Taste and see!! oh the love!

Unworthy, yet chosen!!

Praise the Lord, everyone.

I am S....., from a Gentile family (a Hindu Brahmin background).

In my family, my mother came to know God. But because of a reverential fear of my father, she was never deeply rooted in Him after marriage. During her marriage, she told my father, “Please don’t force me to do pooja or idol worship,” and he agreed.

After marriage, up until my intermediate studies, he allowed us to go to church. But later, he became afraid thinking I might not get marriage proposals because we are Hindus, and worrying about society and caste. These thoughts filled his mind.

During that time, I was only a namesake Christian. I believed because of my mother, but I didn’t truly know God personally.

Through a friend in Hostel!!

But when I came to Hyderabad in 2021 for my B.Tech, at the end of my first year, through a friend in my hostel, I truly came to know God. I encountered Him personally.

I experienced a love that I had never found anywhere not even from my own parents. I understand they were busy with responsibilities, but my heart was desperate for love. In that moment, God spoke to me. I praise Him because He never allowed me to go searching for love in the world.

He changed my lifestyle completely. I can say it was one of the biggest breakthroughs in my life.

Later, I took salvation in 2022 and was baptized in 2023..without my father knowing. Even now, he doesn’t know about it.

Whenever we talk on video calls, my father still asks me, “Where is your bindi?” If I go home, he does not allow me to go to church.

At the same time, there is no idol worship in my house because my mother stood firm during her marriage. And sometimes, my father prays to God especially when he is sick or in need. But once he receives what he wants, he goes back to normal life. Still, I believe there is a small seed of faith in his heart, and for that, I praise God.

I truly believe there is a purpose in why God lifted me up. One day, through me, God will bring change in my family. Until then, I need to stay strong in Him and continue praying for my spiritual growth that's what I want to share with you all.

We should not come to God because of someone.

Come to Him personally. Taste and see that the Lord is good, just as it is written in the Scriptures.

Verse on a school van

I want to share the story of how Jesus came into my life. For years, fear controlled my life. It was in every part of me, creeping into my thoughts. I feared even the smallest things that shouldn’t have caused anxiety. It felt like I was living in a constant state of unrest, held captive by fear of something or the other.

One day, while I was on my way home from school, I noticed a Bible verse displayed on the back of a van - Fear not for I am with you. It was as though those words were speaking directly to me, reaching into the depths of my fear and lifting me out. I felt peace in my heart, a peace that surpassed all understanding. I started seeing that van more often, and every time I did, the verse brought a sense of comfort. It was like God talking to me telling me that He was always by my side.

I began learning new verses that were shared during the prayer meetings held next to my tuition classes. 

Those gatherings became a source of strength for me, and the verses spoke deeply to my heart, helping me grow in faith and trust in God's promises.

Since then, my life has completely changed. I accepted the Lord. He had given me a purpose, hope, and an unshakeable joy that doesn't depend on circumstances. I no longer live in fear, because I know He is with me always. 

His love has filled the emptiness inside of me. His perfect love cast out my fear (1 John 4:18) To Him be all the glory for the freedom I now experience!. Hallelujah!

mirror

 Found this prayer very profound.

 Lord Jesus, how you have loved us! How you have given yourself for us, your bride, your church. Lord, I would ask today that you call my husband to the same kind of love and self-sacrifice. I didn't deserve it from you, and I don't deserve it from him, but I so need it. Father, equip him, strengthen him, encourage him to love his bride as you have loved yours.

I don't know how to put this. But as long as we wait for something/someone to change, it somehow doesn't happen. But when we start changing things in ourself (or ask God to help us transform) , things started to change in my family.

For example, I never knew I was capable of being so angry. I thought my husband was only short tempered. Fact was, so was I. And God changed me first.  And I had built up so much of bitterness over the days, that it was so hard to love my guy. So I started asking God to remove the bitterness and fill me with his love so that I can fall in love with my husband. Seriously. I did pray that. And I did. And believe it or not, my husband, the same guy who always kept repeating that our marriage was a mistake and that he was cheated, says in family prayer everyday, ' I thank you God for the wife and kids you gave me' . So the change has been mutual in our case.

 I also believe that if we are diligent in our BP, our quiet time and prayer life, he shows where we need to improve. Where we have to repent. I can honestly say that many years I have gone by thinking I was all good, so no need of repenting..🙈🤦🏻‍♀

 Maybe it's not relevant to the prayer,but thought of sharing. 🙄

I wanted to add to what's you had said...even I thought many times I was all fine and justifying my behaviour with God, until when I started to meditate on Galatians 5:22-33 while praying for our marriage; the Lord showed me areas in my life which I needed the change. At the same time I pray for the character of the husband that's mentioned in the passage. The depth in the passage is so great. It's so beautiful and on realising where we stand puts us to shame. I am still not the character though that God desires of me, but this really shows me whom I need to be.

 Praise God. His word is like a mirror. That reflects  and cuts through.😬

Transfer

I got married on 3rd May. I was in Chennai Infosys (M-City) before marriage and my husband is in Bangalore Infosys. So, I had to apply for a transfer to Bangalore Infosys which is a SEZ-to-STP transfer. Both my parents and I were so confident that we would get it without pain as we had a great support from my uncle who is a superior officer in customs.

I was on leave till 16th May and reported directly at Bangalore Infosys, after my marriage, on 17th May as directed by my uncle.

My uncle had already got the transfer approved from one of the HR's but I had no proof supporting this transfer approval. The HR who approved it was on an unplanned long leave. I was so worried thinking that my entire transfer process was in freeze and had no choice but to go back to Chennai.

By God's grace, I got a temporary transfer for 30 days to continue working from Bangalore with great help from my PM and DM. I really wonder how it happened. Because earlier, they were not positive about any kind of transfer. But that day, my DM himself requested for a temporary approval and got it for me. I praised God for getting me such a grace in the sight of these people.

Again we initiated a transfer request for permanent transfer. Though my uncle also helped me get through these procedures from outside, it took me nearly 28 days to get the approval from a list of approvers. At last, one of the approvers who was supposed to approve my request had a busy schedule and I could not reach him because he was out of city on a company assignment. It was mentioned in the transfer system that 15th July was the last date to complete the transfer after which the request will become invalid. I thought it will be active till mid-night 12:00 and I could get the approval on 15th July morning. But to my shock the entire request became invalid by 15th July morning itself. I tried to extend the date with help of my manager but in vein.

This time I was totally upset because the request which took nearly a month’s time to get close to closure became invalid just because one approver delayed it and that I should start from the scratch.

Now, I just had two days left for my temporary transfer to get over too. Usually for any problem, we as a family pray to God. I also asked Beulah Navaneethar akka to pray for me. She said "God has His own plans for you. So you don’t worry".

The next day morning my PM said he could initiate a request afresh and will get all the approvals for me. I wondered how long it is going to take this time. But, those approvers who took a complete month to approve my permanent transfer approved the new request within half-a-day. Yes. I got my permanent transfer approved! I don’t know how it proceeded so soon and so surprisingly. I praise God and thank Him from my heart.

 

Three big things that I learnt from this.

1) I had put my trust on people and was dependant on them for my needs. But I learnt that what is done through people is all because of God’s grace only. Without God’s help I couldn’t get their help.

2) Nothing is hard to do for God Almighty. What seem to be a hill for me; He just takes few seconds to bring them down.

3) I had an expectation that God will do my transfer request only through my uncle and He will get it approved seamlessly the first time itself. But He took me through many different routes which I wondered if they could lead me to the final destination. But, WOW! how wonderful His ways are.

 

I had a tough time with my transfer. But God didn't forsake me all the way through it. Now, I am happy that I went through this tough time to learn such good lessons and to bear a witness as well.

 

even 5 mins counts!

 I'll share some that worked for me...I had started in Jan3,it took almost 6months for me to complete.. I could have completed sooner if I had been consistent..like for some days I had read even for 1+hours but for some days I didn't read at all...if i had a daily consistent time, it'd have been more better..But after completing Bssr the Bible seems  more close and i feel like we can read it whenever we want. Honestly I didn't follow the kneeling position most of the times as I used to read not only at  home,but also in office-during breaks, while on travel etcc... My nature slowly started changing from -Quickly seeing phone even if i get a small 5min break  TO opening the Bible app thinking,"I can finish these many verses in this 5mins"....

I have read individual chapters of the Bibile before in my daily reading and i usually hadn't focussed on chapters like Leviticus ,Numbers, Jeremiah, Ezekiel etccc as i think they're difficult to read / consist mostly about animal sacrifices...

But now reading the entire Bible from Genesis - Revelation helped me to understand God's big picture from Creation to Resurrection which is far more amazing & Awesome, beyond my comprehension....

And really blessed to be a part of this group,for follow-ups and testimonies and all the encouragements❤️