God Has A Plan

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

GOD HAS A PLAN

Acts 10:17-23

17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." 21 Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?" 22 The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

NIV

Here we see the orchestration of God. He had already moved within the heart of Cornelius, as we are told he was a God-fearing man. What we know is that no one can be a God-fearing man within their own being without the moving of the Spirit of God in their lives. Alone man has turned his back on God as descendants of Adam. Yet, somehow and at some time, God moved upon the heart of Cornelius and he became a God-fearing man, who when spoken to by an angel of the Lord obeyed sending his servant and two soldiers to find Peter and invite him to come to Caesarea. Meanwhile, God was also speaking and giving Peter a vision to instruct him that it is God who declares what is clean and unclean. When God declares it, we must accept his word. He declared that those who were gentile, such as Cornelius were clean and should be invited into the family of God, through faith in Jesus, that is they should hear the good news about the kingdom of heaven. God always has a plan, and it is up to us to first, be willing to hear his plan, and second, to act upon his plan for our lives. When the servant of Cornelius and the two soldiers arrived at the home where Peter was staying, the Spirit of the Lord spoke once more to Peter, and he responded by inviting these gentile men into the house to be his guests. We must always be willing to hear from God, and we can be assured the Spirit who dwells within us is not our silent partner in life. What is the purpose of Jesus sending the Spirit if he is only going be with us to simply ride along? No, he is the leading, first, leading us to repentance and then leading us into all truth. However, we must follow the leading of the Spirit, and he does not lead silently. We can be assured that if we are left up to our own choices in life, we might succeed in some of the worldly affairs, but how is our spiritual growth, our walk with the Lord, our keeping in step with the cadence which the Spirit is calling out. The Lord was working in the lives of both Cornelius and Peter at the same time to bring about the plan of God for his creation. God will move in our lives to bring about his plan for his creation if we will only pay attention to God and forfeit so much of the attention we pay to self. We have heard over the years people quoting a man they revere as famous when he said, “I have a dream”, but, how often do we quote God when he said, “I have a plan for you” as he spoke to Jeremiah, and which he also speaks to us.