Thursday, June 8, 2023
[When Peter asked Cornelius why he had sent for him,] Cornelius replied, "Four days ago I was praying in my house about this same time, three o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me. He told me, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.' So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you."
For someone who loves to share the message of Jesus with others, I can think of no other words more precious than Cornelius' words to Peter: "Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you." Let's look for people with hearts yearning to hear a message of hope! Let's pray that those we know who need to come to Jesus will open their hearts! Jesus told his closest disciples, "But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest."* Let's keep our eyes open and our ears tuned so we can see and hear those like Cornelius and his friends and family!
* John 4:35 — See the context in our Related Scripture Readings below.
O, dear Father, please open my eyes to see and my ears to hear the hungry hearts around me looking for Jesus. O, mighty Spirit of God, give me the words to say and the right sense of timing to speak them at the appropriate moment. O, precious Jesus, thank you for giving me a message of hope to share with others because you came to be one of us. Draw me close to those who need your grace and use me to share your hope, joy, and love. Amen.
![Illustration of Acts 10:30-33 NLT — [When Peter asked Cornelius why he had sent for him,] Cornelius replied, "Four days ago I was praying in my house about this same time, three o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me. He told me, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.' So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you."](https://img.heartlight.org/overlazy/creations/24740.jpg "Illustration of Acts 10:30-33 NLT — [When Peter asked Cornelius why he had sent for him,] Cornelius replied, \"Four days ago I was praying in my house about this same time, three o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me. He told me, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.' So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.\"")
Unstoppable! is a one-year devotional guide through the book of Acts. Each devotional consists of a scripture passage, a reflection and a prayer. The reflection opens up the day's scripture and shows how it challenges one to live for Jesus.
Unstoppable! is written by Phil Ware.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Comments
Archived Facebook Comments