Jesus has given up His life to ransom the souls of men, but death could not hold Him. Risen again, He promises a power that will come over His people.
Despite the joy that He is alive and interceding in the heavenlies on their behalf, heartache has...
Mavy rejoiced along with the others when the news of Dorcas' resurrection by God through His servant Peter, reached them. Dorcas was well-beloved in Joppa, in particular, yet many of the women elsewhere sought to follow her example. Sacrificial and obedient, always smiling even as she poured herself out for the Lord's service, she was a role model for all women. While it is true that salvation cannot be bought or worked for, salvation produced work, and that gladly!
The news of her death had come as quite a shock and had several others trying to fulfill the duty that she had performed for the saints of God, but no one could replace the dear lady. To have the Lord working mightily to restore such a one was incredible! But it had Mavy thinking. What would her legacy be? Would anyone care if she died? She couldn't help but wonder if that was selfish thinking and pushed it from her thoughts.
There was enough on her plate to keep her from dwelling on leaving things to remember her by, even for the sake of her children, who, really weren't children anymore. It seemed, still, at least to her like yesterday when Estelle and Robert were barely twelve and thirteen following Jesus as He went round about teaching and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. And now, Estelle was just shy of her eighteenth birthday, soon to be wed to the man who stole her heart even as a youth. While many were married even during their early teens, Mavy could not let go, and Estelle was notably happy when at long last her mother let her slip from her fingers. A mother bird cannot keep her winged little ones in the nest forever. Even Robert began to flush around the young virgins of Israel. It was bound to happen.
Times were not only changing in Mavy's household... for there was in Caesarea a centurion of an Italian band whose name was Cornelius. Despite not being a Jew, He feared God, as did his household. He lived devoutly and generously, a man given to prayer, and perhaps that was the reason why the Lord showed respect unto him, for about the ninth hour of the day, by way of a vision, an angel of the Lord came to him.
Despite being a man of renown, a centurion at that, he trembled at the sight. "What is it, Lord?"
"Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." With that, he departed.
Cornelius rose from his knees in a hurry, calling two of his servants and a soldier who attended to him faithfully retelling the vision to them. "Go, go to Joppa," He urged.
Peter's stomach rumbled even as he ascended to the roof to spend time in prayer. Between the pains of persecution always on the door and the amount of time given to the work of Christ, he wasn't about to lack in time with God. To do the Kingdom work and make an impact, sometimes it is necessary to draw away from the crowds you long to win to spend time at the feet of the Father. He didn't expect to be long he had agreed that they should begin to make dinner ready, and when he was finished, he would certainly join them.
Our thoughts and plans are not God's for as he stayed at the throne of grace and mercy, he fell into a trance, seeing heaven open and a great sheet descended full of insects and rabbits and pigs, and all other four-footed beasts, wild things, creeping things, birds.
He didn't have enough time to recoil from the unclean, according to Judaic law, a voice sounding out. "Rise, Peter, kill and eat!"
"Yuck! No, Lord, I can't. I've never eaten anything common or unclean, and I don't intend to start now."
Again, the voice came out, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common."
Three times this occurred before the sheet was received again into heaven.
What could this possibly mean? Peter, as confused as the next guy, ignored the hunger pains as he thought about what he had seen, not noticing the servants and soldiers of Cornelius arrive asking for him.
"Behold," the Spirit spoke over Peter, "Three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them."
So Peter went down to see the men that had arrived for them. "Yes, I'm Peter. What do you want?"
"Cornelius, a just, God-fearing centurion, who has plenty of good report amongst the nation of the Jews had a vision from God for you to come
to him so that they might hear the Word of God by your mouth."
"Well, come on in," Peter smiled, "First we eat, and tomorrow we will journey."
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