{"id":3090,"date":"2013-08-28T07:17:21","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T11:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oldsandals.net\/?p=3090"},"modified":"2013-08-28T07:33:19","modified_gmt":"2013-08-28T11:33:19","slug":"for-bethany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/?p=3090","title":{"rendered":"An occasion for testimony"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Luke 21:13<\/em><br \/>\n<em>But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This verse, along with one more familiar&#8212;&#8220;All things work together for good to those who love God&#8221;&#8212;lay out for us the Christian&#8217;s approach to life.<\/p>\n<p>This approach allows us to come to terms with the past, whatever it was, for whatever it <em>was<\/em> is now forgiven.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>It gives us great hope for the future,\u00a0 because the future, whatever it <em>will be<\/em>, cannot but lead us to the good that is promised us. <\/p>\n<p>And finally, and most importantly, it gives us purpose for the present, for today. For today, whatever it <em>is<\/em>, whether trials or triumphs, whether bad news or good news, is ultimately a divinely-appointed occasion for testimony to our faith in a good God who cannot fail us.<\/p>\n<p>This is why, in the words of the hymn writer, we are to be &#8220;singing if our way is clear, praying if the path be drear, and if in danger for Him call, trusting Jesus&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luke 21:13 But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. This verse, along with one more familiar&#8212;&#8220;All things work together for good to those who love God&#8221;&#8212;lay out for us the Christian&#8217;s approach to life. This approach allows us to come to terms with the past, whatever it was, for whatever &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/?p=3090\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;An occasion for testimony&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3090"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3090"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3092,"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3090\/revisions\/3092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.oldsandals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}