I'm not God, but sometimes I think I know what He is thinking. In fact, some of my best devised schemes are an effort to get Him to think good of me. Sometimes when I think as if I were God, I get far off track.
 
For instance, if I were God, I might be thinking, Debi is a pretty good person because she sold all those books, she spoke to that large group of people, she was recognized by that award. But when I really stop and think about it, it is not even close to what God thinks.
 
In Acts 10 God shows us about the private life of a man named Cornelius. He wasn't even a Jew, but God thought a lot of him. This man was not out winning hundreds of converts for Christ. He hadn't been to seminary. He wasn't a key leader in the Christian faith. Not a lot of people really knew about the things he did that got God’s attention. No one else was thinking much of Cornelius, especially Peter the leader of the church.
 
Sometimes God highlights a life like Cornelius’ so the rest of us can get back on track and start thinking closer to what God thinks. Here’s Cornelius, living a plain old everyday life and all of the sudden he gets a vision from an angel commending his prayers and giving to the poor.  No one else probably knew how often he prayed and how often, moved by God’s love, he simply gave a gift to help someone. Acts 10:4 records the words of the angel to Cornelius, Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Wow! Now that’s an honor. There was not an award with his name engraved on it. He wasn't selling tons of Christian materials. Even the leader of the church had to be forced to come to his house. No one else saw the value of Cornelius’ spiritual life. God not only saw it, but received it as a memorial offering!
 
Now I'm not sure exactly what God meant by describing Cornelius’ life as a memorial offering before Him, but I know it is good. God requested memorial offerings of the nation of Israel when He made them a nation. Every time Cornelius prayed and gave to the poor, God was blessed. The things that often go unnoticed on earth are what get big time attention in heaven.
 
I want to encourage you this week to think about what God might be thinking of your life.  Are you thinking like Him? Are you trying so hard to impress Him with big things that you are disappointed? Do you really know what pleases Him? Why not spend some time this week examining your life and asking God to show you what He really thinks of how you are living?