In Old Testament times God gave this responsibility to Israel. " 'You are my witnesses,' says the LORD 'that I am God' " (Isa. 43:12). Today our witness primarily focuses on Jesus our Savior.
(Google image, 2 men talking).
Jesus said, "You are witnesses of these things" (Luke 24:48). "You also must testify" (John 15:27). "You will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8). A great portion of Paul's ministry was witnessing (Acts 22:15-16; 26:16, 22).
1. Christian testimony as witness. One important form of witnessing is Christian testimony. This may be shared privately to fellow-Christians and to non-Christians or to Christian groups and to non-Christian groups.
Testimony to non-Christians can be a powerful form of witnessing. Teach your people that Christian testimony should follow these simple rules:
a. Relate your testimony personally to Jesus. Tell of His guidance, love, blessings, answers to prayer, companionship.
b. Bring glory to Jesus, not yourself. Testify in such a way that people remember what Jesus did and not what you did. Draw people closer to Jesus, not primarily closer to yourself.
c. Testify humbly. If testimony is not humbly given, people are less likely to accept it or be helped by it. As you testify humbly, God will continue to work for you and through you. If you let pride enter, God cannot trust you with continued blessings or success. Be honest in your testimony so that people sense it is genuine.
d. Adjust your testimony to the situation. In some situations you must be brief. Do not impose upon others' time. A brief, joyous testimony can open the door then or later for others to ask you to share further detail.
e. Watch for opportunities to weave your testimony into conversation inoffensively. Help your people always to be ready with an up-to-date word of testimony, including personal fresh blessing, and recent answers to prayer. Your own brief word of personal testimony, humbly given, can bring life to your sermon or Bible exposition.
f. Help create opportunities for others to testify. "Isn't that similar to what Jesus did for you, John?" "Mary, you ought to share the wonderful answer to prayer the Lord just gave you." "Have you ever heard how Jesus helped Bill?" "You know, I wish everyone could have the kind of opportunity Sally had. Tell us about it, Sally."
2. Witnessing to the unsaved. This can be of two kinds: as part of an attempt to lead a person to Christ or as preparation for someone to become open to further soul-winning efforts later. Christ expects each Christian to be alert to both kinds of opportunities.
Prepare your people for more effective witnessing by sharing such suggestions as these:
a. Keep Jesus central
b. Be personal
c. Be definite
d. Be up-to-date
e. Include some form of special appeal
f. Prepare the person beforehand by intercession
[Dr. Duewel continues with what the leaders of the Korean Evangelical Church did. The outcome was amazing, bringing in thousands of new souls!
All their churches were to ask God for 5 unsaved souls to pray for their salvation daily from January 1 until Good Friday that year. Meanwhile, they were instructed in soul-winning and given special soul-winning tracts outlining the steps to Christ.
These tracts were to be given only to the 5 they had been praying for, and only at the time they would try to lead them to the Lord.]
On Good Friday each was to go to the five people for whom he had been praying daily. On Easter Sunday new converts were introduced at church to their new Christian brothers and sister.
That year more than 11,000 were won to Christ. Never had the church had such a day of salvation! The next year the number rose to more than 15,000. Year by year it increased until more than 25,000 were won to Christ at this season. Could your people be trained for similar efforts?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.
Ablaze for God
#66 Train Your People for Witnessing & soul-Winning
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 198-202) ZondervanPublishingHouse
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| Lady praying |
Father, help us give testimonies that are personal, relating to Your guidance, love, blessings, and answers to prayer.
May we bring glory to Jesus, not to ourselves, so He receives the credit for what we testify of.
In some situations we understand that our testimony will need to be brief, as we don't want to impose upon others' time.
Our brief, joyous testimony may very well open the door for them to want us to share further detail at a more convenient time, so as to not be offensive.
As folks have found, our praying for someone softens their heart to respond favorably when approached with the saving message.
We ask for Your help in our efforts to obey Christ's command to be witnesses and soul-saving believers, and ask for the empowering of the Holy Spirit to do so.
In His name I pray. Amen.
May we bring glory to Jesus, not to ourselves, so He receives the credit for what we testify of.
In some situations we understand that our testimony will need to be brief, as we don't want to impose upon others' time.
Our brief, joyous testimony may very well open the door for them to want us to share further detail at a more convenient time, so as to not be offensive.
As folks have found, our praying for someone softens their heart to respond favorably when approached with the saving message.
We ask for Your help in our efforts to obey Christ's command to be witnesses and soul-saving believers, and ask for the empowering of the Holy Spirit to do so.
In His name I pray. Amen.
Today's Bible verse-
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Acts 2:38 "Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth."
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Acts 2:38 "Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth."
~ John & Carol Arnott- "True grace actually empowers us to live holy lives. The more we fall in love with Jesus, the more we want our lives to please His heart. We want to be like Him; we do not want any compromise or any areas that His light hasn't touched in our hearts. We want to give everything to the One we love; we want every word, every action, every decision to please His heart because of love. Holiness is not a burden or a chore; it becomes our joy."
"No one is perfect, of course, and we live with the provision of grace and forgiveness, but don't mistake grace for license and a lack of integrity." (pp. 3-4; p. 100 in PREPARING for the GLORY).
Today's question-
How can God be everywhere?
The answer is that He is God! He is Spirit! He is with me, and He is with you at the same time. The God-shaped hole He created in us can only be filled by His Spirit. He wants us to be hungry to know Him, and hopefully, to seek after Him during our lifetime.
Thankfully, God came to mankind in the Person of His Son, Jesus, so we can know Him. We're to learn of the Father through His Word, our prayer times and worship. As we choose to spend time with fellow believers, we'll find that it keeps us alive and active in our faith as we walk out our salvation. We are to learn to live God's ways for us through fellowship with some mature Christians.
The abilities we'll discover that we have are to minister in Christ's name to the broken-hearted and lost. The burden for doing all we can to draw unbelievers to know Him and His ways, is the Lord's commandment for every believer.
How can God be everywhere?
The answer is that He is God! He is Spirit! He is with me, and He is with you at the same time. The God-shaped hole He created in us can only be filled by His Spirit. He wants us to be hungry to know Him, and hopefully, to seek after Him during our lifetime.
Thankfully, God came to mankind in the Person of His Son, Jesus, so we can know Him. We're to learn of the Father through His Word, our prayer times and worship. As we choose to spend time with fellow believers, we'll find that it keeps us alive and active in our faith as we walk out our salvation. We are to learn to live God's ways for us through fellowship with some mature Christians.
The abilities we'll discover that we have are to minister in Christ's name to the broken-hearted and lost. The burden for doing all we can to draw unbelievers to know Him and His ways, is the Lord's commandment for every believer.
Upcoming posts-
The Touch of God
30th- Saturday's post by Max Lucado
#67 Leading a Person to Christ
7/3rd- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#68 Prepare Your People by Teaching them God's Word
5th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
What It Takes
7th- Saturday's post by Jean Oathout
Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)
The Touch of God
30th- Saturday's post by Max Lucado
#67 Leading a Person to Christ
7/3rd- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#68 Prepare Your People by Teaching them God's Word
5th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
What It Takes
7th- Saturday's post by Jean Oathout
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| Beautiful lake-mountain wallpaper |
Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)
Jean's published book Paper back $7.95
(Be sure to "look inside" to see contents
through the 2nd devotion).
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