In attending a weekly bible study class sponsored by our local church, The Spirit of Hope Lutheran Church; we meet at 6:30am each Thursday morning. Recently our lesson reviewed the reaction of Thomas when he first saw (witnessed) the risen Jesus, found in the gospel of John.
John Chapter 20:
25. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
27. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Our pastor asked, as the take off from this reference, what had occurred in our lives that caused us to start believing in Jesus Christ? Several responded, and even though I had an response to give, we simply ran out of time. So, later in the day, I drafted a short email letter to the study group to share my response. So, please find below a copy of my email letter to him and my friends that were in attendance:
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Pastor Glen and friends,
Really enjoyed the Bible study, lesson and discussions this week.
You had asked us what did we believe had happened or occurred in our lives that caused us to began believing in the Lord Jesus; to help us relate to Thomas experience. Since we seemed to have ran out of time, I thought to share my experience with you, now this follow up email message.
Just a quick background on my Christian walk…was raised in a Christian church and my family attended regularly. When I was grown and had my own family, I carried out family tradition and raised my children in a Christian church as well.
However, an spiritual experience occurred one night in a dream that began to change my heart, my perception of the Bible and the work of Christ within. In the dream I was underneath my car, as if working on it for some repair it seemed to need. I today even recall the coolness of the driveway cement that my back was against as my hands/arms were extended out under the car engine. While working on the vehicle I fell asleep and went into a dream (a dream within a dream). There I saw Abraham appear. Soon as he I saw him, another younger man’s image began to appear. As the younger image was appearing, a voice spoke and said “In Issac shall thy seed be called.” Before the message was complete, there stood next to Abraham, his son Issac.
(To clarify…”As the voice was speaking, Issac appeared, standing next to Abraham”).
I’d be open for discussion on this if there is a desire to do so.
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Wow, did this experience began to change my perception of the scriptures! It was no longer a history book to me, but an active living testimony of witnesses bearing the truth, within me, and in the present (not having to wait until I physically died to see these men, as I had previously believed).