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


Bookmark and Share

Text Size:   A | A | A | A

Vol. 14 / Issue 52 / July 7 2011

Contents of this issue

Editorial

Great prophets of the Bible - part 1

Join us in Facebook



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

When Jesus was in this world, many a times He said to different people that He forgave their sins. Once a paralytic man was brought to Him and instead of saying that, "I heal you", He said, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you" (Mat 9:2). Now it puzzled everyone from scholars, Pharisees, scribes to the learned men of scriptures. So Jesus explained in Mat 9:5-6, "For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"; then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." Thus Jesus demonstrated that He has power over sin.

When Jesus was crucified, He was hung between two criminals. But one of the criminals repented from his sins and said to Jesus in Luke 23:42-43, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

Not only Jesus forgave the sins of that criminal but also gave him the assurance of paradise.

Recently I was watching the murder trial of Casey Anthony on TV News. She was on trial on the suspicion of murdering her two year daughter, while during the trial she was kept in prison. But when the verdict was read that, she is not guilty of murdering her daughter; she took a deep breath then cried. Soon she will be freed from the prison.

With the 'not guilty' verdict came freedom from prison and also all the charges would be dropped because they found her innocent.

When our sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus the same thing happens. He wipes away every sin we have committed in the past and gives freedom from bondages of sin. The Bible says in Psalms 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us."

Also the Bible tells us in Micah 7:19, "He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." And in Jeremiah 31:34, "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

What a great joy that God not only forgives our sins but He does not even remember them anymore. If you have not yet found forgiveness of your sins, it is time to come to Jesus, repent from your sins and turn to Him. He is ready to forgive your sins and give you a new life.



Great prophets of the Bible - part 1

By Sheela Isaac

In the Bible we find many prophets. Today we are going to look into the life of Samuel what makes him a great prophet? How can he be considered as a prophet? These are the questions we are going to look at.

When you look in the life of Samuel you will find how he ended up in the temple. You all know the story about the birth of Samuel (1Samuel chapter 1). Elkanah had two wives. One was Peninnah and the other was Hannah. Peninnah had kids but Hannah did not have any kids. Bible says that she was being constantly teased by Peninnah because of her not having kids and because of that she suffered and remained as a woman with great sorrow. 1 Sam 1:6, "And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb." It looks that she had a very sorrowful life because of this. Anybody can understand the situation under which she had to go through being the subject of teasing all the day by which she had lost her peace in her own home. It looks that she used to cry a lot and would not take food. 1 Sam 1:8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" Every year they used to go to Shiloh for yearly offering in the house of God. The Bible says that there she poured out her heart before God and God did hear her cry. Well, nothing changed her situation till she went before God. Even before her answer could come, even before she could see the signs of her being pregnant, or even before she could see her child, she was relieved from her deep sorrow. How?

We read about the great prayer she offered before God in 1 Samuel 1:10-11. 1 Sam 1:10 -11, "And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head." As soon as she prayed this prayer and poured her grieving heart before almighty God she received instantaneous peace in her life. That's what happens when we come to Jesus and pour our heart in prayer. Jesus has promised to remove our burden and to give us rest. Mat 11:28, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." This is the key to get rid of your burdens. When you go through hard times, when you pour out your heart before Jesus, most of the time you receive instantaneous solution for your problems. 1 Pet 5:7, "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

So God heard her prayers and she gave birth to a child whose name was Samuel. She not only got the answer of her prayer for a child but she also kept her promise. She brought this child Samuel to the temple and dedicated him for God's service. Well, dedication for God's service by his mother did not make him a great prophet but then what could have made him great?

1. Faithfulness toward God
2. Holy and clean life
3. Direct contact with God
4. Accurate prophecies of Samuel
5. Miracles happened in his time
6. He was a praying prophet

1. Faithfulness toward God:
Bible says that he walked in the ways of God and God was with him and so none of his words fell to the ground. What a great testimony he had in his life! His mother dedicated him for God's ministry. God honored that decision, but Samuel made himself worthy of that calling by his faithfulness towards God and by his righteousness.

1 Sam 3:19 So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

He lived such a clean life which made God to stick with him all his life. We too can compel God (Jesus) through our faithfulness towards Him and through our holy walk with Him that His presence would always dwell with us..

2. Holy and clean life:
Samuel lived a holy and clean life. He had such a close walk with God that his life became a great example for many not only for the Israelites but also for generations to come. He lived such a clean life and that's why he could challenge the people over whom he was a leader and could say, "Tell me if I have oppressed anybody? Tell me if I have cheated anybody? Tell me if I have taken bribe from anybody? Tell me if I have showed partiality to anybody because of exchange of money? Tell me if I have taken anything from anybody?" Then further he says, "if I have done any of the wrong I am ready to restore everything back."

Samuel lived a transparent life before God and before men and that's what made him a great leader, priest, prophet and a minister over the people.

1 Sam 12:3, "Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you."
1 Sam 12:4, "And they said, "You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man's hand."


Samuel never perverted justice, never took bribe, never cheated people, never went after dishonest gain etc. You may question, "Is a holy and clean life possible today?" I would say, "Yes, if Samuel an ordinary human being like you and me could live a holy life and stayed faithful before God, we can too do it with the help of Jesus.

2. Direct contact with God:
Samuel had direct contact with God. He could receive revelations from God. He could hear the voice of God directly. He could know the heart of God and he could get messages from God. He spoke on behalf of God. That's what made him a great prophet.

(a). Samuel had a direct encounter with God as a child where visions were rare.
1 Sam 3:1, "Then the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.
1 Sam 3:4 that the LORD called Samuel. And he answered, "Here I am!"


(b). Lord appeared to him:
1 Sam 3:20, "And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD.
1 Sam 3:21, "Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.


(c). He worked between God and the people as a mediator. When the Israelites wanted a king for themselves he heard these words from God.
1 Sam 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

3. Accurate prophecies of Samuel:
(a). His prophecies came to pass all the time. That's why people came to hear from him what God had to say about them.
1 Sam 9:6 And he said to him, "Look now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go."

Do we have such prophets today? Yes, but very few in number.
Can we hear God's voice today accurately? Yes, you can know what God's plan is for you.

(b). God told Samuel accurately about whom he has to anoint as king of Israel. Amazing thing is that God told him that the next day He was going to send the future king and he has to anoint him.

1 Sam 9:15-17, Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, "Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to me." "And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said to him, "There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people."

(i). This prophecy was so accurate that as God had said Saul did come.
(ii). God showed him clearly that it is him who would be king.

Accurate prophecies come from God. When the spirit of God comes upon you, you can clearly know what God has to say about those particular things He wants to communicate.

What makes you great in the sight of God? Bible says in Mat 20:16 " For many are called, but few chosen." God calls many for the ministry and for His work but when you say yes for it, when you are willing to do whatever God wants you to do and by doing it you prove yourself as chosen by your faithfulness towards that calling makes you a chosen vessel of God.

To be continued....



Join us in Facebook

You can join us in Facebook by clicking this button:


You will need to Sign up for Facebook to join "In Search Of Peace" magazine.




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