Are you one of us?

Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.
Acts 16:16

The Book of Acts or which is sometimes called The Acts of the Apostles is a book about the "New Testament Church" and was written by Luke. The same Luke who wrote the Gospel according to Luke. Aside from that, I am no longer too familiar with Luke's background. You can read a background article about him in Wikipedia here.

Before the verse above, the Book of Acts was purely story telling of an author about certain group of People from The Pentecost, to Stephen's martyrdom, to Saul's Conversion to Paul and a lot more: everything was purely a story told by a third person/party.

Until we reached Acts 16:16 when the author said "WE". At first Luke was just writing and storytelling the story which was rightly so because he's a historian and a historian writes histories. But blessedly, he didn't stop to just tell stories and do what a historian is expected to do. He joined Paul and the rest of the disciples. He took part. He become part of them.

Let's try to ask ourselves, how many times do we limit ourselves to our skills, talents and profession that we forget that in the ministry, you don't do things alone or on your own in fact it's God who works in you and through you for His glory only if we allow him to. We therefore only serve as an instrument. Luke is a historian. He can just choose to write and tell history. Plus he's being used mightily in that area. He can just stay where he is. But no! He didn't stop there! He eventually joined and took part.

That's the beauty of it! Christians should always look for more ways how he can be used by God more. Not just what he has given now, but what more he can give for God's glory! That's exactly what Luke did.

Regarding the Great Commission which tells us to make disciples all over the world. How many times have we just given the responsibility to the few missionaries and pastors out there in the field to do the work? Let's ask ourselves: are we using our profession to join in fulfilling the Great Commission of our Lord in our own little way? Let's be like Luke who was not contented in just sharing what he had seen but also joined and became a part of the History.

Yes! Let's all be history makers and not just writers.

Now, ARE YOU ONE OF US?

Many Believed because of One Testimony

John 4:39 (NIV)

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”

Reflection:

This is a follow-up post to Make Known what God has Done Testify for the Lord. On that post, I encouraged everyone to testify in the comments field and so far 8 people had now made a difference and made known to the world wide web how God had been good to them. Praise the Lord! You can still leave your testimony, just click here.

Today, we'll learn how a testimony of a woman made a lot of people believed in Jesus Christ.

In the preceding verses (John 4:1-26), the woman had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. In that encounter the woman realized and believed that Jesus is the promised Messiah they've all been waiting for. This encounter was then used by God to invite all other Samaritans to believe in Jesus Christ!

Just like this woman, each of us had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. It can be an answered prayer or getting healed from a sickness or being rescued from danger or being victorious over addiction or a struggle. These encounters can vary from one person to another but I'm sure they're all amazing and great! Wouldn't you agree?

What made the people believed?

The woman testified! (John 4:29) Even how amazing your experiences are with God, if you don't share it, only you will be blessed by it. If you don't testify then no one else will hear it and no one else will believe. If we're wondering why our friends and family haven't believed in the Lord Jesus Christ yet, maybe we haven't testified about how God had been good to our lives.

Just say it! Just testify and God will do the rest!

Published by: Your Daily Word

Make Known what God has Done | Testify for the Lord

1 Chronicles 16:8 (New International Version)

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

Reflection:

Testimonies are very important! In a court trial when somebody stands as a witness, the testimony is almost irrevocable except if another witness goes against the testimony or when the witness takes back his Word.

I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ through the testimony of others. My faith grew and became stronger also because of the testimony of others. The testimony of a Christian is God's love letter to everyone who hears it. It is one if not "the" way of spreading the GOOD NEWS of God.

If you read the Book of Acts, we see Paul, Peter and all other apostles telling and sharing their testimonies before going on in sharing what Jesus Christ has done. Indeed testimonies make the people relate to the gospel. Testimonies reinforce the gospel. Testimonies highlight the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ!

God said when you receive good things from me or when some good thing happened in your life, GIVE THANKS! But God didn't end up there, he continued saying, "MAKE KNOWN AMONG THE NATIONS WHAT I HAVE DONE!". A lot us remember to thank GOD but a lot of us keep it to ourselves.

Today, I encourage you to leave your testimonies in the comments field.
Make known to the world wide web what He had done in your life! Through these testimonies, God is glorified and you can bless your brothers and sisters as well!

Praise the Lord for these People who have Testified so far:
Alexander
Kay of ChristianBlog
Cindy of God Nuggets Blog
tkwi of Palm Branch Dreams
Thomas Slater of -Life of Thomas-
Sign Net Dollars

Larry of The Love Commandment

Recommended Readings:

Be a Worker for The LORD




Published by: Your Daily Word