06⎪OCTOBER 2022⎪shop . cmausa . org |
HAVE you ever found yourself more than a little concerned with someone else ' s beliefs ? Be honest . I can make a pretty good list of those whose political agenda is “ wrong ” ( note the quotations ). Whose Biblical doctrine is “ wrong ;” whose denomination is “ wrong ;” the way they dress is “ wrong ;” the way they live is “ wrong ;” the bike they ride is “ wrong ;” and on and on and on . Personally , my list is pretty long and probably “ wrong .” Don ' t misunderstand me ; there are definitely beliefs that are not in line with the truth of the Word of God , and we never need to compromise in these areas . Many times , however , our differences , fears , and opinions can interfere with following God ' s will for us to engage others for the sake of Christ .
Shawna and I have personally experienced a feeling of rejection and being avoided because of the “ biker ” look ; when we first were married , we had more of a “ hippie ” look . Although we were not wholly surrendered to Jesus as our Lord and Savior or living a life honoring Him , we feared God and desired to know better how to live for Him . Even after salvation , we needed
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someone to disciple us as we struggled with poor choices that interfered with our relationship with Jesus . Praise God for a local church willing to break the barriers of fear and judgment and open its arms to invite us into their family . The pastor was / is influential in me being the man I am today . He shared the truth honestly and held me accountable in discipleship as I answered God ' s calling on my life and grew in my relationship with Him .
I am reminded of the story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10 . Both of these men in their respective cultures were not to interact due to various political , religious , and cultural norms of that day . However , God looks at things a little differently . What He saw was a man that was seeking the truth about Him ( Cornelius ). God had another man ( Peter ) that knew this truth . The problem was that they weren ' t supposed to hang out with each other . BUT GOD . God changed hearts and minds through the power of visions , dreams , angels , and Christ to arrange a meeting between the two . Guess what happened when two men were obedient to the call of God ? Salvations happened ! It ' s
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just that easy .
Here ' s our encouragement and challenge . Peter preached : “… God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean ” ( Acts 10:28 , NKJV ) and “ In truth , I perceive that God shows no partiality ” ( Acts 10:34b , NKJV ). They didn ' t pick the man they wanted to talk with . Through prayer , God answered and instructed . We all have a particular people group that we are not the most excited to engage in conversation or minister to .
The challenge today is to remember we were once someone else ' s Cornelius . Remember back to who your Peter was . Pray and seek God for who your Cornelius would be , and then go in faith . CMA
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