Editor’s Note

Praise the Lord. I greet you all in the name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For the people who wait on the Lord, God has prepared things from the beginning of the world that the ear has not heard nor has the eye seen. The Holy Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9,“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

God’s feet are beautiful. When we sit at His feet, His Presence overflows in our lives and flows like a river. When we wait at His feet, it is the most joyful and peaceful time.

The righteous people loved being at His feet and waited upon Him.

Martha’s sister, Mary sat at Jesus’feet and was hearing Jesus’words very attentively,because of which Jesus said in Luke 10:42,  “But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

My beloved ones, wait on the Lord, then Jesus Christ with all His glory will meet all your needs. Knowing this, praise the Lord. Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

When you wait on the Lord, your prayers will be heard. Psalm 40:1-3says,  “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”

Before prayers, praise God and wait on the Lord to know what God is going to speak to us.

In this world, for the Lord’s children to worship and pray, early in the morning is a very graceful and beautiful time. Every righteous person who waited on the Lord early in the morning received many blessings.

Abraham got up early in the morning. As we see in Genesis 19:27, “And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD.”

On another occasion, on God’s instructions early one morning, Abraham saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offerings, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

The same reason applies for Moses to prosper in his life. Exodus 34:4 says, “And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.”

For those who wait on the Lord early in the morning, they will receive the promise of God as given in Hosea 14:5, “I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.”

So to receive the blessings of God in our lives, let us claim all the promises we have seen here. Let us all be blessed by getting up early and seeking the Lord.

May God bless you all till we meet again.

Yours in my Lord’s service,

Pastor Saroja M.

Praise the Lord. I was experiencing severe pain in my abdomen. It was so severe that I was unable to sleep the whole night. I called up Pastor Saroja in the morning and told her my problem. She assured me of her prayers. By evening the pain had left me completely. I am greatly obliged to Pastor for her sincere prayers. I thank my Lord for answering prayers.

*Bro. Godwin Salins, Mira Road.

Praise the Lord. I had fever, cold and body pain. My health was very bad. I informed Pastor Saroja who prayed for me at the Saturday healing service. I am fine after that.

The same night my son got involved in a fight in my neighborhood. I asked Pastor for prayers in this matter too. I praise and thank God for healing me and for stopping the quarrel. I also sincerely thank Pastor for her prayers.

*Bro. Joseph Arikswamy, Goregaon.

Praise the Lord. For the last 3 months I was trying to get my own cab. One booking I had done for the same was cancelled. Also, for my loan to get sanctioned seemed an impossible task as I am staying in a rented house. But Pastor’s prayers gave me victory in getting the loan sanctioned and I finally got my new car with all the appropriate papers. I thank and praise God for His miracle in my life which was only possible by Pastor Saroja’s prayers. I thank her from my heart.

*Bro. Anand Gaikwad, Ghatkopar.

Praise the Lord. My sister’s son was caught by the police as one of the suspects along with some other boys, regarding one girl’s death. He was required to be present before the police for inquiry the next day. I was very worried. But after watching the Rose of Sharon TV programme, I requested for prayers on one of the prayer helpline numbers. The next day after inquiry, the police found my nephew to be innocent and released him. I thank and praise Lord Jesus for His grace upon my nephew for releasing him and I thank the Rose of Sharon prayer helpline for praying for him.

*Sis. Rajeshwari, Yeotmal. ( ROS TV Program Viewer)

WORDS MATTER . . .

Arthur was cleaning out the family home when he came across something he found to be of great value. It was a trunk full of family letters. They chronicled the events of past generations in expressions of loyalty and affection and delight that were rarely verbalized in his immediate family. One writer said, “Have I told you lately what a wonderful person you are? Never forget how much your friends and family love and admire you.” Another letter said, “You don’t know how much your visit meant to us! When you left, I felt as if the sun had stopped shining.” Gordon said, “I don’t know what generation of my family put a check on the release of such emotions. But I do know that it seriously interferes with one of the deepest of all human needs—the desire for acceptance and approval. Why, then, wanting to hear those words so much ourselves, do we deny them so often to others?”

VERSE…: ”Pleasant words are a honeycomb; sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24)

POINT… Look at the verse at the top: “Pleasant words… are sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” That’s a lot of power, and it doesn’t cost anything. Anybody can give words. Will you try it? Open your mouth and say the positive things you are thinking. Bless someone today. Use your words to bring healing and sweetness. We could all use some of that.

Pastor Saroja M

Be diligent in doing God’s command

Jonah 3:10 “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” Jonah was a Prophet; God ordered him to go Nineveh to preach and warn the people of the destruction that He had planned for this country within the next 40 days. The people of Nineveh, hearing Jonah’s preaching, fasted and prayed and repented. Jonah 3:4-6 “And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.” Many of us have questions in our hearts…‘Why is the Lord not hearing my prayer…? Why does the Lord not answer my prayer?’ Our Lord’s answer to us is that we do not humble ourselves enough before Him, as much as is required. Here we see that when the Prophet Jonah preached what God wanted him to preach, immediately the people of Nineveh, big or small, rich or poor,accepted their sins and fasted and prayed before the Lord God. The King himself left his throne, changed his clothes and wore sackcloth and sat in the midst of ashes. They all humbled themselves,hence God relented from His anger upon these people. In our lives too, when we do not get answers to our prayers, we must know that we have still not humbled ourselves before the Lord as much as He would want us to. Jonah 4:11“And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” The King and all the people of Nineveh fasted and humbled themselves, hence God heard and answered their prayers and relented from destroying the land of Nineveh.Whether our request is big or small, when we humble ourselves as much as God wants us to, He will surely hear and answer our prayers. Leviticus 23:27-29 “Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.” So when we come to the Holy Temple of the Lord God, we need to come before Him in all our humility. Just as God relented from His anger against the people of Nineveh, He will also see our humility and forgive our sins too.

During the times of the Judges and Kings, whenever the Israelite’s became proud and sinned and forgot the grace of God upon them, God gave them into the hands of the enemies. Unless the Israelite’s cried out to the Lord and humbled themselves before Him as much as was required, the Lord would not hear them and answer their prayers and forgive them their sins and bless them. Today if we have any pain and sorrow in our hearts, if God has not heard our prayers, if God’s hand of grace has been taken away from us, remember that God has given us another opportunity to humble ourselves before Him. From the beginning times, whenever the Israelite’s went against the Lord God and sinned, they were punished until they cried out to the Lord and humbled themselves before Him; only then would He relent and forgive them their sins.

King Josiah became a king at a tender age of 8 years and he ruled for 31 years. At that time there was a prophetess Huldah, whom God spoke to about King Josiah. 2 Kings 22:17 “Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.” When the King heard the prophecy of the Prophet,he feared God was broken completely. 2 Kings 22:19-20 “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.” The king accepted his sins, cried before the Lord and humbled himself. The Lord God delivered the king from his sins and blessed him. We have seen that whoever went before the Lord God with humility and a repentant heart, God heard them and answered their prayers. Many a times, God allows sorrow and pain in our lives so that we may humble ourselves and cry out to Him. It is thus that He hears our cries. God will not come into this world from the heavens unless we cry out to Him from our hearts. He hears and answers our cry. The Lord speaks to us through His servants and prophets even today. When the prophet spoke to the king, the king’s heart was filled with fear and it melted before the Lord in repentance. A proud and stone hearted King tore his clothes and cried when he heard the prophecy for him. 2 Kings 22:20 “Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.” Immediately God spoke once again through the same prophet and sent word to the king, that because the king had repented and was broken,having a contrite heart, God had heard his prayer and had relented from the punishment He had in store for the king.

However much we suffer for the Lord, it will only be profitable for us. We have read in the Holy Scriptures about the lives of kings, priests and prophets; however much they humbled themselves, they were blessed by the Lord. God resists the proud but loves the humble. When we are blessed by the Lord, we should never be proud – rather we must humble ourselves even more. Let us read what happened to King Ahab in 1 Kings 21:25-29 “But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.” From the beginning, whether it was judges, kings or the Israelites, when they repented and cried out to the Lord and humbled themselves as much as the Lord God wanted them to, the Lord God would hear their cry and relent from his anger towards them.

2 Chronicles 12:1-2 “And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of kingRehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD.” When King Rehoboam forgot God’s grace upon him, he was surrounded by the enemies’ chariots who had come to war against him. In our lives when we are in sorrow and pain and when the Lord God does not hear our prayers – that is the time we must humble ourselves and repent and cry out to the Lord. He will once again hear and answer us. When we repent before the Lord, He will surely relent from His anger and forgive our sins and bless us. Here we read that when the King and the people humbled themselves and cried out to the Lord, the Lord heard their cries and saw their humility and relented from the punishment He had planned on the Israelite’s. 2 Chronicles 12:7“And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.”

2 Chronicles 33:12 “And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.” The Lord has called us to bless us, but when we become proud He resists us. We must never disobey God, for while on one hand the evil one leads us into sins, on the other hand God will also forsake us. To save our lives there is only one way: to humble ourselves, accept our sins and cry out to the Lord. We must remember we are all God’s creation and He never wishes to destroy us. Yet even at that time, if we do not turn away from our sins, we will surely fall prey into the clutches of the evil one and go into darkness. There is only one way to get out of this situation: to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness.

We must never forget the vow we have made to our Lord God. We know the story of Jacob in the Holy Scriptures – when he left his home at his father Isaac’s bidding and fled from his brother Esau, that very night he met God and made a vow to the Lord. Genesis 28:10-22 “And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” Our God is a faithful God, He does not change. He kept His promise made to Jacob. He provided him with food, water, wives, children, wealth, and made Jacob famous. But in time to come, Jacob forgot the vow he made to God. The Lord God was waiting for Jacob to remember his vow made to him, he had only kept a stone at Bethel to build him a temple there, which Jacob forgot completely. God now wanted to teach Jacob a lesson, so he used his daughter Dinah to teach him a lesson. God put a desire in Dinah’s heart to go out and meet her friends. When she went out to meet her friends, she was caught by wicked men and her life was destroyed. This led to a fight between the brothers and the enemy camp, and there was a lot of sorrow and pain in Jacob’s life. At that time God spoke to Jacob in Genesis 35:1-3 “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.” God blessed Jacob with everything, but finally Jacob mixed with the gentiles and led a sinful life. In Genesis Chapter34, we see how God punished Jacob because he did not fulfill the vow made to God. Jacob now became fearful and was loatheto continue to stay in the country he had gone to. He decided to go back to Bethel and build the Lord the temple which he had vowed so many years ago.

When we too forget to fulfil the vow that we have made to God, He will surely wait for us to fulfill the same. Butif we forget, He will remind us by bringing about pain, sorrow and fear in our lives, thus helping us to fulfill the vow made to Him. In the end we see the fear God put in Jacob’s life. Genesis 35:1-3 “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.” This is our God’s love for us, His way is an open way. He never forces us to do anything but expects that we do it with our own free will. Ecclesiastes 5:5-6 “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?” Every word we speak to God, the angel records it. We should never falsely say something we do not want to do or make a promise we cannot keep. When we speak to God and promise something, we must always fulfill it. We must never forget, ignore or disdain a vow made to the Lord;it is better that we do not make the vow in such a case.

Wherever we pray – whether in our home or in church, the angel of God records our words spoken. We must thus live our lives according to our prayers and humble ourselves before Him. God will always hear the humble, but resist the proud. God should never remind us of the vow we have made to Him, we should on our own fulfill every vow and promise we have made to Him. Saul was a donkey herder, but God made him a King over Israel. He ruled over Israel for over 20 years. God told Saul through the prophet Samuel to fight the Amalekites and destroy them completely. However Saul spared the Amalekite king and their fatted animals and good things and returned with them. We know how God punished Saul thereafter.

Who were the Amalekites and why did God ask Saul to destroy them? They were the people who troubled the Israelite’s a lot and brought unhappiness into their lives when they came up from Egypt into the land of Israel. That is why God commanded Saul to destroy all in their kingdom – from the small children to the oldest and all their animals and wealth,God asked that none be spared. 1 Samuel  15:3 “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”

Deuteronomy 25:17-18“Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.” Because the Amalekites had attacked the Israelite’s in the past, God commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites. Often in our lives too,the Lord God asks us to correct people and warn them. Many a times even beyond our wishes, we have to keep God’s command. When God says feed someone, we must feed them – we cannot question God. God knows why He commands us to do something, such as when God commanded Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites.

Judges 6:3-4 “And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.” The Israelite’s worked in the fields and the Amalekites would come and destroy the same, this God watched for a long time. Thus in time to come, God told Saul to take revenge on the Amalekites. 1 Samuel 15:3 “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” Remember we must always be diligent to hear God’s command and obey it completely and every vow we make to the Lord God, we must keep it. We must always be humble for God to bless us.

So let us read the Word of God diligently and understand it. The Word alone will bring immense blessings in our lives. May God bless this message!

Pastor Saroja M

Praise the Lord!Greetings to our dear readers in our holy and wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this month edition we would like to introduce about our new Granny Maria Gomes. She was admitted to our home a few months ago, by her two sons as she had a fall at her home and fractured her hip bone and because of that she could not sit or stand at all.

Granny Maria is very sweet in talking and she knows to speak in Bengali and Hindi. She is not fussy about food and she likes to eat whatever is been served to her.

By God’s grace and Pastor Saroja’s prayer day by day she is getting better and now she is able to sit by her own.When she was brought to our home she was not able to even move her body.We believe that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will heal Granny Maria of her weakness soon.

We thank Lord for His healing touch in this Granny Maria’s  life.May God heal her and take care of her today and always.

Praise the Lord!Last month at Sunday School the kids were given a activity to explain the meaning of Easter. They were given the choice to prepare the cross, tomb and egg to bring out their inner creativity to explain God’s journey from death to resurrection.

The kids brought in the best of creativity on to the table and made the best out of waste. Right from usage of book cardboard, coir ropes, ice-cream stick and even stones.

We had three winners (pictures of the same on the back page):

• 1^st prize from the Junior class – Joel Samuel

(Made the cross of used book cardboard and egg was made from kinder joy sweet cover)

• 2^nd prize for intermediate class – Priscilla Rexy
  

(Made the cross from coir ropes and used book cardboard)

• 3^rd prize for senior class – Heresh Lobo

(Made the cross with stones, ice-cream sticks and coconut waste)

Other kids also participated and not only enjoyed the activity but understood the real meaning of Easter. Do uphold our little ones in your prayers, so that our children continue to shine forth for the Lord.

Joy Salins