We Live to Testify
A while ago, I was talking to my young adult pastor about how all of the young adults are starting to "leave the nest," so to speak. Quite a few of us are feeling the desire to go out from our current church and ministry and begin studying and training to begin ministry endeavors of our own. We're feeling the call to begin rising up as leaders.
Now, all I really saw in this was that I wasn't alone in my urge to leave and begin ministry training. Hearing that other people my age in our group were on a similar page just confirmed to me that we were all in a similar season. However, my pastor saw something else in it that served to illustrate a much larger point for me.
He said to me that the fact that we, his students, were rising up to pursue leadership was a testimony of his work.
After thinking about it, I realized that he was right. Since he is our leader, and currently the one training us and raising us up to be disciples of Christ, the fact that our response is a desire for further leadership and the carrying out of Christian ministry is a massive testimony that he is doing an amazing job of raising up the next generation of leaders. Our willingness is a testimony of his ministry, ability, obedience, and efforts.
As I dwelled on this the next few days I kept feeling that there was a larger lesson in it. I started thinking about God's testimony, and what it means to be witnesses for Him. If my desire to be a leader in ministry testifies to my Pastor's success, what does every decision I make for Christ testify about Him?
Here's what He told me: every decision that we make to surrender and submit to Christ and pursue holiness testifies that He has successfully given us the ability to do so. Since we are able to accomplish nothing except evil without Him, every action of good that we do continues to testify of His completed work on the cross.
The key here is that He did destroy every evil and principality on the cross, and we are controlled and dominated by death and sin no more. We are fully able to flee evil, die to ourselves, and submit to holiness. So every time that we choose to do this testifies that Jesus' work is complete and finished and true and good. He died so that we can testify. His resurrection gave us power.
Don't get me wrong, we're still imperfect creatures who mess up, stumble, and make regrettable decisions. But we don't have to sin. The Bible says "submit yourselves to God, and the devil WILL flee." Then, after falling, the glory of Christ shines through us every time we stand up again. That ability to stand up and break the chains and walk forward simply testifies that He lives to give us the strength to do so. A dead god can't give you anything new, right? But the daily continuation of strength, encouragement, and grace that is breathed into us demonstrates that our God is alive and forever interceding, trampling on darkness and walking beside us.
Rise up, Christian, and walk in the power you were given. Open your mouth and roar the truth that "it is finished" and our Jesus lives and walks and breathes and is not silent and is not still. Our triumphs testify to the capability of those leading us, and our God, our leader, is faithful and true and good. He conquered sin and death and freed us from the chains that we were ensnared in. Each victory we choose to seize is another blow to the head of Satan as we show that we know the truth, the truth that we are no longer bound and no longer cursed to stumble and fall into the pit. That God has reached into that pit and lifted us out and told us to go. We can testify to this truth with every decision that we make, and I can't think of a better way to share the gospel. Choose to live in this victory. Choose to represent and testify to His victory, because He is so, so worthy of faithful witnesses.
Now, all I really saw in this was that I wasn't alone in my urge to leave and begin ministry training. Hearing that other people my age in our group were on a similar page just confirmed to me that we were all in a similar season. However, my pastor saw something else in it that served to illustrate a much larger point for me.
He said to me that the fact that we, his students, were rising up to pursue leadership was a testimony of his work.
After thinking about it, I realized that he was right. Since he is our leader, and currently the one training us and raising us up to be disciples of Christ, the fact that our response is a desire for further leadership and the carrying out of Christian ministry is a massive testimony that he is doing an amazing job of raising up the next generation of leaders. Our willingness is a testimony of his ministry, ability, obedience, and efforts.
As I dwelled on this the next few days I kept feeling that there was a larger lesson in it. I started thinking about God's testimony, and what it means to be witnesses for Him. If my desire to be a leader in ministry testifies to my Pastor's success, what does every decision I make for Christ testify about Him?
Here's what He told me: every decision that we make to surrender and submit to Christ and pursue holiness testifies that He has successfully given us the ability to do so. Since we are able to accomplish nothing except evil without Him, every action of good that we do continues to testify of His completed work on the cross.
The key here is that He did destroy every evil and principality on the cross, and we are controlled and dominated by death and sin no more. We are fully able to flee evil, die to ourselves, and submit to holiness. So every time that we choose to do this testifies that Jesus' work is complete and finished and true and good. He died so that we can testify. His resurrection gave us power.
Don't get me wrong, we're still imperfect creatures who mess up, stumble, and make regrettable decisions. But we don't have to sin. The Bible says "submit yourselves to God, and the devil WILL flee." Then, after falling, the glory of Christ shines through us every time we stand up again. That ability to stand up and break the chains and walk forward simply testifies that He lives to give us the strength to do so. A dead god can't give you anything new, right? But the daily continuation of strength, encouragement, and grace that is breathed into us demonstrates that our God is alive and forever interceding, trampling on darkness and walking beside us.
Rise up, Christian, and walk in the power you were given. Open your mouth and roar the truth that "it is finished" and our Jesus lives and walks and breathes and is not silent and is not still. Our triumphs testify to the capability of those leading us, and our God, our leader, is faithful and true and good. He conquered sin and death and freed us from the chains that we were ensnared in. Each victory we choose to seize is another blow to the head of Satan as we show that we know the truth, the truth that we are no longer bound and no longer cursed to stumble and fall into the pit. That God has reached into that pit and lifted us out and told us to go. We can testify to this truth with every decision that we make, and I can't think of a better way to share the gospel. Choose to live in this victory. Choose to represent and testify to His victory, because He is so, so worthy of faithful witnesses.
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