By Sister Tarpley
NDG Religion Editor
“The Lord told him, ‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying’”
(Acts 9:11).
The story is told of a man that stepped into the cab to take his first drive to downtown Jerusalem. It was an exciting time for him! His cab driver’s name was Moses. “When in doubt, just call out ‘Moses!’ and there is a good chance someone will answer,” he said.
Moses offered to drive me throughout the city and surrounding area. The man was a rookie, not sure what he was getting himself into. It was a dangerous time to roam through Jerusalem. His cab driver began to talk openly with the man when the cab driver discovered that the man was a believer in Jesus.
The cab driver was a born again Jew. His father was a rabbi and he had been excommunicated from his family for his belief that Jesus is the Savior.
Because of his faith, his marriage was in trouble and holding on only by a thread. His salvation had cost him deeply. He used to work on the family farm for his rabbi father-in-law but now drove a cab.
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The Jewish – Palestinian conflict had cut tourism by 90% – so as a cab driver, Moses had plenty of time on his hands.
He began to share his story with the man. “He’d been questioning his purpose in life. He began thinking there had to be more. His Jewish laws didn’t satisfy something in him. He became very depressed.
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Then one day a remarkable thing happened. He was in his bedroom. Suddenly, he heard a voice in his room that said, “Go to Christ Church!” He thought that he was imagining things. Then, he heard it a second time!
He looked in the yellow pages and discovered that Christ Church was located downtown in the ‘Old City.’ The people there explained to him what happened. Jesus was calling him to know Him. He has known Him ever since.
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Now he has meaning and purpose. Things are still very difficult but he now has a peace inside that he didn’t have before.”
Friend, Jesus is still reaching out to those who want to know Him. Do you have a faith that is willing to be rejected and ostracized by those close to you? Jesus said we are to follow Him even at the expense of the loss of our father and mother.
Pray to God, tell Him that He is great and greatly to be praised. That you wish that everyone would praise Him and give Him first priority in their lives. This world would be a better place…and individual lives would be so much better, so much happier.
Tell Him that you are so burdened for those who are unemployed, underemployed, or not able to work. They try to exist on what little they have. Some of them receive help from charities and government programs; others scrape here and there to earn a little; others have nothing. Pray that God will lift up these people.
Pray that God will encourage them and guide them and show them the way. Pray that God will meet their EVERY need–whether for deliverance from sin, sickness, or some shackle that holds them down–for a job or career and financial needs–for shelter–for medical care–for counseling–for friendship–whatever they truly need.
For some people their greatest need is to find a purpose and a feeling of worth. Pray that they will lift up their eyes to God, from whence comes their help and their salvation. Ask God to have mercy and help them.
Ask God to show you what you can do to help them and enable you to do so. Ask God to intervene. And may God receive all the glory and praise for great things that He will do and are doing; in the precious name of Jesus.
