Category: Devotions

Vote

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, Joshua 24:15

Time to pray!

Smell

I want Bishops to be men who smell of the sheep.
Pope Francis

The seminar room is needed.
To learn is to grow.
To teach is a gift.

The office is needed.
Order and schedule is important.
To administrate is a gift.

Branding and promotion.
Social media reached and likes.
Working groups and hubs.
Conferences and celebrations.
Reading and writing.
Technology and professionalism.
Buildings and bills.
Friendships and fellowship.
Liturgy and vocation.
Gifts and goals.

All of these are important and are taking us along a directional path.
And along this journey everyone can smell good.
But can we try and do that and at the same time still smell of the sheep?

I need to smell of sheep and I desire to follow someone smelling of sheep don’t you?

May the Spirit of the Shepherd rest on you.

I’m still in London

News channels from all over the world had their cameras pointed at every entrance and exit point. Crowds stood waiting patiently on every gate. I slowed down for awhile thinking I should at least get ready for something special to happen. Nothing happened so I walked on.
I was walking past Kensington Palace. I’m not sure if everyone knew what they were waiting for. But it wouldn’t be long before they got what they wanted. Her name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
Her official name will be Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.
She is now fourth in line to the throne.
She does not know how important she really is.
The crowds of people and the media today leave no doubt of her importance. They were gathering around her home to pay homage.

Babies always attract attention don’t they?
But for Charlotte she carries her royal descent as being the thing that drives people’s interest.
Similarly when Jesus was born the wise men came not because of another child being born. But because of who He is.

Matthew 2: 11 “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”

Similarly, when Jesus comes again but not born as a baby, He will be worshipped!

Philippians 2:9-11
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Whenever Jesus comes, people bow down, they wait for him to pass by, they long for a touch from the King.
Are you working from a bended knee today?
Are we waiting in expectation today?

I’m in London

The home for 8.6 million people and 8 Royal Parks. But it is ‘Postman’s Park’ that I want to mention.
A trip to London isn’t complete without sitting and contemplating at the Watts gallery of this park.
In 1887 G.F. Watts, a philanthropist, created a memorial on the site of the former churchyard of St Botolph, Aldersgate. At the southern end lay the General Post Office and many postmen spent their breaks in the park, hence the name. The memorial contains heroic stories of ordinary people saving the lives of ordinary people. The names are those of children in the main and usually involve fire, drowning or train crashes.
One of the inscriptions is that of Alice Ayres. Her inscription says, “daughter of a bricklayer’s labourer, who by intrepid conduct saved 3 children from a burning house in Union Street, at the cost of her own young life, April 24 1885.”
What about you?
Do people know who you are?
Is that important?
What were the names of the other sons that Adam and Eve apart from the 3 named?
What were the names of Gideon’s army of 300?
Who were the 7,000 people that Elijah hadn’t realised also were not bowing to Baal?
In the first half of Hebrews 11 all the heroes have names. In the second half they don’t.
Ordinary people going through extraordinary events.
Lizzie Valesquez a few years ago had 4 million hits on YouTube for being ‘the ugliest person in the world’. She used that to her advantage and became an extremely sought after motivational speaker and have her first TED talk in 2013.
Layla Montgomery is one of the best young distance runners in the USA, even though she has MS and collapses after each race.
And the list goes on and we never know who these people are but they do amazing things for others.

Read Matthew 6:2-4
Why not try and do something today that is in secret? That no one will know.
Today be an unsung hero.

It’s a Girl!

Yesterday the gift of life brought smiles to those of us who care.
The nameless girl, fourth in line to the throne has been born into royalty. She is famous and she doesn’t have a name yet. Her life will be one of privilege. She will be admired from a distance. There will be no hardship from lack of provision. She will have all she needs.
Some are born in palaces and some in the slums.
Some healthy some not.
The rules of life simply look like chance.
Ecclesiastes 9: 11-12
Why are some born with privilege and some in poverty? It’s the big question for many. But our circumstances can make us be stronger.
Author Shekam Vedantum believes that those who swim with the current will always think they are good swimmers whilst those who swim against the current may never realise they are better swimmers than they imagine.
Maria Carey was born into poverty.
Justin’s Bieber lived in what he called a rat-infested home.
Leonardo Di-Caprio grew up surrounded by drug dealers and prostitutes.
Demi Moore lived in a trailer home with an abusive alcoholic father.
Circumstances don’t always prove your lot.
Luke 2:51-52
Nazareth was known as a place where nothing good came from it. If you grew up there then you were unlucky.
Jesus was obedient. He lived within the boundaries of his life at that time.
He grew in wisdom.
He grew physically.
He grew in favour with God and
He grew in favour with man

Whatever circumstance you are in, whether that of privilege or poverty. It is very possible to live and grow in that place.

It’s a fight.

I have just read this in a news article:
Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will finally step into the ring on Saturday May 2 in Las Vegas – the home of boxing. The doors will open at the venue at 2pm local time, with the first bout scheduled at 3pm. The main event will start five hours later circa 8pm.

Las Vegas is eight hours behind the United Kingdom which means Mayweather vs Pacquiao will not begin in this country until around 4am on Sunday at UK time.

Manny Pacquiao ploughed a familiar furrow by invoking his faith: Everything I have accomplished, God has given me this strength. I used to sleep in the street, hungry, and I cannot imagine that the Lord raised me to this level of life.

Floyd Mayweather also attempted to stay humble:

(It is) the biggest fight in boxing history and I’m a part of it so that’s a great thing. I’m just truly, truly blessed to be where I’m at. I feel good, I feel strong and I’ll see you guys Saturday. You guys came out here to see excitement, to see a great event and I think that’s what both competitors bring to the table – excitement.

Are you going to watch it?
Who will win?
The man with faith or the man with excitement?

Fight the good fight with all thy might
Christ is thy strength and Christ thy Right …. The words of hymn writer John Monsell.

2 Timothy 4:7 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

I have engaged in conflict chained to this Roman soldier.
I have never quit.
I have never slackened in my commitment to Christ.
I have journeyed far and wide to tell others of Him.
I know what it is to conquer against the odds.
I have stayed the course.

What are you facing today?
The biggest fight ever?
Who will win?

Pemba Lama and Krishna

Two names that we will soon forget. But yesterday the majority of the world saw them on the news bulletins being rescued alive from the rubble of Nepal after 5 days being buried.

Buried next to bodies already gone from this life. Buried in the silence.

Can you imagine that?

Last night I had a meal with a man who has made an amazing recovery from cancer. It was like meeting a new man.
Trapped within a cancerous body. Trapped unable to move his circumstance.

Can you imagine that?

But you were also once buried and trapped.

Colossians 2:13-15

Jesus alone singlehandedly rescued you.
He moved into the darkness. He knew exactly where you were. He pulled you free into the light. Psalm 68:20.

Out of the ashes.

I was speaking with Andy (one of Elim’s missionaries in Nepal) yesterday and he gave me the most bizarre picture he had seen when out in the communities helping in the villages.
In the middle of the ruins, of the rubble of bricks and all kinds of debris, a wedding car weaved a path through for a bride’s happiest day to be!
Life goes on for some perhaps.
But that’s not what I get from this image.
What I see is that out of the ruins comes something beautiful.

Nepal is in a mess right now. The loss is huge. People will never be the same again. But I believe something good will come from the bad.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

You also may be in a time of ruins. This may be the greatest challenge you have ever faced.
I wonder if you remember singing this childhood song of mine:

Something beautiful something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life.

Out of the ashes good will come because He is there.

Testimony

This morning I arrived back from Namibia. Whilst it was wonderful to meet new people and do mission with them, my heart has been in Nepal. I am delighted to tell you this wonderful testimony of a missionary in Nepal that is encouraging and inspiring, that despite the evil of man or the disasters of nature, love and kindness can find a way that brings glory to God. Here is his story:

“I’m from Sierra Leone. I was a teacher. Many of my students struggled against the pull of poverty and hopelessness. One of my pupils, Vandie, abruptly stopped going to school. When I visited his home to find out why, he tearfully admitted that other kids had been making fun of his old, beat-up trousers and lack of shoes. I bought Vandie some clothes and shoes and he returned to school, still poor but proud.

After several years of teaching, rebels invaded my small village in December 1998, burning it to the ground and killing hundreds. My younger sisters, my brother-in-law and my grandmother were brutally murdered right in front of me.

I was captured by rebels, interrogated, tortured and told I would be executed.

One of the rebel soldiers — a youth with his face covered — eagerly stepped up to play the role of executioner. The boy led me out of sight of the group to the execution spot. My heart was pounding. My mind was fixed on death. “Teacher, do you remember me?” the boy asked. “I will not kill you. You are a good man. Do you remember that you bought me shoes and pants so I could go to school?”

I watched in amazement as the young man removed the cover from his head, revealing familiar eyes and a tear-soaked face. Vandie drew a rough map with charcoal to the nearest village held by peacekeepers. That’s how I crawled to safety and, eventually, returned to my family.”

We just do not know who we are reaching and what may happen do we?
Read Hebrews 6:10; 13:2 and Galatians 6:7

Stay

Christianity came to Namibia 200 years ago.
I met a Pastor yesterday who told me how there had been 10 attempts at trying to plant a church but it was the 11th time that it was successful. The planting was done by 4 female Finnish missionaries who when their Missions board had asked them to return because of the civil war they pretended they hadn’t got the message and stayed!
Now being a Missions Director I would obviously state that missionaries should always obey their Mission boards etc!
But isn’t it wonderful that they didn’t?!
They stayed.

Take a look at 2 Samuel 23: 11-12.
One of David’s mighty men was called Shammah.
He stayed.
Every year the Philistines would come and loot the land and strike fear into the people of Israel.
All that had been produced was taken.
But not this year.
Shammah stood his ground. He stayed.

Know this that the enemy of your life wants to strike fear into you.
He wants to frustrate you. To rob you of what you have produced.
He wants to disappoint you so that you remove yourself from your appointment that God has given you.
It needs someone to stay.
Just stay awhile longer. When you want to quit, move back, slow down, at that point, don’t. Stay and see what happens.
You will see that God is with you. God will defend you and God will bring you through.
Stay.