This Happened to Me
“My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive stricter judgment.” -James 3:1
As a visitor sitting on the front row, unfortunately I was trapped while the Bible teacher droned on and on in a semi-monotone voice. “Now turn over to here,” he intoned. “Now what does it say? Somebody read Galatians 3:13 aloud. Now go over to chapter 4 verse 21.” His dry lesson was thoroughly leeched of all life
Yet I could not help but wonder at the great truth: being delivered from the curse by Christ Jesus. Had our speaker ever experienced that? What does deliverance mean to him? How has it impacted his own life? Does the message apply to him? Is it just a mere abstract idea?
How faith in the gospel has impacted our lives is the best message we can share. We should all be willing to tell this. Our story, our testimony, is the icing on the cake. If we have been touched by the Lord we have a “this happened to me” experience to tell.
Remember, a person with an experience is never at the mercy of someone who merely has an argument. I recall how undue criticism was aimed at people hungry for the Holy Spirit power simply because they wanted to experience the gifts of the Spirit. “They should be content,” it was said, “to live by faith and by faith alone.” Hey, there is more to our faith walk. Faith people can experience God. They should experience His presence.
James deals with this fact. He uses Abraham as his example (James 2:22-23). Faith’s maturity is manifested in the experienced results. Abraham not only believed God. He experienced God.
Every teacher should have real life examples of what is being taught. If you can teach the Word, you can walk the Word. According to James, that’s what it is all about. Testimonies come from tests wherein God’s Word was proven true. Having walked in faith, one can say, “This happened to me.”
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