Bible Study Week 1: Acts 1 and 2

When I was reading, the part that really jumped out at me was "save yourselves from this generation which has gone astray" Acts 2:40. It really strikes me that it says "save yourselves". I think that this is such a powerful sentence because it clearly states that God has already given us what we need. We have what we need for salvation, now we just have to figure out how to use our individual "superpowers", as I like to call them. Also, I like this part because it stirs up fear in me because it says that I already have what I need. God has already given me what I need in order for me to do my particular job here on earth and there is no reason for me to sit around and wait. Although I may not know exactly what my "superpowers" are, God has still given them to me and I need to use them to the best of my ability. Salvation is in my hands! There's no more sitting around waiting for God to do all the work, the Holy Spirit is already upon us, waiting for us to wake up and smell the sweet smell of salvation.

I really enjoyed reading the Pope's homily. There was one paragraph that really, really, really stuck out to me.

"Yet this power, the grace of the Spirit, is not something we can merit or achieve, but only receive as pure gift. God’s love can only unleash its power when it is allowed to change us from within. We have to let it break through the hard crust of our indifference, our spiritual weariness, our blind conformity to the spirit of this age. Only then can we let it ignite our imagination and shape our deepest desires. That is why prayer is so important: daily prayer, private prayer in the quiet of our hearts and before the Blessed Sacrament, and liturgical prayer in the heart of the Church. Prayer is pure receptivity to God’s grace, love in action, communion with the Spirit who dwells within us, leading us, through Jesus, in the Church, to our heavenly Father. In the power of his Spirit, Jesus is always present in our hearts, quietly waiting for us to be still with him, to hear his voice, to abide in his love, and to receive “power from on high”, enabling us to be salt and light for our world."

I think this paragraph also states that the power lies in our hands. I like how it says, "God's love can only unleash its powers when it is ALLOWED to change us from within. It says that not only do we have to realize that God has given us the power, but we have to use it.

At first this kind of confused me and I thought, "Oh boy, I'll never figure out what my superpower is! I don't have any special talents or awesome abiblities." but then I realized that I don't need to know. Some of us may never know what gifts the Lord has given us and that is perfectly fine. If I pray, and ask the Lord to work through me I am confident that His work will get done by my hands whether I know what He's using me for or not. Besides, maybe it's better not knowing. If I did know it would probably go to my head and I wouldn't be successful at whatever I am supposed to do.

Although some of us may not know what we have been given I think it is important that we are confident and aware that we all carry around a special gift that the Lord has given us. We have to remember that He has blessed us all with something that makes us different from everybody else. Something that attracts others to come and see what we're all about and where we got these fabulous gifts. Everybody wants to be friends with the kids who get cool stuff for Christmas so that they can reap the benefits. We should make people want to reap the benefits of our God Given Gifts.

I think that making us think that we're worthless and that we have no power over anything in our lives is one way that the devil tries to weaken us. Of course God has the ultimate power over everything and no doubt has the ability to do anything, but that doesn't mean that we can just sit around and wait for Him say, "Listen, you had your whole life to do this and if you don't do it now you're in trouble."