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My radical encounter with Jesus

My radical encounter with Jesus

One day in April 2017 after a particularly sinful episode, I received Jesus. I did not expect to “get saved” that day. Here on earth, it was a day like any other day, but in heaven - the angels celebrated when the plan of God for my life - put in place before the beginning of time finally unfolded...

I did not expect anything to change that day, for it was just like another of the days of the past 3 months of that eventful year 2017. I had been reading the bible almost daily, but it seemed its messages were not fully bearing fruit because even when I read them, I never changed much, for example, I still had a secret sin I kept on committing, even after reading about it in the Bible.

On that fateful day, God finally intervened. Someone who knew of my sin very intimately told me: “You are a slave.”

Most people would get angry if told they are a slave, for most of us think we are free, even if we are not. Many of us in reality are slaves to sin, to debt, to patterns of thinking etc.

Anyway, this person did not know that the Lord was using them to speak these words to me so as to provoke me to repent because after hearing the words, for the first time in my life, I realized that I was indeed not as free as I thought. I REALLY was slave to sin, because I had tried to stop this particular sin and failed countless times.

The problem of pride

Hard as it is to hear - no human can ever accept Jesus unless they also accept that they are a slave of sin and have no power on their own to stop sinning.

Meet anyone who refuses to become saved and you will find a proud person - they think they can for example stop drinking alcohol whenever they want, stop beating their partner, stop watching pornography or stop committing any sin at any time they want.

Of course, they try and fail, again and again. Pride prevents many from accepting that they cannot change on their own and that they need help. A few try means like counselling but ultimately these end in futility – unless God helps us.

Instant healing

Back to my story, on my day of salvation, I finally came to the realisation that I needed Jesus and so beside my bed, all alone in my apartment, I knelt in prayer for the first time in many years. I basically told Jesus that “You have won” and then with tears, I humbly asked Jesus to come and be my master and to turn my life around and he did! When I got off my knees that day, I didn’t know it until later, that I got instant healing – first from the sin that had held me captive from years, but also from other sins – for example I stopped using dirty language instantly and I also stopped being an alcoholic.

Not too long after I got saved, I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to fast for 3 days. No food, just water. It was tough but thank God I endured and that is how I started on the journey which eventually resulted in me being called into ministry when I heard the Lord say: “Whom shall I send and who will go for us? And I said, here am I; send me!” (Isaiah 6: 8).

If you are curious to hear the rest of my testimony, you can read it here or watch it here.

Otherwise, to understand how to receive Jesus, like I did, it helps to go back to the beginning… What was God’s plan? Why is our world like this?

To be continued…

Your brother in the Lord and a servant of Jesus.

D E Wasake