Islam religion is newer than Christianity, I’m sure no one disputes that. We are told Islam came about through a vision shown to the prophet Muhammed. Thus the prophet Muhammed is understood to be the latter prophet from Allah (not God as defined by Christians). It means that the prophet Muhammed is the top model for how the best Muslim should live his or her life, similarly Jesus Christ is a model for the Christian.
I have read and listened to videos that tell the life of the prophet Muhammed. I have also learnt about the life of Jesus Christ. I will not go much into these about the prophet Muhammed because I still have to learn more about him but I will tell a few about the Jesus Christ I know as a Christian.
An encounter with the leader of your religion is what makes you hold on to him. My assignment is to research on the prophecy of the Islam leader and understand why he is called a prophet. I am also not sure if the prophet Muhammed performed a miracle that was visibly and publicly known like the many Jesus did. If you are a Muslim and you happen to read this post, please help me with answers to these questions.
Muslims are not the same, but one common quality about them is their passion for their religion. I have recently learnt that Muslims do have encounters in dreams and visions, which is not surprising because the foundation of Islam is through a vision shown to the prophet. I have not yet learnt of any visible miracle that made people happy afterwards except for one that I saw on television where a child would have written words on her leg. It is reported that the child would cry when the words appeared in her leg.
The Problem
I have heard the statement, ‘eternity is too long to be wrong’. This statement should not be taken lightly because a mistake means eternal damnation. At least Christians and Muslims understand this one thing that there is only one person that has the power to lead a person to heaven. This is a really valid belief because there is only one way to the Father.
If The Father defines the way into His Kingdom, no other can define it better. No two or more ways lead to the same heaven. The one way is wrong and the other is right.
I don’t blame Muslims for being who they are because why they believe in Allah is largely because of their background. It could be me, you or anyone born in the Middle East and taught Islam. I could be in the same situation, defending my religion just as I do Christianity today. If Allah or the prophet Muhammed could reveal himself to me such that the encounter outweighs my Christian beliefs, then there would be no reason why I wouldn’t change. I belief the same would happen for Muslims if they have an encounter with Christ.
Christian perspective of an encounter
The Bible tells us that encounters will happen but not all come from God. It remains an individuals’ responsibility to sense, check in scriptures and confirm if that encounter comes from God. There are many ways this can be done. Receiving a dream or a vision does not automatically mean it comes from God.
There are many visions recorded on video and written down by people online. Books have been published and still some come from God and many come from the devil. The devil gives visons and dreams that are real yet they divert man from the creator.
Christians believe that God can only hear you when you pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Praying in any other name may give answers but those are not from God. Christians know that the devil can also provide for humanly needs.
Having an encounter with Jesus Christ can come in the following ways:
- Praying for a specific revelation to help you understand the will of God better. God is not deaf, neither is He dump. When we pray to Him, believing and being diligent, He will answer. In fact He answers every prayer but an answer could be a no, a wait or a yes. There are many people that have shared their testimony on how God answered their prayers through a supernatural encounter.
- God may choose to reveal something to you in His own way. God control the universe even to the point of controlling each and every individual’s life. The Bible tells us that He knows even when a sparrow falls and can counts (knows the number) the hair in our bodies. He holds the universe in His hands. This is one of the many things the human mind cannot comprehend. I hope to write a post on the trinity which is one departure point for Muslims. These are things we may attempt to explain but truly these are hidden to mankind.
Saul of old had an encounter with Jesus. Read Acts 9:1-19. Your encounter may not be the same, but Saul knew that He had had an encounter with Christ. Nobody told him, but he knew it. That the type of an encounter I wish for Muslims today.
I have had my own encounters but this post is not meant to promote my own encounters because such could possibly be meaningful to me and to others it many not.
The Desired Encounter for Muslim
- Jesus is love. I pray for Muslims to have a love encounter with Jesus. Christians are called to love everyone. Love is what Christians should demonstrate to Muslims. If you are a Christian and you still hate a Muslim, fight them, argue with them, you are wrong. You need to change because the top model for Christians, Christ Himself, is love.
- Faithfulness of Jesus. Whatever Jesus says is true. He does come true for you if you trust Him to keep His Word. If you diligently seek Him, being sincere and with the desire for the truth, He will manifest Himself to you. We all need Jesus in our daily lives. We need Him to heal our dying bodies, to provide for our daily material and spiritual needs and to keep us warm company of peace in our hearts. All these are things I pray for Muslims to experience with Jesus. HE is faithful not to force His way into someone’s life but ready to respond when called. The starting point is repentance, which will open doors to unlimited encounters that you may not even realise.
- Life after death is not what Muslims say it is. Muslims belief when non-Muslims die, they are tortured in the grace for not believing in Allah. They also believe that girls or virgins are kept safe somewhere for this that pleased Allah is a specific way while in this life. I pray that God may continue to reveal more and more of the reality of hell prepared for the devil and all that reject Jesus Christ while in the flesh. No one can escape hell by anybody else except Jesus. Similarly, no one can go to heaven by any means but through Jesus Christ.
The Call to Christian
We cannot claim to be followers of Jesus Christ if we don’t love Muslims. Muslims are not our enemies at all. We need to pray for them as well. I’m calling for Christians to join me pray for an encounter with Jesus Christ. It does call for us to make an effort to meet them, make friends with them and share the good encounters we have had with Jesus Christ. We should not condemn them nor judge them.
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