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TIPS ON SHARING YOUR TESTIMONY 3/19/07
Someone wrote me some questions today on sharing their
testimony and I felt quickened to share this with you
all as wisdom.
It is good to try to define the boundaries for your
sharing your testimony, since the Lord is wanting you to
share more. The Lord has told me that LOVE is always
the standard. To always cover others. At my forum, I
rarely allow names unless they are positive things about
public figures, or unless they are a regular writer at
the forum and I refer to them.
I always try to stay positive in my examples and focus
on the good and not the demonic. So it has to be a
really powerful example or encouragement for me to share
about warfare or something negative. The purpose is to
build people's faith, hope and love. When I wrote my
book on Angels and Demons, I copied all of my
experiences from my journals and then pasted them every
other one. So that one was an angel experience, the
next was a demonic one. It brought a healthy balance
that didn’t focus so much on the demonic, and the
demonic ones were only the ones where they actually had
good endings that taught something and encouraged
people. The other demonic ones I deleted from my
journals and will rarely if ever tell.
As far as sharing about myself in a transparent way, I
heard the Lord tell me that He had given me the power
and right to give or withhold any part of my testimony
and use it as I felt it was best to be used in the
situation. He would never "make" me share unwillingly.
It is our gift of love and sacrifice to Him and for
those who need to hear it. There are some things in my
life that the public will never know and there are
things that someone would have to be a really serious
reader to find since they might be mentioned so rarely.
It has to do with focus and what the message is and what
the purpose is in using personal examples. Sometimes it
really encourages a reader to identify with the person
in the example.
But one of the worst sins in leaders who have an
anointing, is drawing people to themselves in order to
be worshipped and it takes the focus and worship off
God. I have watched this for years and understand the
balance of sharing to avoid that. God has a way of
bonding parents with their children, in the same way
Paul spoke of so often about those he was mentoring. It
is very right and encouraging to feel that strong bond
of support. But when hearing the mentor share is
displacing faith in God, or leaning upon Him and hearing
Him speak, then something has gotten off. And so I walk
in fear and trembling of that in my writings.
Water naturally runs downhill and as long as you are
moving forward in the Lord, you will find your natural
course in sharing. He will help you find your purpose
in each thing you share, and how to present it so that
people can hear God and be built up. In return, God
will favor you with love and honor that goes with being
His servant and leader. When favor is missing, so is
your metron. As your favor increases, it will open
doors for you and you will know it is time to step into
a place of increase.
When you make a bold decision to be transparent about
something, let peace be your guide. If it causes you to
be afraid about anything, then it leaves an open door
for you to be attacked in that area, and it also says
that you are not ready to share it. You need to walk in
the shoes of peace in every thing you share. You will
feel the drawing of the Lord, and the joy in sharing and
partnering with Him as you find ways to express the
message He has given you. I find writing one of my
greatest joys of expression. And I know with Him
calling you to begin this journey, that you too will
find the His best expression for the gifts He gives you.
1 Cor 2:1-5 NKJV
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come
with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you
the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in
much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not
with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your
faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the
power of God.
Rev 19:10 NKJV
And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to
me,"See that you do not do that! I am your fellow
servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of
Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy." |
