ACTS

As a work-at-home mom I struggled a lot making time for a lot of things, sometimes even time to pee is nowhere to be found and I know it's only by God's grace that I finished reading this book. Life is hard and let's be honest Christian life is harder. It's full of suffering. Through our study I learned that suffering is an inherent identity of Christ which means as a follower of Christ, suffering is a way of life. But it's not all about suffering... Christ did suffer AND (with emphasis in the AND) rise from the dead. Sometimes it's so easy to dwell on the suffering and forget the "AND" part... Jesus' resurrection. Acts 1:3 says, after his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proof that he was alive. Which means we have hope of having our sins forgiven, being made right in God's sight, and having eternal life through Christ. Few verse after, Jesus asked them to wait for the gift his Father has promised. How gracious the Father is? After giving His one and only Son to suffer and die for our sins, now He promised the gift of the Holy Spirit. And this Holy Spirit is not an ordinary gift, it comes with power to perform miracles signs and wonders. I still can't fully grasp the power that comes with this gift but the book of Acts tells me to expect it and not be surprised. I always associate repentance with forgiveness but Acts taught me that it also preludes the receipt of the Holy Spirit.

One thing that really stick to me in our study of Acts is consistency. Apostle Paul knows that we must go through hardships to enter the kingdom of God as he mentioned in Acts 14:22. still he consistently preach the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. His behavior towards sharing the gospel is not dependent if people are welcoming or not, if people receives or rejects his message, if his in prison or out of prison, if he travels near or far or his life is safe or is in danger... he continually explained and declared the kingdom of God. He's consistent with the Lord's command to bring salvations to the ends of the earth. Consistency is a little easier when everything is well but with suffering involve I think it's a whole different story but God is telling me through the life of Paul that consistency is possible.

My prayer is to be consistent in my walk of faith, like Apostle Paul. I pray that my Bible reading won't be dependent on how tired I am on certain days or my prayer life won't be dependent on the mood I have for the day or my Tuesday Meeting attendance won't be dependent on my weekly stress level or my engagement won't be dependent on how much effort I need to put in. I pray that every time suffering/hardship comes, that my first response will always be to look up to God in prayer instead of complaining. I pray to be confident of the power of the Holy Spirit to fill my inadequacy in sharing the Gospel.

Praise you Jesus for you are holy and righteous. Praise you for you're suffering to save us from our sins and thank God that you understand.

A testimony based on the book of Acts

by Abigail Austria