Showing posts with label Saul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saul. Show all posts

Friday

We All Need to be Encouragers - 31 Days in Acts

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Have you got a good memory?

If you have been reading these 31 Days in Acts blog posts with me you should remember that we met a person called Barnabas before, in fact we met him twice.

    Which chapters did we meet him in?

    What does the name Barnabas mean?

    What is his other name? 

    What did he do that meant he was already included by Luke in this book about the Apostles and the Work of the Holy Spirit?

The Answers:
  • Ch. 4   Because of a Lie   and  Ch. 9   Changing Lives & Communities
  • Son of Encouragement
  • Jonas
  • He sold a piece of land and gave all the money to the church.  ch. 4
  • He vouched for Saul after his conversion.  ch. 9


Now today we meet up with him again in Acts ch. 11 v. 19 - 30

Do we need to know what role he had within the church?
Yes because it is interesting to know the facts and relationships but no it's not necessary to know every little bit about a person.
So far we do not see that he had a specific role as a leader or apostle or evangelist but he was able to vouch for Saul and have the other believers change their minds about Saul so they must have respected Barnabas.

There is one thing I do think is important for us to know about him and that his name means the son of Encouragement (Acts ch. 4 v 36) and in the Bible a person's name is important and reflects the character - in other words it appears that he was an encourager in the church.

This is a very important role in the church body as we all need encouragement and most people are so bad at encouraging each other.

Verse 19 tells us that so far the believers, who had left Jerusalem due to persecution, had gone to many other places but were only telling other Jews the good news about Jesus.

Now we saw in yesterday's blog post It's Not about Us, It's All about God that Peter was led to go and share with some Roman gentiles so obviously God did not mean that only Jews were to hear the Gospel.  Now again here we see that now the news was spreading to further places and some Greeks were becoming believers.

Barnabas is the one then chosen to go to Antioch to see what is happening there and we are told that he was glad to see what was happening and I think that meant he was also encouraged by this.

We also have a further description of him in verses 23 & 24

 23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. 24 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.


so now we know straight from the scriptures that Barnabas was indeed an encourager as his name had suggested but also he was

  • a good man
  • full of the Holy Spirit 
  • a man of faith

What did Barnabas encourage them to do?   To keep on walking with the Lord.



Then we see that he stays in Antioch for a year to teach the people but not on his own because he goes to find Saul and bring him to Antioch with him.  This may not only be encouragement for the believers in Antioch but also more encouragement for Saul as Barnabas shows his respect and confidence in him and also gives him the opportunity to teach and share his own experience.

We often think of Saul as being the great writer and speaker but a lot of the confidence and ease of speaking to others comes with practice and gaining more knowledge too.

A very well-know verse is found in in this passage where we are told that the believers were first called Christians in Antioch but maybe because of this we tend to forget about Barnabas and Saul working together and encouraging the believers.


We would all benefit from having a friend like Barnabas who would encourage us and help us learn to be encouragers

We would all benefit from having a friend like Barnabas who would encourage us and help us learn to be encouragers too.




I'm trying to read and write about the Book of Acts for 31 Days so please come back and join me for some notes & some thoughts each day. 


As the month goes on each Day's Link will be added in 










Interested to know more about the Book of Acts?
Then Try these commentaries




Or this Bible Study



Disclaimer:
If buying through Amazon I get a little commission but that does not mean any extra expense to you.





Tuesday

Changing Lives & Communities - 31 Days in Acts

Disclaimer:
There is an affiliate link on this blogpost.




Still in chapter 9 for Day 17 of 31 Days in Acts in the passage from verse 20 to 31


What stands out to us today?


Certain words stand out in Verses 20-22

Immediately
Still in Damascus the first thing he did after he had learned from the other disciples was to get out and preach the Gospel.

Amazed
Those who heard knew who he was but what he was now doing did not match up to what they had heard about him.

Increased
As he preached he grew stronger in his faith.

Confounded
The Jews could not understand because he was standing up for Jesus and proving who Jesus really was.

Result
He had done an about turn in his beliefs and was not scared to show this.



A Certain group of people & their actions stand out in Verses 23-25

The Jews plotted and watched 
It was the Jews versus the disciples here because as the Jews tried to find the opportunity to take Saul and kill him, Saul and the disciples made their plans and he escaped the clutch of the Jews.
God's hand was obviously at work in the safety of Saul and the ideas of the disciples.
I feel like both sides were cunning in this event one for evil and one for good but we don't use the word cunning in a good way normally so perhaps I should say the Jews were cunning but the disciples were canny having or showing shrewdness and good judgement  -  remember I'm a Northern Ireland girl!).





A Certain person & his actions stand out in Verses 26-30
This is not our first mention of Barnabas because we were introduced to him by his other name Jonas in Acts ch.4 v 36  which linked in with the story of Ananias Because of a Lie.

Saul had escaped to Jerusalem but the disciples there did not accept him thinking of what he had been like.  Barnabas however stood as a reference for him and gave a good report of his preaching.

With a good recommendation from Barnabas, Saul was now part of the fellowship in Jerusalem and was proclaiming the gospel until again evil was purposed against him.  The disciples in Jerusalem did the same as those in Damascus, they got him out of the city.

Obviously Saul after having had one type of influence when we meet him at first, now had the opposite type of influence.


Result in Verse  31
The church was growing in a large area and peace was evident there.


A great example of the power of the Gospel to change lives & communities.

I'm trying to read and write about the Book of Acts for 31 Days so please come back and join me for some notes & some thoughts each day. 

As the month goes on each Day's Link will be added in 








Interested to know more about the Book of Acts?
Then Try these commentaries




Or this Bible Study



Disclaimer:
If buying through Amazon I get a little commission but that does not mean any extra expense to you.





Sunday

Important Questions, Simple Answers - 31 Days in Acts

Disclaimer:
There is an affiliate link on this blogpost.


This is Sunday and our 15th day of 31 Days in Acts.

Today we are considering a short portion Acts ch. 9 v. 1-9

At the end of chapter 7 there was a mention of a young man called Saul standing in the background with the cloaks of the men who were stoning Stephen.

Then we have a mention of Saul in chapter 8 at the start of it and we see he plays a big part  in the scattering of the believers to various other places - Good out of Evil.

Today we are back to Saul who is still angry, very angry at the believers.  He wants to go out from Jerusalem and hunt down believers in Damascus and bring them back to face some sort of charges.

When he gets near to Damascus he does not find believers, instead Jesus finds him first.
He is stopped by a bright light and hears these words spoken by Jesus


“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”


and he answers with a question




which is maybe the most important question to ask at this time.

Notably Saul used the word Lord which means that he was in awe and respect of the person behind the voice.

When Jesus replies

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."


we do not see or hear any disbelief from Saul, just another question

“Lord, what do You want me to do?”


and Jesus gives a simple command


“Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”


Although there is no explanation or hint of what may be to come, Saul obeys the Lord.

We should follow Saul's example because the Lord is the one who is the bringer of truth and the one we should respect and obey.



When we truly have met with Jesus we should follow Saul's example.


I'm trying to read and write about the Book of Acts for 31 Days so please come back and join me for some notes & some thoughts each day. 

As the month goes on each Day's Link will be added in 









Interested to know more about the Book of Acts?
Then Try these commentaries




Or this Bible Study



Disclaimer:
If buying through Amazon I get a little commission but that does not mean any extra expense to you.