SHARE YOU STORY!
SHARE YOUR STORY!
“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities. “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, a ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” —Acts 26:9-23
That is Paul’s story of how our Lord Jesus impacted his life. How has our Lord impacted your life? Can you clearly tell the story of: What your life was like before you were saved and then How Jesus saved you and then how He has transformed your life? All believers should be able to tell their story of how our Lord Jesus impacted them.
This is a wonderful way to share the gospel with people or at least being a springboard to sharing the gospel with people. After Paul shared this story there were a couple statements made. First, “Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane” (Acts 26:24). That is how some people will think about us. But “then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” Paul’s response was “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26:28-29). Paul’s desire after sharing his story is that they too would become followers of Jesus. He did not see them do so at that point, but they did say “to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.” Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar” (Acts 26:31-32).
Can you and I share our story like that and encourage others toward Jesus? We should be able to do so! When was the last time you did? Do so! People will listen to a story and you will have the opportunity to share Jesus with them! If you are not doing so, why are you not doing so? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TKAN-nAsu8
Dear Father I am grateful for calling me to Jesus. Now may I tell the story again and again of how You did that. May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus. So be it!