Acts 26:17–18 Our testimony

It takes a defining act of God for us to know beyond doubt that He is who He says He is.  Our life will never be the same! Holy Spirit continues, precept by precept, to change us from the inside out. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Faith can happen in childhood, it can happen as an adult, but it will be engraved in our hearts as the time that we truly believed. He will use our testimony to gather others to Himself.

Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

God counts every tear of His children, and when we mourn, so does He (Psalm 56:8).

In the prayers and teachings of Christ, we see that God's heart is for His people to bring their needs to Him. "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:11).  First5 

"Can I do anything?" I beseech (meaning "Can I do anything to deserve this?") anyone listening in the heavens.
"Yes," whispers a voice. "You can say thank you. You can receive the gifts. And you can live accordingly." SabbathMoments 

Acts 26:17–18

And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. The New King James Version

“Sanctified by faith in Me” articulates the idea that those who do not belong to Christ are in many ways influenced by evil and as such opposed to God’s purposes. Faithlife Study Bible

A young ox, when it was first yoked, usually resented the burden and tried kicking its way out. If the ox was yoked to a single-handed plow, the plowman would hold a long staff with a sharpened end close to the heels of the ox. Every time the ox kicked, it struck the spike. If the ox was yoked to a wagon, a studded bar with wooden spikes served the same purpose. The point was that the ox had to learn submission to the yoke the hard way. Before his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road, Paul was resisting God in a similar manner. The NKJV Study Bible

We are made holy, and saved by faith in Christ; by which we rely upon Christ as the Lord our Righteousness, and give up ourselves to him as the Lord our Ruler; by this we receive the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and eternal life. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Isaiah 35:5 

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Isaiah 42:7 

To open blind eyes,

To bring out prisoners from the prison,

Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

Acts 20:32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;