DOING WHAT'S DIFFICULT

          

  The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.   (Acts 10:22-23 a)

"As I read our passage today, I thought about how hard it would be for these men of Cornelius to travel to Joppa, seek out Peter who was staying in Simon's house (it must have taken some time to find the right house), then tell Peter the story of the angel who had given Cornelius his direction. I'm sure they had no idea how Peter was going to react.

The other night, as I got home from work, my daughter Amanda met me at the front door. She is usually really happy to see me, but this time I could tell something wasn't quite right. I asked her what was wrong and as she looked down at the floor—with big alligator tears in her eyes she proceeded to tell me in great detail how she had disobeyed her mother.

So here is my little girl standing before me (and because I'm her dad you know that inside I am complete must)—but I gathered myself enough to ask her a few questions and talk with her about what she had done wrong before I grabbed her and hugged her tight (I love that little kid so very much). I then asked her if she had apologized to her mother. Amanda ran up to her mother, but before she apologized—she looked her mother in the eye and said with great emotion, ‘See, I told him!’ I'm sure you can imagine what a difficult afternoon Amanda had that day as she counted down the hours and minutes to when I would enter the front door and she would have to say the words she didn't want to say—then wait for my reaction.

Questions to Ponder:

Has God given you a mission you are reluctant to complete? What are you afraid of—ridicule, embarrassment, persecution? Have you ‘wronged’ someone recently, yet instead of asking for forgiveness you have found ways to avoid the person? The Spirit speaks to us all of the time — what are you avoiding? Rather than carry around with you the burden of some unfinished task — wouldn't it be nice to instead be able to say like Amanda, ‘See, I told him!’ What do you need to do today to complete what God has given you to do?

New Testament League   www.ptl.org

            “Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding….Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life.”   (Prov. 4:5-7, 13, NKJV)

Tonight’s post:  BE STILL AND KNOW

Tomorrow’s post: JESUS WASHES THE DISCIPLES FEET