INSIGHT FOR TODAY WITH CHUCK SWINDOLL.
Chuck Swindoll’s ‘Insight for Today’ Daily Devotional is here. “Insight for Today” is a daily devotional written by Chuck Swindoll
The Topic of Chuck Swindoll Daily Devotional 8th May 2022 is “Your Testimony, Part One”.
Scripture: Acts 26:1–23
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.”
So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense: 2 “I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, 3 for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!
4 “As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem. 5 If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion. 6 Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors. 7 In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope! 8 Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?
9 “I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.* 10 Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers* there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. 11 Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus.* I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.
12 “One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests. 13 About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. 14 We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,* ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.* ’
15 “ ‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.
“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 16 Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future. 17 And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles 18 to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’
19 “And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven. 20 I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do. 21 Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me. 22 But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen—23 that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”
TODAY’S INSIGHT – 8TH MAY 2022.
One time-honored and effective method of evangelism is the giving of your personal testimony. The skeptic may deny your doctrine or attack your church, but he or she cannot honestly ignore the fact that your life has been changed. The skeptic may stop his or her ears to the presentations of a preacher and the pleadings of an evangelist, but this person is somehow attracted to the human-interest story of how you found peace within.
Believe me; the steps that led to your conversion and the subsequent ramifications are far more appealing and appropriate to the non-Christian than a pulpit exposition of John 3 or Romans 5. If you have not discovered the value of telling others how God rearranged your life, you’ve missed a vital link in the chain of His blessing.
On six separate occasions between Paul’s third missionary journey and his trip to Rome, he stood before different audiences and presented Christ to them (Acts 22–26). Six times he stood alone. Six times he addressed unbelievers, many of them hostile and rude. Do you know the method Paul used each time? His personal testimony.
Each time he spoke, he simply shared how his own life had been changed by the invasion of Christ and the indwelling of His power. Not once did he argue or debate with them. Not once did he preach a sermon. Why? Because one of the most convincing, unanswerable arguments on earth regarding Christianity is one’s personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ. No persuasive technique will ever take the place of your personal testimony. I challenge you to give serious consideration to thinking through and then presenting the way God saved you—along with the exciting results of His presence in your life.
Tomorrow, I’ll share with you some specifics of a dynamic testimony. Until then, you might want to think of three specific and important changes Christ has accomplished in your born-again life; these can become a part of your spoken testimony to unbelievers. And, if you know your testimony could use some written work and planning, schedule a time for it now—and write it on your calendar. We’ll dive in more deeply tomorrow. This is exciting stuff!
RICK WARREN DAILY DEVOTIONAL 8TH MAY 2022
About Chuck Swindoll Daily Devotional “Today’s Insight”.
Today’s Insight is written by Charles R. Swindoll. Charles R. Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word and His grace. Since 1988 he has served as the founder and senior pastor-teacher of Stonebriar Community Church in Texas, but his listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. The radio broadcast of this devotional program has aired for more than 35 years. Read more.
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