Tag Archives: Friend

What Do We Need to Hear?

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What is a true friend?

We talked earlier this week about the friends and companions that made the great things that happened in Acts possible.  Paul needed Barnabas, Barnabas needed 12, etc.  Sometimes the role of a friend is to be there, to support, to care, and to help give strength.

That’s also what Jesus does for us in our daily lives.  He is the one friend that we can always count on, that is always there.

Sometimes, the role of a friend is very different.

Listen what happens today in the Gospel of Luke:

28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Ok, go back and reread that. They wanted to throw Jesus off a cliff. By the way, the image to you left, that may be the actual cliff they tried to throw Him off.

He wasn’t universally beloved as He walked upon the earth. Some folks didn’t like what He said and did. Some folks, like we see in the text, even wanted to throw Him off a cliff.

He was nailed to a cross and died.

He said things that people didn’t want to hear.  He challenged them to grow. To reexamine. To look at things differently.

That’s what a friend does, too.

So, today, what do you NEED to hear that you don’t WANT to hear? What is the truth that you need to hear from a friend that you might now want to hear?

A true friend will tell us the truth.  Even if that truth is something we don’t want to hear.

We need that. As a pastor, I’m thankful for those friends that have been willing to tell me the truth, and that has helped me to grow as a pastor, husband, and father.

I’m thankful for a wife that is willing to tell me the truth.  I’m thankful for those that love me enough to tell me what I need to hear.

Today, be listening for the truth. Be it from a friend. From the Lord. From wherever. Be listening for that Word we may need to hear.

Sometimes, it’s hard to be a friend. Today, may we be thankful for those that are.

Make a Difference

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One of my favorite characters in scripture is Barnabas.  He doesn’t get all the attention that Paul gets in Acts, but without him, Paul wouldn’t be Paul. We see their friendship start today in Acts 11:

25Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’

Paul had one of those dramatic conversion experiences. When he got saved, he got saved.  He went from being someone out to get the church; someone trying to destroy the church, to someone that was trying to grow the church.

He went from someone that was trying to stop the working of the Holy Spirit to someone that was a being led by the spirit.

And that’s awesome. Except that people didn’t know what to think. People didn’t know if they could trust him.  Not long before, he had been involved with the murder of Stephen. And now he’s on our side?

And in comes Barnabas.  You know what he did that was so awesome?  He simply loved on Paul.  He was his friend.  He encouraged him.  He walked beside him.  He was there for him.

He made a difference.

By being a friend.

Today, you can make a huge difference.  You don’t have to climb the mountain.  You don’t have to swim the ocean.  You don’t have to perform feats of unusual strength.

You can simply be nice to someone. Encourage someone.  Give a smile.  A hug.  A warm word.

And you may never know the difference that would make.  Today, you can be a Barnabas to someone.

Without Barnabas, there was no Paul. Without Paul, there is no Gentile Church. Without Paul, the Gospel would not have spread across the world.

Barnabas made a huge difference simply be encouraging someone.

Today, so you can you. Today, you can make a difference.

Today, you can change the world by touching someone’s life!