Editor’s Note

Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”

The Lord is saying ‘I am the vine and you are the branches.’ The vine takes water from the soil and turns the grape juicy and keeps it ready. That is the job of the vine. The job of the branch is to take its nutrition from the vine.

We have to say ‘My Lord I am the branch, you are the vine. You brought all the blessings for us and kept them on the Cross of Calvary and we derive our blessings from the Cross of Calvary.’

John 16:24 “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

Our Lord is our Creator. Romans 9:21 “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” The Lord is saying we are the clay and He is the potter. He is the vine and we are the branches. What is the reason the Lord is saying this? The clay and the creeper have no work – the potter has all the work. If the clay has not formed properly, we will question the potter. In the same way, our Lord is the Creator and we, the branches have no work. He has completed all the work on the Cross of Calvary – hence the branches have no work. Those who believe that Jesus Christ has completed His work on the Cross of Calvary will not perish. To believe is a blessing. The Bible says the righteous shall not perish.

When we take Jesus Christ as our Saviour, He changes our hearts; He removes the stony heart and gives us a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Change from within is the true change. Mathew 23:26 “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” Jesus said that whilst cleaning a vessel, cleanse first the inside rather than the outside part. Love, peace, joy and humility must come from inside. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are given all of this within us.

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”

So let us abide in Jesus Christ, our true Vine, and derive our blessing from Him.

Till we meet again,

Yours in the Lord’s service,

Pastor Saroja M.

Praise the Lord. I had a tiny skin tag under my left armpit, but due to rubbing of my arm, it got sore and the skin tag got elongated unusually, with a painful blood clot forming at its tip. The pain was so severe that I was unable to even move my hand. I only used to apply the prayer oil, determined that the Lord would heal it without any medication. In a few days the skin tag miraculously dried up and its tip fell off. All glory and thanks to my dear Lord Jesus for healing me and I also thank Pastor Saroja for praying for the prayer oil and always keeping me in her prayers.

*Sis. Evangela Roberts, Vakola.

Praise the Lord. We thank and praise God for blessing us with our second child – a wonderful gift in our life. From the beginning of the pregnancy there were many complications. There was a blood gland beside the placenta which by God’s grace vanished after one month of the pregnancy but subsequently my wife again suffered through a nerve compression due to which she was advised complete bed rest by the doctor. Medicines were not having any positive effect, yet by the prayers of Pastor Saroja and applying the prayer oil continuously on my wife’s back, she was able to get up from the bed and walk. On the day of delivery the pain was still there in her back. The doctor checked and told us that the space for the baby to come out was not enough and she gave us a couple of hours for any possible improvement, else the decision to deliver the baby through a caesarean operation would be taken. I immediately called up Pastor Saroja and told her the matter. Pastor gave us assurance and said everything would be fine. As soon as I got off the phone, the doctor took her to the labour room and within 10 minutes our Lord gifted us with a baby girl. Even the doctor was so surprised that the delivery took place so quickly and smoothly without any problem. We give all glory to Lord Jesus for doing such a great miracle in our life. We also thank Pastor Saroja for praying continuously for us.

*Sis. Esther and Bro. Hardik Patel, Mira Road.

Praise the Lord. My mother was admitted in the hospital for breathlessness and swelling in the throat which was due to an infection, resulting in pus formation within the throat. After 2017, this was the second time she got this breathlessness due to her weak heart. We rushed her to the ICU at Kohinoor hospital. Her condition was very critical and she had to spend 10 days in the ICU. We called Pastor Saroja and informed her and she assured us of her prayers. Slowly my mother started recovering and we brought her home safely after 13 days in the hospital. We give all glory, honour and praise to our Lord Jesus Christ for healing our mother and we also give thanks to our Pastor Saroja for her fervent and constant prayers for our family.

*Bro. Shibu and Sis. Marina, Kurla.

Praise the Lord. All of a sudden, I developed a severe tooth ache. I took pain killers but the pain only stopped for a certain time. I then applied prayer oil all over the tooth that was aching and in no time the pain stopped and has not returned. I thank God for the healing through the prayer oil. All glory to Jesus Christ and I thank Pastor Saroja for always lifting us up in her prayers.

*Sis. Joy Shalaka Salins, Mira Road.

Praise the Lord. My sister Preeti Nag was pregnant since five months. She had a miscarriage but the bleeding was not stopping in spite of taking medicines. After watching the Rose of Sharon TV broadcast, I called up the Rose of Sharon prayer helpline number and gave my prayer request for my sister’s problem. The bleeding stopped since then. I thank Lord Jesus for stopping her bleeding and thank the ROS prayer help line for praying for my sister.

*Bro. Shirin Nag, Jharkhand. (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Once upon a time there was a man. When he died and realised it, he saw God coming closer to him with a suitcase in his hand.

God: – Alright son, it’s time to go.

Man: – So  soon? I had a lot of  plans…

God: – But, it’s time to go.

Man: – What do you have in that suitcase?

God: – You’re Belongings.

Man: – My belongings? You mean my things…clothes…money…

God: – Those things were never yours, they belong to the Earth.

Man: – Is it my memories?

God: – No. they belong to time.

Man: – Is it my Talent?

God: – No. they belong to Circumstance.

Man: – Is it my friends and family?

God: – No son. They belong to the path you travelled.

Man: – Is it my wife and children?

God: – No. they belong to your heart.

Man: – Then it must be my body.

God: – No No…It belongs to Dust.

Man: – Then surely it must be my soul!

God: – You are sadly mistaken son. Your soul belongs to me.

Man with tears in his eyes and full of fear took the suitcase from God’s hand and opened it…   EMPTY!!! With heartbroken and tears down his cheek he asks God…

Man:- I never owned anything?

God: – That’s right. You never owned anything.

Man:- Then? What was mine?

God: Your MOMENTS. Every moment you lived was yours. Hence,

ü Do good for the Lord every moment.

ü Think good for the Lord every moment.

ü LIVE for the Lord every moment….

 BECAUSE – LIFE IS JUST A MOMENT!!

Pastor Saroja M

God gives us time to repent

Rev 2:21 “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.” The Word says that God gave her time to turn away from her sins. Our God never punishes us according to our sins, instead He gives us an opportunity to turn away from our sins. Here we see that God had given Jezebel time to turn away from her sins of scheming to destroy the people of God, from planning to kill the Lord’s prophets and coming against the Lord’s work being done in the land. God gave Jezebel many opportunities to turn away from her sins, yet Jezebel did not relent and continued in her sins. Jezebel was the wife of Ahab, the King of Israel. After she married King Ahab, she started working against the servants of God. She threatened them of dire consequences, she frightened them and did not permit them to do the Lord’s work. She wanted everyone in Israel to worship her god. Here we see that the Lord God gave Jezebel many opportunities to change her pride, stop her wrong works and stop harassing the servants of God. 1 Kings 19:1-2 “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” In the Book of Revelation we see the meaning of the name Jezebel as a ‘wicked one’ and as the spirit of the evil one. On this earth, when a drunkard dies, after death his evil spirit enters another person and forces him to drink. In different ways, during the death of different people, the evil spirit moves on in the midst of people of this earth. Jezebel was an evil women; hence after her death, her evil spirit continues to trouble people on this earth. Her evil spirit continues to work on this earth, trying to put the servants of God into bondage and sin. In the above verse we see that it was because Prophet Elijah had killed many prophets of Baal that Jezebel threatened to kill him. She also sent a message unto him saying ‘Beware, I will bring upon you even more persecutions than this.’ Even today the evil spirit of Jezebel continues to threaten God’s servants, so that the servants of God will give up working for the Lord and live their lives in fear of the evil one and not do their job of delivering people from bondage of the evil spirit. Rev 2:21 “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.”

When Prophet Elijah read the note from Jezebel, he feared for his life and was depressed and lonely. He decided to hide himself and wished himself to die so as to escape from the wrath of Jezebel. What is the reason for great servants of God to fall? Often it is the spirit of adultery which enters into their lives. It is the spirit of Jezebel that makes the servants of God get enticed in this world and drown themselves in the sins of this world, viz. smoking, drinking, womanizing, sodomizing, laziness from doing God’s work, etc. Even today in this world it is Jezebel’s spirit that brings about the downfall of mighty servants of God. Remember, our God is a gracious God, He gives such servants once again an opportunity to repent and relent from their sins. Rev 2:21-23 “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”

God gives such servants time to repent, yet if they do not repent, then they will be confined to bed. Many a time we think that the poor servant is suffering from an illness, but in actual fact it is our works alone that attracts such punishment in our lives. In many families and in many lives this is the truth. We must remember that our God never does injustice to anybody. He is a loving, gracious God. He has come into this world seeking to save sinners like us. He has died for our sins on the Cross and did not leave us orphans, rather He sent His Holy Spirit amongst us. Yet, many a time in our life we have fallen into the sins of this world. We need to change and we need to repent from our sins.

Who has fought with God and won battles against Him? No, not one. Who has rebelled against Him and won? No, not one. Our Lord God says in Rev 2:23 that he will judge not only the evil spirit but also the one who enjoys the evil spirit and such people will be put into problem and pain in this world. If they do not repent of their sins, God will put them into sorrow, pain and problem. Man can be delivered from the evil spirit if it is from man, but when God sends the evil spirit to destroy us, who can deliver us? God alone can save us. No one can heal us of our illnesses, pain and sorrow. God tells us to repent from our sins or else our families from generation to generations will be accursed.

We have read in Exodus, how Lot’s daughters had children with him, as a result of which the ten generations of Moab and Ammon were cursed by God. Rev 2:23 says that our works will be judged. The Law of the land will bring about judgment instantly, but heavenly law will bring about judgment in God’s time. We must remember: big or small, rich or poor, all have to face God’s judgment one day. Hence we must never allow the evil spirit of Jezebel to enter our lives in any way. This spirit of lying, stealing, adultery, etc. works against the love of God and the works of the true servants of God.

From the beginning times, we have seen that the righteous die and along with them their works speak. Their spirit shows their works to the world. In the Old Testament, we know the story of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam. Both brought their respective offerings to the Lord, but the Lord God chose Abel’s offering. Cain became very jealous of Abel – this is the evil spirit working in Cain’s life. Cain murdered his brother because of jealousy since God loved Abel over Cain. This is the work of the evil spirit i.e. the spirit of Jezebel. There was no other reason for conflict between Cain and Abel -only jealousy, since God accepted Abel’s offering and rejected Cain’s offering. God saw the works of Cain and punished him. God told Cain that Abel’s blood beckoned out to Him. The works of good people and God’s true servants surely speak out in their favour. Genesis 4:3-12 “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” Once the evil spirit entered Cain, not only did he get jealous, but he also killed his brother Abel and back answered God thereafter. Gen 4:9 “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Even today for within whom lies this evil spirit, their thinking will be on similar lines. They will never bow down and humble themselves before the Lord, for within them lies the stubborn spirit of Jezebel, even as the spirit of Cain killed his brother and back-answered God. The Spirit of God warns people ‘Change your minds, and repent from your sins’. If any of us has the spirit of disobedience, repent now. If any of us has the spirit of jealousy, repent now. If any of us are stubborn, change today. God gives an opportunity to people to change. Jude 1:11 “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.” Cain‘s jealousy led to the murder of his brother and Cain also back-answered God when He asked him the whereabouts of his brother Abel. Angels also fear God and they sing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,” but those in whom this evil spirit dwells become bold, they have no fear and they speak falsely before the servants of God. Just as Cain retorted ‘Am I my brother’s keeper,’ even today the evil spirit works against the servant of God and within their families trying to put them all in bondage. Balaam was given a bribe and the evil one told him to curse the Israelites. But our good God did not let this happen and He spoke to Balaam through his donkey. For those who do not relent from their sins, their lives are very sorrowful. We must remember that as soon as the evil sows such seeds in our life, we must never let it grow in our life. We must sprinkle such thoughts with the blood of Jesus and burn away such sinful thoughts. We must nip it in the bud and never let evil take deep roots and grow. After it grows, there may be no way to change it once fully grown.

Rev 2:14 “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.” In this verse we read how the devil teaches idol worship and bowing down before idols. The evil spirit enters people in high positions and then carries out these evil deeds. The devil will not concentrate on the people of this world, rather it will entice God’s children. The work of the devil is to show attractive things that will take us away from God and then point a finger at God telling Him how His children are sinners and taunting God to see how they have fallen. Once we fall in the eyes of the Lord, the evil will never bother us, for his work is done in our life. Hence we need to be very careful.

1 Kings 19:3 “And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.” The evil spirit separates us from the children of God and alienates us. Elijah was a great Prophet, but the spirit of Jezebel can make the mighty men of God stay away from God’s people. God’s word asks us to repent from doing wrong against the children of God. Do not bring hindrance to God’s work in this world, instead repent and turn away from wrong doing. God sent Elijah bread and water, Elijah ate the bread, drank the water and received the power to run thereafter for forty days.

When we become one with the evil spirit and enjoy the works of the devil in our life, at that time God says ‘I will send my judgment upon you’. Rev 2:22 “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.” Our good God keeps saying again and again ‘Turn your hearts from doing evil’ and to those who are downtrodden, God says ‘repent from your evil ways and change.’ Psalm 133:1 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Jesus did not shy away from calling us His brother. It is important for us brethren to dwell together and share our pain and sorrows together. Acts 12:5 “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” Here we see how the congregation prayed for Peter. The joy of living together in harmony and unity and praying and praising together is the will of God.

When the spirit of Jezebel enters anyone, what does it do? It brings fear, even as fear entered Elijah, and he said to God in 1 Kings 19:10 “And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” This is how the devil could work in the Lord’s servants’ lives.

1 Kings 19:18 “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” Regarding those who did not bow down to other gods or commit idol worship, the Lord said to Elijah ‘I have safeguarded 7000 Israelites who have not bowed down or kissed the idols’. God had kept His people carefully and safe from idol worshipping. We must also live in purity and truth for the Lord. Hebrews 12:22-25 “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:”

We must remember that God has kept our status very high, not low – as the ones who kiss the idols or bow down to idols. Where are we going to reach in the future? It is because of our sins that we fall down. God has placed angels to minister to us all the time and take us up high on to Zion. There is nothing that God does not know about us and nothing that we can hide from Him, for we are naked before Him and He knows us inside out like an X-ray machine. God never judges us by looking at our exterior, rather He looks deep into our hearts and judges us. We must never bow down before or kiss any idols or images. We must live with God in fear and love, for He alone is our Comforter.

Let this message bring blessings in our life.

Pastor Saroja M.

Praise the Lord. Greetings to all our dear readers in the most wonderful and powerful name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this month’s edition we wish to introduce our new resident – Aunty Jaya J Mistry who is 54 years old. Aunty Jaya is suffering from Brain Tuberculoma and was brought to our home by her daughter.

At present, Aunty is not capable of getting up on her own as she cannot sit or stand as her left  hand and leg are very weak. Aunty Jaya is a born again Christian and she has a strong belief that the Lord Jesus will heal her completely.

Aunty Jaya is not fussy about the food she eats.  She is very polite and kind in nature.

We pray that our healer Lord Jesus heals her soon from this sickness. May our good Lord keep everyone at our Old Aged Home in good health.

Praise the lord.

Praise the Lord! This month the kids were explained a short story of a boy called Samuel who belonged to a Christian family even though they were poor. They were always happy and trusted the Lord.

One day Samuel’s grandfather was visiting them and he gave Samuel a silver dollar. Samuel had never had a silver dollar before. He kept looking at it, turning it over and over and thought of many things he could buy with it. Later that afternoon Samuel reached into his pocket to take out his silver dollar again. It wasn’t there!  Samuel felt so bad that he began to cry. He was so unhappy that he didn’t even take the time to pray.

As he tried to go to sleep, a small, still voice seemed to say, “Samuel, you didn’t pray.” He would turn over and try to forget about it, but the still voice would remind him again. But he would hear the voice in his mind saying, “But, Samuel, you haven’t prayed. “Finally, he sat up in bed and said to himself, “Maybe I had better pray after all.” Samuel climbed out of bed and knelt down on the floor beside his bed. “Ouch! What’s that?” His knee was pressing down on something cold and hard. It was his silver dollar!

The lesson taught the kids not to be afraid or get discouraged when things go wrong. Talk to the Lord Jesus about it,  and ask Him for help. We will get help and guidance from the Lord much sooner if we take our trouble to Him right away.

Do continue to uplift our Sunday School children in your prayers.

Praise the Lord. I am Sis. Rama Warkari and a mother of two children.  Eight years ago, I was diagnosed with kidney failure and had to regularly go to the hospital for dialysis. Since the past eighteen months I was unable to walk and was in a wheel chair. I was also dependent on my family members for  majority of my work as I used to experience severe pain in my waist and leg.

One day when I happened to see the Rose of Sharon TV programme on Shubhsandesh Channel, I contacted their Women’s prayer helpline. I explained my case to them and asked for prayers. Immediately the prayer warrior prayed for me and from the very next day my pain started decreasing and within a few days, I started walking again.

This was a great miracle in my life. Now by God’s grace alone, I am able to do my household chores without anyone’s help.

I give all glory, honour and praise to my dear Lord Jesus for healing me and for doing this great work in my life. I also thank the Rose of Sharon Ministry for their prayers for me.

Thank You Jesus.

*Sis. Rama Warkari, Jogeshwari. (ROS TV Program Viewer)