Damascus

In Acts 9, Jesus stopped Saul who was on a mission to imprison those who were believers. In that very moment Saul (whose name was changed to Paul) was instantly changed, in that very moment he let go of the life he was living and made the decision to be fully committed to the new life. Those who are believers all have had a Damascus experience, where in the middle of “your journey” Christ showed up and your life was changed. Throughout the book of Acts, Paul constantly mentions that we wants to have a clear conscience before God. His experience with the Master was so profound that he never wanted to flirt with his old lifestyle. Paul dealt with great hardship throughout his walk but constantly reminded himself that there is a bigger picture, spreading the gospel to those have not heard of Jesus. Paul’s response to his trials and tribulations is implausible.

Often times, when faced with obstacles in our life we revisit old habits that God has delivered us from in order to cope with the situation. When Paul encountered Jesus, not only did his name change, but his perspective changed. Paul now viewed life from a different perspective. His “Yes” to God wasn’t only to save his own life but the thousands that were going to come into contact with from that point on. He couldn’t give in and throw up the towel because there were thousands of souls that were connected to him.

There are many passages in the Bible where people immediately neglected their former life to follow Christ and other passages where immediately people were delivered, transformed and healed. There have been countless times where I asked God to help me with certain characteristics I want to change but never made room for Him to do so. Being totally consumed by our daily activities is the norm, but if we truly want change in our personal lives, sacrifice is a must. His Word alone is enough for change to take place, So what takes us so long to neglect the ways that were leading us towards destruction until He stepped in and rescued us? The Holy Spirit was given to us as helping aid. There has never been a time where I was caught in a tempting situation, that He neglected me. I understand struggles can be hard to break but there is a mental process that you have to put yourself through in order to stay free. If you do something for six weeks, studies show that it will become a habit. Whenever I became angry I would force myself to ask God how to handle the situation instead completely losing myself and cursing that person out. Was it a hard task to do? Yes and it still is at times but there was a goal I was trying to reach, (controlling my temper) and I had to force myself to take the hard route versus the easy way out because I now see the big picture. The change that I encountered was not only just to save my life but to be a witness to tell how Jesus changed everything for the better to for everyone who had the same life experiences that I had and for me

As many times that I have heard and read the story of Paul, it wasn’t until the last time that I read it, that I realized that if Paul can give up his old life then I can do it as well, since we both have the Holy Spirit.