Hosanna Restoration Church

How important is it that we share what we know personally, and not just what someone said? God must have considered it to be important, because the Holy Spirit directed John to begin this letter by telling them that what He was about to write and what all the others had written, was not just something they were passing on that they had made up, but rather what they knew to be true from personal experience.

Remember when the disciples were told in Acts chapter 4 not to speak about Jesus any more, and they responded that they “could not help telling what they had seen and heard.” It is much easier to share what we know personally. A person can more readily tell someone else that Jesus saves, if they themselves are saved.

I once had a man tell me that Buddha saved him, but when I asked him how Buddha saved him, his response was, “I don’t know.” He then proceeded to ask me for my address and phone number. You see, I could share with him what I knew from personal experience, and he could only say what he had been told.

For a long time, the church has come down so hard on experiencing things, and feeling things, that people hesitate to share what they feel and experience. But if we have nothing to share, how can we testify. Forgive me if this illustration offends you, but look at the Word of God as a living commercial, advertising the Kingdom of God, the will and the ways of God, and the promises of God. The idea of a commercial, is to get people to try the product. One automobile commercial simply says, “experience it” about their car.

The disciples had seen, heard, handled, and touched Jesus, and they had a lot to share. They could tell of their own failures, and of their victories. They could speak of healing upon healing, and deliverance’s by the score. The fact was they could not help themselves. They had to share! Why? Because He was so real. Not just what He had done while on this earth, but what He was still doing. They said it was by the Name of Jesus and faith in the power of that name that great miracles were being done.

God is so ready to meet us in powerful ways so that we too can share what we have seen Him do heard Him say. If we can believe it, then all things are possible with God. Read the Word of God and expect to experience it. Hear the word preached, or taught, or hear someone testify of what God has done in their life, and tell God you want that too. They may not realize it, but the world is waiting to hear what we have seen and heard and know by personal experience. They have seen enough religion, it is time to give them Words of Life!