Sing a new song to the Lord,
….for he has done wonderful deeds.
His right hand has won a mighty victory;
….his holy arm has shown his saving power!
The Lord has announced his victory
….and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!
He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.
….The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God. Psalm 98:1-3 NLT

Acts 11:19-26 (<<click here to read the passage)
As we go through this journey of life, I believe that there are those who Jesus would encourage us to emulate in that they follow His example so closely. We first meet Barnabas back in Acts 4:36, and as we’ve spoken of before his given name was Joseph but because of his lifestyle, the apostles nickname him Barnabas – the Son of Encouragement – and it stuck. From that time on he is referred to as Barnabas.
I’m sure if you were asked to think of someone in your life whom you would describe as “good”, not everyone would fit into that mold. Some may be seen as publicly good, but someone who is both publicly and privately good, that may be a little tougher. But verse 24 states that Barnabas fit the bill. It goes on to that that his godly character benefited both himself and others.
Shouldn’t we all aspire to be like Barnabas? It’s most certainly a pretty tall order, I mean those are pretty big shoes to fill, but it would at least be something to reach for, don’t you think?
I’m sure there were core personality traits but enhancing them all was their Creator – the Holy Spirit. He filled Barnabas taking the things he was born with and making them so much more. The question we must ask ourselves is, what could the Holy Spirit do with me if I just allowed Him the opportunity – if I didn’t constantly get in His way but gave myself totally over to Him?
It is an area where we must yield, He will not force Himself upon us. If we think we are unable to do so we would do well to take up the next statement regarding Barnabas in this passage. He was full of faith. He believed who Jesus was and that He could do anything He needed to do, in and through his life. Again, it has everything to do with yielding our hearts and minds to Him. If we truly love Jesus that way – you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30 NLT) – then we can joyfully yield those things all over to Him.
Barnabas lived out his faith, in public and in private, for all to see and his impact was obvious. Because he did so a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Lord Jesus, may we follow in the steps of Barnabas. May we yield to Your Holy Spirit, allowing Him to enhance the gifts with which You have already blessed us. Amen.

Apr 7th, 2022, Thurs, 5:03 pm