Esther 的个人资料He wants All of me照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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8月13日 BelovedDevotion from "Daily in Your Presence"
Intimate Conversations with a loving Father
by Rebecca Barlow Jordan
"I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine."
SONG OF SOLOMON 6:3
 FROM THE FATHER'S HEART:
My child, we have a wonderful love relationship that I want to guard at all costs.
I am your beloved, and I feel the same way about you.
In that sacred romance, I long for you to stay close to Me.
There is no one else who will meet your needs like I will.
There is no one who will ever love you like I do.
Come, sit beside Me.
I love to share My inmost secrets with you.
A GRATEFUL RESPONSE:
Your love is like no other, Lord.
With You, there is a longing and a warm sense of security.
I love to walk and fellowship with You in theh cool of Your garden, or by the warmth of a fire.
When You speak, my heart and spirit leap to join my beloved One.
Wherever You are, Lord, is where I want to be.
SIMPLE TRUTH
If love were heaven's only gift, it would be enough.
 Quietly awaiting the birth of my third child....due 25 Aug 08 :) 2月6日 Come, My daughter Come My daughter, come and rest in Me.
Come into My throne room of mercy and grace.
Let Me extend my arms of Love.
Let My peace and comfort be your all in all.
In Me, there is fullness of joy!
In Me, there are pleasures forevermore!
I will show you My Kingdom and the inheritance of the obedient and faithful.
Do not fear, do not despair.
For I will not allow your foot to slip for I am holding you by My very right hand.
My purpose for you, for the 4 souls, for the precious ones shall be fulfilled.
For the Words which I have spoken,
shall not return to Me void but shall accomplish that which I have purposed and will prosper.
My Words are everlasting...
My Words are all powerful...
My Words are living...
My Word is the sword...
My Word is Me, your Lord...
My Words are in your heart and upon your lips...
Let it overflow in abundance so that I shall be glorified!
 In Me, there is peace.
For I am the Prince of Peace.
Your resting place.
Your safe shelter.
Peace I give to you.
My Peace I leave you.
I do not give as the world gives.
So do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.
For you shall abide under the shadow of My wings,
And in Me, you shall trust.
For you have made Me your Most high God and Saviour!
 My Shephard
The voice of My shephard I shall heed
And follow wherever he leads.
He is gentle and ever patient,
Onto green pastures He leads.
Onto still waters I rest for a while,
When the heat of day bears down.
Refreshed and rested I shall continue,
Down the path of righteousness I trod.
Even as I enter into the valley of darkness,
and the shadow of death surrounds,
For I shall fear no evil,
As my Shephard is ever with me,
His voice,
His staff and His rod,
they comfort me.
Yes, my Shephard's voice I shall follow,
Till He is ready to call me home!
 11月28日 Take ComfortTake Comfort
Anita Corrine Donihue
"For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
2 Corinthians 4:17
Do you ever feel your trials are like wearing a crown of thorns?
Be Faithful.
As you trust in God, your crown of thorns will be taken away and
He will hand you a crown with stars instead. Remember to thank and praise Him.
 Do you feel like you are overloaded, your hands filled with
heavy cares?
Be Faithful.
As you keep trusting in God, He will take away your heavy cares
and place a harp in your grasp,
so you may sing glory and honour to God
for all He has done.
Remember to thank and praise Him.
 Do your garments feel soiled with dirt and grime from struggling
in a sin-sick world?
Stay Faithful.
He will replace them with clothing that is shining white.
Remember to thank and praise Him.
 Hold on and do not despair.
There will be a time when you look back and your trials will seem as nothing in light of the many answered prayers, miracles,
and evidence of God's glory and grace.
 When we meet in heaven,
our adversities will become strangely dim in the shadows
of God's unfailiing Love.
Remember to thank and praise Him.
 9月13日 A Life Centered in Him
If I were devoted to God in all of my life, what would that mean?
What would I have to do differently?
I am indeed here with you, my child, my voice rising up from your very being, that is where I live
- in you, a holy temple!
I am gentle and I effect the works of righteousness in your life - which brings forth peace.
Have the quiet assurance in Me, knowing that
I am with you always and in all that you do
and in all circumstances.
Isaiah 32:17
The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance forever.
Draw on my strength and my wisdom in the quiet place
of your soul.
And wait upon Me, your Lord,
and again I say, wait and hope in Me!
Psalm 27:14
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord.
Take every opportunity to be with Me:
Live with Me...
Walk with Me...
Live in Me...
Just as the branch lives and abides in the vine.
So I am the True Vine- the Source of Life.
John 15:4-5
Abide in Me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine,
Neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
I am the Vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;
for without Me you can do nothing.
Live in Me, for without Me, you shall not bear fruits.
As you live and abide in me daily, you shall bear sweet glorious fruits
- for those that taste it shall proclaim that the Lord is good!!
You shall bear abundant fruits for all,
a blessing to many.
Have you been a blessing to others?
Or have you been hoardiing all the gifts and blessings to yourself?
Let your eye be singular,
focused on Me your Christ alone.
Your soul's will to seek to please Me,
to adore Me and to seek My delight alone.
Matthew 6:22
If thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.
Let me have your heart,
calm and trusting in my Hands,
surrendered to Me your Lord!
Psalm 131:2
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother,
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Cease all struggling against your own will, desires and doubts...
then you shall truely be free in the open skies of faith!
Live a life of praise, worship and thanksgiving to Me...
A heart purely devoted to Me your Abba Father...
In this, I am well-pleased!
Revelation 19:5
Give praise to our God,
all you His bond-servants,
you who fear Him,
the small and the great.
Psalm 96:9
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
In everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
 6月21日 Jesus...the Dearest Name "Jesus."
Say My Name often.
It was in My Name Peter bade the lame man to walk.
"In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth arise and walk."
"Jesus."
The very sounding of My Name, in Love and tenderness,
drives away all evil.
It is the word before which all the hosts of evil flee.
"Jesus."
My Name is the call for a life line to rescue you from temptation.
"Jesus."
The Name banishes loneliness - dispels gloom.
"Jesus."
Summons help to conquer your faults.
I will set you on high because you have known My Name.
Yes! My Name - "Jesus."
Use it more.
Use it tenderly.
Use it prayerfully.
Use it powerfully.
From "God Calling"
5月27日 The Singing HeartThe Singing Heart
Frances J Roberts
 Patience, My children, will manifest where hope is nurtured.
The singing heart is blind to obstacles and recognizes in all things the loving hand of an all-wise Father.
In such a state, delays are unnoticed,
for the spirit is not bound by the limitations of outer circumstances.
The power of evil to destroy joy is nullified when Christ Himself becomes the one point of attention.
In Him, all things are possessed NOW...
All things are complete Now...
For faith beholds that which is not yet to be as though it were already a reality.
Withdraw your attention from the outer circumstances and lose yourself, My child, in the free-flowing stream of the Spirit.
Every mountain shall be brought low and the trees shall clap their hands.
I will restore, I will bless, and I will heal. Gladness shall be your daily portion, and joy your meat and drink.
I will bless you as you bless all others and wait only upon Me for your help.
 5月23日 Morning MeditationsMorning Meditations
 Which shall I choose today,
The hard or easy way;
To seek some soul to bless,
Or stay in idleness;
For some cause sacrifice,
Or simply close my eyes;
Work out God's thought in me,
Or set my passion free;
Seek from my foe his peace,
Or let my wrath increase;
Climb upward on my knees,
Or only seek for ease;
Give till I feel it hurt,
Or hoard the yellow dirt;
Walk where martyrs trod,
Or scorn the claims of God?
Lord, in my heart today
I give Thee right of way.
Work both to will and do,
And help me to be true.
Author Unknown
 5月3日 The Secret PlaceThe Footsteps of Enoch
by Dr Dale A. Fife
 "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away"
Genesis 5:24 NIV
Enoch started out walking with God one day and never came back home.
God took him at the age of 365.
Enoch saw the mysteries of the universe, the future of the world, and the predetermined course of human history.
"By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death;
he could not be found, because God had taken him away.
For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God."
Hebrews 11:5 NIV
What greater legacy could Enoch leave than to be regarded as a God-pleaser?
I wanted, more than anything, to be pleasing to God.
I valued intimacy with Him over everything else in life.
I longed to know the mysteries and secrets that could only be learned by walking in His presence. I knew that there are secrets hidden in the heart of God,
and that wise men draw them out.
I wanted to be a God-pleaser, just like Enoch.
I too, wanted to consecrate my life,
so that Almighty might instruct me.
This can be the life of every believer.
Every one of us can come to a place where we please God and know Him intimately.
His presence abide with us constantly, guiding us in everything.
Like Enoch, we can walk with God in such a personal, intimate way that the secrets of God's heart
become part of our own hearts.
In fact, God wants us to walk with Him as Enoch did.
He longs for that kind of fellowship with each of us.
The key is opening your heart to taste of God's presence.
Then you'll only be hungry for more!
Only a few moments had passed since I uttered my request to the Lord.
Thoughts of Enoch filled my mind and heart, when I heard the Lord respond to my plea with a wonderful invitation,
" Son, what you ask of Me is the desire of My heart also. I want our time together to be just like My time with My friend Enoch.
You and I will take daily Enoch walks together."
And so, my "Enoch walks" with the Lord began in earnest.
The things that He revealed to me during our first walks together were in preparation for the deeper revelations that were to follow.
They were given as foundational truths, upon which to build further revelations.
God always gives us exactly what we can digest.
He starts us off with the basics and builds upon them.
He wants to reveal Himself to you, if you will only walk with Him.
The first lesson dealt with the meaning of life.
I listened carefully with an open heart as the Lord spoke.
Lesson One: the Essence of Life
"Have I not given you life to enjoy? All around you, son, are people who do not know how to live . I sent My Son Jesus to show people how to live, to enjoy a sunset, to touch the skin of a newborn baby, to take in the fragrance of a day, to live life to the fullest.
Life is a gift from Me! I have made life and all things for you to enjoy. "
" There are so many people who walk through life, but never lived it.
I am Life! I am more than just ordinary life.
I am the essence of Life itself.
I want you to be truely alive with my kind of life. ( see john 1;4,11-13)
I have given you life.
I was here when you breathed your first breath. (see Psalm 139:13-16) That is why it grieves Me when you do not live life to its fullest potential.
When your senses are dulled, or you are encumbered by cares and worries so that you cannot live as I intended. My heart is saddened.
To be continued.....;
I want you to understand that I am the Life-giver.
My desire is to release My life force in all creation, especially in all mankind.
When I walked the earth in the beginning, My life force existed in the Garden.
The Tree of Life was available to My creation. Adam and Eve were equally endued with life.
After Adam's disobedience, sin eventuqally took its toll. The life force gradually dissipated, and the life span decreased. Just as the enemy came to decieve Adam and Eve and take life from them, he also came to steal life from you. He is your enemy and adversary.
"The real issue is life or death! Many people have missed the point. So many are alive, yet dead. (Eph 2:1-10)
They are dead because even while they breathe, walk, and think, they have not allowed My abundant life force to flow into them. (2 Cor 5:14-17)
Enoch understood this principle well. He was the father of Methuselah longevity. Enoch knew that real life existed in Me, and that in Me there was no death. His intimacy with Me gave him life!
"I am life itself. I am the life force. No one lives without Me. All living things exist in Me and through Me.
My desire is that you allow My life force to flow into you, and through you to others.
I long for people to be truely alive. Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy life. I have come so that you might have life, abundant life. (John 10:10)
I am revealing these things to you because you have chosen to walk with Me just as Enoch did.
I am so pleased and delighted that you desire to know My truth."
The reality of this revelationi seemed to penetrated the very cells of my body.
Life, divine life, supernatural life, eternal life, is so much more than a theological concept, I thought.
It is real! It is Jesus! And I am experiencing it right now.
Why would anyone not desire this Life! I wondered.
God is the essence of life; He is life itself.
We have abundant life through Him, and we have no life without Him.
To be truely alive, we must look to Him!!
 3月9日 Holy LoveHoly Love
Frances J.Roberts
 When you listen to My voice, My child,
you are loving Me.
Love in its highest form is communication of lofty thoughts.
Holy love does not demand personal attention.
When two human hearts mingle in worship to Me,
their ardor rises as the fragrance of incense,
bringing joy to My heart.
This is sublimest expression of human love.
It takes nothing and gives all and receives from My own hand the reward.
For there is reward for worship;
indeed, there are many rewards,
and they are of the wealth of heaven and are untarnishable and can never be lost.
The first is peace of soul; for holy love silences the demands of the fleshman.
When holy love rises to My throne,
it releases a golden river of grace which floods the hearts of those who thus love Me and overflows to others for whom they pray.
Rest of soul is joy in its purest form.
Absence of inner peace causes common moments of joy to be fleeting.
Last joy evades the selfish, and peace eludes the unyielded, because the motivations are contrary to My purposes,
and the goals sought do not glorify Me.
 2月27日 Good Morning Holy Trinity!Thank you for your glory this morning,
Father God, Lord Jesus & Holy Spirit!!
 Come and dwell in me in even greater measure!
Thank you for my family, for friends, for school and for work!
Thank you for all your blessings poured down on me!
Such peace, such tranquility and joy within my heart and soul!
I love you Jesus.
Speak your words to me today,
your living word....
 My child, come to me in joy,
come to me in expectation,
for I am the giver of all truth, of all love and of all blessings.
You shall come and go away refreshed, fulfilled, comforted and joyful...
for these are all Me, my character.
I long to give you more, much more,
so much that you are unable to contain it.
Just open your heart fully to me to recieve,
let no part be hidden from me
and let my marvellous light drive out all darkness in the recesses of your heart.
For there is no condemnation for those who love me,
for those who seek me above all else.
As the scripture said,
"if you seek Me with your whole heart, you shall find Me,
your Father, Lord and Saviour."
And I shall give your heart understanding to many truths
and you shall marvel at the revelations.
For I am never-changing and the many facets of my character will take an eternity to know and learn.
 Worship Me in Spirit and in Truth.
Worship Me in the Beauty of Holiness.
Worship me in Love and Adoration.
For to worship Me is to taste Eternity.
The joy abounds, overflowing, endless...
In my Kingdom,
your home my little one.
Lift your eyes to Me always,
Commune with Me in love,
Seek Me with all your heart
And I shall always be found by you.
Amen.
 These words are so beautiful Lord,
Beyond description...
Only the heart can fully experience the communion with You,
my Father!
I love you Jesus!
xoxo 2月22日 The Abiding PresenceThe Abiding Presence
Frances J. Roberts
 " No good thing will he withhold from them who walk uprightly "
Psalm 84:11
My Presence within you is your richest treasure.
It is one that moth and rust cannot destroy, nor thieves break through and steal.
It will become dearer to you as you relinquish outer joys.
Your inner joy is as a plant that unnurtured fades.
Your inner joy is nurtured by your awareness of and gratitude for My abiding presence.
Be not allured by fascinations of the world.
They are but to perish.
They are transitory.
Even those which are not evil are still of no benefit to your spirit.
It is the Word of God and the Spirit of God that feed the soul of a man.
It is his inner worship and outer witness that strengthen him in faith.
To fail to worship is to become a perpetual disappointment to the heart of Christ.
It is to ignore the sacrifice of Calvary.
It is to live and die ungrateful for His mercy and love.
Worship is the only appropriate gift sinful man can give to a holy God.
It is the only fitting expression of the ransomed soul.
Nothing can bring greater satisfaction to the heart of God except to teach another soul to do likewise.
 2月21日 God's BlessingsHello blog friends,
I have been away from here for a few months...thank you for your continuing prayers, support and encouragement...God bless you all!!
God has blessed me this year....and may I continue to shine for him.
To my Lord, Saviour and King!!
Hallelujah!!
Love,
Esther
xo 10月9日 The Secret of the Universe Tell me, My child, your deepest longings, and in all your searching,come to Me.
I am always found of them who seek and ready to help the soul in need.
It is your need that draws Me to your aid.
You feel a need and cannot identify it.
I know that in My Presence it will be dissolved,
because I know it is My love for which you yearn.
"In My presence is fullness of joy",
therefore I know that as you drink of the fresh waters of My Spirit
you shall be refreshed.
I do not tell you a new thing.
I only say again what I have said so many times before:
Come unto Me.
You shall find rest for your soul,
relief from your burdens,
and quietness of spirit.
There is no turmoil in the soul that rests in My bosom.
There is turmoil in the world, but you are not of the world, My little one.
 You belong to Me.
You are Mine, and I have called you apart into a walk of faith,
of holiness, of communion with Me.
Never go back to the beggarly elements in quest of comfort.
Your spirit knows the Fountain of Life.
Your heart knows but one love....
the love of Christ:
and from that one love comes the grace to embrace all creatures
with understanding and compassion.
It is in the act of worship the soul is sanctified.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and Him only shall thou serve."
To love and worship any other is the path of destruction.
I will keep you from false worship as you give yourself to Me
in submission to Truth.
 Truth is revealed in My Word.
Make it your daily meat and drink.
Bind it to the doorposts of your mind.
Store it in your heart.
Write it upon your walls.
Speak it to your children.
Pursue Truth, and forsake it not.
It is My life poured out for you through the eternal revelation of the Holy Scriptures.
It is infallible.
It has power to bind evil and to release good.
It is the storehouse of wisdom and the source of life.
It is the secret of the universe, and you shall not add to nor take from.
Through My Word I have shared with you the fullness of My life.
As My Spirit breathes upon its truths, you shall discover riches and depths beyond your present understanding.
 Look not elsewhere for added revelation.
Truth is revealed not accordiing to content but according to receptivity.
Suddendly a truth becomes real to you.
The truth is not new:
It's revelation to you is new.
My Word is ever, and will continue to be,
the unfailing source of spiritual life and understanding.
Man in his pride seeks elsewhere for knowledge,
looking to other men for enlightenment.
He drinks from other cups when he ought to come to the fountain.
He looks to the creature when he ought to worship the Creator.
You know, My child,
the source of all your good.
Seek Me with your whole heart.
I will bless and reward in ways beyond your expectations.
~ "MAKE HASTE MY BELOVED"
by Frances J. Roberts
 9月25日 Good Morning Father God.jpg) Good Morning Father God, Sweet Jesus and Holy Spirit!
I hear you in the birdsongs.
You serenade me with your love calls.
You soothe my soul, filled it with love and
set my spirit free!!
The sunlight lights up the flowers,
its beauty radiant for all to see.
Your warmth embraces me,
like your laughter upon my face.
 The tender leaves on the tree are growing,
the season of spring now here,
new life springing forth.
In the beauty of the stillness,
you are all around me...
I am filled with great delight!
Thank you Abba Jesus for all your gifts and blessings.
Let my whole being praise and worship you
with all I have.
You have a glimpse of eternity , my little one,
a prelude to glory.
Your spirit senses alive to feel me,
to see me,
to hear me,
to smell me,
to taste me!
Ye shall never thirst again as you drink from Me,
the living water!
Your hunger for Me shall be filled with
My daily bread! A glorious way to live,
to be as one with your Father.
 9月18日 Freedom "A bird is free in the air.
Place a bird in water, and he has lost his liberty.
A fish is free in the water,
but leave him on the sand and he perishes.
He is out of his realm.
 So, young people,
the Christian is free when he does the will of God
and is obedient of God's command.
 This is as natural a realm for God's child as
the water is for the fish,
or the air for the bird."
~ By Henrietta Mears (1890-1963)
9月15日 Our Father's House We are in the Father's house in this world, thought not in the best room of it, because sin has marred everything here.
Still we are in the father's house.
His care is over us continually.
His love pours its brightness all about us.
His hand provides for our wants.
Let us not think meanly of earth, for it is part of
our Father's house.
How near it brings heaven to us to think of it as but another room in the same house in which we were born and in which we have lived all our years!
The life there is not a new life, but is simply the life we begin here continued there,
with sin taken out and imperfection and
all pain and suffering left for ever behind.
~ by JR Miller
 9月6日 What We Owe To FriendshipWhat We Owe To Friendship
J.R.Miller
 We do not know how much we owe to our true and pure friends -
how much they add to our joy,
what they do toward the formation and the adornment and enrichment of our character.
We know not what touches, delicate and beautiful,
on the canvas of our soul there will be for ever which
the fingers of a friend have left there.
There will be a silver thread in every life-web when finished,
woven into the fabric by the pure friendship of many days.
How important that only the true, the worthy,
those with clean hands and good lives,
be taken as friends!
 9月2日 Life's Great LessonsLife's Great Lessons
JR Miller
 We all fail in the life-lessons which our great Teacher sets for us.
The hardest school-tasks are easily mastered in comparison with the lessons of patience, sweet temper, forgiveness, unselfishness, humility, purity, contentment.
Even at best we can learn these lessons but slowly.
And though but little seems to come from our yearnings and strugglings after Christ-likeness, yet God honours the yearning, and the striving; and while we sit in the shadows of weariness, disheartened with our failures,
he carries on the work within us, and with His own hands produces the divine beauty in our souls.
 8月29日 Jesus Freak : "Asif""How Could I Not Have an Interest?"
"Asif" Pakistan 2001
 "Asif" was carefree as he sped his motorcycle down the street of his Pakistani town. He enjoyed being noticed by the young women as he sped by. In the traditional Muslim culture of Pakistan, overt glances would have been very inapporpriate, but still Asif could tell when he had been seen. He was young, and he felt powerful as he drove past, relishing the murmur of motorcycle's engine in his ears and the feel of the tires gripping th road. He smiled to himself and twisted the accelerator to give the bike a quick burst of speed.
Suddenly where the beautiful sky had been he saw only dirt, and where his motorcycle had raced along beneath him, it now felt like it was flying over his head. For the next few seconds all was clouds of dust and spinning. The next thing he knew he was lying on his back with his motorcycle next to him on the ground, its engine coughing and then dying. He heard the echo of the squealing tires as the car that hit him sped away. He had never even seen it.
Then he noticed the splitting paiin shooting up his leg. When he looked at it, he could tell from the way his foot lay off to the wrong side that it was broken. He tried to stay calm, but panic was gripping his heart and he wanted to scream.
Before he lost his composure, though, he felt a reassuring hand on him. A woman had come out of the crowd of passers-by and knelt beside him, laying her hand on his leg. He was calmed for the moment and surprised as she began to pray.
Through the pain, Asif heard the name of Jesus in her prayer. Despite his immediate thankfulness that someone had stopped to help, a wave of anger came over him at the mention of that name. How can this woman pray to Jesus, a mere prophet? Doesn't she know that I am a Muslim, a follower of Mohammed, the greatest prophet? Why isn't she praying to Allah?
Yet Asif was suddenly distracted from his anger by an energy he felt running through his body as she prayed. It was different from anything he had ever felt before. His anger began to fade as his leg straightened itself and the bone came back into place. Eventually he sat up and carefully examined his leg. It was completely whole.
As he stood, he noticed that there was no more pain either. He picked up his bike and walked home. Some time later, the same woman brought him a Bible. He never saw her again after that.
Hungry to know more about this prophet who had healed his leg, he began to read the Bible, especially the New Testament and the miracles of Jesus. Asif's question weighed heavier: If Jesus was truely one one of many prophets, how could he perform such amazing works? As Asif lay on his bed, he wondered, Who is Jesus? I know many prophets have come to earth, but none has had the power of Jesus.
Asif was so perplexed by how a minor prophet such as Jesus could heal him two thousand years after His death that he took questions to the mulvi (religious leader) at his mosque.
"Why are you talking to Jesus?" the mulvi sneered. "Do you have an interest in him?"
"How could I not have an interest?" Asif responded incredulously. "He healed me."
The mulvi and others at the mosque took Asif and locked him in a room. They forced poison down his throat thinking that if he died before fully accepting Christ, he would still make it to Paradise. They left him there overnight for the poison to do its work. Asif felt sick and thought he was dying. He vomited repeatedly and threw up blood.
However, around midnight Asif found himself still barely alive and lying in the dusts, caked with his own blood and vomit. The room was dark and he didnt' have the strength to get up. He didn't know what else to do, so he prayed. He called out to Jesus and told Him he wanted to see Him before he died.
Before he knew what had happened, a bright light had filled the dusty room. Asif suddenly felt a little better and forced himself up to see what was causing the light. Before him stood Jesus. It was at that moment that Asif surrendered the rest of his life to the Lord, saying, "God, this life is for you; as long as I am on earth, I will work for you."
Sometime before dawn, Asif managed to escape and made his way home.
When he tried to tell hhis parents of his experience the next morning, they were not impressed. "You are a Muslim," his parents told him. "If you accept Jesus, you must leave this house."
So Asif had no choice. He took his Bible and left. He went to a larger city where he met a pastor at a Christian bookstore. The pastor discipled Asif and later baptized him. From the first moments of his newfound faith, Asif felt a strong desire to share who Jesus was an swhat He had done for him with those around him, regardless of their religious backgrounds. Because of this, his troubles with the police and city leaders began almost immediately.
"A landlord (city leader) came to me and said, 'Where are you going? And why are you preaching this gospel? These are Muslim people. Why are they accepting Jesus?' "
Seeing that Asif was undeterred, this landlord and some other Muslims took him and beat him with heavy sugarcane stalks. They stomped on his leg and broke it again. As they pounded his body, they shouted, "You dog! You low-class scum! Why did you came here and make our people Christians?" They ordered Asif to leave the city immediately.
Despite their further threats, he refused.
As they were beating him, he prayed for them, "Please, God, change their minds and their hearts." Then he cried out to God to help him and give him strength.
Many weeks later, after Asif recovered from his injuries, the landlords and police closed down a meeting where Asif was sharing about Jesus again. Asif was taken to the police station, where he was severely beaten. When Asif was asked how he could endure this and not be discouraged, he qouted Philippians 1:29 (NAS)
"For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."
Asif continues to evangelize whenever and wherever he has the opportunity.
~ 'Jesus Freaks Vol 2' by dc Talk
Stories of Revolutionaries who changed their World: Fearing God, Not Man' |
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