Month: June 2022

Why do you look so sad? “

Genesis 40:7

Joseph was in prison. Then there came the butler and the baker from the palace as a punishment. Joseph was able to say to them,”why do you look so sad?”. Joseph was the one who was falsely accused and imprisoned. Yet, he was cheering up somebody. Even though we may be in an adverse condition  we can still encourage  another person who may be in greater trouble  than we are.

         Many of God’s preparations for us are simply aimed to get our eyes off ourselves and to lead us out from self-pity. when he saw that the two men were troubled, and heard each had a dream, Joseph said  ” Do not interpretation belongs to God? Tell me them, I pray you”. Genesis 40:8   Joseph in a flash saw the meaning of the two dreams. The Spirit of God told him the meaning of three branches and the three days.

     Joseph was still under preparation by God. An important part of Joseph’s preparation was for him to be delivered from self- pity, self-righteousness and from any need to manipulate the future.  God gave the dreams to the butler and baker for that. He rightly interpreted the butler’s dream,” You are going to be restored ” But in an unguarded moment Joseph went a bit too far. He said,” but remember me when it is well with  you, and  please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house “.Having said remember me to pharaoh  in Genesis 40:14 Joseph continued “For indeed  I was stolen away from the land of Hebrews ,and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon  .”.Genesis 40:15

            The butler was restored to his job, but completely forgot about Joseph. He was to be in prison for two more years.

“yet the chief butler didn’t remember Joseph, but forgot him”.

Genesis 40:23

          Joseph insisted on defending himself “that he is innocent, and don’t deserve to be here”.

The way God was disciplining Joseph is what He is doing with all of us. God wants to bring us to the place described

“For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby Justified; but He that judgeth me is the Lord”. “Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes”.

1 Corinthians 4:4-5

         The kind of work God had in mind for Joseph was that, he had to be devoid of any defensiveness or any kind of self- pity. Because of that he was sentenced to two more years in prison. At the end of two full years, the Pharaoh  had a dream. That was God’s provision for Joseph to get a break through in God’s own time.

Prayer

      Father God give us the grace to depend fully in you and not on our own abilities and intelligence. I pray in Jesus name.

Amen

Sol.Gerard

“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”

Genesis 6:6

One of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is “Long Suffering”.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, LONGSUFFERING, gentleness, goodness, faith.. Galatians 5:22-23

I always wondered what does it mean and why is it at all the fruit of the Holy Spirit?

We see right from the garden of Eden where the first man and women sinned against God, it goes on and on till the time of Noah when finally, God said,” My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh”. (Genesis 6:3) God saw His people willfully sinning and rebelling, doing all that was sin and God’s Spirit grieved and He was longing for the love and reverence from His people. He got disappointed from the sin of Adam, till the time of Noah, thousands of years, God was waiting for His children to repent and to come in line with His purpose. When He created the World, it took Him only 6 days, but we see when the flood came upon earth, it took 40 days to cover the earth with water and only after further 150 days, the water started receding. God could have done it in a single day but he himself chose to suffer during all those days. His suffering hasn’t ended yet. Since the creation came into existence till the crucifixion of His son Lord Jesus Christ, God suffered and has been suffering.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16

In the ailing and tormented body of Christ on the cross, God punished our sins and

He Himself took part in those sufferings by sending His own son to die on the Cross.

“ He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.”

Romans 8:32

It’s the time to acknowledge that if we are being blamed, persecuted, put into hardship, trials (“count it all joy when you fall into various temptations” James 1:2) and don’t cry to the Lord, Oh Lord! How long? Remember God is also suffering with us and He will not let us suffer beyond our endurance. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. “

2 Peter 3:9

Needless to say, like every faithful Christian, I have been suffering since the time I came to the saving knowledge of Lord Jesus Christ. I was persecuted in my 1st church mentally, emotionally and physically but forgiving everyone, I am just holding on to God and patiently waiting on Him because He has said in John 16:20,” your mourning will turn into joy”

Prayer

Lord! give us your grace in our affliction and suffering, let patience has it perfect work in us and we don’t waiver in following the path that you have shown through your Son Lord Jesus Christ! In Jesus name, I pray.

Amen

Sol.Neha

If Your Eye Causes You To Stumble And Sin, Pluck It Out And Throw It Away From You [That Is, Remove Yourself From The Source Of Temptation]; It Is Better For You To Enter Life With Only One Eye, Than To Have Two Eyes And Be Thrown Into The Fiery Hell.

MATTHEW 18: 9

Eyes causing to stumble & sin means:- lose balance & going down in darkness in SIN. We need to understand this:- that something is observed which is dangerous sin, as this verse say’s to pluck it out & throw THE SOURCE OF TEMPTATION.

Everyone in life stumble, however there is a role to play after stumbling in life. Here is a question, How to pluck out & throw away the Sins of eyes?

• ---

  Writing about times you’ve stumbled helps get you on back on course.
• Your choices.
• Let your yes be yes & no be no.
  

  ---

Let’s not forget the reality that people stumble & fall into sin is because of lack of S E L F C O N T R O L.

This lack is all because:- when we fail to trust and delight in God and find our strength in Him, when our priorities get out of balance, or when we fail to see life from God’s perspective and end up making foolish choices.

These are some of the consequences of stumbling: fear, insecurity and withdrawal from following the Lord.

 Examples in the Bible who stumble:- David fell into tremendous sin, but once again walked with the Lord and penned warnings and encouragement for God’s people. Jacob lied repeatedly, but later God used him to raise up and teach truth to twelve sons who became the leaders of Israel’s tribes. Cowardly Peter stumbled badly when he denied his Lord, yet he rose up in the power of Christ and became a courageous leader in the New Testament church.

God’s hand is always stretched out to lift up sinners and get them walking with Him again. Those who delight in Him will be blessed as they refuse to walk in step with the wicked.

Everyone fails, and everyone reacts to failure differently. We need to make peace with the fact that we will fall many times throughout our journey. However, when we commit ourselves to get back up, dust ourselves off, be honest about how we feel and what happened, and not let it stop us from being who we are and going for what we want – we tap into what true power, boldness, and authenticity are all about.

As Mark Twain reminds us in one of his many famous quote’s

“Dance like nobody’s watching; love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like nobody’s listening; live like it’s heaven on earth.”

Let’s Pray:- Dear Lord, I know that I am weak and I need your help to overcome my temptations. Please give me the strength to resist evil and to do your will. I pray for self-control and ask that you will give me the power to choose what is right and good in all situations. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

---

SOL.PRITI JAIN

---

But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

2 Chronicles 5:18

Here we see Naaman is requesting Elisa to intercede for him on this one thing which is against the commandment of God. I have heard this story many times in my church but when I read it once after I was saved by the Grace of God in the year 2020 The Holy Spirit helped me to relate what I should do like Naaman did.

Naaman when he immersed in the river Jordan he was healed. At that moment his eyes was opened and he knew the God of Israel is the true living God. During his return journey from Jordan to meet Elisa even if we count it as 2 hours approximately Naaman made a decision that he will only serve the God of Israel. He might have run through his mind the thing he has to leave being from a country Syria which is full of Idolatry and demon worships. He had to leave his festivals, traditions & habits but he was never hesitant to make a decision to leave them all after realizing the truth. We can understand that from the above verse 2 Ch 5:18 the only one thing he cannot not skip was being with the king at the Rimmon temple as he being the Army commander must be beside the king which is unavoidable. So he requests for pardon and grace to Elisa from The Lord.

When I was saved by The Lord, The Holy Spirit told me to do the same. Delete all my old life. I throwed all my idols being a catholic, erased all my email, google, YouTube and Facebook history, removed my Instagram account knowing I don’t need it. I exited certain WhatsApp group and even stopped speaking to a few friends basically left anything that could lead me back to my old sinful life.

The same happened with Elisa when Elijah called him, he killed the Oxe which he was ploughing and used the same yoke to cook the Oxe. He offered his work so that he cannot return to it from his calling. We see King David burning all Idols from the cities and places he captured because in future it may slip into Israel. He made sure every idol is burnt completely.

Today we see people in the church interested in their customs and traditions rather than to obey the Word of God. It is a question we have to ask ourselves is there anything Lord I have to leave still to become closer to you anything that leads me away from you to remove it completely from my life.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven Give us the grace O Lord to identify the things in out life that leads us away from you and to remove that from our lives completely so that we may live a life to please you. In Jesus name I Pray Amen.

Sol.Leo

“that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ “.

1 Peter 1:7

Faith is more valuable than gold or precious stones or valuable metals. By the latter we can attain certain values on this earth. But by faith only we can obtain eternal life. Our Faith needs is tested by the sufferings we under go. To remove all impurities gold is purified in fire. By the same process if we undergo sufferings and patiently endure it, we also come out as gold good for God’s kingdom. 

“Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience “.

James 1:3

The gold ornaments are usually made with outer covering which is pure gold and inside some cheap metals. We can’t deceive the Lord by our outer appearance. Lord will search our heart also. Faith gives us love of God. So we will get His power, grace, anointing, leading, counsel and wisdom.

           Lord will watch us in times of suffering whether we hold on to our faith or reject Him. God will search our hearts reactions to sufferings whether we please and honour Him or think, speak and things against Him. If our faith is stronger even after testing, it brings great joy, honour and pleasure to God.  Pure gold can be beaten into any shape. Similarly, if our faith is strong and pure, God can use our lives for His glory. So, don’t waste your time by pleasing worldly people but try to please God. Our faith is the treasure we can store in heaven, that neither moth nor rust nor fire can destroy. 

All our trials are testing of our faith. If we pass all quality tests Lord will approve us for the kingdom work. We are cleansed, perfected and equipped from within to shine for the Lord and to bring glory to His name. Each trial makes us better and better This is what pleases the Lord.

Mathew 6:19-20

Prayer

            Father God help us to persevere and endure the trials and come out victoriously to please you.

Amen

Sol.Gigi Jacob

Rectification needed after repentance and confession

Now then make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” 

Ezr 10:11 

While I was reading this verses in the Bible, Holy Spirit started moving in me. What a great reform this is? Every sin committed has 2 impacts.

1. The  evil impact on in the individual who commits
2. The evil impact on the  society in which he lives.

Repentance and confession of sins  only  will not solve problems created by sin.

It needs  rectification.

  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 

Mat 3:8

The reforms brought forth by Ezra, demanded  two kinds of rectification by the people. 

1. Separate  yourselves from the people of the land 
2. Separate  yourselves from the foreign wives  

First one  could be done easily. Let us come to the second one.

The Lord had strictly warned them not to take wives from foreign nations. But they did and desecrated themselves.. This may look little hard to do but the command  of the Lord  remains unchangeable.

  Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 

Mat 3:10

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Mat 3:12 

The Lord  separates “the woman’s  seed” from the  “serpent seed”.  

He does this without any respect for persons.  The winnowing fork (Word of God) does this separation. It will separate the harvested  grain into 2 varieties.

1. The wheat – will be gathered into the barn (Jesus’ Kingdom)
2. The chaff  – will be thrown  into the unquenchable fire. (Hell)

In Old Testament the selection was  by bloodline  and genealogy. But in New Testament it is by Faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith in Jesus Christ  requires obeying His Commandments.

Today the winnowing fork He used for separation is  “The  commandments of the Lord”.

  Jesus answered 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.

Joh 14:23

Let’s be careful that no impurities which needs rectification enters into the camp of AOJ?

Can you imagine the after effects of separating husbands from the foreign wives they took? What would have happened on the day of sending these wives back from their families?

What would have happened to the children?

Every time we repent, let us bear fruit in keeping with repentance

Sr. Angelica AOJ

“For where envy and self-seeking exist,  confusion  and   every evil thing will be  there”

James 3:16

Only born again believers who walk in Spirit  and truth are enabled  to  display the good and godly characters.  Unsaved sinners and carnal Christians  carry out the works of the flesh like envy, jealousy, selfish ambition  and the pride of life.  Conflict in families, homes and in work place is from our pride.  Pride leads to envy, jealousy, bitterness, competition, confusion and the fruit of evil. They destroy  the  good fruit in our spiritual  lives. In Old Testament  we have an example of Cain’s envy of his brother Abel, which led him to kill him.Envy starts in our heart and it make us do what it wants. So it is better to drive it away in the beginning  otherwise it will over grow, the good plants, like weeds.

We cannot  be  half spiritual and half carnal. Our connection needs to be with the good root of Jesus and not the bad root of pride, envy, and bitterness. We need to have our hearts get rid of envy and pride. We should  produce the good fruit of Holy Spirit–love, Joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness,  humility  and self-control. We should not allow the evil habits creep into us and take control of our hearts  and tongues. Many are content with calling the name of Jesus and saying  He is the King of Kings and Lord  of Lords and go on living as they please.  Even though  we are supposed to put to death  our carnal nature. Even though we do,  It resurrects from time to time.We have been given the authority  of a  king and the meekness and power of priests.  Use the kingly authority  over our hearts  thoughts, temper, tongues, so that we won’t  show any expression   not pleasing to God.By the priestly quality walk in faith and integrity.

          I had this Spirit of anger before.But by the grace of God,  after knowing the truth, was able to control  it. ” Be still and know that I am the Lord” this verse help me to keep silent. Holy Spirit remind me also verses like,

” as the elect of God……put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind……..forgiving one another”.

Colossians 3:12-13

“ The battle is not yours, but God’s”.

2Chronicles 20:15

” Vengeance  is  mine,  I will  repay”.

Romans  12:19

Prayer

         Heavenly Father thank you for helping me to control  anger.Give me the grace to produce the  fruit of the Holy Spirit.In the name of Jesus I ask.

Amen

Sol.Gigi Jacob

  ^{Return on Investment}

Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

Luke 5:3

Jesus had just preached in the synagogues of Galilee and had healed the sick, set free the demon possessed, the word must have got around. Jesus was now by the Lake of Gennesaret and multitudes flocked after Him for they were keen to hear him preach the word of God. They knew He must have a word from God for their sickness, their debts, their children, their family, etc. They weren’t keen on meeting any other super specialty eminent doctor , but they knew this Jesus was a super specialty hospital and a super physician, they had heard of it. He had answers to their issue that the world could not give.

Jesus saw two boats standing by the lake, the one that the fishermen had just returned from. He borrowed Simon’s boat with the intention to start his church service that day. He asked it to be put out a little from the land. He sat and taught the large crowd from the boat.

Simon must have wondered, when would he be able to get back home, he wasn’t in a great mood that day. He had just spent a whole sleepless night, toiled says the bible, caught no fish at all. He was sleepy, tired, disappointed, hungry, worried for he didn’t know how he would pay the bills, what would he take home for food etc. Little did he know that Simon had lent the boat to the owner of heaven, earth and the seas, one who had said in Mark 10:30. But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time.

Jesus completed His sermon and instantly spoke to Simon, Luke 5:4 “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Well Simon explained the statistics and facts, the hours spent through the night and how futile it was considering that he was a maestro at it. Yet, he said,” at Your word” I will let down the net. Some how Simon was convinced that this was no ordinary man, he thought let me obey him.

Now, Jesus is Lord over the sea, the fish, the earth and heaven. The moment He spoke, the fish swam towards the net and were so great in number that their net was breaking. They had to shout out to their partners in the other boat to come and help. The boat began to sink with huge numbers of fish. Simon fell at Jesus knees, repenting of his sin and asked Jesus to depart from him.

Jesus had given Simon the Return on investment (ROI) that he was amazed. This was the highest form of return, a same day multifold return, salvation and he was made fishers of men! Are you investing your time, prayer, money anything and everything in Jesus?

Every opportunity you get to do anything for Jesus you don’t lose it, I can vouch for that. I have not been able to out do Jesus, whatever I have done for Jesus, in the name of Jesus, it has been returned multi fold in my life.

Prayer

Loving heavenly Father, thank you that you are not a debtor but a creditor, may anyone and everyone who reads this be assured that nothing done for you is a waste that it’s fully accounted and returned exceedingly abundant and beyond measure in Jesus mighty name I pray,

Amen!!

–Sol.Lalitha Menon

“I will not leave you nor forsaken you”

Hebrews 13:5

God is compassionate and merciful and it is not his will that we perish. It means by any cost he loves to include us in his flock anyway. Sometimes through trials he punishes and makes us shine like Gold before revealing his Glory to us.  The verse Heb 13:5 illuminates us in all our difficulties, troubles, worries, losses, exhaustions, failures etc. But what does God expect of us for that? The preface of the same verse says do not have love for money but be content with what you have.

Yes, dear ones, the desire for money is the root of all the evil.  So, if the desire for money goes away, I can reflect in the eyes of others that I am a true Christ + he/Christ+ She- Christ in me-Christian.

Then Almighty God will not leave nor forsake us. I want to testify about the way this verse came in my life & the way it spoke to me.

Testimony

My name is Stella Mary. My husband Dharmaraj & I were both teachers in a government school by the grace of God. My husband was diagnosed with ALM leukemia in 2011 after having continuous fever. After 3 years at 2014 in CMC Vellore he was admitted for treatment and suffered untold pain. We belong to catholic church. I am a solider in the army of Jesus. I requested many others to pray for my husband and I as well prayed continuously. Then, one night due to low platelets in blood, blood came out and he became unconscious. Near my unconscious husband , I sat down and said “Jesus I believe that this is your blood, the blood that was shed for us”. I prayed in tears that you would wash and heal my husband with your blood. Then God gave me this word (Hebrews 13:5) through The Holy Spirit in my heart. I heard a soft voice” Wipe away the tears, why are you crying He said? When your husband was the head master of an upper grade school, he did not accept any bribe even when he had the chance. He did not have the desire to get any form of money through bribe. Your husband did not hesitate to reprimand his coworkers when they accepted bribes. He lived as a child of God, do not worry. From that day on my husband had started recovering little by little and God gave the grace to recover completely from cancer. My husband who was told he had a five percent chance of survival (since he was 54) but God who said I will not leave you nor forsake you lifted up my husband from cancer and to Him be all praise and Glory forever and ever!

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you Dad for the unconditional love & compassion that made me realize that no dark force, no satanic intrigue or disease can stop God’s blessings if the scriptures begin to work in our lives.  God of love comforts all those believers in him . We extend our heartfelt thanks for your wonderful deeds and miracles. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray

Amen

Sol. Stella Mary

And to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Luke 2:24

The setting is the temple

  A  Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, is brought in the arms of His mother Mary. It is customary according to the law of Moses, for marking the dedication of a child to God, the mother had to bring a lamb of the first year as burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtle dove as sin- offering, making atonement. (Leviticus 12:6, 12:8). The mother’s requisite sacrifice is the same whether she gave birth to a boy or girl. There is provision for those who cannot afford a lamb, they may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. One as a burnt offering and other as sin offering.

  Now when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”).

Luke 2:22

People who came to the church that day focused on the wealth indicator, who offered a lamb, who wore the best clothes, drove the best car

But there was one from Jerusalem, Simeon, who was looking out for the Promised one, the Messiah. Since Simeon was Holy Spirit led, he had revelation that this poor couple were  carrying the only Son of Yahweh, creator of heaven and earth, the King of King, the Lord of Lord, the Redeemer, the saviour. He did not go by the offering made for atonement. When many in the temple, ignored this baby he saw who this was. We know that this child grew strong in spirit, wisdom and the grace of God was upon Him.

By the time He was 12 years old He was an astonishment to eminent teachers and scholars, in the temple ,because of His understanding and answers too. And by the time He was 30, He revolutionized the world and at 33 the world knew He was the much awaited Messiah, the Lamb sacrificed on the cross for mine and your sins. Little did anyone know that day in the temple that this was the Lamb of God , in the arms of Mary.

If today you are labelled, branded, looked down upon, afflicted, written off, rejected, abandoned, forsaken, ignored then don’t  worry. It’s not over until God says so. The day is not far when the people around you will consider you as an amazement, an astonishment. For the bible says,

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man, The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

1 Cor 2:9

In 2001, people close to me declared its all over and am done. But, look what the Lord has done!!!

Prayer

Loving heavenly Father, thank you for the assurance that when God is for us who can be against us and that You have a great plan for us, not to destroy us but to prosper us.

  Amen!!

Sol.  Lalitha  Menon