The Power of Testimonies for Our Families

Have you ever heard someone share a story and it really encouraged you? When we hear of amazing things God has done, we have the opportunity to grow in our faith for what God will do in and through our own families! Testimonies reveal the way He thinks and if we pay attention, our minds will be renewed to think more and more like God.

Psalm 119:99 says, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.”

Testimonies of the good things God has done are so powerful for our families, even when we just hear them. But when we meditate on them, we actually learn about God. Meditation doesn’t have to be something that’s hard to do. When you read the testimonies in the Bible, you might find some that are your favorite, so you read them over and over. Then you spend time thinking about them and asking questions like, “How did that person get healed?” This helps you see things you may not have seen if you only read it once, and it also helps you understand how God worked with those people. As you get this understanding from the testimonies, you will also know how God will work with you!

There are so many testimonies of the good things God has done all throughout the Bible. Sometimes, we rationalize away that God would want to do the same things in our lives and through our families, but the Hebrew word for testimony is a perfect example of how God views testimonies.

Testimony: `eduwth in Hebrew. (Pronounced ādooth)

It comes from two words: `ed and `uwd. (Pronounced ād and ūd) `ed: witness `uwd: do again

When I explain it to my kids, I like to say it kind of sounds like, “Hey, dude!” but instead it’s, “`ed `uwd.”

Testimony means, “Do it again!” God wants to “do again” with you the awesome things you see in the Bible. Our best example to follow is Jesus, He only did what He saw the Father do. When you read the testimonies Jesus did or that other people in the Bible did, you are seeing what can happen again with you and your family. When you read about Jesus healing the blind, guess what? God wants to heal the blind with you and your kids, too. The testimonies you read are showing you what God will do with you also.

But just because you read a testimony in the Bible, doesn’t mean the same thing will automatically happen with you. If we want to see those same things happen with us, the testimonies we read are supposed to change the way we think.

The best example of this is in Mark after Jesus fed the 4,000. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. One time, they had 5,000 people and only five loaves and two fish. They fed everyone there, too, and also had some left over. Now take a look at what happened right after Jesus fed these 4,000 people:

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”

He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” (Mark 8:14-21).

Jesus asked them, “Do you still not understand?” They remembered what He did with the five loaves and the seven loaves, but they didn’t let it change the way they thought. If they thought like He did, they wouldn’t worry about not having enough bread in the boat. Once they saw the miracle, from then on they were supposed to think that they would always have enough. Experiencing the miracle was supposed to change the way they thought. Once you’ve seen it happen, you then know it’s possible. When impossible things look possible, you have begun to think like God.

In what areas of your life are you needing to see God move? I want to encourage you to find testimonies of God doing whatever it is you’re needing and think about them and meditate on them. Let them change the way you and your kids think!

If you have any testimonies you’d like to share, I’d love to hear them! You can reach me here. I love reading the testimonies you send in!