Amazing work of God… God prepared Cornelius in Caesarea to extend an invitation to Peter in Joppa. Today we will look at how God prepared Peter to acknowledge that invitation to go to the home of a Gentile.
(NASB) Acts 10:9 “On the next day, as they (three men sent by Cornelius) were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour (12 noon) to pray.”
Recognize God’s incredible timing… first in the life of a praying Gentile then in the life of a praying Jewish believer in Messiah Jesus.
Peter’s experience while in prayer:
(NASB) Acts 10:10-16 “But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;
11 and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,
12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.
13 A voice came to him, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’
14 But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.’
15 Again a voice came to him a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unclean.’
16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.”
Peter needed to let go of what he had practiced all of his life… to now make a one hundred-eighty degree turn in his thinking! Have you ever come to that kind of decision? When studying God’s word, a new understanding of what pleases Him and not what you have been doing all of your life… have you had to make a one hundred-eighty degree turn in your thinking? It is not easy to do.
Peter was being told by God, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unclean.’
Contrary to his training, the traditions of his fathers, God told him to make a dramatic change in his thinking. A paradigm shift! It is hard to let go of what you have been taught all your life. God is all-knowing, He is God! Omniscient!
Peter was being told to trust God!
(NASB) Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.”
~ Take it to heart ~
Where do you need to trust the Lord and His words?
Where do you need to stop leaning on your own understanding?
Where do you need to acknowledge God and His words to you?
What promise does God make to you?
Is there a need for a paradigm shift in your thinking?