Acts 26:12-18

12 "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, O King, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' 15 "Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' "'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 16 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' (NIV)

We can only be witnesses of what God shows us, and what we experience through him. If we experience nothing we will have nothing to say.

Rom 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." (NIV)

Rom 5:1-10

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (KJV)

Rom 5:1-5

1 So now, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith in his promises, we can have real peace with him because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 For because of our faith, he has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us to be. 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-- they help us learn to be patient. 4 And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. 5 Then, when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (TLB)

·         we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

·         By what he has done, not what you have done. It is based on WHO you are not what you DO.

·         This is the place where we attempt to stop. Many do not even reach this place.

·         also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God

·         (v:2 in TLB because of our faith, he has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us to be)

·         The place of highest privilege (where we now stand)

·         we confidently and joyfully look forward…

·         to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us to be.

Eph 3:8-20

8 Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the most useless Christian there is, yet I was the one chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles the Glad News of the endless treasures available to them in Christ; 9 and to explain to everyone that God is the Saviour of the Gentiles too, just as he who made all things had secretly planned from the very beginning.

10 And his reason? To show to all the rulers in heaven how perfectly wise he is when all of his family-- Jews and Gentiles alike-- are seen to be joined together in his Church 11 in just the way he had always planned it through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Now we can come fearlessly right into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome when we come with Christ and trust in him.

13 So please don't lose heart at what they are doing to me here. It is for you I am suffering, and you should feel honored and encouraged. 14 When I think of the wisdom and scope of his plan, I fall down on my knees and pray to the Father of all the great family of God-- some of them already in heaven and some down here on earth-- 16 that out of his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you the mighty inner strengthening of his Holy Spirit. 17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; 18 and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself. 20 Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of-- infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. (TLB)

·         We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials

·         for we know that they are good for us

·         they help us learn to be patient

·         And patience develops strength of character in us

·         helps us trust (hope) God more each time we use it

·         until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. v: 5 Then, when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Acts 1:8)

We have not allowed God to walk us through some things so that we can have a testimony.