One Saturday night, the pastor was working late and decided to call his sister with whom he lived, so that she would not worry. Since no one answered, he kept insisting until finally she did pick up the phone. When he asked her why she had not answered earlier, she said that it had not rung at their house.
The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office on the same phone that he had used the previous Saturday. The man on the other end wanted to know why he had called his home. The pastor could not figure out what the man was talking about, until he realized what had happened. So he apologized explaining that he must have been mixing up the phone numbers. The caller answered. “Well, the truth is, Father, I was planning to end up my life, but before I did, I prayed, ‘God, if you are there, and you don’t want me to do this, give me a sign now’. At that point my phone started to ring and kept ringing and ringing. When I looked at the caller ID, it said, ‘ALMIGHTY GOD’ (that was the church’s ID!). I was afraid to answer!”
I do not imagine this story ever happened, but it is still a good one! It surely brought a big smile on my face. And who knows, it may have taken place somewhere, some day. God has his own ways to reach us and convince us of his love for us.
A legend. The king was passing with all his court when on the side of the road he noticed a bundle of rags that was … moving. He sent his servants to inquire about it and they told him that it was baby, obviously abandoned by poor parents because they could not take care of it. Besides the baby was very sick and would have died very soon.
The king took pity on the baby, had her brought to the palace and gave her the best possible care. Since she needed a transfusion of blood, the king’s son was more than willing to give his own blood for the baby. The treatment was successful. The baby was cured and he grew into a handsome young man.
Meanwhile, the king and the queen had fallen in love for this abandoned baby and decided to adopt him. He was now a royal prince. The father was glad that he had another son. The mother was happy that she could teach this newly adopted baby how to love. And even their natural son felt blessed that now he had a brother. And so it was.
A story with a happy ending. The amazing thing about this story is that it is not just a fairy tale. It is not fiction. It is our story!
One day, He passed by and saw us and that changed everything! We were just a bundle of rags and He raised us to princely status! We have royal blood running through our veins. What an incredible journey Jesus made. When He left his home in heaven, He saw us. When He became a man, He was seeking us. When he stretched out His hands upon the cross, He was reaching out to us…