25 “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”

So my beloved ones, read the word and obey the word of God and be blessed, for you are a chosen generation to be blessed.

May God bless you all and may you always be in His shadow.

Till we meet again.

Yours in the service of our Lord Jesus

Pastor Saroja M

Praise the Lord. I was working in a school for the last six years and my retirement was due. The management on my retirement was only paying me retirement benefit for four and a half years while for there maining one and a half year they were counting it as a temporary period. I spoke to Pastor about it and she assured me of her prayers and I praise God, for subsequently the school paid me for the full six years. I thank Pastor Saroja for her effective prayers.

Secondly, when I was coming home from work, I got severe cold, fever and shivering. I called Pastor for prayers, she assured me of her prayers and advised me to have warm water. That night I was admitted in the hospital and was put on glucose but by the next morning I was fine and also got discharged. I give all glory and praise to God for healing me and I also thank Pastor Saroja for her prayers.

*Bro. Joseph Arikswamy, Goregaon

Praise the Lord. I am Kavitha Jagtap from Jalgaon.My mother was suffering from headache, backache and chest pain for nearly eight years. At that time she was taking medicines regularly before believing in the Lord. But once she started believing she stopped the medicines since the medicines did not do any good to her. After watching the Rose of Sharon TV programme on Shubh sandesh Channel, I gave a prayer request to one of the prayer helpline number and requested for prayers for my mother.Subsequently all her pain has gone. I thank Lord Jesus for healing my mother and also thank the prayer helpline for keeping her in prayer.

Secondly, my brother’s son who is eight month’s old was constantly suffering from fever. From the third day after his birth, every two or three days the fever would come and go. I gave this prayer request on the Rose of Sharon prayer helpline, after which he has been healed completely. I thank Lord Jesus for healing my nephew and also thank the Rose of Sharon prayer helpline for praying for him.

*Sis.Kavitha Jagtap, Jalgaon (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Praise the Lord. I hail from Ludhiana and I was suffering from stomach pain. I had gone to the doctor and taken medicines but there was no improvement in my condition. I had contacted the Rose of Sharon prayer helpline number from the Shubh sandesh Channel broadcast and had requested for prayers for myself. The very next day all my stomach pain had disappeared. I thank Lord Jesus for healing me and I also thank the prayer helpline for praying for me.

*Sis.Dharshana Rani, Ludhiana (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Praise the Lord. My name is Amruta from Haryana. I had a dental problem for many days. I changed three doctors, was prayed over by some, but yet the problem remained. One day after watching the Rose of Sharon TV programme, I called for prayers and a brother from the Rose of Sharon prayer helpline prayed for me. From the very next day I had no pain at all. What a relief. I thank God for healing me and the Rose of Sharon prayer team for praying for me.Thank You Jesus.

*Sis. Amruta, Haryana (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Praise the Lord. I am Rekha D, a widower from Nizamabad, Telangana. My children, aged twenty years and the other eighteen years,both study in college, and would never listen to me.Since more than fifteen days I have been watching the Rose of Sharon TV programme on Shubh sandesh TV channel and I had requested for prayers for my children that they would listen to me and obey. After prayers I have observed a change of behaviour in them and they have also started obeying me. I give praise and glory to Lord Jesus and thank the Rose of Sharon prayer helpline for the prayers that was done for my children.

*Sis. Rekha. D, Nizamabad (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Praise the Lord. I was experiencing severe pain while passing motion,and the pain was so unbearable that I was nearly in tears. I drank the blessed prayer oil and immediately I started getting relief and was able to pass motions comfortably. All thanks to my dear Lord Jesus for His grace towards me and for healing me through the blessed prayer oil. I also thank my dear Pastor Saroja for praying over the blessed prayer oil. Thank You Jesus.

*Sis. Evangela Roberts, Vakola

What Happens in Heaven When We Pray?

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, “This is the Receiving Section”. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section. The angel then said to me, “This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them.” I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. “This is the Acknowledgment Section, my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed.” How is it that there is no work going on here? I asked.

“So sad,” the angel sighed. “After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments”. “How does one acknowledge God’s blessings?” I asked. “Simple,” the angel answered. Just say, “Thank you, Lord.”"What blessings should they acknowledge?” I asked.

• ✓ If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.
• ✓ If you woke up this morning with more health than illness…You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day.
• ✓ If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation … You are ahead of 700 million people in the world.
• ✓ If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.
• ✓ If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you’re unique to all those in doubt and despair.

Pastor Saroja M

Wait upon the Lord and soar like the Eagle

Isaiah 41:16 “Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.” Here in this Holy Scripture it is written of how God will deal with people who come against His children. Isaiah 41:15-16 “Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.” David prays to the Lord against his enemy in Psalm 83:13 “O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.” David prayed to God to make his enemies as dust and dirt, so that when the whirlwind came they would be blown off. Who is our enemy? Our enemy is the evil one. In different ways the evil ones brings about a tussle between God’s servants and His people or followers. But God’s promise for His children is that the evil one will be trampled under our feet. God has kept two kinds of treatment for the lion. While David had killed the lion, Samson had torn the lion apart. But God’s promise for you and me in Psalm 91:13says “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” We will trample our enemy under our feet. The whirlwind that will be sent from the heavens will work in two ways for the Lord’s children:firstly it will lift God’s children up to Zion, just as Elijah was carried up in the whirlwind; and its second purpose is to destroy the enemy. Psalm 83:13 “O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.” David had many enemies and he had to fight with all of them to win his victory. Even today our God is unchanged.If we remain His fearful loved ones He will continue to send us the whirlwind to take us up to Zion. Wise Solomon said in Proverbs 10:25 “As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.” The whirlwind blows with great speed and destroys our enemy in no time, but the righteous will stand firm and still in this whirlwind. We must thus take pride in our God who gave his life for you and me.

Nahum 1:3 “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” The clouds and this earth is dust before God. Our God is mighty and strong, He is always watching over us, and will bless us according to our works. Our Gods’ sign is the way of the wind i.e. the whirlwind. When the wind blows speedily, it can carry with it anything and everything. Such was the life of a woman in the Holy Scriptures in Isaiah 54:11 “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.” With the blowing of the strong wind, the woman loses her peace, and God says‘On whom this whirlwind blows they will be destroyed’. It is our God who strikes us and our God alone who applies the medicine to heal. We know Job’s story in the scriptures and how the whirlwind destroyed his family. Job 1:19 “And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.” The whirlwind entered Job’s home, hit his family so badly that it killed all his 10 children and destroyed his house which collapsed. His servant was the lone survivor, and he came running to inform Job of this tragedy. Through the whirlwind, the Lord God spoke to Job in Job 38:1 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said…”and in Job40:6 “Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said…” At the end of his trial, God blessed Job in double measure and prospered him once again. Our God is a Comforter, a Prince of Peace. When God strikes us, it is not to destroy but to teach us something good. We must recognize this truth. Even today the evil one brings about all kinds of trials in our lives so that we will curse God and grumble against Him. But remember, God does only good in our lives, He will never destroy us. God gave David the authority to kill the lion and Samson the authority to tear it apart and to us God has given the authority to trample the evil one under our feet. The same God gave Daniel the authority to shut the lion’s mouth. Yes, God gives different commands to different people so that they may obey Him. He also gave a promise to His elect in Mathew 16:19 “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Daniel shut the lion’s mouth when he was put in the den. Each one of us must recognize the authority that God has given us. Mathew 18:18 “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Hence when the heavenly whirlwind i.e. the Holy Spirit blows on us, it will prosper us. But when it blows on our enemies, it will destroy them.

When this Holy Spirit blows from the heaven on a dead ministry or a dead congregation, the dried bones get life once again and becomes a huge army for the Lord. Ezekiel 37:9-10 “Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” When the Holy Spirit blows on a dried preacher, pastor, or on the congregation, they all come alive with the breath of the Holy Spirit upon them. God created the whirlwind. Psalm 135:7 “He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.” The Lord God sends this whirlwind from His warehouse above,so that His people may be saved and the plans of the evil one destroyed. For whatever reason God sends the whirlwind, it fulfills its purpose on this earth. Psalm 148:8 “Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:” It is important for us to understand that just as Jesus was taken up in the whirlwind, the same way He will return the second time to take His people along. This is the same whirlwind sent from the store house of God. We know that when this whirlwind comes to take us, if two are in the fields one will be taken away and the other will be left back, if two are sleeping one will be taken up and the other left back. The whirlwind obeys God for every purpose it is sent for. Psalm 147:18 “He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.” Thus the ‘Wind’ is an important sign of our Lord God, for the Wind fulfills God’s command on this earth.

We must therefore understand God’s love for us. We know what God’s command was for Jonah; He commanded him to go to Nineveh, but instead Jonah boarded a boat to go in the opposite direction to Tarshish. God sent strong winds in the sea, and the storm stirred the waters of the sea. The mariners started throwing off their belongings into the sea to lighten the load, but the storm did not yield. In the end, Jonah told the people to throw him into the sea,and them arinersin great fear cast Jonah into the sea. Jonah 1:1-5 “Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.” Jonah spoke to the sailors in Jonah 1:12 “And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.” Jonah 1:15 “So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.” As soon as Jonah was thrown into the sea, the sea immediately calmed down and became peaceful. Our God is faithful, merciful and kind. He has given us great authority in this world. We must know what our calling is and how we need to obey Him. Many a times God has taught us a lesson through the fire and wind.

1 Corinthians 3:12-14 “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” We may build our foundation with gold, silver, glass, and other jewels, but our God is going to inspect it with fire and wind. Each of us is going to eat the fruits of our own works. Hence, remember that when God brings trials and tribulations into our life, we must never grumble or be angry against God, lest when Jesus comes we will be blown off by the whirlwind. From the beginning times there are many we have seen in the Holy Scriptures who have grumbled against God. Moses sent 12 men to check out the Promised Land that God had prepared for them. 10 men returned grumbling about the place, saying that the place is very bad and very difficult to reach. Only 2 men brought good reports about the place, saying that the Israelites could conquer this place by God’s grace alone. Even today there are very few of us who thank God and think that all God does, He does it with a great plan for our good alone. The rest of us are like the 10 men who returned grumbling and speaking ill of the place. God has given us the authority to trample evil under our feet and win over it. We must thus fight, tear and bind the evil one. Our work is to be prepared and ready for the whirlwind to take us away. 1 Corinthians 3:15 “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” We will never get our reward from any man in this world, rather we will get it from our God alone. God should be our cornerstone and foundation, so even if there comes a storm in our lives, we will not be shattered – rather we will get stronger. We must walk according to the ‘Word of God’ that we hear.

Once when Jesus was travelling by boat, a storm was sent on the sea. People panicked and started screaming. In spite of Jesus being in their boat, thedisciples started screaming and yelling. Jesus arose and calmed the sea and said to His disciples ‘O ye of little faith, in spite of seeing my works you have not believed.’ Mark 4:37-38 “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?”

Isaiah 49:14-16 “But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” Zion said‘Why have you forsaken me, why have you left my hands?’ But in reality the Lord Jesus had not left Zion’s hands. We remember that to save us Jesus took all the nails on His own hands and fought the evil one saying ‘I will not give even one of my children into the hands of the evil one,they will all remain  in my hands.’ Thus Jesus took the nails onto his own hands and suffered for our sake on the Cross. Though our own mother will forget us, Jesus will never forget or forsake us. Wherever we may be – on the highest mountain or in the deepest sea, Jesus will set His eyes on us and safeguard us. However much the evil one tries to bring about enmity and trials amongst our families, children and people around us, remember we are in God’s caring hands. Our trials and tribulations and fight with the evil one will last only a few days. Though the devil has come to destroy and kill, when we are in God’s hands we will be saved. The evil one will always attack the weakest in the family to bring upon shame on us,but God’s promise for us is:‘Your own mother may forsake you, but I will never forsake nor forget you. Fear not, no one can snatch you from my hands.’

Many people have grumbled against God, but no one could ever be victorious over Him. God replied to Jacob in Isaiah 40:27-31 “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

No one knows the thoughts of our Lord God and those who wait upon Him shall renew their strength as that of an eagle.This is God’s love for His children. Whenever we face trials and tribulations in our lives, we must stay humble before God and fear Him, we must never grumble against Him. We must remember that God will never forsake His children. God has come to give life into ministries, even as dried bones were blessed with the Holy Spirit and they came alive and were strengthened. When God blows the whirlwind upon us, we will be carried into Zion. Hence we must always be humble and fear God. We must perform according to the authority God has given each one of us – those that we need to render, we must render; those who we need to tear, we must tear; those that we need to trample, we must trample; and whatever we do we must do without hesitation. It is for our own good that God does all things in our life. All He needs is our obedience and fear.

May God bless this message!

Greetings to all our readers in the most holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this month’s edition of the magazine, we would like to introduce you to Granny Meena Noronha, who is 67 years old.

Initially when she came to our home she was suffering from diabetes and was also a psychiatric patient. But after she came to the ashram, her diabetes got completely healed and her psychiatric problem has also reduced considerably.

She loves to sing gospel songs in a clear and loud voice and regularly reads the Bible. She eats whatever has been served to her and she especially likes the evening prayer in the ashram where she can praise and worship the Lord loudly.

We request you to continue to pray for all our residents especially Granny Meena so that God may keep her in good health and heal her completely of her weakness.

Thank You Jesus. Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord! Vacation time while the kids are enjoying the summer vacation. We praise God that our little ones at the Rose of Sharon Church have passed and moved to higher grades.

While vacation are still on our kids are enjoying their holidays. Playing, reading, craft and the list continues. The kids revised the lessons learnt from the book of Acts and were given the memory verses to recite from the book of Psalms 131 and Psalms 133 which the kids have memorized.

Sunday school continued through the month. Kids continued to enjoy praise and worship session and learning of action songs.

While the kids continue to explore the book of Acts. This General class the kids learnt about the history of the Bible that it was written over a time period of 2,000 years and consists of  (66) books and is  written by (approximately 40) authors.

They future learnt the importance of each books and calling of the various leaders and people and how they stood in faith through the best and worst of times and never shaken in faith.

Do continue to lift up our children in your daily prayers. May God lift them up to be obedient to His Word and obedient to their parents.

Joy Salins