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Vol. 7 / Issue 25 / January 8 2004

Contents of this issue

Editorial

Jesus Christ the Fountain of Blessings

Holy Spirit - Anointing

Sin and its Consequences!

A very special Greeting Card for you!

Reader's Mail



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 Spirit Rover landed on Mars. It is very interesting to see the images of mars. The photos show that the planet which is 487 million kilometers away from earth has almost the same appearance of soil, stones, small mountains etc. just as on earth. This Spirit Rover reached mars after a seven months journey which was launched on June 10, 2003. This Spirit Rover will spend the next three months in that planet exploring the rocks and soils to see whether there is any evidence of ever the existence of water, life or possibilities of life?

Will the scientist ever find traces of water or life in that planet? May be or may not, who knows. But the Bible tells us that there are two places other than earth where there is life. Bible tells us about these two places which are known from centuries. These two places are heaven and hell. When a person dies his body is dead but his spirit/soul which is non-physical part and that part does not die, it returns to one of the two places called heaven or hell.

This non-physical part called soul/spirit departs at the time of death. We read that Jacob's wife Rachel was dying and the Bible says in Gen 35:18, "And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin."

At the time of Rachel's death her soul departed, but the Bible also tells us of people whose spirit returned and who lived again. In Bible we read that there was a man whose daughter was very sick and he went to meet Jesus so that his daughter could get well. When he was talking to Jesus someone came and told him, "Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher." But Jesus went with him in his house and took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise." When Jesus did that, her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.(Luke 8:55)

We cannot see this non-physical part called soul/spirit with our naked eye but once I read in a science journal that scientists experimented on dying people and dying animals. Every time they weighed the people and the animals before their death and after death. Every time they found a very interesting result that the animals did not lose any weight at the time of their death but human beings did lose some weight. So they concluded that something departed from the human beings at the time of their death.

But the question is, "where do these soul/spirit go after the departure?" Eccl 12:5 tells us, "For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets." And the next two verses tell us that if you remember your creator before death comes, you will be with God as we read in Eccl 12:6-7, "Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it." Jesus also promised in John 14:2, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

But there is another place which is not good, but a place of torment and lamentation and those who do not walk in the ways of God and those who are wicked will turn to this place. We read in Psa 9:17, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God."

Yes, Jesus is preparing a place for those who follow Him and walk in His ways. Do you know for sure that if you die today, you will be in heaven with Him? If not you must turn to God and get His salvation before death knocks at your door so that you could avoid going in hell fire.



Jesus Christ the Fountain of Blessings

By Vinod Isaac

Often we hear the call "what can we do for the Lord Jesus Christ." Today we are going to look into few things which explains what we can receive from Lord Jesus Christ. These are the things that we can receive only and only through Jesus Christ.

1. Remission of sins.

Acts 10:43 "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."

In the Bible Acts 10:43 says that "Through His Name" we can receive remission of sins by believing in Him. If we look into this we find that world there is not a single person who can claim that he/she has never sinned. Every single person on this earth have sinned. If a person says that he or she has never said a single lie that in itself is a lie.

That brings us to the point that All have sinned.
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Because all have sinned and are found in the category called "sinner". Each one of us are in need of a savior who can save us from sin, who can offer remission for our sin.

This forgiveness can only be received through Jesus Christ and we need not have to do any hard work to earn this remission of sins but we just need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

God is calling you today to receive this remission of sins as he declares in Isaiah 1:18 that even if your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow.
That also by just coming to Jesus and putting your faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isa 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

2. Cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ

Prov 30:12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
Prov 30:13 There is a generation; oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up.


King Solomon writes about a generation who thinks that it is pure but is not washed and is not clean. What generation is that? Every single generation on the face of earth comes under the same category. We need to think about ourselves whether we are washed or whether we are still living in filth? Are our eyes lofty and full of pride in our own ability? Are we dependent on the Lord?

Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is available for us any time to get washed and to get rid of filthiness from our lives. That gives us a fellowship with God and fellowship with believers, a true fellowship, a relationship that lasts on integrity. For the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Do you want to get cleansed today? Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to cleanse you with His precious blood that was shed on the Calvary's cross.

3. An Everlasting covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ

Heb 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Heb 13:21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.


"through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will"

God entered into a covenant with Abraham in the old testament and He has not broken that covenant. It is through Abrahamic covenant that Jesus Christ came into this world and gave His life for us. It is through the covenant of promise through Jesus Christ that we are grafted into the covenant relationship with God. This covenant relationship is established through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is an everlasting covenant.

We can receive this covenant or we can enter into this covenant relationship by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and asking Him to cleanse us with His precious blood and by dedicating our lives in His hand.

This covenant gives us eternal life.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

4. We can obtain grace through Jesus Christ.

Rom 5:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sin reigned throughout this world and brought death and God saw that we humans are incapable to overcome that death. We don't have ability to live a holy life by our own strength. So God brought another weapon to fight with sin and this weapon is grace.

Sin reigned in death and grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life. Many times we hear that we are in the grace period so that we can do any thing we like. But truth is far from it. Grace can not work without righteousness but it will work through righteousness and the purpose is very clear to bring a person out of death because of sin.

That is what Paul says in Rom 6:1-2
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?


Paul is making very clear that grace is not a license to sin but a deterrent to sin. We can receive redemption from our sins through faith and grace so that those who have already died to sin must not live in sin any longer.

So Grace pulls us out of our sinful lifestyle and it continues to sustain us in the new lifestyle.

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

5. Peace Through Jesus Christ

We can receive peace through Jesus Christ. When we think of peace we think of harmony, calmness, unity and many more things.

But what this peace is all about?

Jesus said in John 14:27
John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Jesus is talking to his disciples at a time when they were about to face life's greatest event of turmoil. They were with Jesus for three and a half years now. They saw great miracles taking place. They saw lame walking, blind seeing, deaf hearing, dead being raised, evil spirits being cast out of demon possessed people. It was a fascinating world to see all those things happening but the very leader whom they considered the unshakable, unpenetrateble shield is about to be crucified.

Jesus knew before hand that His time to climb on the cross is coming. If today's Christian leaders were in the place of Jesus they would have initiated a dialog to negotiate. They would have talked about peace by disobeying and going against the very will of God. They would have talked about harmony by denying God. But even after knowing the full consequence Jesus didn't do any such thing because he knew a very different kind of peace.

When He talked in John 14:27, He never meant to get rid of turmoil but he meant very clearly that even of everything seemed to be collapsing around his disciples He assured them that in the midst of that His peace will be with them. Jesus says, "My peace is not the peace that world gives. But it is a different kind of peace. It's a peace that surpasses all understanding."

Phil 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.



Holy Spirit - Anointing

By Sheela Isaac

When we talk about the anointing of Holy Spirit, you'll find hundreds of views and interpretations from different people. Some have been formed by the messages of theologians and church leaders who applied their own ideas, which mostly do not match with Bible teachings. They preach, and spread their ideas without any fear of God and overlooking their responsibility to their congregation. That's why it has become a very controversial subject.

Some say, “I don't believe in the Old Testament portion of Bible.” Some say, “I don't believe in Paul's Gospel and teachings.” Some say, “I don't believe in Jesus' "healing" and "Born again" teachings based on John 3:3 where Jesus answered and said unto him, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Well I don't know then what they believe in. If you don't believe in Old Testament, Paul's Gospel, Jesus' teaching, then what's left in the Bible to believe. Some do not believe in Paul's Gospel because Paul talks about visions, dreams and unknown tongues (when you get filled with the Holy Spirit). Some do not believe in Jesus' teaching regarding Salvation and healing, because they want to claim that they are already holy, that they already have a place in heaven by birth and that they are smarter than Jesus. They do not need the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, but they claim that they can reach heaven by their own good works, daily Bible reading and prayer and observing their traditions and rituals, which they offer in Church. Some do not believe in the Old Testament because it talks about harsh punishment for sin and it's consequences. They forget that New Testament does not refute the teachings of the Old Testament and does not allow people to live in sin. New testament does not teach that even if they live in sin they can still reach heaven. It does not teach to live in sin either. Some say that they do not believe in Jesus' healing and miracle teachings. They say that it happened during the time of Jesus and His disciples, but it does not happen today. Why? Because we are more intelligent than our forefathers and we've hospitals and medicines to heal ourselves. So Jesus' teachings do not apply for us. Healing and miracles were good for our forefathers who were illiterates and fools. I do not know from where our theologians got this idea and how they began to teach it to people. Does Bible support their theology? NO

Well I believe in the whole Bible (Old and New). I believe in the teachings which match with the entire Bible in all the experiences whether they are of Salvation, healing, miracles or filling of the Holy Spirit the teaching which is based on the Bible, the teaching which does not contradict the Bible. Let our theologians teach whatever they believe and practice, but it does not mean that we should follow those teachings. Gene Robinson who has been appointed as a new Episcopal Bishop might teach his congregation to live in a homosexual life style as he is practicing. It does not mean that you should start following his dirty teachings and defile your life. If some theologians say that there are many ways for salvation apart from Jesus, it does not mean that you should start believing those theologies. No. I would search Bible what the Bible says about those new doctrines and if it is correct I'd follow it and if it's not I'd never. Bible says very clearly that homosexuality is a great sin. So I would not follow my Church leader. Bible says that Salvation is only through Jesus. So I would not follow any theologian who contradicts that. No certainly not.

Alright let's see what the Bible says about the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

1. Are all anointed?

Let's first ask the question to ourselves, "Are all the church going people, who are registered as members of the Church, who take part in communion and also observe all kinds of church activities, who claim themselves to be spiritual are they all anointed? According to Bible, No. First repentance and remission of sin is necessary for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It means that a person must be saved first. Acts 2:38, “Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

2. Are all the saved people anointed?

Are all the people who are saved and who claim themselves to be God's people anointed? According to Bible, No.
Salvation and the anointing of the Holy Spirit (i.e. fullness of the Holy Spirit) are two different experiences. John 14:17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." When a person receives salvation the seal (Eph 1:13) of the Holy spirit was put on him/her. Eph 1:13, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,...”

John 14:17 says,
"you know Him for He dwells with you" It speaks about the seal of the Holy spirit during Salvation
"and will be in you" which speaks about the fullness or anointing of the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit comes inside of a person to dwell with in him/her.


Let's see what happens after the anointing of the Holy Spirit. How do I know for sure that I am spirit filled?
When anointing comes two things happen.

1. Outward sign:

When a person receives Holy Spirit for the first time, some outward signs show up. Acts 2:13 "Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."

When the disciples including the 120 people who were gathered in the upper room, when they were all filled with the Holy Spirit some outward signs showed up. That's why the onlookers who were among the crowd said, "they are full of new wine or they are totally drunk." It means that they might have behaved like a drunken person. You know, how a person who is fully drunk will appear. What he does? He might blabber something, might talk things, which cannot be understood, might stagger, shake, or fall down. The bottom line is that when disciples were filled with Holy Spirit they looked as if they were fully drunk.

Today also when you get filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time these signs could follow. You might look drunk, stagger, shiver, shake, clap your hands, shout, laugh, cry, fall on the ground or anything could happen. I still remember when I was in Jesus Calls Camp for the 15 days Evangelism training. There was a girl who was not filled with the Holy Spirit. She was longing to receive the anointing. So she prayed in every session but nothing happened. On the10th day of training she was so desperate because she had not received the anointing till that time. She literally cried out in desperation and asked God to fill her, and when late Bro. Selvaraj led everybody for the anointing, she received the anointing. I still remember how she laughed and laughed for more than 2 hrs. She was speaking in tongues and laughing nonstop. Two ladies assisted her to reach her room. Even after going to her room, still she was laughing and talking in tongues. Yes it could happen. Bible does not deny these outward signs. When the mighty Holy Spirit descends with His all majesty and power inside a weak and fragile human body sometimes it's too hard to handle and these outward signs could follow.

2. Inward sign:

Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

This is the sign of the main confirmation that a person has really received the Holy Spirit. Somebody once said,” I saw a person who was clapping hand with much devotion in a prayer meeting. So I believe that he is filled with the Holy Spirit." Well that is not a sign that a person is filled with the Holy Sprit. If you are clapping hands or singing with much devotion it does not mean that you are a spirit filled person. But a sure inward sign should follow according to the Bible. It means that you must speak in tongues. Bible says that Peter went to the house of Cornelius' to preach. When he preached, Cornelius a gentile and his whole family were filled with the Holy Spirit. How could Peter and his team know that they were indeed filled with the Holy Spirit. Bible says, "For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God."

Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
Acts 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.


Bible speaks in several places that when people were filled with Holy Spirit they spoke in a new Language or in unknown language. This is the inward sign that a person is really spirit filled.

Acts 2:6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
Acts 2:7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
Acts 2:8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?"


Check up your life today!! Do you have the anointing of the Holy spirit? Have you ever experienced any inward and outward sign in your life? Have you ever spoken in different tongues? If not you do not have the fullness of the Holy Spirit. You can receive this anointing by asking God. As you repented and asked for salvation in the same way you need to ask for the anointing.

May God help you to receive the Holy Spirit.



Sin and its Consequences!

By Sherly Isaac

In the last few years we have been seeing violence, tragedies and deaths. There are many parts of the world where communal violence is a part of their lifestyle. Either for a piece of land or just because their opinion based on their religion differs from others, they kill each other. One may ask, "how long will all these violence and tragedies prevail? Is there nobody who could stop all these non-sense?"

Noah lived at the time when there was no one who were righteous except him. Bible says that the earth was also corrupt before God, and that the earth was filled with violence (Gen 6:11)." And in Gen 6:13 we read, "And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth." God also asked Noah to make an ark and He saved Noah and his whole family from that flood.

In the same way, at the time of Abraham, Sodom's people were wicked in the sight of God as we read in Gen 13:13, "But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD." And the result was that God destroyed the land of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness and violence of people.

Today many think that no matter what they do, God will not take any action. Many believe that no matter what they do, how violent their life may be, there is no consequences of their sin. Many think that God is loving and so He will just ignore their sin and they will be forgiven eventually. A group of people believe that everybody does mistakes and so if you live in sin, it is not a big deal. But the reality is something different. Every sin has its consequences. Mighty people may think of killing less powerful people, but one day your sin will catch you and bring you into judgment.

Recently I read comments of VHP(Vishva Hindu Parishad) Leader Mr. Ashok Singhal who asked Muslims to give up their claim on Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura temples for "better relations" with Hindus. He added that, "these shrines were "non-negotiable"." Times of India News Paper reported, "The VHP has declared an end to all negotiations and the start of a ‘‘struggle’’ for the Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura temples. This ‘‘struggle’’ will continue till the three sites are restored to the Hindus."

Very often I was asked, "how a child could get punishment of his father/mother's sins?" But today we have evidence that because parents sinned and contracted AIDS virus and because of their sin their whole family even small kids suffered. If you sin, it will destroy your life one day. Apostle Paul said in Rom 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Today, India is facing a major crisis because of AIDS and other deadly diseases. India has an estimated 3.97 million People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) at the end of 2001. And these numbers are doubling every 2-3 years. Very often I heard people saying that we should follow our "Indian" culture or we should raise our children in "Indian" culture. But one may ask, "how in a society like ours we have these many cases of AIDS victim?" Isn't this statistics alarming?

Till this time we do not know how many gays and lesbians are in India, but I am sure that one day when numbers will be declared it would be alarming too. From the outside it looks that everything is good in our society but inside it is stinking. We have covered it so long but now it is screaming from the rooftop. Yes, this is the consequence of sin. Sin will one day destroy you.

A person does not become good or bad or violent or sinful because he grew in a particular culture but it is the human sinful nature which we inherited from Adam and Eve that does it. If we want to get rid of this sinful nature, there is only one way and that is Jesus Christ who came in this world to take away our sins and to give us a holy life.

Are you living in sin today and thinking that nobody will ever know your secret sinful lifestyle and you can escape death? No, my friend, come to the feet of Jesus, repent from your sins and get rid of your sinful nature. And inherit heaven which is promised for us by Jesus alone.



A very special Greeting Card for you!

We wish you all a very happy and blessed new year 2004!

A very special greeting card is waiting for you at: Click here



Reader's Mail

Dear Sister Sherly,
Your new year issue is really good and inspiring . I am so glad to listen to promises of the Lord for HIS people this year. I believe that its up to us to claim all these promises in our lives. I trust Lord's promises for me and my household.

May God Bless you through this ministry.
Your Brother in Christ,
Santosh Thankachan




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

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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

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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:
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