My church family and I are reading and studying a book called The Essential Guide to Healing: Equipping All Christians to Pray for the Sick by Bill Johnson and Randy Clark. Last weeks chapter (ch. 8) was about the prophecy of the testimony, based on the scripture in Revelation 19:10, which says
"For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." He goes further into this throughout the chapter.
"Testimonies are to be preserved, rehearsed, kept honest and discussed in conversation. The stories of God's intervention set a legal precedent for the miraculous" (pg. 161).
"Testimonies seemed to encourage people by giving them hope that great things could happen to them, too" (pg. 162).
"As I studied the word testimony in the Old Testament, I found that it came from a word meaning 'do again'" (pg. 162).
"I realized that God had hidden the miracle realm for us, not from us, in the mystery of the testimony" (pg. 163).
"Prophecy comes in two main forms, one to foretell the future, and the other to release a word that changes the present. I believe the testimony of Jesus releases a prophetic anointing that has an effect on present realities. Things become possible in the present that were not available until the testimony was given. It is as though the testimony reveals what God wants to 'do again'" (pg.163).
He goes further into a scripture that deliberately tells us to keep the testimonies.
"You should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you" (Deuteronomy 6:17).
We are familiar with "keeping the commandments" which means to obey His commandments, but we seldom discuss "keeping the testimonies" which he goes in more detail about, but if I continue in this way I will be rewriting the entire book and never get to my purpose of this blog. I do recommend this book to anyone who desires the gifts of the Spirit and knowledge on how to live a miracle lifestyle.
I will quote Brother Bill a few more times just to give a further idea of what he is referring to about the "testimony".
"Commandments show us how to live. Statutes show us how to think. Testimonies show us what to expect. A testimony reveals God's acts, which in turn reveal His ways. Each story contains wonderful revelation of God's nature and His heart for people...(pg. 166), "The testimony keeps us connected in thought to the God who knows no impossibilities" (pg. 167).
This is my purpose for this blog; to share testimonies. God is always at work doing miraculous signs and wonders. His power is not limited to biblical times. His power is alive and ever flowing in our present day! Since we have been reading this book on healing, I decided to read more books that have miracles on every page. Yes the Bible is one of them, but I also started reading a book called Mega Shift by James Rutz. Many may be familiar with this book and if you are not I strongly recommend it. Rutz has documented miracles that have occurred just within the last 20 to 30 years. The dead are being raised, blind can see, cancer patients healed, the list goes on and on. This is all made possible through the power and authority from God given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are many testimonies that need to be told to encourage, edify, and strengthen. That is my purpose. I have three testimonies that have come to mind that I want to share. To not share the goodness of God would be to rob Him of His glory, which He so rightfully deserves! We are to keep the testimony alive! You can't go wrong if you share what God in His goodness and love has done for you.
First, I would like to start with the oldest testimony out of the three. It happens to be the testimony of my brother, Scott. Scott and I were both too young to remember this occurrence, but we have heard it all of our lives from our parents and from other witnesses. This testimony is about a death. The death of my brother. It happened at a church service. A lady in the church was worshiping and raising her hands. My brother Scott was standing on a chair in front of her next my mom. When the lady raised her hands, Scott thought she was reaching out to hold him and flipped forward and hit the back of his neck. My mother picked him up. He was stiff and screaming. Soon he stopped screaming. The color was leaving his face. He wasn't moving. Mom knew life was leaving his body. My mom told me she remembered looking at his eyes. They were still and glazed over. She recalled a dream she had had before this happened. Scott's eyes were just as glazed over in her dream as they were at the service. Mom remembers praying that God would protect him. She told my dad about the dream and when this happened she rushed up to the front of the service. This shows the faith of my mother and the congregation at that time. Immediately they all began to pray over Scott and in just a short time the color returned to his cheeks and his body was filled with the breath of life again. That was a little over 20 years ago. My brother is now nearly 25 years old and has been such a blessing to his family. He is a walking miracle!
Next, I would like to tell my own testimony. When I was a child I had a problem with warts. They covered both of my hands. My brother Scott prayed over me (he was only a year older than I, but you see that childlike faith). About three days later, the warts were completely gone!
When I was in high school I had another problem with those accursed warts. This is gross but it has to be told. On my right wrist was a huge wart. It was about the size of my finger nail. Mom took me to the doctor to see what they could do for me, but no matter what the doctor did, the wart remained. I would apply medicine daily to it, only to no avail. The wart got worse. It was often oozing pus and was very painful, not to mention embarrassing.
The wart remained for several months. One evening mom and I went to a ladies meeting for church. It was a group of ladies of all color and denomination coming together to worship. I really enjoyed that time. Before the meeting ended a lady from my church wanted to pray with me. Of course I mentioned my wart and she asked me, "Letitia, do you believe that God can heal you of this wart?" I replied yes, and I meant it. So my mother and Sister Jan prayed over me that very moment. Three days later (note the similarities between my first healing years before) the wart was gone! God is so good!
Last, but certainly not least, I want to give the testimony of my husband, Mitch. Several months ago, Mitch started getting sick very frequently. He would have headaches and would often throw up. He started thinking perhaps he had celiac disease, which was hereditary and his sister was diagnosed with it years ago. Since we couldn't afford the tests, he decided to just try going on the diet. If he did not get sick while on the diet, then he had celiac. So he did. Of course, on the diet he was perfectly fine. When he tried eating something with wheat in it, he would get really sick and throw up.
At the beginning of this year, our church decided to do a fast and began this book on healing. Mitch and I both determined in our hearts that by the end of the fast Mitch would be healed completely of celiac. So we did the 21 day fast, and prayed and thanked God for Mitch's healing.
Our fast that we chose to do, we shared one meal a day together, which was supper. We happened to be at a restaurant the Friday night before the 21 days was up. I had a poboy and fries. I noticed Mitch took a couple of fries off my plate and ate them. I knew what he was doing. He was stepping out in faith, just as he stepped out in faith when we shared communion at church the previous Sunday. The little wafers that we use would have normally made Mitch as sick as a dog, but because of his faith it did not. That same faith allowed him to eat the fries that were cooked in grease that would normally make him throw up 30 minutes later.
Faith is the key and central theme of these three testimonies. Without true faith in the powerful name of Jesus and mighty hand of God, miracles can not be performed. But healing is the heart of God. Healing is God's will for all of our lives! I heard on K-LOVE not long ago, something that made me smile. Kari Jobe stated, "God loves to heal us." God LOVES to HEAL us! Isn't that amazing? The testimonies that we share with others is so powerful! Testifying about the wonderful works of God is a strong and mighty tool. There is power in the tongue. As the scriptures say the tongue can produce death or life (Proverbs 18:21).
Our testimonies of God's awesome power, the healing hand of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit filling us and empowering us with that same power and authority given to us by God through His Son, bring life! The testimony is life to those who hear it!
