AOJ NEWS

The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” One look from the Lord was like an edge of a sharp sword.

Luke 22:61

Peter was guilty, heart broken and he wept bitterly. A broken and contrite heart is not despised ( Psalm 51:17 ). This one look changed the trajectory of Peter’s life, we see him as a great apostle.

So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses! And he said, “Here I am.” The setting is the burning bush on Mount Horeb and Moses’s curiosity which led to find out why the bush was burning but was not consumed.

Exodus 3:4

The Lord saw and thus from shepherding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, Moses became the greatest biblical figure, legend and greatest leader, prophet who led out the Israelites from 430 years of slavery. One look changed his life and others lives through him.

John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” This is a well-known verse of “a certain man” who was lying at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, one look and he took up his mat and walked, the whole world must have thought it’s over but that one look from Jesus restored his health. 

John 6:5 Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” Jesus while sitting with his disciples up the mountain a great multitude, around 5000 men in number, plus women and children were there. He was concerned about providing them food. The disciples spoke of insufficiency but, the lad’s lunch box turned into a restaurant with exceedingly abundant supply of food in seconds in the hands of Jesus, one look at the multitude, the lack was turned into exceeding abundance and they were all satisfied

Psalm 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. The Lord is looking down from heaven at us, to see if we understand who He is and seek Him, He the creator of this universe, He the God of impossibilities, He the one who saw us in our mother’s womb and recorded our each day and event, He who disarmed Satan, He who died for us on the cross, He who can call forth the dead back to life.

If we would only understand and wave back at Him and say, “Please look at me Lord, here I am”, our lives and situations will be changed forever!! It’s because He looked at me that I am here right now, typing this message out!! Praise God!!

Prayer

Loving heavenly Father, may Your eyes fall upon us, our lives, our families and situations so that we may be changed forever for Your glory and name’s sake!!

Amen!!

Sol.Lalitha Menon

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted .”

Luke 14 :11

Jesus was doing His ministry when He said the following words to his disciples. He told them that we need to remain humble and work as a servant if we really want to achieve high. We need to behave like a small child. Mathew 11: 11 says,” Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”

” And the king will answer them, “truly, I say to you ,as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” We see that Jesus blessed the person who had a child- like faith for Christ.

Mathew 25 :40

                 One thing which we notice in Jesus Ministry is that He always kept Himself very humble and had an attitude to serve others. He even washed His disciples’ feet and always showed His love towards them .In the garden of Gethsemane , He asked His disciples to pray but they were too sleepy to pray. We see that even when His disciples did not obey Him, He never got annoyed instead He focused on His prayers. Even on the cross He suffered all alone just to obey His father in heaven.  He never blamed His disciples for leaving Him at this difficult time instead He showed love to all and blessed all .After the resurrection of Jesus ,He came to meet all his disciples and humbled Himself and showed them love .He was very polite to Peter who betrayed Him and helped Him to continue Jesus ministry on this earth.

                Jesus while doing His ministry work on this earth had made 12 and 72  disciples but when Peter started his ministry he brought 3000 people in faith for Christ. So through these versus we can easily make out that Jesus wants each one of us to work for saving souls and He has promised that He would always help them till the end of this world. The only condition is that one has to be very humble and should not consider himself anything but understand properly that only God is the one who does everything. We are here to fulfill His purpose and not ours.

                   Another example we see is of John the Baptist who humbled himself to an extent that he asked all his disciples to follow Jesus and they left John to follow Jesus. He clearly told his disciples that Jesus is the lamb send by God Almighty on this earth to save the entire mankind. He also said that Jesus must become greater  and he must become less . We see very clearly in the Bible  that God has appointed each one of us with some purpose. New testament started from the event of baptism given by John the Baptist.

We all notice one thing about John the Baptist that he was very humble and told his disciples that Jesus is the lamb of God. and Jesus should increase and he should  decrease . We know that after Jesus left for heaven, Holy spirit guided people and helped them to be a part of God’s kingdom. So God is everything .He only helps people to receive His salvation. We can only use our mouth and help people in coming to Christ but it is the Holy spirit which helps people to understand the verses and help them to confess their sins.

Prayer

Dear Father ,help us and teach us Your ways. Release Your blessings in our lives .Give us Your mind.Fill us with Your anointing and bless us with Your fruits of Holy Spirit. People should see Jesus in us.

Amen

Sol.Khushi

A SMALL DESIRE – A GREAT DELIVERANCE

The son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Luke 19.10

Jesus was passing through Jericho and a rich man named Zacchaeus had a desire to see Jesus. He was the chief of all Tax gatherers of that locality and was stamped as a sinner. He tried to see Jesus amidst the crowd, but he couldn’t because he was short. So he ran ahead of the people, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to have a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus while passing by, stopped there, called him by name and asked him to get down quickly as he wanted to stay in his house. He was astonished.  A honest desire of a sinner made Jesus to go and stay in his house.  We Christians should have small desires which will please God (helping the needy and Poor, praying for sick, contact with friends, who are not in touch for a long time – praying for them, gospel at work place etc.)

                    A mere wish alone cannot do miracle.  Effort towards the desire is equally important as Zacchaeus did-running and  climbing on the tree or like four men carrying a paralyzed man and bringing to Jesus through the roof top (Luke 5:17-26).

                   Transformation took place in Zacchaeus, when Jesus (light) entered into his house (heart). He had an inner urge to confess all his sins and darkness vanished away. Jesus said that, that day Salvation came into his house and Zacchaeus was a son of Abraham.

Witness

One Kanniammal used to fetch packet milk for my family for many years. Even when it rained heavily, she did her work perfectly. In her old age, she suffered from cancer and she had no place to dwell. I placed her in my husband’s hospital for some time.  Her soul was longing for a resting place before her death. After much prayers and effort, God showed me a home where she was cared well and had a peaceful death.

Prayer

God, help us to have wishes which will fulfil your plans in us. Help us to take efforts to fulfil the desires.

Let thy holy name be glorified.

Amen.   

Sol. Victy Mithyla.D

Ps 23:5 – You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies……

A few days ago I received a fresh insight about this verse. The previous day I had nearly a whole day in prayer, doing some spiritual warfare & I got a breakthrough & just went off to sleep happy. 

The following morning as I got up the Lord said don’t agree with the lies that the enemy throws at you about you & your circumstances. Hold on to my words I told you about you. When you shift your gaze from me you walk in the flesh. Come dine with me daily, morning, noon, night.

The enemy is trying to get a seat at the “table” of your mind so he can lead you down paths he wants you to travel on. The good news is that you don’t have to go there. You can win this battle. But first, you have to recognize what you’re up against. I have prepared this table in the presence of difficulties, trials , strife, to challenge the enemy.

 Psalm 34:1

This table is a place where you can praise me continuously without restraint, in good days, hard days, when you see a way through the wilderness or don’t see the way through the wilderness.

 Psalm 34:2

My soul will boast in the Lord, so let the afflicted hear & rejoice.

Realize that no matter the current circumstance or situation, I am all you need. Be ready to tell My story & share my love continually. God is saying “I put the table close enough to the fray that the people in the fray can hear what’s going on at the table”

I want your time at the table to show others my abundance, my love, purpose & plan. I want someone who needs me to be able to lean over, listen to what’s going on.

Psalm 34:3

Glorify the Lord with me. Let us exalt His name together.

I want those around the table to see your praise in action, your joy & love displayed, your gratitude for all that I have done.

I want them in close proximity when the invitation is extended to them. Your time at the table can lead to a salvation experience for others.

Psalm 34:8

Taste & see that the Lord is good, blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.

I want you to take refuge in me.I want you to realise that I am enough. I am your protector & defender. My presence is the safest place you can be, even if it is surrounded by the enemy! I have prepared your table so you can do what I said:

Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, speak well of the people who are not speaking well of you. This can only happen if you are locked on to me at the table. Then you not only know I am enough, but can show that I am enough.

You can actually share that I am enough with the people around you. You have a story to tell. You know the sacrifice I made. You know the amazing love I have for you. You have experienced my grace.

The ultimate goal for your time at the table is for those around you to stop looking at you. They’re going to start trying to figure out who it is that you’re looking at. And they’re going to migrate towards Me seated at your table. Don’t fear those around your table because I am there to protect you. As the lost ones around your table watch you & your relationship with Me, they will be drawn to me.

Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table, but do not miss out on the invitation to linger with Me, it will change your life. It will bring you good & it will bring me glory. Whatever the circumstances, whether it’s persecution or difficulty or a cancer, or a diagnosis, I have prepared a table for two.

Accept my invitation to join me at the table for two & don’t give the enemy a seat at your table!

Sol. Joan

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27

Let us meditate on “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” There is a great hope in Christ for all those who believe in Christ and really abided in Christ. What is that hope? It is a hope of glory, a hope of receiving a glorious life.

1 Cor 15:52 says “For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. We will be changed in a glorious form. We are going to get this glorious heavenly form of man (1 Cor 15:49). How it will be look like?

1 John 3:2 says “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We will be like Jesus. After resurrection, Jesus has this glorious body. Let us see from scriptures how this glorious body looks like.

“Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” Jesus was asking Thomas to touch his wounds.

John 20:27

Luke 24:39 “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” Jesus was asking his disciples to touch him, which means it was a literal body with flesh and bones as we have now. John 20:26 “Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” We see here that Jesus entered a room with locked doors and met his disciples, which shows this glorious body has no limited capacity.

“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

1 Cor 15: 44

There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” So, it will be a spiritual body. 1 Cor 15:43 “It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.” So, the resurrected body will be a powerful body. Luke 20: 35, 36 “But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels;” The resurrected body will be like angels.

There are many more verses in Bible which demonstrates about this glorious hope. But, to receive this glorious body, the condition is “Christ is you.” We may have knowledge of Christ and we may be serving him, but still not having Christ in us. If Christ is not in us, we may not have this hope of glory.

Prayer

Let us allow Christ to live in us through Holy Spirit. Let us have close intimacy with him. Let our body be his temple and dwelling place. Dear father, we are thankful to you to give us a great hope in Christ. Let all of us have Christ in us, so that we will have hope of glory in him.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Sol.Grishma

OUR TESTS AND TRIALS

• WHO BRINGS TESTS AND TRIALS ,IS IT GOD OR DEVIL?

• King David says in.  PS 11:5–     “The Lord tests the righteous”    

Thank God that most of the time we are not dealing with the devil but with the Lord.

”  The hand of the Lord has touched me. Though God slay me, yet will l trust him.”

Job 19:21

It is comforting to know that we place ourselves in  God’s hands ; he is always with us.

TESTS and TRIALS

“Think it not strange concerning the fiery trials, as some strange thing happening to us.”

1Peter 4:12

‘All they that live Godly life shall suffer persecution’.

1. “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of God  Mathew 5:10

God’s encouragement surely comes in the midst of the Testing–:

“As an eagle stirs up her nest, fluttering over the young, then bearing over the wings…

Isaiah 40:31

The eagle builds her nest in lofty places i.e.in the sides of the mountains, she makes it very strong and takes soft material like feathers plucked from her own breast to line the nest. Then the eaglets are tucked in its warm comfort.

We also experience God’s love, comfort, provision and forgiveness but suddenly there comes a time when the mother eagle stirs up the nest in a different way,  fluttering over the young to remove the soft material and comfort to expose them to thorns and briers. The young ones do not understand the commotion but mother has a plan.

This discomfort makes eaglets to abandon the nest for flying training.

The Principle of spiritual life is “ No pain- no gain.” We are the pilgrims passing through the wilderness (hardships) to our promised land ( heaven). Then we grow up through pain, sorrow and suffering till the patience finishes it’s work in us. God wants to break us before he uses us. Then we are transformed in His image to do the task for which we are called and to teach us obedience and to wait upon Him. Then we learn to rise up with wings of eagle.

We have to die everyday to live, till the desires of the flesh are consumed by the Fire of the Holy Spirit in us. Then the spiritual man becomes stronger to do His will and follow His voice and be prepared for our calling.

TESTIMONY.

I have a calling upon my life, so God first removed my husband from my life. He passed away after a brief illness ,then children got separated and l was denied even the joy of seeing my grandchild, my pet was given for adoption and friends became too busy to even visit me. God increased my sorrows ,prayers , loneliness and grief to break me before using me. Then l started receiving great prophecies over my life and destiny and He got me involved in so many spiritual things that now l have no time to even think about myself. Now I’m  closer to God than ever before. All glory to God.

PRAYER :-

Father l thank you for what l’m going through to become a chosen vessel fit for the Master’s  use .Lord fill us with your Holy Spirit to find the purpose of our Calling. Please guide me, in the right direction of my  Calling.  Give me grace to fulfill it, no matter what the cost is.

This l ask in the mighty and matchless name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen.     

                                Sol. Noreen                                             

‘ “And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Mathew 8:20

On 9 th October, 2022 during my morning worship and prayer God spoke through the above verse. This verse the Lord kept popping up repeatedly in my mind for the next two days. And as I started meditating deeply over it and visualising the verse with the Son of man with no place to lay His head, it caused my heart to feel the pain / pinch that all of us in the human race even so called believers have terribly failed in surrendering and allowing access to 100% of our hearts to God.

Then God showed violation of Gods warning in Gospel of Mathew 10:37-39.
Further, as I was taking the Healing Level 2 ‘ Image of Christ’ class yesterday ( ie on 6 th October, 2022), God further revealed the meaning of the above verse.

God showed a traffic jam in my heart

and God struggling to enter to lay His head.

So much of garbage we have accumulated over generations in sheer violation of Gods commandment that you shall have no other Gods before me and not to create or bow down or worship an idol ( Exodus 20:3-5). Idols of son daughter father mother position power ego pride qualifications accumulations of wealth property gold silver precious jewels etc.

Then God led me to 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 where the Lord convicted me for Verse 14 where God has no easy access to move inside of us to enable us to become His children. ( John 1:12; Galatians 4:6-7).

God wants to move inside our mind heart eyes ears tongue every bone joint muscle tissue every blood cell every activity every thought even He wants to regain complete control which is rightfully His i.e, the Lords.

Thank you dear Lord for all such revelations. Glory Honour and Praise only to Jesus our Rock and Redeemer. Amen

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Sol.Jasmine James,AOJ

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“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you sexual immorality ,impurity, passion ,evil desire and covetousness ,which is idolatry. “Colossians 3:5

When God allowed people of Israel to observe the very first festival of passover lamb, God had told them, “You shall eat nothing leavened;in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

Exodus 12:20

Little amount of yeast spoils the entire flour. If you leave a kneaded flour having little yeast in it ,the entire flour gets spoiled and we have to throw it in garbage.

Same way our life also need to be pure and holy .There should be no adultery, idolatry, lies, stealing ,pride etc. because they are like yeast to our life and they spoil our life. Even we should not have the yeast of disobedience towards God in our lives that means whatever commands God has given us we need to obey them. Exodus 20 :1-17 .

Stealing whether it is of any small object or of diamond it is considered as stealing only. Sin is sin .There is no small sin or big sin. Sin came into this world because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve. We should not pray to other Gods because our God says so and our God is a jealous God. In Exodus 34;14:

When Israelite boys started mingling with Moabite girls and they made sacrifices to their gods .As a result God punished them with plague and people started dying( numbers 25:1-29)

People gradually started involving themselves in all sorts of sins and God had to destroy them by bringing flood on earth Genesis 6:17. Even on Sodom and Gomorrah God had to shower fire and sulphur to punish the people. David was God’s annointed one but because of the adultery he committed God had to punish him and God did not allow him to make His temple .In case of king Saul God considered him not eligible to remain a king because of his disobedience. Even Moses could not reach the promised land because of his disobedience.

Mathew 7:13-14 tells us-” Enter by the narrow gate.For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.”

Prayer

Lord many times we do so many things wrong knowingly or unknowingly which we don’t understand and they are evil in Your eyes .Father give us Your wisdom and Your understanding .Lord let Your grace and mercy be there with us always and help us to never ever disobey You. Help us to do what is good in your eyes and to follow what is written in the word of God so that we may reach the promised land ,that is ,our final destination – Heaven in Jesus name we ask.Amen

Sol.Vatsala

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship”

Romans 12:1

As we all know that we, human beings, are created by God almighty to worship Him. “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.” Isaiah 43:21. How can we worship our creator, the maker of the heaven and the earth? Through offering ourselves- our body, soul and spirit- holy and pleasing to God.

How can we be holy?

It’s a continual process of surrendering ourselves to the Holy Spirit and cleansing all our thoughts with Philippians 4:8, casting down all imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:5) reminding ourselves continually 1 Corinthians 6:20 that we are bought at a price; therefore, we need to glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are God’s. By grace we have been saved through faith in Lord Jesus Christ and there cannot remain anything worldly in us. We need to guard our mind and heart from all evil talks that goes on around us, forgiving everyone, binding and destroying all the evil altars and raising the altar of the blood of Lord Jesus Christ within us.

How can our lives be pleasing to God?

Paul lays down the basic principle of Christian living which pleases God. Living a life of Faith, love, endurance and hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3), joy in your suffering (1 Thessalonians 1:6) turning from all idols of our lives and patiently waiting for Jesus’ second coming (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10) He says in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”

The best example of life pleasing to God is of Jesus. He says with confidence, “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him” (John 8:29).

We always strive to please some or the other person in life, be it in our family, friends, in our workplace and even in the ministry that we are a part of. We also worship our money, position, designation, business, job, home, and all other materialistic things. We need to be honest with ourselves every moment with the help of The Holy Spirit that are we a man-pleaser or solely focused to please God and do all that He wants us to do.

Worship is not merely the offering of elaborate earthly wisdom prayers to God, singing soulful melodious songs of praise pleasing to one’s ears but its living a sacrificial life of repentance, taking a U turn from sin, thanking God for everything, surrendering completely and wholeheartedly to God because Jesus said,

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. “

John 4:23

Prayer:

Father God, we offer ourselves, our heart, mind and soul to you. Have your way Lord and help us not to sin with our speech, action and deed but worship you with all that we do in Spirit and Truth.  

Sol. Neha

…But we do not want to make these men who take the tax angry. So go to the lake and throw out a line to catch fish. Pull up the first fish that you catch on your line. Open the mouth of the fish and you will find a coin inside it. Take the coin and give it to those who receive taxes for God’s Great House. This will be enough money for both my tax and yours.” Matthew 17:27

Just a few days ago, as I was sitting in prayer, the Lord spoke to me through above verse of this chapter. The Lord explained it to me very beautifully and I was very happy when I understood what these verses meant. The Lord had revealed to me the secret of what I want to tell you all today. I was upset for the last few days because of some thing, and today you too maybe like me. The Lord has solution to all our problems. All we need to do today is, that in His presence, we need to tell out every need of today. He provides us all kinds of provisions according to the time of our need, whether it is a spiritual need or a physical need, any financial need or an emotional need, healing, or peace that we want in our restless minds. I was waiting for a divine instruction. Then the Lord revealed to me these mysteries. Peter had to face the people of society of that time and similarly we too have to prove every time that we are Christians in this society. Here the people interrupted Peter and asked him “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?” “Yes, He does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon? “He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt, “Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open it’s mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” The Holy Spirit explained to me what it means in my life. Here, the lake shows the depth of God’s word, and casting in a fishhook in the lake means spending time in prayers and setting your eyes on heaven. When you do this, you will receive an answer to your prayer from God. Well, then you’ll get a fish. Fish means, there is a solution to all your problems. And the most surprising thing is that when you open it’s mouth, you will get a coin by which you can fulfill your needs and at the same time, you can also serve God. Pay attention to the last line of the verse that says “This will be enough for both my tax and yours”. God will reveal his will in your life and will anoint you, so that, you can make your full contribution to the service of His kingdom with strength. Amen

Sol.Binesh Kumar