Tuesday: The Power of Personal Testimony
Religious ritual has little power to change lives. Religious formalism leaves people spiritually barren.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
Doctrine alone will not transform hearts. The power of New Testament witnessing was rooted in the genuineness of lives changed by the gospel. The disciples were not play-acting. They were not going through the motions. Theirs was not some form of artificial spirituality. An encounter with the living Christ had changed them, and they could not be silent any longer.
What common thread runs through the experiences of Paul and John that made them such powerful witnesses?Acts 22:1-14; Phil. 3:1-7; 1 John 1:1-4.
At Pentecost the disciples were changed people. Something happened to them so that the Spirit could do something through them. The Holy Spirit had done something for them so that He could do something with them. The Spirit overflowed from their lives to refresh the lives of others.
Jesus put it this way: “‘He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’”(John 7:38, NKJV). The root word for “believes” in the Greek here is pistis . It means much more than a superficial belief or mere intellectual assent. It is a rock-solid belief or confident trust. It is a dynamic, life-transforming faith in Christ, who poured out His life on the cross for the sins of humanity. Jesus’ point is that when His love quenches our spiritual thirst, this love flows from our hearts to the people around us.
“Our confession of His faithfulness is Heaven’s chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world. We are to acknowledge His grace as made known through the holy men of old; but that which will be most effectual is the testimony of our own experience. We are witnesses for God as we reveal in ourselves the working of a power that is divine.”-Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 347.
The most powerful witness is one of a Christian who knows Jesus personally. There is no substitute for the testimony that springs naturally from a heart immersed in Jesus’ love.
What kind of personal testimony do you have that tells of what the Lord has done for you? How can you learn to share it better with others?
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Our Lord Jesus has opened doors of opportunities for us to experience Him. Most often today, we live by other peoples experiences and testimonies. This makes our christian experiences shallow and without any concrete evidence. Our personal experience in christ is more concrete and will always stand the test of time. Because the experience is ours we know its real. we dont even need someone else to convince us of what we ourselves have experinced but rather to confirm it through their own experience. Therefore, let us take advantage of the open door before us to experience Jesus and make our testimonies living and real
There is nothing like proving that God is real through personal experiences. It is easier to stand firm in the face of trial remembering exactly what God did for one personally.
The secret for me has been to think much on God's Love and what He has done to reach me and this dark worlk. Knowing what cost He went to to make our relationship possible helps me know my value and the value of every other person with whom I come in contact. Internalizing this Love so that it melts my heart gives me an aboundance of love which makes it seems natural to share it and pass it on to others.
I never realized that the trials that I experienced were given so that I would learn to lean on and trust in the great I AM. He has brought me out every time. It may not be today or tomorrow it may be would I see Him coming in the clouds of glory. I do know that His promises are sure and and His blessings even greater than I could every have imagined. I have such peace and joy, I now know how to give my Lord every thing that troubles the water, because there is nothing I can do anyway.
Both Paul and John were able to tell their eye witness account. How could they not when such amazing things took place.
How could we not when amazing things take place in our lives, it is all for His glory that we may be His instrument to reach those we are in contact with every day. We must daily ask for the Spirit to led us to the very ones that need to hear our stories, we must ask that "out of our mouths will flow rivers of living waters", this is a promise that Jesus gave to us and as we continually moment by moment, and second by second submit ourselves to His presence it will be natural for us to speak for we are His children, how could we not?
Sometimes we forget the little things God has done for us and wait for something big like what happened to Paul to tell of the power of God. We should tell of God's goodness to us no matter how small we may think of it. That is real witnessing
One of the features of the Bible that makes it so powerful, life-changing, and compelling is that ultimately it is a collection of personal testimonies. Whether it be Moses, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, or Jesus, their personal testimony is what captivates the reader. Every Bible writer, from David to John, and everyone else in between, share their encounter with the Omnipotent Creator of the universe. There is nothing more thrilling and captivating than such an experience. My own life is such a testimony to the amazing grace and love of the God of all the universe. It was in the middle of a 12+year addiction to crack cocaine that someone introduced me to Jesus Christ. He has changed my life in ways I would never have imagined. He has brought me from the crack house to His house. He has ransomed me from a life of licentious living and reunited me with Himself. He has rehabilitated my mind from debilitation of drug and alcohol abuse and equipped me for service to Him and my fellow man. He has rescued me from the bondage of the destroyer and has commissioned me to be an ambassador for Him in these closing scenes of earth's history. Talents I never imagined I had have been awakened and placed in His service. I will forever be amazed at His love and grace. His glory is my story.
Praise the Lord Aubrey. I hope and pray you are now taking what you've learned and experienced and sharing with others! Jesus is best when He is shared between two or more people.
This is so true,our personal testimony is very powerful.people can orgue with us about doctrine and what we believe in but a personal testimony our story can no one really argue with us about.
Wired In
I saw something this morning and pursued it. It is like a telephone wire that extends from the Holy Spirit as its source of energy. As we witness, I see the wire extend out of the Holy Spirit in us and into the ones we are speaking to. It’s ringing in their spirit, and that person can pick up like we answer the telephone. Those who are ripe and ready for either salvation itself, or a word from God, can answer it and hear the truth of God’s power in our witness. Those who are born again hear the ringing, which I have heard and refer to as the quickening in the spirit, and the connection is made so that the witness is attached to the source of power, and can be heard. It is like this that the Spirit is at work in all His children, those who are saved and those who would be saved. It seems to me that we cannot rely on our own witness, but in the connection to the power in the witness to save, teach, preach, heal, encourage, etc.