10/11/2021
How do we witness regarding the living Christ? We can quote scripture, and this is good because it was written for this purpose, but we should also fold those same scriptural lessons, and stories, into our everyday lives, making them a part of our life, because this is the essence of having a relationship with God, and Jesus Christ. This is how we convey the nature of a living God; by what is witnessed in our lives. Our belief is not in a lifeless spiritual medicine, but is a whole, living, God who works within us to transform us, and redeem us through His Son. This is the testimony of our lives with Christ, and it brings our relationship with Jesus to life for others to see. The power of scripture is in our living it out.
“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.””
John 4:39 ESV
Is our faith based completely on what Jesus does to us, or for us, and not what He does with us? Sometimes this is a hard concept to grasp. A man can have feelings for a woman and give her gifts. He can build her a house, give her a car, buy her nice things, but until she loves him in return then this is not a true relationship… it is more akin to infatuation.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 ESV
Scripture teaches us about relationship, not simply servitude, but until we live with God, until we fall in love with Him, as He has with us, it is a more like reading a textbook. God’s desire is for love, and relationship; He wants us to live out a love letter with Him, not act out a play. This is our witness, and testimony in Christ, and it is the house of faith we build on top of the foundation that scripture has made for us; it is what we carry to the end of world. Our personal relationship with Jesus is what pierces the hearts of unbelievers.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””
Acts 1:8 ESV
God loved, and Jesus wept; we read about this in the Bible, but we are not told this just to teach us about how things once were, but to illustrate what they should be now. God still loves, and Jesus still weeps. Our personal experiences of this love with God, and those times when Jesus has wept with us, are what brings faith to life in others. I was reading my devotional today and Pastor Andrew Murray wrote these words in the late 1800s…
“Second, your words must be a personal testimony to who Christ is and what He can do. When this happens, the Holy Spirit carries the message as a living reality to the hearts and lives of others.” - Andrew Murray
So, Murray tells us that first we deliver the good news of Christ, and the written Word of God, but secondly, we demonstrate how these things play out in our lives today… we take them from the written page, and bring them to life in us.
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
1 John 5:20 ESV
What did the disciples carry into the world after Jesus told them to go? The temple scrolls were too large and cumbersome to carry with them, and the New Testament hadn’t been written yet, so they carried their faith in their hearts, minds, and souls. They took with them their relationship with God, and their remembrance of Jesus, but their greatest witness would have been their transformed lives.
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV
A mother or father witness this in the upbringing of their children. A child might find something they will imitate in what a parent knows, but the real lessons are those that are taught by how a parent lives out their lives. Likewise, God tells us about how He loves us in scripture, but the first time we really embrace His Son and He kisses our cheek, or God moves in our life, we come to a real understanding of what that means. This becomes our witness, and testimony.
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”
2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Holy Word, and the gospel of Jesus Christ; thank you for your lessons in faith, and relationship, as we read of them, but thank you with all our heart for the time we spend in your presence, abiding with Jesus, and in developing our relationship with you. Teach us by your Word, and help us to live out every lesson in our lives. Take your love for us that we have read about, and make it real everyday as we walk with Jesus. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was and is, and is to come. Praised be your name for every experience we have in our lives that is of you, and which you give us to become our testimony, and witness to others. Our hearts are moved by the love, healing, and other wonders you have worked out in the lives of those around us, encourage them father to share them that you might be glorified by them, and our faith increased in their telling. Teach us through the real happenings of faith in our lives, and let all those around us see that you are alive in the world, and in our lives. Open hearts to you by our testimony, and let our witness become a tool for your grace. Wash us clean by the blood of Christ that is as fresh today as it was at Calvary. Forgive us just as completely today as when Jesus first said “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” Accept us into your arms Lord, and seat us at your table, now, and forevermore.
Rich Forbes