Then the Jews answered and said to him, What sign do you show us, seeing you do these things? Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. Then the Jews said, Forty-six years was this temple in building, and will you raise it up in three days? But he (Jesus) spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this to them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. - John 2:18-22 He was born in the Philippines, and as a Muslim he recited the shahada or Muslim declaration of faith on a daily basis. He prayed five times a day, fasted during the month of Ramadan and gave zakat (alms). He was also known in his community as a drug pusher/addict, a drunkard, a womanizer and a trouble-maker whose wife and children abandoned him because of his vices and unruly behavior. He had been jailed four times for various violations of the law. In this middle of this mess, his Christian brother-in-law encouraged him to read the Injel (New Testament Bible), ask Gods forgiveness for his sin, and accept Isa Almasih (Jesus Christ) as his personal Savior. His response was to challenge Isa Almasih with these words before waiting to see what would happen: If you can rescue me from my troubled life in three days time, then I will believe and accept you as my Lord and Personal Savior. While waiting for a response or a non-response, he sat down to read the Injel. He was deeply touched by the New Testaments description of the healing of a demon-possessed man from Mark 5:1-20. After three days with the Injel, he felt a deep-seated peace, joy and satisfaction in his being. When his former friends offered him shabu, liquor and cigarettes, he was surprised to note that his addictive cravings were gone. He became very active in sharing the Gospel of Isa Almasih with his fellow Muslims. Then he started receiving threatening letters - If you will not stop teaching about the Injel and Isa Almasih, something bad will happen to you. His response was to call a meeting with the Muslims of his area inside a Mosque on a Friday afternoon. He asked them, What do you want me to do? Go back to my former ruinous life or continue on in my new life sharing the good news of Isa Almasih in the Injel? The Muslims in the area agreed - It was better for him to live his new life sharing the gospel of Isa Almasih than to revert to his former ways. Over the next fifteen years, more than six hundred Muslims had accepted Isa Almasih as their personal savior through the work of their friend, Abas Kalim. What God did for Abas Kalim, he can do for anyone no matter how ruined their life may be. When we are desperate and sincere with God, He can move in our lives and turn things around. The power of Jesus Christ can do amazing things in the life of a person seen by others to be a lost cause. The words of 2 Corinthians 5:17 tell us, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And when that miracle happens in your life, who knows how many more lives may be transformed through what God does in you.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 12:11:48 +0000
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