Sabbath: Winsome Witnesses ~ The Power of Personal Testimony
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Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Mark 5:15-20, Mark 16:1-11, Acts 4:1-20, 1 John 1:1-3, Gal. 2:20, Acts 26:1-32.
Memory Text: “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20, NKJV).
There is unusual power in a personal testimony. When our hearts are warmed by Christ’s love and we are changed by His grace, we have something significant to say about Him. It is one thing to share what Jesus has done for someone else. It is quite another to share what He has done for us, personally.
It is difficult to argue against personal experience. People may debate your theology or your interpretation of a text or even scoff at religion in general. But when an individual can say, “I once was hopeless but now have hope; I was filled with guilt but now have peace; I was purposeless but now have purpose”, even skeptics are impacted by the power of the gospel.
Although some people may experience sudden, dramatic conversions like the apostle Paul’s on the Damascus road, more often conversion occurs as a person has a growing recognition of the preciousness of Jesus, a deep appreciation for His amazing grace, and a supreme sense of gratitude for the salvation He freely offers. Christ radically refocuses our lives. It is this witness that the world so desperately needs and longs for.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 11.
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This is how I make ice-cream. I chop up a couple of ripe bananas, put them in a plastic bag, and stick them in a freezer until they are frozen solid. Then I put the frozen banana pieces in a blender with a cup full of berries or mango pieces. I add a bit of coconut milk, a small splash of honey, and a teaspoon of vanilla essence. I set the food processor going. It makes a huge racket for a while and then the noise stops as the mixture becomes creamy. I keep processing another minute, then I take the ice-cream out of the processor and serve it. Its a winner - it tastes really great and if you had not seen the process you would think that you were eating bought ice-cream. ... or I could just give you a plate of my ice-cream and say, "Try this! You might like it!"
The really important thing about Christianity is its practicality. We can argue all we like about Christian theory, but the bit others see is the bit they can understand. Do we live our lives in such a way that when others see us, they say, "I want to have some of that too!"
They forgat God their Saviour, which had done great things.
Ps 106:21
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Winsome Witnesses ~ The Power of Personal Testimony
“I once was hopeless but now have hope; I was filled with guilt but now have peace; I was purposeless but now have purpose”. That sounds like something I will say. Praise Jesus.
I was listening to a court case- the Judge was saying the purpose for thanksgiving is to stop one day of the year and reflect on the intangible things in our life. Those things money can't buy and be very grateful. When we gave our testimonies and speak about blessing, many listen to hear about how much money we win, or was given to us some way or the other. Many equate blessings to money. There are countless testimonies that I have that money can't buy. I give praise and thanks to Jesus for all the things in my life.
When the real estate business I had built over nearly four decades failed, I was left with a sizable debt. I thought I would never be able to pay it off with a meager social security income. I decided to trust in God's leading and providence. Now, after ten years of real sacrifice, I have began to put some money into my bank saving account. Praise the Lord!
Ps 116:12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all His benefits toward me?
Ps 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
Ps 116:14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.
Intangible Blessing- things money can't buy.
God had and is a great blessing to me. He blesses me with so many, many things that money can't buy, things that people will pay a lot of money to have them.
Ecc 5:12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
One of the blessings is good sleep. I can sleep all day if I so choose/desire, and still sleep all night. The moment I hit the pillow my spouse says I sleep in approx 1-2mins. I go to sleep without any sleeping aids (medication/music/music box etc). All I do before I sleep is pray on my knees. If I am not careful, I will fall asleep on my knees. At times the Lord will wake me up between 2-4 AM to pray. My sleep is always sweet even when I am having problems and trials are raging.
Another blessing is Health good health
Ecc 6:2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
My health I will consider good. Every day I give praise and thanks to God for it. I personally don't know if I have any hidden medical condition. When I meet people in conversation, work, or go to meetings, people will have their coffee to keep them awake and might ask me if I needed one to keep awake. I will let them know I don't need anything to keep awake, I had a good night's sleep. I don't need a 'pick me up'. I take no pills for anything, no medical conditions.
Sometimes we do all we can to be healthy but we get sick. The Lord in his wisdom allows the suffering, so we can be brought closer to him. We pray more, we become more humble, we read our bible more and we draw closer to God.
What makes a personal testimony powerful starts with the humbling admission that one was wrong; admitting that one's understanding of life and one's choices where based on an incorrect premise, and that one has decided to change his/her life because of this revelation.
After the act of repentance and before our testimony can be blessed, comes the spiritually based acknowledgement that 'not my will but Thine Will be done' - Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42.
If we think we do not need or have done nothing that needs repentance, we still have not fully understood the darkness we lived in. John1:4-10
All the unsaved in this world think it 'sufficient/right' to live by the light as determined/established by their latest thinkers in science and worldly philosophy.
Matt.6:23, Jesus tells us that the world's light is darkness when compared with God's spiritual Light. If we testify that we have 'seen a new Light', this statement will instantaneously raise a response - either supportive or oppositional or deemed inconsequential. We can align our follow-up response accordingly.
The testimonial of our experiential, personal account of this new Light, provides the context which defines this new light. It will give an example to show the difference between our old and the new light/life.
Rom.7:24,25 - For one that has seen his previous life as the 'wretched man that I am', this would not be at all difficult to show. But it can cause a problem for the one who has not experienced his/her wretchedness in real life, because they where shelterd by God's 'protection' through His providence.
Luke 15:11-32 - v.29-32 shows an inherent danger of this protection when becoming self-righteous due to the lacking awareness of experiencial, spiritual darkness.
The more drastic the difference is between the life lived before God's Light illuminated our life, the more powerful will be our testimony.
All of us have a testimony, all of us have come out of the darkness of this world into the newness of God's spiritual Light - to acknowledge this is in itself worthy of a testimony.
When a sinner has a life-changing experience, the result will be seen by others as a light which cannot be hidden.
Whether a life of victories or defeats, we witness by our personal experience. I believe it was Charles T. Everson who wrote: "Without Christ we cannot hope to succeed, but with Christ, failure is impossible", or something like that. It always impressed me how certainly it was stated.
Each person has a different experience in their walk with God. Each experience will touch the life of someone else. We don’t know who that will be, but if we are fully connected to God and in tune with the voice of the Holy Spirit, our experience will be a blessing to someone, whether we know about it or not.
I was 9 years old when I was baptized. Some thought that was too young. But it was a decision I had made at the end of an evangelistic series our church had put on. I don’t remember who the evangelist was, he was someone “famous”, but what I do remember, was that what he said drew me in to want to give my life to Jesus. I didn’t rebel in high school. I wasn’t drawn to the party scene (which could explain why the COVID-19 shelter at home has not been a bother to me). I have wandered on my own a few times in life, but that still small voice has always been there to draw me back. I’m not sharing this to pat myself on the back, but to help us see that not everyone has an exciting story like the demoniac or the woman at the well, but all stories witness to someone, and it may be what will draw them into a relationship with God.