A Testimony Used to Glorify God

In today’s LGG devotion (Available on YouVersion, my friends), I found this worthy-to-be-shared quote.

“What has God done in your life that you need to share with others who are struggling through difficult circumstances? When was the last time you shared your testimony? Will you share God with someone who does not know Him today?”

The Testimony Weaved into Our Past

Our past is an important part of our testimony. When Paul came to Christ, everyone., and I do mean everyone, knew what he was – before Jesus happened in his life.

Paul, a persecutor of the Church.

It’s not what he was, that is the significant part.

It is what he had become.

In our own lives, we need to share with others what God has done in our lives. We can’t keep our pasts or God-given accomplishments, to ourselves.

Noticing the Power of God

In Galatians 1:23, he wrote:

“All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” And they praised God because of me (vv. 23-24, NLT).”

The work God did in our lives, and the lives of others are important!

It is not something we can just ignore.

We need to celebrate the g o o d work God has done in your life, and my life.

Since celebrating God’s good work in our lives begins
with sharing our testimony, how can you celebrate
your God-given testimony?

Glorifying God

This God-breathed Scripture reveals exactly why we can’t hide our past. It glorifies the devil when we keep our past and other things hidden. We need to start sharing with the world, one person at a time, how God has revealed Himself and worked in our lives!

Our lives and testimonies bring glory to God. One way He gets the glory is when we allow others to know how He has revealed His power in us – in the course of our lives. We don’t just need to share with others, but we need to remind ourselves too.

What has God done in your life? Take some time to reminisce.

Reflecting with David

In Psalm 119:57-60, David points his spirit to God. He acknowledges God as his source of security. A lot of times, we put our security in other things. However, David acknowledged God as his security. In this small passage, there is this little verse that catches my eye – “I consider my actions and follow your rules (vv. 59, NLT).”

Where have my actions led me?
How important is it to follow the commands of the Lord?

Source of Security

When we realize God as our source of security, that’s the point when our lives go from “persecutor (or our old self – I am using Paul’s example here) to “preacher (or entering a new life of consistently walking with God and seeking to please Him in our daily lives). There is much goodness in these few verses to dwell upon, so let’s get started!

Take time to spend with the Lord, thinking upon all
the good things He has done in your life
(and the lives of those around you).

Today’s Scriptures: Galatians 1:18-24; Psalm 119:57-60 
Further Reading: Psalm 136

Psalm 119:25-27

I can relate to the psalmist this morning when he says…

“I lie in the dust; revive me by your word (vv.25, NLT).”

My anxiety-filled heart leaves me lying in the gutter (or dust). It appears throughout Scripture that David knew what that was like. He had opposition within and on the outside. But David doesn’t just lie there. He doesn’t dwell on his circumstances. He does something else, instead.

He prays.

While his mortal body clings to the ground, David clung to the Most High God. In our circumstances, we need to learn to imitate David in this. We can face circumstances, but allow our focus to be on revival brought on by the Lord.

Quickened

In the KJV, it says “quicken”. When my anxiety-filled heart prays, “quicken” would be an accurate word of choice. I want God to rescue me, now, and I don’t want to wait to reap whatever eternal benefit that is provided by God not immediately taking me out of the circumstance.

David, though, prays for God to revive him. His prayer is about his spirit, not his circumstance.

How often do we allow our spirit’s needs to
take priority in our prayer lives, versus
the circumstances we find ourselves in?

Prayer Focus

In my own life, I know I can testify that I don’t allow my spiritual needs to take priority in my life. My conversations with the Lord tend to revolve around other things. I am sure you can relate. Maybe, it is time for a change.

Our spirit’s need are far greater than significant physical needs we have. We don’t see the effects of not putting our spiritual needs, first, or at least not initially. By not putting our spiritual needs first, we slowly waste away versus experiencing renewal like it talks about in 2 Cor. 4:16. Where is the spiritual renewal?

Our prayers need to be centered around Christ and our relationship with Him. He wants to meet both needs – the temporary and eternal, the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Because, God truly cares! We cannot miss the importance of bringing to God in prayer our spiritual needs. It is part of the investing process. Our spirits are what last (see 2 Cor. 4:16).

What are we doing to actively take care of
our spirits, their needs, and nurture our
relationship with Jesus – our Savior?

God Hears

As David prays, God hears his prayer.

See the truth is, God wants to revive our broken and distracted spirits. He wants to teach us His commands and give us understanding (see James 1:5). He wants to share with us His treasures.

The Effect of David’s Prayer

And as a result of his prayer, David would experience a deeper walk with his God and so can we. God wants to touch our lives in a mighty way with His Awesome power!

It is in Jesus, we finally experience the most refreshing life we will have ever experienced. 

For David, he would grasp the power of God. With understanding comes, the desire to think upon the miracles of God. That is something he would not be able to self-contain, it would explode his witness. Having the Spirit of God inside him, God would use David as one of His witnesses (see Acts 1:8) to passionately speak His truth.

This is what can happen in our own lives.

This shows the significance of prayer.

Prayer changes lives.

How are we committing ourselves to bring
our spiritual needs to God through prayer?
This is where spiritual life begins!

Discipleship Journal – Day 217

Luke 14:15-24; 1 Timothy 3:11-16; Proverbs 5; Ezra 7

Luke. The greatest blessing we can have, is to experience the kingdom of God! So many miss out. They will live with many regrets, because their lives is filled with excuses for why they refused God. What excuses do we have? What are our reasons for not giving God complete obedience? “Partial obedience is disobedience”. Better for us to be the poorest in this world and experience God’s kingdom, than to be of great worldly power and completely miss out. We need to go out and share the Gospel with whoever will listen! At the coming judgment, will we be one of those who accept the invitation and prepare ourselves with the garment of Christ? Or, will we be the ones who had excuses that are “more important” than what we should have been about? There is still room at the cross of Jesus Christ, come drink the salvation we have been given. Scripture reminds us that all have sinned, and we all need Jesus. He came to take away the sin of the world, if we will allow Him to be our cure!

1 Timothy. Paul states “I am writing you now so you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God (vs. 15)”. We need to pay attention to what chapter 3 states. It says much about how we are to conduct ourselves in our daily lives. The mystery of godliness is great. Because of Christ alone, we should pursue these things. “Live a life worthy of the calling”. Is what we are living for, worth Christ dying for?

Proverbs. “Just because it feels good, doesn’t mean it is”. Why associate with people who do not know the path of life? This passage clearly about adultery. We need to listen carefully, and show discernment. There are so many consequence experienced, by committing adultery. So much hurt. This proverb even reminds us that we lose honor. God designed sex for marriage between a man and a woman. Much tragedy occurs when sex is experienced outside of marriage. So many broken homes and souls, because of a moment where two people lacked self-control. This proverb shows how important wisdom is, for single and married folks alike!
Noteworthy Scripture: 15-16, 18-19, 21

Ezra. God’s hand was upon Ezra, for he determined to study and obey God’s law and teach it to the people of Israel! King Artaxerxes issued a decree, so that Ezra and the Temple of the Lord are given all that they need. God used King Artaxerxes and the royal treasuries to provide! In the letter, Ezra is told to use the wisdom God has given him, for he knows the law of God! Do we seek God’s Word? Do we commit it to memory, and seek to obey God’s Word? Do we seek to teach God’s Word to others?
Noteworthy Scripture: 6, 9-10, 14, 16, 20, 25

Discipleship Journal – Day 206 (OT)

Luke 12:49-59; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-18; Psalm 150; 2 Chronicles 34-36

Psalm. Gratitude is what most of the Psalms are centered around. There is tragedy. Some psalms go from asking God why, to a praise offering. Today, in our last Psalm, it focuses on praising the Lord. It shows the importance of praising God in everything. Scripture says that it’s God’s will to praise Him in all circumstances. The book of Psalms demonstrate this point very clearly! We have so many reasons to praise God. We have been given so many good gifts from the Father! We have breath in our lungs, created fearfully and wonderfully by God, and have many reasons to praise Him!
See 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Matthew 7:11; Psalm 150:6

2 Chronicles. Josiah rules in Judah. He began seeking God, and purifying Judah and Jerusalem. He destroyed all the pagan shrines and other instruments used to refuse God. He repaired the temple of the Lord, and many gifts were given in the people for the renovation of the temple of the Lord. God’s law is found! When we read His Word, do we contemplate on the parts that we haven’t followed? When Josiah hear the law of the Lord, that is what he thought about. Help me to faithfully follow You, Lord! Help me to obey Your Word! The entire community met together, and heard the Word of the Lord! While Josiah was king, the entire land of Israel did not turn away from the Lord! That is huge, and such a blessing to have a leader like that!

Josiah led, and the Passover was kept by all of the people. What a “pleasing aroma” that must have been to God. It makes me think of Jesus, my Passover lamb. Though it must have been very difficult for God to send His son Jesus Christ to the cross for our sins, but He loves the world He created so much, that He did it. We have verses about how God delights over us, sings for joy about us, and other things. I cannot fathom God’s love or why He would sacrifice so much for me, but I am soo glad that He did! His free gift of eternal life is only available if we accept Him as Lord and Savior. Much like a life-vest, you must utilize the resource!

I wanted to share a little bit from the New Testament:

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.
For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
1 Corinthians 5:7

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29

God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now
revealed him to you in these last days. Through Christ you have come to trust
in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised
Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
1 Peter 1:20-21

Will we turn to Him now, while He is near? Because the people of Israel continually rejected God, that’s why Babylon came against Israel. They brought on their own destruction. There is so much heartache that exists there, but there is also a reason for it. Will you reject God, or turn to Him right now? We all need Him! All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!

Discipleship Journal – Day 201

Luke 11:37-54; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-12; Psalm 145; 2 Chronicles 20-21

Luke: Jesus makes a point to tell the Pharisees that they need to pursue inner purity. That should take priority over the outer layer. It’s not that we are to neglect the outer (our physical body), but that the spiritual is much more important than the physical. While the Pharisees may have looked like they had it all together on the outside, on the inside they were a mess: full of greed and wickedness! Just as the Pharisees thought they were on a roll despite being about the wrong things, we too must be careful and listen to Jesus’ words. His Words should remind us of our need to check ourselves, and see where we are.

What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key
to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves,
and you prevent others from entering. (Luke 11:52)

The Pharisees ignored justice, the love of God, and instead seek others’ attention. Jesus calls them hidden graves, because spiritually-they were dead. They may know God’s law, but they do nothing to lift the burdens they have placed upon others (see 11:46). They refused Jesus’ words many times. Will we be careful to listen?  (See Matthew 11:15-17)
Noteworthy Scripture: 11:40-41

2 Thessalonians: Judgement will come upon all who do not know God and refused to obey the Good News of Jesus Christ. Believe on Jesus Christ- accepting Him as your Lord and Savior, and be saved today! We have a choice, but the consequences of turning away from the Lord are far too great! On the day Jesus returns, He will receive glory from His holy people. Let this encourage us to continue to seek Jesus and learn from Him- may we be encouraged all the more to live out our calling and pray for others to do the same. “Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ!” (1:12)

Psalm:  

• Praise His name, every day (145:2).
• Retell of God’s great deeds in your life (145:4).
• Meditate on His Word (see 145:5).
• Sing with joy (145:7).
• Stay mindful of God’s examples of His power (145:11).

2 Chronicles: Jehoshaphat learns of the war impeding against him, and begins to fervently pray. Even ordering everyone in Judah to begin fasting. A whole community seeking God together, in this troubling time.  God answers Jehoshaphat’s prayer, and God remained to be the One who fought their battle! While at the end, Jehoshaphat sought after God. He wasn’t always faithful in seeking God’s face. He didn’t remove shrines, and even made alliance with the wicked King Ahaziah of Israel.

Jehoram was different than his father. He built shrines to pagan gods. He killed his brothers. Jehoram did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. Because Jehoram refused to follow God, the Edomites and Libnah revolted against Judah and their king, Jehoram. Through Elijah, God rebuked Jehoram. What are we living for? Are we seeking to follow the Lord alone? What kind of example are we leaving our children, nieces, and nephews, our future generations?