Have you ever been called as a witness in a court of law? A witness is required to testify of what they have seen and heard.
One day, Peter and John were summoned to appear before the temple court in Jerusalem and warned not to speak to anyone in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20 ESV).
If you know Christ as your Savior, you have a testimony of what God has done in your life. How He saved you from sin; how He walks with you, provides for you, teaches you and loves you - this is what you have seen and heard and it needs to be shared.
Have you ever thought about the fact that the one thing holding someone else back from believing in Christ is that they have never heard anyone say what God has done for them? They may have heard the gospel message but without a witness -someone to testify of God's love and great and mighty works on their life, how is that person going to know that this is real and for them?
Earlier today, someone visited here at Faith Reviewed. After reading this person's comments of praise to the Lord on my testimony, I realized it was time to blow the dust off and bring it to light again.
I cannot but speak of what I have seen and heard. God has been so good and gracious to me, it would be impossible to keep it to myself.
That's the whole purpose of this blog: to tell what God has done, from the beginning of time.
What has He done?
He has revealed Himself, His ways, His purpose, Himself, His plans, His love, and His Son to the world!
From the beginning, God has not kept His plan of love and redemption to Himself. He showed His love, grace and mercy to Adam and Eve. Through Moses and the prophets, He told of the One who was to come and take away the sin of the world.
He didn't keep His plan of love and redemption from you and me either.
He sent someone to tell us!
Now what should we do? Should we keep it to ourselves?
No! It's time to testify!
What has God done for you? It's time to testify.
I'd like to testify of God's goodness, grace and love in my life.
And, I'd like to hear of what He has done in your life.
Below is some of what, by God's great grace, I have seen and heard.
God Didn't Walk Away (My Testimony)
Most of my growing up years, my parents were missionary church planters, so I was obviously raised in a Christian home with a Biblical worldview.
Although I had repeated the words of “The Sinner's Prayer” at the age of 5, it wasn't until I was a teenager that I finally realized my own sinfulness and need of a Savior.
Shorty after that, some missionaries to Papua New Guinea visited our church. I heard of the desperate need of unreached people groups in that far away land and felt I should go.
So, at 18, I left home for Bible college. Not long after graduation, some things happened in my life that not only shook my faith, but also left me disillusioned with church and church people. It would have been wise to go home to my family, but my parents were in ministry half a world away and I wanted to stay in the United States.
If you've ever experienced loneliness, anger and depression at the same time, you may have some idea of where my head and heart were during that time. I made some new “friends” who were into the bar scene whom I eventually allowed to talk me into joining them. That was another bad decision on a slippery slope down into the pit.
The downward spiral in my life didn't begin with my first drink, first boyfriend or first visit to a bar. It began long before that in my thinking and attitudes. Also, I knew that Jesus is my Savior but had no idea how to nurture that relationship, or even that it was possible. I thought that “doing” was the best way to please Him, not realizing that “being” what He wants me to be is what He desires most.
You've probably heard of the prodigal son (Luke 15). My life during that long period of rebellion was no better than his. My parents didn't have a financial inheritance for me to squander but I had a rich spiritual heritage that wasted away in those years.
Although at times I thought I was having fun, that time in my life was, in reality, the darkest. It came to a point where I was drinking very heavily on a daily basis and was living like I had never known God.
I really felt that God had walked away and abandoned me and I tried to convince myself that I didn't care. But, it was me who had walked away from Him. He was there all the time, just waiting for me to turn around to see Him.
During that rebellious period of my life, I met and married an unbeliever even though I was very aware of what God has to say about being unequally yoked. Our dating relationship had centered around the bar scene and this continued into our marriage.
When we learned we were expecting our first child, I was scared to death. I knew our lifestyle was not fit for raising a child and I knew that it needed to change. For the first time in several years, I cried out to God. Honestly, I wasn't sure if He would hear me after all I had done.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us...”
-Ephesians 2:4.
I love the first 2 words of that verse.
I walked away from everything I knew to be right and true, BUT GOD...
I had lived a very shameful life, BUT GOD...
I had turned my back on Him, BUT GOD...
I didn't know how to get back, BUT GOD...
I didn't know if He would ever care for me, BUT GOD...
God is indeed rich in mercy and loves us with a great and everlasting love. He broke through all of the chains that bound me, shattered the darkness with the glorious light of His love and brought me back to Himself, restoring the relationship I thought was gone forever.
Some say it is possible for a Christian to lose their salvation. I won't argue the point here but can tell you that in all the depths of my sin, I knew my salvation was not lost. When God turned me around to see Him still there waiting for me, I wept for 2 days.
The repentance that came to my heart was not that of a lost soul in need of a Savior. I knew I had been saved. My tears were of grief over all I had done to hurt my Savior in my sin. Those tears then turned to tears of joy as I realized that God was there all the time, He still loved me and that His grace is sufficient even for me.
I dug my Bible out of a box at the back of a closet and devoured it as one who had been starving which I had, spiritually. My husband, understandably, thought I had lost my mind. The marriage was not good before the Lord got hold of me, but it became much worse afterward.
The Lord led me to a church that was just starting up and going through a discipleship series. It was pretty basic teaching, but was exactly what I needed in order to get rooted in the Word and in Christ once again.
My husband was not happy with the change he saw in me. Many times, he told me that I was not the woman he married. He was right, but what could I do? My pastor advised me to live a good testimony before my husband in all areas. I was not then, nor am I now, perfect but strove to be the best wife and mother I could be and prayed daily for my husband's salvation.
Our marriage got worse by the day it seemed. It came to the point where I was no longer safe in my own home and neither were our children. We separated for a few months, then my pastor convinced me that my husband had changed and that we should get back together. We did. My husband went to church with me once and never again afterward. The physical, verbal and emotional abuse just continued to escalate.
We were divorced in 2002 and it hasn't been easy going it alone but I'm really not alone. Through the divorce, then parenting singly, through 2 bouts of cancer, financial and physical difficulties, God has been there all the time.
My Savior has walked through the valleys, upon the mountain tops, and everywhere in between with me, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. -Hebrews 13:5
Over the last few years, God has begun to teach me what it means to walk with Him moment by moment, day by day. By His grace, I'm learning that a Martha-type busy ("doing") isn't always the best thing and also learning, like Mary, the benefits and blessings of sitting at Jesus' feet, hearing His voice, living out His Word, and resting in His love ("being").
You may feel like God has walked away, but He hasn't.
He's right there waiting for you to turn around to see Him.
Just turn around and look.
Although I had repeated the words of “The Sinner's Prayer” at the age of 5, it wasn't until I was a teenager that I finally realized my own sinfulness and need of a Savior.
Shorty after that, some missionaries to Papua New Guinea visited our church. I heard of the desperate need of unreached people groups in that far away land and felt I should go.
So, at 18, I left home for Bible college. Not long after graduation, some things happened in my life that not only shook my faith, but also left me disillusioned with church and church people. It would have been wise to go home to my family, but my parents were in ministry half a world away and I wanted to stay in the United States.
If you've ever experienced loneliness, anger and depression at the same time, you may have some idea of where my head and heart were during that time. I made some new “friends” who were into the bar scene whom I eventually allowed to talk me into joining them. That was another bad decision on a slippery slope down into the pit.
The downward spiral in my life didn't begin with my first drink, first boyfriend or first visit to a bar. It began long before that in my thinking and attitudes. Also, I knew that Jesus is my Savior but had no idea how to nurture that relationship, or even that it was possible. I thought that “doing” was the best way to please Him, not realizing that “being” what He wants me to be is what He desires most.
You've probably heard of the prodigal son (Luke 15). My life during that long period of rebellion was no better than his. My parents didn't have a financial inheritance for me to squander but I had a rich spiritual heritage that wasted away in those years.
Although at times I thought I was having fun, that time in my life was, in reality, the darkest. It came to a point where I was drinking very heavily on a daily basis and was living like I had never known God.
I really felt that God had walked away and abandoned me and I tried to convince myself that I didn't care. But, it was me who had walked away from Him. He was there all the time, just waiting for me to turn around to see Him.
During that rebellious period of my life, I met and married an unbeliever even though I was very aware of what God has to say about being unequally yoked. Our dating relationship had centered around the bar scene and this continued into our marriage.
When we learned we were expecting our first child, I was scared to death. I knew our lifestyle was not fit for raising a child and I knew that it needed to change. For the first time in several years, I cried out to God. Honestly, I wasn't sure if He would hear me after all I had done.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us...”
-Ephesians 2:4.
I love the first 2 words of that verse.
I walked away from everything I knew to be right and true, BUT GOD...
I had lived a very shameful life, BUT GOD...
I had turned my back on Him, BUT GOD...
I didn't know how to get back, BUT GOD...
I didn't know if He would ever care for me, BUT GOD...
God is indeed rich in mercy and loves us with a great and everlasting love. He broke through all of the chains that bound me, shattered the darkness with the glorious light of His love and brought me back to Himself, restoring the relationship I thought was gone forever.
Some say it is possible for a Christian to lose their salvation. I won't argue the point here but can tell you that in all the depths of my sin, I knew my salvation was not lost. When God turned me around to see Him still there waiting for me, I wept for 2 days.
The repentance that came to my heart was not that of a lost soul in need of a Savior. I knew I had been saved. My tears were of grief over all I had done to hurt my Savior in my sin. Those tears then turned to tears of joy as I realized that God was there all the time, He still loved me and that His grace is sufficient even for me.
I dug my Bible out of a box at the back of a closet and devoured it as one who had been starving which I had, spiritually. My husband, understandably, thought I had lost my mind. The marriage was not good before the Lord got hold of me, but it became much worse afterward.
The Lord led me to a church that was just starting up and going through a discipleship series. It was pretty basic teaching, but was exactly what I needed in order to get rooted in the Word and in Christ once again.
My husband was not happy with the change he saw in me. Many times, he told me that I was not the woman he married. He was right, but what could I do? My pastor advised me to live a good testimony before my husband in all areas. I was not then, nor am I now, perfect but strove to be the best wife and mother I could be and prayed daily for my husband's salvation.
Our marriage got worse by the day it seemed. It came to the point where I was no longer safe in my own home and neither were our children. We separated for a few months, then my pastor convinced me that my husband had changed and that we should get back together. We did. My husband went to church with me once and never again afterward. The physical, verbal and emotional abuse just continued to escalate.
We were divorced in 2002 and it hasn't been easy going it alone but I'm really not alone. Through the divorce, then parenting singly, through 2 bouts of cancer, financial and physical difficulties, God has been there all the time.
My Savior has walked through the valleys, upon the mountain tops, and everywhere in between with me, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. -Hebrews 13:5
Over the last few years, God has begun to teach me what it means to walk with Him moment by moment, day by day. By His grace, I'm learning that a Martha-type busy ("doing") isn't always the best thing and also learning, like Mary, the benefits and blessings of sitting at Jesus' feet, hearing His voice, living out His Word, and resting in His love ("being").
You may feel like God has walked away, but He hasn't.
He's right there waiting for you to turn around to see Him.
Just turn around and look.
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