A Muslim Finds the Way to Heaven

[Sweetrainbow]

Azar: A Muslim Finds the Way to Heaven
By Shannon Woodland

In 1978, Azar came to the United States for an education. She planned to return to her native Iran, but political upheaval in that nation denied that. So Azar, a Muslim, remained in America, and worked very hard to be successful.

"When you have to make it in another country, you also focus on needing to be somebody. I wanted to do the best and not just settle for anything," she says.

Azar worked as hard to be a good Muslim, as she did to be a financial planner. She believed her good deeds would earn her a place in heaven. But after years of ceremonial washing and prayers five times a day, she grew tired of the routine.

"All of a sudden, I realized I was standing there covered and I didn’t know what I was saying. Was I talking to God? I felt like this couldn't be it. This can’t be what God wants from me."

For 21 years, Azar had little to do with her Islamic faith. Then some Iranian friends invited her to a meeting.

"Honestly, I’d never heard of Iranians who were Muslims and then Christians. I said, 'What?' "

Still, Azar was intrigued and agreed to meet these people.

"For the first time, I saw Iranians who were Muslims and had become Christians. They were singing to God and worshipping. I thought that it was so interesting that they were so free."

But more than that, Azar was dissatisfied with her life. Even though she had all the trappings of success, something was missing.

"I was working six or seven days a week. I was so driven. What was the purpose?"

Azar thought about the Christian meeting she attended. Soon, she went to another to find out more. There she listened intently to what was being said.

One Christian at the meeting said, "Who here knows that they’re going to heaven?"

"Well, as a Muslim you don’t know if you go to heaven or not, because God is going to review your past, and it depends on how much good you’ve done. He decides. I wouldn’t know. So few people raised their hands and I thought, 'How do you know?' "

What Azar heard was the salvation message of the cross. She didn’t understand and wanted an explanation.

"After the meeting, I went to him and said, 'What do you mean Jesus died for me? I wasn’t there. I die for my own sins.' "

Again and again, she begged God to show her the truth.

"One day out of the blue, I turned the TV on. And I didn’t even know why The 700 Club was on. It wasn’t one of those things I watched everyday. And as soon as I turned it on, Gordon’s face was right on the screen. It had covered the whole screen and he said, 'Some of you are so confused, you don’t know who the real God is.' "

As Gordon prayed, Azar listened intently.

Gordon prayed, "Lord God, I don’t know you. I don’t know if you’re real. But Lord, if you are real, I ask you to show me."

"And then I thought, 'Wow, I didn’t know if I turned the TV off, but I didn’t hear anything after that. Because it was what I was looking for, I was asking why?' "

As the days passed, Azar focused her thoughts on God. Again, the Iranian Christians invited her to meet with them. They encouraged her to read the Bible, and Azar began to experience God in a new way.

"There was something about this Christianity. I didn’t know anything about the Holy Spirit, I never opened the Bible, and I didn’t know anything. But it felt so strong. There was something different about me," she remembers.

The next day, Azar went to church. She couldn’t wait to get there. This time she came face to face with the truth.

"As I was talking to God, I said, 'I have no reason to change. I was Muslim, You were good to me, and I have no reason to change. But if You have any reason, You show me a sign.' "

"I saw a person right in front of me, and his face was right where my face was. I could see his whole body. Gradually he opened his eyes, and they were like two little suns. They got brighter and brighter and started shining on my face."

She recognized that the person she saw was Jesus and prayed to accept Him as her Lord and Savior.

"I felt a way I’d never felt before. I felt like tons of weight was off my shoulders. I was so light and so happy. It was so unusual, so different," she says.

Through her faith in Jesus Christ, Azar has found purpose in life. Since then, she’s been involved in her church and serves in a South Florida jail ministry. Today, she glows as she speaks. She knows the truth that set her free.

"It’s just incredible, it’s incredible. Before, I tried to do it on my own. I tried so hard to please God, to be good, and didn’t know that I’d go to heaven. But now it’s Him. Jesus came down for me, and He’s changing me everyday."

So now we can see that nothing is impossible for any one person as Azar plainly shows us

[GloryB]

"It’s just incredible, it’s incredible. Before, I tried to do it on my own. I tried so hard to please God, to be good, and didn’t know that I’d go to heaven. But now it’s Him. Jesus came down for me, and He’s changing me everyday."

This is such a powerful statement! I bet someone who has been in religious bondage all their life really feels it when Jesus lifts their load. Thanks for sharing that story!

[eddybear]

Oh, I do like reading testimonies like this. Isn't Jesus wonderful !

Thanks for posting it SR

[czardoust]

Wow, what a first post to reply to at this forum. Hi all, my name is Carolyn and Im the wife of an Iranian-American who was born in the USA. I searched the web for a Christian site that would hopefully be accepting of (truly) everyone and I hope I just found it. Our family is a mixed bunch of nuts to be honest. But that is what decorates the many cultures of this beautiful planet. We are so unique and blessed to be so. Now if we could all just learn to work as the One body that we are. Our last church we left after the congregation publicly (in bible study one Sunday) started bad mouthing the God of Islam (which is none other than God, the Holy Father, the same who came to Mary and begat Jesus, its just that they use their native language to call Him Abba or Allah). They started going on about how all Middle Easterners were terrorists and were so lost and misled by the devil because they followed Allah (in other words, because Islamics obeyed God, they were being misled by media-based information). I begged my husband to let me speak up, they had no clue that my husband was of Iranian descent, and I was angry -- I wanted them to apologize for their behavior. But he shook his head and just said "No, dont say a word. This is their true nature, now we know. Just thank God we found out before our kids got hurt." We've been without a church family since he left the army in 2004. I think because the army is so diverse in its soldier population, that all of its chapels are so welcoming and unprejudiced, Chapel 1 in Ft Bliss, Texas....we miss it so much. Alabama is very different. Closed minded people. They dont want middle easterners to be Christians, peaceful, or nice, or trustworthy, because then they would have to change their view of them. My husband used to be beaten to a pulp everyday on the school grounds by the older, bigger kids because of his heritage, the 1980's were hard on Iranians in America. He's been a Christian since he was a boy and has continuosly faced the scrutiny of all Christians because when they first meet him they do a double take (like can we trust him, he's Middle Eastern). Then they talk to him for just 60 seconds and everything changes. There are some things I would love to share that just blow my mind about the Qaran. Ive read it because as a Christian I want to know what Satan puts against us. Did you know that Islamics (the real ones, not the ones fueled by the same media that misleads us) not only believe in Jesus but they are taught by Muhammed that Jesus was the Christ, Gods son, was killed by his people and resurrected, and that he will come again to retrieve his people. All of this is in the original Qaran (so is everything that is in the Biblical Old Testament) but for some reason, when its printed today it is omitted. Its up to the Islamic to find the original scripture and read it. (their Qaran was editted by a later-born religious leader after Muhammed was dead and gone, just like our Bible was cannonized--edited-- by a pope way after its writers had died) When I learned about it, I cried. I cried for all the people that didnt know about it. To think that we all serve the same God, He has different names because we speak different languages. When he spoke thru various prophets, he told them all the same thing. Love one another. Worship God, follow Him, respect/trust/abide in Him, give your worries, sins, shame to Him because He doesnt want you to have to carry the burden of living with it inside of you. Because it eats at you, it hurts you. The commandments are the same. Even our beliefs about Jesus are the same, yet somewhere along the line, Satan has been able to creep into various peoples minds and influence them to "dont include that" or "just omit this" and split the world apart by misleading not one culture but both. To hate each other, to be afraid of each other. To not be One body that is Gods hands, feet, lips, ears, eyes, etc.

whew.

Dang, I spilled my gutts I'm so sorry if preaching here is not accepted. I sure didnt plan that! If it needs to be editted just PM me or something. Heres praying that this a site that accepts all who love to live for God.

[Onesiphorus]

Dear czardoust, welcome to Lampstand , i will guarantee that you are safe here , if you and your family say you accept Christ as your savior then thats good enough for me , its their loss in that building you went to that they have no love in their heart, even if you werent you would still be made welcome here

Feel free as saints in Christ to post here and your thoughts can only edify this forum

In saying that I hold the bible to be the inspired word of God and whilst respecting everyones right as to where their beliefs are i cannot accept the Qur,an as the preserved word of God for a born again Christian where Christ is the "only risen Son of God who died for our salvation , and can only view as a philosophical document . the quran does not say that Christ is the son of God or that he was crucified at the cross, and as messiah will return before the tribulation and defeat the :dajjal", and that jesus was a messenger and prophet , different Gospel Im afraid

But putting that aside welcome again to the forum ..all of you

Grace and peace in Christ



Grace and peace in Christ..

[Frederick]

Dear czardoust, welcome to Lampstand , i will guarantee that you are safe here , if you and your family say you accept Christ as your savior then thats good enough for me , its their loss in that building you went to that they have no love in their heart, even if you werent you would still be made welcome here

Feel free as saints in Christ to post here and your thoughts can only edify this forum

In saying that I hold the bible to be the inspired word of God and whilst respecting everyones right as to where their beliefs are i cannot accept the Qur,an as the preserved word of God for a born again Christian where Christ is the "only risen Son of God who died for our salvation , and can only view as a philosophical document . the quran does not say that Christ is the son of God or that he was crucified at the cross, and as messiah will return before the tribulation and defeat the :dajjal", and that jesus was a messenger and prophet , different Gospel Im afraid

But putting that aside welcome again to the forum ..all of you

Grace and peace in Christ



Grace and peace in Christ..

To endorse what onesiphorus has just said, our Saviour Jesus Christ clearly states in John ct 14 vs. 6 "Iam the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME." That one message should be shouted from the roof tops of every building in the land. There is only one way into Heaven and that is by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts as our personal guide and Saviour. You can work seven days a week and give all your money to the poor, and it won't make two cents worth of difference, because as it says in Isaiah 64 verse 6 "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;..." There is only one act, one commitment, that will get you into the Kingdom of Heaven, and that is by being born-again. John ct. 3 vs.3 clearly states "Most assuredly I say uunto you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." These are not my words - they are the words of my Saviour Jesus Christ, who died personally for my sins. I am all one for religious tollerance, because Our Saviour preached love, not war, but let's start off with the basics. That message is so important, I have written a book on the testimonies of Born-again Christians, In Him I Place My Trust, one of whom spent sixteen prison sentances before finding the meaning of true salvation. We have a message to proclaim - let us go forward and lift high the banner. Jesus tells us to do that in the closing lines of Matthew:"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..." It is VERY important that, in trying to live in peace and harmony with your fellow man, you are not lulled into the false sense of believing that "All religions lead to God." They dont! Sorry if I come across heavy

If you PM me with you full postal address, I will happily post you off a copy free of charge. Your Brother in Christ, Fred