Acts 10:34 “Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Today's episode talks about how God is the only one that gets to judge. When we look at others we see what is on the outside, but God sees what is on the inside. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
God Shows No Partiality
Acts 10:34 “Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
I was at a Super Bowl party last night and I was talking with another woman who was there. I am not really into football so I was in the kitchen with the food most of the night. I am not sure if she is into football and was just being nice, but she visited with me for at least the first half of the game. We were talking and she mentioned that her favorite Bible story was about Cornelieus. I have to admit when she first said it I was not sure who she was talking about. Then when she mentioned Peter visiting him, I remembered the story. I will recap it for you briefly in case you, like me, do not remember that story.
In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius.” He stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” He answered, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.” When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.
About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.” The voice said to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.”
Right after this dream Cornelius’ mean reached the gate and asked for Peter. Peter went with the down to meet Cornelius and asked why they sent for him. Cornelius explained about the Angel and that is when Peter said to them, “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.” “Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Peter began to preach to Cornelius and all who were present that day and the Holy Spirit came down and fell upon all of them.
What my new friend loved most about this story is that the angel appeared to the Roman soldier and told him that God saw his deeds and they were good. A Roman soldier, did good deeds. The romans were not good to the Israelites, they were persecuting them. You would think God would want nothing to do with them and yet He sends and angel to tell Cornelius that his prayers are being heard. She said she grew up being taught that our actions can’t be good because we are nothing compared to God. Jesus is so pure and our actions can never be pure or clean compared to his. She loves this verse because if a Roman soldier can be told his actions are pleasing to the Lord, then surely our actions can be pleasing too.
I liked this verse above because Peter says, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” I love this because I think we all tend to forget this. We look at some people, or some groups of people and we count them out of God’s plan. We think because of this reason or that reason they can’t be saved, they can’t be God fearing individuals. Do you know what I mean? You might look at someone that is dressed in goth type clothes. They wear all black and they have their nose pierced and they wear a choke collar and we think they can’t possibly believe in God. But it says right here that God shows no partiality. He does not care what you are wearing or what you look like. He does not care what your job is or what country you come from.
What God cares about is if you are following HIs laws. Are you loving others and yourself? Are you putting Him above all else? When Jesus walked the Earth Gentiles and Jews did not associate. Jesus broke this mold and talked to anyone He wanted to. However, Peter needed that dream he had as well as witnessing the Holy Spirit descend on these Gentiles in order to understand that God did not care who you were or where you came from. He cares what is in your heart and if you love Him or not.
It saddens me to think we are 2,000 years later and we are still judging others and deciding who we think is able to worship God. I wonder when we will learn to accept that God is the only judge. We only see what is on the outside and God sees what is on the inside. We see how people act out in the world and God sees how they act all time. It reminds me of when Samuel went to anoint David as future king. Samuel was told to take the anointing oil and go to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next king. Samuel saw several of Jesse’s sons and they looked like King material. Each time the Lord told Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7 “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Here we are 2,000 years later, actually we are well past 2,000 years if we are going way back to when Samuel lived and we are still looking at appearances instead of looking on the inside. We may have our ideas of who we think is capable of getting in to heaven and who isn’t but what we think doesn’t really matter. It is not up to us, we don’t get a say in it and that is awesome. It is awesome that God doesn’t rely on us to help Him decide who gets in and who doesn’t because we are flawed and many of us tend to see the worst in people. We have all of our history, all of our baggage, all that we have been through that clouds are judgement. We look at everyone through a filter that was created from all we have experienced over the years. God doesn’t have this filter. He can see with crystal clear vision into our hearts and instantly knows our true motives.
The next time we are tempted to judge someone we should remember that God is judging us in the same way we judge others. It would be great if we could all stop judging because it is the right thing to do. However, if you are not there yet, if you feel like your job is to judge others and you don’t want to stop just because it is the right thing to do, then maybe you can stop if you remember that God is judging you in that same way. When you come to your final day here are Earth and you head up to talk to God about your time here on earth do you want God to judge you on your appearance, your financial status, your job title, your skin color or any other characteristics that you are judging others for here on Earth? I doubt it. I doubt anyone wants that. Peter said, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality.” If God shows no partiality, then why do we?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, help us to stop judging others. Help us to stop feeling like our actions aren’t good enough. Help us to understand that you are not partial to one race or another. You aren’t partial to one religion or another. You aren’t so rigid that whole groups of people are excluded from your kingdom. You view each one of us on an individual basis and we are so grateful for that. Help us do the same Lord. Help us see others through your eyes, not our own. Lord, you are amazing, you are so powerful and we are so grateful for all you do. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you would be willing to share a story or a testimony of how Jesus is working in your life please reach out and let me know. My email is catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com or you can CLICK HERE. I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you and so do I. Have a blessed day!