"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Revelation 12:10-12
My Brothers and Sisters ... how did they, our Brethren, overcome the accuser of the brethren?? By the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony! I made a post a while back about testimony ... and I requested that you might share your testimony with me and any others that read my blog. But no one shared. Do you not have a testimony? Do you know what a testimony is?
A testimony is evidence, a marker, proof, record, a report ... it is made to help you remember something ... it would be the time, place, situation and the why and the how of it. This is evidence that will be part of your overcoming. But, remember that your testimony is also evidence that shows others the way to our Saviour. Would you share about when you came to the saving knowledge of our Lord? How it happened? What prompted you to make this choice, to accept His gift of forgiveness and eternal salvation? And then, what has happened in your life since then? How has He worked in you to show the evidence of your relationship with Him? I hope to hear from many of you!
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"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations." Psalm 100
Speaking of sheep ... we have two more little lambs. There have been twins born to Astrid, our faithful oldest ewe. She gave us one of each! A little boy named Raffer (black with white on his head and back feet) and a sweet little girl, all white.
Update ... during the time it has taken me to write this post, we have been blessed with another set of twins!! Marya is the new Mama. They are both girls! One is solid black and the other is black with some white spots. No pictures of either set of twins, yet ... but will post some when we get them.
I am so thankful to our Father for He is good, His mercy is everlasting and His truth endureth to all generations!!
Remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Ps. 122:6
Grace and peace be unto all you who love the Lord with all sincerity,
(Aunt Sally :-)
2 comments:
I do believe I was one of the silent offenders. :o)
My Baptist heritage demands that I have a specific birthdate of conversion, but I don't. I grew up knowing about Christ; there never was a time when I did not know about salvation.
Yet I believe my first realization of the implications of that knowledge came when I was about seven-years-old. I broke down in tears in our front yard thinking about how Christ died for *me* - "If I were the only person in the world," I told my mother, "Jesus still would have died for me." (I don't recall saying that, actually. Thank goodness for mammas. :o))
I prayed that afternoon, my personal profession, and I was later baptized, my public profession. For the first few weeks - perhaps months - I was on fire. I shared Christ with my best friend, naturally, through my witness and my childlike understanding.
But I'm so glad my salvation does not rest on my own power or my own understanding, for if fruit is an evidence of faith, my fruit was short-lived. It stayed stagnant after hitting such a high, then, without me evening knowing (or caring), it gradually withered until there was nothing to show I was Christ's except a discarded profession I didn't bother to live.
Wishing to be like public schooled, popular acquaintances left me hungering for the things of the world. Some situations (plays I was in, Sunday schools) did nothing to build my faith, and my relationship with my parents was a distant one - I hid as much as I could from them. If they would have known how discontent, covetous and guilty I was, they wouldn't have recognized their daughter.
But I was dealing with more than I bargained for - my God is a living God, the Hound of Heaven Himself, and He sought me, either as a wayward child or a sinner needing salvation. (I'm unsure if I was saved at seven.)
Through the influences of "So Much More," a Strong in the Lord conference by Sarah Mally and the young ladies who mentored me in that conference, I was thrust into what it truly meant to be a daughter of God. I believe I was saved sometime during that period, as I, my soul cultivated by the Holy Spirit, sought God and sought to live for God.
That searching has never really stopped. True, there have been ups and downs in *my* faith, but the Lord never abandoned me - He chastened me, taught me and was faithful beyond all measure. I give all glory to Him and His wonderful salvation.
But yes, I never stopped seeking. The Lord brought conflicts in my life, people and situations, where I was forced to study His Word and see what the truth was. He opened my mind to opposing viewpoints and half-truths and then gave me the ammunition to defeat those falsehoods and to grab hold of the Truth Himself.
My salvation is one of constant revival and reformation - I dedicate (or try to...) myself to Him every morning. I constantly confess sin. I cry out to Him. I realize that even though I will never be able to measure up to what His Word tells me, He finds me righteous in His sight through the blood of Christ.
My relationship with my parents is still pitiful, yet so improved that I don't know how I survived without them (specially my mother). My heart is tender towards the things of God and my place in His kingdom - to home and to family and to ministry. I now understand more of the Gospel and how to defend it (and I've had the opportunity to do so recently). I've learnt so much about the Lord - mainly, that I'll never fully comprehend Him. :o)
And I could go on and on...right now I'm going through a period of doubt and confusion that I wish I didn't have to go through; but I'm trusting the Lord to clear up all muddy spots. I look back at my past and I tremble, because I realize what a debt I owe Him because He has done so much for me. Praise Him.
All my love,
Bailey
Dear, dear Bailey,
Thank you, so much for sharing this with me. Bless you, my dear! I know this testimony will be a blessing to all who read it.
I am so glad you aren't silent anymore. :-)
I will pray for you, especially during this time of doubt and confusion.
With so much love,
Aunt Sally
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