Revelation from Dutch Sheets (from my small group today!)

What an amazing day I had today!  Wednesdays are always great because it is my "small group" day!  Oh how I love those wonderful ladies who set aside a couple of hours each week, to come together and hold each other up.  We laugh, we cry, we pray, we worship, we learn..... and so much more.  Today we listened to a Dutch Sheets CD from a recent conference in our area. (I missed the chance to attend this conference) I have read many of Dutch Sheet's books and heard him speak several times.  So a chance to hear a current message from him is a real treat.  We only listened to about 30 minutes but let me tell you, it was a power packed 30 minutes.

I want to just focus on one of the many thoughts from this short half hour teaching.....it is about the word "TESTIMONY".  Dutch said that a man approached him at the end of a conference and told him how much he enjoyed his teaching.  He was a Jewish believer in Jesus and a pastor.  Dutch went on to say that, from this man, he learned exactly what testimony means in Hebrew and more than that, what it means for us.  When we think about testimony, we think it is a remembrance.  We are remembering something that happened in the past.  But to the Jewish people it is much more than that.  There is an action - a doing - in the word testimony.  When there is a testimony - a remembering of something that God has done - than there is a present day DOING.  In the Old Testament the people were always recounting what God had done.  The reason they were doing this was so that God would do the same thing for them now!  When they needed a miracle, they recounted all the times that God had done miracles.  And then as they spoke that testimony, the power of God was released again for that miracle.  WOW!  I know that, at first reading, this may sound sort of......mundane.  But think about this!   I know that I had missed this.  I knew that testimony was important.  I knew that I have been encouraged and seen my faith grow through hearing the testimony of others.  But I also know that I had never imagined that part of the process of testimony was God actually doing that exact thing, NOW.    Think about all the prayers for healing that are prayed.  How much more powerful it is to give a testimony about a time that God healed.  As that testimony is spoken out, the power - the action - is released.  Dutch Sheets gave several examples of times when a speaker just told "stories" (testimonies) of the amazing things that God has done and then people responded as the power of God was poured out.

Think about Communion.  Think about the words that are spoken over every Communion meal.  It is a testimony.....a remembering...and speaking of the events of that meal.  And each time that we take part in the sharing of this testimony, we release the power of Jesus.  Those words that Jesus shared with His disciples become NOW words spoken to us and for us.  This just gives a further confirmation of the importance of the celebration of Communion and the words that are a part of that celebration.

There was even more in that 1/2 hour teaching.  But I know that I need more time to just meditate on this one point.  What an amazing blessing it is to learn something like this.  We seem to have lost so much when we do not understand the whole of the Bible from a Jewish perspective. Tonight I am so thankful for this teaching and for Dutch Sheets.  And I am thankful, again, for my small group.

Jesus, thank you for continuing to bring revelation to us, when we are missing an important truth.  Help us to change our thinking about testimonies.  Holy Spirit, give us courage and boldness to speak out all that Jesus has done.  Bless Dutch Sheets and the messages that he shares.  Continue to give him wisdom and expand his platform.  And Jesus, thank you for Communion!  Amen