I am really excited to begin this spiritual blog. This week our prompt was Acts 2. I honestly have never read through Acts before this class. When I first read Acts 1-4, I learned a lot but I couldn't believe how much my learning was magnified when I went to the class discussion. There were so many things that I had never thought about before. During the class the New Testament came to life for me. It was transformed from merely seeing it as a story, which I believed to be true, to realizing that there were actual people, children of God, who lived in a different time period. In class the week of Christ’s death was portrayed from many different perspectives. I had never really thought about the government official who talked to his wife about Christ being a menace, or how he rejoiced with his wife, relieved once Christ was gone. But what made the biggest impact on me was realizing the reaction of the apostles once Christ was gone. My heart ached for them as I imagined the pain they felt thinking that their whole lives worth of service were over. I hurt for Peter after he realized that he had fulfilled Christ’s prophecy- he had denied his master three times. It made me think of my sins and shortcomings. I am so imperfect and when I deliberately go against Gods will, especially in the tiny little things that I justify to myself saying that they don’t make a difference.
I imagined the miracles and the profound happenings that occurred during Christ’s 40 day reign. Before the apostles had had their hesitations while Christ was on the earth, they didn’t fully understand his greatness and his power. But after seeing him resurrected in the forty day ministry their doubts were gone and they preached without fear. I love how Peter told the people that the God that they had been worshiping is Christ, and that he came to them, and they killed him. I cant even imagine 3,000 people being baptized in one day. That was the power of the firsthand witness of Christ. Yet even after Christ was gone his name held power. They blessed, baptized and performed miracles in his name. The critics tried to ban the use of his name, because they too saw the power within it. This discussion set fuel to my already burning testimony of Christ. I know that he lived. That he died. That he was resurrected and taught his faithful servants. That his life has no bounds: it neither started in Bethlehem nor ended on Calvary. He is my savior. My Redeemer. My God.
