- Covered In His Dust
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- Acts Chapter 10
"When disciples followed a rabbi, they followed him closely so they would never be out of his sight, never be someplace where they couldn’t hear him speak. They followed him so closely that his sandals often kicked up dust."
May you be covered in His dust.
If this is your first time getting Covered in His Dust, WELCOME!
👇🏽 Important 👇🏽
👉🏽 Read Chapter 10 before reading my notes. If you don’t, my notes won’t make sense.
You can access my previous notes on Acts and Luke by clicking this link:
Good morning Saints! ☀️
As we move forward, it's always helpful to reestablish our bearings. The Book of Acts was written by Luke, Paul's physician and travel companion, as an account of the early church. Many scholars see it as a continuation of the Gospel of Luke, or even as a continuation of Jesus' ministry.
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort,
Caesarea Maritima ("Caesarea by the Sea") was built by Herod the Great between 25 and 13 BC. He named it to honor Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor at the time.
Herod transformed it into a stunning port city, complete with a harbor, aqueducts, theaters, and other Roman-style infrastructure.
When my wife and I visited Caesarea in 2021, it was still remarkably well-preserved, with ancient ruins that stood as a testament to Herod's extravagant vision. The massive theater, remnants of the palace, and the aqueduct stretching along the Mediterranean coast offered a glimpse into the city's Roman past.
A centurion is a Roman military officer who commanded a century, a unit of about 80-100 soldiers.
A cohort was a division of the Roman army, typically consisting of about 500-600 soldiers, though some cohorts were smaller.
The Italian Cohort would have been a unit composed mainly of soldiers originally recruited from Italy, which was considered a prestigious place to serve.
a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.
It was a big deal that Cornelius, a Roman centurion, was described as a devout and God-fearing man because Romans were seen as oppressors by the Jewish people.
The Roman Empire controlled Judea and much of the world, ruling through taxes and military power.
Most Romans worshiped many gods, which conflicted with Jewish beliefs in one God. The Jews saw Roman religion as idolatrous.
Roman soldiers, like Cornelius, enforced Roman rule, which often created tension with the Jewish people.
So, when Cornelius, a Roman, showed deep faith in the God of Israel, it would have been shocking.
While the Jews might have been okay with Cornelius believing in God, there was still one big significant issue:
He was a Gentile,
and by Jewish law and tradition, Gentiles were considered unclean.
Even though Cornelius believed in the God of Israel, Jewish law made it difficult for Jews to have close interactions with Gentiles. Jews wouldn’t typically enter a Gentile’s house or share meals with them, as this could make them unclean too.
Let’s take a look at three different groups of people we’ve met so far in Acts.
Hellenists were Jews who spoke Greek and had adopted aspects of Greek culture. They were typically Jews living outside of Israel, often in Greek-speaking regions.
Samaritans were a group of people with mixed Jewish and Gentile ancestry, and they had a long-standing conflict with the Jews. They worshiped the God of Israel but had different religious practices and beliefs.
Gentiles were non-Jews who didn’t follow Jewish religious laws or customs.
And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
Giving alms meant helping the poor with money, food, or other support. In biblical times, it was seen as an important way to care for those in need and was closely connected to the Jewish idea of showing justice and compassion.
The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
There were three main times for Jewish prayer each day .
Morning prayer (Shacharit) – around sunrise.
Afternoon prayer (Minchah) – around 3 p.m. (the ninth hour).
Evening prayer (Ma’ariv) – after sunset.
Peter praying at noon shows his devotion and commitment to prayer outside of traditional times. Peter took the opportunity to seek God and pray throughout the day, demonstrating how deeply ingrained prayer was in his life.
I
love
that
It’s an area in my life that I need to strengthen.
Peter’s personality comes out in his response.
And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
We also saw his personality in the Gospel of Luke:
And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”
Almost reluctantly, Peter was basically saying, “Fine, I’ll let down the nets.”
And in the Gospel of Matthew his personality is on display again.
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
After years of reading the Bible, I had NO IDEA how important this next verse was.
And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
Yes, God was talking about the foods we eat, but more than that… He was declaring the beginning of the New Covenant. The veil had been torn, and the way to salvation was no longer just for the Jews but for anyone who believed.
This was a RADICAL idea.
The idea that not only Jews could be saved was earth-shattering. The lesson? “What I have made clean, don’t call unclean.” Anybody can come to Jesus and be cleansed, no matter their background or past.
This is where the door was flung wide open for our adoption as Gentiles into God's family. Before this moment, salvation seemed exclusive to the Jews, but through Jesus and the New Covenant, we—Gentiles—were grafted in.
As many of you know, we adopted five little ones almost six years ago. Sometimes, I stand at the window, watch them laughing and playing outside, and think, “They have no idea.”
Millions of kids will never be adopted.
Millions of kids will cry in the middle of the night and never be consoled.
Millions of kids will never get hugged the way you do by a mother or father.
They have no idea how blessed they are.
They don’t know what life could have been like.
They won’t know the loneliness, the heartache, or the longing that so many children face.
They now know love.
They now know safety.
They now know what it feels like to be wanted, to belong.
And sometimes,
as I stand there,
I am overwhelmed with gratitude
because their laughter and their joy,
is a picture of grace.
And it makes me think of you and me, too.
So often, we forget the enormity of what we’ve been given through our adoption into God’s family. We go about our days unaware of what life would be like without His love and care. We read verse 15 without understanding or even trying to understand its meaning.
But we, just like my kids,
are blessed beyond measure.
We’ve been chosen.
We’ve been given a place to belong,
where we are fully loved
and never forgotten.
It’s easy to take that for granted, but when I see them playing, I’m reminded of just how precious this gift really is.
I thought about continuing through Acts 10, but I think this is a good place to stop… and meditate… and thank God.
“Thank you for adopting me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being a good good Father.”
One Minute Inspiration
I love you,
George
Uncovering Scripture
In the New Testament, "saint" refers to any Christian believer. It comes from the Greek word "hagios," meaning "holy" or "set apart." Paul often addresses believers in his letters as "saints."
George Sisneros is a full-time missionary in Guatemala and the founder of Ordinary Missionaries and the El Rosario Christian Academy for Boys.
He’s been married to his wife, Vonda, for 26 years. He’s a father to nine children, five adopted.
George and his family are expanding to Cuba in 2024.