The Importance of Our Testimony

Unless someone who has witnessed God's goodness in their life, announce to the world (people around us) what he experienced, the world will remain ignorant and blinded about the Truth. One very significant example in the Bible is the story of the Samaritan woman. After her encounter with Jesus at Jacob's well, she went about all over the town telling everyone this man who knows all about her story. 

Then the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and began telling the people, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done! Can this be the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)?”

John 4:28-29 (AMP)

Because of her boldness to share what she just witnessed, the people in her town became curious of what she said. Yet, it is not only her audacity that made people interested to investigate on what she had spoken. Something beautiful from her inside happened and it's showing on the outside (physical appearance). She just encountered the Messiah. Her spirit just fed from His Word that came out straight from His mouth. Her inner self became alive.

This is what usually happens to us when we first heard about the Good News of the True Gospel (God's grace). It is so good that something inside us is stirred. And that beautiful thing that happened inside us is manifested outwards. People notice the difference. The way we talk, the glow in our face, the inner peace that shines from within. This is what called the attention of the people in Samaria about how the Samaritan woman testified her encounter with Jesus. There was excitement in her voice. There was peace in her being. There was this inexplicable joy in her face, so contagious that their hearts want to have it too.

People believed what she said, so they followed Jesus and even asked Him to stay. He stayed for two days. Within those two days listening to His word, they have confirmed it to themselves who this woman was talking about. Many more believed. 

 Now many Samaritans from that city believed in Him and trusted Him [as Savior] because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked Him to remain with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed in Him [with a deep, abiding trust] because of His word [His personal message to them]; 42 and they told the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; for [now] we have heard Him for ourselves and know [with confident assurance] that this One is truly the Savior of [all] the world.”

John 4:39-42 (AMP)

It all started with one person's testimony. That one testimony spread like wildfire and many people believed and were saved. The world needs your testimony and mine. The world hungers for it. We cannot just hide to ourselves the goodness and kindness that God bestowed on us through His Son, Jesus. It has to be shared. The world deserves to hear it. They too deserve to experience what it is like to be so loved by their Father in heaven. They too deserve to be prosperous and joyful. They too deserve the peace that we have in Christ. 

This is God's will. This is God's heart.

Life, to Whom Do You Belong to?

Life goes after its truest meaning the older it gets. While young, life pursues its worth on things the eyes behold. Things that satisfy fleshly cravings. People. Materials. Worldly matters, temporarily gratifying what it's truly seeking for. Mundane things suffice. For some time.

Life, you are meaningless without knowing who you really are. Who you belong to. You find everything pointless. As you ripen, the soul inside you groans. A piercing groan you cannot ignore, lest you become an aimless wanderer. You search for something deeper. Something of a profound essence, no material nor human being can compare its value. You ask, "Where, oh where can I find such thing?" You look for the thing the eyes cannot see, ears cannot hear. For you, Life, is eyeing on the same worthless things you hold dear.

No matter how you contend there is non-existent God who created you, deep, deep down, there is a void inside you waiting to be filled. An empty space. Do you feel it? Yes, you do. Every human being goes through it. The One who created you, intentionally formed and embedded that special hole in your innermost soul. You ask why? Because of His love for you. Because He knew. He knew one day you will go astray, away from His care. Away from His love. Oblivious to His goodness.

Yet a day will come, when that empty space inside you screams to burst. And when the appointed day takes place, the hunger inside you burns like fire. A searing longing. Uncontainable. You cry out to quench its demands. You cry out to fill that space...desperately. It was made for that purpose, so you Life, will look for Him.

Hush you life. Hush you mind, burden with questions. Hush you flesh glutted with arrogance. Incline your ears to your heart. Listen to its whispers, for it knows what your soul exactly longs for. It is the one deeply hooked to another beating heart. The heart of the Father beating for you even before you were formed in your mama's womb. This revelation inside may feel too much for the heart to bear. Feels like exploding. Take a deep breath, feel the tightness loosen. Cry. Let it out. Don't hold back the tears to refresh the soul; the barren, thirsty soul, waiting for so long to bathe in His washing. Refresh in the washing of the One who gave up His life for you. Succumb to the heart of the Cross and taste freedom; witness true life; delight in His rest!

You are the Father's, and the Father is yours. You belong together. He did everything out of His perfect love to take you back home. Wrapped in the fullness of His grace. Resting in the glory of the Cross. Come home, Life. Home to the One who first loved you -- Jesus.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb." -- Psalm  139:13



Blooming in Grace,
Riza