1. The character of God
2. The sinfulness of man
3. The sufficiency of Christ
4. The necessity of faith
5. The urgency of eternity
The purpose of these teachings is to identify these Gospel truths and weave them into our daily interactions with the people around us so that when people look us, they see Jesus. This past week we were talking about the fourth thread: the necessity of faith. Our pastor pointed out that every single Christ follower has a story of coming to faith and that as followers of Jesus, we need to know our stories and be ready to share them. So he challenged us to write out our testimonies. Not our life stories, but our actual testimonies of how we came to faith in Jesus Christ. After we write them out, we are supposed to email them in and either a pastor or an elder is going to pray over each testimony that comes in, that God would use the power of His grace and sovereignty in that person's testimony to open the eyes of those who don't know Christ and to bring glory to His name.
As he was preaching, an idea came to me. What if we did something similar here? What if people from all over the place could send in their testimonies about the saving grace of Jesus in their lives? And what if we shared them with the world? How incredible would that be? A place where people could come and read about how Jesus Christ revealed Himself to people. Each of us has a different story, and it is a story that needs to be told. This is how the Gospel is spread and how people come to salvation through Christ Jesus.
So if you are reading this and you do know Jesus, would you consider sending in your testimony? You would be reaching the nations, following the Great Commission in Matthew 28. The only requirement is that you are a follower of Jesus Christ.
Oh, I hope and pray that you will consider sharing the story of God's grace in your life. It is the best story we have to tell.
I know it wouldn't be right for me to ask something of you that I am not willing to do myself, so I want to share my testimony with you. Again, this isn't my life story, and I am not going to talk about everything that God has done in my life since saving me. That is what all of my other posts are for! I am going to tell you about the best thing He has ever done for me. This is the story of how God looked down on me, and instead of judging me --though I was guilty in my sin-- He covered me with the blood of Jesus.
Like many people, the Lord richly blessed me by allowing me
to grow up in a Christian home with Godly parents. I cannot remember a time in
my life when I did not know Christ. I do know that when I was 14 years old, the
Lord opened my eyes to the truth that just because I thought I was a good
person did not mean that I needed His grace any less. You see, I was a really
well-behaved girl. I listened to my parents, followed the rules. And I let that
get to my head. Satan used my good behavior to lead me into the lie that I
could do it on my own. I believed that I was good enough for God and that He "liked" me because I made good choices. The sin of pride took a deep root in my heart. When I was 14 years old I was on a church retreat with
my youth group when God spoke to me. He used one of the speakers at the
retreat, a gang-banger and drug-runner, to open my eyes to the truth. God spoke
to my heart and told me that the same grace that was required to save this
man’s soul was required to save mine. I did not need less grace simply because
I followed the rules. It was at that moment that I realized the depth of my
depravity before a holy and righteous God. I prayed and asked the Lord to
forgive my arrogance and pride. And He did. He changed my heart, and I now know
that any good that might come from my life is a result of His grace alone. I
have to die to myself daily in this department, but I am trying. I want to live
for Him and Him alone. For as long as I can remember, my favorite Bible verse
has been Philippians 3:8. It reads, “What is more, I consider everything a loss
when compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose
sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ.” I
try to live this out each day and always remember that I am a new creation in
Christ. He has washed me clean. Before
realizing the depth of my sin and great need for the grace of Christ, I had a
whole lot of plans and dreams for my life. But God has met none of those
expectations. He has surpassed them. He has turned my life upside-down. He has helped me trade my weak, human dreams for
grand, heavenly dreams. It doesn’t always make sense to me, and it is not
always easy, but I know that my God is good.
If you are interested in sharing your testimony, please email me at heritagefromthelord@gmail.com with the following information:
-Your name (You can let me know if you would like to remain anonymous online.)
-A few sentences of background information about you for me to post with your testimony
-Your actual testimony (just paste it in the body of your email)
I am going to try to post a testimony every Tuesday for as long as they come in. So hopefully I will have something for you next week!
Thank you so much for joining me in this! I think this is something that God will use to reach people all over the world. Let's boast about His lavish love and grace!
"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And, behold, I am with you always, to end of the age.'"
Matthew 28:18-20
Love,
Baylor
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