What is your Testimony

1. What is your Testimony What is a testimony?     A testimony is a true story about what God has done in your life. Not just a salvation story     God is at work in our lives before, during and after our conversion.  Every true believer has many testimonies. All different varieties     Some testimonies are flashy and even miraculous.  Others are quiet, but deeply moving.  Some are hilarious.  Testimonies come in many different forms because God is always on the cutting edge with some new twist, some new way of expressing His unchangeable goodness. Why they have power     Testimonies have power because God can use them to engage our emotions and strengthen our faith.  You can study about God all day long, but His awesome qualities take on a whole new dimension when we see them played out in the lives of His people. Conflict -- the key element     Testimonies, like any other story, derive their punch from the conflict.  Someone shared this proverb with me:  "You gotta play close to the ball if you expect to score any points."  In the same way, you need to focus your story on the conflict if people are going to be interested in it.  What were you wrestling with?  Fear?  Hardship?  Sickness?  Addiction?  Loneliness?  Whatever it was, nearly every line of your testimony will focus on how that conflict affected you and/or how God intervened and resolved the conflict. Essential ingredients Almost every testimony has four essential ingredients. 1.  The problem.  What kind of trouble were you facing?  How did it affect you?  How did it feel to be in that trouble.  How did that trouble get played out in your life. 2.  The solution(s) that doesn't work.  Continue with your unsuccessful attempts to resolve the problem or difficulty.  At this stage, things often go from bad to worse.  As we run out of alternatives and hope, the problem is revealed as something much bigger than we are, or, at least, bigger than we thought it was. 3.  God intervenes.  God creatively intervenes.  He may remove the problem.  He may grant us some paradigm shift that changes how the problem affects us.  He may bring people into our lives that help bear our burdens.  He might bring perfect peace into a storm of turmoil, or overflowing joy into a pit of grief.  The options available to God are endless. 4.  The take away.  What I discovered about God, about His love, and/or about who I am in Christ -- and how that affects my life today. Christ-centered     Testimonies are about what God has done in our lives, not about what we did for God.  They are about God's success, not our success.  We want the reader to be in awe about God and not about us. Length:     Testimonies can be a paragraph long, a page long, five pages long, a hundred or more pages long.

2. The guide line for our testimony 2 Corinthians 1:12For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.2 Corinthians 1:11-13 (in Context) 2 Corinthians 1 (Whole Chapter) The Lords has a testimony Psalm 19:7The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple Be not ashamed of our testimony 2 Timothy 1:8Be not thou therefore ashamedof the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Must Sound Off to others Psalm 119:88Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimonyof thy mouth.Psalm 119:87-89 (in Context) Psalm 119 (Whole Chapter) Share what Christ has done for you 1 Corinthians 1:6Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:1 Corinthians 1:5-7 (in Context) 1 Corinthians 1 (Whole Chapter)

3. God will put people before you Psalm 119:46I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.Psalm 119:45-47 (in Context) Psalm 119 (Whole Chapter) Our Life is a Testimony to others Matthew 8:4And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.Matthew 8:3-5 (in Context) Matthew 8 (Whole Chapter) Teach our Children by Testimony Psalm 132:12 If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.Psalm 132:11-13 (in Context) Psalm 132 (Whole Chapter) The average middle class father spends less than 5 minutes a day speaking to his child, but the TV speaks an average of 30 hr/wk Your Testimony will not be accepted by all Mark 6:11And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.Mark 6:10-12 (in Context) Mark 6 (Whole Chapter)

4. Your Testimony will cause God to be Pleased Hebrews 11:5By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God Delight in peoples hearts Psalm 119:24Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.Psalm 119:23-25 (in Context) Psalm 119 (Whole Chapter) Rejoicing in peoples hearts Psalm 119:111Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.Psalm 119:110-112 (in Context) Psalm 119 (Whole Chapter Others to Mediate on the Lord Psalm 119:99I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.Psalm 119:98-100 (in Context) Psalm 119 (Whole Chapter

5. 30 question to help you • 30 questions to help you unlock powerful testimonies you can share with others • How did God show up for you in a time of need? • How has God enabled you to overcome hardship, oppression and adversity for yourself and others? • What did God do with your failed dreams or other disappointments? • How has God healed you or given you special grace in a time of sickness? • How did God arrange recovery from a crisis? • How did God respond to your rebellion? • How has God changed your perceptions of the church, of life or of Himself? • How did God meet you in times of grief and sorrow? • How has God revealed His sense of humor, bring light moments in a dark world? • What epiphany, paradigm shift, or life lesson has God taught you, and what is the story behind it? • How has God given you the strength to overcome life-controlling issues? • How have you received direction or redirection from God? • Where you ever in a situation where you needed God to show up -- otherwise you were sunk?  What happened? • In John 15:5 we learn that apart from Christ we can do nothing.  How has that played out in your life? • How has God enriched your marriage, family, career, or finances? • How did God bring you to Himself? • How has God used mentors in your life? • How has God brought success out of humble beginnings? • How did God enable you to stand firm when you were tempted to sin or to compromise your faith? • How did God use a turning point in your life? • What has God taught you about living the Christian life, and how did He do it? • How have you received direction from God?  Have you ever received direction from God in an unusual way? • How has God changed your values and your perspective? • How have you found God's grace in painful situations? • How have you found God's strength in a time of weakness? • How has God rescued you from danger? • How has God brought peace to you concerning troubling questions about your faith? • What has God taught you about problems you couldn't fix? • How has God enabled you to deal with lies about you or threats to your reputation? • How has God turned disaster around for good for you?