The Power of Your Testimony!
I used to go through phases where I watched a lot of real-life murder mysteries. Folding laundry...turn on a murder mystery. Need a break? How about a murder mystery? Nursing a baby...time for some murder mysteries. Kind of weird and morbid when you think about it, haha. After a while, I became a regular sleuth watching those things. I can smell a guilty person from a mile away!
If there's one thing you see a lot of on those kinds of shows, it's people's testimonies. Tell us what you know! Give us your side of the story. Help us form an opinion here. And for the love, please tell the TRUTH, because we don't need no dagnab monkey wrenches thrown into this operation. There's something inside of me that just loves hearing the same story from several different perspectives. Someone always has a new detail to share or a piece of the puzzle. Often what one person finds insignificant and not worth mentioning is brought up by someone else, and it's that tiny detail that leads to solving the whole case! Our words and our perspectives are EXTREMELY important.
If you grew up in church circles then another thing might pop into your mind when you hear the word testimony, and that would be in the context of your "personal testimony." This is the story of you, but it's not really about you, more about what God has done in your life. Some people seem to have these amazing over the top testimonies. "I was like a drug addict in the circus and I had ten girlfriends and three illegitimate children and I almost got my head bitten off by a lion and God spoke to me right there under the big top and my life hasn't been the same since!" And you know...stuff like that. And then there are those of us who are like, "Uh...yep, went to church my whole life. Became a Christian. Here I am, God is good!" Woot.
I bet you can't guess which one of those my testimony most closely resembles. :)
Anyone who has had an encounter with the Lord in any way has a testimony to share...and if you've ever had an answered prayer, you have a testimony! Testimonies do not have to be the story of the span of your entire life. You can give testimony to anything that God is doing in your life, right here, right now. These are words of encouragement that help other people and which keep them going when they are experiencing tough times. When you discover that you are sitting right in the middle of a mess that someone else has already been through and overcome, doesn't that give you hope? Don't you want to know how they overcame whatever it is you're currently facing?
I love the C.S Lewis quote from his book The Four Loves. "Friendship...is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself..."
I'm not sure if some of us really understand the power and importance that is in our testimonies. I didn't until I started to do some more research on the subject. Here is what scripture says about the power of testimonies:
"And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." Revelation 12:10-11
The enemy that we talk about so much around here, he is thrown down by the blood of the Lamb AND by the word of their testimony. And. I hope we can see the significance of that word in this sentence. The blood of Lamb is some pretty serious business, of course. That is Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross which defeated sin and Satan. To put anything in the same sentence as that should make anyone stand up and take notice. What else stands alongside the power of the cross to defeat the enemy? The word of their testimony.
Jesus' sacrifice was the game changer, and the fact that we're supposed to tell people about it and how it has changed our lives is of utmost importance. We have the power to cast out the enemy with our testimony.
We. Have the power. To cast out the enemy. With our testimony!
Your testimony, no matter how "boring" you think it may be, holds great significance in the kingdom of God. It was meant to be shared. What God is doing in your life right now is meant to be shared. Why do you think I started this blog? Because God wouldn't leave me alone and kept saying to me over and over again, "Adrien, I didn't tell you these things so you could keep it all to yourself! Tell somebody, ya dope." I added that "ya dope" part.
It wasn't long after I began generating content here that God impressed upon me the importance of offering the opportunity for others to contribute to this space in some way. I immediately knew that I needed to dedicate time and space to sharing not only what God was laying on MY heart but how he is working in the lives of others, too. I'm looking at you, friend! If there is something awesome happening in your life right now or a victory that you are just bursting about, we want to know! You can share with your name attached or anonymously. Whatever you want! But the point is to get the word OUT. Don't keep this stuff a secret! There is POWER in your testimony.
Starting right now please feel free to send me messages, emails, texts, whatever you wish, sharing a praise or testimony that will be featured in future posts. It can be one sentence or a whole huge paragraph.
Here are some examples from little ole me!
*I had been having some really difficult days with the kids, so I began praying for God to give me more patience as a mother, and by God's grace he is helping me be slow to anger and to be the gentle and kind mom that I want to be! I have been amazed by my own change in attitude. Praise God!
*I was feeling really down the other day and I cried out to God asking him for an encouragement. As soon as I said "Amen" my phone dinged with a text message from my sister-in-law offering the most encouraging words to me! God is SO GOOD! And fast! Haha.
*I was having a really dark, oppressive day last week. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I just couldn't shake thoughts and feelings of hopelessness and despair. I was so aggravated by it, because I knew it was the enemy trying to discourage me and I just wanted him to go away. I was sobbing, big ole tears, full-on ugly cry. In the middle of a prayer, as quickly as it had started, my tears just stopped flowing. Like someone had literally turned off the faucet and that was it. The feeling of oppression just...disappeared. I said aloud, "There's no time for pity parties." And I walked away. I am 1000% certain God heard my cries and sent a little help my way. Kicked those minions picking on me right to the curb, and I was good to go. Praise. The. Lord!
I mean I'm living this stuff every single day. If you want more stories of the power of prayer, I can surely give them to you! But no one would ever know that God is very much alive and working if I didn't say anything and kept this all to myself, right?
Our words have the power to throw down the enemy, because it's through the encouragement of others that we are able to see hope and a future, and Satan HATES that. He knows there's no hope for him, and he's going down swinging, taking as many with him as he can. But when you open up and share, it makes his job much more difficult! He would much rather people think, "Psh, God. There is no God. It's all a figment of their little imaginations." Funny thing is, none of us know God as well as Satan himself! Satan is VERY aware that there is a God, and his number one mission is making sure people don't believe in Him. The more "proof" of God working, the less the enemy has to stand on.
Like the liars on those murder mysteries, Satan is busy crafting his own side of the story and he's convinced a lot of people...A LOT of people...that his version is the truth. It's up to those of us who have those "little" details, those little bits of information that seem insignificant but aren't, to speak up! It is time to speak up! Please share what's happening in your life, even if it's small, so that you can be encouragement to others today. I guarantee you will be blessed for it!
Love!
If there's one thing you see a lot of on those kinds of shows, it's people's testimonies. Tell us what you know! Give us your side of the story. Help us form an opinion here. And for the love, please tell the TRUTH, because we don't need no dagnab monkey wrenches thrown into this operation. There's something inside of me that just loves hearing the same story from several different perspectives. Someone always has a new detail to share or a piece of the puzzle. Often what one person finds insignificant and not worth mentioning is brought up by someone else, and it's that tiny detail that leads to solving the whole case! Our words and our perspectives are EXTREMELY important.
If you grew up in church circles then another thing might pop into your mind when you hear the word testimony, and that would be in the context of your "personal testimony." This is the story of you, but it's not really about you, more about what God has done in your life. Some people seem to have these amazing over the top testimonies. "I was like a drug addict in the circus and I had ten girlfriends and three illegitimate children and I almost got my head bitten off by a lion and God spoke to me right there under the big top and my life hasn't been the same since!" And you know...stuff like that. And then there are those of us who are like, "Uh...yep, went to church my whole life. Became a Christian. Here I am, God is good!" Woot.
I bet you can't guess which one of those my testimony most closely resembles. :)
Anyone who has had an encounter with the Lord in any way has a testimony to share...and if you've ever had an answered prayer, you have a testimony! Testimonies do not have to be the story of the span of your entire life. You can give testimony to anything that God is doing in your life, right here, right now. These are words of encouragement that help other people and which keep them going when they are experiencing tough times. When you discover that you are sitting right in the middle of a mess that someone else has already been through and overcome, doesn't that give you hope? Don't you want to know how they overcame whatever it is you're currently facing?
I love the C.S Lewis quote from his book The Four Loves. "Friendship...is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself..."
I'm not sure if some of us really understand the power and importance that is in our testimonies. I didn't until I started to do some more research on the subject. Here is what scripture says about the power of testimonies:
"And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." Revelation 12:10-11
The enemy that we talk about so much around here, he is thrown down by the blood of the Lamb AND by the word of their testimony. And. I hope we can see the significance of that word in this sentence. The blood of Lamb is some pretty serious business, of course. That is Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross which defeated sin and Satan. To put anything in the same sentence as that should make anyone stand up and take notice. What else stands alongside the power of the cross to defeat the enemy? The word of their testimony.
Jesus' sacrifice was the game changer, and the fact that we're supposed to tell people about it and how it has changed our lives is of utmost importance. We have the power to cast out the enemy with our testimony.
We. Have the power. To cast out the enemy. With our testimony!
Your testimony, no matter how "boring" you think it may be, holds great significance in the kingdom of God. It was meant to be shared. What God is doing in your life right now is meant to be shared. Why do you think I started this blog? Because God wouldn't leave me alone and kept saying to me over and over again, "Adrien, I didn't tell you these things so you could keep it all to yourself! Tell somebody, ya dope." I added that "ya dope" part.
It wasn't long after I began generating content here that God impressed upon me the importance of offering the opportunity for others to contribute to this space in some way. I immediately knew that I needed to dedicate time and space to sharing not only what God was laying on MY heart but how he is working in the lives of others, too. I'm looking at you, friend! If there is something awesome happening in your life right now or a victory that you are just bursting about, we want to know! You can share with your name attached or anonymously. Whatever you want! But the point is to get the word OUT. Don't keep this stuff a secret! There is POWER in your testimony.
Starting right now please feel free to send me messages, emails, texts, whatever you wish, sharing a praise or testimony that will be featured in future posts. It can be one sentence or a whole huge paragraph.
Here are some examples from little ole me!
*I had been having some really difficult days with the kids, so I began praying for God to give me more patience as a mother, and by God's grace he is helping me be slow to anger and to be the gentle and kind mom that I want to be! I have been amazed by my own change in attitude. Praise God!
*I was feeling really down the other day and I cried out to God asking him for an encouragement. As soon as I said "Amen" my phone dinged with a text message from my sister-in-law offering the most encouraging words to me! God is SO GOOD! And fast! Haha.
*I was having a really dark, oppressive day last week. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I just couldn't shake thoughts and feelings of hopelessness and despair. I was so aggravated by it, because I knew it was the enemy trying to discourage me and I just wanted him to go away. I was sobbing, big ole tears, full-on ugly cry. In the middle of a prayer, as quickly as it had started, my tears just stopped flowing. Like someone had literally turned off the faucet and that was it. The feeling of oppression just...disappeared. I said aloud, "There's no time for pity parties." And I walked away. I am 1000% certain God heard my cries and sent a little help my way. Kicked those minions picking on me right to the curb, and I was good to go. Praise. The. Lord!
I mean I'm living this stuff every single day. If you want more stories of the power of prayer, I can surely give them to you! But no one would ever know that God is very much alive and working if I didn't say anything and kept this all to myself, right?
Our words have the power to throw down the enemy, because it's through the encouragement of others that we are able to see hope and a future, and Satan HATES that. He knows there's no hope for him, and he's going down swinging, taking as many with him as he can. But when you open up and share, it makes his job much more difficult! He would much rather people think, "Psh, God. There is no God. It's all a figment of their little imaginations." Funny thing is, none of us know God as well as Satan himself! Satan is VERY aware that there is a God, and his number one mission is making sure people don't believe in Him. The more "proof" of God working, the less the enemy has to stand on.
Like the liars on those murder mysteries, Satan is busy crafting his own side of the story and he's convinced a lot of people...A LOT of people...that his version is the truth. It's up to those of us who have those "little" details, those little bits of information that seem insignificant but aren't, to speak up! It is time to speak up! Please share what's happening in your life, even if it's small, so that you can be encouragement to others today. I guarantee you will be blessed for it!
Love!
Note: I apologize in advance for any typos; using an iPhone to write as much as I did is challenging, LOL!
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing on this topic, especially for sharing the comparison to murder mysteries and the concept of hearing the same story from multiple perspectives. It was helpful to think of things in these terms. And, I agree that a seemingly small or insignificant detail can be "a big deal" to someone else - possibly the key to something bigger!
As far as testimonies, one that comes to mind for me is my recent job change. I had reached a point where I had relative success and significant responsibility in my position, but was overwhelmed and unhappy for many reasons. I focused on pursuing openings at my new firm, and the process took a lot longer than I had experienced before. It was getting discouraging - I felt many emotions: maybe I was meant to stay at the old firm; maybe I wasn't good enough for the new firm; was I overqualified for the positions for which I applied? Under qualified? Is this taking too long? Does it take longer?
Well, lo and behold, God had the bigger and better plan! He had the RIGHT position for me. He let me try and "fail" at the other opportunities, and blessed me with the job I have now. It is a brand new role, which means I get to use my knowledge and experience to "make the job my own." My leader who hired me said she had discussions with leadership to try to decide if this responsibility fell within operations, or compliance, maybe even a paralegal would be necessary. Fortunately for me, they opted for leaving it in operations, but there is still heavy involvement in contract review. (Side note: as a kid, when most girls were wanting to be princesses or astronauts or doctors when they grew up, I wanted to be a paralegal! Seriously - I wanted the knowledge of law without being the center of attention like a lawyer.) Anyhow, long story short (Too late!), the job is perfect - new so I get to help shape it, and I get to use my skills of organization, communication, and attention to detail. A huge win, and I am so happy!
This is only one of the many ways in which God has worked in my life. It is wonderful to observe him working in big and small ways. I hope to see more comments and stories!
Thank you so much for sharing! :)
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