A Marvelous Testimony

Do you have one? Do you have a marvelous testimony? The word testimony comes from the Latin testi- and means “to witness.” The suffix –mony is used in Latin abstract nouns, in this case signifying a function. So testimony is the function of witnessing.

As a Christian, do you perform the function of witnessing? Testifying to what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for believers was very high on His list. Many times after healing a person, Jesus would command that person to go tell people what had happened. One well-known case was after Jesus healed a demon-possessed man.

Jesus had been chased off by the local folks after He commanded the demons to go into a herd of swine. These swine ran off the cliff and killed themselves. After witnessing the miracle He had just performed, instead of bowing their knees to the Lord, they asked Jesus to leave. After Jesus climbed into the boat, the newly-healed man wanted to go with his Lord. Most leaders would have loved to have such a man in their troupe to showcase their abilities. Jesus was only concerned with spreading of the gospel:

    “However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.’ And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.” (Mark 5:19-20)

Have people ever marveled at your testimony? After speaking of Jesus, have people been astonished by what you shared? Or have you not ever taken the time to share your testimony? Perhaps you don’t think you have a testimony. Beloved, understand that who God is and what He desires for our lives is a neverending story:

    “But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.” (Psalm 71:14-15)

One of my goals as a Sunday school teacher and writer is to help other Christians develop a biblical worldview. The days in which we live require followers of Jesus Christ to be firmly moored to biblical truth. We are seeing society decay right before our eyes and the root cause of it is moral relativism.

Almost every conversation we have today about current issues is an opportunity to share God’s righteousness. If we saturate our minds with biblical truth, the Holy Spirit will bring remembrance to us to testify of how God desires us to live.

As we grow in Christ, our testimony of Him should grow too. Psalm 71 says that I should praise God “yet more and more.” I fear the opposite is true; the more we live out our Christian lives the less we have to say about God.

You may have to start slow. Don’t think that I’m suggesting you go out to a park or shopping mall to witness about Jesus. However, if you feel compelled to do so, then by all means follow the spirit.

Sharing the truth about how God has worked in your life after Jesus saved you becomes habit-forming. Once you get started, it’s hard to stop. This is what drove the Apostle Paul, and he shared this with none other than King Agrippa:

    “Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come.” (Acts 26:22)

Have you noticed a trend yet in this witnessing thing? We are not to witness in our own power; we have the Holy Spirit to help us. One would think being a great church planter and New Testament writer that the Apostle Paul would not experience discouragement, but he did. In the midst of that discouragement, Jesus reminded Paul:

    “Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.’ And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” (Acts 18:9-11)

So I return to my original question: Do you have a marvelous testimony?

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, a good place to start building a testimony is to ask Jesus to save you right now. That simple act alone is one of the most powerful testimonies any person can share.

If you are a follower of Christ and are not sharing your story, stop trying to do so in your own power. Trust and obey Jesus’ command to “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”

You will be amazed at how people will marvel at what you have to say…

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2015 David Jeffers

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