Divine Vision & Divine Appointment
BRD REFLECTIONS
Acts 10:1-23 and Psalm 97 (NIV)
(Charis Lim, Chairperson, Wesley@Cathay, Prayer & Praise)
READ:
The following passage from Acts 10:19-20, 22 (ESV) stands out for me:
19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.
20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation,for I have sent them.”…
22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.”
OBSERVE:
God moves through Divine Appointments. For centuries the Jews considered the Gentiles as unclean. Hence, no Jew would ever eat with a Gentile. But through a Divine Vision, first for Cornelius, and then for Peter, God arranged the meeting between a gentile Centurion and a Jewish follower of Christ in such a way that neither person would ever be able to doubt that God did it.
God moves through Divine Vision. Up to this point in the history of the early Church, the Gospel had progressed from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, but it had not yet reached“the uttermost part of the earth”. There had been no conversion of a group of Gentiles. And it’s interesting that it took a Divine Vision to bring together both Gentile and Jew for this to happen. Carrying the Gospel to Cornelius represented a new step in the Gospel work of the Church into the “forbidden” realm of the Gentiles. This was not just a little hurdle for the Jewish Christians. This was leaping across a chasm that no Jew was willing to cross. But the Appointment began with a Vision God had to repeat three times for Peter no less.
APPLY:
This passage reminds me that God speaks to all of us, just as He spoke to both Gentile and Jew. What is God’s Divine Vision for me to bring the gospel to the Judeas, Samarias and uttermost parts of my world? Is there a Divine Appointment God has for me in my home, my office, my community and the people around me that the Lord has been prompting me about that I am not hearing (like Peter’s three times no less)? How easy it is for me to clique together like the Jews in my favourite and comfortable groupings. Oftentimes I feel like clinging to my own kind. People who look like me, live like me, think like me and agree with me. But God calls me to go to where the need is. I should not just wait for the need to come to me. For there is a Cornelius needing Jesus waiting to hear from me.
DO:
It is far too easy to remain in the comfort zones of the “Jerusalems” of my daily existence.
I will reflect on these questions daily:
- What are the Judeas, Samarias and Uttermost parts of the world in my own life?
- Who is the Lord calling me to reach out to that I find difficult to relate to?
- Have I been praying for the Lord’s Divine Vision for a Divine Appointment to be a blessing to someone?
- Is there a “Cornelius” the Lord has appointed for me to speak to that I have failed to recognise?
PRAY:
Father, as your disciples, help us to intentionally reach out to the Judeas, Samarias and Uttermost parts of the world for you. Help us to leap across the chasms of our own comfort zones into the new places you are leading us to. Grant us Divine Visions & Divine Appointments to witness those remarkable openings, opportunities and circumstances you arrange for us to be your “salt and light”, wherever you have placed us, for your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
