Am I beautiful? Am I looking presentable and attractive today?

These are questions most of us think almost every day. As a matter of fact, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Have we ever thought  whether we are beautiful in the eyes of God?

God says –  The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.Our beauty is something which fades as years pass by. It’s a fact that as we age, our physical beauty diminishes.

God doesn’t evaluate as humans perceive what is beautiful. God looks at the heart.

It’s God who gave us a form when we were conceived in the mother’s womb.

Psalm 139

¹³ For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

¹⁵ My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

¹⁶ Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷ How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

All our physical characteristics were designed by God and we are wonderfully made in our mother’s womb. So our physical form is God given and was shaped while we were in our mother’s womb.

What God perceives as beauty is the purity of our heart.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:30

As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. Proverbs 11:22

In the sight of God, there is none righteous. No not one.

¹⁰ As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

¹¹ There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

¹² They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

⁹ Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? – Proverbs 20:9

..For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

²² Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

²³ All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. – Mark 7:21-23

Without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. In JESUS alone, we have redemption from our sins through His blood shed on the cross, and the forgiveness of sins and complete freedom from sin’s bondage on us.

..The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:7-9

Be truthful and do repent of your sins. Pray to Jesus. He knows our heart.

He has promised in His word – in the Holy bible.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Cleanse your heart from your sins by the blood of Jesus. That’s the only means by which we can be beautiful and acceptable in God’s eyes.

Who is the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice that pleases God?

In ancient times, people used to sacrifice animals to please God or to turn away the wrath of God. It’s been practised throughout the years in different countries and is a common practise among many cultures.

Before the exodus from Egypt, God asked the Jewish people to kill a lamb and to paint the blood on the door posts of the houses. God said –

¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgement: I am the Lord.

¹³ And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

This is the significance of the Passover lamb. Any house which had blood on the door posts, God would pass over it and the wrath of God will not come upon it.

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. – Heb 9:22

13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Heb10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

Jesus came into the world to take away the sins of the world by His perfect sacrifice.

⁸ …, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

⁹ Then said he (Jesus), Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

¹⁰ By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

¹² But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

¹³ From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

¹⁴ For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

¹⁵ Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

¹⁶ This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

¹⁷ And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

¹⁸ Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

²⁶ For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

²⁷ But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

²⁸ He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

²⁹ Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

³⁰ For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Only the true God can forgive the sins of mankind. Jesus being God who came to earth in the form of human alone has the power to forgive our sins.

In JESUS alone, we have redemption from our sins through His blood shed on the cross, and the forgiveness of sins and complete freedom from sin’s bondage on us.

Jesus – is the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Jesus was sacrificed as the perfect Passover lamb once for all. When we accept Christ as our Saviour, we are sanctified through the perfect offering of the body of Jesus Christ. His blood cleanses us from our sins and the wrath of God will not come on us. In God’s sight it is as – when I see the blood, I will pass over you

How can I come to God?

First of all, we can’t come to God directly. Just think about the head of our country. Can we just go and meet them? We can meet them if we have an invitation. God is the supreme most power and the highest in authority in the whole universe. We can come to God only in His own terms, not ours.

God reveals of Himself as – ¹³  of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity – Habakkuk 1:13

No one with iniquity or sin can come to His presence. We can come to God after being cleansed from our sins. We cannot cleanse ourselves from our sins.

God sent His ONLY begotten son Jesus Christ into this world so that ANYONE who believes in Him should not perish, but should receive everlasting life. If ANYONE believes in JESUS and repents of their own sins and asks JESUS to forgive their sins; He being God himself, has the power to forgive sins. Only the true God can forgive the sins of mankind. Jesus being God who came to earth in the form of human alone has the power to forgive our  sins.

Be truthful to yourself and do repent of your sins. Pray to Jesus. He knows our heart.

He has promised in His word – in the Holy bible.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness..

For it is not possible that the blood of goats and bulls should take away sins.

Without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. In JESUS alone, we have redemption from our sins through His blood shed on the cross, and the forgiveness of sins and complete freedom from sin’s bondage on us.

With repentance tell all your sins to Jesus. Jesus understands all your needs. He will forgive and all your sins will be cleansed. You will receive eternal life and you can be assured that you are in the right way to heaven.

JESUS – the meaning of the name is – the one who saves the people from their sins.

The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:7-9

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name – John 1:12

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God – Romans 8:15,16

When your sins are cleansed, you become a child of God and then you can come to God, our Heavenly Father.

Have money, position, power, good family.. what about the soul?

Most of us have something which we always think/ care about the most. For most, it can be money. The love for money is deep embedded within most of us. For some, it can be a high position or power.  If there was no love for power  or money, many of the wars wouldn’t have occurred. For some it can be their own family which is the priority for them. Love you family, that’s good. But is that all to it?

 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? – Mark 8:36

This is what God says.

When a baby is born, there is a date set for the soul to be returned to the giver of the life. It’s a fact that all of us would die one day. That doesn’t change if you are rich or poor. It’s a law which is true for all human beings. So what happens after death? Should we think about what happens after death? Shouldn’t we just focus on the current life? We as humans tend to think forward. That’s the reason why we try to earn more money to make future secure. We think in advance and ensure that we have health insurance so that an emergency is taken care of. So we do think in advance..

What about our soul? What when our breath stops? We leave all the money, position, family and everything which we accumulated in this life span. It’s a FACT that we came into this world empty handed and would leave this world empty handed. Our soul returns to the God Almighty.

Everything we did in this short life on earth we would need to give an account for. Can we live our lives just as the way we desire and not reap the consequences? As we sow, so shall we reap.

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is meant to teach us that there is a life after death.  

Luke 16:19-31

¹⁹ There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

²⁰ And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

²¹ And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

²² And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

²³ And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

²⁴ And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

²⁵ But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

²⁶ And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

²⁷ Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

²⁸ For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

²⁹ Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

³⁰ And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

³¹ And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

If we still remain in our sins, we will be separated from God for ever. Would we be like the rich man who  was described as

  … also died, and was buried; 

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments …

Be concerned about your soul also. Because it’s a matter of eternity. We take care of our bodies by having good nutritious food and exercise. But finally the body will return to dust at our death. Make sure your soul is not lost. There is no point in regretting after death as we can live only one life on earth and there is no coming back. 

How can I come to God? How can I be a child of God?

How can I come to God? How can I be a child of God?

Jesus, the son of God, lived in Heaven in all His glory. God saw that the whole mankind was in sin. Everywhere hatred, violence, cheating, greed, selfishness, no love or compassion for the poor and needy. Because of sin in every human being, all human was unrighteous and sinful in God’s eyes.

None of their sacrifices of bulls or goats nor money could make a man become righteous in the sight of God. No man could be justified in the sight of God, because of their righteousness sake.

God sent His ONLY begotten son Jesus Christ into this world so that ANYONE who believes in Him should not perish, but should receive everlasting life. If ANYONE believes in JESUS and repents of their own sins and asks JESUS to forgive their sins; He being God himself, has the power to forgive sins. Only the true God can forgive the sins of mankind. Jesus being God who came to earth in the form of human alone has the power to forgive our  sins.

JESUS – the meaning of the name is – the one who saves the people from their sins.

JESUS said –      ‘I AM THE WAY,

I AM THE TRUTH,

I AM THE LIFE.

No man cometh to the Father (the only true God), but by me. –  John 14:6

 Jesus said –       ‘My peace I leave with you.

My peace I give unto you.

My peace is not as the peace which the world give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – John 14 : 27

Jesus alone can give the true peace. He is willing to give this peace to anyone who follows Him.

JESUS is the ONLY way to heaven.

Jesus came to the world to save people from their sins. Jesus took all our sins upon Him and died on the cross.

There was no sin in Him, no not even one. For the sake of sinners like me and you, He died a painful and shameful death on the cross.

We are born sinners, hence we need a Saviour to free us from our life long sins.

After his death, Jesus rose again after three days. Now He is in heaven at the right hand of the Heavenly Father, the Creator God.

Be truthful to yourself and do repent of your sins. Pray to Jesus. He knows our heart.

He has promised in His word – in the Holy bible.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness..

For it is not possible that the blood of goats and bulls should take away sins.

Without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. In JESUS alone, we have redemption from our sins through His blood shed on the cross, and the forgiveness of sins and complete freedom from sin’s bondage on us.

The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

With repentance tell all your sins to Jesus. Jesus understands all your needs. He will forgive and all your sins will be cleansed. You will receive eternal life and you can be assured that you are in the right way to heaven.

Have you gone through physical suffering? To some extend all of us has gone through in varying degrees.

God knowingly sent Jesus to the world. Both God the Father and Jesus knew that one day Jesus would be crucified by wicked cruel men. It was a choice. Jesus didn’t had to come. But Jesus and God the Father loved us and Jesus came into this world. He came as a human being born like us and underwent all this physical suffering. Did it pain for Jesus? Yes it did. Did it hurt God the Father seeing all that His Son had to go though. Yes it did. Because of the great love for me, all the physical suffering was endured.

Jesus knew all the time that He would be crucified. Just imagine that if we come to know that we would die in pain suffering a lot, would we have any peace of mind? The thought itself would torture us all the days of our lives. Jesus knew this that He would die and would die a painful shameful death. The mental suffering was at the peak as He poured out in prayer before being betrayed by Judas. 

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 

Jesus suffered such mental agony. When a child suffers on death bed, the parent’s mental agony is something which cannot be described. The child goes through the pain, emotional suffering. By seeing the suffering child, the parents go through immense mental and emotional struggle. That’s how God the Father felt when He saw His Son Jesus in agony. – And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 

All this mental agony was endured because of the great love with which He loved us.

Throughout eternity, God the Father and Jesus the Son was one. Now to save the world from sin, justice has to be served. Jesus took our sins on Him and paid the penalty. The one who knew no sin, became sin for us. God is of pure eyes to behold evil. God is perfectly Holy and pure. There is no sin in God. Because of sin, Adam and Eve who were in fellowship with God was separated from God’s presence. Sin separates a person from God.

When the sin of the whole world was put on Jesus, God the perfect Judge turned forsook His Son whom He loved. Imagine a Judge having to sentence his son to death due to a crime committed. Justice demands the son to be sentenced.The Father gives the verdict. But imagine the mental suffering both the parent and the son has to go through. 

Here Jesus and God the Father who were perfectly one, had to endure the spiritual suffering of separation as the sin of the whole world was laid on Jesus. Jesus always used to address God as Father. When the sin was laid on Jesus, the spiritual separation caused Him to address as God and in all the Physical, Mental and Spiritual agony He cried out – My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

All this was for because of the great love of God the Father and Jesus for a mere sinner like me.

Now I know, now I realise God your great deep love towards me.

God, what do I need to do to be free from my sins?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

This is Jesus, who left all the glory in heaven and came down to earth to take away the sin of the world.

Will we ever do it? Will we even go down a bit for other’s sake? Jesus did.

Will we bear inconvenience for other’s sake? Jesus did. when He left all the comfort and worship in heaven and came down to humans who crucified Him, He bore all the inconvenience and cruelty to the utmost.

Will we stand others accusing us? Jesus did, when He was falsely accused. He bore everything silently. He said – Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Will we forgive? Jesus did.

But God did something more and then I knew His LOVE more deeply…

God is love. At the same time He is perfectly just as well.  Since we are created in God’s own image, we have these characteristics in some quantity in us. When we see some injustice, it disturbs us. But God is the perfection of Justice. He is love, at the same time He is just.

If the love of God overlooks sin, it would be incompatible with the just nature of God. The sin has to be punished, without which man can never again come near to God and have fellowship with Him. 

God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son to the world that WHOSOEVER believes in HIM should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Would we sacrifice anything for someone who doesn’t care for us? I really doubt. We might for someone whom we love. But for someone who doesn’t care for you, will you sacrifice anything?

I realised that’s what God did. He really did love that much,that He gave Jesus to the world which didn’t bother about God .He showed His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

I thought family love is the strongest. But even in family when quarrels happen, don’t we realise that our love is not that pure? our love is not that strong and deep as we thought. if we analyse truthfully, we can sense how selfish our love is. Husbands and wives love each other. But think is that love really selfless?If family/friend’s love was selfless, there wouldn’t be arguments, there wouldn’t be self pity, there wouldn’t be harsh speech.

Human love is selfish, because all humans love themselves more than others. The nearest which can be said of selfless human love would be that of a mother’s to a new born baby. The mother loves the child without any expectations from the baby. We humans love others and expect others to love us.

Here is how God showed His love to us, that while we didn’t love God, He still loved us. He not only loved us, but acted on that love and gave His Son whom He loved the most to the world who never cared for Him. Will any human do that? I doubt. But that’s what God did and now I know that His perfect love to mankind is so strong that He gave His Son Jesus for the world. why did God do this? To restore our fellowship with Him. God loves me this much?? I never knew.. I never realised… But now I know.

As I mentioned before, I was brought up in a religious family. I believed in God, as the one to whom I can pray. I never thought there can be a God who is interested in my matters. really – if someone said that to me some years before, it would have been unbelievable. God loving me is beyond a question. In my childhood, I had never heard a statement like this – that God loved me.When I heard it also, I don’t think it had an impact on me. My family loves me, ok now God also loves me. A good to know statement. As I said earlier, I considered myself a good human. Helping poor, giving money for God, no lying or cheating, so I am in the good list. One day came in my life when I heard that we all are sinners. Really!! not for me. I am good. I do good things. The statement which I heard was that – We all are sinners, Christ came to this world to save sinners. I remember in my childhood, I saw the christian God Jesus hanging on a cross. I wondered why this Christian God was hanging on a cross? But then never gave much thought to it. Its the Christian’s God. I have my own God. 

When someone says that everyone is a sinner, I couldn’t just get it. As much as I know I do good things, so how in the world can I be a sinner? In my eyes, I am good. I never thought from God’s viewpoint. Everyone have some silly habits like being jealous of others, making fun of others faults, saying small lies, but not big lies. When I say that I was a good person in my viewpoint, I didn’t consider small things like this. Everyone does it right, but I am upright in serious matters.

I heard Jesus is God and came into the world to save sinners. The meaning of the name Jesus is – the one who saves His people from their sins.

I heard this and thought good Jesus is a nice God then who came to save sinners like murderers, adulterers, liars, cheaters etc. That’s fine then. Its a good thing to save people from their wrongs, so Jesus as God who save people from wrong doings was fine for me. 

But it took years for me to realise that I too am a sinner in God’s viewpoint. God slowly slowly started showing me that human beings are born in sin. The finest example is children, you don’t have to teach them to tell lies or fight with other children. Its natural for them to do so. Do parents teach children to fight or do other wrong things? Sometimes parents wonder how small children became selfish, not sharing their toys or other things, fighting with other children, taking others toys? Children do this without any training. Its because of sin within us. I realised after much time, that its true that we all are sinners. We may be able to impress other people with our goodness and righteousness. But what matters ultimately is what God says about me. Am I sinner or not?? God’s answer is everyone is a sinner in God’s eyes.

I thought I was a good person, But God said in His sight, there is none good, no not one. All are sinners. I had heard about this Adam Eve story. Initially God created man in His own image to have fellowship with Him. We as humans have spirit, soul and body. 

Body comprising flesh, blood, our senses

Soul – mind, emotion, will

Spirit – Conscience, intuition, to fellowship with God

God told Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The fallen angel satan tempted Eve and she ate the fruit and shared it with Adam. Thus they disobeyed God and was driven away from the presence of God. Fellowship with God was broken. God had given Adam dominion over the earth and the animals. When the first parents disobeyed God and obeyed satan, sin entered into the world. Sin is basically doing our own will instead of God’s will. We know children resemble the parents or grandparents because of genes. Similarly sin was transferred to the future human generations which was originated from the first parents. Everyone is born a sinner. 

I thought God you loved me, but you made me realise that I am a sinner??

But God why would you care for me? I really never bothered about you? I think of you when I wanted something in my life. Why would you care for me then? Why would you love me when I never really bothered about you?

I personally realised God is love and its His characteristic to love. How much ever bad a child is, still His mother would love him. If human love cares for a bad son, how much more pure and high would God’s love be? So God more than being my creator, you also love me? I never thought so. I have only seen love in family or friendship. I don’t love people who don’t bother about me. God, that you love me even when i didn’t bothered about you is too wonderful a love for me to understand. I have to admit that, but as the years pass by I have realised increasingly that God you really are love and your love towards mere human beings is really beyond all description. Its such a high love beyond description.

But God, then how can I know for sure that you really love me, a human?