Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, REVELATION 3:20
My Life Seemed Perfect
I knew that God was real, Jesus was the only Saviour, and that the Holy Spirit could transform and heal. I had heard it many times. But did I care? No, living as a young teen in the twenty first century I didn’t bother about God. All I ever wanted to do was to have fun and live my life the way I wanted to. I had many friends and they meant the world to me, they were the first ones I ran to if I needed help. My life seemed perfect; I had everything – a loving family, many friends, all the love and care that I needed and I happily spent many hours watching movies and TV programmes.
However, I now know that I was missing the best friend that I could ever have, one incredible and loving guy. His name is the name that is above all names – Jesus Christ. I didn’t have him in my life and therefore when I look back at those times I realise that my life was meaningless, and to be honest, extremely boring.
Suddenly Everything Seemed to go Wrong
For years my life focussed around the things of the world, which I now know, was dangerous, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15). Suddenly, when I least expected it, there came a period in my life when everything started to go wrong. For various reasons, I had to leave my friends and everything which I thought gave me happiness. I was left with a few friends who I really didn’t really bother with and my family. Sirach 20:11 says “There are losses for the sake of glory.” Little did I know at the time, that the terrible things that were happening to me were for the sake of God’s glory. With each passing day, I was feeling lonelier and more isolated. Inside I felt heartbroken and very confused at what was happening to me. To hide my inner pain, I tried to appear tough and stubborn on the outside although on the inside, I was screaming for help. I became so hard hearted that I couldn’t cry whatever happened.
I needed the Joy of the Holy Spirit
It was around this time that I went to a Catholic Convention. In one of the sessions a girl, who I knew quite well, got up to give her testimony. During her story, she spoke some words that I will never forget, they hit me like a bolt of lightning,
“When the Holy Spirit came upon me I got a feeling of joy that I had never experienced before.” The moment she said these words my eyes flooded with tears, but I felt really embarrassed and tried to hide them. From that day I felt a real need, deep in my heart for the joy and love of the Holy Spirit.
The Experience was Indescribable
By the grace of God, my father took me to a retreat led by the Kids For Kingdom team and that’s where I came to know how awesome Jesus really is. I went there feeling broken inside but I was open and thirsting for the love of God. One day, during the retreat, suddenly, everyone started praising God and crying out to the Mighty Saviour. A deep sense of repentance came over me and without even realising it, I started praising and crying out to the Lord with them. The experience was indescribable, words could not explain what it meant to me. When I finally opened my eyes, I realised that we had been praising and worshipping God for three hours and I was still crying out with joy. Psalm 147:3 says, “God heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.” We were all filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit so much that we couldn’t stand still. So we continued dancing, It felt like I was dancing with the angels in heaven.
Jesus Became my New Best Friend
“If anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being. The old has gone and the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Ever since Jesus became my new best friend, my whole life has changed and it’s great because I know that the love and joy that I am receiving from the Holy Spirit is something that will never run out or stop. Praying, reading the Bible, family prayer, and going to Holy Mass are now the first priorities in my life, because they bring me closer to Jesus.
If you want to experience this heavenly joy or if you want the love of Christ to fill you to overflowing then all you have to do is open your heart to Jesus and surrender your life to him. Then, he himself will come into your heart and fill you with his love and joy. “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” (Revelation 3:20).
Written by Nimmy Biju