#23 PERSONAL TESTIMONY

This past Sunday morning, our attention as a church family was focused on the compassion of Jesus as He healed hurting, suffering humans.  We spent time considering the truth that God our Father is compassionate and that He expects His children to demonstrate that same compassion.  Faith’s HeartCheck is where #25 Compassion was found and why we turned our attention there.  But under the Sharing Instinctively Priority is also found “Personal Testimony.”  Each Believer needs to come to the place in his/her life where he/she is able to communicate how they came to trust Jesus for their forgiveness and eternal destiny. 
In today’s reading in Acts 26, Paul appears before King Agrippa.  And as Paul is standing before Agrippa he shares his personal testimony.  He tells Agrippa who he was before he met Jesus, he share the encounter he had with the risen Christ and finally he details for the King how his life had changed after that encounter.  Each of us should be able to share a similar story:  (A.) what my life was like before I met Christ…even if I trusted Him as Savior when very young, (B.) how I came to know Jesus as my Savior, and (C.) how Jesus changed my life…what my life has been like after trusting Christ. 
Now, even if you have thought through all the details of your story and you have even written down and practiced your testimony, the response you get is entirely dependent on the Lord.  King Agrippa’s response to Paul’s testimony was not immediate humble repentance and trust in Christ as his Savior.  In fact, Agrippa yells, “Paul, you are out of your mind!” (Acts 26:24)  While we are not responsible for the response we receive, we are responsible to ‘live to make Jesus known’ and part of doing that requires sharing how He saved us and how He changed us.  Are you ready?  Is your personal testimony prepared?  Have you shared it with anyone lately?  Paul provided us an example in today’s reading of what that is to look like!