Editor’s Note

Greet you all in the matchless name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May the Lord cover each one of us under the shadow of His loving wings.

Ruth 2:12 says, “The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” Those who take refuge under His wings, He alone will fulfill all your hearts desires.

Ruth whose life was miserable due to losing her husband at an young age, looking at her Boaz said, God will honour you according to your works. He said without the Lord’s permission you have not come here. You have come here by the Lord’s will. You have not come under the shadow of my wing but under the shadow of the Lord God of Israel. When Ruth rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying “Let her glean even among the sheaves, also let some grain from the bundles fall purposely for her, leave it that she may glean.” So she gleaned in the field until evening, and it was about an ephah of barley.

Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied. And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you,” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead.” And Naomi said to her, “the man is a relative of ours, one of our near kinsmen.”

As Boaz was a kind man, he helped her to collect more and Ruth, being a good and virtuous woman even in that situation she did nothing wrong. She went in expectation of her daily food but the Lord gave her more than what she expected. Ruth 3:11, “And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.”

For the Lord to bless you beyond your expectation, we have to change our characters and become virtuous. We have to leave all our bad qualities like anger, hatred, jealousy and our sinful life behind. Ruth, to receive her blessing the reason was the full village knew she was a virtuous woman. Ruth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.

This blessing she received because she came under the Lord’s wing. Our Lord is not a breaker but a maker; at His hands you will receive the perfect blessing.

At Ruth’s wedding day all the village elders witnessed saying Ruth 4:11, 12 “And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem: And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.”

The same God can do the same blessings in our life, if we try to gain these qualities in our lives daily.

May God bless you all till we meet again.

In the Lord Jesus’ service,

Pastor Saroja M.

Praise the Lord. I was suffering from fever since two months. I took a lot of medicines but there were no improvements. After watching the Rose of Sharon TV Program on Shubhsandesh Channel, I contacted the prayer helpline and gave my prayer request. The very next day I found myself completely healed of my fever. I praise and thank Lord Jesus for healing me and also thank the ROS prayer helpline for praying for me.

*Sis. Asha, Ludhiana (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Praise the Lord. My sister-in-law’s father was admitted in the hospital as he would faint and whenever he regained consciousness he would start blabbering. He had a mental issue and was in a serious condition. I requested for prayer at the Rose of Sharon women’s prayer line. The Sister attending my call, prayed for the same. The very next day he was discharged from the hospital. He ate his food well, spoke well with everyone and when we asked him, he remembered each and every family members name properly. I give all glory and thanks to Lord Jesus Christ for healing him.

*Sis Gauri Debi, Chhattisgarh (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Praise the Lord. I want to testify about my son who met with a bike accident when he was coming back at midnight from his friend’s birthday party. I requested Pastor Saroja for her prayers. By God’s grace, the issue was settled very soon without any problem. I thank Lord Jesus for protecting my son and I also thank Pastor Saroja for her prayers.

*Bro. Joseph Arikswamy, Goregoan

Praise the Lord. My brother Manjit had to go abroad for a job, and we contacted one agent to do all the needed formalities. We also paid him a substantial amount for the same. After some days we tried to contact him to enquire about the status, but we were not able to reach out to him, however hard we tried. This went on for nearly a year without any success and we were very worried. After watching the Rose of Sharon TV Program, I gave my request to the ROS prayer helpline. After a week, I received my brother’s passport with the VISA stamped on it and also the flight tickets. I thank and praise Lord Jesus for doing this wonderful work and I also thank the Rose of Sharon Ministry for their prayers.

*Sis. Amarjit Kaur, Punjab (ROS TV Program Viewer)

Praise the Lord. My name is Kalpana Jha. I am from Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh. I want to testify about Lord Jesus’ blessings in my life. My hand got burnt while I was cooking food and due to this I was troubled as my hand had a burning sensation, swelling and lots of pain for an entire month. I was troubled because of this all of this and I had shown this to the doctor for treatment but did not get much relief. At this time, my mother and sister-in-law who are believers in Lord Jesus, contacted the Rose of Sharon women’s prayer line. The Sister on call prayed for my hand pain and the trouble caused by it. Within a week my hand was totally healed and there is no more pain today. I am writing my testimony with the same hand and I thank Lord Jesus for healing me. May God bless everyone the way He helped me.

*Sis. Kalpana Jha, Madhya Pradesh (ROS TV Program Viewer)

 

Dave was a religious man. For years, he had attended church regularly…. and he often helped with church events. But recently, Dave’s Pastor noticed he hadn’t been as involved… and he hadn’t seen Dave at service in quite a while. So, the Pastor decided to visit Dave and make sure everything was alright.

When the Pastor arrived at Dave’s house…Dave was sitting alone by the fireplace. The Pastor pulled up a chair and sat beside Dave. Together, they both sat silently, staring into the fire. As the Pastor looked at the flames dancing, he came to a realization. The Pastor took the fire tongs and carefully grabbed a white-hot coal from the fire. He gently set the coal to one side of the hearth, alone. Then, the Pastor sat back silently and waited.

As Dave watched intently, the coal began to flicker and dim. The bright light within the coal rapidly grew darker. Soon the coal was cold and lifeless. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He took the coal and placed it back in the hot embers of the fire… where it burst back to life, warm and bright. The Pastor turned to leave… but Dave stopped him. “I’ll see you at church next Sunday,” said Dave… “I’m sorry I haven’t been there in a while.. My wife passed away a few days ago and I’ve been really torn up about it.. But I know, in times like these, we need God and our church family the most. The Pastor responded with a nod and a smile as he left Dave’s house. But Dave called him once more with tears in his eyes… “Thank you for the sermon today. You truly relit my fire.”

The world we live in today tries to say too much with too little. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.. but encouraging one another..” Hebrews 10:24-25

Pastor Saroja M

Follow God whatever our circumstances

1 Timothy 1:2 “Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.” The Apostle Paul wrote letters to several churches and congregations. Whether it was the churches of the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, Thessalonians, Galatians etc., he would share his counsel and guidance with these churches. He used to also personally address people of various churches, e.g. he wrote to Titus, Timothy and counselled them. Timothy used to live in harmony, unity and righteousness with Apostle Paul. He had belief in him and shared his experiences, sorrow, pain and secrets with him. Thus love grew in Apostle Paul’s heart for Timothy, and he considered him one of his own. We see in the bible that Timothy’s name appeared for the first time in Acts 16:1 “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek.” This was the first time that the Apostle Paul met Timothy. From here on, they grew in confidence with each other and their relationship strengthened. In the Word, Timothy was called Paul’s helper, for he used to help Paul a lot. Acts 19:22 “So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.” Here Paul mentions that he had two helpers, of which one was Timothy; for Timothy would help him a lot with all his personal work. We see here that as Paul progressed in fellowship with the Lord, so also did Timothy in his relationship with Paul. Paul calls Timothy a partner who was always there through thick and thin. Romans 16:21 “Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you.” Here we see that Paul considered Timothy as his partner. 1 Corinthians 4:17 “For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.” Here we read in the passage how we need to grow for the Lord and entwine ourselves with the Lord’s servant doing God’s blessed will in order to obtain the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the verse above we have seen that Timothy was a believer and a small servant for the Lord. But once he met the Apostle Paul, he entwined himself with him and worked with dedication for Paul. Over a period of time, Paul called Timothy his partner. Thereafter, Paul gave authority to Timothy and sent him in place of himself to preach the Word. As mentioned in 1 Corinthians 4:17, Paul said that his son Timothy would bring the message to the Corinthians.

Even today, God is watching how we are entwined with His servants to do work for the Lord and how we are growing for His name’s sake. Step by step, Paul guided Timothy when he saw his spiritual thirst and recognized Timothy’s spiritual faith. Paul started believing in Timothy and his works and he saw that Timothy was prepared to take on new responsibilities; so he sent him to preach instead of him; the same gifts of the Holy Spirit that were within Apostle Paul beginning to work through Timothy too. Philippians 2:22 “But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.” The Apostle Paul now gave Timothy complete authority as he would to his own son. Timothy’s blameless thoughts, his thirst for the Lord’s work and his belief in Apostle Paul, made Timothy worthy of this.

We know that the Apostle Paul used to write to various churches and congregations, he also wrote letters personally addressed to many individuals. Out of the several individuals he wrote to, he chose Timothy to do his service. Timothy loved God very much and he served the Lord blamelessly and righteously. Hence Paul gave Timothy authority on his behalf to preach the Word of God and made him his spiritual son too. Joshua in faith followed Moses, and in God’s time the Lord asked Moses to lay his hands upon Joshua and pray for him. Along with the gift of the Holy Spirit came the gift of the Spirit of Wisdom upon Joshua. Joshua was thus blessed with immense wisdom to fight wars for the Israelites and keep their enemy at bay.

God’s love and God’s judgement are perfect. Our God is righteous. He never breaks His love for judgment nor His Judgment for love. Jesus speaks in a parable about a family who had two sons. One day the younger son fought with his Father and in anger asked for his share of property. The Father gave the younger son his share and the son left home and walked away. He squandered all his money indulging in the vices of this world, thereby losing all his money in no time. In the end while he was starving, he got a job as a keeper of pigs. He had to slog day and night, but the owners did not give him any food; so he had to eat the pig’s food. At that moment he realized his Father’s love for him and accepted his foolishness. He prepared his heart and mind to return home. While he was returning home, his Father saw him from afar and ran towards him to hug and welcome him. The father adorned him with new garments, shoes and a ring and called for a celebration and a feast in honour of his son’s return. Now the elder son was returning home from working in the fields; he asked the neighbours the reason for the noise and celebrations in his Father’s home. They informed him that the celebration was due to the fact that his younger brother had returned home. The elder son got very annoyed with the Father and in his anger refused to enter his house. His Father came out to cajole him to come in, and he explained the reason for his actions saying ‘You are always with me hence what is mine is now all yours, but as for your younger brother his share is all taken by him, hence there is nothing more left to give him.’ We must remember that once we have tasted God’s love and righteousness, we must not forsake Him; for when we leave Him and return again, we are entitled to get only food to eat and we cannot expect a share in His kingdom.

Luke 15:22-31 “But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.” It is for us to make a decision which son we should be like – the elder son or the younger son. Remember, our God is a righteous God, His love and His judgment are both impartial. As the Father said to the elder son ‘your brother will only get to eat and drink, but everything that is mine will be yours,’ we must be aware that when we leave God and go away, we lose all that we have, even the mansions that our Lord Jesus Christ is preparing for us! Hence we must strive to be like the elder son who remains entwined with his Father at all times. There is no use if we, like Esau, sell our birth right for a morsel of food. Hebrews 12:16-17 “Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”

Hence the righteous Father explained to his elder son that while his errant brother had repented and returned, he would get only food to eat, with no share in the Father’s wealth; whereas for the faithful elder son, everything that is the Father’s would be for the elder son.” The choice is ours, as to which son we want to be. God never forces or pressurizes us to choose a certain part. He has left us with a free will to choose. But what will we lose? We will lose the Kingdom of God. Food, clothing and shelter we will get, but we will lose the Kingdom of God. Though God said that He was going to prepare many mansions, they would not be made for the errant ones. Whatever we do, we must be in fear of God. We must not run as Lot, who saw the city of Sodom and Gomorrah so green and fruitful and luscious, though it was a city planned for destruction. In the end, those cities were destroyed with fire. Lot’s eyes were blinded, hence he could not see the destruction planned by God. Similarly many of us are blinded today; we cannot see or think what will happen in the future. If we could see the future, then God would show us what would happen.

We know in the Scriptures that Jesus looked to Jerusalem and wept. Likewise God sees many of us, our hearts and minds, and is still weeping for us today. God knows what will happen tomorrow in our life, hence even today He weeps for us.

John 15:4 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” We can never do anything alone, rather for our lives to become fruitful and pleasing in His sight, it is important that we do His will. We must entwine ourselves with His kindness, mercy and salvation. In the book of Ruth, there are only 4 chapters, but they are anointed chapters. Ruth 1:16 says “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:” We know in what time and hour of her life Ruth made this agreement with Naomi. Naomi had lost her husband and her two sons. She now asks both her daughters-in-law to return to their own country, as they had become widows and had lost everything in life. But Ruth says to Naomi that she would never leave her, for Naomi’s people were now Ruth’s people and her God was now Ruth’s God. She further stated that where Naomi would dwell, there she would dwell too. This is the desire that God wants to see in us too. This was the same faith and belief the Apostle Paul had seen in Timothy too, hence Paul chose Timothy to serve him. Because Ruth stayed with Naomi, God chose her to marry Boaz and through her came the generation of David and Jesus Christ. This was a huge blessing in Ruth’s life. Our God never changes in his love and judgment for us. We must love God first and strive to live in His fear, holiness and righteousness for God’s glory alone, or else one day we will cry out ‘Lord, Lord, Lord’ and in turn, God will say ‘I don’t know you.’

We know now, why and how all these names are recorded in the Holy Scriptures. It was due to the fact that they all strived to live for the Lord. We see how Timothy strived to live for the Lord without thinking of any benefit for himself. We see how Jesus Christ descended from Ruth’s genealogy, because her faith was strong, she loved and clung to Naomi and accepted all that life had to offer. She told Naomi ‘Your people are my people and your God is my God,’ and she further went on to say that she would dwell wherever Naomi dwelt.

Moses lived in Pharaoh’s palace for 40 years, but there came a time in his life that he had to decide whether to continue to live in the palace or go and struggle to obtain freedom for his people, the Israelites. Moses finally decided that he wanted to suffer with his people rather than enjoy the joy of living in the palace. Hebrews 11:25-26 “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” There was no lack for Moses in the palace, but when he learnt the truth, he left the palace to suffer with his people. We must always strive to live and work for the Lord. Revelation 2:10 “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” God’s people will have many clashes, sorrow and pain in their lives. Our faith is always put to test when we have storms in our life, or else why will we call out to Him? Mathew 24:13 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

Just as in the story of the father with the two sons; as the elder son was entwined with his father and received all the blessings because of his obedience, similarly in this world we will have trials and tribulations, but we must stay entwined with the Lord and our lives will then be victorious. John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

James 1:8,7 “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” We should never be double minded. We must never look for material gain in our life lest we lose our spiritual blessings. We must strive to be like Timothy or Ruth, both had one straight forward goal in their life, and that was to follow God whatever be the circumstances.

Our mind and heart must never be empty, for the devil is waiting like a prowling lion to attack us when we are empty. As the saying goes ‘The empty mind is a devil’s workshop’, it does not take time for the evil to enter our lives and destroy it. Once we are washed by Jesus’ blood and redeemed of our sins, we must never back slide from the Lord and return to our old sinful ways. We must have a straight forward mind to follow Him. At this time if we give space for evil to enter, it will enter with seven more evil spirits and our lives will be worse than before. Hence, we have to make up our mind to see that God is lifted up in our lives and that we walk in His path always doing His precious will and plan in our lives.

May God bless this Word and may this Word bring blessings to many lives

Pastor Saroja

Greetings to all our dear readers in our most Holy and Blessed name of our lord savior Jesus Christ .

Last month Ms. Neeta and her brother  from the United Kingdom, visited our old age home to spend some time  with the residents.

They had arranged for dinner for all the residents and also brought eatables to share with them.  All our Grandpa and Grandma were very happy to meet them and interacted with them about their lives experiences.

Ms .Neeta and her brother had a wonderful time in our home and was very happy to see the cheerful faces of the residents and she also mentioned  that she would like to visit our home on her special occasions.

May our Good God bless her and also keep all our Inmates under His care and love.

Praise the lord.

Praise the Lord! While annual holidays have  begun all the children are enjoying their summer vacations!

Our Sunday School children were given an Easter theme activity to decorate their respective Easter eggs. The children participated with full zest and the results were quite overwhelming. We could see creativity at its best.

Our God is gracious and blessed all the children with wisdom and that shows in their little piece of art made by them. All the children put in their best and our top 3 winners for the

Easter theme activity are:

As our Sunday School children continue to grow in the love of  our Lord, do continue to uplift them in your prayers.

Joy Salins