6/6/2018 - TESTIFY

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all" Acts 4:32-33

Night time I see diamonds in the sky, Day time I see sunlight shining bright, If I'm alive how can I not testify, Of your love your love your love. (Eshon Burgundy - Testify Eshon Burgundy- Testify by EshonBurgundy)

Eshon is one of the best Christian rappers out there. He has some of the best lyrics, he is a story teller, he has flow, he has scripture (and knows what he is taking about, not just throwing it randomly), he is an artist. Above is the hook for his most recent single "Testify", take a second to reread it. Life is short (especially by Biblical standards, Methuselah lived to 969, Genesis 5:21-27). If God woke you up this morning if you have not already give him a quick thank you. At any second he could take us home. Every time he wakes you up he has blessed with the gift of a second chance. This is a second chance at life, to right our wrongs. We are natural born sinners and we have no right to live on this earth, but God sent his one and only true son in order to be the sacrifice for our sins. If you have wake up to the sun shining bright you have no excuse not to testify the love, grace, and mercy of our Lord and Savior.

"It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.' Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:10-12) "Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, 'Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for you, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.'" (Acts 4:18-20)

These passages are from Acts 4 when Peter and John were in front of the Sanhedrin. They were arrested and brought in front of the Sanhedrin because they were teaching, preaching, healing, and converting (v. 4) people. They asked them who gave them the authority to do this and they told them about Jesus, and that they were doing all this in his name (v. 10-12). From verses 18-20 the Sanhedrin were scared that they would convert more people than they already had, so they told them to stop what they were doing. As you see in verse 20, they refused. They had their life and dignity threatened, they were arrested and could have been killed (Acts 7, look at the sermon and death of Stephen). The faith that the disciples of the early church shows, if you think about it is insane. This was still before Saul was Paul, the killings of Christians were on the up. In America we do not face these problems, we are blessed to have rights that the early church and other countries did not and do not have. We do not have to fear losing our life or fear being arrested for what we believe. One of the worst things that can happen to us is being mad fun of for being a "Jesus freak". News flash, we (America) need Jesus. There is still gang violence, little kids are dying left and right, there are school shootings like nobody's business, and we are watching the 60's come back to life right in front of our eyes. We have to follow the example of Jesus and the disciples of the Bible. We have to be "one in heart and mind", we have to help one another and be with one another. Like I said in yesterday's devotional, we are meant to be people persons. We have to make disciples of all nations and that is something that is impossible to do on our own. What we have is not ours. Everything on this earth is God's (1 Corinthians 10:26). This life is not ours (we are literally breathing God's breath - Genesis 2:7), every blessing is not of our own doing, everything that we get in life and that happens in life is a gift from God. God wants us to share this gift with everyone. We have to testify of the life of Jesus. We have to testify what God has done within us, have to testify of his love, grace, and mercy. We have to testify with "great power". We have to do all this even when and if we are persecuted and ignored. If you are persecuted and ignored, do not lose faith; you have to hold your head high because so was Peter, so was Paul, and so was Jesus. We have to allow God's grace to work powerfully in us. We have to follow his will and be equipped daily with his Word. We have to complete the great mission Jesus started and left for us (Matthew 28:18-20). We have to spread his Word and make disciples of all nations. We have to love everyone, no matter what. We are called to respond to hate with love.

I said God why would you make yourself available to me, He said look, You seek us talking, This is all I've ever wanted it to be

Lord, thank you. We testify of you love. We testify of your grace. We testify of your mercy. This is not our life, but yours. You have given us life. You have given us a second chance. There is no one above you. You are the cornerstone to our life. I pray all this in your son's glorious awesome name, Amen.

#LetsBeAMovement