Memoirs of a Lost Sheep

The following entry you are about to read is a reality-based fictional story about God's goodness.

The moment Adam and Eve plucked the fruit from the tree of life and ate it,pain started to integrate itself into the system of man. Pain was, and still is becoming rampant all over the planet. As one of the Laws of Thermodynamics states, "nature favors chaos because chaos is spontaneous"and pain,whether we like it or not, will always be a part of chaos. One might put pain as a physical experience,others emotional and some, spiritual. Despite their differences, these three are all the same; they are all manifestations of pain. Most of us do not want to experience such misery and suffering but during our lifetime, we still experience pain,no matter how hard we try to hide from it. Pain is something that we humans cannot simply eradicate and escape from.

I have existed in this chaotic world for 17 years and during these years, I have experienced numerous pains that were not really fit to be taken in by a child. These pains sculpted me into becoming who I am today: a rebelious, free-spirited teenager seemingly stuck in the middle of it all.

I can say that my parents and I are not really in good terms with each other because they cannot cope up with me - my rebelious nature. I always thought that my family wanted to inflict pain towards me for that. But in a blink of an eye, all my thoughts, have been put t o reverse and suddenly, I realized that I was the root cause of my own pain.Seeing my family suffer because of me,felt like my guts were beeing turned inside out. This was the pain that I failed to realize and before it'd be too late, I decided to run away,hoping that my family's hurt and pain would be eased by it.

As I walked to the world, the valley of death, I couldn't help but get this feeling of emptiness and loneliness inside me. Despite all that, I still continued to walk. I let tested fate and have it take its toll on me.I wanted to have a taste of success,I wanted to see and feel the light. However, all I saw are shadows. Shadows that tormented me and reminded me of my past. And then there was.. darkness.

I hate to admit it,but I was lost. No one guided me. No one looked for me,or expected for my return. All I had was myself. Me, myself and I- who stumbled, fell and crumbled. Before I knew it, I found myself slowly falling... THUMP! I fell.

In the midst of all my misery, I still searched for someone to comfort me, to share my pain and ease my burden. But there was none. No one to talk to, no one to laugh with or cry with. No one. I was alone.

As I felt the cold ground brush against my face, I noticed that I couldn't get up. I just couldn't. Suddenly, someone dared to step out of the shadows. I couldn't see his face in the darkness,but I felt the warmth nof his soul that approached me. He helped me get back up,and led me away from the darkness,from the cold. And then,there was light.

A blinding light I have never seen before. In this light, I felt comfort instead of fear and warmth instead of cold. I turned around to see who helped me. I saw a blind man, dressed in tattered clothes. But he was no ordinary man. I looke around to see where I was and right in front of me was a cross. Inscribed on the cross was,“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost(Luke 19:10)". I fell to my knees and cried. God has given my life a new direction. A new path I knew that I should take. The blind man,as it turned out, saw better than I did. I got so blinded by the darkness that I failed to see the light that casted the shadows. Sometimes, even the blind can see better than we do.

I stood up, reached for my pocket, and saw that I only had a few pennies left. It was all the money that I got. On the contrary, I decided to give it away to the blind man, whom I felt needed it more than I did. He didn't want my money,as he told me that he only intended to help me and lead me back to the light. Since I was already in the light, he was already satisfied since he made me see the glory of God and I who was once lost, was already found.

I thanked God for giving me the blind man to help me realize that whenever I get lost, whenever there's no one I could turn to, God will be and will always be there,waiting for me with open arms.

I also thanked the blind man for helping me and bid him goodbye. I went back to our house,expecting to get scolded but somehow wanting to apologize to my family for all the hurt I caused them because of my selfishness. When I reached for the door knob,the door opened by itself and right in front of me, I saw my parents and my siblings,just like God, welcome me with open arms.

My name is Melissa, and this is my story. To all those who are lostout there, return to the light before the darkness(the world) consumes you.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

The Sheep's Manual

Ola! My name is Kristian,and just so you know, I have created this blog because it's what God wanted me to as He told me in Colossians 1:25 "I have been given the responsibility to serve God's church." I'm a full on being a Christian not only by name and by religion,but by heart. I am a believer.

In any case in this blog, I don't really want to talk about religion because I believe that no religion can save you. This is proven by the numerous claims of many religions around the globe that not joining their religion would signify that you wouldn't have a chance to go to heaven and stuff. This is contrary to what God wants us to know because it is only through our faith in Him that we are saved. Right? We can only achieve eternal life if we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and savior. Take note of the word personal.

It doesn't mean that if your family and friends are believers,or belong to a particular church or group, you would also be saved(as this would then indicate that you are only religion-based). You have to individually receive Jesus as your personal Lord and savior, believe that He died on the cross for us as a payment for our sins as all of us humans are sinners(we were born bearing the original sin of disobedience,not to mention the other sins that we commit). If you think that you're a good person,have you ever considered thinking if you are righteous in the eyes of God?

As Romans 3:23 said, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Because of our sins, we are separated from God. To fill the gap of this separation, we try to reach Him through personal efforts such as philosophy, good works and religion. But we are unable to do so because God is holy and His standards are very high, beyond what we humans can ever reach. A

ccording to Romans 6:23,"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God in eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Since we are sinners, we therefore,die(physically and spiritually) as a payment for our sins. However,since God's love for us is so great, He is still offering us the free gift of salvation,eternal life through Jesus Christ His son.

That is why when we receive Jesus Christ and we believe in Him,we are saved from death(hell) and we achieve eternal life(being with God). Jesus Christ,is the only way, as he is the only one who can fill the gap of separation of man from God because of sin as it is written in John 14:6, "(Jesus speaking) I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me." and John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son to redeem us, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life."(proof of eternal life is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,which was witnessed by more than a hundred people)

How do we receive Jesus Christ?

We receive Christ through faith.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and not of yourselves,it is the gift of God;not as a result of works,that no one should boast"(Ephesians 2:8,9)

We receive Christ if we let him enter our lives as Jesus Christ said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock;if anyone hears my voice and opens the door,I will come into Him."(Revelation 3:20)

It is not enough that we agree intellectually to the fact that Jesus Christ is the son of God and he died on the cross for our sins nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Christ by faith, as an act of will. Receiving Jesus Christ would mean that you would return to God and turn away from self;convert our lives from being self-centered to God-centered. We have to trust Christ to come into our lives, to forgive our sins and to make us the kind of people He wants us to be.

If you haven't received Christ yet, you can receive Him right now through prayer. The following is a suggested prayer of faith:

"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."

If this prayer expresses your heart's desire, pray this prayer right now and He will come into your life, as He promised.

Note: Do not depend on feelings. The promise of God's word, the bible is our authority,not our feelings. If you have questions,turn to God,read the bible and surely,you will find an answer(or sometimes, God uses other people as His instrument to answer your questions and requests.)

*this format is based on the Four Spiritual Laws handbook by the Philippine Campus Crusade for Christ.