Acts 11:15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.”

There was a very specific reason God sent His Spirit on Cornelius and his household in exactly the same way He did on the 120 believers at Pentecost, and that was to show the Jewish believers that Gentiles were just as much heirs of salvation as they were. We all have a persistent tendency to think more of ourselves by thinking less of others, and God consistently says that’s wrong. There are conditions to salvation, certainly, but immutable characteristics, like ethnicity or gender, aren’t among them. (The devil is currently making a mess by insisting that gender isn’t immutable, but that’s another discussion.) God does reward our faithfulness, (Hebrews 10:35, 2 John 1:8) but our acceptance as His children comes from the moment we believe, and is a pure manifestation of His grace. (Ephesians 2:8-10) We need to treat others as God has treated us. Sometimes they need to earn our trust, but we should accept them as they are, and ask God to change them as necessary. After all, He’s still changing us! We aren’t to set up false conditions, but let God’s love flow through us even as it has flowed to us.

Acceptance has been a big issue in my life, as it is for many. I grew up as a Caucasian in Japan and went to school as a Missionary Kid on a US Air Force base. That didn’t make acceptance easy! I am what is called a TCK, a “third culture kid,” someone who synthesized my own culture from those of my parents and my environment. I have more in common with a Swiss man who grew up in South America (whom I know on Facebook) than with the majority of people I deal with every day. It is painful when Japanese don’t accept me as Japanese, even when I’ve lived here longer than they have, and it is healing when brothers and sisters in Christ of various nations accept me as one of their own. I have learned the reality of Paul’s statement, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20) And I am never to let my own wounds keep me from accepting another person for whom Christ died.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the healing You have given me, and for the privilege of tasting the rejection that Jesus experienced. (John 1:10-11) May I be Your agent in every detail of my life, so that people may be accepted into Your family by faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!