“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.” - (Acts 11:12)

The apostle Peter had to justify why he went to the house of a Gentile and ate with him (Acts 11:1-3). Clearly Peter went to share the good news of Jesus, but the sticking point was table fellowship with Gentiles. While this seems unbelievable to me, I can still remember the time when racism was more widely accepted and openly practiced. Jesus had promised, the Holy Spirit — the promised power from God (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8) — would lead his followers to be witnesses to the “ends of the earth.” Peter makes clear that in this case, the Holy Spirit directly spoke to him and told him to go (Acts 10:19).

Once Cornelius and his household were brothers and sisters in Christ, fellowship was the result (Acts 10:48). While that seems so clear, think of the ways we segment people to keep from dealing with them as people, and even worse, as brothers and sisters in Christ. The Holy Spirit makes clear that we belong together, we are family, we are God’s children, and all those old worldly distinctions have to melt away (Gal. 3:26-39).

Prayer : Father, forgive us. Please forgive your children for our prejudice, selfishness, pettiness, and divisive attitudes. But more than forgive us, dear Father, transform us. Through the unifying power of the Holy Spirit, cleanse us and make us yearn to be with each other. Help us demonstrate the unity that outsiders need in our strife torn world. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

“As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?” - (Acts 11:15-17)

Breaking through prejudice and hatred is tough. We often need some dramatic act that captures our attention and moves our hearts. God gave his people that dramatic act through the work of dreams, visions, and direction of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of Cornelius. God was determined to break down the barriers that stood between peoples and nations and races (Eph. 2:14-18).

If we oppose ”the Spirit of unity” (Eph. 4:3), we need to understand that we are standing in the way of God! Disunity, prejudice, and division are actions that directly oppose and grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:29-32).

Prayer : Dear Father, I know that Jesus prayed for unity, so I join my Savior in his prayer. Help us be one. Convict us when we are divisive. Open our eyes to the damage our hurtful and hateful words can cause. Send your Holy Spirit to move us, change us, and draw us closer together in you. In Jesus’ name I offer my prayer. Amen.

All of us love to be successful and fruitful. And it is the Lord’s will for us to be so (3 John 2). However some people struggle to be successful. One reason is that they try to live in the future and forget to live in the present!

It is absolutely right and necessary to have a goal or dream. Without this, we won’t move forward and grow upward. But some are so possessed by their dreams that they forget to analyze their present situation and take appropriate actions.

For example, let us think about a girl studying for nursing. She passionately dreams of working as a successful nurse in a prosperous country and buying a beautiful house for her family. Her dream is good. But if she is going to try to live like that in the present, she will suffer greatly because now she is not even a nurse but only a nursing student!

So rather than living in that dream, she must asses her present situation and make use of every opportunity and resource that she has to study well. As she continues day after day in living focused on the present with her dream in mind, one day she will be able to reach that goal.

This is exactly what the Holy Spirit exhorts us in the Scriptures: Make the very most of the time [buy up each opportunity] – (see Ephesians 5:16)

As Christ disciples, we are called to live in the present. We cannot live in the past or the future. The past is over and the future is yet to come. The only thing that we have in our hands is the present. Cease it! Make use of it!

Are you dissatisfied today because your dream is not coming true? If so, it is good to check whether you are really living in the present. Are you making use of every opportunity, relationship and resource that are available to you right now? Or is your mind full of thoughts about things that you are going to have in the future?

Cease the day. Live today. Do it every day. And your dream will become a reality!

- – - Written By Joe Abraham & Ancy Joe