Barnabas  Letter
#1
April 28th 2006

What It’s All About
Come near to God and He will come near to you. James 4:8

Hello Friend,

    Welcome to Barnabas Letter #1. Yup, it took me a while to get these letters started, but I believe I am in the groove now and ready to get up to speed.

    My only hope, is for you to be blessed each week, and maybe your week will go a bit better having read one of the Barnabas Letters.

    I am new at this, and encourage you to e-mail me with any recommendations you might have for the letters, or even the entire website. Also, feel free to contact me if you just want to chat, or would like me to pray for you, or someone you love.

    Soooo, on with the letter…..

    Go ahead, I dare ya, walk up to a complete stranger today and ask him or her if you can share your faith in Jesus Christ with them.

    Go out on the town some night with a Christian friend and knock on some doors and see if you can sit down with a complete stranger and share Christ with them for a few minutes.

    A few years ago I would be right there with you, and I believe we would probably have some success, but it seems times have changed as of late. Christianity seems to have become a sore spot in our world, and I have no doubt as to the reason why.

    I believe it is called apathy.

    And yes, I’m guilty as can be.

    I am guilty of becoming a fat and happy Christian.

    I have become too busy to spend time reading the Bible every day.

    I have become too busy to begin my day with prayer, for me, and those on my forgotten, dust covered prayer list lying alongside my closed Bible.

    My life is good. The shop is busy with auto repairs going on, and chores around the house.

    I wake up in the morning and it all starts and ends so quickly, how could I ever find time to spend with God.

    Besides, God knows how busy I am.

    He understands……Right?

    Hmm…That gets me to thinking about my relationship with my daughter who lives on the East Coast.
    When I haven’t heard from her for an extended period of time, I begin to miss her terribly. I miss her troubles in life giving me reason to love her more, as we share a good cry together. Her laughter always fills me with joy and she never fails to say “I love you daddy” before we hang up. With the passing of time, an emptiness seems to fill my days, and my heart becomes heavy, and my love for her intensifies with tremendous desire to hear her voice sharing the goings on of her life with me.

    Though I haven’t heard from her for some time, I console myself with the knowledge that she is busy, which by the way does not change the desire in my heart to hear from her personally.

    The phone does ring after what seems an eternity. I hear her cheery voice resonating through the phone lines, the cavern of emptiness closes, and my chest wells up with joy when I hear, “Hi Daddy!”

    Friend, the world has heard about Christianity for years, but how much of true Christianity have they seen.

    Has what they have seen been believable?

    Has what they have seen helped them to believe in God and His love for them, or are they believing that man is a mess when it comes to Christianity, and that maybe it’s all just a big joke.  

    I have to wonder what would happen should Christians take up the habit of loving God.

    What would happen should the Christian set aside time in his or her life for prayer and Bible study?

    What would happen should the Christian actually live his or her Christianity in obedience to God?

    What would happen should the Christian take up a lifestyle of prayer. Praying for their family and friends daily?

    Ah, yes! Some good things for ol Jeremy to strive for I would say.

    Well, I have something to confess to you, I have been giving it a whirl.

   Yup, that habit of loving God thing.

    I must say it has been great fun, even though I’m not very good at it yet, but I get better every day.

    I have made a habit to study my Bible every day, even if it’s just a verse or two. I find, even in just a verse, God teaches me something new about life, and my faith is growing in leaps and bounds.

    And the prayer….Yee-Haw! There is a verse in the book of Mark, in the Bible, (Mark 11:24)  where Jesus says, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

    I have come to discover the addiction of prayer; The more I pray with hope, the more I see my faith in God grow, and the more I see the results of prayer, the more I desire to pray.

    Praying for and with a new friend who owns a struggling business, he and I have watched the business begin to grow along with the faith of my new friend. Also my new friend has begun to make loving God a habit in his life, and is seeing the results.

    Praying for needs of my own family; I find God providing in the most miraculous ways, just when we need it.

    Through prayer I believe our youngest son will pass the third grade, the auto repair shop will continue to function, my 87 year old mother will have wonderful days and God will provide enough money to pay for fuel for our vehicles.

    Well, I don’t feel as though I am a fat and happy Christian anymore (well, maybe just a little overweight.) I am a happy Christian though. I am seeing God work in my life like never before, and I am watching Him rub off of me into the lives of others each day, in very positive ways.

    I have fallen deeply in love with the most gentle of friends, Jesus Christ, who has promised to never leave my side (Hebrews 13:5).

    I have fallen deeply in love with living my Christianity by what I do, more than what I say.

    I have fallen deeply in love with seeing God reach through me to others who have been devastated one way or another in their lives.

    To see others smile when they see me coming.

    To pray for them and work along side them in encouragement.

    I have discovered the ever growing sense of Gods presence in my life as I work to draw closer to Him.

    Also, quite evident in my life is Gods Holy Spirit, who gives me a gentle nudge when I get out of line, and  knowledge when I need a special word for a friend in need, and physical and mental ability when necessary.

    Friend, we have a Heavenly Father who is gentle and caring. A Heavenly Father who anxiously awaits his children to call out to Him, “Hi Daddy!”

    Come close to God and I promise the cavern of emptiness in your life will close and joy will fill your very soul.

    Make time to study Gods word, filling your mind so full of Jesus there is room for nothing else.

    Make time in your day for prayer and you will see God reach through you to those in the world around you in the most powerful way.

    Let us demonstrate true Christianity to the world around us and do away with apathy. Maybe in time the world will not view Christianity as a sore spot, but a blessing filled with hope and faith in a loving God who sent His only Son to die in our place on the cross, giving us the grace we now know to be very sufficient for all.

                 Gods Blessings,     jeremy