​Welcome back to Testify to Grace! Last week we heard from Marilyn in GA about how the Lord delivered her from danger. This week I want to talk about the how the Lord provides and the testimony that comes from sharing His goodness. The Lord is so good to us! He loves His own and provides for us generously out of His abundant riches.

Many Christians have the erroneous belief that God only helps those who help themselves.  Guess what? That idea came from Benjamin Franklin—not the bible, not God. Benjamin Franklin used the phrase in his “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” published in 1736. So many have bought into the idea that they have to work to earn God’s love, approval, and provision. But that’s just not true. The bible in Ephesians clearly tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” That’s from the NAS version.  I like the NLT version also, “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

In other words, there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. And not only that, there is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor. He already loves us. Think about a really good parent… not just a good parent, but a great one. Children don’t have to do anything to have their parents love them. Their parents just do. It’s the same with God. When we become His children through faith in Jesus, He is ready and waiting to bless us with good things. God has abundant resources at the ready. Let’s look at Psalm 103. Starting in vs 1, it says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

We know that the Lord pardons our iniquities. That’s another word for sin. But some people live as if they have not been forgiven. Did you know that the Lord has forgiven all of our sins: past, present, and future? That’s right! Let’s see what the Bible says about it. Hebrews 10: 11-12 and 14 says, “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (they’re talking about Jesus here) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God… For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Jesus became the perfect flawless sacrifice whose effect has no end, even though those of us who have been forgiven may mess up again. Our mess ups don’t change the fact that we are forgiven forever. And as for our sin, verse 12 of Psalm 103 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”

Isn’t that great news? A lot of people would say that knowing that gives people freedom to go right out and sin some more, because after all, if everything we do wrong is already forgiven, why worry about what we do. But I say in return, that a genuine Christian will not want to deliberately sin, and for those of us understand the freedom of forgiveness, it’s the best, most comforting feeling to be able to run back to God and know He doesn’t condemn us. Paul reassures us in Romans chapter 8 where he says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And in verse 31 he says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” I’m pretty sure all things means: All Things.

He is that good and He’s ready to bless us. I’d like to share with you a story from my own experience where the Lord provided for my husband Jeremy and me. We were seminary students and living at the poverty line. I graduated from seminary before Jeremy and got a job at a law firm. Jeremy had a part time job at a wonderful, but tiny church in Decatur, Tx. When the recession of 2009 hit, I lost my job and then couldn’t get another. That put us living on one income—his part time church job. We could barely afford the gas to get to and from the church on Sundays and Wednesdays. And it was a 45 min drive! We were looking at having to eat canned beans or maybe ramen and Jeremy still had a couple of semesters of seminary to get through. We couldn’t afford the tuition or the books either. I poured my heart out to God and told Him how worried I was about surviving. The Lord impressed on me the need to mention our finances as a prayer request at church. The very next time we were at church, I brought it up as soon as the pastor asked about our prayer needs. A dear couple approached me privately and let me know that the Lord had spoken to them and they wanted to help. They financed the rest of Jeremy's education and bought us groceries and gas until we were able to get back on our feet. We were overwhelmed with how good the Lord is!  It was one thing for the couple to help us with groceries and gas and a whole other level of goodness for them to finance the education. That is the Lord’s abundant provision!  

Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” I’ve told you about how He provided for our financial need. Let’s look at an example of His abundant provision in the bible. In the book of 1 Kings, Elijah, a prophet of God took a stand against the evil king Ahab and his even more evil wife Jezebel. He prophesied that there would be no dew or rain for several years until he gave word. This was a time that was meant to remind Israel about who provided for them, while showing God’s great power. During the famine, Elijah visited a widow in Zarephath.
​Let’s read together starting in verse 8: “Then the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.’ So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, ‘Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?’ As she was going to get it, he called to her, ‘Bring me a bite of bread, too.’  But she said, ‘I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.’ 
But Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!’ So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.”  Talk about a miracle! Can you imagine being that widow and seeing how the Lord provided day after day?

I will never forget how the Lord provided for me in my extreme need. I also won’t forget all the other ways He has come through for me. There have been times when the money was tight, but it was always just enough—just like the widow with her flour and oil. There were times when I needed wisdom and He gave it. There were times when I needed a friend and the Lord gave me several. He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. He is my Shepherd and He will provide all of my needs.

Photo on link by Daria Mikhailova on Unsplash
 

Welcome to Testify to Grace! I’m so glad you’ve joined me this week. Last week we talked about the importance of sharing our testimonies about the goodness of the Lord. This week I want to talk about the testimony of deliverance and protection. Remember our stories don’t end with our salvation. God is constantly at work in us, transforming us into His image. So there will always be a new story for us to share.

Psalm 91:14 says “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.” This verse doesn’t mean that your effort to love God is what’s causing the Lord to protect you. Our precious Lord doesn’t work under coercion.  What it means is that when we have a relationship with Jesus, when we have chosen Him as our Lord and Savior, we can’t help but love Him. Our love overflows as a response to His love for us.  And because of His unmerited favor—which means grace, lovingkindness, and mercy that we can’t earn or deserve—He will deliver us. Even if it’s from a mess of our own making. 

Doesn’t that give you comfort? Knowing that we can’t do anything to earn or deserve God’s love and favor blows my mind. I don’t think I can tell you how many times the Lord has rescued me. But I have stories about those times! Any time we share a testimony, it must bring honor and glory to God and needs to answer the question, “What has God done?” Has He delivered you or provided protection for you in the midst of danger? God is constantly at work to protect us from evil and therefore danger in our daily lives and in our journeys. Today I’d like to share a testimony with you from a fellow believer who has experienced this deliverance. But first, I’m going to share her testimony of salvation.

This is from Marilyn in Georgia. “I gave my heart to Jesus really young. I’m talking like by the time I was 4. It was very, very young. It came about this way: Mother would let me and my sisters come into the church service with her, but in order to keep us quiet and interested, she had a handkerchief she kept in her purse. I had a small child’s ring with a red rose that I loved and wore. If I got restless during the service she gave me the handkerchief and I put it on my left pinky with the ring around it and moved it around. I came up with stories about the handkerchief dancing and swirling. Sometimes it was an angel. That was how she kept me quiet and because I was quiet it meant I was listening. I don’t remember the sermons, but I remember that every time the pastor came to the invitation I cried. Every time. Mother asked me, “Why do you always cry at the end?” I told her, “Because I did that to Jesus.” Later in life when I was reflecting on my salvation, the Lord said to me, “When you came to me you were so young that you don’t remember. You belonged to me and you knew it.” Wow! I was humbled. Greatly humbled and grateful. I knew when He said that I was chosen. And I felt chosen. And the beauty of feeling chosen and knowing you are chosen is knowing exactly how much you are loved. You read you were chosen in the bible, but you don’t get it always. It’s not a concept we really understand but to be told before He made me He knew who I was… is wow. Very overwhelmingly humbling, you know?  I’ll never believe that it had anything to do with me or my merits, because I am who I am because that’s how he created me. It gives you a peace with who you are. Being that young I didn’t know how to express it. When I turned 11 my parents sent my older sister Mickey to my bedroom to talk to me. She presented the gospel to me before I got out of bed. I sobbed and sobbed. She said she never knew anyone to cry and asked me why I was crying. I sobbed, I didn’t know I needed to be baptized! I am so sorry Lord.” It sealed it for me that I believed in Jesus as my Savior and Lord.      

This precious lady knows that the Lord loves her. I mentioned that God is constantly at work to protect us from evil and therefore danger in our daily lives and in our journeys. One of my favorite hymns is “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.” In the second verse it says, “He who loves us, ever loves us, changes never, nevermore; He, who died to save His loved ones, intercedes for them above; He who called them His own people, watches over them in love.”  This verse is based on Hebrews chapter 7-8 which says, “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests (meaning the ones in the Old Testament), to offer up sacrifices first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. Jesus is our High Priest and He intercedes for us constantly. To intercede is to stand in the gap, to make a defense. Picture a court room where Jesus is standing as our defense attorney and the accuser is trying to make a case against us. When the accuser tells the heavenly Father what evil we’ve done and how unworthy we are, Jesus speaks for us and reminds the Father that we are forgiven because we believe in Jesus and He sacrificed Himself for us. Jesus also takes care of his own. As our High Priest and loving shepherd, He carries us on His shoulders. Psalm 91:11 says, “For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.” Listen to how the Lord delivered Marilyn from a dire situation.

“I was either 5 or 6 and we not living at the beach, but had taken a trip to the beach. Daddy had both my sister, Mickey, and me and we weren’t too far out in the water. It wouldn’t have been over Mickey’s head to begin with, so not too deep. We were jumping waves. Daddy turned his head and he saw a wave forming the way it’s pictured in movies… like a Hawaiian tidal wave where the water rushes backwards and comes at you.  So he got a firm grip on us and started heading us back toward the beach.  Mickey later told me it appeared to be twice as tall as Daddy, at least 12 feet. When the first wave hit I was pulled away from him. The force of it pulled me away. He was trying to reach me, but he also had to hang on to Mickey and keep his own balance. I remember I was completely underwater. Then the second wave hit and when it hit it came in hard like a big push. That’s when I heard the Lord’s voice. He said one word to me: “Run!” I started running and I ran and I ran. I was completely immersed in water and my legs were running through the water, not on sand at all. I kept running and running until I ran out on the shore and I ran all the way up to the walkway on the beach.  When I finally turned back, they were still in the water and didn’t know I had made it out.  Daddy asked “How in the world did you get out?  The wave had you.” I told him I was told to run and so I ran. Daddy looked at me and said, “I didn’t tell you that.”  

Psalm 89:9 says, “You rule the oceans. You subdue their storm-tossed waves.” Praise the Lord!  I can only imagine how frightening that must have been for Marilyn, her father, and her sister.  But at the same time, what an awesome rescue! Give the Lord praise.   

Photo by Laura Barry on Unsplash
 

Welcome to Testify to Grace! I'm Holly Dae. I'm a minister at my church and my heart's desire is to see my people grow and mature in their knowledge of the Lord Jesus so that they will feel confident in sharing their stories of what the Lord has done for them. For too long there has been a culture of fear in the church which has paralyzed Christians and prevented them from sharing their testimonies.  I want to see that fear disappear as each person grows in confidence about the person of the Lord and what He has done for them. A person who is confident in their knowledge of the Lord and His love for them will want to share with others so that others will want to know Him too. My calling is to work toward spiritual awakening in the church, and one of the ways we can see this awakening is by sharing our testimonies of what God has done for us. There’s a verse in Revelation 12 that talks about the defeat of Satan. It says “They have defeated him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.” Satan has been defeated by the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our precious Savior willingly went to the cross, suffered and died because He wasn’t willing for any of us to perish. His perfect work took away our sins and broke forever the stronghold of sin and death. When He rose from the grave, Satan was defeated. Praise the Lord! What a wonderful Savior we serve!

Now for our testimonies… there are several reasons they are so important: 

• First, your story (testimony) is your own. Others may be similar, but no one has experienced God’s grace and mercy the way you have. Whether you had a dramatic meeting with God like Paul, or you met Him quietly in a pew at church, your story matters. That’s because we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. You are just as important to Him if you are quiet or if you are loud. 

So here’s my story of salvation: I grew up in a Christian home. I was taken to church 9 months before I was born and after I was born, I was there any time the doors were open unless I was sick. My sweet grandmother Lois used to keep my sister and me during the day until we were old enough for school. She read us all kinds of stories, but her favorite to read us were bible stories. She was determined to make sure that we had a relationship with God as soon as we were able to understand. I informed her I would rather hear stories like, “Arty the Smarty,” or “Alexander the Kitten,” or “Heidi” instead of those bible stories. She confessed to my mother how much she worried that I wouldn’t turn to God. My mother wisely told her to be patient and wait to see what God would do. They prayed and prayed and prayed for me. Around Easter time of my 8th birthday, all the tv stations were showing the biblical epics… the 10 Commandments, the Jesus Film, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Ben Hur. My parents had us watch these movies every year, but this was the first time I had seen Ben Hur.

• Second, everyone loves a good story.  There is a reason that Jesus talked in parables in the bible. Many people have trouble understanding deep concepts, but a story helps us connect to truth in a way that just facts don’t. Our testimonies are stories of God’s goodness, mercy, everlasting love, provision in times of want… the list goes on. Just like reading a book or watching a movie or tv show, testimonies give you someone to root for and a place to find yourself. 

Jesus is not the key player in the story of Ben Hur. He is there and is His loving wonderful self, but He is not the focus. The story is about Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish nobleman consumed with pride, who goes through various hardships and trials culminating in the hollow victory of a chariot race. He’s humbled to learn that his beloved mother and sister are stricken with leprosy and cast out of society and forced to live in a leper colony. After a repeat encounter with Christ, this time on the Via Dolorosa, he finally looks away from himself to our Savior.  Toward the end of the movie, Ben Hur arrives at the crucifixion. Jesus is shown from the side, bloodied and bruised, but you never see His face. As a witness to the crucifixion, Ben Hur is deeply moved and the last shackles of sin and pride fall away exposing a heart ready for healing.  What I saw… what moved my heart… was the pool of blood that dripped off His body and pooled on the ground. It began to rain and the rain washed the blood all over the street. When I saw that I understood what my parents and grandmother had been trying to help me understand, and what Judah Ben-Hur came to understand: that Jesus loves me and sacrificed Himself so I could be saved. And that He looked past all the faults and ugly in my life to see the girl who could be rescued. The same girl who could be a princess in His eyes (after some transformation). With tears streaming down my face, I prayed to accept Him as my Lord and Savior. 

• Third, when we share what God has done for us, we bring Him glory and honor. After all, as our great Creator and Savior, why should He not deserve credit?  He lovingly created each one of us and gave us personality, features, traits, spirits, and souls. He was so pleased with His work that He proclaimed us good!  When mankind sinned, He came up with the Perfect Rescue Plan. The Father sent Jesus to be the sacrifice to rescue us from the trap of sin. He certainly didn’t have to do that. He could have completely wiped us out and started over, or just decided to scrap humanity altogether. So any time we tell about how we came to know Him… anytime we tell about how we were rescued from our sinful state, we honor Him. And anytime we share how He is moving in our lives, we reinforce the promises of God to take care of His own, aka the righteous. 

Let’s take a look at what the bible says about speaking about Jesus. In Luke chapter 9, Jesus’s disciples come to Him and He questions them about who the people say He is. Peter speaks up and says “The Christ of God” (vs 20). Jesus instructed the disciples not to tell anyone this because He had to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and on the third day raised from the dead. So here, we see that the only reason He did not want His disciples sharing His identity was because His earthly ministry was not finished. If the disciples had gone around sharing, we can surmise that His mission would have been compromised. At this point, the Jews were looking for a national hero who would deliver them from Rome. That is not what Jesus came to do.  His great rescue plan was for all people. This portion He told His disciples privately.  In the next section, Jesus addresses everyone around Him. He talks about the need to take up your cross and follow Him. In essence, He’s telling the crowd following Him (a lot of whom are Pharisees and scribes) to count the cost before following Him just because they expect Him to deliver them from Rome. In verse 20 He says, “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of Father and of the holy angels.” So now that He’s told them to count the cost, He is instructing them that if they choose to follow Him, they cannot choose to follow and deny Him at the same time. This is reflected in Mark chapter 8 and Matthew chapter 10. In Matthew, this portion comes right after He’s told the disciples about persecution to come. He follows that with encouragement that they are deeply loved and “of more value than many sparrows.”

What we can conclude here, is that those who love Him don’t need to be afraid to speak out about Him because He loves us and values us. But we must, must “acknowledge Him before men” (vs 32) or we aren’t even worthy of being His disciples. Why would you choose to love and follow someone and not talk about them? Think about your loved ones. Aren’t you proud to talk about the sweet and wonderful things they do for you? Would you be worthy of their love and affection if you were pretending you didn’t know them, or you lied about what they have done for you? It’s the same way with our Lord. He is worthy: He loves us with an everlasting love. He gives us mercy and forgiveness, healing (yes I said that), and wholeness. He restores us gently.  

Romans 1:16 says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” What is the gospel? Gospel literally means “Good News.” What is the good news? In Luke chapter 4, Jesus returns to Nazareth after having been tempted in the wilderness—and overcoming, by the way. He read to the people from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” In other words, Jesus came to give us liberty from sin (those destructive decisions that destroy us and separate us from God), to provide for the poor and helpless, to bring healing to the sick and disabled, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor—unmerited and undeserved loving kindness. If you doubt He’s done these things, look at the many ministries, both sacred and secular that assist the poor and disabled. There have been countless medical breakthroughs over the years and miracles of healing. Isn’t that worth sharing?  It is good news! 

Paul admonishes Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 1 not to be “shamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me (Paul) His prisoner but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.”  Paul wrote to Timothy from prison, where he had been sent for preaching about Jesus.  Speaking from a human point of view, Paul had plenty of reason to shut down and stop talking about Jesus. But he didn’t. He even kept it up to the point of death because he had first-hand knowledge of mercy and deliverance. Paul knew where he was going at the end of his life. It was his goal to help as many people as possible come to a saving knowledge of the Deliverer. Finally, in Hebrews chapter 2, it says “For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers.” We as Christians have been adopted into God’s family. That’s why we have one source. God. Jesus is not afraid to call us his family, so we shouldn’t be afraid either.  

God loves us with all of our messiness and faults. He already has a plan for how we will turn out. And because of the grace of Jesus, we have wonderful stories to tell.    

There are so many more stories I have of how God has and is working in my life. I’m looking forward to sharing them with you along with insights I’ve gained about the Lord. But I want to hear from you too! Share your testimonies with me: salvation, deliverance, comfort, anything that the Lord has done for you. You can reach me on Facebook and YouTube at Testify to Grace. Be sure to like, subscribe and follow me so you can get the next video in this series.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He show you favor and blessing. Our wonderful Lord, thank You for all the ways You help us. Thank You for saving us and showing us Your mercy and grace. We love you and we praise You because You because You are worthy to be praised. Give us boldness to tell our stories to others so that not yet believers will come to know you. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Keep sharing your stories!