Monday, July 20, 2009

Monday Manna :)



Hello there! Yes....I am terrible at all this blogging stuff. I have such good intentions, with such bad follow through. I will keep plugging along, because that is how my life goes!

One of the things that has heightened my interest in getting back here is Monday Manna over at my friend Joanne's blog. If you have not met her, go here: http://joannesher.blogspot.com . She is a fellow Christian that grew up Jewish and is a budding writer. I love her entries!

So without further ado....


The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." Genesis 12:1

Joanne's question is this: What does this verse say to you?

Well, at first I was like "nothing!". Then I really got to thinking about this verse. It is really rich with meaning for me. In this verse, The Lord is asking Abram to leave everything he knows. Abram grew up with his people, his father's household, his country. Sure, they may have travelled a bit, had travellers come to their area, accepted changes to their way of life occasionally. What God was asking was that he leave those things behind to accept the things that God held for him. All I have to say is "scary!".

When I was in high school, I met a boy. Ok, several of them. I was searching for something to fill the hole, the emptiness, I felt inside. My search led me to my husband, and to The King of Kings. This was a whole new experience for me. I found a man (ok, boy) that loved me for who I was, not what I could give to him or do for him. Someone who came from a family that accepted me from day one with the love of Jesus.

Church was something that intrigued me. I loved hebrew school, and learning about all the old bible stories. I loved the holy days, especially Purim. So, I started going to church with my husband. Finally, after seeing a play called "heavens gates, hell's flames" I accepted the Lord as my Savior and friend. This name that was never spoken in our house, was now upon my lips. My father's, or more accurately, my mothers house was not impressed.

God had called me out of my household, and all that I had known, and asked me to follow him. I did, not knowing what he had in store for me. Was it scary? Yes! I was walking a path that was previously not known to me or my ancestors (my mom-Jewish, my dad-catholic, me-born again believer). It was a walk of trust and faith. It still is.

Had I known that God was going to trust ME so much, I may not have chosen this path. You see, I am just dust. Without the breath of life from God inside my nostrils, I am nothing. Add God, and I can do anything he empowers me to do. I never dreamed I would be leading ladies in a study of God's word. I never dreamed I would be leading women in worship. I never dreamed I would be the worshipper that I have come to be. I never dreamed that I would be so in love with a savior that is unseen.

What I am saying is this: What you have on this earth is nothing compared to what God has already prepared for you. He is holding onto it, waiting for your obedience, and is waiting to bless you with it. Step out in faith, you will not be sorry.

Steph

5 comments:

Joanne Sher said...

Steph - this is SO good! We all take these steps of faith, and it is only with God that we can get through. And you KNOW we both had that "parent thing."

I love your last sentence - SO true! Keep blogging! (and I will send you those questions. Really! :)

Yvonne Blake said...

I'm glad you posted this. What a great testimony! Isn't it great to look back and see how God has been working in your life, even before you knew Him?

BTW..I think Joanne is a great person, too!

I hope to read more of your posts.

Vonnie

berrypatch said...

Excellent post!

Laury said...

Wow - this post is very good. Oh, when you talked about the play it triggered a memory. When that play came around to my area, I got to be one of the angels. It was an awesome experience. I am so glad you were ministered to by it.

You did a great post. Keep up the good work. Don't be so hard on yourself about blogging. Blog when God puts something on your mind and don't blog when He doesn't. It's not set in stone that once you start blogging you MUST blog everyday. I haven't seen that in the Bible once;) LOL. I've come to that realization. I blog when the Spirit says BLOG. lol. No worries. No expectations.

Stephanie said...

Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments! Laury...Funny that you were an angel in that play. The following year, I was one of the head angels, and recieved the baptism of the holy spirit during that time! Awesome!