Day: February 17, 2024

In loving memory of Sr. Roger

How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? John 5-44

1. James, the son of Alpheus; Bartholomew; Judas Thaddeus; and Simon Zelotes

The above are the names of the apostle of Jesus whose names are mentioned in the gospels but none of their activity or what they spoke is not recorded in the bible. They could have did many marvelous things for our Lord Jesus and proclaimed the gospel but none of it is recorded in the scriptures. What do we think of them when we read their names.

Their works where never detailed or recorded and I believe they never wanted it either. They didn’t do anything for the honor of men but only for the glory of God alone. Do we seek glory from any man for what we do, may be not outwardly but inward deep down in our hearts, maybe when some does not acknowledge our work do we get offended, is there a little sadness inside our hearts when we are not treated with gratitude for our work, then we need to acknowledge that our self is not crucified  in The Cross with Christ. God today is in search of such apostles too and one of them is Sr. Roger

Romans 12-6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us

V 12-7 says if it is serving, then serve

V 12-8 to do it cheerfully.

Sr. Roger had this gift of serving in the background. Those when joined new to AOJ might not quickly get or remember Sr.Roger’s name cause she always stands behind supporting the AOJ activities and soldiers and above all I believe from what I know she never expected any honor from man and not a small sense of gratitude from any one. I praise God for making her such an example and it is important we learn from it.

2. Inspite of all the hardwork physically at this age one might be amazed especially during BFF sessions how Sr.Roger manage to pull all this work? What is the secret of her strength? The answer is in the below verse

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Theselonians 5.18

The word “ALWAYS” emphasizes 24×7 whatever be the situation. When I am in Palavakkam attending troop church, during the testimonies sharing time, every time I see Sr.Roger says I thank God for the air we breathe, the water we get to drink and the food God gives us to eat. The things I take for granted she praises and give thanks to God for that. Giving thanks to God every time for his Grace and blessings gave her the strength till this age to run the race set before her this far. Before IBJ when there was so much of work pending to be done I saw her always telling God has done such mighty things in the past, is this one too hard for The Lord. She expresses such great faith and give thanks to The Lord. Let us give thanks to The Lord at all situations and move the mountains in our Life with great strength from The Lord.

Philipians 4.4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Any one who has met Sr.Roger never forgets her sense of humor. When I speak to her for a few minutes she makes me laugh. It is because she rejoices in The Lord always. Let us praise God for letting his child/soldier run a successful race by His Grace and keeping her an example before us to run the race set before us without expecting any honour from men for what we do and do the work with rejoicing in The Lord and giving thanks to Him always.

Sol.Leo

DON’T WASTE YOUR PAIN

No one likes pain—of any kind, whether it’s physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual. But since pain in this world is inevitable.

Have you all ever gone through any pain? Are you suffering from pain due to physical illness? Has someone hurt you in the past ? You have not forgotten that pain and remember it again and again? still living in the same pain it seems so hard to forget ? Do you feel like you’re running from the pain or the memories of the past ? Let’s think about it.

Let me ask you one more thing, what does it mean, don’t waste the pain? How do we waste pain?

When we remember and reflect on our pain again and again, our mind becomes distressed, we become victims of depression, we move away from God. And in our lives there is despair, loneliness, restlessness, failure and desire to commit suicide, lack of interest in prayer. And that’s how Satan takes over us and that’s how we waste pain.

What do we have to do to not waste the pain??

Let see what Jesus told–

Jesus told us pain and suffering would be a part of our lives
(Jn 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.

Lord Jesus Christ is consoling us that there will be many troubles in this world but I have overcome the world, take courage and do not worry. So Bring your pain to God don’t run from him.

1. Bring your pain to God don’t run from him

When you run from God in seasons of challenge, all you’re left with is your own limited ability to cope with what you’re walking through. On the other hand, God invites us to draw near to him that we might experience his peace, healing, and closeness and this is what Scripture points us towards.

Psalm: 34:18
 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” 

Psalm: 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” 

Like our need for a surgeon to address physical wounds to our body, God desires to conduct divine surgery on our soul which results in supernatural healing despite how difficult our challenge.
When we bring our pain to God we recognize that there is a purpose and in time the One who loves us unconditionally will reveal his divine purpose through it.

2. Believe that God will turn your sorrow into great joy.

One of the paradoxes of Christianity is that our good God uses pain for our good. Meaning that our biggest sorrows can result in our greatest joy. When you think about Jesus’ greatest sorrow – suffering the shame, punishment, and death for our sin, the result was great joy – the redemption of humanity and the opportunity for a relationship with the living God.

Margaret Testimony

These days I am reading a book Don’t Waste Your Pain, in this book there is a story of a sister, her name is Margaret, the pain she had to endure at the hands of her brother.

Her own brother sexually abused her and this pain lasted till the age of 14 and due to this pain Margaret became very bitter, sarcastic and started fighting with others with harsh words.

But when she came to know Lord Jesus Christ, she gave heart to the Lord and soon there after had encounter with the Holy Spirit where she felt His healing and Cleansing. after that her brother never abused her again.

By the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, she forgave her brother and after that she received a marriage proposal, she told the man( Bill) everything about herself and the man happily accepted Margaret ; he loved her unconditionally. Now she is very happy with her husband and children.

When did all this become possible ? when Margaret surrendered herself and her pain to God, only then did she get rid of that pain, only then was she able to forgive her brother. God will turned her sorrow into Great Joy.

John:16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

3) Pain will not last forever God puts an end to pain in our lives

Like you, I have faced difficult times in life, and I have learned to tell myself, “This can’t last forever. This, too, shall pass.” When you are going through hardship, deep disappointment, or some struggle that seems impossible, it’s easy to be tempted to think, I cannot stand this for one more day.

The devil takes advantage of our hurts and wounds and tempts us to think several times a day that our trials are going to last forever, that we will hurt for the rest of our lives, or that the negative effect of our problems will be permanent. We think, and sometimes fear, our pain will follow us everywhere we go for as long as we live. The truth is nothing on earth lasts forever. The only thing we have that is eternal is our life in Christ. In the context of eternity, the struggles that seem unending in this life are actually quite brief. God always wants to heal us, restore us, and deliver us.

Paul’s point in 2 Corinthians 4:17–18 is that seasons of difficulty always pass. They do not last forever. Going through trials is tough, but God is always with us—helping us, encouraging us, and fighting our battles for us. He never wants us to stay in pain. He always wants to heal us.

And if we want to get rid of that pain forever, we just have to hand over our pain to God and always remember that…
THERE IS HOPE IN JESUS AND YOU ARE NOT ALONE

LET’S PRAY
Lord, I lift up to you all of those who today are walking through pain. Some of them may be walking through unbearable valleys of suffering that I couldn’t begin to comprehend. I ask for your comfort for them. I ask that you reveal your love to them in ways they might have never known before. I pray for your encouragement and grace to sustain them during this season of sorrow. I ask that you would bring people alongside them to comfort and help sustain them. I ask that you strengthen their faith to trust that you have plans to prosper them, plans to give them hope and a future. I ask that you help them to trust that the outcome might not be what they planned, but it will be so much better because you planned it. Thank you Jesus I ask these things in Jesus’ name, Amen and Amen.

Sol. Laxmi K