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| Some time ago I read in True Life in God the following: “welcome Me as I welcome you” (October 4, 1991) and I thought, “Oh, I never welcome Jesus!” So I decided to welcome Him, something I had never done before. After communion that day I started saying to Jesus, who would be in me, words like, “welcome,” “I welcome you” with a lot of joy. Even when I felt unhappy I forced myself to say it. This made me realize that it is hard for me to “welcome” even Jesus when I don’t feel like it. Meanwhile I was having a personal retreat and during that retreat the Lord was teaching me about welcoming and receiving my neighbor and that by detaching myself even from my programs (or time) I can welcome my neighbor better; for example if I am reading a book and I am excited to see what will be next and someone comes to visit me how do I welcome that person? Anyways, those were 2 different events for me and I have never connected them, not until recently when I read again the same message of October 4, 1991 and after reading “welcome Me as I welcome you” I was given a light to understand that the Lord was asking me to welcome (receive) my neighbor as He welcomes (receives) me. That was really very important for me because I had never seen Jesus in others and I was asking myself how to do that. But before, the Lord had to teach me the following: He had to show me how he received me and receives me always, as I am, with all my sins and wretchedness, also He had to show me how patient He was and is with me. Knowing that, I could understand better what He meant for me now when He says “as I welcome you.” So by starting to welcome Jesus in my heart, He opened my eyes to something I had never understood before. Blessed be His Name. Chadi Choufani |
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