A Booster

Larry and Valencia Turrentine

Larry leads a group of military academy graduates in our weekly Tuesday night prayer ZOOM® calls with a brief devotional and prayer. His words often encourage us. When I asked Larry what we could pray for him for the year, his answer was thoughtful and four-fold. He asked for prayer for those he was financially counseling and coaching who were in debt. He requested a benevolent, discerning heart for those needing love and financial assistance. Larry sought wisdom in leading online classes to facilitate spiritual growth. He solicited energy to not grow weary in visiting those who were bedridden and suffering from dementia.
           
​Larry often sends me encouraging texts. He is a caring friend I go to for advice, a good listener, and a gentleman who, above all, seeks to honor God. I thank God for bringing him into my life and the lives of countless others. Larry is a booster.

Meditation
Acts 9:26-27--When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that He had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.
 
Barnabas is the Biblical standard of an encourager. When the early church had needy members needing money, Barnabas, a Levite, and Cypriot by birth, sold a field he owned and gave the money to the apostles to distribute (4:36,37). When most of his peers were afraid to have anything to do with a transformed Saul, Barnabas vouched for him. When the Antioch church needed help, the Jerusalem church sent the good man, Barnabas, full of faith and the Holy Spirit, to help them (11:22-24). Barnabas recruited Saul into his Antioch ministry and raised disciples (11:25,26). When the Judean body went through famine, the Antioch church sent relief through Barnabas (11:29,30). Later, the Antioch church again sent Barnabas and Saul as missionaries. When Saul became the clear leader as Paul, Barnabas took a secondary role supporting him.

Barnabas was a booster—a man gifted in building up others. So I was not surprised to learn that Barnabas is Larry’s hero—the man he asked God to help him be to those he encounters.  God has answered his prayer request.
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Our world desperately needs more Spirit-filled encouragers. There is no lack of self-seekers, pessimists, legalists, criticizers, agenda-driven trumpet blowers (apologies to the brass section), isolationists, and takers. We who know Jesus ought to be boosters. Lifting others is a component of love—that steady, fresh breeze that continuously uplifts. May we strive to be God’s boosters to a needy world, so cheers replace jeers, and God is glorified. 
 
Inspiration
Be an Encourager: When you encourage others, you boost their self-esteem, enhance
their self-confidence, make them work harder, lift their spirits and make them successful in their endeavors. Encouragement goes straight to the heart and is always available. Be an encourager. Always.―Roy T. Bennett in The Light in the Heart
 
©2025 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  To receive these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.     
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)