My Journey to Jesus

A Preface:

Hi, thanks for stopping by and viewing my blog. I understand that no one likes beliefs shoved down their throat, and that faith and spirituality are a lifelong journey. On my journey I met some people who were "convincing witnesses", and they were extremely helpful. Apart from "proofs" and "arguments" I needed stories of real people who truly believed and lived out their faith. They were not perfect, but they were real. They did not have any ulterior motive or "profit incentive" behind what they were sharing about God. I hope to be this for some of you.

~ Ash

My Story

I was born in India, where growing up I had friends from many economic and religious backgrounds. Being exposed to every religion only made me cynical about spirituality. I soon came to the conclusion that religions were just man-made systems meant to teach and enforce morality to bring order society.

Powerless Religion

I knew all religions have sincere believers and hypocritical pretenders — but no religion, at least by my estimate, had any power for life. It's not like people actually interacted with God! I soon became an atheist at heart, neither believing in the existence of God nor in any real morality.

My final year of studying Engineering was the most spiritually significant. I was at a party, high on "recreational drugs" when I had my first supernatural experience. It began when I sensed an evil presence and felt like I was being overpowered and seduced into yielding control of my mind to it. I mean, "it" was talking to me! It was a moment of sheer terror, when I realized that I had no power to resist it's seductive whispers.

Good and Evil

One moment I was aware of the existence of evil, then the next thing I knew was the word "God" exploding in my mind. Like a desperate man clutching at a straw I cried out, in my heart, to God. Within minutes the evil presence left and I felt a kind of peace, and I was "down" from my trip. I freaked out — I mean, I had my share of "bad trips" but praying to God? That was crazy-talk!

If this was a single experience I could have simply ignored it, but it happened the next half-dozen times I was tempted to do drugs. I would give into the temptation, then sense this evil presence, cry out to God, and then when the "evil presence" left, I would feel a kind of peace. There were times I heard a voice clearly speak to me in my mind, and I simply could not deny it. Either I was losing my mind, or I had to be open to God being alive and present, pursuing me!

Surprised by Christ

Now, I was open to the possibility that God existed, so I began a 18-month search for God. I had read books on Hinduism and I read a number of other books (New Age etc), but could not find what I was looking for. Finally, I had to read the Bible, to be fair in giving it a chance, though I was predisposed against it and against Jesus.

My first surprise in reading the life of Christ was that Jesus was a rebel. He boldly attacked the religious, judgmental mindset that people had. The second surprise was that Jesus was powerful. He healed people and set them free. Third, Jesus loved sinful people and he hung out with the rotten apples, not with the “good folk”. These discoveries just rocked my world! I loved this guy – though I still was not sure if he was truly God.

After some months of study I began to believe in the Bible’s teaching that Jesus was the Son of God, and that he, through the Cross, made a way for all people to come into an intimate relationship with God, as Father. I still had one last “test” – I needed to know that this was for me, my life, right now.

Can I test God?

I prayed and asked God for a specific request, for a job – something I desperately needed at that time. I said “God, if you do this, I will know you are real, and I will follow you for the rest of my life”. Interestingly, over the next few months things did not go well. I was left with a choice -- would I believe in Christ because of the Bible or because I “proved” him? I capitulated and said “Jesus, I believe in you simply because in you, I see the God’s incredible love”. That very week, God opened an unexpected door for me and I received a job offer. God was faithful, and he was real!

Some years later God called me into Campus ministry at the University of Minnesota with a group of radical Jesus-followers.

The Real, Personal God

God does not hide from anyone, but he does not always respond to casual enquirers. If you truly seek him, you can find him (or rather, he will find you!). You can hear his voice and feel his presence – he is a real Person. His power is a reality that can overturn your life completely. Interested in knowing more? Send me an email or leave a comment and I will be happy to talk with you about Jesus.