God Stories
Sharing what God has done in our lives. A testimony of coming to Christ is an
example. So is an answered prayer. It may be a growing moment in learning
something about ourselves and getting in line with God’s truth. There may be a big life changing event or a
quiet moment of an awareness of God.
Each has its place and each honors God in its telling.
Standing Stones Relate to a God Story
There is a story behind each of these markers. This is borrowed from Ray VanderLaan and the That the World May Know series:
The Hebrew word translated "standing stones"
is massebah and means "to set up." The Israelites followed ancient
customs by setting up standing stones as a reminder of God's covenant and
supernatural acts on their behalf. The story of the stone was passed down from
generation to generation through oral tradition.
Biblical Examples
On several occasions, the Bible mentions significant
events that were commemorated with standing stones:
Jacob set up stone pillars at Bethel in order to
remember his powerful dream, in which God reaffirmed his covenant with him
(Genesis 28:18-21, 35:14-15).
Moses built twelve standing stones at the foot of
Mount Sinai after receiving the Ten Commandments and other laws (Exodus
24:2-4).
The Israelites erected standing stones to remember
their miraculous crossing of the Jordan River (Joshua 4:2-3, 8-9).
Joshua built a standing stone when the covenant was
renewed at Shechem (Joshua 24:27).
Psalms Remind Us to Remember Our God Stories
God was at work in the lives of individuals and in the whole
of Israel. Their stories make up the Old
Testament, but there were many more stories that we will have to wait until
heaven to hear. But God appreciated the
remembering and the sharing of these stories of His relationship with His people.
The Psalms below reflect the idea.
·
But then I recall all you have done,
O LORD; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
Psalm 77:11 (NLT)
·
Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his
greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing
his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Exult in his holy
name; rejoice, you who worship the LORD. Search for the LORD and for his
strength; continually seek him. Remember the wonders he has performed, his
miracles, and the rulings he has given,
Psalm 105:1-5 (NLT)
·
Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never
forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my
diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
Psalm 103:2-5 (NLT)
Has God done good things for you? Has God forgiven your sins? Has God healed you? Has God kept you from death? How has God crowned you with love and tender
mercies? What good things do you have in
your life? Tell the story. What has God done?
New Testament Stories
Mary from Nazareth has an amazing story of an angel’s visit
and the birthing of the Messiah. How do
we know what happened to Mary? She was
the only one there. She told her God
story. Her words are wonderful:
How my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he
took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will
call me blessed. Luke 1:47-48 (NLT)
There are stories from one end to the other of the New
Testament, but here is one you may find interesting. This is from Paul’s letter to the Colossian
church. Paul didn’t start the
church. He has heard stories about what
God is doing there in the lives of people.
God stories. Take a look:
For we have heard of your faith in Christ
Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident
hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation
ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. This same Good News that
came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by
changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and
understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. You learned about the Good
News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and
he is helping us on your behalf. Colossians 1:4-7 (NLT)
Paul says that he and the mission team have heard about the
people of Colossae’s faith in Christ and love for God’s people. God stories.
Look what this great God story we refer to as the Good News is
doing. It is bearing fruit by changing
lives. Changed lives is fruit. Do you know anyone whose life has been
changed as a result of embracing the Good News?
Do you have a story from your own life about a shift in thinking, different
attitudes, altered beliefs, or new ways of behaving as a result of what God has
done?
The people in the church at Colossae learned about the Good
News through God stories told by Epaphras.
Who told you the Good News? How
did that make a difference? What areas
of your life are different? Have you
told others? What God stories might you
have?
The hymn says it well: I
love to tell the story; 'Tis pleasant to repeat; What seems, each time I tell
it, More wonderfully sweet.
On what we call Palm Sunday the Lord Jesus was on His way
into the city of Jerusalem. There were those who had seen what He had done or
heard the stories and they were shouting and praising God as Jesus rode
in. Religious leaders were bothered by
the praise and the behavior so they wanted to shut it all down.
“But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if
these become silent, the stones will cry out!" Luke 19:40 (NASB)
Let us not be silent.
God Stories You Might Consider
If you know Jesus, there is a story. How you came to know Him is the story of God
working in your life. You may have had
an experience of being in a biker gang and on drugs when a bright light came
blazing from heaven and you heard God’s voice telling you to get right with
Jesus. That could be it, but probably
not. It may be that you can’t remember
not knowing about Jesus. Then you have
the privilege of telling a God story about a family of faith that raised you in
an atmosphere of God’s truth and love.
So your testimony whatever it may be is your God story of faith. You might want to have that one down.
You may have encountered God in ways that shot you forward
in faith over the years. By the way, no
one moves in a steady straight line from the point of salvation to heaven there
are always bends in the road. What did
you learn that helped you grow in the Lord or trust Him more?
Think back at how you learned to feed yourself on God’s
Word. Did that happen automatically or
did you happen to always know the Word?
There was someone God brought into your life that helped. As you gained a knowledge of the Word and how
to get into it on your own you grew in your faith. That is a God story don’t you think?
Did you ever take a fork in the road of your faith that took
you away from God in some way? How did
you come to recognize you were on the wrong road? What brought you around? What have you found meaningful in your
relationship with God that you didn’t have?
There is a great story there.
What do you know about God?
Are you close? How did you get
there? Can you think of a time when God
revealed Himself in such a way that you were changed? Have you experienced the working of the Holy
Spirit in such a way that you have been forever altered? How intimate are you with the Triune God:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How did you
get there? Did you find Him in the
Bible, prayer, a meeting, retreat, conferences?
Your experience is a God story.
Have you prayed and seen God answer? If so, tell about it. What was the situation? What did you ask God for? What did God do? How did God help?
Have you struggled with being immoral, short tempered,
prideful, mouthy, abusive, mean, self-absorbed and now God has changed
you? There is God at work. Take joy in telling His story.
In impossible life situations where there looked to be no
way out have you seen God make a way?
You have a story.
There you go. Ask God
to help you recall places in your life where He has shown up. Write down your story. Share it as you have opportunity, and give
God the glory.
