Welcome Home – 40 Day Fast Devotion #35

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It’s Never Over!

Matt Destry – Communications Pastor

Scripture

Acts 10:3

One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

Insight

All of us have one of ‘those’ friends. You know, one of those that you feel like are far from God, and far from His promises. You get along, and have a great time, but when the subject turns to issues of faith and Jesus, it get messy. You always get into arguments about faith, and you wonder if you’re ever going to get anywhere. Stay tuned, this is where the story gets interesting.

Cornelius is not a Jew. He’s a Gentile – an Italian soldier. Whilst he is very devout in the worship of God, and very generous towards the poor, the Jewish people thought that the grace of God and even the Gospel of Jesus was aimed at themselves, and that the ‘pagan’ nations that surround them were devoid of the promise and abandoned when it came to the gift of the Spirit. Whilst he had money, status and possessions, he was missing the most important gift of all – the gift of the Spirit.

Our passage today gives us hope! Those we ‘write off’ are never written off by God. His grace and mercy are for all who would turn to him in faith – even those who are across the invisible barriers we think that are there. Jesus Himself will employ angels to speak to those who cannot (or will not) be reached in any other way – such is His love.

You can never count anyone out of the grace of God. He will use supernatural means at times to speak to His people. Let’s pray that over this Easter time we have numbers of people sharing their story of God’s supernatural intervention in their life, and His immeasurable grace to those who were previously outside of His mercy. God will use any means necessary to reveal Himself to His people – may God do this in our time, with our friends, as we seek Him.

Reflection Questions:

1/ Has God ever spoken to you in an extraordinary way?
2/ What did he say?
3/ How and what can you pray for your friends that God would meet them where they are?