Jesus, my Lord and Master!     "Whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ"(Phil 3:7).       I'd thought that I was lord of all I surveyed. But when God entered my heart, I realised that Jesus was the Lord of my family. Here is my experience.
 
My greatest desire was to make money, earn a high position and popularity in society. Never did I give a thought to the necessity of doing good to others or believing in God. A government contractor, I tried my level best to amass wealth by lending money at high interest and running real estate business. My closest friends were highly-placed police officials and wealthy men. To get what I wanted I had only to entertain them with liquor. There was always a good supply of liquor in my car and in my house which was like an air-conditioned bar. I put on an appearance of respectability and thus became chairman and president of various organizations, though I was a heavy drunkard. My doctor-wife was not allowed to practise her profession as I wanted to be self-reliant in the matter of getting rich.
 
All my success was due to my own abilities-that was what I thought about myself. Pride began over-powering me. It was at this time that disaster struck. One failure followed another. I lost lakhs in the money- lending and real estate business. Debts increased. Several diseases began to harass me. Severe pain in the back and in the legs, noise, dust and odour allergy, suffocation, palpitation and what not! I was restless like a fish out of water. Only the air-conditioned car and house gave me some relief. No branch of medicine could be of any benefit.
 
Twenty years of drinking and smoking became worse when illness afflicted me. Frequent numbness of limbs and blackouts made me cut short my business trips.
 
On the insistence of friends and relatives I decided to go to Divine though I had not the slightest inclination to do so. A week without liquor! It was unthinkable. So I indulged in a good bout of drinking with a friend before I set out. Ten thousand people being fed in so short a time at Divine! The sight touched me deeply. There must be something "divine" here, I thought. Without God's mercy it cannot happen, I told myself. When the praises of God rose to the heavens from the hearts and tongues of thousands, the Holy Spirit filled my heart too! A true sense of sin, repentance, forgiveness of those who had hurt me-the Lord granted me these graces and many more. I was healed of every illness. I discarded all my medicines. The desire for drinking and smoking, even the very memory of these lusts, left me for good.
 
Praise the Lord! I was convinced that "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" ( Acts 4:12). I understood that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved"(Acts 2:21). If the Lord had not afflicted me with diseases and disasters I would have continued to adore material goods and neglected to worship my Creator. But today I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. My home is a temple of God. Peace reigns in my mind. The inordinate desire for food, clothing and gold have given place to the longing to pray, fast and share my wealth with others. I gave up belief in superstitions like astrology, making rash judgements of others and self -justification. I can now accept my life-partner and share my problems with her. My children, I realise, are gifts from God and have to be brought up according to his will. God gives me opportunities to share my testimony at various prayer centres and conventions and every week at DRC. A million thanks to you Jesus! Praises to your holy name!
 

P.P Joy,

Badagara.

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