Testimonies of the Brethren (pt. 1)
“And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing]” (Revelations 12:11, Amp).
When I read through this text again, recently, what caught my attention was the latter part of the text.
Conclusively, after much considerations, I saw that death in that context isn’t necessarily a form of life termination but a fierce situation of no return. For example, when a man decides to stand with God on His promises, it simply means that that man has given himself completely to the words of the Lord and will not turn from it, even if it seems as if it may not come to manifestation. A typical example of this is the three Hebrew men who told the king in the book of Daniel 3:18 that “But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up!”.
Those words were borne out of pure dedication. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had given themselves completely to God, so much so that they were ready to die for what they believed.
It wasn’t as if the three Hebrew men did not know God, they did. In fact, they had spoken much about the person of their God in the 17th verse “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty” (NIV).
Revelation 12:11 would have been incomplete without the latter part of it. God had said we would overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the words of our testimonies but there was a clause to it— we would stand by those testimonies even when the world does not believe. That is where the victory lies!
My Testimony
I could still remember a time when I had to give the most precious treasure I had, in pursuit of an unseen land that the Lord had promised me. People, friends and family, all turned against me. Men mocked me. I would go to bed sobbing until my pillow got wet. I would cry until I could no longer cry. What God had promised me was so big that even years of work of my entire family could not purchase it but then, one very faithful year, God came for me.
Even before my prayer was answered, I had told God that I chose what He wanted for me and so, I would no longer care about the taunts of people. I decided that even if God didn't fulfill His words, I would still wait on Him because it would be counted for me as faith.
It wasn't long at all that God moved the heavens and earth for me and gave me what I had been waiting for, for years, in a matter of weeks.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I received the good news.
I did not even have to run around. God did it!
One lesson that that taught me is that I would never doubt God again and even if problems arise and I begin to doubt, I would still believe in the one who had done it before.
This is my testimony.
At this point, I will not tell you what to pray for, I will let you pour your heart out to God.
Have the problems of this world made you waiver and forsake God? Or are you in so many quakes that you are thinking of abandoning the journey of faith that God had began with you?
Why not return to the one who has the absolute power, today?
Just go ahead and begin to talk to God about those things and I believe He has been waiting to hear from you.