testimony

I was minding my own business yesterday, getting ready to go to the service at Beth Simcha, when I noticed the calendar in my room. When I saw it, I noticed that the dates on the calendar  are falling on the same exact dates as they did in 2008 (at least for January and February). And when I noticed that, the first thing I did was give a quick prayer of thanks to God for bringing me through that trial and ordeal.

So why do I keep remembering something that happened five years ago....other than the fact that it was a near-death experience; my ordeal gave me something that is extremely valuable-a testimony. At http://dictionary.reference.com one of the definitions of "testimony" is:

"open declaration or profession, as of faith" That is why we who are believers in Jesus should have at least one testimony of what God has done in our lives. 

 

I remember a phrase from years back: "A message prepared in the mind reaches a mind, but a message prepared in a life reaches a life." Because  while people can argue against a presentation (and ridicule it as "theory"), they can't argue against something that has actually happened in a person's life. Testimonies that speak of what has happened in a person's life show others real proof of God's work and gives us an opportunity to share the Gospel. It's one thing to say "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life", but to say "This is what happened to me and this is why I'm a believer"  work so much more effectively, because it's like a "visual aid" that we can use. What was it that convinced Thomas of the reality of the resurrection of the Lord? Was it the word of the other apostles-no it was the Lord coming to him and showing him the scars and wounds that He suffered....

 

What testimonies also do is give us opportunities to teach younger believers and for parents to teach their children. It's one thing to teach from the Word, but when we can back it up with real-life experience, it gives new and deeper meaning to what we say. It's one thing for parents to share stories from a book or see videos, when a child sees that their parents go through something and still believe in Jesus, it gives them more confidence and more of a reason to believe.  

 

So what is it that you have been brought through? What is it that you have gone through that is able to help you share the Word and the Gospel more effectively? What have you gone through that is able to help teach your children about the reality of God and what He can do in a person's life? If you have gone through something and it has made your faith more real-don't ignore it or "move on", use it! Share it with others! Let them know that Christianity is not just "theory", but something that is real! 

Something to think about on St. Valentine's Day

A couple of days ago, I wrote something on Facebook that I would like to share here:
"If Dickens were writing about Valentine's Day...I think he would have had Scrooge say: "If I could work my will, nephew, every idiot who goes about with "Happy Valentine's Day" on their lips should be boiled with their own box of chocolates and buried with a Cupid's arrow through their heart.""

I can imagine some person saying: "Are you against Valentine's Day? Are you anti-romantic? Are you being bitter because you are nearing 47 and the chances of you having a romance/marriage are about as likely as a blizzard hitting the Sahara?" 

As to the second question....no I'm not anti-romantic...I love it when I see two people that are meant for each other fall in love, become serious about one another and get married...If I would have had my schedule better arranged, I would have been able to go to a friend's wedding a couple of months back...

And in reference to the third question...no....

But to swing things back around, it's not Valentine's Day I have a problem with....it's what's been done with it, it's been turned into something other than what it was supposed to be....sort of like Resurrection Sunday and Christmas...something with a religious connotation  that has been twisted into a day of secular shopping sprees...If we were to stay with the original meaning of the day...atheists would be falling all over themselves to try to have this day banned...Originally the day was to honor a man of the early church who was martyred during one of the Roman Empire's attacks against the church. 

I think the main reason that we have had the meaning of the day changed is to remove any thought of God or men of God who were willing to give their lives for Him. So tomorrow, can you do yourselves a favor? Think of how you and your "sweetheart" (wife, girlfriend, husband, boyfriend) can be more like St. Valentine (the man) and not like St. Valentine (the over-inflated day)....It might help you to remember the greatest type of love there is, the love that the Father had when He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins so that we can be with Him for all eternity....

Five years

On the 24th of this month, it will be 5 years since my appendix drama began. Who would have thought that something as simple as dizziness and confusion would end up becoming something so much more?

Not being a married person, I don't know what the appropriate gift for five years is, but having seen married couples, I do understand that fifth anniversaries are special occasions. I think it is because they understand each other better, know more about themselves than they did when they started and can look back and understanding things better than when they were first married.

And I think that I can relate a little (real little) to that. Because when you first go through something, the natural question is "Why?" Why am I going through this? Why am I alone?" Why, Why, Why...and a lot of time the focus is on ourselves. But looking back, if you have the right perspective, you understand why things happened, you begin to mature and grow and are able to share that with others.

One of the best ways to reach others with the gospel is not just in speaking, but in what happens to a person when something goes wrong. I'm reminded of a saying:"A message prepared in the mind reaches a mind, but a message prepared in a life reaches a life." And I get that now more than I would have five years ago. It would have been one thing for me to talk about how to endure through suffering, despair, etc..., but actually having gone through those things, I can give better insight because I have real-life experience and that becomes more of testimony because people cannot argue against something that ACTUALLY happened in a person's life...

So if there is one thing that I can say to paraphrase a famed quote: "Thank you, appendicitis, for  having been in my life" and thank you for being used of God to teach me things I would not have learned on my own!