Reading Plan:  

Acts 11 

Made Clean

Author: Anna Belk 

One particular statement stole my attention as I sought out the mold of my devotion from the thick of Acts 11. Peter had received some criticism from religious leaders because of his interactions with those who were considered “unclean.” This primarily included the population of men who had not been circumcised which would have stamped them as set apart as God's people. Peter goes into detail about a dream he had where the Lord told him to get up and hunt. However, Peter feels skeptical about this direction because some of these four-legged or winged creatures were deemed unholy or unclean by his religious community. God responds with a soul-altering statement that puts the purpose of the cross directly in our sight, “Peter, do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 

I don’t know if you were like me in math class, but I benefited much more from a physical hands-on example rather than some wordy problem on my paper. To reassure Peter of the trustworthiness of His words, God then provides Peter with a physical example. The Lord sends three men to the front doorstep of his location. These men initiate the opportunity for Peter to partake in a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit. At this moment, Peter remembers the Lord preparing his heart early on to receive this experience - comparing it with John’s baptism by water. Being witness to the unclean becoming clean from the inside first, Peter responds with, “So if God gave them the same gift He gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” How often have you thought your fleshly state, your mistakes, imperfections, your fractured humanity, or toxic relationships had the authority to permanently charge you as unclean? There is freedom in knowing that my God has the final word and that no sin, no diagnosis, no label, no haunting mistake, no human, no devil, and no imperfection have the right to condemn what has already been made pure by the authority of the Holy Spirit. Corrie Ten Boom once said, “It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability, that counts.” 

Reflection: 

• When we take time to be with God through prayer, worship, silence, and scripture reading, He reveals Himself to us. How can you spend time with God this week to grow closer to Him? 
• Think of one person in your life who is far from God. Make plans to invite them to coffee, lunch, or House Church in order to build a relationship and share Jesus with them.

Family Application: We can tell everyone about Jesus!

Author: River Gates 

• In this story, Peter talks about how he was confronted and criticized for spending time with people who did not know Jesus. He explained why he did this. 
• Peter was praying to God, and in the middle of his prayer, he had a dream. In this dream, a voice from heaven spoke to him and told him to kill and eat an animal! This was a big deal back then because it used to be wrong to even touch a dead animal. Then the voice says, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This dream happened three times and right after the third time, three men showed up at Peter's house. The Holy Spirit told Peter to go with them, so Peter listened without even questioning it. The man then told Peter how he had seen an angel, and the angel told him to find Peter so that Peter could share the Word of God with the man’s family. These people did not know Jesus, but they were following God's Law, just like Peter and his people who spent their lives serving God. This reminded Peter of something that the Lord had spoken before saying how, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” God gave everyone the same gift He gave His people. Peter thought, “How I could stand in God’s way and not tell everyone about Jesus just because they did not know Him yet." After he said all of this to the people who were criticizing him, it changed their minds and they began to praise God. 
• Because of this amazing news, we are called to go out and share this gift with everyone else. In saying this, we should share this good news with our friends, family, schools, teams, and everyone else we have the opportunity to speak with. The best part about all of this is that sharing this good news is as easy as inviting all of these people to church! That’s all you have to do to be able to change someone’s entire life! 
• Prayer: God, thank You for letting me tell the world about You. God, You are great. God, thank You for loving me. Amen.