MAY 19 READING…ACTS 10
The Lord is about to expand the reach of the Gospel, and He going to stretch the Apostles…particularly Peter. There was a centurion, named Cornelius, who was a devout man that feared God. He was a seeker of God. The Lord answered his prayers with a vision. In the vision the Lord instructed him to send for Peter in Joppa…Peter would tell Cornelius what he must do. Meanwhile, the Lord was working on Peter’s heart toward the gentiles. God sent him a vision of a sheet coming down from heaven. On this sheet was every kind of unclean animal according to what the Lord had told the Jews. In the vision, God tells Peter to eat the unclean animals. Peter refused, being an orthodox Jewish man, he had never eaten, nor would he eat anything unclean. The Lord tells Peter that he was not to call anything unclean that the Lord has made clean. Just then the messengers from Cornelius arrived, and the Lord instructed Peter to go with them.
Peter arrives with the messengers to meet with Cornelius. When Peter arrived, Cornelius, not knowing any better, bowed down to worship him…Peter had Cornelius stand, telling him that he was just a man. They both shared their encounters with God. Peter let Cornelius know that the Lord had answered his prayers. Peter now understands that God shows no partiality. Peter shares the Gospel with Cornelius, and while he was talking the Holy Spirit fell upon all the Gentiles who were hearing the Word of God, and they began to speak in tongues. They trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and they were baptized in Jesus Name. This is how God works in salvation. He speaks and works in the life of the one who needs salvation…and He works and leads the one who is called to share the Gospel. Pray that you and I would be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit as He guides us to those precious souls that need to hear the Gospel of salvation.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW’S READING…ACTS 11