AshG

Abraham comes into the right relationship with God by believing enough to trust what God showed him. We can become righteous by faith by doing the same. We can read and study the Bible, we can pray, and we can trust God’s plan for us. We must believe even when we can’t see. Having that strong sense of faith and belief and trust helps have a right relationship with God. I believe everything I’ve already mentioned is what is involved in really “trusting” Christ.

I believe legalism and spiritual pride prevents us from trusting in Christ because we are pretty much saying, “we don’t need God and we can do it in our own”. It’s taking away from God and glorifying God. God wants us to humble ourselves and understand we do need Him. I feel my pride has gotten in the way because it’s as if I tell myself I don’t need God/that relationship with Him — that I can figure things out myself. This is far from the truth. I do need Him daily to know His word and to have a closer relationship with Him.

I think God sends Ananias to Paul as a friend and guide. As Christians, we need to pull together/come together to do the work of our Father. In the way that Ananias was sent to Paul, I feel that Jennifer was sent to me. She is not only my friend, but she’s my sister in Christ. She helps keep me on a better path. She teaches me things that help guide me closer to God, which I think is what Ananias was for Paul. I think Ananias argues with God because he’s not sure why he must go to Paul. He feels that the job God is asking him to do doesn’t make sense. He may not want to do it for fear because of what Paul is known for. He could be scared he will be imprisoned/put to death. It takes courage to obey because fear or death/persecution is intense. Knowing what Paul is known for, makes sense to why Ananias would be worried. Being worried/scared despite not knowing the outcome, but continuing forward means you have faith in God and you are courageous. You are choosing to put aside your fear to do the work of the Father. Ananias says “Her I am Lord”, which means he’s ready to do whatever God wants him to do. He goes forward to do what is asked of him. I have had God guide me to talk with & minister to someone. It’s happened with my friend who lost her son at 5 months old. I know she struggles daily. One day we were talking about her, her son, and the peace I want for her family. I started messaging her and it was like I couldn’t stop once I started. I talked with her about a lot of stuff, including God. I did follow through because I felt the urge to get my thoughts to her in writing to hopefully help.

I think persecuting Christ’s people constitutes persecuting Christ because we are seen as His children. We are seen as having a strong relationship with Him. As a parent, if someone does something wrong to my child, I feel like they are in turn doing that same thing to me because of the relationship I have with my son. So, I feel it makes sense. I’ve seen prods towards my journey by getting more into the Word. I find if I’ve skipped days, I can feel it by what takes place personally in my life, emotionally, and spiritually. It feels like I’m missing something in my life. I feel like prods happen whenever something is posted on social media as well because it’s always like He’s talking to me. I even feel prods whenever I’ve fallen short and I get messages from Jennifer. I feel it’s a “wake-up” message to get me back on the right path. I feel like kicking against the goads is equally hard on both, but slightly harder on God. When we kick against the goads it’s shown in different areas of our life. It could be a lacking of blessings, us walking closer to Satan and not God, our relationships could have issues, our mental health could falter, etc. I feel it’s harder on God because it upsets Him. It makes Him feel disappointed. As a parent, I can see how if your child isn’t listening to your guidance, how it could disappoint you greatly. I’ve always felt like disappointing my parents was always worse than them just being upset. Disappointment always seemed like a worst thing.