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In more than three decades of my Christian life, I have been blest by 2 types of Daily devos'
(matter not exceeding 500 words) in universal Christian literature. Not only those Devos'
which have a different theme everyday but also the ones which revolve around a certain
theme over a period of time, say a fortnight, have richly edified me. In fact, both
styles have their own inherent advantages. If the former style caters to the varying
spiritual needs of a christian from day-to-day, the latter aims 'to ground'
a child of God in a certain subject in order he derives the full benefits of the
deep insightful study of a certain topic, spread over a fixed span of time.
In my Daily devo page, I have consciously tried to go in for 'a blend of both the
styles' whereby within a constant theme, I would be aiming to focus on different
facets of it which admittedly is a closer imitation of the 'Constant theme' style
than the 'Varying topics' one.
Having dwelt on the topics
- “The Christian journey”
- “ The Conquest of Canaan” and the
- “Lent season”.
in the previous months, now in the months of April and May, considering that
post resurrection of Christ (one of our concluding themes’ you would remember
in the meditations of March, was Resurrection), birth of the Church was a
landmark event in Biblical history, I want to cast the spotlight on the Book of
Acts (which records the birth and growth of the Church). This would ensure to a large
extent continuity of thought albeit under the ambit of new subject.
Once again, let me wish you a happy and an edifying read…
Suresh Manoharan
May 2nd
Why Peter?
Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel. And the angel replied,
“Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! Now send some men to Joppa,
and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.”
– Acts 10:4-6 (NLV)
At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as
follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me
from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles
so that they could hear the Good News and believe. –Acts
15:7(NLV)
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On Peter fell the privilege of leading this gentile family of Cornelius into the Church.
Why Peter? The reasons are two-fold. The prophecy of the Lord
(Matt 16:18)
had to come true that
on Peter would the Lord build His Church. Just as the Lord greatly used Peter in bringing Jews
into the Saving faith on the day of Pentecost, he was to be used by the Lord to draw the gentiles
too into His saving arms.
The second reason is that the good Lord understanding the temper of the times, when the
well-meaning Jewish Christians were still suspiciously eyeing Paul and his radical (in their viewpoint)
style of advocating the end of the age-old circumcision practice could not have used the latter for the
purpose of winning the uncircumcised Cornelius family for Him. It could have brought the Church to the
verge of a disastrous schism. But on Peter, "the apostle" specially "of the circumcision,"
was conferred the honor of initiating this great movement, for it guaranteed a peaceful acceptance
(Acts 11:1-18)
of the new God-ordained responsibility to the Church…that of receiving the gentile
believers too into their fold.
Tomorrow let’s focus upon one of the unique traits of God of being an omni psychologist.
Prayer:
Father, how wonderfully you manage Your children of different temperaments, in order they pull together
for a common cause. We praise Thee once again in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
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