THE POWER OF OUR TESTIMONY Kay Keith Peebles 8/9/2019 19.26
I am always amazed at what the Lord does when I preach and share a personal testimony. The Lord has taught me His principles by combining scripture with analogies from my personal life. When a personal experience with the Lord affirms scripture, my writing and preaching become inspired truth.
A testimony is birthed out of a real and personal encounter we have with God. It comes from an act of healing, a deliverance or breakthrough we have had. It may be a miraculous protection that no one can deny was God’s intervention on our behalf. It is an experience one has with God that so touches the heart and mind, it becomes a powerful source of revelation of who God is and what He will do for us. It changes one’s perspective. It enlightens their understanding of God and it becomes a pillar of their faith.
Before I continue, let me define the word testimony: a declaration of truth or fact, law evidence given by a witness, esp. orally in court under oath or affirmation. In other words, a testimony is based upon a truthful, factual account of circumstances that will hold up in a court of law.
The Bible is literally a book of testimony of the acts of God and His people. Those who truly believe in the God of the Bible believe the testimonies and the historical account of the nation of Israel and the people mentioned in the Bible. The time-frame covered by the testimonies in the Bible is from creation in Genesis 1 through the resurrection of Jesus and ends with the prophetic book of Revelation. With the exception of the part of Revelation and other end-time prophecy that is yet to come, the Bible spans a period of approximately 4,000 years.
Testimony and memorials were very important to the Lord. Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord would command His people to build a memorial altar at the location where He had intervened on their behalf, in order to leave a lasting testimony for future generations. See Genesis 8:20, Joshua 22:34.
He would also have them recite their own testimonies of encounters with God and His people to their children and grandchildren in order to pass down their legacy of faith in God. One such encounter was when they crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. The LORD God parted the water of the Jordan just as He did the Red Sea so that the priests could safely carry the Ark of the Covenant over to the Promised Land as the people safely followed.
“And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying: ‘Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight’…and Joshua said to them: ‘Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you? Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan. And these stones shall be for a memorial (testimony) to the children of Israel forever.’” Joshua 4:1-7
When I read and study the Bible, the testimonies of God’s intervention on behalf of His people impact my life and faith. When I am in a similar circumstance, they give me the faith to believe that what the Lord has done for another He will also do for me. They are testimonies of His goodness, kindness and mercy. David’s experiences with God’s faithful protection of him with the lion, the bear, the giant Goliath and King Saul’s assignment to kill him encouraged him in other times of trial. “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Then he continues to encourage us, “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” Psalm 27:13-14. Out of his personal experiences with the Lord, David is preaching and encouraging us thousands of years later!
The testimonies in the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) encourage us that Jesus is truly the only Way, Truth and Life and that He is the only door to Heaven. We understand that by accepting and believing in His blood sacrifice, His redemption is the only thing that keeps us from God’s judgment!
When we walk with the Lord continually, faithfully trusting in Him and His word (testimony), we will have encounters with Him like Moses, Abraham, Jacob and David had. We will experience the Lord parting the “sea” of problems for our breakthrough. We will understand that the God who protected David as he walked through the “valley of the shadow of death” has also protected us and will continue to do so. We will know that fear cannot overwhelm us because the Lord has delivered us from the spirit of fear because we “submitted to Him, resisted the devil and he had to flee” from us!
One of my favorite testimonies happened two years ago while hiking a trail behind our house. We had been hiking for over an hour and had turned to go back toward home. My husband and I were talking. I raised my foot to take a step and looked down at the ground. Right beneath my foot was a venomous copperhead snake. I jumped backward as I yelled “snake”! My heart was racing. The snake was the exact same coloring as the soil and rocks it rested on. I just “happened” to see his three-dimensional body when I looked down. I was praising the Lord for helping me see the snake before it was too late. Fear tried to grip me as I continued to walk so I asked the Lord to take away the fear. He spoke to me so clearly, “You don’t have to be afraid, I am your Keeper. I kept you from stepping on that snake.” I knew the name Keeper was in the Bible so when I returned home I looked in my Bible concordance. I found Psalm 121. It’s all about the Lord who is our Keeper. Fear of snakes left me immediately and I continue to hike without any fear or reservation.
“My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip or to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold He who keeps Israel will neither slumber not sleep. The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” Psalm 121:2-8.
Now that we have our own personal testimonies we must remember them, write them down and repeat them to others. This continues to build our faith and the faith of those who hear our testimonies. Each time we face another dilemma we will find victory because we have already experienced God’s powerful intervention in our lives several times before. Like David, we will encourage ourselves in the power of the Lord, the love of God and His goodness toward all who believe. We will know that we are not alone and that the Lord hears our cry for help. We will also know that if we sin, forgiveness and mercy are ours through repentance.
Our testimony is irrefutable and it is the proof that the God we serve is the God of the Bible. Our testimony then inspires others to believe what He has done for us, He will do for them. Through the faith built by our encounters with God, we grow in our trust in the Lord. Therefore, when trouble comes, we know we can confidently and boldly go before His throne of grace to appeal for help. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and from throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9a.
The testimonies of the Acts of the Apostles profoundly encourage believers that we are all called to walk in the righteousness of Christ, evoking His authority and power by using His Name. My husband and I have ministered in Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, Kazakhstan, India, Kenya and Tanzania experiencing the same promises Jesus made in the Bible testimonies. We have seen healings, deliverances and lives changed by preaching the testimonies of Jesus, the Old and New Testament along with our own encounters with the Lord.
Jesus told the Apostle John how believers would overcome all the temptations, fears and power of Satan in their lives, in the Book of Revelation. “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 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.
As the end of the age draws near, the battle for faith is still raging. The devil who is the accuser of the brethren in the courts of the Lord will no longer have a voice when the church arises to its destiny of oneness with God and Christ through holiness. Because of the power of His Grace, our faith in the Blood of the Lamb, the word of our Testimony and our willingness to die for the faith, we will become more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.
Our testimony has great power. It affirms the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and inspires not only ourselves but others to believe in Him. It is a shield of faith which protects and upholds us during times of great testing and trials. It stands as a testament of God’s intervention in our lives and our intimate relationship with Him. Our testimony is the Book of Acts which is continuing throughout the history of the Church! It may not be written in a book or the Bible, but it is being continually written on the hearts of mankind.
We are called to be a living testimony of the goodness, mercy, faithfulness, truth and love of God. Our lives are to be examples of His righteousness and holiness. There is only one life-transforming testimony and that is the Bible which is still being written and recorded in heaven through our real encounters with the Living God.
“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.”
