PRECIOUS TESTIMONIES MINISTRY UPDATE   

 -- Spring 2002 --

  YOU ARE A NATION

You are a nation. If you are a born again Christian, God says you are a holy Nation!  When was the last time you thought of yourself as a nation?  As a nation, what is God’s purpose for making you a nation?

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.           (1 Peter 2:9-10) 

Why would God call you and I a nation?   God is saying something here to us that we need to understand, believe, remind ourselves daily of … and wisely do something about.  

Unimaginable potential lies within each of us through Christ to influence the lives of others around us.  The testimony has been told that a minister of God was expecting God to do mighty things through his preaching.  Everything within him believed that many were going to get saved through his preaching that particular occasion.  Yet, only one came forward and gave his life to Christ.  Only one.  “God – I was believing you for many, many lost souls, and you only saved one?  How discouraging!”

That one soul saved happened to be Billy Graham, many years ago. 

Out of one nation … that being the Evangelist Billy Graham … has come untold nations!  And the nations those nations have influenced can only be measured in value and number by God. 

Maybe you’re in a rut.  Maybe the devil has tricked you into believing that your life has little worth right now.  Maybe you feel like you are just taking up space on this planet, really wanting to die and just be in heaven.  No one loves you – no one cares about you – you are just worthless.  

Please allow us to make a statement of truth and fact to you: You are a nation!  A holy nation … as a born again Christian placing your trust in Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father! 

Step outside your house.  Look at the children playing.  How many of them will hear someone say to them:  “Jesus loves you.”  Or, “Jesus loves you, and you have something very important to do for Him in your lifetime.”  Something real simple, yet something that they may never hear their entire lifetime in the world in which we live … unless you tell it to them.

What would happen if we made a commitment to ourselves to try to tell at least one person a day: “Jesus loves you.”  Would it begin to make us see ourselves as the nation that God says we are?  Could it be a seed planted that God would water until it bore fruit one day in that person for His glory … to make that person a holy nation one day as well?

Perhaps one of the most important statements of fact and truth recorded in scripture for God’s people to get a handle on is found in Ephesians 1:17-21:  “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe …to us who believe … to us who believe … to us who believe … to us who believe …to us who believe … to us who believe, (seems like my keyboard won’t let me go on), according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”  

… ‘To us who believe”.  What you believe is what releases God’s power through you or what Satan uses to bind up and stop God’s power through you.  If you believe you are not a nation … (let alone a holy nation) … you have shut much of God’s power off to work through you, we hope you realize.  God didn’t use a poor choice of wording when He calls you and I a nation.  He is trying to give us a huge clue that if we will impart words of truth to others … we are in the process of raising up other nations.  

What do you and I know about the age to come?  Can our daily pursuit to make other people holy nations lay a foundation for others and us in the ages to come?   God tells us to “lay up treasures in heaven,” (see Matthew 6:19).  If we are purposing to make other people holy nations, how can we not be laying up treasures in heaven?  

God reveals to us how much influence and impact one sinful person can have over an entire group of people, in 1 Corinthians 5:6 and Galatians 5:9 … where we are told that ‘one bad apple in the basket can spoil all the rest.’  The reverse of this process is true as well.  One holy apple can make all the rest of the apples in the basket holy as well … if that holy apple nation will only believe that it is possible and purpose to do something about it and leave the results to God.     

With the tensions around the world growing … people are becoming more and more susceptible to the deceit of the devil.  God tells us in scripture it was going to happen.  People are killing others in the name of God, believing they are in fact doing it for God?  Why?  God tells us that when people reject the truth of the New Testament scriptures, then God will allow them to have their way by believing lies that the devil provides them.

How many of these people killing others in the name of God heard these simple little words whispered to them when they were little: “Jesus loves you.”  Had they heard it, would they have grown up to be Jesus truth lovers instead of Jesus truth rejecters?

Maybe much of life in Christ Jesus has passed you by.  Maybe you are a newborn Christian believer.  Or, maybe you are a Christian that the devil has put in the hospital and your healing has come very slowly. It is never too late to start doing something about the holy nation that you are.  Maybe you aren’t gifted in sharing God’s Word like others are able.  Maybe you feel like you don’t have much of a testimony to share.  Maybe fear grips you every time you want to speak about Jesus to others.  We all have frailties.  But just how hard is it to tell someone: “You can be a holy nation” ? 

Don’t condemn yourself if you’ve fallen short of the potential God has through you as a holy nation.  Let tomorrow become a new season for you.  Forget about your failings of the past, and purpose to make tomorrow a new day.  No matter how much evil consumes this planet before Christ returns, there will always be opportunity to be speaking words of truth to the young: they will listen.  They may not understand at the moment what you say to them, but a seed needs to be planted, and others can water it.  God will bring the increase.  Your word inspired by the Holy Spirit will not come back to God void.  After all, you’re a holy nation.  You are God’s Ambassador … God’s mouthpiece.  Don’t let the devil convince you otherwise.

There will come a future time when God will allow us to see how our actions affected the lives of every person they affected … for good or for evil.  Unholy nations aren’t going to like what they are shown.  Holy nations will scarcely believe the joy that will be theirs for eternity that came from sacrificing so little … when it sometimes seems like so much now.

If you easily forgot two of the most important promises God has given born again believers, perhaps you might want to write them down when you can view them and mediate on them daily:

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”   (1 Cor. 15:58)

“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ.”  (Colossians 3:23-24)

Sometimes it seems the ministry we’ve been called to just isn’t bearing much fruit that we can see.  When we begin to doubt that our labor in the Lord is all for naught … we need to tell ourselves, ‘God has promised me that it is not in vain!  Keep being faithful, self, until God leads you in another direction.’

Perhaps you have a boring, mundane job, that doesn’t even pay all that well.  Guess what?  If you will force yourself to realize that you are working for God … it can change your entire outlook on that job.  Ask and trust God to give you understanding of what He is saying in Colossians 3:23-24 if you’re not sure.  It can revolutionize how you see your work once you get hold of what God is saying in this passage of scripture.

We have a special prayer request.  A prisoner by the name of Martin Briseno is trusting God for an early release from prison.  (Martin’s testimony can be found under: BORN AGAIN Testimonies, on our website.  It is titled:  FROM COCAINE TO CHRIST.).  It will in fact be a “miracle in the making” to watch God bring about an early release, though it is not difficult for God to do at all. 

It has also been on our hearts to be able to play testimonies on the ministry website so people can hear them as well as read them.  However, we will need to see God increase financial giving to be able to do that, so that is something else we are asking prayer for.

In closing, we want to thank each and everyone who prays for this outreach ministry.  God is using your prayers to keep attacks of the evil one from prospering, and without your prayers, we would hate to think how difficult it would be to continue this outreach.

Remember … your prayers for this outreach are laying up treasures in heaven for you once you arrive: they are not in vain!

Norm & Kathleen Rasmussen
DIRECTORS

NOTE FROM EDITOR: If you are questioning in your heart what this Christian life is all about and would like to know more about being reconciled to God, please click here to learn how you can do that.  Thank you and God bless you!