AOJ NEWS

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M A T T H E W 2 1 : 1 - 10

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As Jesus and His disciples approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olive, He sent 2 of His disciples saying (verse 21:2-3) “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
Verse 21:5 is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

In verse 21:2-3, Jesus talking to His disciples. Now He is speaking to us.

Here we read that Jesus sent His two disciples. Similarly Jesus wants to send us too. Where to? The Lord desires to send us into the midst of those who are against Jesus and His kingdom. He wants to send us to those who are under bondage to heal, deliver, and pray for them. Here Jesus says, “You will see a she ass and its colt.

J E S U S T E L L S  U S , 
you who are not desired by anybody, I need you, who are under bondage, He needs to make your life full.

In Exodus 13:13, according to Moses law, all first-borns are for the Lord. The neck of the first-born ass is to be broken, which means they are in bondage. When Jesus comes into us, who are under bondage, we will become respectable, noble, and desirable to others.

The donkey represents the authority of the word of God. One needs to rely on the word of God.

Man chooses what strikes his eyes and mind, while God chooses the less obvious that strikes the heart as good.

Jesus chose fishermen and ordinary people as His disciples, not scholars.
The donkey knew that all the praise and appreciation that came along the way was for Jesus. Like the donkey, we should consider that it is enough for an owner to be used by Jesus to carry His message to the world and seek no reward or honor beyond that. The presence of Jesus on the donkey was enough reward and enough blessing. Always remember that we are God’s chosen donkeys to do the will of God. Never take the credit for all, just be grateful for His grace that we have been chosen to do His will.

                                  PRAYER                                             
Lord, I praise you. You freed us who were bound. Now send us according to your will, to free many of those who are in bondage.

SOL.ALOYSIUS, AOJ

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“All your children are taught by the LORD,

And Great Shall Be The Peace Of Your Children”

Isaiah 54:13.

Proverbs 22:6
"TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO,
AND WHEN HE IS OLD HE WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT".

Isaiah 48:17-19 says

“I Am The LORD YOUR GOD who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow”.

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There will be abundance of peace and overflowing resources of righteousness if God,s people listened to Him. There would have been no need for destruction

God give me a family in the year 2001, 15th January and blessed with four children, three sons and a girl..My third son,Lokam Joshua was in the hostel from October 2019 while he was in classVlll . He was influenced by bad friends and followed their ways.There were problems in my work place and many other things. But Hebrews 1:3 comforted me that He sustains everything by the mighty power of His command.

In the first week of March when sister Angelica preached about the restoration, many restorations took place in my life. Among them one was the restoration of my son Lokam Joshua from his bad habits and bad friends. I give all glory for God’s love, grace and mercy upon my son.It is the fulfillment of God,s promises that Jeremiah 33:26″your children will return from their captivity and have mercy on them.”

Now he is working hard for getting good results in std 10, as he is preparing for the coming CBSE(Central Board of Secondary Examination) and wanted to Crack the NERIST NE exam. All glory and honor to Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Therefore" I Tell You , You Can Pray For Anything And If You Believe That You Have Received It, It Will Be Yours."

M  a  r   k         1  1  :    2  4 .

Psalms 37:4 “take delight in the Lord ,and he will give you your hearts desire”.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him,for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Isaiah 54:10 says”My covenant of blessing will never be broken”.
John 6:45says”They will all be taught by God;Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me”.

Heavenly Father I thank you for restoring my lost things.I surrender myself and my family completely into your hand.I pray for the restoration of all who are going through such situations
                     
Amen

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Sol. Sikap, AOJ

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IT IS GOOD FOR ME THAT I HAVE BEEN AFFLICTED;

That I Might Learn Your Statutes.

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Pfsalms 119:71 (UKJV)

We are afflicted in so many ways every day. The cause of affliction will vary

• Our own negligence in duty
• Our carelessness
• Our weaknesses
• Our sicknesses
• Others’ envy on you
• Not getting enough results out of our labour
• Betrayal by others etc.

Whatever be the cause, 
God is concerned about us & our afflictions
When we are in affliction, He also is affected with us.

Isaiah 52:5 (UKJV) Now therefore, what have I here, says the LORD, that my people is taken away for nothing?
As long as His children are with Him, He is happy. But when His Children are taken away, the Lord is also in pain.

While going through affliction, if the people cry out to Him, He hears and come down from heaven to protect them. He takes all measures to deliver His children . He brings changes in the whole scenario.

HE BRINGS THE REQUIRED CHANGES IN OUR LIVES TOO AND SHOWS US WHERE WE WENT WRONG, WHERE WE STOOD UNPROTECTED ETC.

He will also teach you more strategies of warfare,
How you fought this war, how you could have fought in a different way & taken victory, how you could have avoided certain situations, temptations by standing with Jesus, what precautionary steps you should take in future to avoid such situations etc. The outcome is, at present you are more equipped for a high level war with the enemy.

Then your whole life itself will be changed.
That is why the Psalmist said,
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes.

Since I am living in Tamil Nadu, I learned Tamil. The Lord gave fluency in Tamil. Since I got saved & was conducted trainings in Tamil I started reading Tamil Bible. I was not fluent in English Bible verses . At a time the Lord asked me to use English Bible. 3,4 times I was prompted in my spirit to read Bible in English. But I discarded it wilfully.
All of a sudden, I was taken all over India to share the ENHF vision. Speaking in English, especially quoting Bible Verses in English popped up as a big issue for me. If I had obeyed the Lord & used English Bible, by that time I could have easily rectified that problem. Anyway I thanked the Lord and begged him to forgive me. He solved it & gave me fluency in English. I became more alert to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. All glory to God .

Sr. Angelica AOJ

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“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.”

Isaiah12:2

Prophet Isaiah says,God is our salvation.Isaiah means salvation is God.Isaiah prophesied what the  Lord told him.He faced many hurdles in life, however he was steadfast.

  “The Lord is my rock,my fortress,and my saviour; my God is my rock,in whom I find protection.He is my shield,the power that saves me,and my place of safety“.

Psalms 18:2

“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.They will soar high on wings like eagles.They will run and not grow weary.They will walk and not faint.“

Isaiah40:31 

As mentioned in Isaiah40:21“Have ye not  known?have ye not heard?hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?“.

               Even if storms and heavy rains come against the eagle, it will overcome all such obstacles. Similarly one who establishes himself in Jehovah will lead a blessed life. When Job had to face so many tribulations in his life ,even his wife asked him to reject  God  .Job replied she was talking like a fool/idiot.

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him”.

Job 13:15

Whatever difficulties come in his life, he said,he will never reject Him.Job said he will wait for God,s redemption.

The song Moses and Miriam sang when the Lord made the Israelites cross the Red sea.

“The Lord is my strength and song, and HE is become my salvation:He is my God”.

Exodus 15:2

The Red Sea was in the front and the Egyptian army was behind them. According to the Lord’s  guidance Moses stretched his rod across the water.The Lord sent a strong wind and made the waters of the  Red Sea retreat and opened a dry path for the Israelites to walk through. They crossed through the dry land. The Egyptian army who followed the Israelites were drowned in the Sea and all of them were swallowed by the water.The Lord saved His children.Exodus14:20-30

Testimony:

               My beloved went to be with the Lord in Nov 8 th 2018 .I was left alone as my two  sons are living in far  off places in connection with their jobs. I am living in the house  where we together  came to faith after leaving our families .After retirement we started serving the Lord full time. The Lord embraced us without making a laughing stock in my conservative family(Isaiah12:2,Psalms 18:2)

         I joined AOJ in2019 and this became a blessing in my life.This was a great turning point in my life.It helped me to discuss many things in groups and learn many lessons.

Prayer:

Abba Father, let the peace you gave me in my life be a help to many who are in sorrow. Amen

–Sol.Shylaja Satheesan

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

–Eph 3:17- 19

The above is a prayer of Apostle Paul that the Ephesian church to be rooted in a love that surpasses all human knowledge a love that cannot be understood by human mind.

 ^“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us”.

–Romans 5:5

We see from Romans 5:5 that holy spirit has the same love poured into our hearts. When the Bible says so do we see this form of love in our family, our churches or in our Christian societies today. Why this love is not found among us. Well God gives us a simple answer – “nobody asked me”. Jesus said “Ask & You shall receive. God cannot give us something we did not ask for. God cannot give this love to us to forgive who wronged us, or to love the people who rose against us or people whom we don’t like or see them lower than us until we desire and ask Him. Jesus just didn’t say in Mt 5:44 to love our enemies but he gives us the love to do so.

The Same love Jesus exhibited in this world. He was made just like us flesh & Blood but at the cross when he was bruised, spatted on and mocked he endured it all through the help of the love which was poured on him through the Holy Spirit

The first character in the fruit of the Spirit is Love. Apostle Paul in his longest letter to the Corinthians when introducing the gifts of the Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12 & explaining them in detail in I Corinthians 14 he placed the importance of love in between. The first three verses of I Corinthians 13 says if we speak in tongues, if we preach or prophesize or even give our wealth to the poor or have a immovable faith but if any of these one’s is done without love it finds no meaning in the sight of god ..

Many can say I have the love of God but is it the love the Bible tells:

In a shop we buy a kg of rice, but how is it measured without a weighing scale. Without the measure how do we know it is sufficient. I Corinthians 13 is the measure of love which shows 13 qualities of Love, the love that transcends from God & poured in us, by the holy spirit. Let us ask this love from God through this love we establish God’s Kingdom in our families, our church & our society.

Prayer:

Our father in heaven i pray that everyone who reads the above message has the desire to pray to understand your love for us and to exhibit the same love to one another.Amen

–Sol. Leo

The Spiritual Gift of Faith:

To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise
advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The
same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit
gives the gift of healing.

-1 Corinthians 12:8-9

Gift of Faith is the power gift specially given to
certain people who will not misuse it. This gift has to be used with great
discretion or else there will be confusion and chaos. Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you
can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in
your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that
you’ve received it, it will be yours.
Mark 11:22-24N. Imagine we all had such a gift what would happen to the world ?
According to our whims and fancies and personal convenience the the mountains
and rivers will start shifting places, and climatic conditions will vary
dramatically, This is the reason the Lord does not give this gift to many. In
the Bible we find a few people who were bestowed with this power gift. We find
Joshua stopping the moon, prolonging the day till his battle is won. 
Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the
Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain
during the next few years until I give the word!”
1 Kings 17:1
He was bold enough to talk this to
the King and it really happened as he trusted God.. But to bring back rain he
had to pray continuously putting his head low. There rain occurred as he
prayed. He was a man of prayer.
The miracles done by Moses were ordered and planned by God and he had the faith
to proclaim what was going to happen.
Psalm 34:6 says “by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and the
host of them by the breath of His mouth. ” Breath means Spirit, Hebrew
11:3 says, By faith we understand that the world was framed by the word of God.
We people should have this faith to trust God and to depend on Him. If the word
of God abide in us we ask anything we need God will give that. Healing happens
with such faith. If we do not trust and have faith in God our life is so
miserable. Let us have full trust in God hope that whatsoever He does for us is
for our good only. Paul talks about faith that could move mountains? This means
if we speak with divine faith believe that you received it. In the Acts of the Apostles
we find this divine gift of faith acting through the apostles. Even today this
can happen. As Jesus said we should have that divine authority and gift of
faith and God will grant the wisdom to use it with discretion.
Have faith in God. This faith is given to us by His grace. God bless.

-Sol.Salomi

 

“Be ye  therefore followers of God as dear children.”

“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor”. When we imitate  God we are worshipping the Father. Then we cannot live like unbelievers whose understanding is darkened  and affected by spiritual blindness.

“In whom the  God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”.

–2corinthians 4:4

We have learnt His word,seen His examples so we must put away our deceitful desires of this world.we should continually renewed  in the spirit of God.

“And be renewed  in the spirit of your mind“.

–Ephesians4:23

We got our salvation at no cost but at total cost to Jesus. We should speak truth to one another and live as directed by the Head ,the Christ. We should not have anger, bitterness to any one but forgive all. and work hard. Holy Spirit will help us in our endeavor to be godly.

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger,and clamor,and evil speaking,be put away from you,with all malice”.:

–Ephesians 4:31

As children  of God we are to be like Jesus His elder son. Jesus showed and taught us to be simple, humble ,gentle ,forgiving, kind, compassionate ,loving , wise  ,faithful and so on.We are adopted by God and now it is our turn to adopt the nature of God. This is the way we can offer true and acceptable  worship and show our gratitude towards God..we should allow Holy Spirit to point out the areas of our character,attitude and habits that we need to change.

…he hath given himself for us an offering and a  sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling  savour”.

–Ephesians5:2 ..

 So we need to continually walk in love.Even in our hard times and good times we have to love others,help  ,heal  ,pray , counsel  and  comfort  them.

We should carry the aroma of God wherever we go, whatever we think,speak and do.  2 Corinthians2:15   “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ,in them that are saved., and in them that perish.”.

Others may ridicule us by saying we are impractical, over spiritual or  godly.  1Corinthians 13:7  talks about the kind of love  that ” bears   all things,  endures all things and rejoices in the truth”.  Love is about sacrificing oneself, one’s ego, one’s time, efforts, resources  to bless others as Christ sacrificed His life.

 Under the old covenant, the sacrifices of some people became a sweet savor to the Father. It was more the attitude of the heart of the one who offered the sacrifice rather than what was sacrificed. We must try to spread our thoughts, actions and words like that of  the perfume of Mary Magdeline  as she emptied  the alabaster jar of nard to anointing Jesus. We must become a living and loving sacrifice to God.

Prayer:

        Heavenly Father  we want to reflect you and we want to love others as you loved them.Give us the grace to do that Be with us, lead and guide us.In Jesus precious name we ask.Amen

Sol.Gigi  Jacob

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed 1 Peter 1:7

Gold is perishable. It is not everlasting. But the true value of Gold is brought out when tested by fire. If the Gold is not brought to fire (burning flame) it has no greater value. It will be mixed with sand, dirt and other impurities along with Gold. But only when the Gold cut out from the mine when brought to the exact burning fire temperature by the gold smith, all the impurities like sand and dirt will be removed and becomes 22 Carat Gold. Then the Gold smith designs the Gold into the shape he wants and it becomes a beautiful ornament which costs thousands and lakhs.

  In the same way when the mountain rock is cut out it will remain as a rock. But when the sculptor carves the rock, he makes it to a beautiful shape he has in his mind. But when the sculptor carves, if the rock out of the pain of carving says to stop it is not a loss to the sculptor but to the rock. It will remain a rock and not a beautiful statue. In the same way when the sculptor of our life Jesus Christ carves our life, we may have pains. But when we give us willfully in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ our Creator, he will create us into his image.

When we see the embroidery works in sarees, salwar’s we see beautiful designs of flowers and dolls. But before that the same design will be pierced hundreds of times by needles to form the multicolor design of a flower or a doll.   

In 1 Samuel 1 we see Hannah crying bitterly in the Tabernacle. Why? because she was heartbroken by Peninnah.  So, she went to the Lord’s Tabernacle and pours her heart in the Lord’s presence. After that a Prophet Samuel was born.

 The reason when we are broken, pierced and abandoned, it is to create the image of Christ in us, to do the will of God and a Prophet to be formed in us.

Joseph went through the same situation, when he was in prison Genesis 39:20,21 says Joseph was not alone but God was with Joseph. His Grace gave Joseph favor from the Prison warden.

In all our paths God wants us to reflect the image of Christ in us and the will of God to be fulfilled in us.

Testimony

In my life I was in my mother’s womb at the age of 40. My loving mother tried many times to abort me due to her weakness but The Lord protected me in my mother’s womb. In my 52 years in many paths Lord broke me, carved me and revived me and forming me up. I gave myself in His hands for his will be done in my life. Psalms 119:73 says “Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.”

Prayer

Our Loving Father in Heaven, Creator of all creations and the one who saved me in my mother’s womb I praise you. My life is for you, my father Jesus. Transform me like you O Lord my Father. In Jesus name I Pray. Amen.

              Sol.Rani

All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

–Luke 21:4

“GOD SEES THE HEART WHEN YOU GIVE, NOT THE THINGS WHAT YOU GIVE”.

 God’s economy is not the amount that you give, but what it costs you to give.

In one of the courts of the temple were large containers into which people dropped their gifts of money. The containers were in an open place, and onlookers could easily see how much people put in. Also, those who gave a lot could easily attract attention to themselves.

Jesus noticed that some of the rich gave generously, but a poor widow gave an amount so small that it was almost of no value in the local market place.

–Mark 12:41-42

Jesus, however, was more concerned with how people gave than the amount they gave. He considered that the widow gave more than anyone else, because he measured the gift not by its commercial value but by the degree of sacrifice of the giver.

A heart of true devotion, not money, was the valuable thing in his kingdom.

-Mark 12:43-44

So, an interesting thing in God’s economy is not the amount that you give, but what it costs you to give.

So, many who are giving less in God’s economy are giving more. The amount is immaterial. What’s the sacrifice? What’s it costing you to give?

When David  wanted to buy the threshing floor of Araunah, because the angel of the Lord had stopped there at the threshing floor and David wanted to buy it and to offer a sacrifice unto the God, Araunah says, “Take it, man, it’s yours.” And David said, “No, I will not give to God that which costs me nothing.” And David insisted on buying it. He wouldn’t take it as a gift, because he wanted to give it to God. And he said, “I won’t offer to God that which costs me nothing.” What does it cost you to give? That’s what God measures the gift by.

Having faith in the giver.

In the book of James we read God is the giver of all good things.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

-James 1:17

So through the eyes of faith, whatever was sacrificially give would be redeemed by the Lord himself in double portion.

Prayer

Dear Lord help us to be sensitive to the need of our fellow soldiers in Christ knowing that you are the giver and when we sow the same sacrificially in faith we will be richly rewarded.

Sol. Raymond Amanna

The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority],

Hebrews 1:3 ( Amp )

I would like to focus on the word “upholding all things by the word of His power”.

Jesus, the exact representation of God upholds the universe by His powerful word. If His word has the power of upholding this universe, imagine, then why in the world should we be worrying about anything at all? This Great awesome God, came down to this earth just for our sake to be sacrificed for our sins and set us free from sin and condemnation. By His one word this universe was made. Gen 1 and chapter 2:1.

In John 18:1 Jesus says all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth and in Mark 16:17 & 18 He passes on this authority to those who believe in His name. So,when we are in Christ it means we have the same authority and power that Jesus has, He has equipped us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

This means that the WORD of God is actually Jesus. That is why the enemy does not tremble when you go to church, sing a few songs or do a few exercises. He trembles when you dig deep into the word. Satan knows the word has power. (1 Cor 1:18) The enemy knows that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32)

His word can set you free from sin, completely change you, transform you and your life. The word of God is like fire and a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces. It can destroy every obstacle in your path. It is this spoken word that brought dead Lazarus out alive and kicking, it cannot return void ( Isaiah 55:10-11), this word healed, delivered, cast demons out. This is why the Centurion said just speak one word and my servant shall be healed. ( Matt 8: 8)

But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

Matt 22:29

So, imagine if this word can uphold this universe then what you could do with the word in the name of Jesus Christ. You will literally experience the power of God!! Hallelujah!!

Prayer

Loving heavenly Father, thank you for your only Son Jesus Christ who died for our sins, rose again and is seated in the heavenly realms. Thank you for the word of God that is like fire and a hammer that destroys the powers of darkness and every assignment of the enemy upon our lives. I pray that everyone who reads this will grow in the word of God, walk in your power and their lives be transformed from glory to glory in Jesus matchless name I pray. Amen!!

Sol.Lalitha Menon