One day we visited an old lady,
who was a friend, and she prayed the prayer of consecration to Jesus, then she
gave her life to Jesus Christ. The prayer of consecration should be said
everyday because a prayer that is said once doesn’t save, but salvation is a
path of life and each day we have a choice to make. When we renew that prayer
daily we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and are on the road to salvation.
Clearly Jesus said it wasn’t those who said Lord, Lord, Lord who would be saved,
but those who did the will of the Father. We therefore have to strive to do
God’s will and love to show that we are Christians.
This friend confided in us that someone had irritated
her that morning when that person showed off, and she got angry with her, and
said that it wouldn’t last.
At 2 a.m. in the morning I woke up and had a message
from Jesus to tell our friend to reconcile with the person she had hurt before
going to Holy Communion. I didn’t really want to do that, but I had to obey
God’s will, and I thought that even if I lost a friend, what mattered was
putting Jesus first.
A few minutes before I phoned her up we prayed to the
Holy Spirit to enlighten her that she had done wrong. Afterwards, I phoned her
up and told her that I had a message from Jesus. I believe that when we are born
again we become Jesus’ baby spiritually and so I asked her if she was Jesus’
baby, and she said yes, and I told her that if she was a child of God, she had
to act as His child. I told her that she wasn’t nice to that lady that day, and
she replied that the Holy Spirit convicted her a few minutes before my phone
call to her. That happened at the same time that we had been praying for her. I
told her that Jesus told me to tell her that she must be reconciled before going
to Communion that day. She said that she didn’t know where that lady lived. I
gave her a reading from the Bible Matthew 5:21-26 which tells us if we don’t
reconcile before going to the Lord’s Supper we condemn ourselves.
“You have heard that it was
said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,and anyone who murders will
be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother
or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or
sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’
will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift
at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something
against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be
reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with
your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on
the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may
hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell
you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."
She said that she couldn’t see a priest that day for
confession, and I said that she didn’t need a priest, but could confess directly
to Jesus.
She phoned up 20 minutes later and said that she had
found the lady’s phone number in the yellow pages and had phoned her up to
apologize, and the lady was very nice and said that perhaps it was her own fault
for showing off. The friend we visited was known for being nasty to people, and
having a sharp temper. We noticed though that there was a change in her
behaviour and she became gentler, and to our knowledge it was the first time
that she had apologized to someone, and she was very happy that she had made
amends.
We are simply tools of the Holy Spirit who depend
totally on Him and we give Jesus victory for changing that friend’s heart. So
often when we pray for people and for conversions we don’t know the outcome, but
just trust Jesus. This was the first time that we had got a feed back on how
prayers are answered when you pray to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that God would
answer all prayers that are in accordance with God’s will, and now we have the
proof of it.
When you pray, have faith and thank your Father in
Heaven, knowing that your prayer will be answered.
By Dominic and Marie-Helene Bradshaw
dominic.bradshaw@orange.fr
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.