How to Discover Your Vision – Part 4

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!” Acts 10:3

When God wants to change the status quo, He often starts by giving someone a vision. That’s what broke a centuries-old racial barrier and allowed the Gentiles to hear the gospel preached for the first time. Did you know you can be a Christian and be prejudiced? Indeed, you can be a believer and be biased towards people you don’t really know or understand because you have spent your life avoiding them and making judgments about them. Jesus told His disciples, ‘This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come’ (Matthew 24:14). And Peter was present when Jesus said it. But either he wasn’t listening, or he didn’t like what he heard. Back then, the divide between Jews and Gentiles was similar to the mistrust and suspicion that many American people felt towards German nationals living in the US during World War II. God told Peter to go to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, and preach the gospel, a person Peter considered to be ‘unclean’. Prejudice is the product of a closed mind. It is contempt prior to honest investigation. It is pride that must be humbled. So how did God change Peter’s heart? It required not one, but two different visions! God gave Cornelius a vision in which He told him to invite a Jewish preacher named Peter into his home to preach the gospel. And at the same time, He gave Peter a vision in which He told him, ‘If I accept someone, don’t you dare reject them!’ The truth is, when God wants to change things, He starts the process by giving someone a vision – and that someone could be you!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me overcome the personal prejudices I have that stand in the way of You using me to be an instrument of Your presence. In Jesus’ Name, Amen