AOJ NEWS

Turning Your MOUNTAINS to Your MIRACLES

All the testimonies that we have in our Life today had been mountains in our Life at some point of time. What do these testimonies actually show ? It shows that mountains had appeared in our paths which we have now overcome and had victory over them in JESUS’ name.

When we overcome a mountain, does that mean that no mountains will come in our paths ? No. New ones will appear. And the mountain that has passed gives us more confidence in the Lord to face new mountains that will come in future.

Just like we see in the life of David. When he was a shepherd boy he had killed the bear and then killed a lion to save his sheep. He didn’t know at that time that God was preparing him to face a much bigger mountain, that is, the giant sized Goliath to save Israelites from him.

Similarly, when we see our lives maybe we have seen many mountains in the past in different areas like physical, financial, social or mental areas but with the Lord’s help and His faithfulness in our life, those mountains today have become a distant history. We don’t even remember they ever existed.

So, let’s see what the Bible teaches us about how to turn our Mountains to Miracles.

Humans beings always want 100 % in their lives in all aspects. But the problem is when they see 80% good in an area and 20 % bad, very naturally human beings focus on the 20% and forget about the 80 % blessings. They like to focus more on the lack than the abundance that they already have. If you ask them how they are, they will have only this answer, ” yeah everything is okay but…
Or they ll say
My job is good. I have a very good salary but my boss is mean and unfair.
Everything is good and fine but I have an incurable disease
I have a nice house, I have everything but my husband is a drunkard.
Actually people are not enjoying their life because their focus is not on the 80% blessing they have but their focus is on the 20% they don’t have
and day and night they only think about the 20% lack. This 20% is what is taking away or stealing their peace of mind and their sleep. This 20% destroys their happiness and joy and unknowingly they totally forget the many blessings they already have which is a distant dream for many.

But the Bible is such a lovely book it teaches us to give thanks in all situations. In all situations means you have to be grateful and thankful to God for your 80% as well as for your 20% also. Because the Bible declares that
ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR OUR GOOD ie our 80 and the 20% both together.

Let’s call this 20% BUT FACTOR

How do we handle such “But factor or mountain” situation.?

Let us see some Bible scriptures to understand this mountain or this but factor situation better.

2 Kings 5:1 is a very famous story of Naaman.
The Bible says, Now Naaman, Commander of the army of the king of Syria was a great and honourable man in the eyes of his master because by him the lord had given victory to Syria, he was also a mighty man of valour but he was a leper Now when you read this first verse, you can see 80% of the verse talks about the best of Naaman. It says he was a commander of the army of the king of Syria. Next, he was great and honorable in the sight of his master and then, by him the Lord had given many victories. Imagine the Lord gave him victory over Israel too. And then it says he was also a mighty man of Valour
and finally we read about the 20% of Naaman’s “not so good life”, it is said, but he was a leper.
So Naaman’s ‘but factor’ was
He was a leper.

But the truth is
If his “but factor” had not been there, Naaman would not have made it to the Bible. Because of his “but factor” today we read about Naaman in the Bible.

Now, there are many people, if you read the Bible who have made it into the pages of The Bible only because of their “but factors”.

Let’s see a few of them who had
“but factors” as their hindrances or excuses.

When God called Jeremiah, he said, Lord how can you call me? I am but a youth. So what was his “but factor” he said, I am so young.
Then we see when God called Moses he said, “Lord, how can you tell me to be the spokesperson? I am a stutterer. So his “but factor” was that he was a stammer.
And then when we talk about the Israelites facing the Jericho wall, that was their mountain or their but factor.

And then we also see in the new testament the mountains or but factors in the lives of so many people. For eg:
But Jairus’ daughter was dead,
But Lazarus was dead and four days in the tomb, But the woman had the issue of blood for 12 long years.
Etc etc

Today, when we look at our Life what is our “but factor or mountain” that we are too focused on that’s giving us unrest and sleepless nights and is stopping us from fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives??
Are we complaining to the Lord saying,
But Lord I have not been promoted.
But I have a health issue.
But I don’t have a good partner.
But I have more enemies than friends.
But I am always broke.
But I am in huge debts.
But I am good for nothing.
But I am physically challenged.
Etc etc…

Well, if we read Numbers 13 there’s a very interesting incident where we see two kinds of people.
Moses chose 12 people, one leader from each tribe and instructed the 12 to go to the land of Canaan and spy out the land and bring back reports of the place.

The 12 came back after spying for 40 days but all didn’t have the same report.

Incidentally, the land they spied was the same but there were two reports. One report of Fear and the other of Faith.

10 of them gave a bad report out of Fear and only two i.e. Joshua and Caleb gave a good report out of Faith in God.

The ten, out of Fear saw the little mound as a big mountain whereas the other two because of their FAITH in GOD saw the big mountain as a little mound.

That’s why Jesus said in Mathew 17:20,
Assuredly, I say to you, if you have FAITH as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

You only need a small sized FAITH for huge mountains.

Which Caleb and Joshua had.

Check the report as a result of Fear of the ten.
They said, the land truly flows with milk and honey but( now this was their “but factor” )
everything is good about the land but
the people who dwell in the land are strong,
the cities are fortified and very large, we saw the descendants of giants there. We are not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than us and we are like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight.

Hearing this report of Fear, the people of Israel got fearful and were so scared, they lifted up their voices and cried and they wept that night and the children of Israel murmured against Moses and complained saying, Why the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, won’t it be better for us to return to Egypt.

Sadly they simply wanted to quit the journey when they were so close to their miracle.

Many quit because of their “but factor”.

Now let’s see what report Caleb and Joshua brought.

They first quieted them, just like how Jesus always did when there was a storm. He would first say, Fear not. Be not afraid.
And then he would speak to the storms to calm down.

Then Caleb and Joshua said in Number 13:30
This is very interesting..
Let us go up at once.
Meaning let’s not even delay and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.
In 14:8 and 9
They said, this land is exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us then he will bring US into the land and give it to us. A land which flows with milk and honey.

Numbers 14:9 is an important verse This is applicable to us even now.
It says, only do not Rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land. FOR THEY ARE OUR BREAD
their protection has departed from them and the Lord is with us, do not fear them.

Imagine, they addressed their mountain or but factor as BREAD!!

See your mountains as BREAD.

Just eat it and get strong and move forward and upward.

What a report !!

And we know what happened thereafter, the Jericho wall came tumbling down and they possessed it.

The same was the case with Naaman.
At the instruction of the Prophet Elisha, he went and dipped himself 7 times in river Jordan and he was totally cleansed of leprosy. Had he quit, which he was almost going to do, he would have been so close to his miracle and would have lost it forever.

That’s why Jesus said, in Mark 11:23
Truly, (the one who is THE TRUTH when He says truly then THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE TRUTH)
I say to you, whoever SAYS to this MOUNTAIN, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him”

GLORY !!

When you face your “mountain or but factor”

Jesus says,
Speak to it boldly to move into the sea.

Talk TO IT and
Not TALK ABOUT IT to 100 people. It’s no use.
Your mountain will remain there and not move an inch.

Speak TO IT in THE NAME IS JESUS
Command it to move.

And the verse says
It will move into the sea not river.
In the river the mountain will still be visible but in the sea..there won’t be any evidence of it being there. No trace. It’ll be history as though it never existed.
And You will have a glorious testimony for the GLORY OF OUR LORD JESUS.

^{FOCUS ON YOUR BLESSINGS AND ABUNDANCE RATHER THAN FOCUSSING ON THE LACK OR PROBLEMS.TURN YOUR MOUNTAINS TO MIRACLES.}

Prayer

Heavenly Father I thank you for all your blessings in my life. Let us not be so pre - occupied by the little mounds in our lives that we forget to see all our blessings. As Caleb and Joshua said, we too declare that the Lord delights in us we do not want to rebel against the Lord. We see our mountains as Bread and as stepping stones to move to the next level. And in the mighty Name of JESUS we command these mountains to move and be gone. May our BUT FACTORS turn into beautiful testimonies for YOUR GLORY ALONE.In JESUS' name we pray. Amen.

Sol.Catherine Koshy.

Remove from your midst . . . malicious speech. (Isaiah 58:9)

It can be easy to think these words don’t apply to us.At one time or another, we have all thought and said spiteful things like this. But all is not lost! Jesus has the power to help us treat people with the same love and respect that he has for us. In fact, he promises to help us if we cry out to him.

Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight. Often we need to look at why we say the things we say. And that’s where Jesus comes in. He helps us look inside our hearts to see the root causes of our hurtful speech.

Because that’s where a lot of it comes from. Ask any counselor, and they will tell you that people who have been hurt often hurt other people. Or they will tell you that our hurtful words tend to arise from our own self-centered desires and our frustration that people aren’t treating us the way we think we deserve.

Maybe you are struggling with unforgiveness or resentment. Or maybe a wound from your past continues to affect some of your relationships. Or maybe you just want what you want—and right away! Whatever the case, Jesus can help you. He can shine his light into your heart and convince you that he has your life in his hands—so you don’t have to lash out. You don’t have to go on the attack or become extra defensive because Christ is more than capable of caring for you. He is more than able to heal your hurts and strengthen your heart.

We often think that Lent is a time when we do things for God. But it’s also a time when God wants to do things for us. So ask him to help you put away unkind remarks and reactions. If you slip up, think about what may have caused you to act in that way. Then ask Jesus to heal you—and trust that he can.
“Jesus, heal my heart so that I speak only words of love, encouragement, and mercy.”

Sol.Fiona

*WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH*

*“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”* (John 4:24).

When Jesus told the Samaritan woman everything she had done, she could see that Jesus was a prophet. She asked Him a doubt where to worship God whether on that mountain as done by her ancestors or in Jerusalem as claimed by the Jews. Jesus replied to her that *the place is not important for true worship,* and God wants the true worshippers to *worship Him in spirit and truth because God is Spirit* (John 4:24).

Paul says, *”I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”* (1 Timothy 2:8).

We can pray anywhere with reverence and faith. Jesus stated that the essence of authentic worship is not found in places but rather in spirit and truth. Being concerned with spiritual reality is what it means to worship in the spirit. To worship in the whole counsel of God’s Word is to worship in truth.

The Psalmist says, *“Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!”* (Psalm 96:9). Regardless of our circumstances, we must always worship God because of His holiness. God created us again in Christ and is currently producing the lovely fruit of holiness in us. He loves us and sees us as holy and faultless in Christ. *We must worship God in the beauty of His holiness and in the beauty of our own holiness in Christ.* Is it not marvelous?

Jesus states, *“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”* (Matthew 15:8-9).

True and effective worship involves keeping the commandments of God wholeheartedly. Worship turns into vain if the laws of men are given importance. Outward worship is not accepted by God because He wants the worship to be with all our hearts.Many people worship without knowing who or what they worship.

Paul said to the Athenians, *”The One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.”* (Acts 17:23). What a pity that people worship traditionally *without proper understanding or conviction!*

The Bible declares, *“Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”(Revelation 14:7). He who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water alone should be worshipped, not any other powerless being. *Do we worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness?*🔹 *Are we truly worshipping the LORD with all our hearts?*

The *LESSONS* we learn:

1️⃣ *The essence of authentic worship is not found in places but rather in spirit and truth.*

2️⃣ *We must worship God in the beauty of His holiness and in the beauty of our own holiness in Christ.

*3️⃣ *True and effective worship involves keeping the commandments of God wholeheartedly.*

4️⃣ *He who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water alone should be worshipped.*

Sol.Dr. S. Selvan

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

Complete Your Incompletions

Luke 2:26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

In today’s Scripture, you can imagine how far out the revelation given by the Holy Spirit to a man named Simeon seemed. As time went by, and Simeon didn’t see any sign of the Messiah, I’m sure the negative thoughts came:

“You heard God wrong.

It’s been too long.

It’s never going to happen.”

Nevertheless, Simeon awakened every morning believing, expecting, and knowing that it would happen, and one day he met the newborn Jesus in the temple. The promise came to a dramatic fulfillment and Simeon declared, “My eyes have seen Your salvation!”

Life will try to push you down, steal your dreams, and talk you into settling for less than what God promises. Will you stay in faith, even though every voice tells you that it’s not happening? God is saying to you what He said to Simeon: “You need to get ready. I am going to finish what I started. No one and nothing can stop Me from fulfilling My promises to you. I will complete your incompletions, even the secret petitions of your heart.”

Prayer

Father, thank You that You will bring to completion the good work You began in me. Thank You that the fulfillment of my dreams is on the way, even the secret petitions of my heart. I believe that You will complete my incompletions and equip me to do what You put me here to do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Heavenly blessings for this year .god will do miracles in our life.

Sol.Mariamma Alex

TRUE LOVE

Galatians 5:22, 23 gives us a list of sins of flesh and a list of the fruit of the spirit, “The work which his presence accomplishes”.The fruit of the holy Spirit are qualities we see in Jesus Himself:

Love joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control.

This is the goal of the Holy One living within us, to produce or accomplish this fruit in our lives—-big, luscious fruit for everyone to see and admire. Love is the everlasting fruit that will not fade away. To bear fruit we must abide in God’s love— by loving others, and to endure in his love by loving others, and to endure testing by responding to trials with love. We can move into the blessed, exceptional type of life we truly desire through developing the character qualities of the fruit of the spirit. When we as Christians know that God is available for us and are open to receiving from him, his spirit give us the power we need to develop the fruit to live the type of life God wants for us.

God gives us various gifts to use, but he gives us the fruit of the Spirit to develop. When the Holy Spirit lives inside us, we have everything he has,. His fruit is in us. The seed is planted. In order to use the gifts in the most powerful way that God desires, we must allow the seed of the fruit to grow up and mature in us by cultivating it. The gifts of the Spirit must be accompanied by the fruit of the Spirit to get the best results.

We can cultivate all the fruitby focusing on love, the first in the list of the nine fruit, and self control, the last is the list. Love and self-control are like bookends that hold the others in the place. All the fruit issue from love and actually are a form of love. But they are kept in place of self-control. We have to concentrate on developing the fruit of love, we don’t have to become impatient with people as you walk through your day.

We have not to be anything but kind. We have to be good to people, supportive, and faithful instead of being naughty or trying to appear better than others. If we are not motivated by love, we have to find that operating in the fruit is very difficult. But even when you are motivated to express God’s love as a lifestyle, there will be times when we wil not feel like being patient, kind, joyful, peaceful, or even nice at all! Those are the times that we need self-control in order to continue to respond with the fruit of the spirit even though we don’t feel like it. We need to develop this fruit of self-control, begin by simply making little choices throughout the day to respond with the fruit to situations we encounter.

Also we need to remember, love self-control, and all the other fruit of the spirit grow when we allow the Holy Spirit’s presence within we accomplish his work. INVEST IN A PURE HEART

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Matt 5:8

Purity of heart is not a natural trait—it is something that must be worked in us. We believe purging and purity go together. Purging is a tedious process in which worthless things are removed while the things of value are retained. Removing the worthless without harming the valuable requires an expert—-and God is an expert! He is like a refiner who sits over the fire where gold and silver are being refined,. He never leaves us for one second, but watches over us and impurities are being extracted he makes sure the valuable things in our are not harmed. God was willing to pay the price to redeem us. We have to be willing to pay the price to have purity in our life—purity of motives, thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions.

SPIRIT, MIND, AND BODY 1 Thessalonians 5 :23

Many people do not understand that we are think part beings:spirit, soul and body. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body,. Our new birth begins in our spirit, is carried out through our soul, and is finally visible to other people through a demonstration to God’s glory in physical lives. Many Christians make mistake of thinking that God cares only about the spirit. But he wants us to be whole in soul and body, too. Be blessed in the knowledge that God is faithful and will sanctify us in body, soul and spirit. God promises to take care of all three parts that make us who we are. We have to work with the Holy Spirit to carry out that plan that began to operate in us when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Our new birth begins in our spirit, is carried out through our soul, and is finally visible to other people through a demonstration of his glory in our physical life. God is working in us as long as we believe. He has begun a good work and he will also finish it. So we have to believe in God and be waiting for his answer to our prayers we just need to believe in him heartfully. And have to understand his words and work that he is doing in our life. Also not leaving us behind , he is walking before us. Because of one reason that he loves us so much. That’s why he never forget his promise that he gave us. So we have to “Keep Looking to Jesus”.

Let us pray -Heavenly Father you made us with your hand in your image ,let our life shows to others we are belong to you, amen.

Sol pia.

GROWING IN CHRIST

How can we come closer,and grow in our relationship with JESUS?

2Tim3: 16-17. “All scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching,rebuking, correcting , training in righteousness and holiness.,so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

LISTEN TO HIM:

As we read the BIBLE, God speaks to us through His own Word.God say those who have ears listen carefully.

RESPOND TO HIM:

As we receive understanding from Him, we respond to Him with the affections and needs of our he hearts. He says,” lf ln John 15:7 : lf you remain in me and my WORD remains in you, ask whatever you wish,and i done for you.”

FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER :

If we connect with others who share our FAITH in Christ, we experience mutual encouragement to love others as we ourselves have been loved.

Hebrew10:24-25 : “And let us consider how we may pur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

SHARE YOUR FAITH :

CHRIST desires for us to be His representatives to those who haven’t yet believed. One of the best ways to do this is to show honest concern for them. If they see our changed life and that we are genuinely interested in them, they are more likely to be curious about the difference they see in us.

A genuine believer will have a desire to listen to Him, to respond to Him ,to fellowship with other believers, and to share their Faith with those who don’t yet know CHRIST.Ask God to guide your path to a growing relationship with Him. This way we will grow in our relationship with the soon coming Lord.

PRAYER :

LORD guide me to trust you even when I can't see or hear from you but still can to rest in your goodness and faithfulness today. Jesus may your love and grace be evident in my words and deeds always. Amen

Sol Noreen Francis

Psalm 27:3 Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear;

Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.

The psalmist is King David who was chosen and anointed by God and yet he had severe troubles from enemies, false witnesses. He probably was in a situation where in, he looked around and finds that he is surrounded by the enemy without a way out. Yet he says his heart shall not fear, he is confident in one thing “Yahweh”. In verse 1 he says, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? “The Message bible says, in verse 2: When besieged, I’m calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I’m collected and cool. Confident means certain, a strong belief. David had his assurance not on his position, wealth or strength , he is totally relying on God, his trust is on Yahweh who is his light, one who saves and protects him from harm and is his strength so, he is “calm as a baby’ that he is going to be fine.

John 2:2-3 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” This is the famous wedding at Cana. It was customary for the Jews to serve wine at the weddings, it plays an important role in Jewish tradition during weddings, symbolic of joy and happiness. At the wedding at Cana, the wine had run out and instead of joy the family would be put to shame and great embarrassment with which they would have to live all their lives, Jesus was in the house, He was “invited” and his mother was quite confident that Jesus can resolve this issue. The disciples were committed in obeying Jesus, their faith was tremendous that water was turned to wine, Jesus’ first miracle in public. Jesus resolved the issue by turning water into the “best wine saved for the last” according to the guests!!

John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. This verse indicates that we must receive Jesus and verse 12: But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: says that just receiving is not enough “we must believe” in Him.
Are you surrounded by challenges? Debt, with your job, sickness, your children, family what not! Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” David knew his God very well, he knew if there is one person he can rely on, then that was Yahweh, who has never failed him and will never fail him, his mercy is renewed each morning.

Jesus has already disarmed the enemy on the cross of Calvary, we are in safe and the best hands ever.

Col 2:15 having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Jesus said,”do not afraid, only BELIEVE”!!!! Don’t look at your circumstances, your issues, your challenges but let your focus be on Jesus the way maker, miracle worker, your redeemer, Saviour and the faithful God!

Sol.Lalitha Menon

TEMPTATION BY THE WORLD

I John 2:15 – Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

The term world does not always refer to the universe as created by God. It often is used to describe the community of sinful humanity that possesses a spirit of rebellion against God. “We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19).

Because of its opposition to God, the world values those things that are contrary to God’s will: “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). Its temptations to the believer are thus twofold: lust for the sensual and pride in the mastery of one’s own life.

The attraction of the world is amplified by Satan who is head of its system. He is called the “ruler of this world” “Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” (John 12:31).

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.

(John 14:30) “Of judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged,” (John 16:11).

“And the whole world is said to be under his power. (I John 5:19), where “wickedness” can also be translated as “wicked one”).

Some of the tragic effects that love of the world will produce in the believer’s life are:

a) A turning away from the Lord’s work and other believers.

“For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and had departed from Thessalonica – Crescens from Galatia, Titus from Dalmatia.” (2 Timothy 4:10);

b) Alienation from God.

“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4).

c) Corrupting sins.

“by which we have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:4);

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world.
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (I John 2:15-17);

d) Deception by false teachers.

Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (I John 4:1)

For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and an antichrist. (2 John 1:7)
The solution to the love of the world is to have greater love for the Father (I John 2:15).

The Christian who seeks daily to please God in everything and who strives for spiritual growth through prayer, study of God’s Word and witnessing need not fall prey to the temptations of the world.


Sol.Gerardo J. Fernandes