Devotional Songs: ... GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Marilyn McCoo singing the poignant song… My Tribute [To God Be The Glory], proclaim her testimony of how God saved and raised her … and THEN TO THIS LINK ... to hear Alan Jackson singing Blessed Assurance [This Is My Story] … sing his story of praise to God for His saving/sanctifying grace … two singing testimonies to our Lord!!
Highlight Passage 1st Timothy 1: 12-27 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul’s testimony (story) of how God’s grace changed him
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Highlight Context - 1st Timothy, Chapter 1[NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul on standing for the faith … to Timothy his young protege and the Pastor in Ephesus
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Reference Passage #1 - Psalm 145: 6 [NKJV] …
6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness.
… David declares his willingness to give witness and testify to God’s greatness.
Reference Passage #2 - Acts 1: 8 [NKJV] …
8 “… But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
… Jesus declares that He will give us the power to go an be His witness - as He also commissions His disciples in Matthew 28: 18-20. … We are to “go” and tell His story within our story to all who will listen.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Poh Fang Chia, told a story to his readers (me) of a young man who discovered the power of his testimony when he was asked to share it to men in prison. He was shocked at the impact his story had on others … of how God had transformed his life.
And that ODB story reminded me of how I finally got the courage to share my story with one other young man online, telling him of how God had taken the brokenness of my past addiction to sexual sin and turned me from a “victim” to a “victor” in Christ. I simply shared my story (i.e., my testimony) openly and honestly with this new online friend; and he came back and asked me how God had done what He did for me. And when I shared my story more deeply with him, he began to implement what I said; … and his life changed. From that moment on I recognized that when I was willing to share my true story, openly and honestly with others, they could identify with my brokenness and would seek after the transforming power of Christ, Who had been merciful enough to give me the grace to walk free from obsessive/compulsive sin.
The Apostle Paul recognized the power of his story as well when he was mentoring the young and timid Timothy who was becoming the new Pastor of the church Paul had helped found in Ephesus. If you go to the highlight passages, linked above, Chapter 1 of his letter to Timothy, you will read how Paul shares his story of deliverance, power, and change with Timothy. … And really, isn’t the whole Bible God’s story of His plan for the deliverance and empowerment of mankind through His Son,… our Savior, … Jesus?
So, realizing the power of a “Jesus saves” story on others … why don’t we pray that God will give us the opportunity to share our own, personal, story of how Jesus has transformed or empowered our lives … as soon as He gives us the opportunity … maybe today!!
My Prayer Today: Oh Lord, … Please use our willingness to share our story, which is the story of Your grace, with someone else … maybe today!! Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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