February 26

John 1:32-34

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”

Aren’t testimonies great?  What is yours? Everyone has one, everyone has a story. Many of them are not pretty, and some are less than exciting, but everyone has a testimony. Here’s another question: What would the people you know think your testimony would be?  Would it be “Oh, yeah, I know so-and-so. His life has been one big party?”  Or maybe “Yeah, ol’ what’s-her-name — she lived under the philosophy of ‘eat it all, use it up and wear it out?’”

Our testimonies are not just given by our words.  They are clearly demonstrated by how we live out our lives.  Other people see our testimonies more clearly than we do at times. John the Baptist’s testimony has to do with what he saw, his truth telling and his right-sized ego. Many people thought he was possibly the Christ, the Anointed One, but he told them that he wouldn’t even have noticed the real one if God hadn’t told him. That is humility isn’t it? He said, in effect, ‘I could not even figure that much out by myself.’

Let me ask you, how much can you figure out by yourself?  If you aren’t constantly looking for God’s guidance, are you sure about what you can figure out, or do you just suspect you can figure it out?  Pretty interesting: John the Baptist relied on God to figure it out. Do you?  Now that’s a testimony.

Lord, help me to rely on you so I can be true in all I do. In Jesus’ name,  Amen.

Dialog discuss, “Excuse me, Do you find this statement to be true? Is this what your friends think?” War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.   John Stuart Mill, Philosopher, Economist, Moral and Political Theorist (1806 – 1873)