The Power Of Testimony
“And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all”. Acts 4:33 NKJV
This power should be what we hunger for in this present life. Not just reading and hearing about the power of Jesus Christ, but actually seeing the power demonstrated through us. How do we get from simply being hearers of the Word to actual doers of the Word?
It says in this verse that as the disciples gave testimony of Jesus Christ they had great power. So there was a correlation between them sharing the truth of Jesus, the good news and great power flowing through them. There was a correlation between their personally sharing what they had seen, heard and experienced, and the power of the Holy Spirit moving in tangible ways the unbeliever could see. They spoke of the resurrection of Jesus and all that followed and they saw great power. We all need to become bold witnesses, sharing our personal testimony of who Jesus is.
The verse ends with the statement that in addition to the great power that resulted from their testimony, they also had great grace upon them. When you read that verse in the Amplified Bible, it says it this way: “And with great strength and ability and power the apostles delivered their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace (loving-kindness and favor and goodwill) rested richly upon them all.” Acts 4:33 Amplified Bible
Because they were sharing their testimony, their personal experiences with Jesus, they were also flowing with great grace. Grace is God giving us all that we don’t deserve! The Amplified makes it clear that it is the evidence in their present lives of His loving kindness, His favor, and His goodwill. Yes, I am selfish in this area. I want to see His lovingkindness poured out in fullness and so should you.
I don’t want to miss out on any of the kindness He has planned in His love for me. I want every demonstration of that favor. He has blessed us richly with His favor and I praise Him for it with a heart of appreciation, but I still want all of it. I don’t want to miss out on any of it. I want the fullness of His goodwill and you should want the same things in His love for you. The steps to walking in that grace come by being bold in our testimonies of what we have experienced personally of His goodness and richest outpourings of love and faithfulness.
J Todd Hostetler