Transformed

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

TRANSFORMED

Acts 11:1-18

11:1 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them." 4 Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'  8 "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'  10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. 11 "Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.' 15 "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'  17 So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" 18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."

NIV                                                                                                                       

Although much of this is a repeat of what Luke recorded what happened to Peter, Peter had to recount it to the Jews who were critical of him going into the house of an uncircumcised person. What is of interest here is their original response compared to their concluded correct response, after hearing what happened.  Why do men who profess to love the Lord, oppose something they are ignorant of, they do not know the truth of the situation and hold strictly to their idea of religion, or role in the plan of God. It is almost like adhering to the traditions of men, rather than trying to understand what God is doing and aligning our spirit with Him. This is what happened to them after they heard the truth of what God was doing through Paul. They saw the truth and praised God and accepted the truth that God granted salvation and the Holy Spirit to all people. Did they not know or remember that Jesus said they were to go into all the world, to the ends of the earth to preach the good news about the kingdom of heaven? They must have remembered that, but still at first it seemed they wanted their own brand of religion. However, now the truth is in them and they accepted a different way to see God at work. We have to always be diligent to acknowledge the truth when we hear it and make those adjustments in our thinking to come into fellowship with that truth. We will never get it all, at least while we reside in this earthly body, with this limited amount of wisdom about the things of God. However, we are always being exposed to additional ways to think or see how the Spirit of God moves throughout the hearts and minds of men. New insights are always available as we keep in step with the Spirit, for he does lead us into all truth. In contrast, if we are not keeping in step with the Spirit, we are not going to find all truth, thus we will be walking in the dark, unknowledgeable and unwise, in the solitude of our own minds. Consequently, as we do walk with the Spirit, we are in a continual state of being transformed in the likeness of Christ, in ever-increasing glory. This happened in the lives of those who first opposed Paul’s going to the Gentiles, to praising God for his work in the lives of Gentiles. They were a considerable change in their attitudes and behaviors, which should be evident in our lives as we walk in step with the Spirit, allowing him to do his transformation within us.