ARISE, KILL AND EAT PART 5: WHEN GOD CHALLENGES YOUR MINDSET

ARISE, KILL AND EAT

PART 5: WHEN GOD CHALLENGES YOUR MINDSET

Acts 10:15 (NLT)

“But the voice spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’”

In Part 4, we explored the three powerful words that gave this series its name:

ARISE.

KILL.

EAT.

Peter was told to arise because he could not remain in the same position and step into a new assignment. He was told to kill and eat, and the vision challenged the barriers created by his previous understanding.

We discovered that Peter's greatest obstacle was not the distance between Joppa and Caesarea. It was the distance between his old mindset and God's new revelation.

Peter was being prepared to meet Cornelius. But before Peter could enter Cornelius' house, God had to deal with what was happening inside Peter's mind. And this brings us to one of the most important lessons in Acts 10:

Sometimes God has to change the way we think before He can change the way we move.

THE BATTLE WAS NOT OUTSIDE PETER

Peter's next assignment was outside. Cornelius was in Caesarea. Peter was in Joppa. There was a physical distance between them. But the bigger issue was not geographical. It was mental.

Peter had grown up with distinctions concerning Jews and Gentiles. He knew what his religious tradition considered clean and unclean. He knew who Jews were expected to associate with. He knew the boundaries. And those boundaries had shaped the way he saw the world.

But now God was challenging him. The assignment required a mindset Peter did not yet possess.

GOD WAS NOT ASKING PETER TO ABANDON TRUTH

This is important. God was not telling Peter to abandon holiness. He was not telling Peter that everything was now acceptable. He was not destroying God's moral standards.

Rather, God was confronting Peter's misunderstanding about people. Peter would later explain:

“God has shown me that I should never think of anyone as impure or unclean.”

— Acts 10:28 (NLT)

Now the meaning of the vision becomes clearer. The issue was not simply what Peter could eat. The issue was whom Peter was willing to approach.

God was breaking a barrier that could have prevented the Gospel from reaching Cornelius.

YOUR MINDSET CAN BECOME A GATE

A gate can keep things out. It can also keep things in. Our minds can function the same way. A mindset can protect us from error. But an unhealthy mindset can also prevent us from seeing what God is doing.

Peter's mindset had been shaped by years of religious and cultural understanding. That understanding had a purpose. But now God was revealing something Peter had not fully understood. And Peter had to make a decision:

Would he allow God's revelation to correct his perspective?

WHAT IS A MINDSET?

A mindset is the way we habitually think about something. It is the lens through which we interpret what we see. Two people can look at the same situation and see completely different things because they are looking through different lenses.

One person sees a problem. Another sees an opportunity. One sees rejection. Another sees redirection. One sees an outsider. Another sees someone God wants to reach. One sees a limitation. Another sees a possibility.

The situation may be the same, but the perspective is different. Peter saw unclean animals. God was showing him a door to the Gentiles.

THE DANGER OF AN UNCHANGED MIND

An unchanged mindset can cause us to reject what God is doing simply because it does not fit what we already know.

We can say:

“We have never done it this way.”

“This is not how I was taught.”

“People like that don't belong here.”

“God cannot use someone like that.”

“That opportunity cannot be from God.”

But sometimes God is challenging us to examine whether those statements come from Scripture or simply from our conditioning. There is a difference.

TRADITION CAN BECOME A WALL

Tradition is not automatically bad. Traditions can preserve history. They can teach values. They can provide structure.

But when tradition becomes more authoritative than God's Word, it becomes dangerous.

Jesus Himself warned about allowing human tradition to nullify God's Word.

Peter had to learn that what he had always known could not become more important than what God was now revealing.

The question is not:

“What have I always believed?”

The question is:

“What does God say?”

WHEN GOD CORRECTS YOU, DON'T DEFEND YOUR OLD POSITION

Peter could have argued.

He could have said:

“Lord, You know my background.”

“Lord, this is how I was raised.”

“Lord, this is what I have always believed.”

But instead, God continued teaching him. This is spiritual maturity:

The ability to be corrected without becoming defensive.

Sometimes God will expose something in us.

Sometimes His Word will challenge our assumptions.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit will convict us.

And when that happens, our response should not be:

“But this is who I am.”

It should be:

“Lord, teach me.”

YOU CANNOT GROW IF YOU CANNOT BE CORRECTED

Growth requires adjustment. A child who refuses correction remains immature. A student who refuses instruction cannot advance. A believer who refuses correction can become spiritually stagnant.

Peter was an apostle. He had walked with Jesus. He had preached. He had witnessed miracles. Yet God still had to correct his perspective. That should humble us.

No matter how long we have walked with God, there is always room for deeper understanding.

GOD WAS EXPANDING PETER'S VISION

Peter's ministry was about to become bigger. But before his territory expanded, his vision had to expand. He was about to discover that the Gospel was not only for people who looked like him. Not only for people who shared his background. Not only for people who understood his traditions.

The Gospel was for the Gentiles too. And Peter needed to understand this before he could effectively carry the message.

This principle is powerful:

Sometimes the size of the assignment God gives you requires the enlargement of your perspective.

YOU CANNOT BUILD A BIG FUTURE WITH A SMALL MINDSET

Peter was about to step into a larger assignment. But if he carried his old limitations into that assignment, he would have struggled. Imagine Peter arriving at Cornelius' house while still thinking:

“These people are unclean.”

How could he minister effectively?

How could he fellowship with them?

How could he preach freely?

How could he recognize what God was doing when the Holy Spirit fell upon them?

God had to deal with Peter's mindset first.

SOMETIMES THE DOOR IS OPEN, BUT YOUR MIND IS CLOSED

This is worth remembering. A door can be open and still remain inaccessible if you refuse to walk through it. Sometimes God has already created an opportunity.

But fear says:

“You cannot.”

Tradition says:

“We don't do that.”

Past failure says:

“It will happen again.”

People's opinions say:

“What will they say?”

And the mind becomes the prison. Peter's physical door was about to open. But God first had to unlock his thinking.

GOD MAY BE CHALLENGING YOUR “UNCLEAN” LIST

Perhaps there are people you have mentally placed on a list.

People you don't trust.

People you don't like.

People you believe are beyond redemption.

People you believe God cannot use.

People you would never sit with.

People you would never minister to.

People whose past has become their permanent identity in your eyes.

Acts 10 challenges us to ask:

Have I called unclean what God is willing to cleanse?

This does not mean we ignore sin. It means we distinguish between rejecting sin and rejecting people.

Jesus never compromised holiness. But He consistently reached people others had rejected.

JESUS SAW PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY

Jesus touched lepers.

He spoke with Samaritans.

He welcomed sinners.

He ate with people religious society rejected.

He called Zacchaeus.

He restored Peter.

He forgave those who crucified Him.

His holiness did not make Him afraid of broken people.

His holiness enabled Him to reach them without becoming like them.

Peter was now being prepared to carry that same heart into the Gentile world.

THE MIND MUST BE RENEWED

Romans 12:2 teaches the importance of the renewal of the mind. Why?

Because transformation begins with how we think. If God changes your circumstances but leaves your mindset unchanged, you may reproduce the same problems in a new environment.

If God gives you a new opportunity but you carry an old mindset into it, you may sabotage the opportunity.

If God gives you a new relationship but you carry old wounds into it, you may damage what God has given you.

If God gives you a new ministry but you carry old pride into it, the new platform may simply expose the old problem.

New territory requires renewed thinking.

PETER HAD TO SEE BEFORE HE COULD GO

God was not merely preparing Peter to travel to Caesarea. He was preparing Peter to see. Because what you see determines how you respond.

If Peter saw Cornelius as an outsider, he would approach him differently.

If he saw Cornelius as someone God was calling, everything would change.

And that is exactly what happened.

Peter eventually declared:

“I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.”

— Acts 10:34 (NLT)

The man who once resisted the vision was now preaching its message. His mind had been renewed.

THE MINDSET SHIFTED, THE MISSION EXPANDED

Peter's encounter with Cornelius became a turning point. The Gospel was crossing a major cultural boundary. The Holy Spirit would fall upon Gentile believers. And Peter would return to Jerusalem having to explain what God had done.

What began with a strange vision on a rooftop became part of a major expansion of the early Church. This is what happens when God changes a mindset.

A renewed mind can become the doorway to a renewed mission.

WHAT MINDSET NEEDS TO CHANGE IN YOU?

Perhaps God is not asking you to move yet.

Perhaps He is first asking you to think differently.

Maybe you need to stop seeing yourself only through your failures.

Maybe you need to stop seeing others only through their past.

Maybe you need to stop limiting God to your previous experiences.

Maybe you need to stop believing that your best days are behind you.

Maybe you need to stop assuming that because God did something one way yesterday, He must do it exactly the same way today.

Ask God:

“Lord, what do You want me to see that I have not been seeing?”

PRACTICAL LESSONS

1. Allow God to challenge your thinking.

Spiritual maturity requires humility.

2. Do not make tradition greater than God's Word.

Tradition can inform you, but God's truth must govern you.

3. Separate people from their past.

A person's history does not prevent God from transforming them.

4. Distinguish between holiness and prejudice.

You can stand for righteousness without treating people as worthless.

5. Renew your mind before entering new territory.

A new assignment may require a new perspective.

KEY TAKEAWAY

Sometimes the greatest thing God has to change is not your location but your lens.

Peter was already an apostle.

He already knew how to preach.

He already knew how to pray.

He already knew how to follow Jesus.

But God still had to challenge the way he saw people.

Because you cannot effectively carry God's message to people you have already rejected in your heart.

The sheet came from heaven.

The vision challenged Peter.

The mindset changed.

And the mission expanded.

When God changes your perspective, He may be preparing you to enter a territory your old mindset could never enter.

CALL TO ACTION

Take some time today and ask yourself:

What have I been calling “unclean” simply because it is unfamiliar to me?

Are there people I have permanently defined by their past?

Have my traditions become more important to me than God's Word?

Is there a mindset God has been trying to change in me?

Am I willing to let God renew my thinking before He expands my assignment?

Remember:

A closed mind can turn an open door into a missed opportunity.

Peter's journey teaches us that sometimes the first territory God wants to conquer is the territory of our own thinking.

Before God sent Peter to Cornelius,

He changed Peter's perspective about Cornelius.

And perhaps before God sends you into your next territory,

He is preparing to change the way you see.

PRAYER

1. Father, renew my mind and remove every thought, assumption, and mindset that is contrary to Your Word and Your purpose.

2. Lord, give me humility to receive correction whenever You reveal that my understanding is incomplete.

3. Father, deliver me from prejudice, pride, and every tendency to judge people according to their past, background, or appearance.

4. Lord Jesus, help me to distinguish between biblical conviction and personal preference, so that I will never use tradition as a barrier to Your purpose.

5. Father, enlarge my vision and prepare my mind for every new territory, assignment, and opportunity You are bringing me into.

NEXT PART PREVIEW

PART 6: WHEN THE ANSWER COMES KNOCKING

Peter had just received a revelation.

His mindset was being challenged.

But before he could fully process everything he had seen, something happened.

Cornelius' men arrived at the door.

Think about the timing.

Peter was still thinking about the vision when the assignment came looking for him.

The man Peter had never met was suddenly standing at his door.

The revelation on the rooftop was about to become a real-life encounter.

What happens when the thing God has been preparing you for suddenly appears?

Will Peter recognize the connection?

Will he go with them?

Will he allow his old mindset to stop him?

In Part 6, we will discover what happens when the answer comes knocking.

Join us as we continue our journey through:

ARISE, KILL AND EAT

Grace and peace be with you until we meet again in the next part of this life-transforming journey.

God is speaking, are you listening?

Prince Julius Nenebi-Darkson

(EL-PJ God's Penman)a