You didnt choose me. I chose you. the Bible says (John 15:16a-b, NLT). Think about that for a minute. Whenever you say, Ive been saved or born-again for x amount of time, you oftentimes talk about your own personal testimony of how you came to Christ. Im quite sure that you have a very compelling, interesting story to tell about concerning the many changes youve youve gone through when you first came to accept Yeshua as your personal Lord and Savior! However, it seems to me as if a Messiah-centered act becomes diluted to the point that it becomes an that the individual did to embrace Messiah. I must admit that I too have made the very same mistakes that many of you have. I too have made it seem as if I was the one who chose Messiah. I too have had my countless testimonies when I spoke about my own personal experiences along with the means by which I was able to overcome those trials. Now, I come to realize that the more I bear an account of my own personal experiences, the more I devalue something that should be of great importance to Bible enthusiasts. Messiah himself said, You didnt choose me. I chose you. (John 15:16a-b, NLT). Sounds contradictory to our personal account as to how we came to be saved, right? The truth is that we didnt choose die for our sins; Messiah made that decision. We didnt choose to provide the means by which we could be saved; Messiah did. The more I think about Messiahs statement, the more I realize that who I am today is not based upon what I did; its all based upon what Messiah did some two thousand years. Messiah continued to inform us the primary reason why he chose us: [...] I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name (John 15:16c, NLT), he said. I reason that the first fruit that any of us could ever produce is repentance. Many of us including myself have to turn from our own selfish personal ambitions and embrace the fact that we as servants to The Great Master, we must first be willing to accomplish his ambitions. How can we do this? We can begin by bearing the true testimony that occurred some two thousand years ago and stop bearing our own personal testimony that can only last but the lifespan of our mere existence here on this earth. Consider the Masters attitude. He said, If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid (John 5:31, NLT). All the while that were caught up talking about our own personal experiences, were truly ignoring the biblical fact that were NOT imitating Messiah Yeshua. On the contrary, were totally causing our audience to lose their focus and attention as to what Messiah did when he conquered both the cross and the grave to that which we have personally experienced. I understand that some were battered and abused, but Messiah has been through more. I understand that some had great losses, but Messiah lost more. I even understand that some have gone through emotional hurt, but Messiah have through more. Regardless of any testimony that a fellow brother or sister may give, theres not greater testimony than that of Messiah Yeshua conquering the grave. After repenting from the errors of OUR ways, we need to do one more thing: testify about Yeshua so that truth may be known (reference John 5:32). Im quite sure that we all have personal experiences that can make people remain in suspense; however, we need to remember that we preach a Messiah-centered gospel, not a Me-centered message. By remembering that we preach a Messiah-centered gospel, we can demonstrate to others that we too have been chosen by Messiah Yeshua as opposed to worrying about whether or not we will be accepted in our local congregations.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 08:49:56 +0000
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