My Testimony................John Somaiah.....

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord!

Greetings to you all in the most precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I have been led of our Lord, to write my testimony of my half a century of spiritual life, (1957 – 2007) where God led me by His mercy and grace.

Even though I was born to spiritual Christian parents, where my late father was one of the elders at the church at Jehovah Shammah, Chennai, India and myself attended Sunday school from my childhood, I did not have a practical experience of having accepted, Lord Jesus Christ as my personal saviour till my 8th year.

While I was 9 years old, on the Good Friday of 1957 which fell on April 19, as usual as a family we gathered for daily family prayer, and while we were singing a song in Telugu language, about the sufferings of Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, I broke in to spontaneous tears on the realization that God did not only suffer and die for the sins of the entire world, but more specifically for my own sins! After finishing singing, my late father read a portion from Scriptures, about Peter’s denial. God by His divine grace convicted me of the fact, that I was also denying Him like Peter, as long as I did not openly confess that Lord Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. After meditation of His holy word, I was given an opportunity to pray and when I began to pray upon my knees, God convicted me of all my sins that I have committed and gave me grace to confess them one by one, as if I could see all of my sins projected on a screen like a film, scene after scene. After prayer and after receiving the forgiveness and cleansing by the blood of Lord Jesus Christ, I received, wonderful peace and joy unspeakable, and I was given a promise from the Word of God that my name also is written in the book of life in heaven on April 19, 1957. Praise to His holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

As soon as I was thus born again, I came out of my home to out doors in to the open skies and in my ignorance, looked up for the second coming of Lord Jesus Christ and I thought, how wonderful if He did that, in order that I shall be caught up with Him in the mid-air, straight away! When that did not happen, I even looked around, whether there would be some good friend of mine, who would even kill me in order that I may go up to the presence of my God, straight away!! Both these things did not happen, since I learnt later on that, God gives us the experience of being born again not to take us immediately in to His presence, but to live in this world as His witness till the time God comes back for Second time! Therefore, I thank my God for His purposes in my life in order to bring Glory to His matchless name!

I would like to brief on my 50 years of my spiritual experience with the Lord and in His service. This is only for encouragement for a few that God can use them much more better than myself. Please do not misunderstand that I am writing these to boast about myself, since I could do only what I am supposed to do and sometimes not even did what I am supposed to do! At the outset, I thank the Lord for the favor I have received from Him and my co-believers and God's servants who helped me all through my 50 years of spiritual life, in guiding me, instructing me, chastening me and training me to be a chosen vessel unto His honor....................

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