Acts chapter ten illustrates God's will and plan to draw men and women to himself from every, nation, tribe, and tongue. The chapter begins when Cornelius, a non-Jew, but very devout and religious man, received a vision from the Lord instructing him to send for Peter, an apostle and elder of the church at Jerusalem.
Shortly after this Peter receives a very interesting vision himself. In the vision Peter is told to kill and eat animals that under the old covenant (Jewish Law) would be a sin. When Peter objects the punch line of the vision comes, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." (Acts 10:15)
Later Peter recounts to Cornelius and the gentile believers with him how God reminded him that salvation is available for all, Jew and non-Jew. Peter explained by saying, "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection." (Acts 10:28-29)
Peter was among the first believers that we see in scripture who overcame his natural prejudices to offer the gospel to gentiles. This was a huge step.
Today, as an act of worship, join me in asking the Lord to reveal the areas in our lives where feelings, attitudes, and actions of prejudice and pride avail themselves most often. Join me in repenting of these sins and committing to reach out to people of every nation, tribe, and tongue.
ON A SIDE NOTE:
Many of you know that I will be out of the country for the next 10 days. I will be joining a group of people going into Thailand to encourage missionaries in that region of the world. Because of the pervasive spiritual darkness of the area and the nature of our work there I cannot share specific information at this time. All I ask is that you believe in the power of prayer, and when you think of us pray for us - that we will shine the light of Jesus in a very dark place. I'll try to keep you posted. Thank you for your prayers.
2 comments:
The world has absolutely no hope of overcoming prejudice. It is only a work of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray daily that God would remove any ounce of prejudice that is in our spirits, that we might truly be lights in a dark and evil world.
We'll be praying for you as you travel and witness. Thanks for this devotional blog.
Post a Comment