WHAT GOD HAS CLEANSED

PETER AND CORNELIUS

Read Acts 11:1–18

          But the voice answered me again from heaven, 'What God has cleansed you must not call common.' Acts 11:9 NKJV

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            Up to this time, the apostles preached primarily to the Jewish people. Even at Pentecost, the people from various nations were professing Jews. To come to God, Peter believed a person must become a Jew and follow the Jewish laws and abstain from eating certain foods. This story about Peter's vision reveals God's plan to bring the gospel to the world.

           God told Peter that he was going to do a new thing through him. He directed Peter to an Italian centurion named Cornelius whose heart was prepared to hear the gospel. Today he and his household were going to hear the good news, believe it, and receive the Holy Spirit; bringing the first of many Gentiles into the New Testament church.

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            Dear heavenly Father, help me to remember that before I ever speak to someone about Christ, You have already paved the way. You said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,"(John 6:44 NKJV) I pray for the drawing of the Holy Spirit in the lives of our friends and children and grandchildren. Speak to their hearts, so that our words will fall on willing ears.

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            If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" Acts 11:17 NKJV