yeowch

A poem that says it all

This world is full of people in despair,
Yes, anxious broken hearts are waiting there,
So drop a line and tell them that you care,
Enough to spend a little time in prayer.

Then tell them of the One whose love you know, (John 3:16)
Excels all other love down here below, (Rom 5:8)
Lord Jesus is His name and we would show, (Phil. 2:10)
From heaven He came to heal their every woe. (Luke 4:18)
He died upon the cross to save from sin, (1 Cor. 15:3)
And now He bids the weary come to Him. (Matt. 11:28)

The way is plain, so trust Him with your soul, (John 14:6)
Accept Him now and He will make you whole. (John 1:12)
Repent, believe and so be born-again, (John 3:3)
This very day, bow to the Saviour's claim, (Rom. 10:9)
He is the Christ, in heaven He lives again, (Heb. 10:12)
As King of Kings, He's coming back to reign. (Rev. 19)

If you would enter into joy and peace, (Rom. 5:1)
Then from your works and anxious turmoil cease, (Eph. 2: 9)
By faith alone in Christ are sins forgiven, (Acts 10:43)
Believe on Him and know a place in heaven, (Acts 16:31)
The price was paid by Jesus Precious blood, (1 Peter 1:19)
It cleanseth from all sin, so says His word. (1 John 1:7)

If you have found the Saviour to be true, (Rev. 1:5)
And wish for Him a little work to do, (Acts 9:6)
Then copy out these lines and pass them on,
To four or five dear friends before the dawn, (Mark 5:19)
Then they in turn can do the very same,
Til all the world shall hear the Saviour's Name. (Mark 16:15)

A brother in Christ, John McDowell, composed this. He was one of many important links in the chain that would eventually lead me to receive the sweet love of my saviour Jesus Christ. My heart felt full reading this. My own salvation is something I have commented very little on, so now might be a good time to write out that little part of my history here.

The first time I heard the name God was back in primary school when i was about 9. A classmate asked 'Do you know who God is?' and I said 'No'.
He/she went on to say that He was the most powerful being in the whole world, and can hear & see everything. Whatever the actual words were, that little exchange made an impact on me. This impact was not to resurface again til a time of crisis hit a year later. On one particular day, in my anguish due to troubles at home, I asked God to hear me out. I prayed for his protection and that I'd be good in exchange. Pretty naive i know, but He held me to my word.

Of course I found 'being good' almost intolerably hard. I'd mess up here and blow it there. Time went on and come high school, i was starting to carve out a path of my own. But i couldn't escape the feeling that i had to know more about this God with whom i made that first feeble attempt to connect to, so i met with all sorts of christians. Those who handed out tracts on the street, Jehovah's Witnesses, even people from overseas who i didn't know but knew me through the tract-distributors! But through all that i didn't get the answer i was looking for. I had so many questions that i forgot what the original question was to begin with. Every question to me seemed like a trigger for another one: Who is God? What did Jesus have to do with Him? What does it mean when people say that He died for our sins? Why did He do it? The last 2 were the ones i really wanted to know the answers to but couldn't comprehend any given at the time.

My efforts to seek him were not overlooked. When i was 13, i prayed hard. That God would send me a bible because it might be the only place i could get a proper answer. So not long after, He did just that. I met John McDowell on my way to the library (something i did a lot back then) while he was handing out tracts on the street across from Westfield. It wasn't until years later that i found out that day struck out significantly to him. Because at the time (the year of the Olympics in Sydney) he would stand outside the stadium each day and hand out tracts. But on that particular day, an officer asked him to leave and go somewhere else. Aside from that day, he'd never had any problems doing that quiet little work for the Lord there so he was quite surprised. Nonetheless, he decided to go to Parramatta. Which was where he met me. And from the tract he gave me, i wrote to him for a bible (i don't know why this idea didn't occur to me before or that they might even sell the bible at Dymocks). All i knew was that, i was compelled to write to him and to my surprise he wrote back with my precious bible. But one problem that cropped up was not so much the language (i did understand the bulk of it thanks to God); it was that, with so much to read, how was i ever going to reach the answer i needed?

So for a time i neglected reading the bible. Then a year later in 2001, i was amazed when John McDowell and his wife Olive themselves turned up at my door! I had no idea they would still remember me. But as soon as i saw them i knew i could trust them. They told me that they were conducting a series of talks on the bible at Lidcombe and asked whether i would be interested in going. Well, with nothing else to do and questions that wouldn't leave me alone i went. And there they were finally answered. What kept me going there to begin with was not so much the message, but the warmth of the people. They were so patient and willing to answer my 1001 questions that it more or less answered that deep hunger within me to feel 'real presence'. I didn't know much about real presence until i met them. Whenever i was with them, i felt like their mind was really there and not somewhere else waiting to tick off something on their to-do-list, but listening, caring and willing to bear with me til i finished. That presence was but a faint semblence of the presence i would finally come to know in the form of the risen saviour. I don't remember the exact day or night i accepted him as my saviour, but i did know that the longer i went there, the more questions were ticked off as answered. And once answered, naturally accepted.

So to me it was a gradual process until one day, there was no question about it. I believed everything told about him: that he came into this world to die on the cross in our place so that we might ultimately be with him in heaven. That we as sinners can never know him unless we willingly acknowledge that fact and receive him as the only one who can change us. The only one who was pure enough to be that once-and-for-all sacrifice and save us. That we must come to him personally and ask for his forgiveness. So the next logical step in my path of obedience to Him was baptism. Joining fellowship and the breaking of bread on Sundays was something i understood less than anything else so it wasn't for a long time until i finally considered it and once i knew what it was all about i took that step as well when i was 18.

And now, at the age of 20, and looking back on my life, i can say with gratitude that God has been with me all the way. I experienced inward storms that, were it not for his preservation, might've torn me apart. Were it not for him, i could've chosen to stay with my foster parents (which would've been the easier option by far) but i can't imagine knowing him like I do now if that was the case. I could've stayed in China and lived out a most happy childhood there but again i wouldn't have know him at all. God knew i would ultimately be His and though he has led me through pretty hard terrain, they are but small memories compared to the joy i now have. I was going to write happiness instead of joy, but i now know the difference - happiness is contingent on circumstances and is therefore temporary; whereas joy is something the Lord Jesus Himself pours into our hearts and is therefore constant. It's the knowledge that He will be there to bring us through every little corner of our lives to eventually be with Him in the end. And what a priceless treasure it is to have this knowledge.. one i hope to share with everyone i know.

posted by "/umin @ 8:14 AM