Moves that count.

Moves that count. 
February, 2019.
Israel . . . and I just don't get it, because it seems like our moves should count.

listen to podcast, Friend:
http://www.pastorwoman.com/…/69f3b840-b106-4586-84b6-1085f7…

I just don't get it. Leaving Ben Gurion Airport, why in the world does the tourbus make its first stop at an old seaport? Third trip to Israel inside of 2 ½ years and it was first on the itinerary again! Hmmm.

While it is true that it is a magnificent seaport city built by Herod the Great in honor of Caesar Augustus in 22 BC, while it served as the Roman capital of Israel until the third century AD, that simply did not stir a revival in my soul. Ya know what I'm saying?

And then it happened. 
I read Acts 10 through Acts 11.18; then I read 
it again in another translation, then another, 
and still another. Finally I got it.

It was here in the seaport city of Caesarea that events occurred--God orchestrated events--that opened the door for the Gospel to go to Gentiles. Before this time, before this military man, the only believers in Jesus were Jews.

To summarize the impactful passage, God speaks to Cornelius, a centurion in the Italian regiment in Caesarea (and of course, a Gentile), 'tells him to send for Simon Peter (who he does not know) in the town of Joppa down the coast about 40 miles. He obeys. He obeys, sends three of his men to fetch Peter. Acts 10.1-8

From the beach a few miles away on the Mediterranean, this is a picture of modern-day Joppa:

and up close:

While the men are on the way, God speaks to Peter, telling him not to refrain from eating 'unclean' animals and 'not to call anything impure that God has made clean'. You gotta read it because God speaks to him in a vision - three different times! Point made. Acts 10.9-23 'Purity, Peter? I will be the judge of such matters', quoth the Lord.

Hang. with. me. here. please.

In Joppa, the men tell Peter that Cornelius was visited by an angel, (verse 22), who told him to fetch Peter so he could tell him something important; Peter obediently goes back to Caesarea with them. Read Acts 10.

This is part of what he saw: 
first the amphitheatre and then the hippodrome, parts of the huge seaport ---> complex that Herod had built!

History later proves Herod to be mad, but he was equal parts insanely brilliant in seeing the potential of what could be wrought from limestone. Masada and Herodium - two more masterful artichectural fetes spun from his paranoid mind.

In Acts 10.24-48, we read that Captain Cornelius has gathered a house full of folks in anticipation that Peter is going to willingly come back to Caesarea with his men to impart an important message. Can you picture it? Peter arrives and does not disappoint. Yes, Sir, Brother Peter testifies ... he witnesses, simply telling what he had experienced, and what he knew of God's heart - not just for the Jew but for the Gentile. v. 34 'God does not show favoritism but accepts [those] from every nation ...'

And. Then. God. Moved. The Holy Spirit 
came on all who heard the message; 
after, they were baptized. Could 
it have been in these very waters? >>
First Gentiles become Christians!
Cornelius and his family were the first little Gentile Christian community in Caesarea. Perhaps you ought read the passage in Acts 10 through Acts 11.18 to notice one more thing: God is a masterful architect of timing. God orchestrates moves that count.

Waiting for him to 'come through' in some way in your life?
Been praying for a while about this person or that thing, 
thinking that God has not seemed to hear you? 
Could be that he is making moves that count behind the scenes to
bring about his perfect plan in your life.

Either way, early on in the Gospel story, we see it made crystal clear: the Gospel message/salvation is for all people. Turns out Caesarea Maritima is a great first stop - a move that really counts - on a Holyland pilgrimage.

Here's a great song, recorded on location in Caesarea: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlPuR-0XxiA

God's moves count, ours must also~

Christine

PastorWoman.com