Blessing To The Nations

De·vout

adjective having or showing deep religious feeling or commitment. "she was a devout Catholic"synonyms:pious, religious, devoted, dedicated, reverent, God-fearing, believing, spiritual, prayerful, holy, godly, saintly, faithful, dutiful, righteous, churchgoing, orthodox"a devout Christian" totally committed to a cause or belief. "the most devout environmentalist"synonyms:dedicated, devoted, committed, loyal, faithful, staunch, genuine, firm, steadfast, resolute, unwavering, sincere, wholehearted, keen, earnest, enthusiastic, zealous, passionate, ardent, fervent, intense, vehement, active, sworn, pledged; More

LORD- Kyrios- Christ -

Same word as Peter used when he called to Jesus and said, “If it’s really you, Lord, call me out onto the water”

Trance- Ekstasis-

Astonishment, Amazement…This is not a zombie like state we may think about when we hear this word.

-Peter entered into a time of prayer where he was so in awe with what was happening in that time of prayer.....the rest of the world didn’t even exist.

-His heart was open and ready to hear from the Lord and God used that time to forever change his life. Peter came out of that prayer time not just having learned something new, but his whole way of looking at the world had changed. He just didn’t know it yet.

Speaking in tongues

…this is the same use of the word as we see in when God gave Bezalel and Oholiab all the knowledge and skills they needed to build the Tabernacle and all the things contained in it.

-Not an angelic language that we often associate with this concept

-God was preparing this group of people to go to all the nations represented in that room and beyond with the message of Jesus.

-Why don’t we see that Spirit fall on us in there unique ways?......I ask myself sometimes

-We have colleges, resources, you tube......there is a huge resource we have right in front of us to prepare us for these things.

-When God calls missionaries he often gives them the ability of tongues to learn and speak fluently the language that is spoken in the country.

Application

Holy Routine -

This is the same concept that Jesus daily met with God to talk and commune with him

This is the same concept that Jesus daily met with God to talk and commune with him

This is a routine of exposing ourselves to the holiness of God. We have the Spirit living in us if we have chosen and asked him to fill our lives…

we dont have to go up on a mountain for God to show us himself

we dont have to go into the holy of holies to be in his presence

we do have to regurlarly “practice” being in his presence and talking with him....similarly the way a doctor practices medicine.

Learning how to listen to God, experiencing what that feels like, looks like, What we learn or are exposed to in those times

The wealth of heaven is waiting for us in those quiet places and quiet times.

2. Soft Heart-

a. Cornelius wasn’t proud or boastful. He was doing well for himself in his career, socially, monitarily doing great! Still was dependent upon God and was able to hear from God that he still needed to grow.

b. Peter he was a major leader of the church movement in his day.

b. Still was dependent upon God and was able to hear from God that he still needed to grow

b.

people were asking him to preach, Jesus had personally spoken over his life and said I will build my church upon the work you are going to do.......

But Peter still needed to have the spirit that allows God to shift all he knew and said I want you to do a new work for me.

3. Obedient Spirit-

a. both of the men had the opportunity to have had a great experience with God and then go about their day completely unchanged

b. Cornelius could have said to himself man that was a great prayer time. but been ok with his status and wealth and not want to “rock the boat” and risk losing all of that to be obedient to God.

c. Pete could have said you know Im not sure if God wants me to go do this thing so Im going to stay put until I have something a little more clear