“Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my ways.” (Psalm 139:1-3 HCSB).

June 21, 2021

ARE YOU GLAD FOR GOD’S ATTENTION? The psalmist David wrote of his wonder at God’s constant awareness and attention towards him. He considered it wonderful that God would be so attentive to him.   Yet, not everyone wants God to see everywhere they go and know everything they do. They desire a secret life hidden

“Everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:39 HCSB).

June 20, 2021

ARE YOU RIGHT WITH GOD? Paul and Barnabas preached justification by faith in Christ alone while visiting the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, which was a prominent Roman city located in what is now Southwest Turkey. This was Paul’s first missionary journey. He and Barnabas made it clear that what the law of Moses could never

‘As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.” Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.’ (Acts 13:2-3 HCSB).

June 19, 2021

SENDING CAPACITY OVER SEATING CAPACITY Imagine attending a worship service that ends not with an invitation to lunch, but with a commissioning service that puts you on the next boat going out to sea. That’s what happened to Barnabas and “Saul” (“Paul”).   O to have worship services so Spirit-filled that people immediately surrender to

“So he turned back from following him, took the team of oxen, and slaughtered them. With the oxen’s wooden yoke and plow, he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he left, followed Elijah, and served him. (1 Kings 19:21 HCSB).

June 18, 2021

HAVE YOU BUTCHERED THE OXEN AND BURNED THE PLOW? God directed Elijah to anoint a prophet from behind a plow. He didn’t send him to a finishing school for prophets, but to a farm where Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him. His father must’ve been wealthy to have so many servants

“Then he [Barnabas] went to Tarsus to search for Saul” (Acts 11:25 HCSB).

June 17, 2021

WOULD SAUL HAVE BECOME PAUL WITHOUT BARNABAS? When the apostles in Jerusalem heard about the great number of Gentiles coming to the Lord at Antioch, they sent their trusted representative, Barnabas, to the city. His real name was Joseph, but he had been nicknamed “Barnabas” by the apostles, which according to Acts 4:36 meant “Son

“Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there” (1 Kings 17:9 HCSB).

June 16, 2021

GOD’S PROMISE TO BLESS THE NATIONS After Elijah warned King Ahab about the coming drought in Israel, he fled to the wilderness. Eventually, the Lord sent Elijah out of Israel to the land of Sidon, where God had commanded a widow to provide for his needs. In this way, God both protected Elijah from Ahab

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!” (Psalms 133:1 HCSB).

June 15, 2021

THE BLESSING AND BEAUTY OF UNITY Psalm 133 was written by David and is one of the fifteen psalms with the inscription, “Songs of Ascent.” These psalms (120-134) were to be sung while ascending up to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to worship. In this way, worshipers brought their praise with them to the Temple.

“Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord” (Acts 9:27 HCSB).

June 14, 2021

BE LIKE BARNABAS After Saul became a follower of Jesus at Damascus, he returned to Jerusalem. There he sought to meet with the apostles, but they didn’t trust that the former persecutor had really changed and were afraid to see him. But a believer named Barnabas, whose name means “Son of Encouragement,” vouched for Saul

“But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:6 HCSB).

June 13, 2021

OBEYING CHRIST’S CALL While heading to the city of Damascus to persecute Christians, Saul encountered the living Lord Jesus on the way. When Saul understood that it was Jesus speaking to him, he asked one of the most important questions a believer can ask. He asked what Jesus wanted him to do. He knew that

“As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David” (1 Kings 9:4-5 HCSB).

June 12, 2021

THE CONDITIONAL PROMISE FORESHADOWS THE UNCONDITIONAL ONE After Solomon had completed the building of the Temple, the Lord appeared to him a second time. In this appearance, the Lord repeated the conditional promise that He had made to his father, David. Notice the “if” and the “then” words that mark such a conditional statement. The