Good morning and welcome. This is pastor lucy painter with your daily insights and today we continue where we stopped yesterday with our Divine experience episode. I want to talk about a rat R. U. T. Is described as a habit or a pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive. But it's hard to change. And sometimes we get entangled into some mental rats into certain ideologies, biases and stereotypes that we know are wrong. But we find them so hard to break from. You have a business that you know needs you to inject new ideas for it to survive.

But you're so stuck to what you're used to that you can't dare to try something new. You have a child that would rather sleep in your bed than their own. You know someone who is going through a hard time and need someone to talk to. But you'd rather stick to your circle of friends because it's hard to start that conversation. So we find it safer sticking with what we are used to. The truth is we bring a lot of baggage when we are received into salvation. We come in with from thinking wrong ideologies. But it gets to the point that the Lord has to pull us out of all those brats. Yesterday we left off where Cornelius sent off his servants to go and bring the opposed to period to have him after the Lord had commanded him in a vision.

And today we're going to continue with the story and I just started you off with that introduction about the rats, those mental rights. Yeah. And you wonder where I'm going? But listen! From where we stopped at. Chapter 10 from last nine says that the next day as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat. But while they made ready he fell into a trance. And so heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners descending to him and let down to the earth in it were all kinds of four footed animals of the ad wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air, and a voice came to him. Rice Peter killing it. But Peter said, Not so Lord!

I've never eaten anything common or unclean. And a voice spoke to him again the second time. What God has cleansed, You must not call common. This was done three times, and the object was taken up into heaven again. Now, while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant. Behold the man who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate, and they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter was lodging there. While Peter door about the vision. The Spirit said to him, Behold three men are seeking! You arise, therefore go down and go with them doubting nothing, for I have sent them. Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius and said, yes I am he whom you seek, for what reason have you come? And they said Cornelius.

The centurion adjustment who fears God and who has good reputation among the nation of the jews was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you. Then he invited them in and launched them on. The next deputy went away with them and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him, wow! Mhm. So this narration is set in a time when use held the gentles in such low regard that no jew would start going into a gentles home and much less eaten with the gentles in fear of contracting ceremonial defilement. Jesus had told the disciples before his ascension to go and preach the repentance and forgiveness of sin to all missions but their century old jewish way of thinking made it unthinkable for a jew to preach the Gospel to the gentiles without them first becoming religious jews.

Yeah, so the first thing we notice in this narration is something that has constantly featured in other episodes confirmation. This is God's M. O. You know, he's his style of operation whenever the Lord speaks, he provides confirmation for his words. And so we see two men that he miles or so apart being brought together by the same command so that when the purpose of this experience is fulfilled, they would not doubt the source of their command. So look, who is the elder of this book presents us with a scene of Peter praying alone on the rooftop, away from the distractions. Where the Lord gives him this trance, we have just read about. And you know, Peter being a jew followed the jewish dietary laws. You know, if you read leviticus, you shall not eat, this, shall not this this isn't clean, this isn't clean.

So Peter followed all that. So he had, he had in everything he was a jew like in everything that touched religions. So it was, it must have been so confusing when the Lord chose to scandalize him with them. Holy mixture of the the wild beast, creeping animals and the command to kill and eat without any distinction. And these laws kept the jews separate from the gentles. There were a strong inducement for them to interact with gentles, because this would have been risking defilement. You know. The gentles never really cared about what they did. So the juice had no dealings with them. It was not surprising that Peter refused to eat three times, even after the Lord warned him, called uh called to him about it, saying anything.

The Lord has cleansed his clean don't call it common. And just when Peter was pondering on this vision on these trends and the weird commands the people Cornelius had sent arrived, and the bible says that they stood at the gate and inquired and the Lord said, behold there three men that are seeking you, you're going to arise and go down and do not doubt or I have sent them. And this call scenario paints the exact situation that the vision was meant to correct. There had been a great lift between the jews and the gentiles, but this rift was about to be broken. The Lord had chosen this moment to make clear the purpose of the experience that Peter had just had. It was to change Peter's thinking to break the barrier that kept the devoted and juice at the gate and use period to extend the invitation to the gentiles so that they may come into the house so that they may be enjoyed the body of christ to the fellowship of believers.

And the bible says that Peter invited them and lodged with them and on the next day he went with them and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied them. These were now two groups of people who could not have died together, let alone enter into each other's houses. But by the end of Peter's divine experience, The barrier that had limited him were broken. The things he considered unthinkable because of his culture. People he considered not fit to interact with all this no longer counted for him. He had new lengths to go. He was compelled to reach further out and to bring those who were considered outsiders into the fold of the law. And I believe we've all been where peter was. We have known people, we should be reaching out to people that need to hear about the grace of our Lord. People who need to hear the message of hope that we carry with foreigners, but boundaries that have been set up by traditions, limits that have been forced onto us by cultures by stereotypes, by unfair biases have kept us from reaching out to them.

But I pray today that we may get this awakening that we may have this kind of barrier breaking experience and experience that will open us to greater things, things that we thought were impossible for us. That this imposed boundaries may be broken, that we may take the word of God where it has not reached before. May the Lord said as free of all carnal shackles and may we learn to listen and not hesitate when the Lord is communicating. May the Lord give us the grace to receive with open arms, those who come to him even as he received us with open arms when we receive the grace to go beyond our boundaries in jesus name, Harlow louis, this is faster lucy painter With your daily insights and this is divine experience.

Day 12 Chalone