Acts 10-11 | Following His Promptings

"The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings." (Acts 11:12)

How do we know what we are to do? First of all, God has given us His Word. If we will read and follow what God is saying to us every day through this Word, it will be a “lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path” (Psalm 119:105). But this is not a mere academic exercise. It is empowered by the Holy Spirit (God in Spirit form) who lives in us. God speaks to us, not in audible form although He could, but in the way that God communicates in the spirit with His creation.

PETER’S PROMPTING

Peter is recounting to his fellow Christians how God led him to go to the Gentiles in Acts 11. This step was unheard of because most Jews at this time believed the gospel was just for them. It's hard for us to grasp, but there were reasons for these assumptions.

The Spirit of God came to explode that thought and showed the young Jewish believers in bold relief that the gospel was for everyone. But the first man to cross that line was Peter. How did He know what to do? "The Spirit told me to go without misgivings (with no doubts)," he recounts.

As you remember, Peter had a dream on the housetop that set him up for this moment, and then a gentile, Cornelius (who had also been prompted by the Spirit to send for Peter) sent some men to bring him back to his house. The Spirit prompted Cornelius on one end and Peter on the other.

GOD IS DOING MORE THAN YOU REALIZE

This is often the case for God is working everywhere all the time. You have no idea who He is setting up for a Divine encounter with the gospel. I wonder what would happen if we simply listened to the Spirit of God more and followed His slightest promptings?

Ask God, the Holy Spirit, to lead you today. Follow His promptings and rejoice in the Divine encounters that occur. He’s doing more than you think and He wants to use His children as His hands and feet and voice in the process.

Father, thank You for sending Your Spirit to indwell all those who believe in You. Thank You that I have all I need through the Word of God and Your Spirit to be led by You today. Teach me how to listen to You and move at Your slightest initiation. And prepare those today to whom I am to speak.