birthday surprise! It's Arlene.

Happy Tuesday! 

I have enjoyed all the birthday surprises so much, and I am sure that you have too. I love how the Lord has worked in the heart's of all the guest writers; orchestrating through them a rhythm of encouragement and life. Today you will read from one of the most amazing women that I know. I've said it before and I will say it again, hanging out with Arlene is like hanging out with one of the disciples... she is that close to the Lord! I know that you will be blessed and motivated to do mighty things for Jesus after reading this post. 

Am I just a Storyteller…Or a living Testimony? 

SURPRISE!!

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer ‘I’ who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

Have you ever decided to be true to yourself – for real?  You know, like just hanging out in the mirror not just to put on makeup or pluck your eyebrows? Yep!! I’m talking about taking a mirror journey.  Going deep.  Having conversations, asking questions and getting answers.  Opening up the conversation with,  “What’s your story?”  Or, “Is your story the same as my story?”  Or maybe just asking your mirror friend, to be honest with you and reflect the truth about your story.  If you hang out long enough in the mirror, seeking a true reflection,  I guarantee you’ll get an answer, which may lead to new questions such as, “Is anyone really listening to my story, or am I my only audience?   OK – Maybe I’m the only one who has nothing better to do but take Mirror Getaways just to check “me” out.  I promise you, if you invest in a Mirror Getaway you may just find out that the ‘you’ in your story is more than just a story character, but the living testimony of an overcommer who has been crucified and resurrected with Christ.  Let’s talk!!

There are hundreds of references of people’s personal testimonies in the Bible.  And these are only the recorded ones.  I believe that that there are thousands of unrecorded Biblical testimonies.  But just like the Bible characters, some of us have lives that are filled with interesting stories that are never heard because they were never told.  It’s unrealistic however, to think that we can just go around telling our stories to everyone we meet, so how will people ever know what we are all about?  Pardon me for getting back to the Mirror Getaway, but therein we can find some true-life nuggets.  For one, a true reflection is better seen in our living testimony than in our creative storytelling.

Does everyone have a testimony?   Let’s start with God’s Testimony.  Does God have a testimony?  How do we know?  Where do we find it? Another surprise! God’s testimony is in both the Old and New Testaments where all of God’s stories are told.  The Old Testament testifies of His sovereign rule, His proven omnipotence throughout all of creation, His omniscience in knowing the end from the beginning, and His omnipresence in filling the space of all existence.  In His New Testament story, we see the “The Word” became flesh (John 1:14), lived among us and was tested.  For 33 ½ years the world experienced God through the living testimony of the “Jesus Story”.  And like our Mirror Getaway, we must become familiar with the testimony of God and have a clear understanding of the powerful dynamics in both testaments, or we will never be accurate with our own testimonies.  Like God, our testimony must reflect truth.  A true reflection shows all sides – The good – The Bad and The Ugly.  The multi facets of God have never been hidden, but contained in His testimony along with the evidence of His unmatchable character and the ultimate result of His earthly tests on the Cross-at Calvary.

So, on our next Mirror Getaway, our reflection should be a perfect match with the telling of our ‘God-story’.  After all, it’s no longer us who live, but Christ living in us, making our testimonies worthwhile regardless of the trials and tribulations we go through, and knowing that because Jesus overcame we too can overcome.  What a testimony!

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Arlene Hoffman is a member of the “Least of these Tribe” living in Miami as a freelance writer who seeks and serves. Read last's years birthday surprise by Arlene by clicking HERE