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Every Friday I join a community of bloggers for Five Minute Friday. One word prompt, five minutes. Unedited. The prompt this week is … Testimony.

Testimony has been defined as an open declaration or statement. We tend to use it more in terms of evidence in support of a fact in a court of law.

John, in writing the epistles, wanted to make sure people for all time would be sure of what he was writing:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
(1 John 1:1-3, NIV)

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.(1 John 4:14, NIV)

Growing up in the church, I remember there being a portion of the service dedicated to “testimonies” ”“ when individuals were given opportunity to share about how God was at work in their life.

Testimonies ”“ our stories ”“ they matter.

They triumphed over him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
(Revelation 12:11, NIV)

Our testimonies, our stories, become the means by which we overcome and defeat the enemy of our souls. Satan would love for nothing better than to destroy or mar our testimonies.

He works at trying to make our testimonies ineffective because He knows they wield a powerful effect when combined with God’s Word. Our stories can encourage others, infusing them with hope, as they hear of God’s work in our lives.

May our stories tell not of our own achievements but of God’s power at work in, and through, our situations.

“Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the results of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.”
(Smith Wigglesworth)

 

Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash
Today I may be joining … Five Minute Friday and Grace & Truth .