DEVOTION – DAY 71

1 John 1:1-2 “Testifying about God”

 

I John 1: 1-2 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The Life appeared, we have seen it and testify to it, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.”

 

The apostle John wrote the letter 1 John to Christians in Asia Minor. He was a fisherman and handpicked by Jesus as one of His disciples. He was with Jesus throughout His public ministry. He witnessed and heard most of Jesus’ teachings. He was able to observe Jesus closely. He witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. He could vouch that Jesus never committed any sin, that Jesus never said one thing and did something else. He had seen Jesus, touched Jesus, and he was absolutely convinced that Jesus is the Son of God and that He was with God, the Father always. That was what John meant when he wrote in vs.1 “That which was from the beginning …” meaning that Jesus was with God, the Father from the beginning of time and space. Based on John’s personal experiences with Jesus, we can consider that his testimony about Jesus to be reliable and trustworthy.

While we may not have the privilege of being with Jesus the way John did, we too can testify about Jesus. All of us have a story to tell in our walk with Jesus. I know someone who was a nurse. She took leave to join a mission trip to India. In a small town, she met a local woman who had a large growth on her body. She knew it was a form of tumor. So, she offered to pray for this woman and she asked her fellow missionaries to do the same. They called upon the power of the Lord Jesus to heal this poor local woman afflicted with the tumor. As they prayed, to their amazement, the tumor visibly shrunk. As a result of the miraculous healing, this illiterate local woman was healed. More importantly, she believed in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. When this woman who was a nurse told us this story, we believed her because we knew her nursing background and she had no reason to lie about what she saw. In telling us the story, she only wanted to give God the glory.

A young man came to our church in Bukit Bintang and it so happened that on that Sunday, I was assigned to give the sermon. After the service, we saw this young man standing alone and he did not look familiar so we approached him and talked with him. We found out that he had only just started to visit our church and so we invited him to join us for lunch. Over lunch, we found out that he was not a believer so we used that time to tell him about Jesus. We knew this meeting was a divine appointment arranged by God. We were only in the main church that Sunday. And of all the people we could have talked to, we connected with him. Before the lunch ended, he invited Jesus Christ into his life as his Lord and Savior. This can only be the work of our Living God. He is indeed real.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us personal experiences that strengthen our faith in you and your Son, the Lord Jesus. Help us to seize every opportunity to bear witness for you. In the mighty name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

Questions

  1. Can you share a “personal encounter” with Jesus to encourage someone?
  2. How has someone’s personal testimony caused you to think about God?
  3. What may cause you to hold back from sharing your personal stories about Jesus and how might you overcome it? Discuss.