UCB Word For You

 

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Discovering your vision (4)

07 December 2021
‘He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”’

When God wants to change the current circumstances, He often starts by giving someone a vision. That’s what broke a centuries-old barrier and allowed the Gentiles (anyone who wasn’t Jewish) to hear the gospel preached for the first time. Sadly, it’s possible to be a Christian and be prejudiced. We can be believers, but still be biased against people we don’t really know or understand because we’ve avoided them and made unfair judgments about them. Jesus told His disciples, ‘This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come’ (Matthew 24:14 NIV). Peter was present when Jesus said this, but either he wasn’t listening, or he didn’t like what he heard. In those days, Jews and Gentiles were bitter enemies. The divide between them was vast. Jews would often shun the Gentiles and call them offensive names. But God told Peter to go to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, and preach the gospel, a person Peter would have considered to be ‘unclean’. Prejudice is the product of a closed mind. It’s a type of pride that must be humbled. So how did God change Peter’s heart? It needed not one, but two different visions! God gave Cornelius a vision in which He told him to invite a Jewish preacher named Peter into his home to preach the gospel. And at the same time, He gave Peter a vision in which He told him, ‘If I accept someone, don’t you dare reject them!’ The truth is, when God wants to change things, He starts the process by giving someone a vision – and that person could be you!

What Now?

Today, pray that you would be open to any vision, big or small, that God gives you. Ask Him to fill you with confidence in Him so you can take whatever steps are necessary, at the right time, to fulfil it.

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