Cornelius: A HEART FOR THE POOR

READ ACTS 10:1-8, 25-34

There are three kinds of giving: tithes, offerings, and alms (which means giving to the poor). God blesses all of these, but I believe there is a special place in God’s heart for those who go the second mile and give to those who cannot give back.

In Acts, we hear about a man named Cornelius. He was a Gentile, a Roman centurion, a believer in and follower of the Jewish God, and a giver of alms. It was in his giving of alms that God saw his heart. He sent Peter to preach to Cornelius so he could now become a follower of Jesus.

Cornelius was “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which give much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.” (Acts 10:2) And God said to him, “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.” (Acts 10:4) Because of Cornelius giving to the poor, the Lord put him in the book of Acts! Our giving to the poor will come up as a memorial when we stand before God. This I do believe…

Missionary Bobby Burnette