TOPIC: YOUR ENCOUNTER — A LIFE-CHANGING STORY
Bible Reading: Isaiah 31–33; Philippians 1
“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” — Acts 4:20 KJV
Jesus is truly beautiful and lovely. To know Him is to love Him because He is alive and present in the heart that believes. He is the only One who cannot be spoken of in the past tense because He is alive forever. The early disciples never regarded Jesus as merely a figure from history. Even in the face of intense persecution, they could not stop speaking about the things they had seen and heard. Your greatest message about Jesus is your personal encounter and experience with Him. When you have truly encountered Him, you cannot keep quiet about what He has done in your life.
When Mary Magdalene encountered the risen Christ, she immediately went to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” John 20:18 (KJV). She had a message because she had an encounter. The man whose sight Jesus restored also had a story that could not be silenced. When the religious leaders questioned him about Jesus, he simply declared, “One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” John 9:25 (KJV). He did not need to argue about what others thought of Jesus; his personal experience had become undeniable. Likewise, when the woman at the well encountered Jesus, she left her waterpot, went into the city, and said, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” John 4:28–29 (KJV). Her testimony drew others to Jesus.
What has Jesus resurrected in your life? What has He changed, restored, delivered, or brought into your life? If He has done anything for you, then you have a message to share.
Do not make light of your story; your testimony can become a bridge through which others encounter Jesus. Like the early disciples, let your encounter with Christ give you the boldness to speak about what you have seen and heard. Tell your story, share your testimony, and invite others to “Come, see” the Man who changed your life. Your encounter with Jesus is a life-changing story worth telling.
Prayer: Father, thank You for the life-changing encounter I have with Jesus Christ. Help me to boldly share my testimony and let my story draw others to Christ, in Jesus’ name.
Pastor Alfred Samuel