Overcoming by your Testimony

Testimony

Like most of my posts, this started off while I was musing – this time on recent meetings over in Denmark. At nearly all the meetings we had over there, so there was a testimony or two. Every week at my old church back in Guildford on Sunday evenings, there was Pastor saying, “Right – let’s have some testimonies.” Testimonies build faith; they encourage; they edify the listeners; they are our Christian “feel good factor”. It is the first thing a new Christian is urged to do – ‘tell someone of your decision to follow Jesus’. Testimony builds and uplifts the speaker as much as the hearer.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” Revelation 12:11 NKJV WOW - Look at that! They overcame him (Satan, the devil, the enemy) by the word of their testimony. Incredible isn’t it?

So, what exactly, is testimony? In a nutshell, it is the story of something God has done for us. It is our personal experience of God and of His goodness or kindness towards us.

Why give or tell of our testimony? We give testimony or testify in order to encourage, edify, lift up, and build the faith of those hearing our words.

Satan, our old enemy, is always trying to talk us down. The Bible says he prowls round like a lion seeking whom he may kill or destroy. Testimony is one of our great weapons against Satan’s discouragements. The text says that they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.

Testimony in the hands of a good speaker can be happy, sad, poignant, tear-jerking, serious, or funny. I remember one speaker at a Full Gospel Businessman’s Fellowship meeting. He spoke for around 90 minutes. In that time he must have given 20 to 30 short testimonies in between making at least as many serious points. On several occasions, he had us on the edge of our seats waiting to hear the outcome, but twice he had the entire audience rolling around laughing. He made his points one at a time and underlined them with relevant testimonies. I remember 7 or 8 young men gave their lives to Christ at that meeting – the testimonies worked. They did their job of building up, edifying, convincing, and overcoming doubts.

My own testimony is part serious, part poignant, and part amusing – but it’s a testimony of what God has done throughout my life. Yours is like that too. When you remember the good times, the bad times, the happy and the sad times, then you realise just how much God has done for you. There’s probably a book in most people if you’d just take the time to put it all down in writing or on your computer.

Yes – Testimony heals, it casts out doubt, it convinces, it builds up, it remembers all that God has done for others - and it dares us to believe that God will do the same for us.

Get your testimony ready, as God knows someone who needs to hear it.