Month: March 2023

RAHAB: BY FAITH

Joshua 6:22–25

What does it mean to live by faith?

The essence of faith is to take God at His word and trust in Him. In both Testaments, believers were called to rely upon God for forgiveness and salvation. Those who live in faith depend upon God to do what only He can do.

Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

HEBREWS 11:1

Faith played a big part in Rahab’s story. Joshua 3–6 describes the military advancement of Israel upon the city of Jericho. It was an unusual battle plan that required great faith to execute. Rather than attacking outright or sneaking up on the fortified city, God’s people were told to march around Jericho once a day for six days, carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Seven priests carried trumpets of rams’ horns (vv. 6–7).

On the seventh day, they were to circle seven times, culminating in a loud shout and a trumpet blast. By faith, they did what God commanded. On cue, the walls collapsed—clearly an act of God. In Joshua 6:22–25, Joshua and the spies fulfilled the promise they made to Rahab. The same two men who were the beneficiaries of her kindness escorted her family safely out of the crumbling ruins.

When the book of Joshua was written, Rahab was still living among the Israelites. She had become one of God’s own. To top it off, Rahab’s brave and faith-filled actions are affirmed twice in the New Testament, in Hebrews and James.

Rahab’s faith is commended in the “Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11) alongside Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, as well as Joseph and Moses. In contrast to everyone around her, she placed her faith in the God of Israel. She was willing to risk her very life to live by faith.

^{Try to write your own definition of faith…..!}

Sol. Arun

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

2Corinthians 12:7–10

^{7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.}

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

No one likes to be in pain, we know it’s hard. But might also be a gift ?

As we all are familiar with the pleasure of world and our flesh naturally desires worldly pleasure comfort and ease but God has not left us alone in our flesh ; he has given us his spirit to teach us the truth (John 14:26). And the truth is that God sometimes allows  adversity for our good and His Glory .

So times of hardship in reality is a gift from our Lord God good father. Difficult times brought us closer to the lord than anything else.

 Lord Jesus Christ is our number one example. Jesus experienced immense pain during his earthly mission. He trusts his father while he suffered.” when he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered ,he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly”( 1 Peter 2:23 ). He knew God had not left him alone. He trusted God with his suffering.

God actually delights in exalting our inability. He intentionally puts his people in situations where they come face to face with their need for him.” Our need for God brings him glory, and we are most needy in adversity.

We often believe that there’s no gain in pain but scripture tells a different story.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4).

God use hard time as a tool to make us more steadfast, perfect and complete. Likewise,God is conforming his children to the image of CHRIST (Romans 8:29).He gives us the gift of hard time to produce Christ likeness in us.God is transforming us to be presented one day in splendor,holy and without blemish.Let's choose to see hard times as a gift from our Lord God Loving Heavenly Father.Don't fear it, deserve it ;for your good and God's glory.Thank you Lord JESUS CHRIST Amen

God bless you all

Sol.Neelima Singh

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisee and leaven of the Herod

And he warned them, saying, “Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod”.

Mark 8:15

As we all know leaven is a substance (such as yeast) used to produce fermentation in dough or liquid.

Choosing the right synonym according to text would be- infuse, suffuse ,imbue, ingrain, inoculate or Leaven means to introduce one thing into another so as to affect it throughout.

All these Pharisees, Sadducees and herodians – were educated, well positioned worldly officials at those times, when Jesus lived.Their duties were always to question Jesus & His disciples at all opportune time.

Mark 8:11 says: And the Pharisees came out and began to question him, seeking a sign from heaven from him, testing him.

The reason behind their attitude or motives was unbelief puffed up with worldly knowledge lacking the divine spiritual knowledge of the things of God.

In verse 17 it says, And Jesus, knowing this, said to them, “Why are you reasoning because you have no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Is your heart still hardened?

Jesus knew it already so He was admonishing His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and leaven of the Herod.When His own disciples could not understand He urged them to understand the need of knowing the deeper things of divine spiritual knowledge.

He also made them understand that their thoughts were outwardly about shortages of bread and materialistic things And reminded them about the concerned spiritual things of God..
Jesus says: that unbelief is due to hardening of heart that makes the soul in understandable of the spiritual things of God.

Because of this unbelief they failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, Son of the living God and finally even the works of God Such as His miracles, healing and deliverance.

^{Everywhere Jesus knew how to answer those who questioned him in disbelief sometimes he answered, sometimes he rebuked.That was obstinate unbelief though ever was so unreasonable, Christ here reproves His disciples, How is it that we often Mistake His meaning, disregard His warnings and distrust His Providence.}

The leaven of the Pharisees was hypocrisy- Luke 12:1 In the meantime, when multiplied thousands of people had gathered together, so that they trampled on one another, he began speaking first of all to his disciples,
“Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.The leaven of the Sadducees- Unbelief and of the Herodians – worldliness.All those three groups only regarded outward ceremonies, and neglected the inward sanctification of the Spirit.

Thank you Lord for teaching us the doctrinal truths in the scriptures, may all the saints of God understand the deeper spiritual aspects of men's inward lives and prioritize it in having a closer fellowship of knowing and living with God. In Jesus name.Amen.

Sol.Celin Portia

Love the second coming of Jesus

Likewise Christ was sacrificed once to bear the sins of many and will appear a second time without sin for the salvation of those who await his coming

Hebrews 9:28

Scripture says He will appear to those who seek Him. How many of you can say we are seeking Him today? Scripture says He will come and appear to those who love His appearance .What are you doing to get a good glimpse? What have we done to remove all obscurity or as the apostle says every hindering and entangling sin? What have we done to throw other things out of our lives for this race so that we can be free, strong and renewed in our pursuit of this great promise of the coming of the Lord? He is coming to those who are looking for Him i.e. those who have prepared . What are we doing? If we love His appearing we will prepare .This is the hope of our hearts. Any Moment can play the trumpet. Scripture tells us that in Christ the dead will rise and those of us who are alive will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

Do you love His appearance and look forward to that vision? It is the hope of the church and we can be sure that any day we will hear God’s trumpet and the words Come up here!”

Where do you find yourself in this big day we live in? That hour is fast approaching us. How do you find yourself today? are you light. Do you feel like you don’t even need to hear the trumpet sound? Are you too light because your worries and burdens are so light that you are ready to fly? How heavy do you find yourself today?

Bride should prepare herself. What is the use of such a bride who leaves you standing at the altar and waits, she was getting ready behind but now one and a half hour has passed and you are still standing there. She comes inside and says some of my friends said that there is a sale going on in the mall. And there was a pair of cute little cute shoes to be found which is very desirable.

^{The answer to all this is yes but you’re not lovable it’s clear where her mind is at I know it’s fiction but you won’t wait an hour and a half I certainly won’t either God doesn’t wait a second. No one will wait, he calls you, you come, if your clothes are not proper, you cannot enter, if the oil is not enough, you cannot enter, and there is no other chance, so keep awake.}

Prayer

O great God, I pray that You wake up all people for this great purpose and give everyone the opportunity to prepare so that not a single soul gets destroyed Amen

Sol. Mahendra

“And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall: and they shall fight against thee,but they shall not  prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee,saith the Lord”.

Jeremiah 15:20

                    Jeremiah. Pleaded with God for mercy and relief from  his enemies, persecutors  and  slanderers. He complained that the people hated and cursed him for no reason. Lord called the prophet and asked him to stop  his distrust and return to   his work as the messenger of God.(Jeremiah 15:19 “ if you return to me I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. ………..you will be my spokesman. You must influence them do not let them influence you”.

        If we are with God,and faithful to Him,He will deliver us from all the troubles or carry us through it. Many things appear frightening but it will not hurt a real believer in Christ. He will make us as  secure as a fortified wall of bronze. The “ wall of bronze” refers that He will fill us with His strength, power and grace. He empowers us to take on forces much larger and more powerful.(Jeremiah 1:19,15:20)

       All this happen when we take delight in His Word and constantly meditate on it.Bronze is a strong alloy of  copper and tin. Lord promises in this verse that He will not only be a wall of fire, but He will make us fortified like a wall of bronze. “For I ,saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her”.

                       When the qualities of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit are in us,we become very strong like bronze.  “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love,Joy,Peace, patience,kindness,goodness,faithfulness,gentleness and self control “. Galatians 5:22

We derive strength from all these qualities. Lord will build us brick by brick, with every word of His, that we imbibe and assimilate ,to become a wall of bronze.

His faithful servants are targets of many forces and agents of evil. We  have to face many battles. This verse promises us that such forces or persons can’t prevail against us. As long as the Lord is with us as a mighty warrior we have external protection against the assaults  of the roaring Lion.  (1Peter 5:8)

 The word will  give us a sense of contentment. This is internal protection against lust,pride,power,fame and pleasures of life. We become joyful knowing how much Lord loves,protects and saves us. This makes us calm and become fearless of the enemies on both sides of the  brozen wall—external enemies and internal enemies. The internal enemies rob us of our peace and external enemies threaten our very existence.Lord make us a brozen fenced wall against both internal and external enemies.so that We are victorious,peaceful,joyful,fruitful and secure.

          _{Heavenly Father give us the grace to depend on you fully in all the circumstances.Make us a fortified brozen fenced wall and help us to be victorious always. In Jesus name I pray,}

_Amen

Sol. Gigi Jacob

The Price of Obedience

Hebrew 11:7-19 and Romans 5:19 tells us, “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man ‘s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

Obedience is taught and also learned. The number of the sons of disobedience is more than the sons of obedience. That is why we are all surrounded by disobedience. The best way to prevent ourselves from walking in disobedience is to always try to be obedient to God and learn from the people who were obedient to God. Colossians 3:6-8 tells us, “On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger,wrath,malice,slander and obscene talk from your mouth.

Philippians 2:6-7,“Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of  men. “He endured sorrow, misunderstanding, social abuse, hatred and even accepted the cursed death on the cross for our sake. We have been called for this only that we should study Him closely and look up to Him. Jesus remained obedient till the end. Obedience from the beginning till the end was the hallmark of His life. He always obeyed His Father .In the midst of trails in the wilderness, in the garden of Gethsemane, on the hill of Golgotha and everywhere else ,He was always obedient. May we also have a mind ready to obey like Christ.

          In Bible, we read about many people who were very obedient like Noah who obeyed God and the only family saved by God Almighty. Then we have Abraham who obeyed God and left everything to walk with God. Moses denied royal comforts. The disciples remained obedient to God in the midst of their persecutors. There is a big cloud of witnesses that we have. These witnesses have paid the price for their obedience. May we always keep taking inspiration from these pioneers.

       Our Father in Heaven, help us also to be obedient to You in every circumstances that we pass through. Give us Your strength and Your Holy Spirit to guide us and to receive the crown that You have kept for each one of us. Amen

Sol. Malkeet

CHRIST THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH  

Paul, through his epistle to Colossians presents Christ Jesus as the head of the body that is church. The first two chapters of Colossians are mainly doctrinal and the third and fourth chapters give the practical aspects and requisites of Christian life on earth.  Paul reiterates that Christ should be preeminent in a believer’s life. The priority of Christ should be manifested through his actions, his words and aims in life.

Believers are to be rooted in Him and be alive in Him. Just as Jesus had allegorically pointed out that He is the vine and we are branches. If branches have to bear fruits the roots should supply nourishment  to the branches. If we are rooted in Christ we can bear fruit. Otherwise the branches will wither away and will be put in fire. Through the different epistles Paul presents the Church as the body of Christ. The organs of the body function according to the  instructions and guidance from the head  Christ Jesus .

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 2:6-7

 We have to walk in Him, and should be established in Him.

Those who are baptised in Him are raised with Him from our old self. So as he says those who are in Christ are a new creation. The old is gone and we have to live in the newness of life.

Paul asserts that if we are buried and got resurrected through baptism our thoughts should always be of things above where Christ sits.

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory”.

Colossians 3:1-4 Jesus said  ” Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

Can we continue living in sin?

Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live in it? we are  baptized into Christ Jesus .We died to sin when we were baptized into His death. Therefore in the immersion baptism we were buried with Him and as we came up from water, that signifies our resurrection from our old ways of life , that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. Then Jesus was seated on the right hand of God in heaven and we are also placed with Him spiritually, even so we also should walk in the newness of life, life in Christ Jesus.

What is the finality of living in Him?

^{Jesus will come again to take us to heaven. He comes for those who eagerly wait for Him. Our mortal bodies will be transformed into heavenly bodies which is the glorification of the believer.}

Apostle John says:

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

I John 3:2

So let us cleanse ourselves from all that is worldly and sinful and wait in the blessed hope of our salvation and sanctification to attain glorification.

Sol Salomi Kurian

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Jesus has clearly promised us His coming and that He will also take us along with Him.Since we surely believe in this promise we live, day by day on this earth. To inherit this promise we ought to be worthy.Therefore,God allows us to endure various trials that we may be counted worthy.

John 14:2-3

In my life,in the earlier days of being saved I was also put through many trials.In a sudden stormy experience that occurred God taught me about ‘Faith’,it was infact :faith without doubt,unquestionable Faith.

In the midst of trials my husband and me were chucked out our house. This sudden mishap left us stranded,not knowing where to go? What to do? Totally blank.We just had 700 Rs cash.Where to rent a house? Which path to follow we knew nothing. Before this incident God had already spoken to me regarding a thing. God had told that he will do a new thing in my life, but to receive that blessing I was asked to be patient.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I Am God”,God spoke to me through this verse.Difficult circumstances,relationships stood against us.God taught us to endure in patience throughout these hardships.The wait was for 4 years.Finally our circumstances started to change for good and my spiritual life also advanced .God through “Faith “a spiritual weapon helped us to achieve .

Isaiah 41:18 “I will open rivers in desolate heights,And fountains in the midst of the valleys;I will make the wilderness a pool of water,

^{And the dry land springs of water.”these words helped me believe God In Faith.Since it is God who has promised,we should be assured that he is sure to fulfill .My spiritual lessons taught me very clearly that I ought to walk His path that he paved for me.This is my desire that,God who has led me amazingly thus far will also help me see Him,face to face .}

Oh my Jesus when will I see you Oh my Jesus when will I touch me Oh my Jesus when will I embrace you. With a pure heart that is pleasing to you Lord,I’m awaiting your coming.Amen.Hallelujah.

Sol.Jothikumari

Why troop church?

It is an evangelical tool where every member is trained for  8 to 10 weeks to stand on his feet and proclaim the good news to all.

One of the special about the troop church is the PLEDGE and the last CONFESSION.

The PLEDGE

 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

It’s the Word of God we confess and remind us that our fight is not with the flesh and blood but the unseen darkness and our weapons we use are mighty with Divine power to demolish all the strongholds and bringing to captivity every pretension and thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into the obedience to Christ.

Lastly the confession of

Psalms  144:1

Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

It is God  who trains my hands for battle my arms can bend a bow of bronze. He gives me the shield of victory,  My enemies fall at my feet. Praise be to My Rock. He is the Lord of host.

Brothers and sisters it’s a joy to start a trrop church. Yes there is a special anointing over us in the troop church with divine powers defeating the enemy the Devil and releasing the captives free from burdens and sickness and improving every aspects of life

^{Father God in Jesus name pour out your grace on each one of us the AOJ soldiers to implement your desire to conduct the troop church in every constituency of our Nation India.}

Thank You dear Lord for Your grace. We shall do valiantly for our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Sol. Francis Alvares

“Jesus continued, ‘ there was a man who had two sons.  The younger one said to  his father, father,  give me my share of estate,’ so he divided his property between them”.

                                                                                                – Luke 15: 11-12

           Let us think for a moment. Why the younger son demanded for his share from his father. May be he wanted to live his life independently, he did not like to remain under anyone’s control.  May be he loved money more than the father.  His  all need must have been fulfilled. Whatever may be the reason, ultimately the younger son gets his share, gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country.

           Here we have to understand a very important point, that is to leave the father means to loose the blessings of the father. He falls into sin after leaving the father. He lost his property in loose living. He began to search for job. As long as he was with his father there was no need of job. What job he  gets ? He gets a job of herding pigs. He eats what the pigs eat. Living with father means serving & enjoying. When we do the service we get blessing. If we remain with the father we get blessing. We have to serve the father. If one lose job without father’s blessing, he will get money but it will go into hospital. One will not have peace or joy in his life. The Prodigal son lost blessing of father, he lost everything what he had.

          In life when  we get job, important post, or may be wealth, at that time one should not fly in the air. We will not realize when it veins. If younger son had remain in  blessings of father, he would not have lost his everything. By blessings of our Lord, if a person gets wealth, he/she should not be proud of it. One have to remain within the limits, stay in the company of our Lord, remain in prayer. If we remain with father and His blessings, we will be happy all the time.

           Luke. Ch.19: 1 to 10 – Zacchaeus, was a chief tax collector. He was taking more tax than what he suppose to take. He used to earn without hard work. When he came in contact with Jesus, Jesus told him that he was doing wrong work. Immediately, he promised to change his ways and back all the people he had cheated. We must not think of becoming rich by cheating other. We will not succeed in it. May be for time being one may get pleasure but  it will not last longer, at time a person’s situation will be like a balloon without the air. We have to work hard along with blessings of our Lord. Surely one will get successful in whatever work he/she does. The Lord gives in His own time.

         2. Cori. Ch. 11: 8, “Paul says I robbed other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost.”

        2. Cori. Ch. 11 : 9, “ And when I was with you and didn’t have enough to live on, I did not become a financial burden to anyone.”  

            _{Means  Paul first earn money then he started his ministry. Like Paul we have to earn in order to serve the Lord. We have to earn money first and use the same money for ministry work, while earning money we have to do our ministry. If we lose the shade of  our  father’s  umbrella, all the troubles will come. It is not right to go away from the father due to the greed of money. God has chosen us and given the responsibility of service in  A O J. We have to fulfill it. Only then will we be able to serve God’s purpose of bringing us to this earth.}

Prayer

           God of the lost and the found. Thank you father for patiently waiting for us when we are far from you. Thank you Lord for embracing us when we return to you. Lord, please grant us such grace in our relationships with others. Thank you Lord for forgiving our sin and accepting us. Lord help us to be obedient to you and follow your instructions. Thank you Lord for all your blessings. Amen

Sol. Dr. Mohan Parmar