Month: August 2022

KNOWING THE CHRIST

Christ Existed Before All Things, And In Union With Him All Things Have Their Proper Place.

Colossians 1:17

Existing is the proof of the Christ.
We can’t share something we don’t have ourselves. We must know Jesus, and actively pursue God, ourselves. We need to display truth and grace.
We all know that Jesus is the way, the truth & the life. He is the door. If no one allows us to enter the door, He will show us the open ceiling of the room.

Luke 5:17-39 famous miracle:- Jesus Heals a Man Let Down through the Roof of a House.

The source of all knowledge about GOD

comes from God himself through the Holy Spirit.

Personal relationships are born of personal experience. In the last chapter, Job responded to God with:

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
Therefore, I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes.
(Job 42:5–6)

Job didn’t know God as well before his difficulty as he did after, through his personal experience. He did not know why he was being afflicted, but in the end God revealed Himself to Job in ways Job had not known before. Their relationship grew.
There are two main ways to get to know anyone.

• One way is to hear about them from someone else.

• Another is to hear from them yourself and walk with them in life.

The advantage we have in developing our relationship with God is that He tells us about Himself in Scripture, His self-revelation.

So step one is to study God’s Word.
Step two is engage in prayer.

Listen for His response by keeping your eyes open to see Him reveal Himself by what He does and says in His Word.

STEP THREE IS WALK WITH HIM DAILY.

Psalms 147:5 Great and mighty is our Lord; his wisdom cannot be measured. Discussing God is a very big topic. He is infinite and we can never understand everything about Him.

As a mother, I always make it sure that my child is comfortable. My child have everything that is needed. When our children are going through unpleasant circumstances, we are with them, right? When our children’s are upset we prepare good food for them. We stand with them. We don’t leave them to suffer all alone, right? Now read Psalms 23 & 91. The Holy Spirit will speak to you.

P R A Y E R :-

Dear Jesus, help us to love you & honor you. Let us know & show your Glory to the world. In Jesus name we pray.

A M E N

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Sol.Priti Jain, AOJ

PHILEMON

This is Paul ‘s prison letter and  a personal letter to Philemon, a slave owner, written  on behalf of  Onesimus who is a run away slave from his master Philemon . This Onesimus met Paul in Rome, accepted Christ ( V10), and became close to Paul (V10, 12 & 16). Paul in this letter, appeals to Philemon to  accept him back- not as a slave  but  with love and forgiveness as a Christian  brother, 

FOR, IN CHRIST,

‘ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female ‘(Gala 3 :28).

This Philemon is  a church member at Colosse, ( V.1&2), probably a convert of Paul.  To win his acceptance and willingness, Paul writes very tactfully in a light  hearted tone, building a rapport,  then ,he states his appeal in V10.

           This is a unique letter, the shortest letter with only one chapter of 25  verses,  written to an individual  in a graceful way , the only New Testament  book that talks about the Roman slavery ( where 6 crores of people were slaves) and  shows how the early church dealt with the problem of slavery. Though  it  seems personal, written to Philemon, he addresses  few others and to “the church” that meets in his house  V1&2 , thus indicating the role of the church in such matters. 

                  Slavery was an integral part of the ancient world.  A master had absolute power over his slaves  who were treated worse than the enemies, in fact, he was not  a person, but a tool. According to the Roman law, if a run away slave was found,  he would  be punished in many ways,from branding his forehead with hot iron to the worst  of being crucified to death. Paul  knew all this  and is taking  a  great risk of  sending  Onesimus back to his master.

          Paul would have liked to keep Onesimus with him V.13 & 14, but he sends him back to his legal owner , because ‘ he did not want to do anything without his consent ‘(v.14) and if Philemon wants, Onesimus could be s

Here Paul is not attacking slavery directly which will be provoking the government authorities, but sets forth the principles of Christianity which removed harshness of slavery and finally banished altogether with the Christian concepts. 

                 Paul has sown the seeds of emancipation in these  words and may be that is the reason why Holy Spirit has included this letter in The Bible.

         Today, we have racism, castism  and untouchability  which are different  shades of slavery – not only in our society, but  ‘”within the church”. Let’s pray that the church should not tolerate  and  encourage such things, but, eradicate it totally. As Paul includes church in the decision making,  it the Duty  of the CHURCH to ‘ uproot and tear  down’ ( jer-1:10) the social evils.

The world stands in need of Liberation,my LORD ,

It still has to learn to LOVE.

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Sis Amala Arunachalam, AOJ

Hebrew 10:26 “If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains”

Before knowing Jesus, I used to often speak lies.  Even without reason, I enjoyed telling lies and never felt guilty about it. There were many other sins in my life of which I was unaware.  When I encountered Jesus in my life, I was made aware of all my sins and I repented for them one by one.  Though I have repented, some of them had still entangled me. Slowly, I got rid of all sins.  I praise and thank Holy Spirit for doing wonderful work in my life, who often convicts me whenever I may fall or tempted to sin.  Holy Spirit safeguards and protects me always.  Even today, whenever I may tend to do wrong, he helps me by convicting me and helping me to correct it.

In John 15:26 Jesus said “I will send you the Helper from the Father.” John 16:8 says when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. It’s the Holy Spirit who work in us, help us to repent and overcome sins, and helps us to live a righteous and holy life.  We need to be very sensitive to Holy Spirit. We must do what he tells us to do. Eph 4:30 says “do not grieve the  Holy Spirit.” If we ignore him continuously, he will be grieved and will leave us.

Our Loving Savior Jesus Christ has paid a tremendous price for our sins and that is why our sins have been easily forgiven. Forgiveness of sins is free for us, but our Lord has paid a big price. If we do not value his love and sacrifice, not living holy life, not allowing Holy Spirit to work in us then we have no hope, there is no further sacrifice for sins remains,

“but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” Hebrew 10:27

Salvation is a very precious gift for us, which gives us eternal life. But even after knowing all truth if we are not concerned about it and live in sin, there is no other way to be saved as no sacrifice remains.  Jesus said it is finished. He has finished all his part. Now, it is our part to choose life or death. (Jeremiah 21:8).

Hebrews 2:3 says “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation”

Dear soldiers, let us examine our lives, repent, allow holy spirit to work in us, be serious about our salvation. If we neglect and live in sin, a fearful judgment is waiting for us. Jesus is only our hope.

Prayer

Dear heavenly father, help us to value the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and live a holy life, in Jesus name, Amen.

                                                                                    Sol. Grishma Patel

THE AUTHORITY OF GOD’s WORD

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ,who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every Spiritual blessing in Christ. “ ( EPHISIANS. 1: 3 )

We must take with profound gratitude this vast and powerful declaration of God concerning our standing in Christ ; those who believe. Hallelujah. The earth where we live is the result of the Authority Of the Word. God created man he brought him immediately under the Authority of his Word.

Ex. Genesis 2 :16 “And God commanded “. WORD has divine Authority. :-
Rev. 19 : 15 “ Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword ,with it he will smite(judge) the Nations and with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Satan tries to challenge and always discredit the authority of the ‘WORD of God ‘.but God says”

Though heaven and earth pass away but my WORD will never pass away. Luke 21:33

satan asked Eve “Has God said that “.
Today in this hour of deepest spiritual darkness the same question is in the minds of the masses. It is a subtle satan’s challenge to the authority of the WORD of God. But God backs his Word .It is eternal and unshakable The Word of God. The scientists confirmed that the Atom has no negative and positive elements to hold things together. The whole creation should be flying apart but Jesus sustains this creation by his Word. Behind all creation there is the power of Word and life of God.

Isaiah 55: 11” So is my word that goes out from my mouth, will not return empty but will accomplish the purpose for which l sent it “.

The spoken word of God has the supernatural power to bring into
existence the things that are not. for ex. ”Let there be light”.
The word of Jesus contained not only the authority but power, life, energy and ability .when he cursed, the fig tree withered. He hushed the wind and the waves to silence and restored them with the power and authority of his word. He raised Lazarus with one call. Yes Jesus is the Living Word. John 1:14 “Jesus was the word that became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Testimony :

l met a man who lost his voice in an accident. When in faith l prayed over him in Jesus’ name and commanded the dumb spirit to come out, then within 10 minutes he received his voice back.

Prayer:

Lord give us grace to proclaim n pray in your name over the sick that they would receive healing and glorify your name. amen.

Sol. Noreen.

“Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established. ”And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches”.

Proverbs 24:3-4

During His sermon Jesus told them a parable about two men: One who built  his house upon a rock and another upon sand. Here we can see that wisdom makes a difference. When the rain and flood came the house on the rock stood firm but the house on the sand collapsed. The meaning of the parable is that we should have a proper foundation and wisdom from God to build a house.(Mathew7:24-27).The foundation of the lives of a believer is the Rock—Jesus Christ.

           God gave wisdom to different people at different times to fulfill His purposes. Noah to build the ark, Solomon to build the temple, Bezalel to adorn the tabernacle, Nehemiah to build the wall. Now He gives us ,the believers to make our body, soul and mind—a living tabernacle of the Lord. God gives us the wisdom, Jesus gives us the understanding and Holy Spirit gives us the word of knowledge. All the three are needed to build our lives, homes and families. This makes us sharp and double edged like the sword of God. By this we can succeed on this earth. “Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge “.  Proverbs22:20

               After building the house on rock-Jesus, we have to think about our future generations . Understanding will establish your house. Understanding begins with having the right role models for your children. Parents need to teach their children to join with that ONE who will complete them.

              It is the Godly wisdom that help us successful in life. Yet people welcome worldly knowledge and and resist Godly wisdom.

            By filling us with treasures of knowledge of the word of God, understanding ( psalms 73:1-3,16-18) and the wisdom of the Lord ,we can face the problems and challenges of our lives because we know that He who is in us is greater than he that is in the world . So pray always to the Master Builder to come along our side and give us the skill of Bezalel(Exodus31:1-6), who adorned the tabernacle Solomon built. We have to work always  for the building of our lives, till the end of our time on this earth. The temple of Solomon though strong was destroyed by the Romans, but the temple we are building for God, the living temple, will never perish, because we are filled with the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

Prayer

              Father  God , please help us to build  our homes on  wisdom and established with understanding and fill the rooms with your knowledge .

We pray in Jesus name.

Amen

Sol.Gigi Jacob

Blessed is the one who takes refuge in the Lord

Psalm 34 : 8    

 

Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and He will do this

Psalm 37 : 5     

If we take refuge in the Lord, the Lord will protect us.  This has happened so many times in my life but there is one incident that always come back to me when I read this verse.

Testimony

This is the Testimony of my Sister in her own words .  When I was in Government service, I along with 3 of my colleagues were due for promotion to the next higher level for the last 2-3 years but due to loss in the Company, the promotion was held up.  Before my retirement in 2018, the file for promotion was moved to the Chairman cum Managing Director of our Company but for one reason or the other, the same was kept pending.  As my name was on the top of the list for promotion and my retirement was near, my colleagues asked me to request to CMD for approving the file of promotion so that I could get the benefit before my retirement otherwise I will be the only looser. 

But instead of approaching CMD, I took refuge in the Lord.  I prayed to my Lord for His wish to be fulfilled and Miracle happened.  Two days before my retirement, CMD asked for the file of promotion and signed it, order issued and not only me, other 3 employees also got promotion. 

Everybody in the office saw the big miracle of the Lord in my case.  All Glory to Lord Jesus. 

The only way this was possible is because I took refuge in the Lord for Whom nothing is impossible and God’s time is the best time.

       It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.

Psalms   118 : 8 

    The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes.   

Psalms  118 : 23      

       He has made everything beautiful in its time

Ecclesiastes  3 : 11

Prayer 

 Lord I pray for your glorious presence to come upon on each one of us.  Lord you have promised that You will bless those who take refuge in You. Lord You are our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Bless each one of us abundantly and receive the miracle. What a Great God we have. Thank You Lord Jesus.

In Jesus name, we pray.

Amen       

                                                                                                                                                 Sol. Poonam Batra, AOJ

The Ministry of Reconciliation

Deu 9:18-19 And I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sins which you sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of Jehovah to provoke Him to anger.   For I was afraid of the anger and fury with which Jehovah was angry against you to destroy you. But Jehovah listened to me at that time also

Fasting can be done for many reasons. In the above incident Moses fell down before Jehovah and fasted for 40 days and nights a second time, for he was afraid of the anger and fury of Jehovah to destroy them.  The first time he fasted for forty days and nights  was to receive the tablets from the Lord . When God is angry, somebody has to stand  in between God and the people till He relents.

It is the duty of every Christian to stand as a mediator between God and people among whom he lives, works and associates with. Jesus Christ who  reconciled us with God has entrusted every Christian an important work –  The Ministry of Reconciliation. .

2 Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 

It took so many years for me to understand this truth.  When somebody goes wrong, violates the commandments  of Jesus, deviates from the path of truth, the first thing we have to do is,

ask pardon for that person and  intercede for him to forgive his  sins  and grant the grace of repentance. Today when I  hear of  any sad news of killing, rape, robbery, etc in the land,  the first thing Holy Spirit guides me  into is asking pardon from the Lord for the sins committed. 

This should become a habit for us every day in life-  Cleansing the land of  innocent bloodshed and standing in the gap for people who are used as puppets in the hands of  satan.

In the book of Isaiah,  we see Israelites  fasting  to increase the power of their prayer. i. e. to compel the Lord to  grant  their requests.  The Lord condemned such fasting.

Isa 58:4 -5………… you shall not fast as you do today, to make your voice to be heard on high.  Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul?

We  see  in  Bible incidents also where godly men praying for the land or people to remove the  punishment of God from them. 

Deu 9:20  And Jehovah was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 

Gen 20:17 -18  And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his slave women, and they gave birth.  For the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. 

Prayer :

Lord, make us intercessors for our land and  for the nations.  Amen.

Sr. Angelica AOJ

 The Mind of Christ

Let this mind be in you,  which was also in Christ Jesus. – Phil 2:5

          This verse encourages us to meditate on “What is the mind of Christ Jesus?”

•  It is being mindful to the needs of others which means one has to be sacrificial.  The one and only sacrifice is made by Christ; He sacrificed himself on the cross of the Calvary to restore man’s relationship with God which is everlasting life.  This is the ultimate aim of Man’s life.  Whether man is conscious of this or not God is faithful to bring mankind closer to Himself.

• Christ’s purpose of coming into this world is to fulfill the will of God the Father which is to bring redemption to Mankind. He obeyed God the Father absolutely.  His commitment at Gethsemane shows his obedience to God’s will.  Christ was raised because he became obedient unto death.

• Phil 2:8 says He humbled himself.  The mind of Christ is in being humble when Christ was inquired by Pilate and when he was taunted, He remained humble.  Christ’s humility is awesome because He was not an ordinary person when he was among men.  He had the authority over the heaven and earth.  Because Christ humbled himself, he never used his authority for his own benefit.  He chose to be humble and obedient so that the work of salvation is complete.  Such a magnificent God (Christ)  humbled himself and obeyed God the Father.

        Apostle Paul says “Follow me”  in I Cor 11:1 because he followed Christ.  He calls himself the chief of sinners or the worst sinner in I Tim 1 : 15 which is the mark of humility. 

I Peter 2:23 says,  “When he (Christ)  suffered he threatened not”  I remember a time,  when I was tortured by my seniors due to jealousy.  I was patient for a  few months but then I threatened them by saying I would get a transfer and then I will write about them to the superiors.  They stopped torturing me after that; but I felt sad thinking that I could not be like Christ when I suffered.

      As children of God,  it is essential that we have the mind of Christ which is sacrificial,  obedient and humble with the help of the Holy spirit.

Prayer

     Dear Lord,  help us to grow in your likeness so that we may be desirable to you

Amen.

Sol.Angelian

A blessing to all

Children are a gift from The Lord, they are a reward from him. Children born to a young man are like sharp arrow in a warriors hand, how happy is the man whose quivers is full of them. Psalms 127:3-5

Psalms 113:9 He makes the barren woman abide in the house as a joyful mother of children.

The Bible tells us in his words how children are a gift from The Lord. Every single child is a reward and a blessing. Whether they are bringing parents pride and joy or whether they are teaching us how to be more patient and forgiving children are a gift from The Lord and a source for the growth of his kingdom here on earth.

Isiah 66:7,9

Before the birth pain even begins, Jerusalem gives birth to a son.

 Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth and not deliver it says The Lord.

Proverbs 17:6

Grand children are the crown of old man and the glory of son is their father.

God has blessed everyone of us with this beautiful gift of being a mother and father. Children are very  precious in his sight and The Lord will use his children in his army for his kingdom and for his glory.

God has promised his people that when he has given a womb then he will definitely bless them with children. It is God’s promise and his promises are true and living and he is a faithful God.

Nothing is impossible with God.  So whosoever is reading this today God is talking to you. When he can bless Sarah, Hannah with a son, so will he not bless you with a child. So cling to his promise verse and be blessed.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, please cover all the ladies and their womb with your precious holy blood. Dear Jesus bless all the ladies with the gift of the children so that they thankyou and glorify your name. No weapons formed against them shall prosper. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Sol. Dr.Himakshi

“O Foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched  you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Christ has been evidently  set forth, crucified among you?”.

Galatians  3:1

Apostle Paul is telling the Galatians  that you have been  deceived  by the lies that questioned  your beliefs and contradicts  the  scripture. He asks, “Are you so foolish that after beginning  with the spirit you are trying to attain salvation by law(work). Galatians  3:3) This is the outcome  of strongholds  in the mind.

              People are neither possessed or demonized but it is a stronghold. Satan brings some accusations or guilt of the past and he accuses us and he dissuade us very subtly. He seeks to destroy our faith and people are comfortable  with  their old rituals and  oblations.

Hebrew 10:5,6,7 says,

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.
Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
    I have come to do your will, my God.’

                      We are waiting for the blessed hope. The glorious appearing of our great God  and saviour Jesus  Christ because He gave himself for our sins and purify for Himself a people  that are His very own.

                Let no man be deceived in establishing  his/her  holiness  by works, because scripture  declares that” our good works are like dirty rags“.Isaiah64:6. He is our High Priest and advocate in Heaven. We are washed by the blood of Jesus. Ephesians5:26 “that He might sanctify  and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word”.

           We got converted but were nominal believers, our grand Father was a priest. They would go out in the scorching  heat to evangelize people in the villages. We gave our life to Jesus and took water baptism. Thus became born again Christians

                     Thank you Jesus for your precious  blood and choosing us to be the partakers of eternal life. Amen

Sol .Noreen