LOOK:

Q: Is it possible that God is orchestrating an encounter between you and a person in your circle of influence who is quietly praying to know God through His Son, Jesus? Are you willing to be a “Peter” who no longer made distinctions between Jews and Gentiles and share the good news of Jesus with a “Cornelius” that God already has lined up for you? Are you willing to set aside all prejudices and openly embrace whoever God calls you to reach?

So here are my suggestions to make sure we don’t miss hearing God’s voice:

1. Own that God is always at work to reach His lost creation and that He wants to use YOU.
2. Pray “regularly” (I suggest DAILY) that God will clearly point you to the “Cornelius” He has lined up for you.

Trust God’s timing. Just as Peter was praying “regularly” and communing with God, there was a Cornelius also praying for God to show him the way to salvation. God will orchestrate the encounter in His perfect way and in His perfect time.

LOOK:

These accounts in Scripture are inspirational, but more importantly, we can live the kind of life described in today’s passage!

As we pray over today’s passage, I am going to specifically ask the Lord to re-energize our passion for Jesus. I am going to ask Him to bring to light the genuine encounters we have with Jesus through the Spirit and to give us the courage to share it with others. In fact, I will pray that we don’t need “courage,” but rather a “strong desire” to share the reality of Jesus and the love relationship every person can have with Him.

For those who were drawn by the story of Tabitha/Dorcas:

Q: What is your ministry? What group of people has God called you to serve?

Q: Who is the “Dorcas” in your life for whom you’d like to thank God?

LOOK:

Just as God used certain people in your life to bring you to the Lord, you may be the next Philip or Ananias. God has entrusted the gospel message with you and me, and He wants to tap each of us to reach others in our circle of influence. In order to be faithful to the call, we need to be in regular communion with God through prayer, through bible study, and through the fellowship of other believers. Many of us know the gospel message, but if we were asked how often we shared it with others, many of us might be too embarrassed to answer. The good news is that it is never too late to get started!

Challenge: Ask the Lord to specifically lay a name on your heart with whom you’re to share the gospel. When He does, ask Him for a fresh infilling of His Holy Spirit to lead you in your time with this person and the courage to be obedient. Trust the Spirit to give you the words.

LOOK:

I asked you at the beginning of this lesson to read today’s passage with a spiritual lens to answer two questions:

1. What does strong faith look like?
2. What are the characteristics of disciples whose faith are strong?

I think we can all agree that at the core, disciples with strong faith are filled with the Holy Spirit. It was only through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that disciples were enabled to:

• Speak boldly in the name of Jesus, even in the midst of great persecution.
• Seize the opportunity to scatter the gospel in new territories
• Sift or discern who was truly a believer and who was not.
• Share the gospel and God’s word effectively.
• Spot where and with whom Satan was at work.

My challenge for each of us is to go before the Lord and asking Him to strengthen our faith. Let’s ask Him to expose the areas in our own walk that need to be shored up. If we’re not in our bibles daily, then let’s ask Him to help us get excited about reading His Word. If you know you have an opportunity to share the gospel with someone, ask for a holy boldness to do so and ask the Spirit to give you the words.

LOOK:

• If you are internalizing this lesson from the vantage point of Stephen:
  • How well do you know the history and how Christ is the fulfillment of all the prophets that God sent to His children?
  • How well grounded are you in Scripture? Are you reading it regularly?
  • You are God’s chosen messenger of His gospel message. Are you sharing it regularly?
• If you are internalizing this lesson from the vantage point of the Sanhedrin:
  • Are you resisting the Holy Spirit? Are you keeping Him at arms length?