AOJ NEWS

Parents of teenagers

His parents were astonished when they saw him, and his mother said to him, “My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried trying to find you.”

Luke 2:48

Teenager JESUS CHRIST was lost & His parents were terribly worried.

Before moving ahead let’s read furthermore in Luke 2: 49 to 52.He answered them, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand his answer. So Jesus went back with them to Nazareth, where he was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favor with God and people.

I am also a teenager parent. On (27/06/2022) as I was praying & asking God to help me as a mother, train me to be a godly mother, the Holy spirit answered me. I clearly heard the voice of the Lord saying me:- Hide your child just the way Mary did it.

As I was reading this portion of Jesus & Mary, I was really shocked to learn this from God’s word because nobody thought me to hide my child’s behavior. I have always seen worried mothers coming together & praying for children. I am not saying that’s wrong. However what I have learnt is something new & different.

I was thinking why did Mary hide about her Child? We as a mothers always love to speak about our children’s, Right?

However here is something that we need to learn from the word of God. Mary was a women who can keep secrets in her heart. As a mother this is the first lesson to practice. I am asking this to myself:- why to boast or complain about teenagers? Our this behavior hurts our children & then they don’t obey us. Read the above verses, it is clearly written that Mary treasure everything in her heart even though she didn’t understand what’s happening, the results are in front of us:-  Jesus was obedient, growing in body, gaining wisdom & favor from God & men.

Mary as mother was filled with the spirit of God’s wisdom. When she became pregnant she didn’t went to her mother, she went to her cousin Elizabeth who was also supernaturally pregnant. Mary was a responsible mother. I am sure she was aware of the fact that children’s are the gift from the Lord

 Did Mary ask God to give her Child before marriage? No, right!

She became pregnant because God was giving her gift which was not her choice however it was a Divine plan of God.

Mary was also growing with Jesus. Even though she was terribly worried mother like us, she learnt a lesson by understanding that her Child is born for a divine purpose. Let’s understand the same thing about our kids. They are different & in the plan of God. They need not to fulfill our will, but the will of God in their life & through their life.

Mary didn’t understand but she kept her mouth shut. Though Mary is upset that Jesus “mistreated” her.

 Can we do this for our kids today?

Worried mothers need to understand that mistreatment from kids doesn’t give us license to cancel the plan of God. Let our kids grow in God’s calling.

  We are responsible for our kids, not our relatives or friends ( Luke 2:44 they thought that he was with the group, so they travelled a whole day and then started looking for him among their relatives and friends). Parents of Jesus THOUGHT something without confirmation & shifted the responsibility on others.  Many times we also do this mistake. Every parent is anointed & blessed to take responsibility of their own child.

Children are commanded to respect parents. Let’s also remind ourselves that they are born to fulfill God’s will not parents will.

God wants all mothers to be godly mothers just as He wanted one for His Son.

Our kids are not our slaves, they are born as :- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are the chosen race, the King’s priests, the holy nation, God’s own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light.

Let us allow our kids to serve God.

Prayer

Dear Jesus we submit our kids to you and you will bring us to the new level of understanding for their life. We will not irritate our kids but we will look at them with your eyes & through the leadership of the Holy Spirit we will take care of them in Jesus name we pray.

Amen!!

Sol.Preethi Jain

The word of God

The verses I am going to mention are close to my heart and have encouraged me the most. When I was confused of what God is and what does he want from me, these verses helped me understanding about everything in the world and above. God’s wisdom is above all.

Daniel 5:12

He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

This verse has its meaning for Daniel and the King Belteshazzar when the king saw a vision in his dreams and was scared. He couldn’t find anyone to help him understand the meaning of the vision but a prisoner came to his rescue by sharing the meaning of the vision. The similar thing happened to me while I was searching for way towards my vision but it was hidden as a prisoner in me only. I was trying to find the answer around the world yet it was here inside of me. The holy spirit.

When I received this verse, it was from a pastor in 2012. I was a new believer and I could only read it and pray over it but did not understand its worth and its effect on me. I kept this verse close to my heart yet it was difficult to understand God’s plan for this verse for me. I had always understood that God would give me the holy spirit that will fill me with the gifts of prophecy, translation of tongues, meaning of dreams etc. But it turned out to be even meaningful than that when I read it again today. The value we want to add to this world through our prayers, can only be fulfilled when we are building our relationship with God. He was, is and always will be a friend, king, savior, redeemer and the master. Closer we will be to God, closer we will be to his miracles.

He has created us in his own image to show us that we are worthy of his being. I was considering myself unworthy of all the good things in the world but while reading this verse again today, I feel empowered and encouraged. The circumstances break our heart. Those circumstances make us weak and God empowers us by giving us strength and wisdom to overcome the situations.

Each and every verse written in Bible has a meaning which varies just like everyone’s DNA. God reveals different meanings of the verses to different individuals based on their situation and the support they require from the verses.

Isaiah 45:1,2,3

“This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their Armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

I still have tears of passion in my eyes reading this verse. God has a stronghold over each and every aspect of everyone’s lives. I am one of those who surrendered, either good or bad, to God and have believed in Him for everything happening in my life. Patience is not waiting but its waiting for the good to happen and my belief on Him has given me the wisdom to love him.

I sometimes see darkness in my life and it blinds me to see if God is even present with me. But yes, He is there no matter what. To break all those bondages, to open the closed doors, to cut the bars of iron. His protection is above all. His love is above all. I just needed to wide open my senses to feel him.

When I received this verse, I was troubled by the things happening in my life. So much chaos which triggered my breakdown and had no will to live. But God reassured me through these verses that he is willing to do anything for me to protect me. And he is on my side. He is doing everything in his power to move the mountains which is the type of love each and every person deserves in the world.

I have always been hopeful but it breaks my heart seeing so much pain in this world. God created this world with so much love but the evil had different plans. The plan of God for us is above human understanding which can be understood by the holy spirit only.

Today, I am also trying to figure the best I can to understand about God and his mysterious ways. His divine power and love for his chosen ones is above everything. We may not understand that every day but our belief in Him, that everything will work out for the best, will strengthen the relationship with Him.  

Jesus is the salt and light of the world and he has made us the same through his verse Matthew 5:13.

Prayer

I pray in the name of Jesus to give strength to face all the troubles. I pray from these verses Daniel 5:12, Isaiah 45:1-3 and Matthew 5:13 that God fill us with all his gifts from heaven, protect us, guide us and bless us by shining his light upon us.

In the name of Jesus I pray.

Amen!

-Sol.Aparajita Dutta

LORD OPENED BALAAM’S EYES AND HE SAW THE ANGEL OF THE LORD STANDING IN THE ROADWAY WITH A DRAWN. SWORD IN HIS HAND.

Numbers 22:3

Acts 26:18

To open their Eyes, so that they may from DARKNESS TO LIGHT and from power of SATAN TO GOD, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are satisfied by faith in one

2 Kings 6:17.

Then Elisha prayed and said “O Lord please open his eyes so that he may see. So that the Lord opened the eyes of young man and saw and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

In this chapter of Number 22:31 Balak was a moabite king, He sent a message to Balaam who was a prophet to come to help him. Balak had told Balaam to curse the Israelites

But God said Balaam,

Do Not Curse These People As I Have Blessed Them?

But Balaam is on his way on the donkey going towards the people of Egypt (Israelities). So here Balaam way was blocked many times by the Angel of the LORD but only the donkey was able to see the Angel & not Balaam God opened Balaam eye and there he was able to see the Angel of the LORD.

So what ever you are facing in life like problems, difficulties failures and you are not able to find solution to your things, person, house, family, relationships.

And you are praying for a broken relationship any circumstance or any person Pray to God to open the eyes of that person, family, relatives etc so that he/she can see. Once the spiritual eyes of a person is opens he/she will see the truth & light .

Prayer: Dear God teach all those who are reading to cling to God and pray that God open their and others eyes so that they can see the light & truth & be saved. let ther faith in you be increased and will do your will in Jesus name I Pray.
 
AMEN

Dr.Himakshi Aoj

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The Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace”. Exodus 14:14

The Lord promises to fight for us.It is again and again assured in Joshua 23:10,2 Chronicle 20:15 and Nehemiah 4:14. We need to hold our peace or hold on to the peace of Jesus in all the circumstances.Then we will let go all our fears and threats. 1Timothy6:12 says that,”Fight the good fight of faith …..” what is the good fight. It is the fight without rivalry and without bloodshed. How is it possible? Yes, with faith and it is the antidote for all our fears. Lord can change any force coming against us.The desire of the Lord is that we understand, know and acknowledge Him as the pillar of strength in our lives . I have gone through a period of 20years affliction because of my husband’s heart problem and paralysis of one side.But I can give my testimony that ,”it is good that I have been afflicted….I learn your statutes “.psalms119:71 .

Joshua was enabled to defeat 31 kings in order to get the promised land for the Israelites.There is no need to run away from the problems.Lord promises that when our enemies attack us in one direction, they will be caused to flee in seven directions.(Deutronomy28:7,25. )Lord will protect His children as they are a peculiar treasure unto Him(Exodus 19:5) and they are the apple of His eye(Zechariah 2:8).We should not fill our mind with fear or anger or revenge.We must wait for the power and glory of the Lord to protect, and deliver us. Lord will fight for us while we are on our knees praying and praising the Lord. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual strongholds . So we need spiritual weapons .We need the Word of God, the double edged sword, shield of faith , helmet of salvation, belt of truth and prayer for our victory(Ephesians6:11-18). We must have the confidence in the Lord, that is our strength. Then we will have the peace that passeth understanding.We only need to take time in prayer claiming His promises to give us victory..So whatever be our struggles and circumstances don’t fear. God, His Word is there to deliver us

Prayer

Heavenly Father , thank you for fighting for us and deliver us from our enemies. Amen.

Sol.Gigi Jacob

Songs of Solomon 8:7 Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love, All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised.

Song of Songs is a series of lyrical love poem, believed to be written by King Solomon. Much has been written on the topic of love, many movies are made, many poems penned, many books scripted. As we all long for a fulfilling life, love ranks on the top. Everyone is looking for a little love in this loveless, dark world. When you truly love someone, you are willing to endure and go to any extent for that person. Many waters cannot quench it, nor floods drown it. We know that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were warned that they would be thrown into a blazing furnace if they did not worship the gold image but, they replied to King Nebuchadnezzar that Dan 3:18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” They were willing to die for the love they had for the one living God. The bible is a love story cover to cover, God is love, Jesus endured the cross due to the immense love, ultimate expression of love He had for us, we who were not worthy to be loved. He knew what we were yet, He loved us unconditionally. And, once you taste His love, you can’t live without Him. Thank God He decided to meet me at the place where I was in miry clay, I have tasted His love and nothing quenches the yearning for Him. Paul in his first letter to the Church of Corinth concludes in the 13th chapter that greatest of all is Love. It is priceless, it can’t be bought and of high value. Everyone wants to be loved and we have seen that many of the teens and youth fall into wrong companionship and activities due to lack of love and attention. God is love and the source of love. Romans 5:5 says God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. After the infilling of love from the source ie God, Jesus commanded John 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Love needs to be expressed both in words and action it’s not valentine day and gifting roses and empty words. It is consistent, patient, sacrificing, kind, does not boast or envy or is easily angered , or keep records -you did that to me on that particular day or proud or dishonour others or what can I get out of this relationship attitude. Love protects, trusts, hopes. The world today to what it was a decade or two ago is devoid of love, it’s more material centric. Hence Jesus asked us to spread some of His love to this hurting world. Can we do that?

Prayer

Abba Father, it’s your mandate that we love one another as you loved us. Shed your love into our hearts and give us the grace to love others like you do, in Jesus mighty name. Amen!!

Sol.Lalitha Menon

Wrong marriage alliance can ruin one 

Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. 

2 Ch 18:1 

In the old Testament we see many incidents where people who were walking in the straight path of the Lord all of a sudden tumble down because of marriage alliances. One of them is Jehoshaphat.

Bible testifies him with many good testimonies but he deviated from the path of the Lord because of the marriage allaiance.

During the time of Rehoboam the Kingdom of Israel was split into two.

The Kingdom of Judah with Jerusalem as the capital

The Kingdom of Israel with Samaria as the capital.

Jeroboam the rebel was the first ruler of  Israel  Kingdom .

Among the two, God was with Judah because they retained the real worship of God. Israel made two calves and placed them in Bethel and were worshipping them.

David -> Solomon -> Rehoboam -> Abija -> Asa  ->Jehoshaphat. 

The Lord kept His people exclusively in His worship and He always insisted on one thing. .

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. I am the Lord your God. You should not make any idols or other Gods to go before you. 

EX 20:2-3

The marriage alliance with Ahab, the Lord’s enemy, was the trap set for king Jehoshaphat  by satan. 

Even today, the people of God without wisdom go after money power, riches, wealth, fame in marriage alliance and loses eternal life.

One of my friends who studied in the same College  with me was from a God fearing family and had many  siblings. . Her father sought an alliance for her from a very rich family. Later he was blessed by the Lord to attain a very high position in the nation.  But they failed to bring up their children in the fear of God and her daughter got married to an idol worshipper. Even they insisted to have the marriage in a temple before an idol, saying, “We have only one son. His descendants should worship our God”.

She was ashamed to invite her  siblings  for the wedding of her daughter. She showed me the photo wedding photo where the bride groom stands half naked without upper dress as per their religious custom.

God called Abraham His friend, because He knew that Abraham will bring up His descendants in the fear of God.

Gen 18:18,19  seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?   For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 

Sr. Angelica AOJ

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”

1 Corinthians 4:1

There are quite a lot of differences between the words Believers and Servants. Believers who are faithful do not merely say that they believe but take part in the actions and responsibilities of what they believe as being the Servants of that belief

 God wants everyone to be saved, it is a responsibility of every believer to share the gospel with every person they come in contact with. Everyone who is alive has the chance of making it to heaven if we zealously share our faith with them. The Bible tells us to do the following, the responsibility of each and every believer,

“Be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8)

“Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5).

“Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mathew 28:19)

You are saved to save. One of our prime responsibilities is to assist the creation to fulfill God’s command, to rule, as a steward so that the creations of the world including animals, plants and resources are fruitful and multiply.

Testimony

 Few days back, I had distanced myself from taking on new responsibilities, so I can have some free time. But as days went by, I felt frustrated, got angered often, it was like being pulled by the things which are not of God. The Holy Spirit made me realise it quickly and I committed myself again to do what He has trusted me with, which made me more happier than before to serve our Lord.

Sometimes people refuse to accept new responsibilities, seeing the surrounding situations and saying let us be normal believers, we don’t want any special postings or duties in Christ. When we are given a responsibility, it is entrusted with us by God alone. To be a partaker is not what is granted as a choice for us to make, but a necessity to which we are obliged (1 Corinthians 9:16)

As we read in the book of Esther 4:13-16, we are given the responsibility to save our family, our surroundings, our people, our nation, and our world we live in. This is the time for us to act swiftly like what Esther had done then laying her life for the sake of her people she was entrusted with, she was responsible for

Prayer

Arise O Soldiers! Humble Servants of Jesus! Take the responsibility for your own family, for your own constituency, for your own people. What a joy it is to stand and address the Royal Army of God.

Amen!

–Sol.Aphirancy

Your loving kindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Psalm 63:3

 How beautiful is this verse that without God’s Mercies we are nothing, that’s why God says My mercies are new every morning, because as a human being we continue to sin knowingly or unknowingly because God’s knows us very well that we are nothing but a mere human being. As for me when I am saved by the Lord during my early days with the Lord, I always wonder how God forgives and forgets all my sins, and how my God loves me just same everyday. As scripture says Hebrew 13:8 Jesus Christ is same yesterday today and forever more. Thank God for God Himself is our Father

Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the LORD, who has mercy on you. Just read this verse and meditate upon it. As we do we will understand the Heart of God. How loving and kind our Father is. His love never fails and his kindness will not depart. Let us continue to rest upon the Word of God.

Testimony

One of the incident I want share with you. One of the Sister called me and asked me to write the message for this month but I started to delay and completely forgot about that but again I received a call from another Sister then I started to feel guilty because I delayed the work of the Lord and who am I that God should wait upon me, I started to repent and this verse became so real and alive in my life how beautiful it is “Thy loving kindness is better than life.” and my lips started to praise God. That is how we experience God’s love and Kindness everyday in every little thing. Without His kindness we are nothing and His Mercies are new every morning. Hallelujah!

Now As we receive and experience the Mercies of God in our lives remember to show His mercies that we experienced to others too. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36. Never fail to show kindness to others. Always be kind and loving to others.

Let’s pray Heavenly Father God, I thank you and praise you for your Love and endless Mercies upon me. Develop the character of your Love and kindness in me too.

In Jesus name

Amen.

–Sol. Mercy

Transformation from Saul to Paul but am I still Saul….???

We all have heard about the transformation of Paul from a prosecutor to an apostle of Jesus Christ. Today I am going to talk about “The Saul” in me though I am a believer.

Saul was a persecutor as per Acts8:3 which says he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. In Acts7:58-59 – We see that Stephan was stoned to death in the presence of Saul.

And again in Acts 9:1-2 it says Saul, still breathing threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any belonged to ‘the Way ‘whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

But in Acts9:4 – He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ” Saul Saul why do you persecute me?“. We see his encounter with Jesus where Jesus did not appear before him but Saul heard the voice of Jesus. Normally it is told easily that Saul was turned to Paul on encounter with Jesus on his way to Damascus. But to my surprise in Acts 9:5,7 and 8, I found him 2 still as Saul, Then again in 9:11 he is still Saul of Tarsus, then in 9:17 he is still addressed as ‘brother Saul’ by Ananias Again in 9:22 – Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ, but still Saul. In 9:24 – Saul becomes wise enough to learn the plan of his killing. He even spoke boldly for Jesus in Jerusalem but still as Saul

In Acts11:25 and Acts11:30 – Saul is being talked about but not as Paul, and again in Acts 12:25 continues to be Saul. Finally in Acts13:2 and13:7, is Saul who is ‘also called Paul’

After so much searching within me, Holy Spirit made me realise that I am also Saul and I am persecuting Jesus.

Surprised at my findings???

Let me explain-Saul was not alone

Proof

Stephen was stoned to death in his presence by people; as per Acts 9:3, as Saul neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, blinded him and he had to be led by people into Damascus.

As per Acts9:9 – For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything

What was he doing….???

As per Acts9:11 – The Lord told Ananiasto go search for Saul who was praying and how he had to suffer for Jesus’ name(Acts 9:16) So, if I am not praying and thanking the Lord everyday as per 1 These 5:17&18 am I not persecuting Jesus? If I am getting pleasure in gossiping every day, again I am persecuting my Loving God – Need to change myself.

Changing my attitude, thought, behaviour and activities requires checking myself every day.(Romans 12:2) So I realised that many a times I become Saul and persecute my Lord and Saviour – Jesus Christ. As it is my Spiritual food – I need to prioritise and study the word of God every day for His presence, to fulfil His promise and assurance in my life as per Hebrews13:5

Striving to become from Saul to Paul is an everyday process. To increase my Faith and Trust in this fallen world it is needed so that I am lifted up during rapture and not like the foolish virgins who were without adequate oil and missed out the arrival of the bridegroom.

-Sol.Amit Agarwal

INSTRUCTIONS

And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn;

 1 Kings 2:3

When king David days drew near that he should die, He called Bathsheba the queen to come into the kings presence, so she came and stood before the king . And the king took an oath and said, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress,just as I swore to you by the LORD God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so I certainly will do this day.”

A good Leader should give a good leader after him as his Sucessessor, For King David when his time came for him to go the way the earth goes he carried out a act of appointing a new king after him to rule the people.

Now He calls to Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, So they came before the king. The king also said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!‘ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”

AFTER ANOINTING SOLOMON TO BE THE KING,DAVID INSTRUCTS HIS SON SOLOMON

INSTRUCTION 01 : KEEP THE CHARGE OF THE LORD YOUR GOD TO WALK HIS WAYS

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INSTRUCTION 02 :  KILL THE ENEMY

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INSTRUCTION 03 : SHOW GRATITUDE

INSTRUCTION 01 : KEEP THE CHARGE OF THE LORD YOUR GOD

It is every important that we get charged in our God , the fan cannot run without the electric power, the phone cannot have life when it’s not getting charged same way if we are not charged in God our source of power whatever we do for the day way not be prospers

And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 1kimgs 2:3

INSTRUCTION 02 : KILL THE ENEMY

He makes him known who are the people whom should go to grave with blood and without peace, today it’s very important for us to know our enemy, it is important for us kill the enemy that is satan, it is better to began the day with the praying like how Joyce Meyer would pray every saying I make the the plans of enemy upside down in the name of JESUS

INSTRUCTION 03 : SHOW GRATITUDE

He teaching to show gratitude to the person who showed kindness to him, so it important for us to be grateful to the people who have been good to us to the best possible of our ability.

PRAYER

Dear LORD, we thank you for the instructions which are written for us in your word give us the Heart to obey them all, to walk  in your status, to win the enemy, and to show gratitude to the one we grateful to. In JESUS name I pray.

AMEN

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Sol. pinta Eunice, AOJ

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