�You are no more slaves� Galatians 4.7 ======================================
�Mr. David (real name is withheld) is a white, non-practicing protestant by religious affiliation, a�business executive, married civily to a Catholic woman but had marital problems.�Mr. David being a self-confident man�said, �I never thought that I needed prayer � He didn�t depend on anyone except himself. He built a vast business empire. Somehow� he felt empty within. His mother was after him all these years asking him to return to God. At last he went to� a catholic church with his wife, and that was on an Easter Sunday.� The Easter celebrations, especially the adult baptism and anointing� was an� <! /SPAN>experience for him. �He noticed also the confessional� box in the church and he knew what that was about.�� coming home from the church �he asked his wife what she tells �priest at the confessional and she laughed. �His wife Evelyn (real name withheld) dried her eyes as she shared � When he asked me that unusual question I said within myself � halleluiah�.� She continued, � I knew he is a sinner. I thought of leaving him many times. My family forced me to leave him but I kept praying . Now God answered my prayers.� Yes the change in Mr. David was�slow but sure,�since he went to the Church with his wife on that Easter Sunday. �Ever since, he was interested to go to the Sunday Mass with his wife and children. � I felt a sense of belonging in that church and I wanted to go with the family�. He started to enjoy the Sunday celebrations. I met Mr. David in one of the parties. He seemed to be interested when I finished the invocation. He came and asked if I were comfortable�to sit with him for dinner. We became friends. David used to call me by phone.� He had�numerous�questions. We prayed and talked together. Every�time,�as he left, he used to ask�for prayer for him and�his business. �I am a sinner �, he used to say. Mr. David struggled to change his way of life. He kept reading St. Paul. One day he asked, � What does it mean � you are no longer a slave�? � Gal 4.7. The conversion of St. Paul touched him� deeply.� The word of God put fire in him . He was burning within himself because of sinfulness and alienation from God and more besides, his wife was praying for him.� Evelyn used to ask me to remember him in the Mass. If we pray for our families, those prayers will always be answered. David and his attitude change is a clear example of prayers in faith being answered. Jesus said�� "Ask you shall receive� and Evelyn kept praying for a miracle. She never stopped praying. Her faith was intense.�In her words,��I knew my God will redeem him in His own time� Evelyn kept fighting him thinking he might change his ways of life. One day she came to me and we prayed for discernment.� � Why don�t you lift him up to the Lord �, was a suggestion for her� and she did that. �Our Blessed Mother, the silent redeemer, touched her life.� Evelyn was convinced thatby fighting she was losing him and that� was intensifying the tension at home. Thank God she changed her attitudes and slowly Mr. David noticed the�difference �in her. God took over that family atmosphere.When she prayed for her husband, God changed her attitudes first. In the words of David, � My wife used to fight me but all of a sudden she became quiet. I was ashamed of my good wife. How could she pray for a sinner like me? I was unfaithful to her. I never thought being unfaithful is a sin.� �� The movies and the life style influenced me. I thought that it is ok to enter into relationships with other women�. Thus he blamed the media and the surroundings for his misdeeds. I think to a certain extent he was right. He was trapped in sin and he chased mirage looking for the life giving water. �One day�as David requested an explanation of Gal 4.7 �You are no longer a slave� I told him � you are free in Jesus� and he was impressed .� His face lit up. That marked the second stage of his conversion. The word of God accomplished what logic failed to establish. He lacked faith but God�helped his lack of trust in God.� David is a happy camper at the moment. He is not a slave to sin and punishment. He is free from many of his vices as he says and I believe him.� Mr. David has become a new creation. A new creation means, he has new attitudes,� habits,new existence.� He is a renewed human being.�When one person is a slave to sin, his/her attitudes,habits etc are different from that of a free person. He/she learns new ways of life being renewd and free in Jesus. �We know animals eat differently from human kind. Humans eat different kind of food,�think and act differently too. When we are liberated from the slavery to sin, we think and perform as children of God. God has ownership of our faculties. We become a new creation by professing faith in Jesus.� Satan has no more power and ownership of us.We are not hopeless any more.� Hopelessness� leads to disasters� and destruction. But Hopefulness in Jesus leads us to life eternal. �Anchoring our life in Jesus will change our life style, attitudes and family orientation. If you were once lost , rejoice now, because you are found in Jesus. � So you are no longer a slave, you are a son/daughter� Cor4.7, who could cry out � my Father�� Gal 4.6 . � Since you are sons and dughters, God will give you all that he has for his children� Cor4.7 and the�children will have the Holy Spirit and the Spirit produces in us �Joy, peace, patience, kindness, Goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control� Gal. 5.22 This is the greatest miracle that is taking shape in Mr. David. � The self control God gave me is great. I thank my God� Mr. David testified recently. May God continue to bless people like Mr. David.� I think Mr. David and his family is an inspiration in our Christian struggle for freedom and holiness.. God Bless you Fr Thomas Mathew/ May 23rd 2002/USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: Click Here **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
