This is according to His eternal purpose accomplished in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 3:11 HCSB

What is according to His eternal purpose? Gospel preaching and disciple-making are what is accomplished in Jesus. When we try to do these things outside of Jesus we will either just mess it up or we will preach the wrong thing or disciple to the wrong goal. The whole point of the Bible and life is Jesus. The Old Testament law and prophets point to Jesus. The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is Jesus' life here on earth. Everything from Acts to Revelation is the church living and learning to be more like Jesus.

We also have a before Jesus, a Jesus conversation, and a life lived out for Jesus. It is called our testimony. At some point in time, we were not Christians and we lived how we wanted. At some point in time we heard the Gospel of Jesus and finally understood what the Cross of Calvery was all about and we accepted Jesus into our lives to be our Savior and Lord. From that point on we are living and learning for Jesus.

My testimony is this: I was raised in the church and never did much "bad" stuff because I was saved when I was around 11. My church was having a movie night at the church. They showed the movie "The Crossing" in which a man is showed the only way to God is through the cross of Jesus. Afterward, we split into Sunday school classes to talk about the movie. During the conversation, I was reading the scripture that was given to me to read and I started to cry. I was moved with tears that I had learned that the cross was my way to God and I needed Jesus in my life to save me from my sins. I needed Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. From then on I continued to grow in my relationship with Jesus by reading my Bible and attending church. While in college I learned the importance of one-on-one discipleship as Jesus modeled it. My life is still a life that wants to be a better disciple of Jesus to live and learn how to live for Him.

What about you what is your testimony? Don't be ashamed of your testimony, it will resonate with someone else's current life situation. Just remember everyone will have a life before Jesus and It may be messy. Paul's before Christ as Saul was messy. Moses' life before the flaming bush was messy. God wants to use our formally messy lives to help someone in their current messy life find Jesus.

Check out Paul's testimony in Acts 26.