By The Word of YOUR Testimony

I know that this is the age of praise and worship services but I rememnber devotional service. I know that devotional service has been phased out of many churches because many people used testimony service as a time to go off on people, create colorful FAIRY TALES, vent and do a whole lot of things that were not edifying to anyone. But, I do not think that testifying is something that should be done away with in entirety. I yet believe that there are testimonies that will destroy the yoke of bondage in someone's else's life as well as bring a total and final healing and wholeness in the life of the one who is sharing.

We used to play a game called telephone. Anyone remember that game? One person would whisper something to the person seated next to them and then the message would carry all the way around the room - all the way around the circle but by the time the message got back to the person who first sent it, the message more often than not had morphed into something totally different than the original message. My point in bringing up this game is that no one can really tell your testimony for you but you. Your verbiage, sentence structure may not be as glorious, eloquent and lush as someone else's, but there is an anointing, a passion and a depth of gratitude that only YOU can birth out through YOUR TESTIMONY!

Elder Andrews called me after her rehearsal and after my Thursday night prayer and bible study class and she began to share HER TESTIMONY. I was driving down the highway and PRAISE FILLED MY HEART AS HEAVY TEARS met one another under my chin as she began to talk about the great and miraculous moves of God in her life. Someone else could have told me her story, but it wouldn't have touched me as deeply and as profoundly as hearing her story, in her words, with her feelings in her voice.

I pray that as you go forth in ministry that you will not only share the message, but that you will tell THEM about what He has done for YOU! I pray that you will sit down and look young ladies in the face and tell them, "I didn't just read about His power in the Word, I have tried Him and I know Him to be a _____________________!" You fill in the BLANK!

*WE INTERUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU THIS VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE*

Every testimony isn't for everybody. There are some things the Lord will have to give you a divine release for you to share. There are some things He may tell you to speak into a person one on one. Be sensitive to the Spirit and know what God wants you to share, if He wants you to share and with whom He wants you to share it. Some things He will tell you - NOW IS THE TIME TO SHARE THAT! Other things, He will say - THAT is for _________ and no one else!

*NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGAM*

The one testimony that all of us need to share is the one of our salvation. Often when I am preaching before a congregation, conference or convocation I have never addressed before I will tell them that I am saved. I guess you are wondering why. It is because - EVERYBODY THAT PREACHES ISN'T! That's why.

Someone in the pews, in your life, in your congregation, onyour job is wondering, "Can I be delivered?" "What do I do if I am married to a preacher who is beating me - is there life after abuse?" "Is God really a healer?" "Am I still anointed if my husband who WAS my pastor has left Christ and me for another woman?" "Can God mend my heart after my husband left me for a man?" "Does God really turn scars into stars?" "Can I be healed and then made whole?" "How do I stop sinning?" "Does anybody know how to really pray?" "Can God pick up the pieces of a broken heart and life and use me for His glory?" "If I leave all to follow Him, what is in it for me?" Someone is sitting there just waiting to hear that the Bible isn't just a wonderful book of inspiration. Someone wants to hear a relevant Word. Someone wants to know if God did IT for anybody? The answer is in your life. It is in YOUR testimony.

Someone will be blessed by what you have lived through and you will OVERCOME any and everything that Satan has thrown in your path. Their healing and your victory is in your mouth. What are YOU going to do?

Release the captives and YOU BY THE WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY!

Keep preaching,

Elder L.A. Artis
IAAWP