Just Testify...Every Day... And Reveal Jesus To Others

Revelation 19:9-10 -  And the angel dictated this sentence to me: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “God himself has stated this.”  Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No! Don’t! For I am a servant of God just as you are, and as your brother Christians are, who testify of their faith in Jesus. Worship God. The purpose of all prophecy and of all I have shown you is to tell about Jesus.”

Everything around him had begun to praise God…so John was overcome with awe and fell down to worship the angel that had given him such insight to the things to come. But the angel stopped him quickly…explaining that he as a simple servant of God …just like John.  Then he told him the reason for the vision was to share what it revealed about Jesus to others.

Jesus appeared first as a humble lamb…led to a sacrificial death to pay for the sins of the world…but he rose to victory overall evil and became the conquering king that John saw coming in this chapter of revelation… to judge evil and do away with it forever.

Part of my job as a believer is to tell others about what Jesus did to save us all from the same fate as these creatures. We are to just testify what God has done for us through Jesus his son… and not just the basics of salvation…we are to proclaim the way he has transformed each of us.  We all began as wretched sinners…but when God washed our sins away with his son’s blood….we became a new creature…transformed by his love.  We were reborn to walk and demonstrate his love to others…just as Jesus did.

Jesus told us that this transformation required more than just a casual mention of his name when we felt like it.  It requires denying our self and taking up the same cross he bore…daily. He wanted to make sure we got this important message so he had Matthew and Luke record the same words he gave us in Mark 8:34-35… “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."”

His message is clear… and brought that feeling of conviction once again to my heart.  I needed the reminder that the cross of Jesus is not just something to hang on my wall…or my Christmas tree as decorations. It isn’t just a piece of jewelry I wear…or a design stamped into one of my favorite hats.  It is to be a permanent …daily part of my walk with him.

Father…thank you for the reminder to take up my cross and join you in sacrificing my life to tell others the good news of how you triumphed over death and provided a way to help me conquer evil in my life.  Forgive me for not taking up the cross and following you every day.  Help me to live a more sacrificial life and be your hands and feet to a dying and lost world.  Amen.