We Must Grow Our Faith

Friday, August 28th, 2026

7:42 am

Good morning! Today I am in Acts 11:19-30. While Peter was in Jerusalem, the other believers that had scattered after Stephen's persecution, had traveled far, and began preaching to the Jews in the areas they were in. Some of them had also gone to Antioch and preached to Gentiles about the Lord Jesus Christ. The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. When the church in Jerusalem heard about this, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived, he saw the evidence of God's blessing and was filled with joy. And he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas was full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith, and many people were brought to the Lord. Then he went to Tarsus to find Saul. When he found him, they went back to Antioch, both of them staying with the church for a year, teaching large crowds of people. At this time in Antioch, was when the believers were first called Christians. During their stay, some prophets traveled there from Jerusalem. One of them stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Holy Spirit, that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. And they entrusted their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders in Jerusalem.

Barnabas was sent by the church in Jerusalem to see if what they were hearing was true. When he got there, he saw the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in the area, and he stayed and taught the new believers more and encouraged them. As believers in Christ, whether we are new believers or long time believers, we need other Christians, that are strong in their faith to keep growing our faith and encouraging us. We too, should be like Barnabas and when we see new believers we should help them and encourage them. We should be helping each other grow stronger in our faith. The stronger we grow in our faith, the more we will be able to help other people, just like the church in Antioch was able to help the churches in Judea during the great famine that later came.

The more time we spend with God, praying and reading His Word, as well as spending time with other believers the more our faith grows. God wants us to spend time with Him so He can grow us. The more our faith grows, the more the fruit of the Spirit grows in us. Helping us and guiding us in what to do and how we can help others. He wants us to grow in this way. So when hard times come, like the famine, His people can help other people get through those times, as well as point them to Him. For God is our helper in times of need, and He uses His people to help in those hard times. Spend time with Him, and allow Him to grow your faith and show you how you can be a blessing to other people.