Share Your Story
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and the older I get, the bolder I get.
What I mean to say is, the longer I’m a Christian and the longer I live, the bolder I am in talking about Jesus. Could be in a restaurant, with the clerk at a mall, a hotel maid, maybe the supermarket checkout guy, or even my next door neighbor, Jose Magid. If someone asks how I am, I smile, and I give them the answer that they don’t quite expect, “Oh, I am so happy, and I am so thankful to Jesus.” Or I’ll say, “I’m doing well, thank you, and I’m so grateful to the Lord.” I may never see that person again, and there is certainly no time to give a salvation message, but I can at least lift up the name of Jesus. And the name of Jesus, as we know from Scripture, that name has power. Even Revelation 19 says that “… the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Look, if you want to do something prophetic, give the testimony of Jesus, say His name and how He’s changed your life, and how He makes you happy.
Now you may say to yourself, but, Joni, I’m not qualified. I don’t know much about the Bible; I’m afraid people might corner me with tough questions. You may excuse yourself, explaining that you have not been through Evangelism Explosion. Or you might say that you’ve never taken training from The Pocket Testament League’s 7-lesson, self-paced, Evangelism Boot Camp course. Or you’ve never done Billy Graham’s weekend evangelism equipping seminar. Oh, and, you know, there are scores of other evangelism courses that you’ve never delved into either. So, you might say: “I’m not trained. I’ve never done a course of study; I don’t qualify.”
Well, if that’s you, I want you to consider the example of – now get this – the shepherds on the hillside above Bethlehem the night that Jesus was born. The angels appeared in the heavens and gave them a message, basically saying, “Here’s the good news: Christ has come with His peace!” Really, that was about it. How interesting that the Lord chose to first give that salvation message to shepherds! Because my pastor Bob Bjerkaas tells me that the Torah says that the testimony of shepherds wasn’t even allowed in a human court of law. They didn’t count. They were unreliable witnesses. So, why would God pick them to first ring out the Good News? Well, because God delights in getting His message out through unskilled, ill-equipped, unqualified and poorly trained people. Yep, that was the shepherds on the hill that night. But their unreliability should encourage you. Because you, too, may be unskilled, ill-equipped, untrained; and friends might even think your word, unreliable. But that’s where the power of the Holy Spirit comes in to play. All you need to do is share the testimony of Jesus, the name of Jesus, and how He is lived out in your life. What has He done for you? How’s He changed you? You begin sharing that simple story once or twice, and with each testimony, you’ll grow more bold, more courageous, and even more convincing.
Look, if you want to do something prophetic, give the testimony of Jesus and how He’s changed your life. As the old Puritans would say, “Find your voice, and give it spine.” Friend, find your voice and give it courage, give it conviction, give it your all. For there is power, there’s life and salvation in the name of Jesus. And if you’d like to see how I share the story of Jesus, then visit my radio page today where I have posted a link to the Joni and Friends page where the Gospel of Jesus is made clear. Just go to joniradio.org and get an idea of what the testimony of Jesus sounds like. Then, find your voice and give it spine. At Joniradio.org.
