Lean's Journalin' to Acts 10 Today's DB

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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Acts 10:1-48
Cornelius Calls for Peter
1In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. 2He was a devout man who feared the God of Israel, as did his entire household. He gave generously to charity and was a man who regularly prayed to God. 3One afternoon about three o'clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. "Cornelius!" the angel said.
4Cornelius stared at him in terror. "What is it, sir?" he asked the angel. And the angel replied, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have not gone unnoticed by God! 5Now send some men down to Joppa to find a man named Simon Peter. 6He is staying with Simon, a leatherworker who lives near the shore. Ask him to come and visit you."
7As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal attendants. 8He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa.
Peter Visits Cornelius
9The next day as Cornelius's messengers were nearing the city, Peter went up to the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, 10and he was hungry. But while lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. 12In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13Then a voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat them."
14"Never, Lord," Peter declared. "I have never in all my life eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws. F48 "
15The voice spoke again, "If God says something is acceptable, don't say it isn't." F49 16The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was pulled up again to heaven.
17Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found the house and stood outside at the gate. 18They asked if this was the place where Simon Peter was staying. 19Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, "Three men have come looking for you. 20Go down and go with them without hesitation. All is well, for I have sent them."
21So Peter went down and said, "I'm the man you are looking for. Why have you come?"
22They said, "We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout man who fears the God of Israel and is well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to send for you so you can go to his house and give him a message." 23So Peter invited the men to be his guests for the night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some other believers F50 from Joppa.
24They arrived in Caesarea the following day. Cornelius was waiting for him and had called together his relatives and close friends to meet Peter. 25As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell to the floor before him in worship. 26But Peter pulled him up and said, "Stand up! I'm a human being like you!" 27So Cornelius got up, and they talked together and went inside where the others were assembled.
28Peter told them, "You know it is against the Jewish laws for me to come into a Gentile home like this. But God has shown me that I should never think of anyone as impure. 29So I came as soon as I was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me."
30Cornelius replied, "Four days ago I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me. 31He told me, 'Cornelius, your prayers have been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! 32Now send some men to Joppa and summon Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a leatherworker who lives near the shore.' 33So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now here we are, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you."
The Gentiles Hear the Good News
34Then Peter replied, "I see very clearly that God doesn't show partiality. 35In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. 36I'm sure you have heard about the Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37You know what happened all through Judea, beginning in Galilee after John the Baptist began preaching. 38And no doubt you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him.
39"And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Israel and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by crucifying him, 40but God raised him to life three days later. Then God allowed him to appear, 41not to the general public, F51 but to us whom God had chosen beforehand to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is ordained of God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. 43He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name."
The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit
44Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who had heard the message. 45The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles, too. 46And there could be no doubt about it, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter asked, 47"Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?" 48So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.
FOOTNOTES:F48: Greek anything common and unclean. F49: Greek "What God calls clean you must not call unclean." F50: Greek brothers. F51: Greek the people.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved. For more information about the NLT, please click here.

~ Lena’s Journalin’ ~
Has God ever upset your religious thinking? Have you ever allowed His spirit to change your mind?
Do you have some old ways of thinking and doing things that if asked to change them, you’d be a bit shaken?
Some of our thinking needs to be shaken up. Every time we sit under the word of God being preached or taught to us, we should be in a place where we are willing to see something differently than we have before. It is prejudices that would cause us to sit under the word of God and act as though we are judges in a debate. The word is not up for debate. When it comes through people, it is up for discussion. The discussion would be for further reception, not for argument’s sake.
How do you come when you come to a meeting that will have the word of God presented to you? Do you come with an attitude of, “prove it to me”, or one of “I can’t wait to hear what God is saying to me”? Do you want God’s word to change you? Or do you want to change the person who is speaking?
What happens to you when you don’t understand an idea presented? Do you get mad and want to argue, or do you think about it a lot and ask questions in the way a pupil would ask a teacher? The Holy Spirit has been given to us by God, as our teacher, we can ask Him anything and he’ll instruct us through the word of God.
Cornelius was raised with a few great ideas about God’s words, or of what he believed were God’s wishes. God was setting him up to show him further truth and to add clarity.
Notice Cornelius heard about the change in prayer. Also Peter heard about Cornelius’ coming while in prayer. Revelation for change will come inside of our conversations with God. If you hear a new kingdom idea, take it to the Lord in prayer, ask Him to reveal the truth to you and research His word, before contesting it.
Seeing clearly that God is no respecter of persons is such a spirit revelation. There are only two nations, the nation of unbelievers and the nation of believers in Christ. The nation of darkness and the nation of light, and we’re not talking skin color. We’re talking eternal life or eternal death. Race has nothing to do with it, really, except being of the race of Adam or of Jesus Christ, there are only two races!

Daily Repetitive Verses

John 3:17
You know these things – now do them! That is the path of blessing.