Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Satisfaction

A few months ago "Roberto" arrived at my office for a pastoral conference.   He had been attending our church for a few weeks.  He told me that he that a few weeks prior to attending "El Oasis" he had had a dream where God had guided him to our church.  He had never been to our church and was surprised that the church he had seen in his dream was "just like" our church. (We know of no other "basement" church in Lima.  We know of no other church named "El Oasis de Esperanza" in Lima).  Over the next couple of hours he told me of a 15 year journey investigating numerous philosophies, religions and cults, as he sought to find TRUTH. 
He seemed like he had tried everything.  At end of each detour the result was the same, confusion and dissatisfaction.  At the end of our meeting he excitedly told me how he had finally given his life to Christ and accepted Jesus' work on the cross as the only path to salvation.  For the first time in his life he felt satisfied.  His search was over.  But a new journey had just began...

Each week I meet with "Roberto" as we work together to purge his life of the LIES that he had encountered in his pligrimage to TRUTH.  Once again his experiences have  taught me that Satan has been working "overtime" to seduce and enslave mankind.  Once again, I have learned that the power of his LIES is real.  Now we are working to flood his life with God's Word and with TRUTH in hopes that this will begin to dilute the falsehoods he has accepted over time.  This is a long process, but his smiles of joy motivate me to continue on.  The one thing he often tells me is how satisfying it is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and to finally know the TRUTH. Once again, I have learned that the power of God's love and God's truth is much greater and more powerful than anything the enemy has to offer us.