Category: Devotions

SHIPS – Reason, Purpose and Timing.
Acts 21:3 “After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.”

Paul was a ship full of cargo and at Tyre it unloaded what it had been carrying.

Ships have a commitment to carry a certain load. It is weighed at the port so that the ship knows how many tonnes it is carrying. The amounts today are incredible, over 100,000 tonnes can be carried. How they manage to float is a mystery! They are designed to carry the weight. That is the reason for them being built in the first place.
Ships have a commitment to carry their load to a certain place. A contract was exchanged so that the owners of the cargo know that their cargo is going across the seas to the place agreed to. It is not good enough to just drop off the cargo at any point!
Ships have a commitment to get their load to a place for a certain time. It is given focus and that is why it is out on the seas. It is a race against the time. It is not just floating aimlessly and any time will do approach. In 2013 a Russian cargo ship carrying 5,000 tonnes became lost, with no crew, it had been towed for some time but had broken free from the ropes. Although the UK’s Daily Mail ran the headline: “Could this Russian ghost ship infested with CANNIBAL RATS beach in Britain?” Interesting! It eventually sank in 2015.

So here’s the application:
Galatians 6: 2 Paul says ‘Carry each other’s burdens’, I wonder if he had ships in mind when he said this?

Today maybe you have to carry a load for someone:
1. Make sure you have a reason for doing so.
Is it justifiable? Is it right? Do you want to carry this? What is the other person carrying who owns the burden?
“This is my reason for doing this. I am not being ruled by man.” Make it clear. Reason is everything.
2. Make sure you know where you are carrying this burden to?
So, what are the signs of success? What is the future holding? If you know where you are going and that is of most importance to you then you will agree to carry only what is going the same direction.
“This is where I have agreed to go. I am not changing course.” Make it clear. Purpose is everything.
3. Make sure you know how long you will be carrying this for?
You can only carry for a certain time. Don’t be a ship drifting aimlessly blown off course carrying a burden.
“This is the time I have to carry this load. I will not drift with this load.” Make it clear. Time is everything.

You carry to unload. That is what it is all about. That is what ships do.

The journey – get it right.
Acts 21:2 “We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail.”

They had eventually arrived at Patara, this was an important shipping port. It was here that Paul found the ship that would take them on the 400 mile non-stop ocean crossing to Phoenicia.

This may seem really obvious to you but in order to move forward in the purposes of God:

1. You need to get the launch right. You need to be in the right place on the right vehicle going in the right direction. Any confusion at these foundational levels will complicate the whole direction. In the era of ‘messy church’ good that it is we must not have sloppy church. We need to get it right at the beginning, whatever that is, the basics, the welcome, the worship service making sense, good preaching, understandable witnessing, living out 24hr discipleship in every aspect of life.

2. You need to get the timing right. That ship was not going to wait for Paul. Knowing the times that we live in is so important. Now is the time for salvation. The harvest is ripe the workers are few, now is the time for mission. Every leader who prays for wisdom prays that they will know when to do something as much as what to do. Sometimes the plans of God are miscarried because the leader/the Church were not walking in step with the Spirit.

3. You need to get the route right. I looked on the map of this journey and it is amazing to see just how much of the journey was reduced because Paul went by ship. A huge corner was taken off, you will see it if you look, with Cyprus on the left. Often we hear about not cutting corners etc. But sometimes I say, why not? Life is too short to go the long way round. I have always cut a corner if I could. Yes I may have missed some important things going the long way round and maybe I should do more of those kinds of journeys. But for me let’s get there as fast as we can and get on with the show.

TORN

Acts 21:1 “When we had torn ourselves away from them and set sail, we ran a straight course and came to Cos, and on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara”

New chapter except the heart is in the previous one. You see both groups were in anguish over the separation. It wasn’t only the Ephesian elders who were hurt over the separation. It was ‘we’; Paul, Luke and the team. It is sometimes so painful to keep moving ahead, to let go, to say goodbye.
In my earlier years of being a pastor I would spend long hours with members who wanted to attend a different church and not mine. I would do all I could to keep hold of them. I wanted to see a church being built and losing people was not the right way to go about it. They would always tell me not to take it personally, that this had nothing to do with me, I think they thought they were bringing me some comfort. It was like going to the butchers and saying “I won’t be shopping here anymore but don’t take it personally, it’s not you, it’s your meat.” The leader and the church are connected in every way. I lived, breathed, ate, slept God’s church, this was not a job 9-5, this was my life and it still is, I couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t take it personally.
But what I really hadn’t grasped at that stage was the truth that some people will only be with you for part of your journey.
There are those that you have to walk away from. There are times when you have to say this:
“I cannot stand around here waiting for you. I cannot stand around mourning my losses, reliving my past and what we could have had. I’ve got to return home. I’m becoming all that I can become and I can’t do that by regretting the past and wishing I had what I once had.”
There are those who will have to walk away from you. Jesus experienced the same thing.
At these times you have to say this:
“This is who I am, and this is where I am. I’m becoming all that I can become and if you walk away from me then that’s fine. If you don’t like me anymore, if I no longer fit into your personal agenda of what you want. If I am not being the person you want me to be and you don’t want my friendship then I release you to go. I realise you were only there for part of my journey.”
It is the same approach even when people want to follow you but for a very good reason they cannot come.
So I have learnt to:
1. Be thankful for the moments that God has brought people into my life.
2. Realising it might only be for a season do all that I can to love them.
3. Keep healthy memories of them and discard the rubbish. Talk well of them.
4. Bless them and don’t bully them to follow, release them to fulfil their own plan.
5. Don’t grow a thick skin in the new chapter; be flexible, open and transparent.

Luke says they had torn themselves away. Today you may carry a tear in your heart, a longing for those people in the past that you loved and walked with. Smile and keep moving forward, there is more to come!

A word to leadership teams
Acts 20: 38 “What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.”

There are times when leadership teams will feel grief over the decision of their leader. That is exactly how Paul’s team felt. His decision to leave them and to also tell them he wouldn’t be back was hurtful.
For some leaders they would back off and say if you are going that way then I cannot come. They would perhaps resign and begin following someone else, but not this team. They walked down to the ship with Paul. They went with him as far as was possible.
Sometimes we need to follow leaders all the way. We might not understand everything, we might even disagree, but we have to accompany them, trusting God that His leader has heard from Him.
It takes courage to keep following when you do not understand or do not want to.
Keep following and keep serving.

The tears of acceptance
Acts 20:37 “They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.”

Paul had said his farewell speech, they had knelt and prayed and now they all with tears embrace and kiss him.
I am familiar with tears. I often have tears in my eyes when I try to share my heart of what is happening in the missions world where I spend most of my time. Tears are not far from me. I was in a meeting yesterday where a prominent leader was so enthused for the cause that he had tears in his eyes. It was a powerful moment. We all know these kinds of tears. We also know the tears of regret like when Peter denies Christ. We know the tears of sorrow at the death of a loved one like Mary Magdalene had at the garden tomb and of course Jesus himself had at the death of Lazarus.
But the tears in this verse today are the tears of acceptance of the circumstance. Paul, the leader, is leaving them. They lovingly kiss him, hold on to him and they all weep.
In what has to be the most moving scene of the Old Testament Jonathan and David are weeping together as they part company. Jonathan had shot the arrows beyond the stone that David was hiding behind indicating to him that it was not safe for him to return to his father Saul. Oh how they both had wanted the arrows to fall short that day. The arrows of acceptance are very hard to pick up once they have been fired.
The arrows of God may leave a scar in your heart. Even today you may look back to that day when God shot the arrow beyond you and you realised there was a separation in your life from something so precious. Yes you wanted to hold on so desperately, there were plenty of tears, but like David bowing to the ground in an act of submission or Paul’s leadership team, you gave way to God’s Sovereignty. You may still not fully understand why you and your loved one had to separate. But it happened. It was His eternal plan. You wonder if there were more things you could have and should have said. You may have never felt so out of control in your life. It was out of your hands. You couldn’t have prevented it even if you tried and yes, you tried. One thing you found was that Jesus was waiting for you, He was there in the wilderness that followed. He has been with you clearing your pathway, leading you in the destiny foreordained for you, leading you to become all that you can become on this earth. You go forward now with tears still often in your eyes but perhaps the pain of that day is lessening and perhaps the smile comes more regularly as you rest in Gods eternal plan.

Kneeling
Acts 20:36 “When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.”

In what was a very emotional moment, Paul had said all he wanted to say and now they would pray. But first they would kneel down.
Sometimes it is just not appropriate to stand, dance and clap.
To kneel makes the person in front of you bigger and more important.
To kneel indicates you would do anything for that person.
To kneel means nothing else matters in your world but to be at their feet.
To kneel is to have nothing to give but life.
To kneel is to be desperate.
Try kneeling today.

Work hard
Acts 20:35 “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

The Gospels were never written in order to log everything Jesus said. John confirms this at the end of his gospel when he says there were many other things that have not been written. Paul quotes one of these, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” It is this saying of Jesus that has driven Paul forward with the hard work that he has done amongst the Ephesian Church.
It wasn’t for a salary. It wasn’t to build a ministry in order to receive in some other way. Paul knows that he is the happiest when he is working hard for those who have become weakened in this life and it is indeed hard work.

As a young person I would often try and avoid work in order to play instead. Whatever it was whether homework or piano practice I would always try and cut a corner or do things as quick as possible so I could get out of the house and have fun. I have always enjoyed fun. I think at the centre of my being ‘fun’ is the driving force of my life.
One of my first jobs was in the Valuation office in Leeds as a clerical assistant. I worked ‘flexi’ hours which meant I had a card that I clocked on and pulled the card out when I finished work. There was an allotted time of hours I had to work in a month and I could do the work pretty much at any time so long as the hours were worked. Many of the staff members worked long hours in the first 3 weeks and then in the 4th week of the month they had done all their hours so managed to have a couple of extra days off. Not me! I did the reverse. Knowing that I only needed to work the minimum 6 hours a day, I ended up having to cram in as many hours as possible at the end of every month!

It would be my first Pastorate, in the Lake District, in farming country, where I would be introduced to having to work hard. The farmers in my church all rose early, even when it was still dark and they worked hard and long hours in all types of weather. In the early days I would leave the curtains open in the lounge so that in the morning when the farmers passed by they would see that their Pastor was awake, though I was still having dreams from God horizontally. But gradually I learnt the benefits of hard work. I learnt that to grow a church it takes hard work, to love others is hard work and more importantly I was created for this and work could be fun!
If you looked at my work today you wouldn’t believe how much I have changed. I work long hours, I am always up early and I give 100% into all that I do. I have learnt the importance of hard work.

The created order involved work and this had nothing to do with salary. It was God’s good intention that Adam should work. God worked the creation and then rested from that work. Today you will be perhaps a student or an employee or a full time parent or the one who stays to work at keeping the home, maybe you are a volunteer or a retired person helping others and you have 24 hours to do the most amazing thing and that is to work hard for the good of others. Like Adam you can take care of your domain, you can keep it together, you can make it a happy place and a healthy one for others. You can bring life but it will take hard work.
You will perhaps work with others who don’t want to be there! They will ask ‘Why am I here? What am I doing this for? Is there any point?’ Don’t let this rub off on to you. Be different. See things as God sees them. Your work matters to Him. You can add value. You can work as God would work. You can work for Him.
You may work with someone who is the opposite of work. But don’t become like them. Proverbs 18:9 says, “One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.” Lazy people ruin but you are different, you are building something for someone. But it also builds into you the purpose for life, you were created to work, to give, to add and how intrinsically satisfying is it when that involves those who need your help?!

So today, work hard, give of your best, add value, but never lose the sense of fun! It is still there in my life. It is still the driving force. I find ways to make sure my work brings the enjoyment to me and to others.

Ministry finances part 2

Acts 20:34 “You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.”

Chemists, taxi drivers, farmers, shop-keepers, teachers, fishermen, carpenters and musicians. This is the list that I have just reeled off quickly from memory of the jobs that the National heads of Elim Global have as they lead thousands of churches across the world. They need jobs in order to have the money for their families but also for their ministries.
They do not rely on hand-outs and they do not beg from the other nations.
There are beggars in this world but they do not work, they do not use their hands to supply their own needs. It wouldn’t be as bad if they totally relied on God who supplies all our needs, they don’t. They rely on others to give. There isn’t a day that goes by that I do not get a begging letter. I am often left wondering how instead of giving a fish I can give a fishing-net and teach them to fish.
I know some Pastors in the UK who are bi-vocational and as a result their churches are thriving because they can use finances for evangelism. In fact John works for me 2 days a week and the rest of the time he is leading a growing church. Some are Pastors on teams and it means the Church has the benefit of extra leadership gifts simply because of the bi-vocational model.
Before my time at bible college many years ago I heard how in the ‘old days’ they would teach car mechanics in the college! What a great idea! The apostle Paul had the skill of tent-making. Maybe we do need more Pastors with a skill of mechanics or tent-making or perhaps as with one of our National heads when he commissions his church planters they are given a wheelbarrow or some supplies to start a craft or soap-making business?
Paul paid his own way in ministry and not only of himself but of others too. It is an interesting and sometimes uncomfortable thought for those of us who are paid by the ‘Church’.

Ministry finances
Acts 20:33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.

The first Sunday in July, 1992, I received my first salary for being a Pastor. It was full of change within a bank money bag and it came to £95 exactly, once the copper coins had been counted. I was so grateful. I did suggest that from then on we should move to a banking system for further payments.
Those early years of ministry for me were exciting ones as I trusted God for the finances that I needed for the family. One thing I have always done is given at least 10% of my income to God through the Church.

January 17th 1980 at 10.35am was my claim to fame. I was 14 years of age and my whole Grammar school were watching a BBC programme called ‘The Sally Ann’. It was about my brother Neil having made a commitment to fully embrace The Salvation Army promises. (I knew he would never fulfil his promises as he actually stated on the programme that his vision for life was to be a millionaire which we are all still waiting for him to become).
http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1980-01-17
Here is what the link says: “10.35 Scene: The Sally Ann
When they sign their ‘ Articles of War’ Salvation Army soldiers promise never to drink, smoke or gamble. Young Salvationists LESLEY DENT and NEIL HUDSON say what the Army means to them today. Produced by JOHN CHAPPLE”
Anyway back to my claim to fame on the said programme. It is probably about 10 seconds worth of me doing a mathematical equation of my pocket money divided by a tenth so that I could give the amount to God. With the use of real life coins my script was “75 pence divided by 10 is 7.5 pence to God”. My Maths teacher was very impressed. The school pupils thought it was hilarious, all 500 of them.

I am sure we have all read about the financial lifestyle of John Wesley:
In 1731 Wesley began to limit his expenses so he would have more money to give to the poor. He records that one year his income was £30, and his living expenses £28, so he had £2 to give away. The next year, his income doubled, but he still lived on £28 and gave £32 away. In the third year, his income jumped to £90; again he lived on £28, giving £62 away. The fourth year, he made £120, lived again on £28, and gave £92 to the poor.

Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, America’s 8th largest Church lives on 10 percent of his income and donates the rest to charity. “I drive a 12-year-old Ford, have lived in the same house for the last 22 years, bought my watch at Wal-Mart, and I don’t own a boat or a jet.”.
I am not trying to link myself with John Wesley or Rick Warren! But I have understood the need to put God first in my finances from an early age. I have also understood all my life that the desire of riches and material things is not conducive to a life of ministry.

Paul is saying to the Ephesian elders: “I had no desire for anyone’s silver or gold or [expensive] clothes” (Amplified).

Jesus said he had no place to lay his head. We all want an open heaven. Out of that open heaven we want everything we can possibly get, a blessing of finance, promotion, this and that. When Jesus experienced an open heaven as he was standing in the Jordan being baptised he received a bird. We all want to be like Jesus but maybe if all we got was a bird perhaps we would be disappointed!

I am concerned today when I see Pastors with a desire for riches. It just doesn’t sit comfortably. It looks ugly. I don’t want to see Pastors poor but I don’t want Pastors longing and desiring anything other than God.

Today let us surrender our all to Jesus, including our finances.

Five words

Acts 20: 32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Someone, somewhere, will read these 5 words and if they go ahead and do it then it will lift a very heavy burden from their lives.
These 5 words are a reminder that you are not the One, you are not the fixer, you are not superman/superwoman!
These 5 words remind you who indeed is in charge and who is ultimately responsible.
You already know you have limitations and God is omnipotent, but doing these 5 words confirms this truth and sets you free to be who you are.
Those who have a high work ethic and who take their responsibilities seriously and with due diligence find these 5 words very difficult.
The 5 words should be applied to both people and circumstances.
Here are the 5 words, read them and then do it.
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HAND (IT/THEM) OVER TO GOD!