Editor’s Note

Greetings in the name of the Most High to all my dear brothers, sisters and children in Christ Jesus. I hope all are doing fine and are safe in this crisis situation which the whole world is facing currently. I earnestly pray that our good Father covers each one of you with Christ Jesus’ holy blood.

Zechariah 2:5 “For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.”

Our God says that He Himself will be the glory in the midst of our trials and tribulations. When we put our faith and trust in God, He will give us His grace and shower His mercy upon us. But when we do not believe in Him, He cannot work in our lives. In a field, the farmer can only sow the seeds, but if the land is not fertile how will it bear fruit? Similarly, when we put our faith in God, we will experience His blessings in our life. But if we do not believe in Him, how can He bless us? It’s like an agreement between the farmer and the field wherein the farmer sows and then the field bear fruits. In our lives too, there is an agreement between God and us; if we bind in Him, we will bear fruit and receive blessings.

Romans 4:21 “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” When God makes an agreement with us, He has the strength to fulfill the same in our lives. He is not a liar and will not run away from us. If He was to run away, He would not have sacrificed His life on the Cross for us. Whatever promise He has given us, He is a God who will fulfill the same. Romans 3:22 “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:” For all those who believe in Him, there is no difference; God will fulfill His every promise, provided we only believe. When Jesus was in this world, He did the same; whoever came to Him, He asked ‘Do you believe? If yes, be healed.’ If we have no faith in God, the promises given to us cannot be fulfilled – they will be futile. Hence, we should always remember that in faith alone, we may be blessed.

Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” As per the word, we must first pursue our God, give everything into His hands, and only then He will bless us. Many of us pray without believing that God can work in our lives. Such a prayer avails nothing. But when we believe in our God, accept Him wholeheartedly, put our trust in Him and recognize that only He can work wonders in our lives, then even a silent prayer of a few minutes will be heard by God. For those who believe that God is living and that He hears our prayers, to them He will answer prayers immediately. God needs from us, a heart for prayer: we may pray in any place, in any language and in any situation; He will hear and answer us. It is very important for us to know what our God can do for us.

It is important to believe that our God can do anything and everything for us, but we must ask in faith and believe He will bless us. Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Yes, our God will deliver us out of all our trials and tribulations and out of our sorrow and pain, provided we believe in Him alone. As we wait for our salaries after working for a whole month, we must also wait upon God for our blessings. During the waiting period we must not grumble against God or show any kind of disbelief. Sometimes when man helps us, he may not have enough to bless us with, forever. Unlike man, God has an abundance of blessings in store for us. He will bless us today or tomorrow as per His will, but the blessings will definitely come in time according to His PERFECT WILL.

Keep the faith and continue praying to our mighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and He will shower you with grace, mercy and abundant blessings. Till we meet again.

Your sister in Christ.

Pastor Saroja M

Praise the Lord. I work in the sanitary department of Punjab. Due to my negligence I did not issue some bills amounting to nearly ₹ 4 lakhs. The department made an enquiry and they wanted to punish me for the same. I got scared and had a feeling that I may lose my job due to this mistake of mine. I contacted the Rose of Sharon prayer helpline for prayer. Within a few days I found that there was no enquiry against me and my Lord Jesus saved me from a very dangerous situation. I thank my Lord Jesus from the bottom of my heart for doing this great work in my life. Also I sincerely thank the Rose of Sharon ministry for their prayers.

*Bro. Sajan Valmiki, Bhatinda, Punjab. (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Praise the Lord. My son Irwin had swallowed an eraser, due to which he was continuously passing motion. I told this matter to Pastor Saroja and she assured me of her prayers. By God’s grace the motion stopped and nothing harmed my son’s stomach. I give all glory to Lord Jesus for taking care of my son’s health. I also thank Pastor Saroja for her fervent prayers.

*Sis. Esther Patel, Mira Road, Maharashtra.

Praise the Lord. I am Aashi Sikhandar from Barnala in Punjab. My husband was falsely accused and put in jail. After being released on bail he went into hiding and was away from the family for nearly three months. I was extremely worried for him and called the Rose of Sharon prayer helpline and requested them to pray for my husband’s release. Within a few days he was exonerated from the case. I give all the glory to my Lord Jesus Christ for doing this great work in my husband’s life. I also thank the Rose of Sharon Ministry for their prayers.

*Sis. Aashi Sikhandar, Barnala, Punjab. (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Praise the Lord. I was having a big boil on my chest. I had applied various medicines but it was not getting healed. After one Saturday healing service meeting I told Pastor Saroja who advised me to put only prayer oil and no other medicine on it. After one week the boil disappeared. I give all praise and glory to Lord Jesus for healing me and sincerely thank Pastor Saroja for her advice and prayers for me.

*Sis. Natty Amanna, Asalpha, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Praise the Lord. One afternoon as my daughter-in-law was opening our cot to remove a pillow she suddenly fell back unconscious. I immediately remembered the prayer oil and I sprinkled some prayer oil in water on her and also gave her some to drink. Within a few minutes she became normal. I began to check the cot and found a small paper packet containing some powder kept in it. I immediately came to know that somebody had purposely kept it there with bad intentions. But thanks and praise to our dear Lord Jesus who saved my daughter-in-law from danger. I also thank our dear Pastor Saroja who always keeps me and my family in her prayers.

*Sis. Bharti Mohite, Kalina, Maharashtra.

There was a very lazy man who would always looked for an easier way to feed himself. One day while he was searching for something to eat, he saw a fruit farm. He looked around and didn’t see anyone guarding the fruits on the tree, so he quickly decided to steal some fruits. But as soon as he walked into the farm and started to climb the tree, the farmer saw him and started coming to him to catch him. The lazy man saw the farmer coming at him with a stick, he got afraid and ran towards the forest nearby and went inside it to hide.

After some time when he felt he started to move on from the forest and while passing through, he saw a wonderful scene. There was a fox. It had only two legs and was still crawling on them happily. The lazy man thought, how can this fox stay alive in such condition?! The fox can’t run, but how can he feed himself or stay alive from the threat of other animals? Suddenly, he saw a lion coming towards the fox with a  piece of meat already in his mouth. All the animals ran away and the lazy man climbed up a tree to save himself but the fox stayed there – he didn’t have the ability to run on two legs.  But what happened next surprised the lazy man. The lion left a piece of meat which was in his mouth for the fox! The lazy man felt happy seeing God’s plan. He thought the God who is the creator of all, always has a plan set to take care of what He created. He felt that God must have something planned for him too.

So he left that place and sat somewhere away alone waiting for someone to feed him too. As time started to pass, he kept looking at the road, waiting for his food. He waited there for 2 days without any food! Finally, he couldn’t bear the hunger and started to leave. He met a Pastor on the way who was going in a town to preach the word of God. The Pastor first gave him some food and water. After having it, the lazy man asked the Pastor, “Oh Pastor, God has shown His mercy on the crippled fox, but why was God so cruel to me?” Pastor with a smile said, “True that the creator has a plan for everyone. You are obviously a part of God’s plan. But son, you took his sign in a wrong way. He didn’t want you to be like the fox. He wanted you to be like the Lion.”

For it is written in Bible you shall not be a borrower but a lender in Deuteronomy 28:12 “The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”

This Word of God changed the lazy man’s heart and he said, “surely I’m gonna work hard now onwards, for the Word of God has changed my life.” And he went on his way.

Often, we misunderstand the signs. God has given everyone a strength and ability to do their part. Always learn to see the things in a positive way and see yourself in a strong position to help the ones who need.

 “Don’t go for the easy choice. Make a right choice.”

Pastor Saroja M

The Lion of Judah Vs the Roaring Lion

Proverbs 28:1 “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a Lion.” The Lion is the King of the jungle and the apex predator amongst all animals. The Lion is strong and wise and when it chases its prey it never looks back. The Lion also knows every animal’s weakest point and it seizes them by that point.

In the Holy Scriptures we see in many places that the devil is referred to as a Lion, whilst the righteous person is also referred to as a Lion. We also know that Jesus Christ is known as the ‘Lion of Judah’. Thus the Lion is seen in different ways in the bible. The evil one moves to and fro on this earth as a ‘Roaring Lion,’ while in the verse above, we see the righteous are as bold as a Lion. A righteous person has a nature similar to a Lion, he is confident, wise and never looks back when moving forward. We all must have the nature of this wild animal within us.

In the city of Babylon, people in authority in King Darius’ kingdom were like worldly Lions. They constantly pursued Daniel to find fault in him. Finally when they did not find any fault in him, they accused him of worshipping the Living God and cast him into the Lion’s den so that he would be devoured by them. However, when Daniel was cast into the den of Lions, this was the moment the Heavenly Lion i.e. the ‘Lion of Judah’ descended into the den. In this den we now see two kinds of Lion – the Lion of Judah and the animal Lions, whilst outside the den we see Daniel’s enemies, viz. the worldly Lions who pursued Daniel to kill him. Daniel lay in the den along with the animal Lions while the ‘Lion of Judah’ was watching over him. When the Lion of Judah came into the den, He shut the mouth of the Lions. Daniel spent one whole night with these animal Lions. When he was out of the den, he spent all the time with the worldly Lions roaring around him. From the age of seventeen to seventy, Daniel lived with the worldly Lions daily. Imagine how difficult it must have been for Daniel. It was Daniel’s prayers alone that kept the tongues of the people of Babylon in check. Daniel prayed thrice a day to the living God. When the King put Daniel into the Lion’s den and returned the next morning to visit him he asked him of his well-being, referring to him as ‘Daniel who serves the eternal God continually.’ Thus Daniel’s prayer kept the worldly Lions i.e. the unrighteous and wicked people’s tongues in check. Even for us today, if the worldly Lions (evil people) are hunting to tear us apart, when we pray diligently, everyone’s mouth is made to shut; even the devil who is hunting for us (just as he stalked Job whilst roaming to and fro in the world) is rendered useless. Hence it is only our prayers that can shut an evil man’s mouth. The King said to Daniel in Daniel 6:16-20 “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of Lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of Lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the Lions?”

Daniel was caught and put into the den of Lions because he prayed three times a day to the Living God. The King asked Daniel ‘Did your God whom you served continually come to save you from the mouth of the Lions?’ We too must hold the Living God close to us and never leave Him. Yes, even if we go into the Lion’s den it is our living God who will save us from the Lion’s jaws. Hence we must with faith and love, eternally hold the Lion of Judah close to us. Psalm 91:13 “Thou shalt tread upon the Lion and adder: the young Lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” The evil one will never win a victory with us, yes the worldly Lion will give us a tough fight, but it will never prevail over us because we have the Lion of Judah with us.

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Our God always wishes that we keep praising Him and praying to Him constantly. When we fulfill God’s desire in our life, God will give us victory from the worldly Lions. Daniel never changed, and continued to praise and worship God thrice a day without fear of the King’s decree. The evil men in the kingdom did not find any fault with Daniel and they put him into the den of Lions only because he prayed thrice to the living God. Daniel did not fear the enemy, rather he continued to pray thrice a day to the living God in spite of the King’s decree. Likewise, even today the people of this world will only see that we are going to church on Saturday and Sunday, but they do not see that in our hearts we worship God each moment of our lives. Our God knows this and He checks our heart every moment, so even when the roaring Lion comes to attack us, we have the Lion of Judah who will save us. Thus the roaring Lion’s mouth will be shut up along with the Lion that roams to and fro on this earth looking for prey and we will be victorious in the name of the Lion of Judah. Daniel 6:16-20 “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of Lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of Lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the Lions?”

King Darius thereafter passed a decree in Daniel 6:26 “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.” Daniel was a strong prayer warrior for the Lord and seeing his victory over the Lions, the King passed a decree that all should worship the living God. It is prayer alone that worked wonders in Daniel’s life. Though we may have similar enemies in our life and we know that the enemy is mighty, we must not forget that we have an Almighty God with us to fight our enemies. The Word says that ‘God dwells amongst the praises of the people of Israel.’ Where there is no praise and prayer, there will be no presence of God. Even in our families, if there is no praise and prayer, God’s presence will not be with us. This does not happen in one day, it takes years to develop a relationship with God, yet it takes only a few minutes to break the same.

In the Scriptures we know the story of Jesus’ disciples who could not deliver a man possessed with demons. However, when Jesus arrived He did so very easily. The disciples asked Jesus how He could drive away the evil while they were unable to do so. Jesus answered and told them that this evil could not be delivered except through fasting and prayer. Jesus used to preach the Word of God the entire day and in the evening when the people returned home, He would retire to mount Olive to pray to His Father God and derive strength and wisdom from Him. Next day again the multitudes would throng to Him to hear the Word and be blessed. When a person is a prayer warrior, he will get victory in everything He does. Whether it is work or any other thing that he does, victory will always be his. As written in the Holy Scriptures in Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” We must always live in fear and the love of God, then we will be blessed with every spiritual blessings of peace, love, happiness, joy, etc.

Exodus 25:20 “And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.” Remember, we must come to the ‘Mercy Seat’ of God daily in our lives, even as the cherubim angels spread their wings and come to the Mercy Seat of God. If we want spiritual blessings from the Lord, then we must approach the Mercy Seat of God. Unless we get God’s mercy we will not get victory in this world. We have to receive mercy for healing, mercy for victory, etc. and for all of these we have to go to the Lord’s Mercy Seat for our blessings, even as the Cherubims spread their wings and sat face to face with God at the Mercy Seat. Only then will the Lord be happy with us and take us to His promised land, for without the mercy of God, we cannot reach the Promised Land.

Numbers 14:8 “If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.” When God is happy with us, only then will His mercy be upon us and that alone will take us to the Promised Land – the land of honey and milk. Every day we need the mercy of God upon us. If we lose God’s mercy even for a day, we will lose God’s blessings. Just as the Cherubim angels went to the Mercy Seat and spoke to God face to face, we too need to talk to God face to face. Roman 2:5 “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;” God’s Mercy Seat alone is our Hope and Trust to help us reach the Kingdom of God. There are no other short cuts in this world to reach the Promised Land.

David says in Psalm 34:5 “They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.” If we constantly seek God’s face at His Mercy Seat, we can see His truthfulness, righteousness, peace and love. His light will shine upon our face and our face will never be darkened ever after. 1 Peter 1:13 “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;” It is important for us to become wise and move forward with God for our reward i.e. our crown comes from Him. God has promised us that He will bring our reward according to our works done on this earth. Hence we must gird the loins of our mind, be sober, praise God continually and watch and pray and wait upon Him. Without God’s mercy we will never reach the land of honey and milk. With our cunningness or our own wisdom we will never reach the Promised Land. Whenever God speaks to us about land of Canaan, He speaks to us about the land of honey and milk. Honey and milk means God Word in Psalm 19:10 “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” God’s Word is honey and milk. Our Lord is the living Word and hence the Word is precious and priceless.

I once attended a bible teaching fellowship at the ‘Jesus Comes’ prayer garden, in Tamil Nadu. Bro. John Rabindranath preached the Word the entire day and towards the end he said ‘When I go to heaven I would like to meet David and dance ceaselessly with him. At the same time, if I ever meet that rascal Saul I will slap him.’ The brothers and sisters present, in unison asserted that he will not find Saul there for heaven is a place only for righteous people. Yes, because there we will find only those righteous ones who have been victorious in this world and have entered the Heavenly Kingdom. Only those who struggled in this world and were victorious over evil, those who were put in the furnace for the Lord’s sake and have come out pure as gold, and those found pure as milk will enter God’s Kingdom. The Word always explains the land of Canaan as ‘The land of Milk and Honey.’ Today as we have read in the Word, we need to pass every test that God puts us through; we have to go through the furnace of affliction in this world and win over all trials and tribulations in this world. The people of this world can do nothing to us, we cannot go on pleasing this world since we can never please mankind.

Honey has a quality to clear the eyes. Once Jonathan went to war and was weary in his eye after the battle. He found a fallen honeycomb and drank of it and was enlightened. 1 Samuel 14:29 “Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.” Saul would not go to war, but his son Jonathan had to go to war instead of his father. Jonathan fell while fighting a war and was blinded. During the war, a person is very weak and tasting even a little honey can strengthen him. When we drink honey, our strength is restored, hence we say that God will take us to the land of Honey and Milk. The wisdom that God gives us through the Word is immense, but we need to go to God’s Mercy Seat and only then will the evil be unable to sustain against us. The evil one is always after the children of God in this world. In different ways, the devil attacks our children, hence we must be diligent in prayer and praise to God alone. It is Lucifer who comes against the good works done by the Almighty God. Lucifer may be mighty, but we must remember that our God is the Almighty One. Every battle of ours will be won only through our Lord.

May this message bring blessings to everyone who reads it. Praise the Lord!

Pastor Saroja M

Praise the Lord! Greetings and wishes from all our residents in our Rose of Sharon Old Aged Home and Me, to our dear readers and hope that all of you and your near and dear ones are safe and sound by God’s grace.

Time and again, my Lord Jesus proves to Me that only HE is the protector and shield around our Old Aged home. I would like to share with you a testimony of yet another mighty work which my Lord Jesus has done not only in my life, but also in our residents life during this most crucial time.

Due to an unfortunate situation, a few people were detected with COVID 19 in the same wing where our ROS Old aged home is located in Gaurav Residency. As all are aware that if even one person is tested positive the whole area/ building is contained, the same thing happened with us. There was a fleet of doctors who came questioning everyone in the Society and especially doubted the old residents in our Home, since we were in the same wing of the person who tested positive. I then personally had a talk with the Doctors who came to check everyone in the Society and explained to them that not even one of our resident had even a normal cold and cough and hence by God’s grace no one was disturbed in the Home by the respective medical authorities. Praise the Lord for continuously keeping all our residents in good health throughout this period till date!!  All Glory to HIM!!

Also, our whole complex i.e. Gaurav Residency, was declared a “Red Alert Containment zone”, the whole building was sealed and no one was allowed to go out nor come in the complex since a month. But even in this most difficult situation, I very happily testify that none of our residents had even cold or cough. Also my Lord Jesus did not make anything less in our Home: let it be matters of their meals (all 3 meals) for nearly 20 people including their regular supply of tea, milk and biscuits, all essential services, diapers etc everything was moving normally in our home. Our home was literally “an island of peace” where everything was under the Lord’s control even though there was chaos all around. All Glory only to HIM!!

I have no words to express and thank my mighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that HE so wonderfully took care of our Rose of Sharon Old aged home and all the residents during this most crucial time. All Glory to Him alone!!

Thank you Jesus!!!

Pastor Saroja M

 

Praise the Lord! As the world around us is passing through hard times and our children are currently homebound. We at the Rose of Sharon Sunday School believe that our kids are under the care of our Good Shepherd.

This reminds me of a short story. In a small village lived a shepherd who had a farm with hundreds of sheep’s. He dearly loved them and they adored him. They could recognize his call and immediately responded when called. He fed them and if any sheep fell ill he would nurse them with a lot of compassion.

One day the shepherd had to step out of his village for some important work. When he returned back and went to visit his farm and called out to his sheep there was no response. He was shocked to see the gate of the farm open and could not find a single sheep.

He rushed to check with the villagers and asked the whereabouts and finally headed to the road connecting the city. On his way he was informed by one of the locals that a truck full of sheep was seen passing the road some time ago. The shepherd immediately contacted the police and started to search for the trucks.

On reaching a small hotel they seen a truck parked with his sheep’s. They approached the driver who refused stating the same was purchased. So the driver asked the owner to prove that these were his sheep. The owner accepted the challenge and headed towards the truck. He told the driver that his sheep recognizes his voice and will respond to his call. In the same way the shepherd called out to his sheep and they all jumped out of the truck. The driver was silenced and had to surrender to the police.

Just as the Bible describes Jesus as the Good Shepherd so even in today’s times the devil will try to steal us away from the Lord. But He will never let us be harmed provided we continue to listen and respond to His voice.

Hence as we continue to listen to our Shepherd’s voice it does not matter what happens around us, we know that we, with our little ones are safe in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ.