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I have really been enjoying spending time in the gospels and learning from what Jesus has to teach us. There is something very special about spending time focusing on the words of our Savior and looking at how He lived His life and His interactions with others. While reading two nights ago I came across these words in Mark chapter 4: 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and more will be added to you. 25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” I love how Jesus starts this section. He is pretty much saying, “Listen up! This is important!” These verses follow His parable of the sower and the different ways in which people will receive His message. And here Jesus says that we must pay attention to what He has to say because our attitude in regard to how we receive His Word determines how much more we will then receive. Hans F. Bayer writes the following on the word “measure” in the ESV Study Bible: “Measure refers to the attitude with which the word of Jesus is being received… If the hearer embraces Jesus’ message of the kingdom in a rich and powerful way, then still more will be added to you – that is, God will take up residence in that heart and give increased understanding and blessing, both in this age and in the age to come.” What I get from this text and commentary is the more we take Jesus’ Words seriously the more we will get from our relationship with Him. There are some of us who have a little more time on our hands at the moment. So why don’t we spend some time searching what Jesus has to say to us, pay attention to it while applying it, and receive all the more from our incredible Savior? More of Jesus is definitely something we can all benefit from. Much love, Luke

One of the things that I have realised this year is how much I love to hear people praying for someone. I enjoy praying for people myself, but it really lifts my heart to hear someone pray over another person. Even if I don't know the people praying or being prayed for. I experienced this while listening to a Christian radio station one afternoon while driving in my car. At that time they had a segment where a guest pastor would be in the studio and the radio host would read out a prayer request from a listener. The pastor would then pray for that person live on air. This was repeated a number of times as the pastor prayed for various people. At first I wondered why they would make a segment of this, the prayers were for a specific person, not everyone else listening in. What benefit was there to the rest of us?And yet, as I continued listening I felt a sense of joy as I heard the prayer for that person. I prayed along in agreement with the pastor, experiencing the joy of intercession. This is something that I have missed about being gathered together with other believers. I have missed sharing in times of prayer for another, hearing someone's heart as they lift someone up in prayer before the Lord. And so now I'm going to sit back and picture the Apostle Paul dictating these words of prayer to the believers at Colossae, I'm going to imagine that he is praying these words over you and I that get to stand close by, praying silently in agreement with his every word, experiencing the joy of intercession. Here is a prayer for you:9 ...We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. 14 In Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)Amen!God BlessGraham

There have been many encouraging messages going around since the start of our country’s response to the current pandemic (sometimes too many to read!), and many of them have been just that – encouraging and much needed. Some people have had some interesting insights and recognised many positive impacts that the lockdown has had in their lives – such as more family time together, more rest and a whole list of others. While there is nothing wrong with messages like these I have come across some that don’t seem to acknowledge the cost of the pandemic which we are facing. Some messages have even shown a sense of gratitude to Covid-19 itself which is insensitive to the millions of people this disease has affected around the world. While some of us may have experienced only minor inconveniences in this time and may even come out on the other side with some fond memories – there are others who will only remember the pandemic for what it has taken from them.  Some people will only remember losing a loved one to the disease, others will remember the loss of a job or business, while others may only remember the horror of daily fighting for their lives while not having any source of income. In 1 Timothy 2:1-4 Paul writes: 1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  While we are called to offer prayers for everyone in this passage I believe that the global church has a large role to play in this time when it comes to praying for those who have been most negatively affected by the current pandemic. We can intercede for people’s circumstances while also giving thanks for those who are staying strong in their faith and not allowing trying times to lead to doubting God’s goodness. We have the amazing opportunity to pray that our leaders make the best possible decisions and something which I think we can also be praying for are people’s salvation in this trying time since God, “4wants everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” Let’s pray that God intervenes as well as saves those who do not yet know Jesus so that some may remember this as the time they met their true Saviour. So the next time we receive an encouraging message why don’t we offer a prayer for those who are currently not in a place to be encouraged and are in need of God’s intervention? Much Love, Luke