EN OR DIS?

3 May

Many of you reading this will know how I like to journal. In fact one of the best things about journaling is how God speaks, encourages and reminds me through looking back! So every so often I take time to look back through certain times and periods of my life.

Now I am finding one of the personal benefits about preaching is when looking over notes about scriptures, teachings, and thoughts in my journals how the Holy Spirit uses them to prompt, remind and bring up fresh insights.

Recently I’m looking at ‘encouragement’ as a theme of personal study and was reading about Barnabas; he was actually called Joseph!

Acts 4: 36

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

He was a wealthy and generous man who had somehow earned himself a wonderful nickname of ‘son of encouragement’.

Just imagine that nickname being assigned to you!

That you are a son/daughter of encouragement! The plot thickens though as Barnabas didn’t just show encouragement by giving money to the apostles or by speaking positively to them; encouragement was part of his DNA! Jump to Saul's Conversion in Acts 9 and read verse 26.

Saul persecuted Christians but then had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus which totally changed him. Later he became known as Paul and then travelled to Jerusalem, so he could actually try to join with the ones he had been trying to kill, but the disciples were afraid and wary of him (can’t imagine why!). They didn’t believe that Paul was now who he said he was! Barnabas could have sat back, he could have kept quiet but he didn’t instead he intervened and took Paul to the apostles himself and he actually ‘vouched’ for Paul.

If it wasn’t for Barnabas, Paul’s ministry might have been over before it had even started! Barnabas stood in the gap, providing very timely support and encouragement. It’s a simple question today…

How or to whom can you offer support and encouragement today?

Just imagine if Barnabas had said nothing! Just imagine what might have happened to Paul without the encouragement that he received from Barnabas. Things may have looked very different! Paul himself became one of the greatest encouragers with believers today still holding fast to his incredible Christ like teaching and encouragement. Personally I believe that Paul’s encouraging nature was birthed out of the gratitude he had for Jesus and the encouragement that Barnabas had shown to him in the early days of being a believer!

What if what we do has much more of an impact than we think! What if our encouragement to others births something in them that continues to grow! What if how we treat people especially as they are being birthed into this new life of following Jesus determines how they will continue to walk!

It’s true to say that Barnabas may have been secretly doubting but he knew Jesus. He knew that Jesus could change the coldest of hearts! Instead of sitting back Barnabas chose to show both love and courage and if we want to change lives then we will need to do the same today.

It’s important to understand that we have the power to do 3 things today:

1. EN..courage to literally put courage ‘into’ somebody by our words or actions.

2. Or we could do nothing by the inactivity of our words or actions.

3. DIS…courage which as you might have guessed means we can ‘take’ courage out of someone by our words or actions!