Tim sent me this picture last night. My man knew this would make me smile.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Philippians 2:3-4
God’s gone and done it again!
For the past month I’ve been preparing to teach a ladies-bible-study-one-night-one-hour-event on Barnabas, “The Encourager”. I was ready. Well, not me…God through me. Before each time I began to study, and before the evening began, I prayed for God to speak to me and through me.
But…the four hours leading up to the teaching hour, Satan was trying his best to discourage me. Happenings had occurred and I felt rushed and not ready. (Ugh! Satan.)
Before I left for church, I got a big hug and words of encouragement from Tim before he headed out of town. (He is a Barnabas to me.) One the way to church I cried out to God, literally! Once I reach the room, I had two more Barnabas’ pray for me (Thanks, Kay and Martha Sue!). Each hug, talk, prayer, or whatever form of encouragement I received, I could feel God lifting the “hurriedness” off and fill me with His spirit of peace.
The presentation was slammed full of slides of information I had gathered while reading through the Book of Acts. I even had tons of more notes in my folder that I didn’t get to share. Knowing that I had a plethora of information, I told God before I spoke, “Lord, it’s all yours. If you don’t want me to share something, I won’t. Just put the words in my mouth and let the time flow the way it needs to go.” Guess what? God added some and took some words away, and I was only a couple of minutes over the actual ending time. (Well, maybe a little more than “a couple”.)
The last bible verse I shared last night was Philippians 2:3-4. This was the ONLY non-Acts scripture I shared with the audience. This verse, that Paul pinned (one of Barnabas’ mentees), summed up Barnabas’ life to me. One who was looking to encourage all to stay true to the Lord with all their hearts. Well, guess what bible verses were the “Verse for the day” when I clicked on Biblegateway.com this morning (before I stepped one foot out of bed)? “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Philippians 2:3-4 !!
THANK YOU, Lord!
Do you ever go through life being an encourager and then you get so tired of being positive when things seem to just want to slam you down with discouragement? (Oh, that’s a whole other journal entry!) Well DON’T! Keep being a Barnabas even when times get tough. And when you feel a little down, there’s always a Barnabas there for you, and better yet…God is ALWAYS there to lift you up.
I pray God’s abundant love and blessings for y’all.