The theme for today’s daily devotional by Pastor Joseph Prince is ”Transformed by God’s Favor”.
SCRIPTURE: The goodness of God leads you to repentance. -Romans 2:4
Let me share with you a testimony of a youth whose life has been wonderfully transformed by the unmerited favor of God. This young man smoked his first cigarette when he was only 9 years old. By the time he was 14, he was already a seasoned gangster, peddling as well as taking drugs, and selling pirated movies.
With the money earned, he would treat his gang members to fancy clothes or meals, and even cover transport expenses for them to congregate for gang fights! At 15, the law caught up with him and he was sent to a boys’ reformatory home where he realized that his life needed to be turned around. And that was when God came into the picture. He said:
The home was where I first encountered God, even though I did not know it was Him then. One of my counselors, a Christian lady, prayed for me and for the first time in my life, I felt that there was “someone” watching over me. I did not think much about it then, but that’s when my heart and my perspective on life began to change.
I started attending New Creation Church (NCC) in September 2005. A friend had invited me to NCC earlier, but I declined. However, one day I happened to oversleep on the train and missed my stop. The platform I got off on was completely deserted, but I noticed a plastic bag left on one of the benches. I looked at its contents to see if I could tell who it belonged to and realized that inside it were actually sermon CDs from NCC!
So even when I didn’t want to attend NCC, God sent the church to me! It was no coincidence. It was God-directed! When I played the CDs at home out of curiosity, the presence of God was so real. I experienced such intimacy with God. As I listened to Pastor Prince’s teachings, I knew that this was the God I had always believed in, a God who loves me regardless of who I am or what I do!
Pastor Prince’s teachings have set me free and given me a supernatural strength and passion to do His work. I don’t feel any more bondage when it comes to communicating with God, knowing that He can lead me in every situation.
The most significant change I have experienced has been my inward transformation. I used to have a very bad temper, which got me into a lot of fights because I was easily provoked. Being conscious of His love for me has delivered me from that. I also went from failing in high school to doing well enough in the polytechnic to qualify for a place in a university.
This young man is now a confident, cheerful person with a bright future. He gives talks at schools and at the boys’ reformatory home that he was in to share his journey with the youths and to encourage them. His life has been so incredibly transformed that even a government agency has enlisted him to speak to troubled youths.
He says that ever since Jesus entered His life, he has seen the Lord’s grace and favor superabound in his life. Many doors have opened for him and his life has really been enriched, with breakthroughs in areas such as his work, studies, family, and relationships. Let’s give Jesus all the glory!
That’s what our young people need—a revelation of Jesus’ perfect love for them! There is a lost and dying world out there.
My friend, the Ten Commandments cannot be the only thing that youths know about Christianity anymore! How can they help but think that Christianity is nothing but rules, laws, and regulations on what they should or should not be doing? How can they help but imagine God to be someone who is angry with them and looking for opportunities to punish them?
If the young people in your community are to come to Jesus, they will need to know that Christianity is an intimate relationship with a loving God. Once they know this, they will be banging down the doors of churches every Sunday to get in to hear Jesus and His grace preached!
Beloved, I pray that like the young man whose testimony you just read, you will continue to allow Jesus to show you more and more of His perfect love for you every day.
Thank you for reading today’s devotional by Joseph Prince shared by Joseph Prince Ministries. In the spirit of Evangelism, Kindly share with others.