WHAT IS YOUR TESTIMONY?

"Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you." 1 Corinthians 1:6 KJV

There’s a difference between confession and testimony. The confession of the Word and the testimony of God’s Word are not the same. When we confess the Word, we are responding to God’s Word in agreement with Him. Testimony is bearing witness of Him. The text verse says the testimony has been confirmed in you! How important this is, the testimony of a Christian. The devil likes to stop us from testifying but it is very important to testify. It’s just that some people don’t know what testimony is. Someone may say, “I lost my bunch of keys but praise God I found it”. This is good but there’s more to testimony than that. 

Testimony should speak of the faithfulness of God, so when you testify, it carries the faithfulness of God in it. Some testimonies are able to influence positive changes while other statements are met with disbelief? We live in a world where there are many personal testimonies that obviously lack credibility, power or authority. The great apostle’s testimony affected lives because it came from a man who could identify with the pain of his audience. Make your testimony compelling in the sense you are constrained by the love of Christ.

Today, testify to the grace of God in your life. Testify to the efficacy of the Word of God in your life; testify to His love in your life. As a child of God, you have a testimony! Testify of your victories in Christ. Testify of what he has done in your life. Don’t wait to feel it or see it first, no! testify. The bible says, “they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony…”. Testimony gives you the victory over Satan. Glory to God.

Further Scripture Study: Revelation 1:2; Revelations 12:11 

Declare This: Dear Father, I will testify this day and always. With my testimony, I put the devil to shame and I claim my victory over him in Jesus name Amen.

LOOK TO YOU

"Keep a close watch on all you do and think. Stay true to what is right and God will bless you and use you to help others." 1 Timothy 4:16 TLB

As a Christian, are you expressing the life of Christ daily? The Bible talks of growing in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This growth in grace must always take place starting with you; you must plan to increase the grace in your life everyday. When you function in the grace, you'd find out that everything just works easily for you. How much grace do you need to do what you've been called to do? It's all up to you. 

Look at yourself critically and find out if you've grown and made progress. Take time to evaluate yourself. Ask yourself, have I grown in the past few months? Have I become more effective in my work? What is the level of my impact and responsibility(ies) in church? Am I expressing the love of God? and many more questions. Upon these evaluations, pin point the area for change and go for it. Have time for personal study, personal prayer time and personal devotion; you must have a consistent lifestyle of growth, you are a Christian and you must spend time with the word of God. Stay true to what is right and God will bless you. 

Further Scripture Study: James 4:6; Romans 5:17; 2 Timothy 2:15

Declare This: Dear Father, I will continually pay attention to myself and ensure I am making progress and accelerating in every area of my life in Jesus name Amen.

WORKING FOR THE LORD

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24 NIV

Every Christian has a role to play in the work of the ministry and as Christians, we are to fulfill the call of God in our lives. We are His children and the work of our Father on earth must prosper through us. “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. God saw you faithful & entrusted His work into your hands and gave you His ability to do the work. 

We need to be committed to the instructions given. When we do, God promised that we will definitely receive an inheritance as our reward because He is the One you're serving and not man. You will be required to give account of how you fulfilled your God given responsibility. See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord. 

Further Scripture Study: Matthew 28:19; John 4:34; Colossians 4:17

Declare This: Dear Lord, I am committed to the work of the ministry. I will ensure to carryout my responsibilities to serve You alone because my reward comes from You in Jesus name Amen.

HUMILITY

"In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time". 1 John 5:5-6 NIV

From the scripture above, we are being instructed to allow God to humble us. The word humility, in the Greek language, means to make low, to abase, or to make small. When you allow God to humble you and you make yourself low, He is actually elevating and placing you higher to your world with increased confidence in yourself. 

Humility means accepting God's rule instead of ours even when we don't understand and when He doesn't give us an explanation. It comes from a proper understanding of the Grace of God because all that we have comes from Him. It's a gift and you cannot buy it. The Bible is clear; God wants us to be humble. He sent Jesus Christ to this world as our Savior as the true example of humility. If you want to know what being humble is like, look to the Lord Jesus. We have to follow His foot steps and always be thankful to God for giving Jesus Christ to us. 

Humility releases God’s Power and gives you easy access to the Throne of Grace. Humility is something we "DO", not something we "FEEL". You have to do it because the war to remain humble must be fought every day on all fronts, when you do more grace is given you to excel on all sides and in due time He will lift and exalt you. 

Further Scripture Study: James 4:6 

Declare This: Dear Lord thank You for the gift of humility You're given me. I choose to be humble and my mind is made up to follow humility all the way in Jesus name Amen.

THE LOVE NATURE

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8.

Love is one of the strongest attributes of the new creation in Christ. As a new creation, you don’t have to struggle to walk in love. You can live the love-life naturally, loving those around you with the same love that God has for the whole world. 

God knew that if the children of Israel would walk in love, they would obey all the commandments He gave them in the Law. However, they were unable to keep those commandments, because they didn’t have the love-nature in them. Their hearts were hardened towards God and towards each other. But then, Ezekiel, prophesying about the new creation (us), declared the mind of God: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). So as a new creation, God has given every believer in Christ His kind of love.

This was God’s plan all along, to usher in a new class of people, born of Him, with His nature of love. When Jesus died and was raised back to life, this was the greatest miracle that ever occurred. This new species of love-led, love-filled and love-dominated beings was born, and you’re one of them! That love-nature is what you got in exchange for the hardened, stony heart. Now you can freely express the God-kind of love to everyone around you.

Further Scripture Study: Romans 13:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 3:16 

Prayer Guide: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for giving me Your very nature. I am a love being and I demonstrate this love to my world in Jesus name Amen.

BETWIXT TWO

"For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better; Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you". Philippians 1:23-24 KJV

Have you ever been so exhausted from the never-ending challenges of life that the thought of dying and going to Heaven sounded like a wonderful thing to you? You wished the Lord would immediately call you home to Heaven? Deducing from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we can see that his heart was being heavily tugged toward Heaven while he was a prisoner in Rome. He had already done more than anyone else could claim to have accomplished. He had suffered endlessly for his ministry and felt tired. It would have been very easy for Paul to say, “Lord, I’m tired. I’ve done enough. I’m ready to go to Heaven. Please take me home.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he said he was in a strait betwixt two; he made it very clear that the temptation to leave life and to join the Lord was before him. His choice of words in the verses above made it very evident that a choice was before him: to continue in the flesh so he could completely fulfill his ministry to the saints, or to depart this life and to be with the Lord. After thinking through these options, Paul made the choice to abide in the flesh and to continue his ministry a little longer.

Paul knew that part of his ministry remained unfinished. He said “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” He was pushing toward the finish line. At that time in his life, he was on his last run before the race concluded. Rather than slowing down, taking it easy, or resting, he chose to put forth all his efforts and push harder than ever before so he could finish first, knowing that he had given his very best to the very end of his life. I encourage you to choose life, press forward as you run your race with joy and victory till the end.

Further Scripture Study: 2 Timothy 4:7; Philippians 3:14; 2 Corinth 11:25-28

Declare This: Dear Lord, You have given me a huge assignment for my life, and I’m only getting started in fulfilling what You have asked me to do. Death is not an option right now. Life is my only choice because my world needs me right now in Jesus name Amen.

ABIDE IN HIM

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7

To Abide means to stay connected firmly, to fellowship, to mingle, to live with and stand for. Abiding gives us a picture of being grafted (embedded). Here we see Jesus exhorting us to be grafted (implanted) as a branch to Him who is the Vine. What does it mean? Jesus is explaining that He is our source of life and strength. Without Him we are lifeless and unfruitful; we must have our complete dependency on Him.

Abiding in God means to know Him, to walk with Him and in Him and to obey Him. As believers our lives are hid with Christ and in Christ. We are completely ruled by His Words which is deeply rooted in our hearts. We must not only remember his words but continue to relish and savor it. Just like the air we breathe everyday, we must stay in Him daily and allow Him regulate our lives.

There’s an excellent example in Luke 10:38-42 of the importance of abiding. We see Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to Him teach, and then we see Martha working hard to accommodate her guests. Martha complains to Jesus that Mary is not helping her with the chores, but Jesus replies to Martha that Mary “has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her” (10:42). However, the Scripture tells us about Martha that she “was distracted with much serving” (10:39). This passage reveals that Jesus desires to have us abiding and worshiping Him alone. Abiding is our obligation and our responsibility. It requires continuous feeding, watering, and mingling in the vine. 

Further Scripture Study: John 15:1-17; 2 John 1:9

Declare This: I am forever grateful to You, I choose to continually abide and stay connected to You. Thank You for Your Word which abides in me always in Jesus name Amen.