Hello,
Read Acts 21:37-22:29
I gave a sermon on this passage about a year and a half ago and I want to pull something from that into our devotional today. If it sounds familiar to you, that’s why!
I want you to picture this scene as you read Paul’s words:
It’s late May, early June in Jerusalem, it’s warm to hot. The place is crowded because of the travel surrounding the festival of Pentecost. The temple has just been host to a violent mob where they tried to kill someone. That someone, is Paul. Paul is bloodied, bruised, his clothes are torn, perhaps he can barely stand. His only salvation was the Roman soldiers who quickly responded to the chaos. However, that salvation has put this beaten-up man in chains.
After being carried away from the crowd who were still trying to do violence to Paul, Paul gets a little space on the steps and is granted permission to speak to the very people who just tried to kill him. Paul raises his hands to silence the people, and there is a great hush and Paul speaks in their language.
Paul is given an opportunity to give a great defense of what he does, and why he does it. The man who can write and articulate the gospel so well. Spends his time telling his testimony. He talks about who he was, he talks about how God made a difference in his life, and he talks about how others have journeyed with him, and how God used people like Ananias to open his eyes to the good news of Jesus.
Paul simply gives his testimony. It doesn’t go over super well, especially once he names that God sent him to the Gentiles, but not every testimony connects with everyone. Sometimes the issue isn’t the message we give, but the receptiveness of others. We can only be faithful to what God is calling us to, we can’t control how others will respond.
Think about testimonies you give, they don’t have to be long elaborate stories, but what they do is make sense of past/current events and notice how God was/is at work in them. We tried 90 second testimonies in church back in July as a way of thinking through a story of God’s activity in your life with the idea it doesn’t need to be a long, monumental story. I’ll leave you with those questions, and the challenge to practice and tell someone in your life a 90 second testimony this week.
Grace and Peace,
Matt
90 Second Testimonies: Answer these questions. When did it happen? Where did it happen? Who was involved? What happened? What was the action you took with God? What was the spiritual benefit you received from God?