AOJ NEWS

One Gospel – different methods

“ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all.

Gal 6,7

I recently heard a story which inspired me about this verse. There was a time when Thomas Alwa Edison was travelling and he was accompanied by another scientist who was an atheist. During the travel when Edison was reading Bible, the other scientist without knowing he was Edison asked him, “You look like a studied young man and in this age of science how do you believe God, religion and all that?. ‘If young people like you search for God, who is going to create a better world?” He asked.
Edison quietly introduced himself and the other scientist was shocked at it. They went on a brief talk and the other scientist wanted to visit Edison’s house to know more about him. Edison invited him to his house and when the scientist saw a new invention by Edison he asked how he did invent it.
Edison replied, “I didn’t do anything; It was just there like that you see when I woke up one day”.

The other scientist said, “How would it come just like that without you creating I”
Edison gave the same reply again and again several times and the other scientist wouldn’t believe it as usual. Edison finally told him, “If you don’t believe it came just like that, how would you believe the Earth, Galaxy and Cosmos all formed one day by itself. If there is a creation, there is a creator and the truth is written in the Bible”

This was the knowledge of The Holy Spirit in Edison to lead the other scientist who was an atheist to believe in God.

Act 17:24  The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and earth, …..
I went to a xerox shop one day in Chennai, It was run by a Christian family and I saw a board of Swamy Vivekananda testifying about Jesus with the following line “If you need deliverance come to Jesus, He is The High God compared to anyone you know and he will deliver you”. The Holy Spirit gave this knowledge to the shop owner to place this visible board in the Shop so that every unbeliever who came to the shop would read it. Swami Vivekananda whom this society believes to be a respectable person has testified it. It would raise curiosity in the readers to know about our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Bible inActs 17 we see The Holy Spirit guiding Apostle Paul to share the Gospel in a unique way when he was in Athens, a City full of Idols. There he saw a Altar named “ To an Unknown God” and said ‘I am going to proclaim that God who is Jesus Christ whom you worship unknowingly’.

Isa 45:18  For so says Jehovah the Creator of the heavens, He is God, forming the earth and making it; He makes it stand, not creating it empty, but forming it to be inhabited. I am Jehovah, and there is no other. 

There may be circumstances in your life where you may wonder how to share the Gospel and testify Jesus. But always have Faith and pray for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to guide you to proclaim the Gospel and testify Jesus in the most convincing way which no human mind can understand.
There is one Gospel, Salvation only through our Lord Jesus Christ but many methods to proclaim it.

Sol. Leo

When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening.?

Lk.18 :36.

We see a blind beggar here whose name is Bartimaeus (Lk.18:36), sitting by the roadside of Jericho, knowing there would be a mass of people preparing their final journey to Jerusalem to celebrate their annual Passover.

He could not see, but he could hear. On hearing the commotion, he asked what was happening and was told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Immediately, like the ten lepers (Lk.17:13), he called out for mercy saying ‘Son of David., have mercy on me ‘, addressing Him by His Messianic title.

This is a profession of faith. He has heard enough about Jesus and knew He was more than a mere man from Nazareth. The people rebuked him, but he was unstoppable, shouting all the more to be noticed amidst the thousands of people moving there. Jesus heard his desperate cry and granted him sight.

When one of my friends told me that she wanted to meet some Catholic nuns (AOJ) who had come out of their Religious Congregation, myself being a Catholic, I grabbed the opportunity to meet them to clarify my doubts about the Catholic Church and that was a ‘day of eye opening’ for me. This reminds us of the persistent man in Lk. 19:3. What may seem like my need to others, may not be really what I want. It seems that he was begging for alms, but what he really wanted was his eyesight.

As a Christian, we should be aware of what is happening around us, especially, these last days, whatever is happening is all written in “The Bible” and we should know this. In Lk.24:18, one of the two disciples returning to Emmaus is asking the Lord, “Are you “only a visitor” to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?” referring to the crucifixion of Jesus which was the topic of discussion for everybody at that time.

Our Lord also says, ‘ keep watch‘ as you do not know when the Lord will come (24:42). Lord is looking for Barthimaeuses today who can be watchful and act with faith. There are great many things and decisions which have to be done and taken ‘ at the moment’ or it will never be done.

Let us pray that we are released from a deaf and dumb spirit so that we can hear and speak at right moment.

Sol. Amala Arunachalam (AOJ)

There was a man named Zaccheus, who was a chief tax-collector. And he was rich. 

Luke 19:2

Innocence and Purity

The above verse reminds me of my life when I was new for the university. During my graduation I was in the 1st year. I had a desire to see and to experience God in my life. Then God led me into a fellowship through my sister where I could know Christ more deeply. There I got to know Jesus more and experienced His Goodness and His love for me. Then I decided to take water baptism through which I would get salvation by His Grace. At that time I did not know that I would be placed in SHUATS. God had already planned for me to take me to SHUATS. There everything went well with me. I was very much satisfied with my life of SHUATA. One day my sister took me to a fellowship where I saw people went into deeper levels of worship and the Word of God which was shared there always ended with a powerful, wonderful revelations. This made me know God more and more. Now I am filled with hunger and thirst for God and God alone can quench my thirst.
We see Zaccheus, was a tax collector and he was rich, but when he came to know that Jesus was coming that way, he wanted to see Jesus and he climbed the tree. But Jesus knew the desire that Zaccheus had in his heart, i.e.. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. He desired for Christ.

Luke 19:8-10 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false , I restore fourfold.”

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Today I want to encourage you all to have a desire for Jesus, to know Him more.
John 14:8  Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. 

If God Is All You Have, You Have All You Need.

No matter what you are going through, whether it is sickness or financial crisis or relationship problems etc. Don’t seek the Lord for miracles but instead seek for the Lord in order to know Him and serve Him more and more. Invite God into your heart and know that God is for us and He is not against us.

Psalm 37: 4
Delight Yourself in the Lord, and He Will Give You the Desires of Your Heart.

Without God we are nothing.
Let us pray. Father, we love you and we want you more than anything else, without you we are nothing. Help us to know you more. In Jesus name Amen.

Sol. Mercy AOJ,

A True Desire

“And he sought to see who JESUS was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.”

– Luke 19:3

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Sometimes our various physical, mental, social, professional, and financial limitations act as the hindrances to rightly seek The LORD. However, when we truly desire to be led by The HOLY SPIRIT (Rom 8:14), our flesh and all the senses begin to follow our Spirit Man under the divine impression imparted by GOD’s SPIRIT.

According to Luke 19:3, although Zacchaeus struggled hard to see JESUS due to his short height, his true desire for The LORD brought a Favour in his life that JESUS not only called him by his name but also visited his house personally.

I still remember, how I used to be so hungry for The LORD during my initial days in Faith way back in 1996. In the year 2004, during my student life, I used to save money to buy Spiritual literature and participate in Bible teaching seminars. My financial height was quite short since I belonged to a middle class family, but the height of my desire to seek JESUS was relatively taller and that’s what made me sacrifice my comfort in many areas.

According to Mat 13:44 “the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field”. Somehow, I found myself like this man, who was ready to sell all to buy that precious field. Today, I am financially stable and successful in so many areas since JESUS said in Mat 6 “But seek first the kingdom of GOD and HIS righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”.

Hence, I would like to encourage all the readers of this mediation to seek The LORD irrespective of your present limitations. The LORD shall surely honour your desire and save you including your household, as HE did with Zacchaeus, in JESUS Name. Amen!

In CHRIST,
Sol. Rahul Davis AOJ

He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Luke 18:38

In this biblical incident” a blind man is Calling someone “Son of David” Because he came to know that the Messiah was passing by him and he did not want to lose this chance, then he started shouting “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

I remember a testimony from my life that I can never forget. It is a matter of time for us when I was out of my city for my office work, and my wife (Babita) was pregnant three months. One day I got a call from uncle that I had to come immediately because Babita’s health was not well, I traveled and I reached my city after sometime.When I reached there I came to know that the baby was aborted and my wife was crying a lot and she was very much broken. Then we immediately went to the hospital and I did not have the answers to her questions. She asked, “What have I done wrong that this happened to me”?. I had no answers because I was broken too. After two days we returned to Uncle’s house. Then I immediately went to the prayer room and started crying. Then the Holy Spirit gave me a new song in my heart and I started praising the Lord with that song. Immediately I was filled with heavenly peace.

After some days, few servants of the Lord came to my city for a ministry purpose. Fortunately they came to my house for morning breakfast and before leaving my house they prayed for us and the Lord gave a prophetic message. One of them told us that we would have a baby in our arms before he arrived next year. We both were filled with joy after hearing this. And really, the next year, even before completion of the year, the Lord performed a miracle and the Almighty Lord blessed us with a baby boy. Glory to God.

This is absolutely true! When we call on him in trouble, he listens to us. My heart was filled with joy! I thanked the Lord greatly. We named him Joseph, led by the Holy Spirit.

Book of Proverbs 8:34 says that Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors”.

Waiting at the door has always been associated and referred to the act of prayer with meditating on the Word of God. Keep calm and watch the lord and wait patiently

Ps 37:7.

Let’s see what happened after that. While he was shouting the name of the Lord, “Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you? ‘Lord, I want to see,’ he replied.” (18:40-42) Here I think Jesus is trying to get him to vocalize his faith, since Jesus responded to him, “Your faith has healed you”.

Prayer– Heavenly Father, sometimes I give up too easily. The mountain has become very steep and I am very disappointed. I just made excuses for myself. I am sorry for my distrust. Renew my faith in an unwavering manner. Let me be quick to praise You and follow you closely. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Shalom!!!

Sol. Binesh AOJ

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him…….

Luke 18:40

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Finally, I got Admission at B.Sc (Hons) Food technology SHUATS, Allahabad. But, what I desired for was B.Sc (Hons) Agriculture and hence I was disappointed. Seeing me in hopelessness my parents were much worried about me. But, one thing I knew if I pray the LORD Hears. Every night I used to weep bitterly. One day I received a verse Jeremiah 29:11 “ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”. After, reading this I started to pray knowing that LORD hears me. Though there was no chances of Hope, I was still crying out to the LORD, trusting JESUS. Finally, the LORD heard my Cry and HE answered and blessed me with BSc.(Hons) Agriculture which I desired for. On that day I have tasted the Goodness of The LORD. I still long to taste HIS Goodness more since then.

Today, I would like to encourage you to cry out to the LORD; HE will hear you. No man, not even the circumstances can stop you when you decide to cry out to JESUS.

Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

What stops you to come to Jesus. Is it your unrighteousness or your sins. Look at the verse given above. It says The LORD is Merciful.

James 4:8 Draw near to GOD and HE will draw near to you.

Rise up. Shake off the dust and shine. For the Glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
Today, The LORD asks you to come near to HIM. Cast all your cares upon HIM.

Psalm 34:4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me,And delivered me from all my fears.

The LORD hears you and delivers you. Amen.

Prayer:

LORD give us the Grace to cry out loud to you irrespective of any hard circumstances. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear and heart to obey you. Let your peace rule in our hearts!

In JESUS name AMEN.

Sol. Blessy AOJ

SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Luke 18:39 

 

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There are so many names in the scripture for our Lord Jesus Christ but why did this blind man call Jesus as “Son of David”?
He cried out to Jesus to have Mercy on him. Nothing can stop the Grace of God flowing towards anyone who approaches God with a humble and repentant heart. This blind man knows Jesus not only as healer but He is the Messiah, for the Redeemer of Israel will come from the lineage of King David. So the blind man was acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah in front of everyone not fearing the High priest or the prevailing religious establishment.

We must also witness loud and clear that Jesus Christ is the Only Saviour who has come to redeem us out of sin, curse and bondages. He alone can save us from darkness and bring us into his marvelous Light. He alone can deliver us from the clutches of the evil one.

Life throws in a lot of surprises and some of them are not at all pleasant, some are outright failures, disappointments and setbacks.

But we are not alone, Our Lord and Saviour who is always at our right hand (Psalm 16:8) will either change our failures into victory or make the setbacks/failures favorable to us in due time. Many a times the setback we faced in life were disastrous, but God changed the external circumstances and situation in such a way that this disaster was the best thing to have happened in my life.

When I failed to get a medical seat, I thought everything was over, but God broke my ego, made me stronger and revealed through the scriptures that greater things can be achieved if we learn to effectively wield the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:17)

Jesus Son of David have mercy on me, let your mercy speak for me, let your favour speak for me. Amen

Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good! For his mercy endures forever (Psalm 118:1)The steadfast love of the lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:22-23)

Sol Michael Roby. P

my heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king. My tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

Psalm 45:1

The Psalm 45 is a messianic psalm and was sung by a poet to praise the king.  Usually, any poet would write down the poem and read before the audience. But here the poet didn’t write anything in advance to read before the audience. He was filled by the Holy spirit. His tongue was just like the pen of a skillful writer. The gathering might have thought that the poet was praising the king who was the Bride groom and greeted his Bride but each and every word was

prophetic. He prophesied about the marriage of Jesus Christ with the church (the Bride) which would be celebrated after thousands of years in the future. Jesus Christ will be the Bride groom. The church will be the bride.

Ephesians 5:22-33 Paul compares the union of husband and wife to that of Christ and the church. Jesus has purchased us with His suffering because he wanted us to be with Him for His happiness.

Matthew 25 says Jesus Christ is the bridegroom and the church is the virgin. The awaited event is Jesus’ second coming.

For more than 2000 years the earth and heaven have been waiting for this great ceremony of marriage of Jesus Christ with the Church. Angels are very eagerly waiting to recite psalms praising Jesus (the Bridegroom) and to greet the Church (Bride). Bride represents the multitude of followers of Jesus Christ.  The transformation of the Bride is not yet complete. The Bride is being shaped by the Holy Spirit so that a worthy Bride may be presented to Jesus Christ. Jesus is expecting a transformed Church to sit at his right hand.

Are we ready for this great moment? The bride should be ready and clothed with righteous deeds as per Rev 19:7-9

Ephesians 5:27 says that Christ has given himself up for her so that he might sanctify her having cleansed her washing with water and with word so that he might present the Church to himself in splendour without spot or wrinkles or any such things. The Bride should be holy and without blemish. She should be presented to Christ as a pure virgin.

The Holy spirit should testify our worthiness to become the Bride of Christ.

Let us await the day of happiness like a virgin who awaits her husband. Amen. Hallelujah.

Sol. Subramanian

“And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God!”

Luke 18:24

Praise the Lord. Glory to God Almighty.  “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mathew 6: 21).

When I meditate on this verse the Holy Spirit guides me to remember a passage from Luke 16:19-23. There Jesus Christ told his disciples about the actual experience of a rich man and a beggar.

 Mathew 18:10 says “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven”.

Beggar stayed at the gate of rich man, and was neglected by him. He didn’t take it seriously , didn’t have the mind to extend his hands to care for the beggar.

Lazarus was laid at his  gate with sores all over the body. Foul smelling copious discharge from the sores which attracted flies and it was licked by dogs.  Lazarus was out of his control and even his condition was deteriorating day by day. But for this rich man he didn’t have a courtesy  to  arrange for a medical assistance.

“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, When it is in the power of thine hand to do it” (Proverb  3:27)

The rich man had everything in plenty, but his heart didn’t have a thought to help Lazarus. Lazarus was struggling for his bread and medical illness . no one there to help Lazarus  even the rich man also. How the heart  of rich man was  diverted to selfish and worldly things.

“If a man says, ” I Love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. That he who loveth God love his brother also” ( 1 John 4: 20,21)

The rich man stored his wealth in the earthly kingdom. He followed the commandments but didn’t have fruits of the Holy Spirit.

 The Bible says  after the death of both,  Lazarus was comforted in Abraham’s lap. The rich man was in hell. This is a warning for us, let us look into our life. Where are we now?. Are we manifesting the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our life?. If not, ask for forgiveness to God and repent. 

Let us pray. Heavenly father we come before you, Forgive us and  enrich us with the Holy Spirit to follow your steps. We ask in Jesus name Amen.

Sol. Dr. G. Kamalin Viji , AOJ

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:14

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, we see that the tax collector was justified because of his humbleness.

What does justified mean?

Justified meaning, according to theology, declared or made righteous in the sight of God.

How are we justified?

Romans 3:24-26 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because of His forbearance, God has passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Humbleness:

Humbleness is the spirit of submission or the lack of pride. Through this parable we understand that we are made righteousness through Jesus Christ if we humble ourselves.

Humbleness is an attitude that we have to cultivate in us in order to bring the favor of God in us.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

Apostle Paul: Paul who was called Saul a Jew full of pride and a fierce executioner of Christians. One encounter with Jesus completely changed his life.

He was justified (made righteousness) and became humble through Jesus Christ.

Paul’s radical testimony in 2 Corinthians 11:25 is a constant reminder that God can take the least likely of us and use our lives powerfully for his glory.

Now let us look at our Lord Jesus Christ

The perfect example of humbleness is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

Phil 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus humbled himself to extent that he could forgive everyone on the cross.

Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls”.

Psalms 25:9 The humble he guides in justice, and the humble he teaches his ways.

I was born and brought up in Roman Catholicism, later we as family accepted Jesus and became born again Christians. We were rejected and humiliated by all our family members. But God gave us the grace to be humble, we started to pray for salvation for all our relatives, praise be to God, now everyone accepted Jesus and took Baptism. Glory to God.

Prayer

Our heavenly father, fill us with the spirit of humbleness. Help us to be obedient to your call. In Jesus name, Amen.

Sol. Camilia AOJ