The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to Him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus” (Acts 9:27).

Imagine what would have happened to Paul if it had not been for Barnabas! When Paul, who was still referred to as Saul, came to the disciples at Jerusalem, he tried to join their fellowship. But they were all afraid of him and doubted the authenticity of his testimony of conversion. But there was Barnabas who reached out and personally made it his business to welcome Saul (Paul) and bring him into the company of believers. Great opportunities await those who will not turn newcomers away by being pushy, nosy, overbearing, unfriendly and standoffish. Barnabas was great at being an assimilator. May you and I be as well!

For today: Try to project how the newcomer feels in your local church. Are you a Barnabas to that person?

“He began to say unto His disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).

The Lord Jesus is in the middle of a great time of teaching, reminding, cautioning, and warning His disciples. Obviously the Lord Jesus was never unkind. He did, however, speak the truth. In power He warned His disciples not to playact like the Pharisees were doing. They looked and acted one way, but unfortunately they lived very differently. It reminds me of the time local school was performing “Fiddler on the Roof.” Lamar couldn’t believe that he was offered one of the lead parts. Through hours of rehearsals it struck him one day as he thought to himself, “I am spending all this time to present to people something that is pretend and someone that I am not. It’s good for the play, but not so good in real life. I want to live genuinely for you, Lord, and not as an actor in my Christian life.” What a great principle he learned and conviction he settled. It’s good for us as well.

For today: I need to be real. I cannot playact the role of a Christian. Either I am one or I am not!

“Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles” (Proverbs 21:23).

As a younger pastor he would learn the hard way that some folks cause a lot of trouble by the words they say and the way they say them. Pastor Kenward told his wife, “This is the first time in my life I have ever spoken to anyone this way. The deacons have encouraged, reminded, warned, and even threatened Manny that if he can’t say anything nice, then simply don’t say anything at all. But this was the topper. This took us over the limit. After the morning service he made three of our dear ladies cry by the unnecessary and hurtful things that he said to them.” Never had Allyson seen such fire in her husband. “So what did you say?” Allyson asked. The Pastor burst out laughing, and then cleared his voice and said, “I got up in Manny’s face and explained that we have tried to be kind, helpful, and patient. But today you made three of our dear ladies cry. Manny, if you ever do this again, the deacons, congregation, and I will not allow you to step one foot inside of the church! Do you understand me, Manny Gilbertsen? Your tongue has just gotten you into trouble for the last time. Do you understand me?’” Shocked and gasping, the young pastor’s wife said, “And what did he tell you?” Elijah Kenward responded, “He said that he guessed he probably ought to start thinking before he starts talking!” How about you? Do you know someone that needs to think before speaking?

For today: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

“Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak” (Jeremiah 1:6-7).

Jeremiah tried using the “I’m too young to be used of the Lord” excuse. Have you ever tried this one? Whenever the Lord gives an assignment, He also equips us and enables us to do the assignment. We need to be careful not to rule out an assignment simply because we do think we might not be able to do it. For Sally it was the opportunity to take the Junior High girls’ Sunday school class for two months. She was sure that she would hate it and that she didn’t even like Junior High age girls. She used every excuse she could think of. Finally she gave up and said, “All right, all right. I know this won’t work, but I will try it.” Her wise pastor said, “Don’t do this in your own strength. Pray lots and prepare well. Try it for two months, and if you then don’t think this is your area of service, feel free to let me know.” As you already have guessed, Sally grew to love the girls and the girls told her that they were never going to let her out of the Junior High class. “And to think that I almost missed this because I thought I could never do this. I wonder if this is how Jeremiah felt when God told him that he would be a prophet unto the nations,” Sally admitted to her friends at church. The same may be true of your opportunities as well.

For today: Through the Lord’s help, you can face the assignments He brings to you.

“And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord even Jesus, that appeared unto you in the way as you came, has sent me, that you might receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17).

For Ananias, this must have been one of the most difficult things he had ever faced. When the Lord indicated to him that he was to go and pray for Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:11-12), his reply was, “Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he has done to Thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on Thy name” (Acts 9:13-14). What is the most difficult thing you have ever faced in your life? The folks who were carpooling that morning on their way to work started talking about this as they thought of one of their co-workers who took an early retirement because of his health. Larry said, “For me, the most difficult thing I have faced was the death of my dad.” There was a moment of silence, then Pete said, “No doubt about it. The most difficult thing for me was when I came home and found the note from Charlene that she was leaving me.” Mark was driving, and without looking around at his passengers he quietly said, “For me, the most difficult thing I ever faced was when I told my father that I was leaving the old religion because I had become a Christian. Having my family reject me because of my faith in Christ was the most difficult thing I have ever faced.” All three men shared how the Lord helped them in the extremely difficult times of their lives. They had to obey. They had to trust. God would sustain them. The same is true for you.

For today: In the most difficult of circumstances, Christ remains fully trustworthy.