Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read Joshua 7, Jeremiah 33 and Acts 20 today. This devotional is about Acts 20. When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples. And after encouraging them, he said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia. After traveling through that area and speaking many words of encouragement, he arrived in Greece, where he stayed three months. And when the Jews formed a plot against him, as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. Paul was accompanied by Sopater, son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy and Tychicus, and Trophimus from the province of Asia. These men went on ahead, and waited for us in Troas. And after the feast of unleavened bread, we sailed from Philippi, and five days later we rejoined them in Troas, where we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Since Paul was ready to leave the next day, he talked to them and kept on speaking until midnight. Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered, and a certain young man, named Eutychus, seated in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead. But Paul went down, threw himself on the young man, and embraced him. Do not be alarmed, he said. He is still alive. Then Paul went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. And after speaking until daybreak, he departed. And the people were greatly relieved to take the boy home alive. We went on ahead to the ship and sailed to Essos, where we were to take Paul aboard. He had arranged this because he was going there on foot. And when he met us at Essos, we took him on board and went on to Mytilene. Sailing on from there, we arrived the next day opposite Chios. The day after that, we arrived at Samos. And on the following day, we came to Miletus. Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia because he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost. From Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they came to him, he said, You know how I lived the whole time I was with you from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews. I did not shrink back from declaring anything that was helpful to you as I taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions await me. But I consider my life of no value to me if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus, the ministry of testifying to the good news of God's grace. Now I know that none of you among whom I have preached the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you, night and day, with tears. And 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 who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions. In everything I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself. It is more blessed to give than to receive. When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him. They were especially grieved by his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. This is God's word. Paul had an interesting relationship with the church in Ephesus. Here in Acts 20 verse 15, we learn that Paul had spent three years there in Ephesus earlier in his ministry. He also, of course, wrote the letter that we have in our Bibles that's called Ephesians to this church. He warned here in Acts 20, 29, and 30 that false teachers would come to the church to, and this is a quote from the NIV, to distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. Again, that's Acts 20, verse 29 and 30 in the NIV. And that's what happened because in 1 Timothy we learn that Paul sent Timothy to Ephesus to confront the false teaching there and then to install new elders. Notice that in this passage, Acts 20, we're told that the church in Ephesus already had elders because it talks about Paul instructing those elders in verses 17 through 38. But by the end of Paul's life, despite his warnings about false teachers and despite his instructions, false doctrine had so badly damaged the church that Timothy had to go install new elders there in Ephesus. For this devotional, though, I want to focus on the words of verses 17 through 21 here in Acts 20. Let me reread 17 through 21, this time from the NIV, which says, From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they arrived, he said to them, You know how I lived the whole time I was with you from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you, but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. And again, those are the words of Acts chapter 20, verses 17 through 21. With these words, Paul prefaced his message to the Ephesian elders. In this preface and through Paul's example, we can learn some essential truths for serving the Lord properly. First, Paul said, you know how I lived the whole time I was with you. And this tells us that we need to live among God's people in order to serve God's people effectively. Now that seems pretty obvious, but today we have churches with satellite campuses, as well as teaching through many forms of media. I know of a pastor who lives in Tennessee, but pastors a church here in Michigan. Can anybody really know him? In these churches that have satellite campuses, where the sermon is beamed in from some central location, can the church there really know the man who is teaching? Now look, we can learn a lot from men who write books, make videos, and so on, but God gave us local pastors so we can see how to live out the Christian life and we can see whether or not they live out the Christian life themselves. Paul moved from place to place because his calling was to start churches. But he lived among the Ephesians for three years so they could see his life, so that he could install elders to continue living there and serving the Lord. And so the first principle is the importance of living among the people so they can watch your life. Secondly, Paul said in verse 19 that he, and this is a quote from verse 19 in the NIV, that he served the Lord with great humility and with tears. And that's because of the opposition he faced there in Ephesus. Godly leaders are humble people. They remember that they were saved by God's power, not their own, and that any work God does through them is done by His power, not because of the man's own talent or greatness. Also, this section indicates that a godly leader doesn't cut and run just because things get hard. Thirdly, a man's ministry consists of his teaching and application of God's word. In verse 20, Paul said, I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you. And he goes on in the same verse to say that he delivered his message publicly, but also from house to house, that is in smaller settings. Paul was a teacher. He did not minister by scrubbing toilets or baking muffins or by doing other things that might be even more in keeping with the church's mission, but were not central to his ministry of teaching. God's primary method for serving his people is through the serving of his word through teaching. Now there are other roles in the church such as deacons who can serve in practical ways, but God's primary calling for church leaders is to be men who deliver his word. In our context, that's of course in church on Sunday in our large gatherings, but it's also in small group settings, or in counseling people with God's word, and so on. Even these devotionals were something that I started so that I could bring God's Word to you, in the words of this verse, from house to house. I can't come every day and go to every house in our church and speak God's Word to you, but by using the medium of video and audio, I can speak to you that way. And that's because I believe that teaching is the primary way in which God ministers grace in our lives. Finally, good ministry seeks the salvation of people without prejudice. Verse 21 says, I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. That's verse 21 in the NIV. This is where ministry starts with the gospel. of saving faith in Jesus Christ. Like Paul, we should take that message to everybody, not just people who have our skin color, or our outlook on life, or whatever. Jesus saves all kinds of people, so we should be looking for those he wants to save among all kinds of people, without prejudice. These are the things I try to do in our church. And this is what you should try to look for in church leadership. Or if you're teaching in a Juana or children's church or serving in some other ministry of the church, seek to model these leadership traits and minister God's word this way. If you found this devotional helpful, maybe you should sign up to receive it by email. This is completely free and you can always unsubscribe at any time. But if you go to my website dailypbj.com slash subscribe and enter your email in the form there, starting tomorrow you'll receive an email from me every day containing a link to the scripture readings so you can be in God's word every day prompted by the email. And then the same email will give you a transcript and a link to the audio and video of these devotionals so I can help you apply God's word to your life every day. Sound good? Give it a try. Go to dailypbj.com slash subscribe. And please consider giving me some financial support to keep going with work like this. If you are interested in how to do that, go to dailypbj.com slash support. Please share this with someone who might be helped to grow in their Christian life by it. And I'll see you next time. May God bless you. Hope you have a great day today.