Category: Devotions

Life often isn’t perfect is it? Circumstances don’t turn out the way you originally hoped they would. Today maybe you enter your day and though you are living where you thought you would be it isn’t exactly how you imagined or desired it to be. The picture postcard didn’t work out.

“I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.” (Romans 1 v 10-13)

Paul wrote this letter around AD 57 from Corinth and 3 years before he actually got to Rome. We can see his desire to be there from the opening of this letter. He seemed so desperate to be with them. What he didn’t know at the time was when he finally got to Rome things were not what he had thought they would be. He didn’t know that he would be under house arrest having limited freedom albeit chained to a guard.

I don’t think Paul imagined that being in Rome and imparting to the church what God had given him would be as a prisoner. But that is what happened.

However, he did get there and God did use Him in the imparting of ‘some spiritual gift to make you strong’ and he was ‘mutually encouraged’ and he did ‘have a harvest’. The work of God happened but the setting was far from perfect.

As Christ followers we have a desire to work for Him and to be used for His glory. However there are times when that comes in the packaging of difficult circumstances. Will we accept them? Will you accept the difficulties in order to continue to be used in the gospel work? To do so is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ as the primary focus of your life.

A simple examination of our prayers reveal that we seem to gain by a lot of our requests to God. We pray for our churches that we attend; we pray for our families and friends; we pray for our neighbours that we live close to; so many things that actually if God answers then we will in some way benefit. Then there are other times we will pray complete give-away prayers. In a few moments I will click onto a zoom call where intercessors will pray for missions around the world that the majority will have no contact with nor will they ever visit. Praying for zero-gain.

Last Saturday the small church building was filled to capacity as Christians from several churches came to support their friends who were being inducted as the new Pastor. I asked them to remember to pray for them. Can you imagine the impact if they did? If say 40 Christians constantly prayed for this new Pastor and family?

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.” (Romans 1 v 8-10)

To a people he has never met and to churches he has never planted, the Apostle Paul says he has been constantly praying for them at all times!

Probably not wanting it to be taken literally Paul says their faith is known all over the world! Word has certainly got out that things are happening in Rome. A tough place to be with the culture being polytheistic for the monotheistic Christian and Jew they found it difficult and would be soon experiencing horrible persecution under Nero and then later Domitian at the end of that century.  Perhaps Paul is praying into this as Nero commences his reign. Maybe he is thanking God for the Jewish Christians having come to faith recently in Rome? Maybe he is praying for the tension between Christians and Jews which he will speak of later in his letter? One thing we do know is that as he prayed his desire to be there grew. A lesson for any Pastor: if you want to get people involved get them to pray into it first!

A couple of weeks ago I met with 40 Pastors for a 24 hour prayer gathering. I saw how they gathered around each other and prayed for blessing on one another’s lives and churches. They were give-away prayers. Prayers for no personal gain. I hope they are still praying for them today.

Can you pray for something or someone right now that has zero gain for you? Perhaps God is going to stir your heart as you do and maybe you will have a desire to visit that person/place or become involved further in that area that needs God. Praying for that old man who lives alone across your street may lead you to knock on his door to see if he is okay? Maybe praying for zero gain makes our world a better place? Let’s keep on doing it!

The enemy of your soul will do all he can to say you are not loved like you should be and there is no purpose for you being here.  Most probably the highlights of your life have been the moments when you recognised what God thought of you and remained focused on the person he created you to be.  

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7)

After his opening he now addresses the people he is writing to. It is of course the Christians in Rome. It could be that in using the Greek greeting (grace) and the Jewish greeting (peace) he is giving away his intent on speaking to them about how the Gentiles and the Jews sit in the plans and purposes of God.

What is clear even though he hasn’t planted these churches he knows enough to know that they are loved by God and called holy/saints (not to be). This is their identity and it is ours too in 2022.

Today is Valentine’s Day and that means different things to different people and it can also mean absolutely nothing to some. But there is not a single day of our lives that our identity is not described as being loved by God. One of my favourite worship songs has these words:

To woo us back from death and woe; A valentine to a faithless world
Every wayward heart You pursue us all; And in kindness call us home

This world is Yours; My God this world is Yours
All You made to be Yours; I know You love us all

Despite our faithlessness and waywardness He still loves us. It is actually a fixed position, loved: the other is who we are not what we must do. Our identity is that we are not of this world and that can mean many things depending on the culture you are living in, but we are different. We are called holy or saints. We understand why ‘to be’ is inserted but it isn’t there, rather, ‘called as saints’.

Loved and Different. Loved and Set Apart. Loved and Holy.

Now that should make us all feel special today!

Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes fromfaith for his name’s sake. (Romans 1 v 5)

“…the obedience of faith…” (NASB)

What comes first? Faith then obedience? If obedience is the outworking of faith then as we fail consistently in this area what does that actually say about our faith? Do we not have believe enough?

However, if faith is more important and obedience is hidden within it as a lesser component then what does that say about the necessity of the Lordship of Christ in our lives?

The task is to hold both obedience and faith side by side, distinct, but not separate, two sides of the same coin. For me, it is this thought that causes me to pause this Sunday morning as I continue to submit to the transformation of my life by the Spirit. It is powerfully thought-provoking and one that the Apostle will continue with throughout his letter.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly lifewas a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes fromfaith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (Romans 1 v 1-6)

It seems Paul was always set apart for an important role.

Born in Tarsus, a contemporary of Jesus, a Jew and a Roman citizen, raised as a Pharisee and a student of the highly respected Rabbi Gamaliel.

As a Pharisee Paul followed the laws of Moses and man’s application of the laws in minutia detail.

Paul was passionate for the law of God and any departure from their interpretative code of that law meant he would unleash his anger. This was clearly seen in the way he persecuted the followers of Jesus, going from house to house imprisoning any he could find, he oversaw their ensuing deaths resulting from him forcing them to blaspheme.

But he was wrong. You can have a superiority and be wrong. His Damascus Road sorted that out for him. His distinctiveness changed. He had been a separatist (meaning of ‘Pharisee’) but now he was set apart for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This separatist isn’t focused on denouncing the shameful deeds of others or burning witches at the stake as the Church still does figuratively. But it seeks for the Light of Christ to shine through our lives. To be different not with a new darkness. But to allow the glory of Christ, His love, His beautiful, selfless, sacrificial life to settle into the darkness of people’s lives. To treat people as human beings created in the image of God. To love so that God is seen and to live so that we are not seen. This is the gospel we are set apart for.

Last night I listened to a church planting couple in the north of England describing the broken families that they are reaching with the love of Christ. The medium they use of reaching people is through ‘Messy Church’ which certainly makes their church sound messy and yet listening to them I saw Jesus and His love for a broken world. I was refreshed just listening to their hearts pour out. I can tell so many wonderful stories of lives finding Christ in these days and it is happening because the Church is moving. I think the pandemic has caused the Church to look at some home-truths and I see a fresh move of the Church joining God who has never stopped moving with love to a messed-up world.

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God … Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes fromfaith for his name’s sake.” (Romans 1 v1 and v5)

Yesterday I wrote of Paul’s “pierced ear” which opened up a new future to him.

Paul says he was called to move, to be a sent-out one (the meaning of apostello).

But he was a doulos before he was an apostello.

He was a servant/slave before he was an apostle.

Before he was sent by God he had been to God.

This is such an important truth.

In that place of being with God you get to know His heart for this world and you begin to understand the power of the incarnation which flowed out of His incredible perfect love for people.

Being sent is a compulsion, a conviction, you just have to go.

To be an apostle is to move towards people with love for them. It is certainly not to be a CEO telling others what to do. When the church gets embroiled in the qualification of titles and who really has them or not then they begin to miss the heart of God.

As early as the 2^nd century only a hundred years after Paul wrote these words, decline within the church had begun. Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists were no longer mentioned and in their place hierarchies were established of Popes, Archbishops and Bishops. The result was that mission began to die and the church began to decline. The moment we become Church-centric then we shift from being Christ-centric and as a result we stop being sent. The demands of the saved should never outweigh the burden of those who need a Saviour. Church-centric churches usually die eventually but Christ-centric churches continue to grow as they are sent out to love His world.

The apostle/sent-ones have nothing to boast about. They are not greater than anyone else. They should not walk around as if they have achieved anything. In fact Paul realises this. “Through him we received grace and apostleship …” He didn’t deserve this calling. He couldn’t boast of this mission. If the world has to wait until you feel you are more qualified or more perfected then it will die without Jesus. Being chosen didn’t mean he was a cut above the rest. It was pure grace. It still is. So let’s get moving today!

So after 25 years of following Jesus and being heavily involved in mission to the point that you have personally influenced the planting of many churches, how do you begin to write a letter to people you have never met and who you don’t know? What credentials do you use?

So with that we begin a new journey together.

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus” Romans 1:1

Before he mentions his calling, his commission and the purpose of his life. Before all the ‘doing’ of his life he starts with a simple statement of who he is, a servant.

He uses the word doulos. Our English translators (most probably to combat the negative implications regarding the modern slave trade) use servant or bondservant but it is slave, doulos.

A slave of Christ Jesus.

After God had rescued His people from slavery through the Exodus He gives them His law. One of the first things God starts to unpack in His Law to Moses is the freeing of slaves. The rule was that slaves were freed every 7 years. However if the slave loved working for their master they could stay and be paid for their work and enjoy their life within that household. If that happened the master would, “…take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.” (Ex 21:6) They became a bondservant, doulos, one who has chosen to be owned.

Paul had been to the door and had his ear pierced, he was a slave of Christ Jesus, for life.

Who is the door? Jesus. (John 10:9)

Jesus is the portal, the doorway into a new season for your life.

There is no breakthrough without pain. Paul was already aware that he bore on his body the marks of Jesus (Galatians 6:17). Perhaps you bear those marks also? Maybe you have marks that no one can see? Marks are healed wounds and they become the vehicle of hearing God; our earlobes become pierced and He speaks powerfully and intimately as He would also tell Paul later that, “my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).

There is no other way for more of God and more of His power and work in our lives. There is only one prayer: “…pierce my ear …”

So insert your name: (Paul) a servant of Christ Jesus. I have chosen to be owned by Christ Jesus. I belong to Him. Tell Jesus this today. He has your ear. That mark is now the opportunity of intimacy. It repositioned you. Those who understand what I am saying know that the Lord opens the door of new seasons to those who have been pierced to the door.

That is the greatest introduction of yourself that you will ever give.

Today is the last day of 2021 and sees me taking a break from writing a daily devotional that I have done for 15 years. I am actually going to come off social media for 40 days in order to refocus my mind on Him. These blogs are my own morning devotions. They are not theologically proven with cross-references and commentary to back up any argument. I have never intended for it to be anything other than me sending out what I have written in my own devotion. I know that others are far more capable to write on issues that I simply touch on. But I love the Bible and my prayer is to try and bring application to our everyday life. I hope it helps to do that. Thank you for using these notes in your own devotions, for some every day and for others dipping into them as and when it is appropriate. This last year has been remarkable in that readers from 101 nations have engaged with the devotions with 13,274 different individuals. So it is particularly difficult for me to stop now. However, I believe the Lord is calling me for some private time for 40 days. I would appreciate your prayers! I will write again on the morning of 10^th February.

Therefore it seems that today I kept writing and have written a far longer devotion than usual. See it as 40 days-worth!

So on this final morning of 2021 I write the final words of Matthew’s gospel: “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28 v 20) 

How did these words impact not only those first disciples but those hearing the gospel of Matthew for the first time? In AD64 Rome had a huge fire break out that lasted nearly a week and burned three quarters of the city. The people blamed the Emperor Nero for the fire and he in turn blamed the Christians. The Romans rounded them all up and in a savage and brutal way killed them. Can you imagine how these words of the gospel would encourage the believers? And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

He was still with us by the middle of the 2^nd century as the Mission had begun to die through the Church focusing on itself with new hierarchical titles replacing the five-fold offices. God raised up a renewal movement as He would do throughout the coming ages. The Montanists were the present day Pentecostals with belief in spiritual gifts, holiness and the pursuit of Christ’s return. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

He was still with us by the 5^th century when He empowered a Scottish man called Patrick, an evangelist in Ireland. Familiar with the Irish clan system he had a gospel strategy: convert the person of influence first, the chiefs first, who would then influence their clans. He found that God was with him and Ireland soon became known as one of Europe’s Christian centres. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age

He was still with us by the 6^th century when 2 major crises hit the world. Firstly a volcanic eruption of Krakatoa, Indonesia in AD535 resulting in economies across the world crashing as harvests failed, famine and plague struck. God raised up ordinary Christians like the Celts, the Berbers of North Africa, those on the fringe of the Church responded to the crises, learnt new languages and cultures and successfully took the gospel with actions to desperate people. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age

He was still with us by the 10^th century in the midst of terrible crusades not just in Palestine but in Europe. Most of the Scandinavian countries were Christianised by political manipulation but mainly by threat of punishment or death. God anointed two particular men with a missionary calling and apostolic gifting that changed the world yet was strongly opposed by much of the established Church. Cyril and Methodius, missionaries to the Ukraine introduced the Slavanic language to worship to make it available to the ordinary man. They translated the Bible into the common language, and invented a Slavanic alphabet based on Greek characters which is still in use in a number of Slavic languages today. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

He was still with us by the 14^th century despite the Black Death plague which would kill 75 million people and the Pope declaring a Papal Bull, meaning that he is the supreme authority in the church and that salvation happens only through submission to him. For God once again raised up another and John Wycliffe was born who would go on to translate the Bible into English. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

He was still with us by the 18^th and 19^th century which saw a new move of God that came out of prayer. The praying of David Brainerd, the passion of Jonathan Edwards for ‘concerts of prayer’ and the 100 year chain of prayer of the Morovians changed the church into a renewal, awakened modern mission movement. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

He was still with us by the 20^th century powerfully moving through the 1904 Welsh Revival which then contributed to bigger revivals in India, US, Korea, South Africa, China and Indonesia. Despite there being more Christian martyrs than at any other time in history (almost 50 million: 65% of all Christian martyrs in the previous 2,000 years) it was said ‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’.

He was still with us in 2020 with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic which took lives, devastated so many families and left the church needing to readjust drastically all over again so that the mission could continue. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

The point is: He never left us.

I don’t know who you are nor what has gone on in your life but I do know He is here with you.

If you once walked in the promises of God but now wallow in self-pity, bitterness and hurt – YOU CAN RISE AGAIN. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

If you have long since given up the fight, your armour and weapons of war are stored up with dust, your youthful passion for souls and your energy to give up all for one soul to find Jesus is now a faint dream, hear this wake-up call – YOU CAN RISE AGAIN. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

If you couldn’t hold on any longer, something had to give and you gave away your destiny; you broke up your potential, you ruined your desires and were ruined by new ones. You can regain your footing, it’s time to walk – YOU CAN RISE AGAIN. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

If you came under a stronghold that so gripped your life it paralysed you. Maybe an area of your life is now not functioning like it used to, you feel a lesser man, as a woman you feel your beauty has been taken, you are tarnished and you are stained with an impurity. YOU CAN RISE AGAIN. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

If you think it’s all over: your faith is dead, your anointing is dead, that relationship is dead and you cannot pretend anymore. The Master is touching you even now as you read this and is calling you to get up for YOU CAN RISE AGAIN. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

A young boy misbehaved on his football team.  He wasted his time, the team’s time and the manager’s time. He just did not try. He was lazy and he didn’t care. His heart was never in it. He liked to hear the cheers but he didn’t like to run around. He liked to wear the football shirt but didn’t like to practice. One day the team was training and the manager came and said, “hey there’s a phone call for you.” The boy went to answer the phone, the message was “Your father is dead, come home immediately.” The manager filled with compassion said “Take as much time as you want.” But to be truthful he didn’t care if he took the whole year off.

Saturday came, the teams ran on to the pitch. The same time-waster of a boy came charging into the manager’s dugout, “Can I play? I want to play.”

“No, this is an important game. We need every committed player, you’re not one of them.” Half time came and the manager’s team were losing and into the second half it got worse.

“Let me play, please let me play.” With 30 minutes to play and 3-0 down the manager thought, well, it can’t do any more harm and he let him play.

As soon as the boy got onto the pitch the team exploded. He ran for everything, tackled, headed, passed and eventually the team caught up to 3-3. In the dying seconds the ball lands at his feet and he shoots and he scores. The crowd leap up and down. Now this boy is every ones hero. After the crowds went home, the manager asked just what had happened to him.

“Boss, you know my dad died last week? Well my dad was blind. But today was the first day he ever saw me play!”

God is not dead nor is he blind. He is alive and watching you. When you know this truly, it can make all the difference. Get up. Get back in the game. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

He never left us. He is still here. He is with you today as you end your year and begin a new one.

See you soon.

The mark of any disciple is obedience.

“…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28 v 20)

Jesus was an obedient Son.
In the wilderness he had to choose obedience and again in the garden of Gethsemane. The writer of Hebrews says he offered up prayers and that he learned obedience.
For us to be in the image of Christ, we need to know we are not first but second. We are not leading everything but following. We are not in charge but conforming ourselves to Him and not to our rights. We live in a society which looks so nice in that everyone is free to be whoever they want to be. But this is not true as a disciple of Jesus.

Hear through opening your eyes, slowing your life down, in prayer, meditation of the Bible, listening to others. Be taught.

Obey through change, through the difficult day of testing, it may not be the devil attacking you, it may just be the testing and perfecting of your obedience by God. So don’t run ahead thinking that hearing and obeying doesn’t apply and it is too slow a process for you. Neither become embittered by your life.

What will you do?

The Holy Spirit gives gifts, powerful gifts. Some are referred as charismata (natural gifts) and some as pneumatic gifts (spiritual gifts) found in 1 Corinthians 12.

Some have sadly tried to answer the question by focusing on the gifts as evidence of this baptism. Sad because it completely misses the point. This is not a badge to wear. This is a person to be identified with.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28 v 19)

The Bible clearly reveals the Holy Spirit as a person, describing the Spirit’s personal characteristics, involvement in personal actions and His personal relationships.

He is called, ‘another Counsellor’, who’s the first? Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a person not a power. He lives with you and in you. He is a teacher and a witness in his own right. He has intelligence. He has love and affection. He can be grieved. He has emotions. He can be lied to. He prays and intercedes for us. He speaks. He gives commands. He works miracles. The Holy Spirit is not some reality less than God or other than God, He is God. The Bible says the Father begets the Son and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. In their operation it is the Father who sends and then operates through the Son and the Father and Son together who send and operate through the Spirit. There is no conviction, regeneration, sanctification, gifts and power without the Holy Spirit.

Early in the life of the Church the apostles in Jerusalem heard that people in Samaria had come to follow Jesus. So they sent Peter and John to investigate.

Peter and the Apostles found themselves in trouble and he is defending themselves before the religious leaders by telling them of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus:  Acts 5:32 “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” Peter was announcing that they themselves saw the death of Jesus, they were there to see his resurrection and they were even there for his ascension. They saw it all and they were verifying that Jesus was indeed Prince and Saviour of the world.
But someone else was also a witness! Peter died but the Holy Spirit has not passed away! He is alive today in our lives, in our generation, right across the globe. The same Holy Spirit who Peter says is a witness is today in our lives witnessing to us in every doubt, situation and circumstance that Jesus is our Prince and Saviour. In turn we with confidence continue to witness to the world. How do we know what we know? How can we speak so confidently that it would seem like we were witnesses of the events of Christianity? It is the partnership of the Holy Spirit who continually speaks to us and through us.
When everything was barren, life-less and dark the Holy Spirit was hovering and the greatest creative, explosive, divinely empowered act took place, the creation of the world. When the presence of the Most High, the Creator of all and the life-giving Spirit who reaches across His world and beyond overshadows you, miracles happen. Nothing we can do makes it happen except to welcome The Holy Spirit. “Hover over me, overshadow me, come down on me and cloak me in you” That is the prayer and that is the answer!

The Holy Spirit reveals a NOW God. We are not stuck in the past worshipping some historical God in an historical event. He is here. Now. The Holy Spirit reveals a TRANSFORMING God. You may have walked far from God. You may have failed but return to Him and let God change you. The Holy Spirit reveals a GOOD NEWS God. He is on mission in His world. A mission with a message of good news.

In 2022 I see a year where people of all ages are baptised and saturated into the Spirit of God. I see a passion for God possessing them with an intensity of a fire as they burn and shine for Jesus. I see a spirit of cold obedience kindled with an eager devotion. I see a holy passion for righteousness and a consuming enthusiasm for the salvation of the lost.

I see this:

“…go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”