Broken Crayons Can Still Produce Color

Voice of Prayer

Unity is paramount for a family to not only survive but to thrive. And of those raised in the admonition of the Lord, His wisdom, love and knowledge is that "eternal" light always leading and always guiding them, they remain in unity.
Just like family units, the body of Christ must be in unity. We are to be speaking God's truth, declaring Jesus's soon return and to be expectant to see not only for today but for an eternity with the Lord!

We take a look at Paul, Barnabas, and Mark in this writing. Within this teaching we can see something has happened with the relationship of these two sent ones.
Acts 13:13   NKJV    13 Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

Now Mark has exited this team, and for whatever his reasoning as a "young" one has returned to Jerusalem.
Two to three years have passed and we get to Acts 15.

Acts 15:30- 41  NKJV  30 So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch, and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. 32 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. 33 And after they had stayed there for a time; they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles. 34 However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. 35 Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

36 Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing."
37 Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with to the work. 39 Then the contention  became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches.


Let us remember that apostles are about checking on the churches they have begun. They make the periodic trips around the region to not only check on them, but to also preach the word of God there, and have fellowship with them as well.

In this we will see the division occur.
AND divisions do occur and can be painful within the church or body of believer's in Christ Jesus.
We find Paul relating about Mark in Colossians 4:10   NKJV  10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas ( about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him). 11 and  Jesus who is called Justus. these are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me.

As ministry continued in reaching the lost for Jesus; Aristarchus traveled extensively with Paul. Standing at this time with Paul is of course, Justus and Aristarchus. But he tells the brethren to receive him as per the instructions Paul the apostle has sent. Whatever the earlier instruction was, it was held private. Yet, Paul is adding Mark to be greeted by the brethren.

Yes, divisions do occur. From Paul's standpoint, Mark had deserted them earlier in ministry and probably had a position that had to be done, but failed to do so. Mark left them " so to speak, in the lurch." So Mark had left without leaving help evidently when it was needed most.

Yes, people can ultimately face divisions. People can leave, people can let us down and fail us, but where do we stand when chaos seems to rule over the norm?

 Though not of God, divisions can certainly play a big part of people's lives. Like when the husband leaves the wife of 20 years for greener pastures only to find the grassy field is the cover of a septic tank. Or the teenager leaves home to find someone who to them truly cares and who listens........only to find they are in worst trouble than before they left home. Each individual in each circumstance we have listed here can face many new changes, good or bad, and can face challenges that causes one to cry out "help".



IN that division, we know that the church had sided with Paul in the verse 40 of Acts 15. The same was not spoken of Barnabas and Mark.
Paul went on to strengthen the churches in Syria and Cilicia.

We find another situation with Barnabas and his character weakness affecting others. Within Galatians and chapter 2:11-14 we find this: 11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his  face, because he was to blamed ; 12 for certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.


Paul addresses the "hypocrisy" that Peter (Cephas) and Barnabas are practicing. They are trying to implement a new commandment for the Gentiles to become Jews. Out of step with God can break people. Out of step of the ordered of God can cause a multitude of problems.

We are to operate in the truth of God's Word and give that truth only! 

Barnabas surely wanted to raise Mark up to minister to others. And he had taken him under his wing to teach him ministry. He wanted the young one to grow in the Lord.
But sending people out just for the sake of sending them can produce bitterness, hurt and especially on the part of the one "not ready for service" in the Gospel to the nations. Diversity is good, but we must be Jesus Christ centered, and not out to please man. In the case of Barnabas, the son of encouragement surely took those alongside himself to see they continue with God, but being THE encourager to others that they might continue, also caused him, Barnabas to err.
Barnabas had  some strong ties to the Jew more strongly than Paul and was making attempt to add another commandment. And being tied to the past can cause some really big issues for families, ministries and even for the work place.


Paul spoke that he prayed more than them all..in 1 Corinthians 14:18..and in his praying and keeping his focus on the Lord, by the Holy Spirit he wrote 2/3 of the New Testament. He had a devotion to God to pray in tongues and allow God into his life. Praying was to Paul that God is in the midst of me and whatever the situation. Paul filled with the Holy Spirit, we know kept the wisdom, power and holiness of Jesus.

(Note: if you do not have your prayer language, you can ask God and receive by faith just like your salvation. And remember you can pray in your own regular language of words, but seriously for me after about 10 minutes of regular words, I run out....and, I go into my prayer language of tongues)

We do see in 1 Corinthians 9:6 that Paul and Barnabas had continued to have work or trade they had while teaching the Gospel.

Did Barnabas do anything else for the Lord? Is there anymore of him written anywhere?
I have asked others, and of all we conclude little else is known of his career in ministry. Although still laboring in AD 56 or AD 57 about the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 9:5-6, he had died as some point while Paul was in Rome. For we find Mark did come to assist Paul in his latter day.


Broken people can still produce for the kingdom of God. Like broken crayons, one can still color a happy face on a crisp white sheet of paper.
Whatever the difficulty or division, we must remain within God and His leading by the Holy Spirit. We are to stay within the boundaries of His wisdom and love but not go off with something that changes God's Word, God's love,

Many say they believe that two ministries came out of the one, yet of Barnabas, that part was never put out for others to read and know about.
If division has occurred, we need to find what side we remain. If it is on the Lord's side, that is an excellent place to be.
Brokenness hurts, brings much pain and most times separation, but even in that one can still color their future because God continues to guide them when they remain faithful to His leading. Amen.

A child gets upset when a crayon is broken.......will hold it out.........for the parent or grand-parent to fix. I know I have seen it many times. Yet, that same broken crayon will produce. It still has the capacity to color in those places that need help. In division, know there is much you can still do for the kingdom of God. Now go color those places that need your giftings God has placed within you. With that your special circumstance, there will be a special smile on your face as well, a joy in your heart and a knowing that God is with you!


Notice: 

The Voice of Prayer  has a new teaching:

Working Out Our Salvation: Taking Our Position....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9UDbQDgEpc

You can also visit my You Tube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at:  http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV

This is Not a Dress Rehearsal

Knowing God and His goodness is spending time with Him. It is to be our ultimate goal to know Him and expect His plan to unfold before our eyes. In 1 Peter 4:1-6 we see that we are to arm ourselves with same the thoughts and purposes as Jesus did. We are told in verse one that those who have suffered in the flesh are done with the intentional sin. They are no longer pleasing themselves and the world, but they are pleasing God. It is written that our lives are to be lived for what God desires and wills for our lives. Now Peter was sent to the Jews, and to teach them of Jesus. But in this scripture Peter is referring to the Christian and to those scattered abroad.
It was written to tell them that we are saved because of Jesus and dead to the things of the world. It was given to show that we were not to be conformed to the world's thinking and doing but to be conformed wholly to God!
Our lives should certainly mirror verse six in that we should live in the spirit as our God does.
No, this is not a dress rehearsal!
We are going through once, living life given to us, not as the world lives but as God desires for us.
We are to live righteous, and holy before Him. As His children, we should be those who ask a lot of questions in prayer. Much like raising our children, and hearing them ask why, we too, should ask, "why Lord"! "How can I serve You Lord?" "Where shall I take my place Lord to serve You and speak to a dying world?"
Why you and me? Why did He choose us to live at this time and receive our salvation?
How could He ever love us so much as to offer us His son, the son of His love for us?
Each day, it is a walk of getting to Know HIM, to understand why we are to be involved and what to expect of His plan through us to a dying world.
As we spend our time with Him, we discover that our spirit man is now in the ascendancy and should have the strength over our flesh-creature or flesh nature. The more we feed our spirit man with the word of God, we find God's goodness toward us and His love expressed in so many ways. Our communication with Him is through His word and prayer. It is looking into His perfect law of liberty and to find the mirror that reflects HIM in and through us always.
It is God's goodness and His love that should be revealed in our daily lives.
We should be examples to others and have the expectancy of looking for our Lord's return! Are we anchored in His truth? Do we know He is for us?  In scripture we find many asking, "is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary,......and are not His sisters here with us?" and they were offended at Him.
 Mark 6:2-6
"Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" And they were offended at Him. 4 But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house." 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.  NKJV
When we spend time in prayer with our Father God who is spirit, standing firm in the Word of God that is spirit and truth, then we gain a firm foothold to stand against an enemy who desires our demise. We can stand as Jesus did and face the enemy gaining victory through the truth that God is for us, He is more than enough, He is the great " I am" in our midst.
As Jesus, we too, can live a supernatural life!
People can see us mirror the very image of our God in His love, stand against the enemy, declare truth and see victory over and over again. People can surely see us being empowered from on High. When we talk differently than the world, act differently than the world, and speak with wisdom of God and laugh at the enemy of sickness and death, through our obedience to come out of the world, live and walk in the spirit like God, we too, can see others come to know Jesus and receive Him as well. They can come to know HIM who came from on High and walked among those who became the disciples and then apostles. We can know freedom in the Word of God that set us free to be who God created us to be. For those who knew you and I before we were saved, may see us as those who saw and thought they knew Jesus," oh yeah, Mary's son.........the carpenter, right?"
But many who have never seen us before and only know us since being saved, will know us as the one who speaks the same as the Father speaks. Others may know us as those who can pray and see the sick made whole. And still others may see us become stronger and bolder to preach and teach the Word of God to a dying world.
This is not a dress rehearsal!
Let's take our place to stand, in face of any enemy, and with defiant boldness speak and declare God's Word that if God be for me, who can be against me? Spend time in prayer with God our Father, look to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith and expect to see the miraculous among those who are serving the world come to the One true God. May they see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ through you and me! May they truly speak the salvation prayer confirming with their mouth their Lord is Jesus Christ!

You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at (http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV)