7. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. A sinner at that, he had the Son of God as guest for dinner.
30 August 2020
Niels Larsen Stevns • Public domain
Luke 19
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
The couple of now Ret Lt Gen Hernanie Perez AFP and wife Rebecca Maria Casipit Perez, back about 16 years ago, were guests at our home.
I had no work at that time, my children were starting college. I was restless, and sleepless at times. I would wake up in wee hours, lost for words in prayers. I sank into depression manifested in severe stomach spasms, and was near being crazy.
The cars had been sold, the house had been mortgaged with the amortization overdue, and my wife had to borrow money to pay utility bills. You cannot forgive a man who brought this misfortune to his family.
Kuya Nanie and Ate Becks came over to our house along with the cell group for prayer offering and when it was my turn to pray, it was mumbled words, tears, groan and runny nose. Luha, ungol, sipon (o uhog ika nga sa Batangas).
The couple then told me it's alright to cry, for men to cry, that tears are healing, when tears dry up the tiny bits are proof toxins have been excreted from the body. Unashamed I let all tears.
Also around those times, several times, my wife Marlou would tell me we are going to Pizza Hut at Robinson's Lipa for dinner with Kuya Nanie and Ate Becks. I never felt awkward, they made me feel loved, they cared about my plight and would later lend me P 90,000 to update the house loan amortization, which could have gone to the drain had the house been foreclosed by the bank. Good thing, Marlou was able to arrange sale of the house, sa kanyang kinakapatid, inaanak ng biyenan ko.
What endeared me to the couple as Kuya Nanie and Ate Becks regarded me? Had chat with Ate Becks while writing this blog, it's that their house was also almost foreclosed years earlier that they empathized with me and went out of their way to lend me such big amount.
Matthew 25
35 ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Kuya Nanie and Ate Becks were strangers, I gladly welcomed them in, they are God-sent. Well, as for me, they were strangers, I did not know them years back. Kuya Nanie is from Bicol and met Ate Becks in Fernando Airbase in Lipa City; my father-in-law was an officer at the airbase and known to Ate Becks' parents; I am from Batangas City. That day I welcomed them in our home, I even cannot remember if we had prepared something or they brought food.
They came in the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, that is why I became a Christian at that point.
Some day, my children's children will say, wala ka sa Lolo ko, a sinner that he is, had the Son of God as guest for dinner.
Zaccheaus, the tax collector, the cheat, a sinner.
Luke 19
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jesus Christ, welcome Him gladly, into your heart. Amen.
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. (Hebrews 13:2 NKJV)
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Luke 19
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
Luke 19
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
God's thoughts are not our thoughts neither His ways our ways.
ReplyDeleteMr. blogger,
That is one clear miracle...and from that day on, more miracles were yet to happen. All glory to God!
Our Ninong and Ninang sa kasal ❤️
ReplyDeleteThe woman who won me to Christ would have been the wife of my brother (who died a renegade at a young age of 23). God had a different plan for her and somebody else for a husband... She has been a channel of blessings to many by way of counseling, encouragement, provision and a lot more...and am one of the recipients back then.
ReplyDeleteShe will always have a special place in my heart. Too grateful that because of her I came to know Jesus Christ. She went extra mile to minister to us. Indeed she with her husband were God sent...visitors in our home. No one can beat God's ways.