EDITOR’s NOTE

Praise the Lord. I greet you all in the name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Lord has given us many gifts. Amongst all the gifts God gives us, PEACE is the biggest gift to all. In spite of all the money, qualification and fame you have, if there is no peace your life is miserable.

In your life and in your families, Peace is necessary. Jesus said in Luke 10:5 “And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.” How should we greet a person saying, ‘Peace be with you?’ We can say “Peace be within your walls and prosperity within your palaces.” Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.”

The peace that God gives us is beyond all of our understanding. Our God is a God of Peace. He has crushed Satan under His feet and given us 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.”

Before Jesus left this world, He said He has left His Peace with us. His Peace He has given to us, not as the world gives. So do not be troubled and do not be afraid. Let the Peace of God guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Jesus wept looking towards Jerusalem and Israel, for there was no Peace there. Luke 19:41,42And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.”

When you enter a house, greet them, saying, peace be with you. If the household is worthy, your greeting will remain with them; if not your greeting will come back to you. Matthew 10:12,13“And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.”Jesus entered the place where His disciples were gathered and said, John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, “Peace be unto you.”The same Lord makes peace in your families and gives the finest blessings. When He forgives our sins, abundance of peace shall fill our hearts. The guilt that destroys our peace shall itself be destroyed. Pursue peace with all people; and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:9 “Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”How will you bless them? By saying “Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you goout.”

The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeatedbefore your face; they shall come out against you in one way and flee before you in seven ways.

The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you will set your hand and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God has given you.

When you go to a house, teach them the way of salvation. Besides the name of Jesus there is no other name through which we can receive salvation.

Jesus calls you with love. Isaiah 45:22 “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

Let us all be blessed through our Lord Jesus receiving His love, joy, peace and prosperity in our lives.

God bless you till we meet again through these pages.

Yours in His Vineyard,

Pastor Saroja

Praise the Lord. I wanted to renovate my house but I also had to arrange for the finance for the same. So I asked Pastor Sarojato pray that the renovation of my house should take place nicely without any problem or obstacle and that I could arrange for the finance as early as possible. Pastor prayed for this matter and within 4 days the renovation took place without any problem and even I was able to arrange for the finance needed for the renovation. I give all glory and praise to the Lord Almighty for helping me and guiding me in this situation and thank Pastor Saroja who always prays for me. 

Bro.Joseph Arikswamy, Goregoan.

Praise the Lord. As there is a forest just behind my house a snake had somehow entered my house from there. Even after frantically searching for nearly 3 hours we couldn’t get hold of it. We got really tensed and called PastorSaroja for the same. Pastor prayed for this matter and within half an hour the snake was found and caught too.I thank my Lord Jesus Christ for protecting us and also thank Pastor Saroja for always praying for us in all our difficulties.

Sis.Lalita Robert, Goregoan.

Praise the Lord.Me and my family had gone for a 3 day outing, while returning back by bus, I forgot my cell phone in the bus. When we got down from the bus we realised the same. We  tried to follow the bus but the bus was nowhere in sight. In the bus we had heard that the last stop was Borivaliwest, we decided to go there and find out. As me and my husband were on the way we earnestly prayed to God and decided that we will surely testify to the Lord if we find our cell phone. There was a deep faith inside that Lord will take care of everything. As we reached the last stop my husband found the bus and by God’s grace we also found our cell phone intact on the seat we were sitting. As in our Rose of Sharon calendar, according to the daily verse, the verse was from Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost .” Lord not only keeps His eye upon all of us but also takes care of all our valuable things. I give all glory to our Lord Jesus for always taking care of us in every situation and I u thank Pastor Sarojafor her fervent prayers that she always does for the church members.

Sis.Esther Patel, Goregoan.

Praise the Lord. I was suffering from giddiness and fainting and severe headache. I told this matter to Pastor Sarojawho assured me of her prayers. And in some time all these problemsvanished away. I give lots of thanks to Pastor Saroja who prayed for me and give millions of thanks to our Lord almighty who heard Pastor Saroja’s prayers and healed me. I specially thank Pastor Saroja who always prays for me and my family whenever we need it.

Sis.Susamary Francis, Goregoan.

Praise the Lord. I was suffering from very high fever one night. The next day I called up Pastor Saroja and requested her to pray for me. We also went to the hospital for certain tests. But by God’s grace alone everything came normal and neither did I get that fever again after that day. Due to that fever my legs would get swollen too but by Pastor’s prayers even that problem has gone away. I give all glory to Lord Jesus for healing me and I also thank Pastor Saroja for her fervent prayers. 

Sis.Sushila Pillay,Jogeshwari.

Praise the Lord. From the past few months my company was not giving me any work. We all workers were sitting idle and were not receiving our payments too from the company. Due to which we went on strike. I called up Pastor Saroja and explained her everything. By God’s grace alone the owner of the company gave us our job back with proper compensation and salary to all the workers. By God’s grace alone He did not make me lack for anything while I was not working for nearly 3 months. I give all glory to Lord Jesus for taking care of all my problems. I also thank Pastor Sarojafor her fervent prayers.

Bro.YashwantBarot, Saudi.

GOD’S CALLER ID

Rick volunteers with prison ministries, and in his work has become friends with a Pastor of a store front church. The Pastor’s church is called “Almighty God Tabernacle.”

On a Saturday night several weeks ago, this Pastor was working late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn’t answer the phone. The Pastor let it ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn’t answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes. When he tried again she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn’t answered before, and she said that it hadn’t rung at their house.They brushed it off as a fluke and went on their merry ways.

The following Monday, the Pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone that he’d used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he’d called on Saturday night. The Pastor couldn’t figure out what the guy was talking about. Then the guy said, “It rang and rang, but I didn’t answer.” The Pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he’d intended to call his wife.

The man said, “That’s OK. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, ‘God if you’re there, and you don’t want me to do this, give me a sign now.’ At that point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said, ‘Almighty God’. I just got the courage today to call back.

God can make us Vessels of Glory

Romans 9:23 “And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,” From the beginning we have seen how God had shown His glory through the clouds; after that God’s  glory was seen in the tabernacle built by Moses; later God’s glory was set upon the holy temple built by Solomon. Finally, God declared that His glory will not prevail in the temple made by man, rather God decided to send down His only precious son Jesus Christ for our sakes with His glory. Jesus Christ thus had to die on the cross of Calvary to give God’s glory to all mankind. It was only after Jesus Christ sacrificed His life on the cross that glory was  showered into this world. Thus God declared that we are His holy temple and He resides within each one of us. Today we need not search for God’s glory here and there, rather we must look within our own self and find it. The glory sent through Jesus Christ, His son, is within each one of us. Romans 9:23 “And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,” We are the vessels of mercy through which God’s glory is spread, because He has prepared us for this sake. Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” The Israelites used to pray to God “We are the clay and Thou art the potter, we are all the works of Thy hand.” Paul writes about this in Romans 9:21-23 “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,” God’s  hand is  not only a hand of blessing and love, but also a hand of mercy. Because of that we can also become a vessel of mercy for all.

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” We are made His vessel of mercy by His grace alone. From the beginning,  our God is ready to fill our vessel with mercy. He has been gracious and kind to us and made us His Holy temple, that we do not waste our lives – rather make it more meaningful and worthy for Him. Why  did God make us His vessel of mercy? So that we can fill up other lives, not by our wisdom and strength, but rather by the grace of God alone. Because our God is gracious and kind, He could fill us up as His vessel of mercy for all mankind. Colossians 1:27 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” God who is rich in glory and mercy, a God of light, has done marvellous work by filling each one of us and making us His vessel with mercy.  Imagine, we can be blessed with the richness of His glory within us. Jesus says in John 17:22 “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:” Our gracious God, Jesus Christ, who was sent into this world loaded with God’s mercy, grace and glory, and who sacrificed His life for us on the cross, thus spake to us in the above verse. So now we know why God has given us His glory through His son Jesus Christ for our sakes; He made us His Holy temple and a vessel of mercy, not to live our lives the way we choose to, rather so that we live as ‘One’, just as Jesus and God the Father are ‘One’. In Mathew 19, Jesus counsels a rich young ruler. Mathew 19:16-22 “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” This rich man followed all the  commandments given by Moses and lived his life according to the law. But his rich possessions could not give him eternal life. There was a lack and emptiness from within and so he came running to Jesus and asked Him “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack to gain eternal life?” Jesus answered “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, then come and follow me.” But the young man was saddened when he heard this and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. We too must know the secret of eternal life through this passage. What can make us perfect? How can we be God’s vessels of mercy in this world? Only by our obedience and not by our sacrifice. The law was given by Moses and the rich young ruler kept all those laws and lived his life walking as per those commandments. But he could not be perfected by it, and thus lost the gift of eternal life!

We know how Jesus’ ministry was on this earth. Those who loved Him, He loved. Those who needed correction, He corrected and those who needed blessings were blessed. All these things Jesus did not do according to His own will, but rather He did them according to the will of God the Father. Jesus says to God the Father in John 17:22 “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:” Jesus says here “We were one, so shall they be one”. Surely, those who have received the glory of God cannot live their lives according to the worldly ways. They have to separate themselves from the darkness of this world. When Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions, He was checking his obedience and not his sacrifice. Remember, in our lives too when we are obedient to God, we will be successful. God does not want our sacrifice; we can become fruitful in God with our obedience alone. Jesus was checking the young man’s  heart – whether he loved God more than his possessions. Sadly he failed the test of God!   Imagine how blessed we are if our glorious and rich God chooses to reside within us! Many wonder how it is possible in the world to live our lives according to these scriptures. But remember everything is possible with God’s grace alone. We also know how at the end of the above scripture Peter asked Jesus “See we have left all and followed You, therefore what shall we have?” Jesus answers him in Mathew 19:28 “When the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, Those of you who followed Me will also sit  on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Remember, when we have followed God with our whole heart, mind and soul, He will never ever forsake us. We also know of another instance from the scriptures, where a time came when people came to Jesus and his disciples to collect tax, and the disciples had nothing with them. Jesus told his disciples “Though we needn’t pay tax, according to the law of this world we have to pay taxes. Go to the sea and lower your fishing  hooks; there you will catch a fish with a coin in its mouth. With that pay your and my tax to them.” Will Jesus  ever take anything from us, or will He create any lack in our lives? Never! But we as mere human beings, because of love and obligation of our family, love for society and things around in the world, lose the gift of eternal life granted by God for us. Let us ponder upon this and not take these things lightly in our life. Remember, God sees our obedience and not our sacrifice; He is a God who gives and does not take from us to make us poor in this world.

2 Corinthians 4:7-11 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” Man is troubled on every side, sometimes  we are treated like a football in the hands of our enemy. In our trials and tribulations we may be distressed and perplexed, but we should not be in despair. We may be  persecuted but not forsaken. We may be cast down but not destroyed. In the scriptures, there is a story about a man who left Jerusalem and travelled to Jericho. We know how the enemy attacked him and robbed him of all that he had on himself, then left him naked and bleeding to die on the road. Another story is of Job, where we all know of his tribulations when the enemy attacked him; how he lost his wealth and his family and was left wounded with diseases on his body to suffer. By the above examples, we must remember the enemy knows that we are a vessel of mercy which has glory for the Lord within us, hence he will always try to destroy this sacred vessel. He will work in ways we cannot see or understand, to destroy this glory within us. But we must be careful of this evil plan in our life. A whole coconut when given to a dog, cannot be harmed by the dog, because of the hard protection around it; while a half broken coconut can be torn into several pieces by the same dog. Similarly, when we have God’s  protection around us, no enemy can touch us. Hence we must continue as a vessel of mercy made by God, full of His glory within us. Let us not be foolish to lose God’s  grace in our life. (Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 once again)

1 Corinthians 6:19 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” Jesus is very clear here in this verse. Why are our bodies defiled? Why have we sinned? Why are we ill? Why are our thoughts unholy? Why? Why? Why? Because we have still not given ourselves completely into God’s hands so that He can make us His vessel of mercy and fill us with His glory. That is why there is always a lack in our life. Vs 20 goes on to say “For you were brought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s”. We also know how Jesus spoke of the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:20-22 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Yes, even today Jesus is knocking at our door through the ‘Word of God’ so that we may overcome this world and God may grant us to sit with Him on His throne. This is the only way to eternal life. When we unite with God, we become strong, wise and fearless, and are thus equipped to fight the world. But we must remember that when God stands and knocks at our door, the latch is from within; hence we need to open it ourselves so that God may enter into our lives. He is not our enemy to enter our lives forcefully, rather He is a gentle and patient God and will wait for us to welcome Him and open our doors wilfully for Him. Let us listen when the spirit speaks to the church, and when we hear His voice  we must open the door. Once, Shulamite also had God knocking on her doors. Song of Solomon 5:2 “I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.” Our God, loving, kind, merciful and gracious; was standing and knocking outside Shulamite’s  door. He addressed her as “my love, my dove, my undefiled”. Even today, God does the same and continues knocking on our doors, waiting patiently outside for us to open it, so that He can come into our lives and fill it with His glory and make us His vessel of mercy for all mankind. When God makes us His vessel, our bodies are not the same again; all our illness, pain, sorrow,  fear, sins and lack will be taken away by Him. We thus become His vessel of glory for His sake, separated from the darkness of this world. This is how God brings light into our lives.

We must make the way for God to come and rule our lives. 1 John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Our enemy who rules this world is mighty, but remember our God is Almighty; thus the one who lives in this world is not greater than our God. When God enters our life it is only the beginning of blessings in our life and we can receive even greater glory in our life. Psalms 24:8-10 “Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.” Who is this King of glory? He is the LORD God strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. From the beginning of mankind, God was amongst His people in the form of a cloud, tabernacle, holy temple  etc. But today, God lives within us, hence our every battle is won by Him. Psalms 24:8-10 “Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.”

A man approached the King and told him that he wanted to do farming and that if he were to be granted 5 acres of land, he would be able to farm and feed his family as well. The King appreciated this man’s thoughts of wanting to labour for himself and his family and he told his minister to give this man 10 acres of land instead. After some days, another man came crying to the King saying “I have 3 daughters and have to settle them in marriage and thus need money for the same.” The King commanded his minister to give Rs. 3 lakhs for the 3 daughters. The man happily went away with the money. Another man came to the King, and this time the request was unique, for he invited the King to his house for breakfast. The King was overwhelmed with this request, and he immediately called his minister and told him to give this man a date when they would all go and have breakfast with his family. Next day onwards,  the minister began repair work of the road and infrastructure in this village, as the King would be visiting this village soon. He also repaired this man’s  house and from a small hut he made it into a nice small bungalow so that the King could comfortably enjoy breakfast with this family. The entire village was transformed marvellously by the King’s minister and readied for the King’s visit. We can apply a similar inference to our lives; when God visits us once, He leaves back His Comforter for us and thus transforms our lives completely. God wants to come into our lives only once, so that He can fill our vessel of mercy with His glory and transform us completely. When we invite our good God into our lives once, God will prepare to transform it completely! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God will never leave us as orphans once He visits our lives.

John 14:16  “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” He will leave His Comforter within us, to abide with us forever. We must always do the will of God and be obedient to His call. Unless God fills our vessels with His mercy, our lives are redundant. As the Psalmist says in Psalms 24:7 “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.” We must let the King of glory enter our lives soon. It is the adherence to the Word that will bring this blessing into our lives; for in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” The glory that we have received is from Jesus Christ, for God so loved the world that He sent His only son Jesus Christ for us mankind. Through Him, we are filled with the glory of God and thus become vessels of mercy for mankind. The key of this message is that the lock is within us; we need to open the lock from the inside so that God may enter and rule in our lives.

May this message bring blessings to all!

Pastor Saroja M.

 

Praise the Lord!With the festive season having ended, the little ones where waiting to get back to Sunday School at our Rose of Sharon Church.As we began the Sunday class in the month of January with songs, games and short stories. The children loved to praise God and share their testimonies. The focus of learning was on ‘HOPE’ and ‘FAITH’.

As in Romans 4:18 &19 which says “Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:”

The children learnt that we need to continue in faith no matter how difficult or impossible the situation would look to a common man. Since we are the children of the Almighty God our hope in him should never waiver.

The kids learnt a beautiful song which summaries the learning for the month. The lyrics of which are

Do continue to uplift the dear children in your prayers. While we continue to abide in Faith and Hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Joy Salins