Testimonies, impartation, and offense
A testimony is an invitation to an impartation.
There are many different responses when people share testimonies. Two of the most common are seen through the thieves on the cross. They had heard testimony that Jesus was able to help them and needed rescuing. One has essentially a "prove it" attitude. Essentially he was saying that if you are the Christ, why don't you prove it by rescuing us all. Now there was also a challenge to His divinity that was blasphemous (according to the Greek) - "if thou art the Christ." But his attitude and response to the testimony was one of requiring him to prove it. The other thief, however, humbled himself and, as a result, received the breakthrough from Jesus. The funny thing is, the man whose response was "prove it," died and probably still felt convinced that he was right in trying to make Jesus prove it and that Jesus really could not do what He could because He didn't for him.
Personally, I know I had a "prove it" attitude for many years in regards to other's testimonies. I think it wasn't until my hunger for breakthrough started to exceed my pride in regards to what I thought I knew that impartation started to flow to me. It came from those who had testimonies that I desperately wanted to see God do to touch those that He would later give me contact with. This is often why those with child-like hunger and faith can often get breakthroughs that those who know far, far more (who are impressed with how much they know) can't get. This spiritual pride is the breeding ground for unbelief because if the breakthrough were to happen it would obviously go to the people with the most knowledge (or that think they have the most knowledge :) ). Believe me, I lived in that rut for way, way too long. There IS an invitation to an impartation with every testimony.
Along the same lines, I am convinced the spirit of offense is one of the biggest things that holds back impartation. A couple of weeks ago I was hearing a testimony from a guy that was very outside of my box of what encountering God looks like. However, this man does have a lot of wisdom. I found myself starting to shut down internally from being able to receive from him because of how "wrong" he is (on that one thing - according to me - who, last I checked, is not always right! :) ). I realized that through allowing myself to shut down because of what I supposedly know, I was robbing myself from what I could have gleaned through this guy's message. I think offense and pride (which go together) are some of the best ways to be robbed from what God could have given. Which is greater: my hunger to receive - especially in order to be able to help another with what I could get, or my certainty of how right I am which will cause me to shut down from receiving from others? This is a choice that I am constantly presented with. I should be able to learn from anyone, not just only a select few that I can agree with on the things that I deem to be valuable.
There are many different responses when people share testimonies. Two of the most common are seen through the thieves on the cross. They had heard testimony that Jesus was able to help them and needed rescuing. One has essentially a "prove it" attitude. Essentially he was saying that if you are the Christ, why don't you prove it by rescuing us all. Now there was also a challenge to His divinity that was blasphemous (according to the Greek) - "if thou art the Christ." But his attitude and response to the testimony was one of requiring him to prove it. The other thief, however, humbled himself and, as a result, received the breakthrough from Jesus. The funny thing is, the man whose response was "prove it," died and probably still felt convinced that he was right in trying to make Jesus prove it and that Jesus really could not do what He could because He didn't for him.
Personally, I know I had a "prove it" attitude for many years in regards to other's testimonies. I think it wasn't until my hunger for breakthrough started to exceed my pride in regards to what I thought I knew that impartation started to flow to me. It came from those who had testimonies that I desperately wanted to see God do to touch those that He would later give me contact with. This is often why those with child-like hunger and faith can often get breakthroughs that those who know far, far more (who are impressed with how much they know) can't get. This spiritual pride is the breeding ground for unbelief because if the breakthrough were to happen it would obviously go to the people with the most knowledge (or that think they have the most knowledge :) ). Believe me, I lived in that rut for way, way too long. There IS an invitation to an impartation with every testimony.
Along the same lines, I am convinced the spirit of offense is one of the biggest things that holds back impartation. A couple of weeks ago I was hearing a testimony from a guy that was very outside of my box of what encountering God looks like. However, this man does have a lot of wisdom. I found myself starting to shut down internally from being able to receive from him because of how "wrong" he is (on that one thing - according to me - who, last I checked, is not always right! :) ). I realized that through allowing myself to shut down because of what I supposedly know, I was robbing myself from what I could have gleaned through this guy's message. I think offense and pride (which go together) are some of the best ways to be robbed from what God could have given. Which is greater: my hunger to receive - especially in order to be able to help another with what I could get, or my certainty of how right I am which will cause me to shut down from receiving from others? This is a choice that I am constantly presented with. I should be able to learn from anyone, not just only a select few that I can agree with on the things that I deem to be valuable.
posted by Seltzer at 10:09 PM
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