The Emmanuel Sisters

Chapter 15 The Advocates

"I will send you the advocate, the spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me..." John 15:26
And When You Testify About Jesus Let The Whole World Know That...
The spirit of the Lord speaks through me; his words are upon my tongue. 2 Samuel 23:2

The Prince and his Hope
Hope felt a new purpose in life. She was use to feeling responsible for the lives of the men and women she commanded, but for the first time in her life, she felt a responsibility for not just the physical life, but the spiritual and eternal life of another person. Hope even started to wonder if her true purpose in life was just now being revealed. She wondered if her purpose in life was actually just to bring her to this one moment in time. This one moment, where she would meet this young man, this boy with the name of a Prince. Maybe she would be the only person he would meet in his life that would testify to him about the love of Jesus Christ. Hope remembered how Nana used to always tell her to listen carefully in church, because one day she would have to be a witness to God's Words. Now that very moment that Nana foretold was here. She was patiently waiting for Amir, and she knew he was coming to her to hear the Word. Hope started praying to God for the right words to say. Then Hope heard someone whisper. "Who are you talking to now, yourself again?"
It was Amir. Hope was so engulfed in her conversation with God she didn't even hear Amir's footsteps. "I was talking to God. I'm glad you came back Amir."
"Well, you have me to talk to now, about God."
Hope felt a huge wave of happiness fill her, from the sound of Amir's voice and his obvious desire to learn more about God. "So you still want to hear more about God and Jesus today?"
"Of course I do, do you think I'm really here, just to talk to you?"
"Well I'm glad you have a reason to keep visiting me."
Amir opened the slot in the door and passed Hope her food. "So go ahead, tell me all about Jesus, or if you want I can wait until you finish eating. I put extra portions in there for you today."
Hope wasn't thinking about food. She felt confident now that this was God's purpose for her at this moment, to testify to Amir. Hope wasn't sure where to start. This was all new to her, she had never tried to witness to anyone before. She started to feel a little bit overwhelmed. She was wishing she had a bible. So many random thoughts were simultaneously running through her head, and then she heard a soft voice in her head say, "the words you need are already hidden away in your heart." Something in Hope's heart told her to just "start at the beginning", and as if the words she had needed to say to Amir had always been tucked away, written in her heart, she started to speak, without anymore doubts or hesitation.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Amir interrupted her. "What are you talking about, this "Word"? I thought you said you were going to tell me about your Jesus. What is the "Word", do you mean the words in your bible?"
"Amir, close your eyes and try to listen with your heart not your head. ....And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, ..., full of grace and truth."
He is the Word of life. His title is the Word of God. And his name is "Jesus".
Then Hope was quiet; and Amir understood, without more explanation, because the spirit of the Lord had opened his ears, and had given him an understanding heart. From that point on Hope spoke life into Amir's heart until there was no more darkness left inside of him, until he was filled with an ever- shining light.
Amir continued to visit Hope every opportunity he could, sometimes three times a day. And every time he came to her, Hope was able to speak to him about the Lord as easily as speaking about her own self or her own life, because the spirit of the Lord was speaking through her and God's words were constantly on her tongue.
Hope told Amir about the many prophesies foretold in the bible about Jesus, about the reason for Jesus' birth into the world. She told him about how Jesus had become God in man's form, and about the many, many miracles Jesus had performed. Then she told Amir about how Jesus voluntarily laid his life down for mankind's redemption. She said, "one day Jesus will return to the world and fulfill revelations and that day is the believer's hope." She also told Amir about all the other great people in the bible. How all of them were so ordinary, yet they did extraordinary things through God's spirit. She told him about people like Abraham, Noah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Issac, David, Solomon, Esther, Ruth, and Mary and many, many more. Hope explained how she understood Amir's fears of breaking God's laws. She spoke about the Ten Commandments. She knew she had broken so many of God's commandments, as Amir had, and then they discussed the consequences they both had worried about that awaited them, for breaking them. But then Hope told Amir how she was sure she would not be punished for the commandments she had previously broken, because she believed Jesus was her savior, and she believed in Jesus' message. Amir wanted to know what Jesus' message was. Hope explained.
"Jesus' message is about love, and how love is more important than any of the other spiritual gifts. Love is the greatest of all the commandments. Jesus said, "Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
And our neighbor is all of mankind. Jesus loves us so much he will forgive all our sins if we only ask him for forgiveness. Amir, if you ask God for forgiveness of your sins, and accept Jesus into your heart as your Lord and your savior, and as the only way to the Almighty Father, our God, he will forgive you and love you always. Then if you walk the remainder of your days in love, you will receive Eternal Life."
Amir knew he wanted, and he needed to be saved. This was the very thing he had been seeking. He got down on his knees, bowed his head, and prayed for forgiveness, and he accepted Jesus that day, into his heart, quietly, right outside of Hope's jail cell. It was so calm and peaceful at that moment. But then a sound broke through the silence. The two of them heard what sounded like an enormous thunderstorm erupting outside.
"I better go".
All of a sudden, Hope felt a quick panic run through her body and she yelled to him as she heard his footsteps running away from her, "Amir, wait!"
Amir turned back around. "Yes?"
Hope's voice was very soft now. "Emmanuel".
"Yes I've heard that before. It means "God is with us",
with me and with you. I believe that now, because of you, so don't worry."
"Yes, but that's not what I meant. What I meant is that Emmanuel is my name. You've asked me several times what my name is, and my name is Hope, Hope Emmanuel."
"Hope Emmanuel, that is a beautiful, perfect name for you. Thank you for trusting me, Hope." Then he ran off to see what all the commotion outside was about.
Hope knew she shouldn't have told Amir what her name was. She wasn't sure why she did it. Amir didn't "need" to know her true name, for them to continue their conversations. She wasn't planning on ever divulging that information to him. It just came out of her mouth, but she had no idea where it came from. One thing she couldn't deny, although she had just met Amir, he did not feel like a stranger to her, and he did not feel like her enemy. Then she resigned herself, "what's done is done. It's in God's hands now, and I will put my trust in the Lord. For some reason I feel he wants me to trust young Amir Ishmael Abdul." Then she started to pray. She prayed for Amir's safety. She prayed for her troops' safety, and she prayed for her own safety, and she prayed that God would deliver them all out of the enemies' hands.