Live Free with Josh Howerton - Believing the Best in Others // Acts 9:26-27; Acts 11:22-26

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

Do you have someone who believes in you when others don’t? Today, we look at Barnabas, a true encourager, who saw the potential in people, even those others doubted. When the early church was hesitant to accept Saul (later known as Paul), Barnabas took a chance on him, vouching for his transformed life and mentoring him in ministry. Through Barnabas’s example, we’re inspired to look for the good in others, encourage them in their journey, and recognize their God-given potential. Let’s choose today to be intentional about uplifting those around us, offering the same encouragement that God so freely gives to us.   For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome to the Daily Drive. My name is Bro, and we are walking through a book called The Book of Acts Together. And yesterday we were introduced to a guy with a pretty impressive nickname. His birth name is Joseph, but everybody called him Barnabas, which means the son of encouragement. I mean, when encouragement is your nickname, that's pretty strong. And it makes me want to be more like him. Yesterday, we highlighted his generosity as other-centered lifestyle. And there's another thing that's stands out to me about Barnabas. It's the way he saw potential in people, always trying to believe the best. You might remember the story of this really bad dude named Saul who is persecuting the followers of

Jesus. He's dragging him off the prison, even applauding their executions. We read about his conversion back in Acts chapter 9, super cool story of his encounter with the resurrected Jesus. Well, God forgives the sin. Saul gets baptized, and Jesus began to transform his life and change his heart, and he calls him to preach the good news. However, people aren't so sure that this guy has actually changed his ways. They're very suspicious of Saul. I mean, the last time they saw him, he was holding the coats of the people who were throwing rocks at their friend Stephen until he was dead.

But check it out, verse 26. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer. Then, God's Barnavus brought him to the apostles

and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on his way to Damascus and how the Lord has spoken to Saul. He also told him that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus. So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name

of the Lord. I mean, you've got to love that. Barnabas here goes to bat for Saul. He introduces him. He vouches for a story. He tells the apostles and anyone who listen, hey, this guy, he's the real deal. And he takes him all around town, and he takes him under his wing and begins to mentor him.

Barnabas, the son of encouragement, believed in Saul when nobody else would. Y'all got any people like that in your life? People who just believed in you when nobody else did? Are you that for somebody else? Are you that teacher that sees in a student what nobody else sees? Are you a coach that sees in that player what nobody else sees? Are you an employer or a supervisor or a friend or

or a parent who dreams with people, and you just see God-given potential in them. I am so grateful that people took a chance on me. So in Chapter 11, Barnabas decides, I'm going to take a chance on Saul. After Barnabas gets up to Antioch, and he sees what's going on with all these new believers coming of faith, he gets thinking, you know who would be perfect here, Saul. He is smart, he's passionate, he's humble, he's articulate, he's fisculate, he's Fearless plus. The guy lives so grateful for the grace of God in his own life. Man, that dude would kill it here. So, better call Saul. Sorry, verse 25. Then Barnabas went on the Tarsus to look for Saul.

When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. Then in parentheses it says, it was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians. By the way, Christians was originally a derogatory term, making fun of all these people who followed this invisible king. But this begins a partnership and a friendship between Barnabas and Saul that would literally bless the entire world. The two of them are sent out by the Holy Spirit to preach the good news of God's love to all those places Jesus described as the ends of the earth,

sharing with those who were considered outsiders that God wanted them to come home to, both guys just living beyond themselves and dispensing the grace of God to everyone they met. And this is kind of between the lines. But I love how Barnabas starts out mentoring Saul, who has a name changed to Paul later on. And in Scripture, when it came to listing a pair, they would list the leader's name first. So early on, they're always listed as Barnabas and Saul,

Barnabas and Saul. And then it just subtly switches from Barnabas and Saul to Paul and Barnabas. It seems like Barnabas deferred to Paul as the leader. And I love this. Barnabas believes in the guy. He stands up for him. He invites him in. He invests in him. He coaches him up and then says,

You know what, you're ready. Man, you've grown so much. God, is it working on you? It's plain to see. He has gifted at you. He has called you. Paul, you are such a good leader. Why don't you lead? And I'll come alongside and support you. And we'll just do this together.

And, man, whatever you need, just know I got your back. And what a gift to have a person like that in your life. What a gift to have an engagement. encourage her as your partner. You know, I've got more than a few Barnabasas in my life. I've got so many friends around the country that are that for me. I just got a text out of blue this morning

from a buddy up in Chicago. I haven't heard from him in a long time. Just to encourage me. I have a few long-term friends. Some dudes who are like brothers to me. They encourage me. They speak truth to me. They keep it real with me. They pray for me, text me, laugh, and they cry with me. They lift me up. I was thinking back to when I was a young pastor and all the people that encouraged me along

the way. There were a few older couples in one of the churches that I first served when I was really young at hair and everything. And they would come up to me after a service and they go, son, that was the best sermon I've heard in my life. I knew it wasn't very good, but they were trying to encourage a young guy. I was thinking about an old farmer in my very first church. The kind of guy that had a really tan face and a white bald head because he had a hat on all day long on a John Deere tractor, he would come up to me and occasionally shake my hand and slip a 20 from his calloused hand to mine. Say, take your sweetie out.

I thought about high school students back then who had offered to watch our kids so we could just get a break. People who knew that our young family really couldn't afford a vacation so they'd come up and say, hey, you know, our condo, our cabin is free. Why don't y'all just go use it and get away?

I literally have a trunk full of encouraging emails and letters and cards from so many men and women who have been like Barnabas to me. They were just good, people full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. Now, some people, according to Scripture, have a spiritual gift of encouragement, just like with leadership or teaching or hospitality or administration or craftsmanship or generosity. The Holy Spirit gives each follower of Jesus a gift that flows uniquely through them.

I have a great friend who has that gift of encouragement as his primary gift. It just seems like second nature to him. It just flows out of him in an effortless way. And even though we might not have that specific gift like him, all of us are commanded to be encouraging people. So for many of us, that requires some real intentionality. It doesn't flow so naturally through us. So let's just get intentional today. And let's find someone to encourage.

With a word, with a touch, with a text, with a call, with a note, with a gift. Let's get intentional today about building somebody up. And let's continue to believe the best and see that God's given potential in the best. those he is placed in our life. And we'll wrap this up tomorrow, and I'll see you then. Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.com.com slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out?