Get over it.

Today's Bible study passage is Acts chapter 10, which deals primarily with the story of a soldier named Cornelius and how God worked through His instrument Peter to bring about an eternal-life altering experience for Cornelius.

Peter was Jewish and as such submitted himself to the customs, rituals and the laws of his heritage. On this particular occasion, Peter went on top of the house to pray. The Bible reports that he was very hungry. While praying Peter fell into a trance where he saw a vision of various animals being offered to him and a voice said, arise Peter, kill and eat. Peter experienced this three times. During the same time span Cornelius was hearing from God too. God had instructed him to send for a man named Simon Peter because that man had something to tell him.

If you will remember Jesus told Peter that he would be the rock upon which the church was built. So now here in the 10th chapter of Acts we see where that opportunity could have slipped away because of what Peter knew and what he was used to--because of who he used to be and the traditional religious and ceremonial rites that he used to practice. Because Peter was a Jew his primary ministry up to that point had been to people who looked like him, who spoke like him, who he hung around with. But God had to help Peter to get over himself so that a willing soul could be saved.

This is just like us today. We have things in our lives that we need help getting over. We need God to reveal to us how to accept that our past is our past--even if it was a few moments ago--that may be what we knew and what we learned to do to cope in the past, but in order to be open to the move of God today we have to simply get over some things in our lives.

Notice that God could have just told Peter to go minister to Cornelius--just like He revealed to Cornelius that Peter would come to minister to him. However, God needed to touch Peter more deeply than that.--Some of us need to be touched more deeply with the message that whatever it is that you've done in the past--get over it! Sometimes we are so guilt ridden that we cannot make any forward progress. But the Bible tells us that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Just because you've done something for a long time and nobody knows about it doesn't mean that you should not use your experiences to help someone else overcome--ask God to help you get over it so that you can share your testimony.

Note that Peter was hungry and the Bible makes clear note of that. Peter didn't have to be hungry to see the vision--God could have just shown him that vision, but the fact that Peter was hungry matched to the fact that he saw this vision of food that he formally wouldn't eat became powerful when he met Cornelius. Peter was able to empathize with the hunger that Cornelius had to be saved and to know God and it made the transition for Peter to minister easier. He was able to accept the will of God and do the will of God freely because he understood where this man was coming from.

Read Acts chapter 10 today and ask God to reveal to you what you need to get over so that you can tune in to the hungry souls that are crying out for the Word of the Lord. They are waiting on someone to keep that divine appointment and share with them the good news and gospel of Jesus Christ. People in your family may want to throw in your face who you used to be, but let them know that with God's help you're getting over it! You may want to regress and go back to your old ways, your judging ways, your gossiping ways, your not seeking God first ways--no matter--the vision has been revealed to you. God wants to touch you deeply and to have you know that there is work to be done and it is time for you to get over whatever has been hindering you.

It isn't about other people--it's about God's will. It isn't about your excuses--it's about God's will. Don't miss another divine appointment to minister to someone hungry for the eternal-life changing Word of God because of your hang up. Get over it.