Hebrews 1:1-4 1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
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I had told Cathy I would love to hear the personal testimonies of you ladies in the class, they always encourage me so. I grow more in love with the Lord when I hear how He works in the lives of people like me. Cathy, too, would like to hear these special works Christ has done, so here is my challenge to each of you. Could and would you write out your personal testimony and submit it for publication on the blog. I'll only publish one or two a week so you might be getting the blog every week till summer of 2012 but I think it would be an encouragement and worth all the effort it takes. And, truly, that is what Hebrews is all about. My way of being an encourager is to share my personal testimony. I'm giving you the condensed version with this snapshot of a few months in my life.My Testimony
by Meribeth Gillespie
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| Me at 24 with my 3 year old son. |
We picked a church out of the phone book. We decided to go to a Nazarene church because my husband had gone to one a few times when he was a kid. Yes, this was the first time I was hearing about this. So, the next Sunday we got up and went to Sunday school and then to Church.
The adult Sunday school we attended was wonderful, the young married class was filled with couples our age and they were so friendly. We attended Sunday school almost every Sunday but my husband didn't like going to church. The couples from our group would encourage us so about once a month he would grudgingly agree to stay for Church.
About the 4th time we attended church, I, all of a sudden, heard the gospel. What? What do you mean Jesus died for me? What do you mean I need to accept Him into my heart? What do you mean I need to confess my sins? I was really shaken up! So on the way home from church I told my 25 year old husband that I thought I needed to accept Jesus as my savior! I had never heard this before, I had never done this and I thought the pastor was talking directly to me. His eyes got big and round and he said, "oh no, you don't want to do that". "Why not?" I asked, "because", he said, "they will want our money"!!!! I sat in the car, stunned.
A few weeks went by and we again stayed for church. This time when the pastor gave the alter call, everyone was singing, "Just As I Am", I couldn't stop, I excused myself, squeezed by my husband and headed for the center isle. I went up to the front, to the altar and got down on my knees. I was shaking all over. As I knelt down I realized that my husband had followed me. I couldn't believe it...why did he come down when he didn't believe, when he didn't want me to come forward, I didn't know what to do. So, I did nothing. When the pastor came over and asked what we had come down to the front for I didn't even look up. After an awkward moment my husband said, "We've just come to pray".
When we left the church and got in the car to leave for home I asked him why he had come down to the front? He responded, "well, I thought we should go down as a family". Now I was young and I was dumb but even I knew you couldn't accept Jesus as a family. So I decided I would accept Jesus on my own, at home when my husband left for work on Monday morning. And that is just what I did. I got the Bible out, read John 1 and asked Jesus to forgive me and come into my heart. I wondered it I had done it right?
But, this wasn't the rest of the story. I tried reading the Bible, the one we were given on our wedding day. It was a King James Version that I didn't understand. So every day I asked God to help me understand what I was reading. Four days later, that Thursday, a young woman whom I had met the first week we had attended the Nazarene church knocked on my door. She didn't go to our church anymore but she was starting a Bible Study for beginners the following Thursday and as she was praying for who to invite God kept putting my name on her heart. She said "Now, I know we don't go to the same church anymore, but I really think you are supposed to come to the study". I immediately responded that I didn't know anything about the Bible so I wasn't a good candidate for Bible Study.
That following Thursday I got up, got dressed and went to that beginner Bible Study. I didn't even think about not going, it wasn't like me at all. The teacher, who was about 10 years my senior, took me under her wing, I was her disciple for four and a half years. God brought her to me, it was one of the first miracles God did in my life. There are too many to count and this truly isn't the rest of the story. God is so good?
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I hope you will take the time and write out your testimony so I can publish it on the blog in the weeks to come.Don't forget to read Hebrews, read the notes if you have the time.
If you didn't get your Secret Prayer Angel bookmark, you can pick it up this coming Tuesday, if you didn't fill one out you can fill it out this coming Tuesday. Remember you are being prayed for.
Heb 1:14
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
(from New International Version)
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