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CSI Good News
(Church of South India Good News)
Vol. 4 / Issue 43 / December 5 2002
Contents of this issue
Editorial
Live a life, as it is your last day on earth
Reader's Mail
Prayer Request
News Items (Common to all issues) :
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Your Spam Folder
Your Feedback
Editorial
By Sherly Isaac
Deuteronomy 1:8, 'See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers; to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to give to them and their descendants after them.'
We are now almost at the end of this year. When I look back and think about the events which took place in our lives, we thank and praise God who allowed us to possess the things that He kept for us. Enemy tried his best to steal away the blessings from our lives but could not. It was because we obeyed God in every single step and acted with faith. One small mistake could have cost us to lose everything. It was roller-costar ride and of course it was painful to go through it.
God wants us to possess the blessings that He has kept for us. Devil will try his best to steal away your blessings, he will try to destroy your peace, joy and happiness but if you obey God in every step, He will guide you and make you victorious. We are thankful to God that He led us and told us exactly what to do in that terrible situation. By faith we acted on those things and that is the reason why we did not lose His blessings.
God told Moses in Deuteronomy 1:8, 'See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers; to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to give to them and their descendants after them.' But the Israelites could not possess the land because of their sin and disobedience. But at the same time Joshua and Caleb believed in God's word and had faith that He can give them the land. Bible tells us that all the others died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb who could reach to the promised land and possess it.
Yes, my friend, God has kept so many blessings for you. It is in your hand to possess it or reject it. It is in your hand to take the victory of God or lose your blessings and victory. God is not interested in your money but He is interested in your life. He wants to remove misery and pain from your life and wants to bless you. Jesus said in John 10:10-11, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."
Jesus gave His life for us so that we could get forgiveness of our sins and eternal life where there is no pain, no sorrow, no tears but there would be unending joy and peace. If you have not yet accepted the free gift of Jesus' eternal life, please pray this prayer with me:
Lord Jesus, you have kept eternal life and all the blessings for me. I come before you today and ask forgiveness of my sins. Please forgive and forget all my sins. Wash me in your precious blood. Make me whole. I invite you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you Jesus for giving me eternal life. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Live a life, as it is your last day on earth
By Sheela Isaac
Bible over and over again speaks about holiness, perfection and so on. Bible speaks that the day of Lord will come as a thief in the night. We have to prepare ourselves for that day. We have to conduct ourselves in holiness and godliness.
2 Pet 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
2 Pet 3:11, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
2 Pet 3:14, “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
According to these above verses we have to prepare ourselves so that when we stand before Lord Jesus He may find us holy, without spot and blameless. We saw last time that we need holiness not only that, we need perfect holiness. We need to reach to that level of perfection in holiness so that when the Son of God will appear He may not reject us. He may not find us short in holiness. That is why Bible again says in 1Pet 4:7- therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 1 Pet 4:7, “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
Be watchful, be vigilant of how you live in your daily life. Be serious about your life of how you do your day today affairs. Yes going to heaven is not that easy as many think. You cannot live as you like and still finally reach heaven. Many may lose heaven because of their ignorance. Many may fall short in their life because of negligence. Many may regret in the final hour when they’ll find that they’ve lost heaven.
Recently I heard a true story of a man. His name is Daniel. He is a pastor in Nigeria. He got into a quarrel with his wife and his wife slapped him. He got so angry that he closed the door of his room and sat inside. Later on his wife came and knocked the door and asked for forgiveness. She pleaded with him saying, “I beg you please forgive me”, but he would not listen to that. After sometime he left the home and went out in an automobile and met with an accident and died.
His wife did not allow to burry this man so they kept his dead body for 3 days praying for his revival. She brought his body in a meeting of the famous preacher Reinhard bonnke. There during this meeting he came back to life. Later he explained his after death experience as he was taken by an angel of the Lord and was showed heaven and hell. The angel showed hell and said, “If your time was over you could have gone to this place.” He could not believe it, he said, “I am a born again, saved believer how come I’ll be going into hell.” Angel said, “you did not forgive your wife when she was pleading with you, Bible says, “forgive our trespasses as we forgive others.” So you did not forgive your wife, and so you also do not deserve forgiveness.
Yes my friend it looks a very little insignificant sin, isn’t it? But it could have driven him into hell fire. If little sin could bring such fatal effect for eternity, how much more we have to guard ourselves against sin. How much we need holiness to reach heaven, how much we should be alert to protect us from falling. Going to heaven is not that easy. Do not stay in ignorance. If you stay un-repented if you play games with sin on a continuous basis, remember that you are heading toward eminent disaster. At the end Hell will be waiting for you. It may look offensive, or harsh message but know for sure it is reality. No one can escape from fire playing with it, it will surely consume you. Hell is real you cannot escape from it by ignoring God. Bible says that all evil things proceed from the inside of human heart. Heart is exceeding wicked.
Mark 7:21, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mark 7:22, "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
Mark 7:23, "All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
Gal 5:19, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
Gal 5:20, “idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
Gal 5:21, “envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Bible says clearly that if anybody is practicing any of these above said sins will not inherit heaven. Think about it then how much holiness we need. How can we reach to that perfection of holiness? How can we stay away from all these things? Is it possible? Yes it is possible with the help of God. You might have tried hundreds of times to lead a holy life. You might have failed so far, but you can achieve it not because of your own good works or your effort, but because of Jesus Christ. Because of shed blood of Jesus Christ you can achieve holiness.
First step toward holiness is Salvation:
Look toward Jesus; ask His forgiveness for your sins. Cry out before Him with your whole heart and say, “Lord I am so sorry for my sins, I am unable to come out of my sins and lead a holy life please help me. Please wash away my sins in your precious blood and make me clean” It is that simple. Repentance is the first step toward holiness.
Second step toward holiness is willingness to lead a holy life:
It depends on yourself whether you want to obey God, Holy Spirit or not. Nobody can push you toward holiness but it is you who could achieve it by prayer and faith. It is your sole job to work hard toward holiness to get it. When I got saved the first thing which happened in my life was that I had such a longing to lead a holy life. Every time when I did something wrong it pricked me like a thorn in my heart. Holy spirit convicted me all the time that it is wrong. I prayed like a dieing person praying for life. Whenever I took one step forward toward holiness satan came and pushed me ten steps behind. It was such a frustrating experience for me. Many times I prayed and cried out before God saying, “Why I am not able to lead a holy life, is it ever possible.” It is harder than anything to cleanse thought life. You may be going through the same situation. You may be asking the same question “is it possible to lead a holy life?”
Holiness does not come in one day or two. For me it took years to achieve that goal. This process is still continuing in my life and I am sure it will continue till I end my journey in this world. Today with confidence I can say that holiness is possible. You can stay away from sin and guilt. You can reach closer and closer inch by inch to perfection with the help of Jesus Christ.
Yes my friend willingness is very necessary for it. Nobody will push you to lead a holy life. Holy spirit will convict you time and again but when you are not willing to obey God nothing will change in your life. Today many are saved and spirit filled but when you speak to them you know that they are living in sin. Lies flow from their mouth like a river. They do all kinds of cunning tricks to make money and harm other people. They are living a filthy life as any other unsaved or ordinary person. Some times you even doubt whether this person is really saved? It is bringing shame to God’s kingdom. They are great stumbling blocks to unbelievers. Many do not want to come to salvation because of these kinds of people. These types of people create a wrong notion that all the believers are liars and hypocrites. What about you? Are you such a person then you need to repent again? You need to cry out before God that you are preventing many from coming to Savior and leading a holy life. You have to cry out before God and repent that you yourself is not leading a holy life and are not allowing other people to lead a holy life.
Third step toward holiness is by staying alert all the time that you may not fall in sin:
It again needs the same willingness. If you are not alert, any time you could fall in sin. Bible speaks about David that he is the man after God’s own heart. He lived a life, which pleased God. In psalms we read about how David is praying, how he is alert toward his life and holiness.
Psa 119:10, “With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!”
Psa 119:8, “I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly!”
Psa 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!”
He walked in holiness but when he slipped one time and committed adultery with Bethsheebe he cried out before God. He says, “oh God please do not take away your Holy spirit from me.” Read ps 51 and you’ll know how he lamented and cried before God. That is called repentance. He repented from his sins from the bottom of his heart. That’s how he survived in his spiritual battle.
Here is David’s prayer of repentace:
Psa 51:1, “Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.”
Psa 51:2, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.”
Psa 51:9, “Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.”
Psa 51:11, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”
Psa 51:12, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”
Look at these verses, David knew that sin is terrible, he knew that the consequences of sin is horrible. He knew that sin could destroy his life and eternity too. That is why he prays, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.”
Yes if you are a saved person still you need to stay alert. You need to work hard to keep yourself holy. You need to work constantly for holiness and you need to perfect it day by day. If you are not alert you could fall anytime and even you could lose your salvation. You could lose the anointing of the Holy Spirit too. That is why David prayed, “Oh God do not cast me away, do not reject me, do not take away your Holy Spirit from me.”
May God help you to lead a holy life.
Reader's Mail
I have been greatly blessed by this story and I have anxiously waited and read all the 15 parts that come in every Friday. The story is very challenging and so inspiring and I have also printed and shared those portions to my office mates. Indeed our God is good and great. He is a faithfull God who takes care of us when He calls us. He is a God who heals and who never fails us.
I thank God for Gulshan that even through the many trials she went through she remained strong in the Lord and trusted in His provision. I have been greatly blessed about this story and have learnt a lot in my christian my day to day christian living.
God bless you
Lydia
Malawi
Thank you for the powerful and beautiful story of Gulshan and her Christian witness!
Duke
I am receiving the CSI Newsletter for a while. Whoever is behind this, thank you verymuch. The letters helped me a lot. Every letter gives me some new information about
our Lord and thus stregthens my faith. Let the almighty help you to reach out to more people, enlighten them, and believe in our Lord the one and only God who only can save
you, me and anybody in the entire world irrespective of cast, creed, gender and colour.
Merry Christmas.
Thanking you once again,
Sunny
Prayer Request
Kindly pray for my daughter who is suffering from epilepsy
Mangalaraj
Dear brother,
One thomas and rosamma family and Ayyappan and family are still without any issues and we request your prayers for them.
Also, please pray for Lucy, who is suffering from various sicknesses plus stone in kidney. We request your prayer support for Lilly who is suffering from Retina Degeneration and Rose who is very weak in studies.
Sheeba and everyone request your prayer support.
May the lord bless you in your continued prayer for us all.
P Kunju
Please pray for me and my family to live closer to the Lord Almighty to guard and guide us in our daily life and thank Him for the manifold blessings He is showing on us every
second of our life.
Alexander
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
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
Also read these two books by Sherly Isaac "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.
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.
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online at Kid's page. These tutorials are free for kids who subscribe for CSI Kids Newsletter. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver are available.
So please enroll your kids by going to http://kids.csinewsletter.org/member/join.asp
And visit CSI Kid's page at http://kids.csinewsletter.org
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
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 news@csinewsletter.com email address into your contact list can avoid this email from ending up in your bulk folder.
Your Feedback
Your feedback and comments are Welcome. Please send your Parish news & articles to Editor (Sherly N. Isaac) at this address News@csinewsletter.comThe messages submitted will be checked whether they are correct according to the word of God. Editor reserves the right to accept, reject or edit the messages. The writers are responsible for the contents of their writings.
 
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