Subscribe for Free Ezine
Enter your Email:
Search the web using keywords


Bookmark and Share

Text Size:   A | A | A | A

Vol. 11 / Issue 7 / August 30 2007

Contents of this issue

Editorial

Unless Your righteousness Exceed the Righteousness of Pharisees?….

How to Beat Emptiness?



News Items (Common to all issues) :

Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

Download Articles in Handheld Computers

Please Join us in "Peace Prayer Room"

Your Spam Folder

Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online

Through the Valley of Death

Free Tutorials for your Kids!

Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God? Book

Free E-Cards

Online Games for you!



Editorial

By Sherly Isaac

Last week there was a hot balloon tragedy in Canada. After take off, the balloon caught fire. One of the ladies who survived the tragedy said that her friend screamed and told her, “your balloon is on fire.” Hearing that she climbed up on the basket and when she came up, she realized that she was fifty feet above ground. Yet with great courage she jumped from that basket to save her life. Indeed she survived with some fractured bones. But she said, “every time I close my eyes and fall asleep, I see myself climbing up the basket to get out of the burning basket and it wakes me up. I have no sleep after this incident…”

Isn’t it a very horrible experience for anybody? A few years back I watched one documentary that documented the vanishing resources from the planet earth. It showed how a few years later there would be no water, living space or even the bare necessities. The person who documented the movie said, ‘we are like in a burning ship called earth which is moving toward destruction rapidly.’

But how many of us know that we are really in a burning ship? And if a person is without Christ, that would be more tragic because there is no hope for the future of that person. Most of the people do not even care to think how they could be in heaven? They live in this world as if they have to live here forever. But our lives are very short. One-day death will knock at every person’s door. Bible says in Heb 9:27, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Once you are dead there is no turning back except to face judgment

Are you prepared for the coming judgment? You may ask, what type of judgment? Well, judgment for those sins that were not forgiven. Punishment for those sins done while living in this world. If the precious blood of Jesus did not wash your sins, you will certainly face the Day of Judgment. Bible says in Mal 4:1-2 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.”

Jesus came in this world to save us from facing the judgment of God. He gave His precious life for us so that we get forgiveness of our sins and live a holy life and have eternal life full of peace and joy. You can choose either to face the judgment of God or escape death and eternal punishment through the shed blood of Jesus. What would you choose?



Unless Your righteousness Exceed the Righteousness of Pharisees?….

By Sheela Isaac

Mat 5:20 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus made it very clear that unless and until your holiness i.e. righteousness exceed the holiness of the priests, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. The Pharisees were the priests at the time of Jesus. Jesus said clearly that the priests were not living a clean life.

The teachings of the Pharisees were contrary to the teachings of Jesus:
Mat 5:19 "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven". The Bible says that they followed the rules of rituals and traditions framed by themselves and did not follow God in the real sense. They taught people their own doctrines. They did not follow God's laws. Their teachings and their lifestyle were inconsistent. What they taught the people they themselves never followed nor lived according to it. What about today's priests and teachers of the Bible? Unfortunately the same pattern is continued following the same tactics which happened in Jesus' time. Many priests/preachers lead a life style just the opposite of what they themselves preach. Their messages change according to the crowd. They are crowd pleasers but not God. Why? because they themselves do not believe in what they preach. If you have strong conviction about something you will stick to those principles whatever may be the outcome. If you know Jesus personally your teaching will reflect it all the time. If somebody comes to me and tell, “don't preach about salvation. It is just an emotional experience “, I would never waver in my conviction because I know my savior personally. No one can give me money to change my messages because I am not following people's opinion. I know what I got nearly 26 years back is true. Not only I got saved but it changed my entire life and I can never ever deny that truth. If you are a preacher of the Gospel and if people can change your ideas and messages, then let me tell you, ‘you are not a true preacher’. You are not lead by your own conscience, but the people and crowd around you is leading you. The same case was with the Pharisees and that was why Jesus said clearly, ‘obey them but don't follow their footsteps’. Don't do the things, which the Pharisees do. Mat 23:2-3, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do". Here Jesus is saying, ‘live a clean life and let your holiness exceed that of your priests and teachers.

Further Jesus said about the Pharisees:
Mat 23:26 "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.


Jesus said, ‘unless your holiness exceed that of the Pharisees and Priests you can't enter the kingdom of God.’ What is meant by kingdom of God and who is going to enter there? Jesus spoke about heaven in Mathew chapter 13. Here Jesus spoke many parables. Mat 13:23 "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty." The person who hears the word of God and obeys it and follows it will be able to go to heaven not others. If you just hear and do nothing, if you do not live it out and bring good fruits you can't enter in heaven. Another parable speaks that the kingdom of heaven is like good and bad plants growing together and flourishes together but at the end good will be gathered into barn but bad would be put into the fire. Mat 13:24-30, "Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. "But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. "So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' "He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' "But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 'Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."' "

It means that in this world good and bad people both are living together enjoying the same benefits, flourishing together but at the end the fate of either of them would be different. At the end God would separate them from each other and their end would be different. One who lived a godly and clean life who obeyed God would go to heaven but the other would end up in hell fire. In the same chapter Jesus further speaks about this parable. Mat 13:47-50, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, "which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. "So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, "and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

So here is the picture clear. There is a heaven and there is a hell and they are real places. We are in this world and our life journey in this earth will determine our destiny. We are not here to enjoy life and do whatever pleases us and then end the life but we are here with a purpose. Jesus has kept us hear so that we can pass the test and win the battle. How do you win the battle? By knowing Jesus as personal Lord and Savior and walking in His ways, obeying His commands. God has not kept us in this world to have drinking parties and to live in the pleasures of this world. Have you ever thought about it? If there is a heaven and a hell, where are you going to spend your eternity? We can't live a clean life unless and until Jesus comes into our heart. We can't control our life by our own ability but we all need the help of God the creator. If you want to win the battle of this life you need Jesus.

Jesus came into this world and died for us to give us eternal life. This eternal life is free for everybody but with one condition. Those who ask for it will receive it but not all. John 1:12, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name": Have you ever asked for eternal life? Couple of months back I was talking to one of my neighbors who is from Brazil. He is in his seventies. I asked him, "have you ever prayed to Jesus that you want to go to heaven"? He said, No, never because I am a good man and I would straight away go to heaven. I asked him, "if you are a good man do you think smoking is good"? He said with a big laugh, "yes it is my cough medicine." Well how many of us are in the same situation today. How many of us think that we are raised in a Christian home and so one day we would go to heaven. Going to heaven is not based on mere thinking but you must have assurance for it. Thinking does not help one but reality does. You might have been born in a Christian home, but you need to have the assurance that you will go to heaven. You might have heard about Jesus hundreds of times but it is not enough. You need the real personal relationship with Jesus then only you can say that He is your father.

I was born in a Christian home but never knew Jesus as my Lord till my twentieth birthday. I attended Church regularly, read Bible hundreds of times, memorized many Bible verses but I was still not a Christian until I met Jesus. As long as you live without salvation the veil of darkness will keep you thinking that you are a good person. I too thought about myself that I am a good person till I came to Christ. When I met Jesus then only I realized that my life was full of sin. When I began to read Bible and began to think about my life then only I knew that the mere thinking that, "I am good" would not help but I really needed the true transformation. Whenever I read Bible I put myself in that situation and ponder over my life. When Bible said, ‘stealing is sin’ I begin to think, “do I have such sin in my life? When I read, ‘telling lie is sin’ I search my life. When I read, ‘cheating is sin’, I check my own condition. Wherever I find myself wanting, I repent and correct myself with the help of Christ. The Bible (word of God) is given for us for the same purpose. We need to correct our lives in the light of the Bible and we need to achieve holiness, which exceeds the holiness of the Pharisees. Please make no mistake about it, Salvation is not a process but it is one-time experience. Holiness is a process, which comes after Salvation. Getting forgiveness of sin is an instantaneous experience when we repent from our sin and invite Christ into our heart. It is called salvation or ‘born again’ experience (John 3: 3, 7). But holiness is a process, which comes by daily Bible reading, examination, confession and repentance. Please never forget that Salvation is a one-time experience while Holiness is a lifetime procedure of correction. If you are not saved till today you need it because without salvation you can never live a holy life. If you are not able to live a clean and guilt free life, then you have to seriously examine your life and you have to figure out whether you have received salvation. If you are not yet saved get saved and if you are already saved but still struggling hard to clean up the life please read your Bible daily and correct your life. 2 Cor 3:18, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord"



How to Beat Emptiness?

By Sherly Isaac

Mother Theresa’s letters had quite a buzz in the last few days. I don’t know under what circumstances she wrote those letters.

Since I started remembering things I found out that my parents took me to the church every week. It was very hard for me to wake up early. I always thought, “we already have six days to wake up early to go to school. Only one day is off on Sunday and why we need to wake up early? Why can’t we be allowed to sleep long?” But it never happened. Moreover I found Church services very boring. Having no taste of music I wondered why couldn’t they just read it quickly and save time instead of singing in high and low pitches?

Once when I was hardly six years old and when I got so bored sitting in the church that whatever papers my mom had I scribbled on it, made some noises and talked to other kids. My mom got very upset, she told me several times to sit quiet but I did not listen to her. When we reached home, she gave her verdict, “You are not going to sit with me next week… but you will sit with your dad.” Next week was hard and it was like sitting in a prison, but dad gave a good report about me saying, “She sat quietly”. Often I thought, “why people come to this place which is so boring and dull.” Yet I don’t remember if I had ever missed a single Sunday school class or Church service except when I was sick.

Going to Church for me was just a routine and there was no meaning behind it. As I grew so did the dullness, emptiness and meaninglessness in my life. I tried to listen to messages in order to find a solution of our problems in our home but there was nothing... zero... zilch in messages. But often it was told, “we are very blessed people that we are born in a Christian home. We are going to heaven…. etc.” Again I wondered, “If we are really blessed people then why there is no blessings or peace in my home and in my heart? Why do we fight with each other often and loose our peace?” I struggled with the thoughts of being “blessed people” and wondered, ‘where are the blessings?’ Though I tried my level best to please God by praying everyday morning and evening, reading my Bible everyday morning and evening, participating in family prayers, attending Church services, memorizing Bible verses and such activities but there was no peace in my life. Only there was deep emptiness and meaninglessness.

All these things continued until one day I invited Jesus in my life and made Him my Lord and Savior. When He came into my heart, He changed everything. Great peace and joy filled my heart. Those worships, which had no meaning for me before, became lively. I realized that my worships were not meaningless anymore because I know the Creator and I know whom I am worshipping. My failures turned into success and our home became peaceful. I realized that life is precious and has meaning when you meet your Creator. Life is no longer empty or meaningless.

This is what Jesus did when He came in my heart. Often people ask, “How could anybody really know that their sins are forgiven?” Many answer themselves saying, “nobody can know it for sure.” Well, suppose you have two tables. Both are cluttered and covered with dust and need good cleaning. You have cleaned one table and left the other one as it is. Do you think that you can see the difference between both these tables or not? The answer is yes! You can see drastic difference in the one cleansed from the other. The same thing happens when Jesus forgives our sins and washes us with His precious blood. Not only we ourselves but others also could see great change in our lives.

Some believe that once saved is always saved, but it is not true. Once you are saved and your sins are forgiven you have to continue to hold on to that salvation. You need to walk with God every moment of your life so that the clutters and the dirt may not come back again in your life.

If you are a saved person, testing times will come. There would be times when hopelessness will fill your soul. Hardship would try to destroy your faith. When wind blows in the opposite direction it is not easy to walk through it. But Jesus said in John 16:33, "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." By trusting in Jesus we can walk through those impossible situations. Just as Jesus overcame the world we can too overcome the world.




Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

As the Bible says in Ezekiel 22:30 "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it." And also the Bible says in Numbers 16:48, "And he (Aaron) stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped." We have fasting prayer every second Tuesday of each month. Our next fasting prayer meeting will be conducted on 16th Nov. 2015

Download Articles in Handheld Computers

You can now download articles in Palm Doc format for your palm handheld computer. It will work with any devise that has Palm OS and Palm Doc Reader installed. To download click on the link named "Palm Doc Format" i.e. at the top of this page by the side of each articles.

Please Join us in "Peace Prayer Room"

If you have any prayer request please join us any time at our New Chat Room at http://insearchofpeace.org/prayer If any of us available in prayer room, we will be praying online otherwise you can email your prayer request to feedback@insearchofpeace.org

Your Spam Folder

If you are getting this newsletter in your bulk/junk/Spam folder please hit the "not junk" or "not spam" button so that you could receive it in your mailbox. Also adding feedback@insearchofpeace.org email address into your contact list can avoid this email from ending up in your bulk folder.

Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online

Now you can read Bible in Hindi online at http://www.hindibible.org
in Malayalam online at http://www.malayalambible.org
in Tamil online at http://www.hindibible.org?ver=tamil

Through the Valley of Death

As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.

This book is available for purchase at JasmineCorp Store

Free Tutorials for your Kids!

Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online. These tutorials are free but you may need to get login ID by registering yourslef. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver/Fireworks are available but in future more tutorials will be added.

Check the tutorials at:http://jasminecorp.net/tutorial

Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God? Book

Now available "Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God" Available at JasmineCorp Store, and "Is Jesus God?" Available at JasmineCorp Store,

Both books compares the Bible and the Quran and read eye opening facts about Jesus, God of the Bible, Allah and Islamic faith. I am sure that you want to read this.

Also read:
Book Title: Is Jesus God?
Author: Sherly Isaac
ISBN: 0759628092
http://insearchofpeace.org/books.htm

Free E-Cards

Send free E-Cards (Greeting Cards) to your friends and family. Its an easy way to stay in touch with friends and family. The website address is:
http://ecards.jcsearch.com

Online Games for you!

Now you can play games online at http://insearchofpeace.org/games




Subscribe for English Edition please Click here.
Subscribe for Malayalam Edition please Click here
Subscribe for Tamil Edition please Click here.

Home || Magazine Rack 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 || Malayalam Rack 1, 2, 3 || Tamil Rack
Subscribe || Prayer Request || Contact us



Search Bible:

(eg. John 3:16-20)



Sponsored and Technology Provided by Jasmine Computers Inc

 

 
JCBid Auction

WINEGARD SW-0012 ANTENNA MOUNT (GABLE END MOUNT)
Seller: in2012