But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem [after leading Cornelius and his relatives and friends to Christ], the Jewish believers criticized him. "You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!" they said.
Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.
One of the dynamics of the book of Acts I genuinely love is that so much of it is based on the eye-witness testimony of the people who experienced the events. Luke told us he had carefully researched his story of Jesus and the early church so that Theophilus could know the truth with certainty (
Luke 1:1-4). Luke clearly understood the book of Acts to be the continuing story of Jesus lived out through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit (
Acts 1:1-2,
7-8). Once again, Peter stood before a Jewish audience and told them the things he had seen Jesus do - this time through the working of visions, angels, and the Holy Spirit - to accomplish Jesus' goal of bringing all people to repentance. Luke, as he collected these stories, and Peter, who lived this part of the story, wanted us to know that their results were not based on the will of mortals, but on the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit of God - the God who wants all people saved!
Almighty God, my Abba Father, please do in our day what you did in these days recorded in Acts. While I know you have revealed your will in Scripture, I earnestly ask you to please guide us with your Spirit. I want to go to the people you want us to reach, in the places you want us to contact them, at the appropriate time you have chosen for us to meet them. We believe you can guide us in our day if we are open to follow your lead and commit our hearts to live out Jesus' mission. We commit to being open to the Spirit's guidance. We ask for that guidance, now, O Lord, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
![Illustration of Acts 11:2-4 NLT — But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem [after leading Cornelius and his relatives and friends to Christ], the Jewish believers criticized him. "You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!" they said.
Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.](https://img.heartlight.org/overlazy/creations/24749.jpg "Illustration of Acts 11:2-4 NLT — But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem [after leading Cornelius and his relatives and friends to Christ], the Jewish believers criticized him. \"You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!\" they said.
Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.")
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