A Tale of Two Ships - Blog (edited 7.16.24)
Religious Misconceptions...
I have come to find that one of the biggest misconceptions is that Christians don't go through anything. This morning while reading through Acts I felt that I was to share some of Paul's story to help us to see that Paul who was an Apostle of Jesus Christ and fully in the will of God went through some truly difficult ordeals. One of those was being a prisoner and being tossed from ship to ship to get to his destination. First of all, we must remember that back in those days prisoners were not treated kindly by any stretch of the imagination. They were bound in chains and shackles and thrown from place to place rarely even being fed at all.
God does not promise that we won't go through anything. The truth is we live in a fallen world, but He does promise that He will be with us, that He will help us, and that He will protect us. In fact, Jesus said in John 16:33...
John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]
In this story in Acts 27, there are a few things that I think people miss. They see a shipwreck and a viper (the negative) rather than looking deeper into the goodness of God, an angelic message and deliverance (the positive). God doesn't share these stories to frighten us. He shares them so that we will not only read them but get revelation out of them as to who He really is. He is our Helper and He is our Deliverer.
In Acts 27 Paul is a prisoner and has already been taken on several ships in some pretty bad weather. He, as a man of God tries to warn those who are taking him and others on yet another ship that things won't go well.
Acts 27:10 “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.”
Of course, those he is warning ignore him and decide they know better and so they set sail in what today we would call 'The Perfect Storm'. All looks pretty good until right after they get out there on that sea and then they wish they hadn't. Surely, they wished they'd listened to him. Looking at verses 18 & 19 we read...
Acts 27:18-19
18 And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. 19 On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.
Notice here that they'd been going through this already for 3 days. They literally had to throw overboard things that were necessary for their trip. This had to be absolutely terrifying for these men and dear ones what we are about to head into will be terrifying for many around us as well, but we must remember that God has chosen you and I for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). You are awake. You've been warned now for several years of the things to come. Some things ahead are still not easy even for those of us awake. You may be the only 'Paul' that some have in their ship (lives). You could be the only man or woman of God who can warn others of what is yet to come. Reading verse 20 really reminded me of where we are going, and we cannot do what these men did. With the warnings and encouragement that God has given us, He expects us to stand and not give up.
Acts 27:20 Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.
Look for a visitation from the Lord...
At this point, these men believe it's over and they have given up. This storm had beaten them all to heck for days on end and in their opinion, there was no way to survive this. So, Paul (their prisoner) finally stands up and says...
Acts 27:21-26
21 But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. 22 And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. 26 However, we must run aground on a certain island.”
Great news mixed with bad news, right? They are going to survive. Paul had an angelic visitation promising that none would perish but they were still going to have to run the ship aground (dangerous and scary to say the least). We are basically in the same situation today. We have the GREATEST NEWS. God has been speaking to us through the Prophets and He wants to save all of us as well. He will protect us if we let Him. What is the bad news? The Perfect Storm of the spiritual realm and the natural realm colliding is still ahead. We are going to have to run this ship aground and it will appear to be destroyed no doubt. I have told you all many times that America has to die or at least look like it has died before the Lord will come before the tomb calling Lazarus (US) forth. Our nation will be resurrected.
Through this blog post, I am going to say something that might surprise some. Some of you receiving my mailings may be greatly encouraged and not fearful at all but some of you still might not be grasping the things the Lord has been sharing and so I am here to tell you that no matter what comes, no matter how trying times ahead get. No matter how much our world seems to be upside down, no matter what you see on the news or even outside your windows in the months ahead, 'DO NOT BE AFRAID'. Even before Jesus went to the Cross, He told His disciples
John 14:1 & 14:27
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
Can you imagine? Jesus was going to be beaten, nailed to a cross and hoisted up for all to see as men mocked and laughed and yet He still told them not to be troubled. If He told them not to be troubled, He must have meant it was possible.
I am going to step out even further here and say even if you hear that they have actually assassinated Donald Trump (DO NOT BELIEVE IT AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED). Even if you see it on national TV, please remember that they have been using sets, actors, and CGI for years now to deceive us. Hollywood has been involved in all that we have seen since the fake inauguration. 'DO NOT BELIEVE IT' because Donald Trump is completely insulated and fully protected by God and the Hosts of Heaven. If I haven't already mentioned it former Presidents once they leave office only have 3 or 4 secret service still assigned to them. From all appearances Trump apparently still has countless Security around him at all times.
Print this out because when the electricity goes out, I want you to be able to look back at this particular blog/article and re-read it over and over if you have to. Why am I saying don't be afraid and don't believe what they show you or tell you? Because just as the angel told Paul that 'all those who sail with him' would not perish. I too have heard from the Lord that He is covering and protecting those who I have been sharing and ministering to for several years now. In Paul's situation, he appears to be the only Believer and therefore the rest of the people were not worshipers of God and so they had no covenant with Him. The entire series of events could have destroyed them all, but God spares them all for the sake of one. Because of Paul, they were going to survive this ordeal. What am I trying to say here?
First of all, I do realize that most on my mailing list are already Believers. Therefore, if you believe God can and will protect you and your family and the things that belong to you then you're already in a covenant relationship with the Lord and you, probably like me, are not even worried about the things to come. You are fully trusting Him. A tornado could come, and you know it would go right around your house. If an earthquake hits your city, other houses may see damage, but it won't come near your dwelling. If a Hurricane is headed in your direction, you and your family will be safe and nothing that you own will be destroyed in any way, but there are some that I fully believe I am covering just as Paul did on that ship.
As a side note, some will be surprised to know that I am standing on Exodus 10:23b that my home and family will still have light even when the days of darkness that have been prophesied come, and you can stand on it too. It has also been prophesied through several that there will be food shortages, outages of phones and internet, but I believe if we use our authority, prayers, decrees etc... we don't have to be partakers of it all. By the way, the days of darkness ahead are not just electrical outages. Let's look at Exodus 10:21...
Exodus 10:21-23
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
The darkness that our world will experience will be darkness that can be FELT. Yet the Israelites had light in their dwellings. I sound crazy but the truth is we have what we say. We have what we believe. I'm confessing it, speaking to it, and making sure that I have taken the time to prophecy what I want rather than accepting what the world will experience. That's the difference. You can take what is to come as a victim or take it as a victor. If you choose to believe like the world that God won't do anything for you then that is what you will have. In another version of Exodus 10:23b it says they had natural light, but the Egyptians were literally in darkness that could be FELT, and they couldn't see anything or anyone for three days. We all know it's coming. We are all waiting for it, aren't we? I encourage you to expect it because we want to get to the other side where we are rejoicing but don't let your mind take you down dark roads of accepting it or forcing you to believe that you have to experience the darkness like the world will. God has told us over and over that the darkness is for them. It is not for us.
My point is that even if you are worried that you won't get to the other side. Even if you are on my list, receiving all of my mailings, and can't seem to get the faith that you feel you need. I wholeheartedly believe that like those on the ship with Paul, you will be safe and will not perish in the storms still to come. People often believe that it is prideful to feel this way but if they knew the word of God and understood covenant then they would understand that because I believe in the covenant that Abraham had with God, I am Abraham's seed and therefore I too have the same covenant so therefore the people around me are blessed and protected because of me and they just really don't know or understand it (Acts 3:25) the same way that I do. They live in a world where things happen by chance, coincidence etc.... and they completely discount God in everything. I however believe there is no coincidence or chance, but that God is in everything, and believing and having faith is what actually changes your life including the things and/or people that are around you.
So, what changed?
So, in the beginning, Paul was warning the men that this was a really bad idea and that they were going to suffer great loss even of life. As a reminder...
Acts 27:10 “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.”
But then He has an angelic visit, and not only does he know for sure that God is protecting him, but he is also able to encourage the entire crew that they too will be safe even though they are going to have to run the ship aground and it is going to be destroyed, but no lives will be lost.
Acts 27:22-24
22 And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you.
I felt it necessary to seek the Lord for you all. You are all so important to me and I wanted an answer from the Lord. I did these mailings for years with only 30 subscribers and now we are literally in the hundreds that go out daily but there was a time when I was crying out to the Lord and asking, 'Am I wasting my time sending these mailings? Are people being changed or encouraged? Is it time to stop doing them now? Is there something else that You want me to do to get to more people? Have I told my mailing list enough or shared enough prophecies or prophecies fulfilled to help them to understand what is happening and where you are ultimately taking us? Lord, I don't want to get to the point where people are just deleting e-mails. Maybe they've moved on and are hearing from others and just don't want to tell me that they really don't read the ones I send anymore.' It was a huge battle daily believe me and in all this time I've only taken 1 week off to fast and pray. Thankfully now I do receive encouraging emails that continuously keep me plugging along and because God connected me to Stacy Whited's Prophetic Report my mailing list grows daily now.
So, what changed for Paul? The answer is the visitation of the Angel telling him what was ahead for him. It wasn't death that was ahead of him, but God wanted to encourage him that no matter how things appeared right now in the midst of this storm he was in He was still sending him to meet with Caesar. For a short amount of time, Paul thought they would all perish but God wanted him to know that He was protecting him and so He sent word (the Angel) to tell him 'Hey, you've got to go see Caesar so I'm going to make sure you get to the other side.' Paul didn't say to the angel, 'Thanks for coming, thanks for the visitation but I don't believe you. I'm sure this ship and storm is going to kill me. I've given up so, please angel, say goodbye to the Lord for me.' No, he immediately knew he was safe. God was on his side. Once he had this experience, he wholeheartedly believed that there would be no loss of life. He fully understood that he was the one man of God on the ship that could encourage those around him that they too would not perish. This too is what we have today. The Lord has told me, and many prophetic voices are also telling us that we will not perish.
YOU WILL NOT PERISH...
Dear ones, I too am encouraging you this day that you will not perish. You may feel tossed to and fro. I can't stop that as God continues to promise shaking like we've never experienced in our lives through the prophecies, but I believe my prayer covering over each of you will keep you. If you have not anointed your doors (Do it! Now is the time). If you are not taking communion (Do it!) Yes, you can do this at your house. The teaching for how to do it is in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. Also, Acts 2:46 says they took the Lord's supper in their homes.
Acts 2:46 And day after day they regularly assembled in the temple with united purpose, and in their homes, they broke bread [including the Lord’s Supper]. They partook of their food with gladness and simplicity and generous hearts,
If you are doing all of these things then, praise the Lord. If you're learning authority, dominion, intercession, making decrees and getting into the word for yourself then, praise the Lord, but even if you are still not getting it. I don't mean rebelling against God. I mean just not getting it all yet. I believe you are protected because you are in this ship with me. I hope that makes sense. It's not a prideful statement. It is not me who saves you. Only God can protect us from what is to come, but some feel closer relationships to God than others. We saw this with Jesus when hanging on the cross John was the only disciple there and Jesus literally asked John to take care of His mother. He knew He was going to the Cross so why didn't He ask one of the other disciples to care for her? Also, when He pulled aside only a few of the disciples to experience the Transfiguration. He didn't take them all. Others were simply not ready for what they would see or experience. He speaks more of Peter and John than he does of Thomas or others. Jesus proved this out. I have always believed it was the disciples themselves who chose how close they would be to Jesus.
In Acts 27:35 we see Paul taking communion and getting the others to do the same. None of what I am saying is about me. It's all about Him but He does not want you in fear so He wants me to make sure that you stand and believe with me that we will not only be safe and protected from what the wicked suffer but also that even if some don't feel as close to Him at times as they'd like, He still has their backs. He still loves you. He still protects and cares for you. He is faithful even when at times we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13).
Acts 27:34-37
34 Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it, he began to eat. 36 Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. 37 And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship.
It is very important to remember that not knowing things doesn't help anyone. Not knowing that a train is coming while parked on train tracks is not going to help you. In fact, more often than not it can kill you. It is wisdom to get understanding about things. Therefore, if people are ignoring God or His word then of course bad things can come. Sadly, many Christians live their lives this way. Not living for God or caring what He has to say yet blaming Him when things don't go the way they wanted them to or something bad happens in their lives. Hosea 4:6 tells us that we can literally be destroyed for a lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
This is one of the things I feel people miss the most about God and His word and I know I've said it before. If we choose to ignore the Creator of anything and not read the instructions for how something works or how it gets put together, we are basically standing in pride and saying we don't need the Creator and we are smarter than the instructions they've given us. If people choose not to open God's mouth (the Bible) then yes, they have no true knowledge of Him or His ways, right? So, without the knowledge God freely wants us to have we can be destroyed.
THE SECOND SHIP AND JONAH...
Just as Paul and others went through a terrible ordeal on a ship, I was reminded of Jonah and his crew mates who were pretty shook up about their journey as they allowed this Prophet at the last minute to board their ship and try to head to Tarshish.
Jonah 1:3-5
In this story, however, Jonah pays to get on a ship because he is trying to flee God, and because of his presence on the ship they have to start throwing tons of stuff over. I noted specifically in this story that these men were so terrified that they prayed to their gods. Did you see that? Their gods, not Jonah's God or the God of Heaven and Earth. There was absolutely no way they were going to survive this storm. They had no idea that it was God the Creator of all that brought this storm upon them. They had no clue that this was happening because of Johah. It is actually Jonah who realizes that God does not want him to run and is trying to get his attention. Here again is a story where those that are around you can go through either good or bad things because of you. Unlike Paul's story Jonah had to realize it was his fault and that God would keep it up until he sacrificed (there is more to why God wanted Jonah to sacrifice as you read more of his story and realize the heart issues Jonah was dealing with, but I won't delve into that now). Another thing to note here is we have three days yet again. The three days of darkness, three days in the belly of the whale (which would have been darkness) are all significant and prophetically speaking of Jesus being in the Tomb for three days.
3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be broken up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
Jonah 1"17
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Thankfully Jonah comes to his senses and figures out that God is the one doing this to get his attention. He confesses and the men are of course angry asking why he did this to them? He tells the men they should just throw him over the side of the ship. Okay so, that sounds pretty crazy, doesn't it? Or does it speak of faith knowing that God will somehow save him? They weren't docked or anything, but the men are quick to throw him over, and what happens? The storm in this case ceases and the men are alive and well but now Jonah is floating in the sea and God sends a remedy of sorts.
By the way, the Bible does not say a Whale swallowed up Jonah. It simply tells us that a big fish did so, and we make assumptions because of the times we live in and what we think could have happened in our own minds, but let's be honest, we don't know every creature that has ever been alive on this earth or in our oceans. What about something that's gone extinct? My point is we take stories even from the Bible and try to put them into our time frame, our rules, our laws and we completely ignore that God Himself is above all of that and can do anything that He wants to do. This is His creation. Either way, Jonah has three very dark days in the belly of the fish until he repents and tells God he will do what the Lord has asked him to do. In Paul's ship story an angelic visit changes everything and because of Paul all of the crew is being kept safe and in Jonah's ship story the crew were terrified and had no way out other than to throw Jonah over. They were literally in danger because of Jonah's rebellion.
I hope that you are either standing and believing God for yourself and your family or that by being in this ship with me you can take the things that I have either personally shared or the mailings that I share from the prophets that encourage us all that 'we are not appointed to wrath.' His children will see glory while the Lord judges the wicked. Psalm 91 (which I hope you are reading out loud over your family daily) says...
Psalm 91:8 Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked.
That means we will see it but don't have to experience it. We don't have to let it control us or affect us. Which reminds me of another Psalm.
Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
We have God's protection whether we are a person of great faith that can stand on our own or whether we are close enough to God to be in the right ship. I've heard it said that there are 365 'FEAR NOTs' in the Bible. I've never personally counted them all but that is one for every day of the year, so beloved, Fear Not... God wants us to count it all joy and I will close by saying that I understand that it's hard to do right now in the midst of all this craziness, but we must take God seriously when He says, 'Do not be afraid'.
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Sharing a few songs that I know I've shared before, but it never hurts to resend them and remind you of God's protection.
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