|
"Click here for Hindi Version"
Editor's Note - Pastor Saroja
Testimonies
Strong Faith
Christmas @ Rose of Sharon Church
My Programmer!
The
essence of Christmas
Birthdays
Rose of Sharon Old Age home
Back to Sunday Sunday in the New Year!
Jesus is our
valentine
Back Page
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 Editor’s
Note
Dearly beloved in Jesus Christ, I greet you all through this magazine.
Do you’ll love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul?
Look at Mary Magdalene’s great love for the Lord; she was delivered of
seven evil spirits and forgiven all her sins by Lord Jesus - that is why
she loved the Lord so much.
 After
Jesus was dead and buried, the third day she desired in her heart to see
the Lord. So early in the morning she came to the grave side and was
crying.
John 20:15
-Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whomseekest thou?
 She,
supposing him to be the gardener,saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne
him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.So
because of Mary Magdalene’s great love for Jesus, He appeared to her
first.
Peter because of this same great love walked on the water. Water here
signifies troubles, temptations and sufferings. So love the Lord and walk
in holiness over all your problems and temptations. Never give place to
fear. Do not fear the storm and the raging seas and be shaken.2Timothy
1:7 -For
God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and
of a sound mind.
What is the testimony of David?Psalms34:4-I
sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.The
sea
has power to drown a man, and unbelief can take a man to hell. But faith
has power to lift a man up and make him walk on the waters and overcome
all his troubles and temptation. Whatever your problems, keep your eyes
upon the Lord in faith for He is the author and finisher of our faith.
 The apostle Paul says in2
Timothy1:12-For
the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed:
for I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto
him against that day.
Those who walk with the Lord should not look to their right side or left
side. They should not listen to others.
We should walk according to God’s Word. God’s Word was “Come, walk”. So
Peter walked on the Word of God. God who gave the Word is true, because
even if Heaven and Earth pass away His Word will never pass away; it is
with this faith that Peter walked on the sea.
How does this faith come?Romans
10:17-So
then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.By
reading His holy Word, by hearing His messages and the living testimonies,
this faith can come in you. For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Peter who walked on the sea by the Word of God was shaken by seeing the
stormy sea for a moment. In the same way while warming himself in front of
the fire in the courtyard of the high priest, Peter was shaken by the
accusation of a lady.
When Peter was sinking he had a little prayer in his heart.Matthew
14:30-But
when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he
cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Even though Peter disbelieved, yet the Lord saved him and helped him to
walk on the waters again and brought him out.What was the power behind the
stormy sea that day?It was the power of evil.
Many times we see storms in our lives but we do not know the reasons
behind the storms.
Job’s house did not fall just like that, neither did his children die just
like that.The storms which came in Job’s life were because of the evil
one.
Job’s wife who did not understand all this, was bitter towards the Lord
and counseled Job.Job
2:9-Then
said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God,
and die.
Jesus said inJohn
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.
You all should walk as victors over the evil spirits and demons.
Psalms 91:13
- Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the
dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
 Luke
10:19
- Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and
over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
James 4:7
- Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you.
 Cast
your burdens onto the Lord, and He shall sustain you, He will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
1Peter 5:7
Casting all your care upon him; for hecareth for you.
Beloved readers, sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not
under law but under grace.
So love the Lord with all your heart and mind and you will be able to
overcome all your problems by faith.
Till we meet again through these pages next month. May God bless you.
Pastor Saroja M.
Top
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Praise the Lord. I would like to thank our Lord for giving me the
opportunity to testify His Almighty name. I was having a constipation
problem for many days and after some days I started getting blood in my
stools which caused me a lot of pain. The pain was so much that I was
getting scared to go for motions because of the bleeding. I was unable to
sit in office and this pain was continuous for 3 to 4 days. Then I went to
the doctor for a checkup. She told me that I have a piles problem. On
Saturday healing service I told this to Pastor Saroja. Pastor advised me
to apply prayer oil and assured me of her prayers. After putting prayer
oil and Pastor Saroja’s prayers, within 2 days my bleeding stopped and my
pain also disappeared and I was completely healed. I give all glory and
thanks to our Lord Almighty for healing me from this problem and also
thank Pastor Saroja for faithfully praying for me and my family whenever
we have a need.
** Sis. Renita Jackson, Mulund (West)
I would like to glorify our God who has done a wonderful thing in my
family. My son was an alcoholic for a long time due to which there was no
peace in our family. There were also financial losses due to his drinking
habits. I had requested Pastor Saroja to pray for him. I praise God that
my son has not only given up drinks but he got baptized also. I thank God
for this miracle and give special thanks to Pastor Saroja for her
effective prayers. Thank you Jesus!
**Sis. Taraben Jhaler, Bhilad
Praise the Lord. Thank you Almighty God for your wonderful work. I was
suffering from a blood clot in my brain. So I just rang up Pastor Saroja
to pray for this issue. After that I started recovering fast. Now I am
feeling well and am living a normal life. Thanks be to Lord Jesus that He
heard the prayer of Pastor Saroja. May Lord bless Pastor always and
fulfill her needs; thank you Lord and I glorify your Holy
name.
** Sis. Rohini Bhatt, Mira Road
Praise God! I attend the Bangalore Prayer Meetings held by Pastor Saroja.
I was without a job for many months and had asked Pastor to pray for me.
There are things that happened, and things that we do not have control
of. However, I have realized that through prayer and faith we can do
everything through Christ who makes us strong. Difficult times are when we
doubt or give up; assuming that we are alone but there is always someone
to carry us through. I have accepted that there will be very difficult
times for me ahead because the path that I have chosen is not easy to
follow in this world. The path is narrow; the way ahead will be hard
because I have accepted Christ as my model. When I say hard, it means I
will not accept the ways of the world; I will not take bribes, will not
make false promises and will not cheat others. It is easy to doubt God and
wonder why bad things happen, but His grace, love and blessings will heal
everything. I have been blessed by getting a job in a company which I like
– it is tough but it is like a new beginning for me. Thank God and
Pastor’s prayers for making this happen.
 **
Bro. Ravindra Walters, Bangalore
I ask for forgiveness for giving this testimony late. 5 to 6 months ago my
son visited our native place; our relative’s daughter was suffering from
some evil spirit problem. They had already visited many doctors, but she
was never getting healed. When my son saw her, he told her parents that I
go to church where people are healed from such problems. They then asked
him to help them out but could not bring their daughter to church because
she was eight months pregnant. So my son told them to give her prayer oil
to drink. After drinking the prayer oil her behaviour improved and now
she is free from the evil spirit. She even gave birth to a daughter who
is healthy. Praise the Lord for a wonderful healing through the prayer
oil.
My second testimony is about the place where I am working; one of my
colleagues had a problem on his back. There was a blood clot and a small
portion was getting swollen up. I advised him to put prayer oil on his
back. Praise God the swelling and the blood clot have both disappeared. I
thank my Lord for this healing He has done through the prayer oil and
thank our Pastor for praying over the prayer oil.
** Sis. Bharti Mohite, Kalina
 I thank my Lord for giving me this
opportunity to testify his wonderful works which he has done in my life.
My mom, for years used to complain of pain in her chest, but she used to
take medication and the pain would go away. Actually it was negligence on
our part for not taking it seriously. In the month of October, when she
took an x-ray, the report showed some damage, but it was not clear. We
immediately consulted an orthopedic surgeon who advised us to do a CT
scan. When we got the report, it clearly showed that on the left side
 of
her chest her 8th rib was completely damaged from front till
her rear spinal cord; but fortunately was not affecting her respiratory
system. It was serious & I was shocked! The doctor suspected it to be
cancer. She had to undergo another CT scan in which some part of her rib
bones were removed to be tested. When the reports same, the doctor himself
said “Thank God, it’s not cancer”. But as the ribs were seriously damaged
she had to undergo a surgery. Age was not on her side, she has already
passed 50 years and to do a chest surgery was not going to be easy. I
told this to our Pastor; she motivated me and told me she would pray for
the same. My mom underwent a rib surgery on 21st November and
everything went fine. She was under pain but to our surprise she recovered
fast. I thank my Lord because it was only through His grace that such a
big problem was solved in a very normal way. It proves again that no
problem is too big for our Lord. I also give thanks to our Pastor for
motivating and praying for my family.
** Bro. Ravi Singh, Kalina
Praise the Lord. I had a terrible pain on the left side of my neck. It was
so terrible that I was unable to sleep. I took the prayer oil and applied
it all over the pain. When I woke in the morning the pain had
disappeared. I thank and praise God for this healing and also thank
Pastor Saroja for praying over the oil which healed me and always praying
for me and my family.
Sis. Tara Khushwa, Jogeshwari
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Strong
Faith
It
was a broad river. A couple was peacefully going across the river. The
husband was rowing the boat. Suddenly out of nowhere, waves started
rocking the boat. The current got stronger by the second. It was becoming
almost impossible to control the boat. Help from another boat was out of
question as they knew very well that they were all alone. The wife was
completely terrified. Initially, there was only panic on her face but as
the rocking increased, she began weeping uncontrollably. To her utter
surprise, her husband’s face was peaceful in spite of the danger around.
She panicked, but her husband remained in control, totally calm. With
great effort, the husband somehow controlled the boat and they reached the
bank, safe.
 
Safe at last, the wife remarked to her husband, “I saw your face there; it
was as if nothing had happened at all. Of course you were trying hard to
save us from drowning, but you were completely at ease. How was that
possible? Why did you not panic? The husband smiled pleasantly and drew a
small knife from his pocket. He pointed it to her throat and asked, “Are
you scared now?” The wife burst out laughing and said, “We have lived
together for so many years. We have shared more than our lives……I know you
better than our lives….I know you better than any person in this world. I
believe you. How could you point a knife and expect me to panic?”
“Exactly!” said the husband. “I have long trusted God. I know I can trust
Him. Not for a nano second did I have a thought that the waters would
topple the boat. I knew He wouldn’t do that to us. I had no reason to
panic, I simply believed Him!”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Christmas @ Rose of Sharon Church
This year’s Christmas Festivities were celebrated once
again at one of the halls of St. Mary’s High School, Kalina on the
evening of
23rd Dec 2013.
The program was inaugurated by Pastor Saroja with a prayer and welcome address to all
members who had come from far and wide i.e. Kalina,
Mira Road,
Bhilad Gujarat, Rajasthan, and
Bangalore.
A ‘Happy Christmas song’ was performed by Sis. Padma during the
inauguration phase.
Beginning with lively dance and songs by the Sunday
School Children of Kalina and Bhilad, the program followed with a
prayer and songs by Pastor Walsingh Khihuri and Pastor Laxmanlal, both
from Rajasthan.
 A
skit performed by the Women’s fellowship on Jesus’ life followed showing
a few of the miracles our Lord Jesus performed while on earth.
This
was followed by a skit by the Married Couples on Elisha and his servant
Gehazi and a few of the miracles Elisha performed. They also presented a
skit which showed that one believer in the family can bring the whole
family to Christ by being a good testimony.
 The
youth performed a lovely dance number followed by the ladies who
performed another dance number.
Thereafter the youth performed a skit showing modern life
and how in today’s world we are so caught up with the lusts of this
world. The play went on to show that when trouble arises and we pray to
God in faith, He hears our cry and delivers us.
This was followed by a Hindi song performed beautifully by the Men’s Group. The youth then came
back to perform a dance and a skit, this time depicting how one pious
individual can pray and change the lives of their family.
 The
birth of Jesus was enacted by the youth in closing and thereafter the
moment that all children were anxiously waiting for… the arrival of
Santa Claus with gifts for all.
A time
for dancing and celebration for all groups followed while the dinner
snack was opened and all refreshed themselves with the sweet Savaiyan
bhaath prepared for the occasion by Pastor Saroja.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The essence of Christmas
What is
the essence of Christmas? What is the hope of Christmas? Christmas is a
‘Happy Day’ for all of us. Jesus Christ our Lord was born in the
form of a human being like you and me; that is why it is a ‘Happy Day’
for us all.
1Timothy 3:16
says “And without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the
Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the
world, Received up in glory.”
This is the secret of our happiness for Christmas. It is very important
for us to understand the happiness of Christmas. Yes, the reason is that
Jesus Christ was born in a physical form, for our sakes. God
was manifested in flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen
by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world and was
received up in glory. Thus we the Christians in this world can be
proud and rejoice in this very fact that the God who made heaven and
earth, who lives in the heavens above, the King of Kings, came down
into this world for our sakes to give us ‘Happiness’ in this world. Before
He was born into this world, no man could see His glory; He was sent down
to the earth that we may experience the happiness. But he was sent into
the world so that He could preach the Kingdom of God to us and we could be
saved. In different ways Jesus has given us
 happiness
in the world.
Mathew 1:21,
23 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call
His name
Jesus,
for He will save His people from their sins.
Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a
Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.”
Immanuel
is translated as “God with us.”
To give us deliverance from our sins, our God
Immanuel came down to this earth in the form of man so that He
could stay close to us.
Prophet
Isaiah says in
Isaiah 9:6 “For
unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will
be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.
Much
before Jesus Christ was born into this world, Prophet Isaiah had
prophesied about Jesus Christ; that He would be born for our sakes -
Christ meaning ‘born of the Spirit’, Jesus meaning ‘deliver
us from our sins’, Emmanuel meaning ‘God with us’. Our
God is so good, mighty and supreme. He who lived in the heavenly kingdom
was sent into this world for you and me. Let us see how Jesus Christ lived
in our midst in this world. John the Baptist says in
John 1:14 “And
the Word became 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”.
We
must remember that God was manifested in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles,
believed on in the world and was received up in glory. But He
continues to live with us in this world through the ‘Word’. Lord Jesus
Christ himself is the living Word - when we know this truth we will be
delivered of all our sins. That is why the evil one tries to rob us of the
‘Word’. Jesus Christ today speaks to us through His Word; He came into
this world to show us the glory of His Father God.
Luke 1:78-79 “Through
the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has
visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the
shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Thus those
who accept this Word and live according to the Word, accept the Heavenly
Father God .
As we celebrate Christmas today, we must accept Jesus Christ and also the
Word. When we desire to know Jesus Christ, in turn we desire to know our
Father God. Hence, together we will enjoy the happiness of heaven.
Through Jesus Christ we receive the light of the world; when we walk
together with God and be obedient to His Word, we give Jesus Christ a
prominent place in our lives. When we love Jesus Christ and give him an
important place, in turn we give our Father God the first place in our
life. The home which welcomes Jesus Christ and gives Him the first place
in their lives, that home becomes a dwelling place of God and becomes
heaven-like. When we accept the light of Heaven into our homes, all
darkness is gone and our lives are lit up by the Light of God. This is the
reason for God to dwell in our homes.
Let us
read again
Luke 1:78-79 “Through
the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has
visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of
death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Thus, when
we accept Jesus Christ we accept the Light that has come down from the
heavenly Kingdom. We have seen the meaning of the names Jesus,
Christ and Emmanuel by Prophet Isaiah; but Jesus the ‘light of
the world’ when He shines into our homes, all darkness flees and there
will be no spiritual death in that home. We wonder sometimes how we can be
perfect; how we can love God and be obedient to His Word, walking with Him
diligently? Many of us cannot be obedient to His word and keep His
commandments. Hence, how can we follow and be obedient to what God speaks
to us? Let us see Enoch’s life in the Holy Scriptures; he was like you and
me - a family man with a family, children and relatives. But he walked
closely with the Lord God. He loved the Lord more than any other in his
life. God spoke to Enoch face to face. Enoch feared the Lord. Thus he was
blessed. We find it difficult to give God the first place in our life; for
us it is always our family, friends and society that gets priority. We do
not keep God’s commandment nor do we walk according to His laws. This
takes us from darkness into deep darkness because we embrace the world and
its wrong doings. Our God is the heavenly Light who came down into this
world to take away darkness and shine His light upon us and fill us with
brightness and happiness. But why is there still darkness in our lives? It
is because we have not accepted this Light into our lives, unlike Enoch,
who was diligent in faith and loved the Lord and walked closely with God.
Genesis
5:22 “After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God
three hundred years, and had sons and daughters”.
After his firstborn, Enoch knew God and He gave God the first place in His
life, thereafter his family increased and he continued to walk with the
Lord for 300 years. Is anything hard for the Lord? Nothing is hard for the
Lord. Thus in the book of faith, Enoch’s name has the first mention. We
should never enjoy Christmas in the worldly way, rather we should enjoy
Christmas with the true spirit of Jesus
Christ.
The true spirit of Christmas is explained in
I Timothy 3:16
“And without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness:
 God
was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in
glory.”
Here the
Lord God, shows us His great love for us, He was
manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached
among the Gentiles, believed on in the world and was received up in glory.
The true meaning of Christmas is “Born by the spirit, shown to us by
the Angels, preached salvation to the perishing and finally lifted up in
glory.” Jesus never looked at anyone’s face and gave His judgement;
rather He looked within their hearts. Thus He was righteous in Spirit. He
was always led by the Spirit to proclaim His judgment upon men. We too
must never take any man at face value; we too must make our judgments
righteously. Prophet Samuel was in search of a new King for Israel, so he
went throughout Israel in search for a new King by His own wisdom. He
continued to look for wise, strapping and handsome men to be the next
successor of Israel. But God had already instituted David to be the next
King and He showed Samuel that He had already chosen David to be the
future King of Israel.
2 Chronicle
19:5-7“Then he set judges in the land throughout all
the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the
judges, ‘Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but
for the
Lord,
who is with you in the judgment. Now therefore, let the fear of the
Lord
be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity
with the
Lord
our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes.”
Thus the Lord God tells us never be partial in our judgment. We must
always be obedient to Lord’s Word. In this church, we have to be diligent
and obey God’s Word righteously. Those who accept the Word of God will be
blessed and those who do not accept the Word, for them the doors of this
church will always be closed. What is the true meaning of Christmas? Our
Jesus Christ was born as a human being on this earth, God
was manifested in flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen
by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world and was
received up in glory. This is the true meaning of Christmas; this
should be etched in our hearts forever. We may not have known the true
meaning of Christianity before, but today God has revealed to us the truth
and we must consider ourselves privileged children of God who are given
the opportunity to hear the Truth of the Word and be saved in this world.
Let us
read
 Hebrews
13:5 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be
content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said,
I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
The promise of God for us is “I will never leave you
nor forsake you”, then why should we love the world first and
forsake God? When God loves us, all darkness vanishes from our lives.
Money
is the
root of all evil, today it is with us and tomorrow it will be with others.
In the Holy Scriptures we know the story of the widow, who came searching
for dry sticks in the jungle, so that she could bake bread for her son and
herself, which they both would eat and then die, because that was all that
was left in their life. But here we see how the Lord God tests her through
His Prophet Elijah who tells the widow “first bake a bread and feed me”.
Similarly for the second promise to be fulfilled in our lives, we must
completely adhere to the first command of God in
Hebrews 13:5 “Let
your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you
have. For He Himself has said, I will never
leave you nor forsake you.”
The widow obeyed the Prophet and baked him bread first and fed the servant
of God. Wonder what she must have told her son… “Let us both drink water
and retire to bed, but we must be obedient to the servant of God, let us
feed him first”. God saw this obedience and blessed the widow’s family who
lacked for nothing thereafter. God desires the same obedience from us; He
speaks to us every day through the Word. Our motto must be that we must
bow down to His word and accept it totally, only then we will receive His
immense blessings in our life. The waters of living water will flow from
the throne of God into every home who believes in Him and His Word.
Mathew
24:40-41 “Then two men will be in the field: one
will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will
be taken and the other left.”
Our God is not a partial God; whoever follows God diligently, His promise
for them is that He will never forsake Him. God who has told the judges,
priests, evangelists, preachers not to be partial, will He Himself be
partial? Never! Then what is the reason for God to take one person and
leave the other person? It is because we do not obey the first promise,
thus the second promise cannot be fulfilled in our lives.
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content
with such things as you have. For He Himself has said,
I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Our
God is an unchanging God; He also does not turn away from His promise
given to us. He is not a man, to lie or change His words.
Numbers 23:20
says “Behold, I have received a command to
bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it”.
God has already blessed us; no one can change the blessings that God has
given us. Our God’s promise is that “I will never leave you nor forsake
you”. Will our God go back on His word or will He turn away from the
promise He has given us? What is the reason then, if two are together one
will be taken and the other will be left back? It is because many follow
the second promise forsaking the first and many forsake the first promise
and hope the second promise to be fulfilled in their lives. Thus, God will
take away one and leave the other. He is the same unchanging God. It is
important for us to know the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus Christ has
come into this world to stay with us forever; even today He speaks to us
through His Word.
Genesis 5:24 “And
Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him”.
We
may not believe that when Jesus says “Where there are two - one will be
taken away and the other left back”. But in the scriptures we have read
that it has happened before. Enoch walked with God everyday; He talked to
him face to face, Enoch feared God. And yes, he was carried away by God.
What we read
in Mathew 24:40-41 is true; in the end times the Lord God will take away
His righteous ones in a similar way. That is why Lord God is with us
today, showing His power, strength & might amongst us. He shows us His
love and thus when He corrects us, we must change and accept the truth and
separate ourselves from the sins of this world. Only then we can be
saved.
Hebrew 11:5
says “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not
see death, and was not found, because God had
taken him”
For before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased
God.
When Enoch was in this world itself, people knew he was perfect with God
and feared God. It was not after he was lifted up by God that people
realized this truth. Thus, we too must love God, have faith and believe in
Him, walk in His Spirit of righteousness and always do the will of God. We
must mould our lives according to the will of God and bow down our knees
before Him. Our troubles, trials and tribulations will be only that much
as we can bear in this world. He knows our limitations. It is our duty to
stand for the Lord God as much as we can. The more we try to be diligent
to the Word, obey His commandments, walk in His way of truth; God will
help us more to get closer to Him. When we take one step towards Him, He
will take ten steps towards us. Our God has already promised us that “He
will never leave us nor forsake us”. He will always be there for us, He
will strengthen us when we are weak, and He will lift us up when we fall.
He will be our very help in the time of our troubles.
Let us
read
James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to
you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your
hearts, you double-minded”.
We must
always try to get close to God and He will draw closer to us. But if we
try to go away from Him, still our God has patience and He will wait for
us for to be fruitful for Him. He will expect
that we
will give him fruit this year or the next, or even the year after that. He
will never give up on us easily. He shows us His grace; He intercedes with
God the Father for us and asks for some more time to work in our lives.
Jesus asks for time from His Father - He says “I will dig my people’s
heart more and more with the Word and ensure that they are fruitful for
the Kingdom of God”. If my people do not relent from their sinful ways and
hear the Word and pay head to My commandments, then I will pluck them and
destroy them into the fire. What is the use of such a life? It is a futile
life when we run away from the Lord. We must remember “He will draw closer
to those who come closer to him”.
James 4:8 “Draw
near to God and
 He
will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and
purify your hearts, you double-minded”
Jesus
speaks in a parable in
Luke 15:20 “And
he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off,
his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and
kissed him.“
The son only thought of drawing closer to his father while the father
saw him and ran towards him to embrace him. Similarly, James also says “Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you”. Today, the same Word is
preached here, the more closer we try to get with God the more closer He
will draw close to us.
2 Chronicles
15:2 says “And he went out to meet Asa, and said to
him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The
Lord is with you while you
are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake
Him, He will forsake you”.
We must always have the desire within us to come closer to God. The closer
we come, the more close He will draw to us. Our God can do everything for
us, nothing is difficult for Him. But, foolish are the ones who put their
faith in man. The word says “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, then
everything will be added unto you”.
God’s promise for us is the same today, Revelation
3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone
hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with
him, and he with Me”.
God who came into this world in a physical form for our sakes, He who
promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us, speaks to us even
today “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine
with him, and he with Me”. When we are drowned in this world,
we will never be able to hear God’s knock. Thus if we have ears, let us
hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Remember, He is not a partial
God. When we have money with us the world is with us, but when our money
is over the world will forsake us. But our God is a Gentleman; He will
never force himself upon us. He will wait outside and knock. Only if we
open the door and let Him in, will He come in. He is our God who will set
a table in front of our enemies for us. Our homes will thus lack for
nothing; His blessings will overflow in our lives.
This
Christmas, we have to open the doors for Jesus Christ to enter in. He is
waiting and knocking
 at
our door today, the lock is from within, and we have to open our doors to
let Him enter in. David’s experience says in
Psalm
139:17-18 “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O
God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they
would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You”.
In
our lives too we must experience this as David did, we must count our
blessings one by one, as they are innumerable in our lives. God speaks to
us through His word, even today. His love is manifested through His word
alone. We must take every correction our Lord God gives us. We must never
hide our sins; rather we are blessed when we get correction in our
lives. We are only dust before Him. God purifies us constantly through
His word and fire. God’s judgment never comes upon us in the same measure
of our sins; if it did we would never be able to stand before our flaming
God. We must confess our sins and we will immediately see God’s grace upon
us. God continues to be our refiner.
John 14:21, 23
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who
loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love
him and manifest Myself to him. Jesus answered
and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will
keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and
make Our home with him.”
When we
read and accept the word of God, keep His commandments and love Him, He
will manifest Himself in our lives and we will feel the presence of both
Jesus Christ as well as the Father God in our lives. This is the true
meaning of ‘Christmas in our life’. When we enjoy the presence of both the
Father God and His son Jesus Christ, our lives will be BLESSED!
May this
message be a blessing to all readers! Praise the Lord!
Pastor
Saroja M
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“PREM” son of Mayura and
Austin Amanna was dedicated at the Rose of Sharon Church, Kalina on 12 Jan
2014 by Pastor Saroja M.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rose of Sharon Old Age home
Greetings once again to all our dear readers in the most Holy and
Matchless name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus of Nazareth.
Welcome back, it’s a great joy to bring to our dear readers the first
article of the year. In this month’s article I would like to testify about
the Lord’s marvelous work in the life of our dear Aunty Meena Noronha.
 Aunty Meena moved into the Rose of Sharon
old age home almost a year ago
in March 2013. When she came to the home, she
was a diabetic patient under medication for the same. In those days, since she had
high blood sugar levels, she was taking one full tablet to keep her
diabetes in check. But by the grace of God a few months later, as we
continued monitoring her blood sugar, we realized that her sugar was
continuously reducing. So we cut down her tablet intake to half a tablet
and that too for every alternate day.
In the month of December we completely stopped her diabetic tablet
thinking that our dear Lord alone can heal Aunty Meena from diabetes. In
the past, our Lord Jesus had done a similar thing in the life of granny
Merlyn Braganza whose diabetic tablets we had stopped some 3 years ago.
Granny Merlyn, by the grace of God is hale and healthy and is enjoying a
diabetic free life after coming to the Rose of Sharon old age home.
We believed that our Lord Jesus has the power to heal Aunty Meena too.
With this belief we stopped her medicines in December 2013 and after a
month had passed we monitored her blood sugar as per our routine checkup.
Our joy knew no bounds when we realized that Aunty Meena’s blood sugar
findings were completely normal despite having stopped her medicines
completely. Now she is under no medication for diabetes and we believe
that our dear Lord Jesus will continue to give this aunty good health and
a diabetic free life at the Rose of Sharon old age home. We give all glory
to Lord Jesus for His healing touch in this Aunty’s life.
Thank You Jesus, Praise The Lord…
Bro. Moses George
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 Back
to Sunday Sunday in the New
Year!
After the enjoyable Christmas holidays, our little children are back with
great joy and zest for another year of learning at the Rose of Sharon
Sunday school.
Another wonderful year of hearing the Word of God … a year of living the
true Christian life, of walking with Jesus everyday and of shining as
little lights in the world... another great year in store for our dear
Sunday school children!
Sunday school in the month of January started with songs of praise and
testimonies. The children had their tests at school - so most of their
testimonies were all about God’s wonderful grace during their unit tests.
This
month was about the teachings from the Old Testament… the children were so
curious and full of questions about the Old Testament. They were most
fascinated with the historical facts from the land of Israel.
The
children started with the book of Judges. And all of the first quarter of
the year will be focused in teaching the children all the Christian values
shared in this book of the Bible.
The
children also enjoyed one Sunday of general class with action songs and
games. They heard with rapt attention the story of Samson and learnt about
the importance of obedience to the word of God and the grace bestowed upon
one’s sincere repentance.
Do
lift up our dear children in your daily prayers that they might have a
truly blessed year ahead.
Praise the Lord!!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Top
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
