The life that we live really shows whether we are a true Christian . Though many people are professing to be Christians and believers ,their life and behaviours are not validating the same. The great dramatist ,Shakespeare once said ,”The world is a stage and all the people are actors”. Yes ,the world trains us to act according to situations. Those people coming under the influence of the world are knowingly or unknowingly acting in their different areas of life. Christendom is also not an exception. But true Christians and believers are not supposed to act. Jesus Christ , the author and finisher of our Christian faith is teaching us not to act but to reflect Him. True spirituality is arising out of intimacy with God in purifying our hearts to be true to Him!
It is very difficult to find out real Christians .People have different excuses to be so. It seems majority of the so called believers are also under the grip of the world to be a slave to its influences thus dominated by the world. They are using God for worldly power, status and popularity. What we are and what we have belong to the Lord. He is the originator and fashioner of all things . A true Christian will feel and experience that he or she is nothing in himself or herself but something in his or her Maker and He is everything for him or her.
We came to great woman of faith , Lois, grandmother of Timothy in 2 Tim.1:5 . God by His grace enabled me to find such a precious godly woman of faith in January 2006 Decision magazine issue through her article" Am I a Christian?" This introspective question struck my heart longing to be in contact with that person. God opened the way through Decision magazine people to be in contact and fellowship. She is none other than Mrs.Lois Akehurst from other side of the earth for an Indian like me. The love of Jesus in her boosted up my growth in Christ to serve Him as a family. What a wonder working God in her extending in all possible support in lifting up our spirit ,soul and body for the glory of God! She walks by faith and revealing that faith through her deeds . She exemplifies a life of grace and faith, a life of love in action, a life of humility and simplicity. No human formal words can articulate the charisma of her godly personality. I rejoice in the Lord and thank Him for what He means to her and us!
May I bring some of her excerpts of her article"Am I a Christian?" She said,It was 1957 and I was on my way to Madison Square Garden in New York city. I couldn’t wait to get there. I was 18 years old, and this was quite an opportunity . Was I a Christian? I thought I was. But for the first time I began thinking, ”What do I believe? Am I a Christian?,Is there more to being a Christian?”I was very uncomfortable about the whole being.I know in my heart that I had never made that personal decision, even though I’d gone to church,sung in choir and done good things.I knew I needed to make a decision,and I knew what my decision was going to be.I wanted to know Jesus Christ.Accepting Christ made a difference.There was a new dimension in my life;it was the Holy Spirit in me.I remember driving in my car and praying,”I love you,Jesus.”The Bible became an open book to me.Before,I knew that the Bible was what God said,but after I accepted Christ,I thought,”Wow!This is for me.”
In September 2006 Decision magazine,she wrote about her beloved husband Bill’s death and the sustaining power of God ‘s love.She said,”I cannot exalt the Lord enough for how He prepared me".On Monday before Bill was transitioned into the heavenlies,I awoke with the words inside of me.`Walk by faith.Walk by faith ` .And she said,`Lord?What do you mean by that?’ She wrote in her journal:Birth in me that walk of faith You are talking about.”
On 1st March 2006,Wednesday,her husband had gone to be with the Lord.She continued in that article`A Foundation Well Laid’ saying”And now I’m learning that the Lord of hosts is my husband,and He’s there to protect me,to guide me,to show me the way.”
Her faith journey in her Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ started in 1957 when she met Christ at Billy Graham Crusade in Madison Square Gardens.Now,at the age of 72 she radiates the love and light of the Lord in the lives of the people she comes in contact with.The aim of her life is to help others to find Jesus as the way,the truth and the life through her international ministry.Her life preaches:Know Christ personally to make Him known socially.Like her, let us aspire to inspire before we expire in loving all,serving all,respecting all.Let us allow the grace of God in keeping us transforming to reveal Jesus Christ of the Bible through our life and life style in our spirit,awareness,attitudes,thoughts,emotions,words,behaviours,actions and reactions .
In conclusion,let me put her blessed words of prayer and praise to the Lord!
After completion of the Book of Psalms, Pastor Bill asked our Bible Study at Harford Senior to write their own personal psalm. I would like to share my Psalm 151
I will boast of your love, O God! Your peace is not of this world. I will praise you in the morning, noon, and night, O Lord of my life. When you knit me in my mother's womb you gave me blue eyes to see, ears to hear, a voice to tell the wondrous love you have for me, and feet to trod this land in Your Name. Your plan for my life is to bless others by your Holy Spirit. You have been with me all the days of my life, even when I didn't know it. Now in my senior years, I approach you still as your child in the wonder and beauty of your Majesty. My salvation is what you died for. Thank you! By your Grace, I am saved to honor you. Perfect are your ways, Keeper of my soul. Your Word is the light on my path. My tongue I have surrendered to your will to speak truth in love to the lost and wanderer. I am renewed in your Presence, healed by your stripes, energized by your Spirit. Hope is in me! Your Word sustains me on my journey. You live and I too shall live protected by your strong arm. And when you call me, I will come home to live and reign with you in eternity. Such love is marvelous, Lover of my soul! Amen! Alleluia!
It is our hearty wish and prayer that may her life ever bloom by the power of the Holy Spirit to shine for Saviour and Lord Jesus! May the Lord Almighty add much abundant life to her years for His glory!! Let her spiritual bend of mind face and overcome all the pros and cons of this earthly life, thus her unique life becoming a sweet aroma for the glory of Lord ever and ever!!!
WRITTEN BY:
DR GEE VERGHESE GEORGE,D.Litt.
