It seems that many people are looking for something amazing to happen in their lives. We all want to be inspired or thrilled. As believers, it seems that we all want to see God move! I know I do! But looking through the Scriptures, God often moves when his people respond to him.
This week, we are continuing our series called ‘This is What You Need’ where we are studying the book of Acts. Today we are learning from a story found in Acts 10 where God really showed up. But here’s the truth, when we pray and obey, God shows up!
Prayer
In this story, God is clearly speaking. He takes time to speak to Cornelius and he takes time to speak to Paul as well. Both of these men were praying.
Peter was one of the original disciples of Jesus. He was a Jewish man. And he was full of the Holy Spirit. Cornelius was a military man with the rank of centurion, which placed him in command of 100 soldiers. He was a Gentile. I love how both of these characters are communicating with God. Just like these two men, we need to be people of prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). If you want divine appointments to take place in your life, you must be speaking to the divine.
“When you pray to God on a regular basis, irregular things happen on regular basis.”
Mark Batterson
Obedience
However, these men did not stop at prayer. They were obedient to what God asked them to do. Cornelius sent for Peter right away! And Peter, even though it was against his culture, went to visit Cornelius in his home and preach to him. God is looking for those who will be obedient to him. Sometimes we act like young children, specifically 3-year olds who have their own agenda in mind and are unwilling to obey. Instead, we need to be people who are quick to follow the commands of God.
There’s a story in the Old Testament where King Saul did not obey God’s commands. Instead of waiting for the prophet Samuel, he offered a sacrifice himself which was against God’s desires. In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel tells Saul that God desires obedience over sacrifice. Wow!
It would have been a big deal for Peter to go into the home of Cornelius! At that time in history, certain foods in the Jewish culture, were unclean. Certain people were considered unclean. And to hang out with them would make you unclean. To go into the home of an ‘unclean’ person was unimaginable. When God gave Peter this visions of ‘unclean food’ he was showing Peter that God was able to redeem anything unclean. He was telling Peter not to declare any person unclean because through Jesus anyone could be restored.
In this moment, God was showing Peter that his message of Jesus was not just for Jews, but for Gentiles. Because Peter said YES, Cornelius and his family got saved. Because Peter said YES, that made the way possible for any person that is not Jewish to be saved. I’m going to guess that’s most of us reading this blog today. I’m thankful that these men were obedient to God that day! Their obedience had eternal impact! There obedience created a divine moment.
God shows up!
When Peter preached to Cornelius and all those in his house, God showed up! There was a divine moment. Cornelius had invited his family and his friends and while Peter was preaching they all got saved and started speaking in tongues! He didn’t even have to give an altar call! More still, that day they all got water baptized!
There are many divine moments that took place in this story, but one of the greatest moments is Cornelius’ willingness to share this good news with everyone he knew. He realized this message of Jesus was not just for himself! He had to invite his whole household (Acts 11:14). Who is in your household today? Who needs to hear about the saving message of Jesus Christ? Who is looking for community? Who is seeking purpose? Who needs hope? If you have a relationship with Jesus, you have the answer to all those desires! Jesus is the hope for the world. Our job is to share that news with everyone we know.
Additional Resources:
To check out the full message, click here.
To check out the entire ‘This is What You Need’ series, click here.
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