February 10, 2023 | Be On Mission
Believers Share Possessions & Testify
Scripture: Acts 4:32-37 (NIV)
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Devotional
Cyprus is an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea off the coasts of Syria and Turkey. A Jewish community lived there, and Joseph was a Levite, meaning a spiritual leader among them. He was one of the many Jews who were putting their faith in Jesus as the Messiah of God.
And Joseph was all in. When the apostles in Jerusalem called for a free-will offering to alleviate the needs of the poor, Joseph sold a field (probably from back in his homeland of Cyprus) and gave the money to the Church for distribution to the poor. He simply cared more about the others’ needs than his own.
So, the apostles gave Joseph a nickname. They called him Barnabas, a name denoting just how much of an encourager he was. And this “son of encouragement” lived into his name. When Paul stopped killing Christians and became one himself, Barnabas vouched for him so that he would be accepted by the apostles. He shows up throughout the book of Acts as he travels, preaches, prays and helps form the Christian movement among both Jews and Gentiles. In some ways, this “encourager” paved the way for the gospel to become what it is today.
What is your name? Why did your parents name you that? Do you like it? In what ways do you live into your name?
Now, what is God’s name for you? Think about your spiritual gifts, strongest character traits, and your ministry passions. God gave those to you! Be creative! What is God’s name for you? Do you like it? How is God calling you to live into that name?
Poem
Abundance
Acts 4: 32
I once heard a story about heaven’s place
Where believers encircled a feast of sheer grace
But each arm could not bend to lift food to the face
So each one fed another
All sharing
The same story’s told of the darkness in hell
Where abundance still reigned, unbent arms there as well
But each only thought their own hunger to quell
So each sat impoverished
All starving
When I think of God’s earth, the abundance abounding
And consider how most live with vast hunger surrounding
How unbent arms, hard hearts keep hell’s mindset compounding
I am cut to the quick
All ashamed
So let us not think of our own mouths to feed
Spend creation’s abundance, our own lives thus to please
But reach out to others, share to meet others’ need
And see heaven on earth
All fulfilling
