“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12:11 KJV
There is power in our testimony. In fact the above bible verse links testimony with victory. Note how it doesn’t say they testified because they overcame. When we hear testimony, an event comes to mind and we open our ears to hear the victory that came out of it. But do you know that you don’t always need to wait to see the done deal before you testify? It’s called faith! Testimony is what seals the deal. We should to testify and do it more often.
We need to have a heart check when we testify. The devil always wants to exhort himself in anything we do including testimonies. He achieves this by making us focus so much on what we did more than what God did. To explain this point, read the below testimony which I made up.
“I have been looking for job for 5 years. I graduated with 1st class from one of the best universities. In school, I was loved by every lecturer because of my intelligence. I represented England in international competitions and I equally excelled in non academics. I met world leaders to discuss international issues and I was celebrated by everyone. Whilst looking for a job, I always fasted and prayed endlessly. I help the poor and feed the hungry. I am always on fire for God. So this year God gave me a job. Praise God.”
After reading the above, what have you taken away? How do you see the speaker?
The above makes me remember the speaker more than God. I see more of ‘what i did’ than what God did. To me, the above talks about self more than it talks about the power of God.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t share our journey with others. But we need to ensure that when people hear our stories or read our blogs, that they see the power of God and not the power of flesh or us. People should not leave thinking about our self righteousness. But they should leave thinking about the grace and redeeming power of Christ.
When we speak, write, preach, testify, are our words drawing people to Christ or are they drawing them to us? God doesn’t like to share His glory. We are vessels used for His glory and the goal is for men to be drawn to Him and not us.
Amen! Great post! Thank you so much for sharing it. God bless you.
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God bless you too.
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Amen.:)
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Amen!
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Yes, I see what you mean…there are opportunities to share our stories that we might help someone else, but it could come across as proud or self-focused. Sometimes my posts are meant simply to share my experiences, what I’m going through at the moment, that others might relate (“bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ”). Other times, my posts are meant to be all about him. I think maybe different posts could have different focuses? You certainly have me thinking….
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Absolutely… maybe I didn’t explain what I meant well. Our testimonies are all part of what God uses to reveal His power and glory to others. What I am trying to say in this post is for us to be careful not to glorify self instead of glorifying The One who made it possible. If I say I am testifying, then the listening should be able to leave in awe of God’s power instead of focusing on the testifier. For general posts, the focus can be on different things😊❤️
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Thanks for clarifying! I always find food for thought in your posts.
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Thank you so much sis. I always enjoy reading yours too. I have a lot of catching up to do on the blogs I follow.
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Wow, exalting self at length, then ending with a brief “Praise God!” I’m guessing people who “testify” like that aren’t even aware they’re doing it.
God, make us sensitive…
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Yes and Amen! Glad you saw my point. Blessings!
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Good point! People do find ways to exalt themselves when they are supposed to be exalting God. If people comment on how I smile a lot or how strong I am with handling my disability, I need to always remember to give the glory to God so others will know the source of my joy and strength.
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“I need to always remember to give the glory to God so others will know the source of my joy and strength.” Amen!!
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Amen! Your post have just changed my mind about what God did for me last week which I should have testified of in church yesterday but I was waiting for the final result. So I applied for another graduate scholarship for the sixth time which has 3 stages or so and the first is for the school i applied to will do screening, interview and selection. When the day for the interview came network became an issue, line was breaking we couldn’t hear ourselves and i managed to answer just one question which left me worried and unsatisfied but guess what after two days from the interview I got a congratulatory mail from the school that I have been selected and recommended for the next stage. Praise God!. So come next Sunday I am testifying of this wonderful thing which God has done while I wait for the final result.
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Praise God for this testimony! Congratulations on what God has done and what He is yet to do!
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Halleluyah! Thank you very much.
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Over due but I just followed you
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😊thank you!
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=)
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Very good points!
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Thank you sis!😊
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