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I was chatting to a congregation member over the phone yesterday and she mentioned that for her birthday in May her family had planned to come visit from all over the world. What with all that is going on with the Covid-19 pandemic they had decided to postpone the arrangement to her birthday next year. She then said something along the lines of when we made the plans we should have said "God willing..." referencing James' words in chapter 4 his letter to the believers. I felt it was a very apt observation.This is the passage from James 4:13-1613 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are like vapour that appears for a little while, then vanishes.15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. No one could have predicted the global disruption to all of our lives that the coronavirus outbreak brought this year. As things progressed event after event got cancelled. Gatherings were called off. Plans were disrupted. Even the things that we've always come to see as constant, things so concrete that we'd never have dreamed of them not happening, would not happen. This global pandemic is a reminder that we do not know what tomorrow will bring or what our life will be.Now this is not to say that we shouldn't make plans. After all Proverbs 21:5 says, "The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance and advantage, but everyone who acts in haste comes surely to poverty," (AMP). It is good to plan, but in our planning we shouldn't become presumptuous. We shouldn't give in to the temptation that having a plan means we have life all figured out. The truth is we don't, there is only one plan that will always come to fruition: "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails," (Proverbs 19:21 NIV).This is why James advises us to remember, in all our planning, to acknowledge, "if the Lord wills , we will live and do this or that." Our lives are in His hands, in fact, all life is in His hands. We are but just a vapour, He is eternal, and it is His plan that will prevail.The wonderful thing about this, for us as believers, is we know that God is good and His plan for our lives, and for all creation, is ultimately good. So even when our plans get disrupted, when nothing seems to go to plan, it's okay because we are still in the will of God. God BlessGraham

So I think I finally get it – after years of people telling me how amazing it is – I have finally experienced it for myself… gardening is pretty cool! For a while now I have often walked around my parent’s garden, and the next thing, an intense pain invades my foot and when I quickly pull it up I have a thorn (or thorns on a bad day) which need to be carefully extracted. This past Sunday Cammie and I decided to do some gardening as we are staying with my parents for the duration of the lockdown (thanks mom and dad!) My goal was to get rid of these pesky weeds which have been hindering my barefoot walks through parts of the garden – their time had come! So with garden rake in hand I began to gently pull at a visible patch of weeds and they slowly began to give way. I pulled and pulled and finally realized that I now had a bare patch of sand staring back at me.Unfortunately while pulling up the weeds I also pulled out all the grass in that area as well… my bad! So I thought, “I must persevere! Maybe I just needed to refine my technique a bit!” Unfortunately my second attempt was no better than the first as this time I decided to throw on some gloves and tackle the task by hand with no luck. When I took time to investigate the patch where there was once grass and weeds I noticed the intricate network of roots that kept these weeds alive. To the best of my knowledge they had intertwined themselves with the grass and it would be really difficult, or next to impossible, to extract them without uprooting the grass as well. Upon pondering on this experience I was reminded of these words by Jesus:24 He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. 26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. 27 The landowner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’ 28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he told them. “‘So, do you want us to go and pull them up?’ the servants asked him. 29 “‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but collect the wheat in my barn.’” – Matthew 13:24-30In Jesus’ kingdom there are good seeds who represent His disciples and weeds who represent false believers and teachers who Satan has sowed amongst these disciples. We see that these false believers and teachers will be present with us to the end of this age and are sometimes quite…

You would think that with the slower pace of life during the lockdown that you find yourself more at peace, more refreshed. And yet, despite the neighbourhood being quiet, my mind has not been so. There are so many messages, news articles, Christian posts and opinions flying about that I found myself growing weary of it all.Living in the information age, the skill we have to develop is not so much the acquiring of information but rather to be discerning in what we take in. Not all good things are good for me.I got to thinking, how do I simplify my thoughts? How do I de-clutter my mind? I recalled the words of that old chorus:Turn your eyes upon JesusLook full, in His wonderful faceAnd the things of earth will grow strangely dimIn the light of His glory and graceIt's like when a camera changes the object of its focus, the background becomes blurred and no longer distracts from what is before you. Focusing on Jesus helps us to quiet our minds. He fills our thoughts and we find peace amidst the storm. I love the way the ISV Bible translates Psalm 62:1-2My soul rests quietly only when it looks to God;    from Him comes my deliverance.2 He alone is my rock, my deliverance, and my high tower;    nothing will shake me.I can understand why Jesus would often draw away on His own, during his time on earth. There must have been a multitude of concerns and responsibilities weighing down upon Him. Yet He was always at peace, for His focus was on the Father.Psalm 23 declares:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.2     He makes me lie down in green pastures,   He leads me beside quiet waters,3     He refreshes my soul...If you are weary, if your mind is cluttered, if your home is noisy and it's difficult to find some peace, know that in Him there is rest and refreshment for your soul. Focus on Jesus and let the rest fade into the background.God BlessGraham