August 28, 2024 Daily Dose of Discernment

"What God has made clean, you must not call unclean.” (Acts 10:15)

Many years ago, someone advised me to have nothing to do with a fellow Christian because of a mistake they made in the past. In effect, he was saying this person is hopeless. I respectfully differed and shared that I believe God spoke to me what He spoke to Peter in the verse above. My ministry to the would-have-been ostracized person turned out be very fruitful and continues to be.

Peter's experience in Acts 10 caused a major paradigm shift. Jews considered Gentiles unclean and they wouldn't even enter their houses. God made him realize he should stop seeing Gentiles as less than he but see everyone as a sinner of Jesus' own redeeming. Therefore, no one is beyond hope because no one is beyond the reaching of His saving embrace.