Can I get a testimony????

Definition of testimony - Merriam-Webster On-Line Dictionary
Firsthand authentication of a fact
An outward sign
An open acknowledgment
A public profession of religious experience

When I was young....oh, so many years ago...and I would hear people talk about their testimony...I often wondered when I would have one. I always thought that meant getting up in church and telling what the Lord had done for you. It took me a while to realize that sometimes your biggest testimony is the life you live. As I look back over all the great heroes of the Bible, I think about their testimony. I think about Moses and how he so wanted to see God and how God presented to him the Ten Commandments. What a testimony Moses had!! I just can't imagine that he would ever stop talking about the parting of the Red Sea and how God had taken care of him and the Israelites for so many years!!! And, what about Jonah? Poor Jonah...he actually thought he could run from God. Have you ever felt that way? Like maybe God didn't know what you were doing, or saying, or how you were acting...or what sin you were committing!!! I've "been there, done that", as the saying goes!!! Can't you just hear Jonah trying to explain how it felt being in the belly of the fish for 3 days?!? And, Noah....God chose Noah and his family because "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord"....so, to me, that meant Noah had a wonderful testimony and that's why God chose him...even though he was ridiculed, He knew that God had a plan and he kept on doing just what God directed him to do. There were so many great men....and women....in the Bible who had such a great testimony that God inspired the writers to keep an official record of it. But, there are many people today who have a wonderful testimony of their own. I had a Sunday School teacher...Ms. Mildred...who still is one of my greatest heroes. She was my teacher for so many years and she taught me so much about the Bible. I still have a couple of the little pins that she got us when we would learn certain scripture. One has a BL on it for Bible Learners...and the other one a TS for Truth Seekers. I wouldn't take anything for those little pins. She would ask each of us to take a Sunday to teach. I can remember to this day sitting in a lawn chair in the yard reading my Bible and being so scared about teaching the following Sunday. I can't remember a thing about that Sunday morning...just reading my Bible getting ready for it!!! Then, she went on to be Jess' SS teacher, too!!! Ms. Mildred lost her husband...and just recently lost her daughter to cancer...but, her faith remains strong!!! What I value most is that God put her in my life at a young age and the influence she had on me with her own testimony!!!

And, Pappy....a lot of people don't get to see the side of him that some of you get to witness on Wednesday nights. Don't you think it's okay for me to use my blog to brag a little on him? He knows so much about Bible trivia. He can usually answer the Bible question that's given to us on Wednesday nights as soon as Pastor Dallas asks it. (and, yes Pastor Dallas will be back this week...with a question...YIPPEE!!!) So many times I ask Pap where such and such is at in the Bible...okay, I know I should look it up myself, but...it's so much easier to ask him!!! What a testimony he has that God has given him a gift of remembrance...and He shares it with others...especially me!!! All of us have a testimony....it took me years to understand that. You don't always have to hold a position in the church....I think God calls some people to just show up and be faithful, which in itself is a testimony. Others need to be verbal about what God has done and continues to do for them. Still others are to hold positions that share their spiritual gifts God has given them like teaching, singing, playing a musical instrument, being a deacon, or being a pastor. All some people have to do is live a life that reflects that there is something so different about them....they handle themselves so well in times of crisis, or disappointment...that it makes others wonder where their strength comes from....and then we realize that strength like that can only come from the Lord!!!

So...never think that you don't have a testimony. Live your life as if everybody is watching and taking notes...because whether you realize it, or not....somebody is!!!

I Corinthians 1:4-7 (NKJV)
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In His Love...and with mine!!!