Hey, God loves you and because He loves you there's going to come a time when you're going to have to go into the wilderness. I'm not talking about becoming like Bear Grylls and eating raw wriggling fish from a mountain pond - the wilderness can be many things. You see God is unchanging and perfect but we are not - we always need to change and grow - and often the best way for us to grow is through trials and tests of our faith. Sadly as humans we naturally often prefer comfort but character isn't built while sitting in an arm chair with a remote in your hand eating tasty snacks. Faith, Trust, Ability, Character and Discernment are built in the tough times when our comfort often is taken away. For you the wilderness might be a new school, a new job, moving to a new state, it might be the end of a toxic relationship, loss, rejection or even a death in your family. The wilderness might also be things taken away from you that gave you comfort yet made slow and lazy like cars, motorbikes, people, position and money. Why would God take away things like this from us? Because He knows better than us and can see much further ahead. He knows what we really are and what we can really do and He knows the best way to find that truth in us and bring it out to be seen.

The wilderness is unfamiliar, vast and dangerous. It puts us outside of our comfort zone and brings our weaknesses to be seen and addressed. The wilderness is full of predators, disease and risk - yet it's the wilderness that brings out our insight, skills and resliance that we didn't know we had before. In the Bible many of the heroes of faith were sent into the wilderness and it was there in that wilderness that they found God and their character was formed and honed into what God truly saw in them. It was in the wilderness that God found and comforted Hagar after she was treated harshly and sent away by Sarah. Joseph found God in his wilderness in Egypt where God unfolded his promised path as the leader and deliverer of his family. Moses was sent into the wilderness and found God in the burning bush and his calling as the leader of God's people out of Egypt. Elijah was sent into the wildness and was fed by ravens in the middle of a famine while being hunted for his life by an evil witch. Esther's wilderness was a foreign kingdom full of danger and enemies yet she found the favour of God and became the Queen sent to aid her people. Ruth's wilderness was the sorrow of losing her husband and an unknown land yet she clung to God and found her path as the great grandmother of King David.

King David spent many years as a shepherd boy in the wilderness fighting the lion and the bear and it was there he was being prepared by God for war and kingship of God's people. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness as an outcast and a wild man yet he paved the way for the Son of God. But the greatest picture of the wilderness has to be Jesus. It was the Spirit of God that led Him into the wilderness to be tempted and tested by Satan the god of this world. Jesus faced the one who had once tried to take His throne in Heaven in three rounds while completely physically depleted yet walked away from fight the undefeated and undisputed champion. He met every single trial head on, He never backed down and stood firm as a rock in a storm as the true King He really is. So when it comes time for you to go into the wilderness, don't fear it. Be excited because many have gone before you into the wilderness and it was in the wilderness that they found two very important things. They found God and they found themselves. Make God your shelter in the wilderness, make Him your strong tower, your deliver and your sword. Put your trust in Him and not your experience, knowledge or skill and He will not fail you. God is with you and He loves you.

[ Proverbs 3:5,6 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ] 

God loves your heart. So much more than words can describe. He values and seeks after your heart far more than anything else. He isn't after your money, your time or your required duty - they're all just things and actions. He wants you - the real you deep, deep inside. God is jealous for you because He knows how much you are really worth and longs for relationship with you. Jesus said "Where your heart is, that's where your treasure will be". God wants your heart in His hands because He knows its the safest place for something so deeply and intricately valuable to be. True relationship with God isn't about the things you do or the things you give - it's about the heart behind it all. Jesus spoke quite harshly to the religious leaders of His day in Matthew 23 saying that they had completely lost the point behind all the things they were doing in the Name of God. They paraded their righteousness in the streets before all, they built giant grand temples, they made sure they were known and revered by all and demanded to be referenced in lofty titles by the common man. Yet Jesus said they were like tombs that on the outside had been plastered and painted with brilliant beautiful white paint, decorated with flowers and all precious stones... yet inside was a rotting, stinking corpse.

You'd almost rather find that corpse lying in the street where all could see it and deal with it there than to see a cadaver dressed up like a show piece covered in makeup and jewelery like it's going to the Oscars. It's like having a delicious chocolate Easter egg with a dead baby chicken inside. Honestly I couldn't think of anything worse and God feels exactly the same. Here's the thing - God sees everything. Nothing is hidden from Him so really there's no point in trying to pretend to be something you're not. The real reason Jesus was quite harsh on the exalted religious leaders of His day (and today too) is because they lacked love and compassion and their main focus was to be noticed by people to get their praise, approval and money rather than after seeking the heart of God. God loves your heart and wants to have a deep, meaningful relationship with you - not just a once a week affair or some boring pattern of behaviour on a locked in  schedule. He wants you - all of you and that starts with your heart. Imagine you say are in a relationship with someone and you set a few reminders on your phone calendar to buy chocolates or flowers every two weeks and have a date night once a month on the first Monday. Some people would say that sounds great and that you'd be a great boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife. But then the truth is you spend every single second outside of those scheduled times thinking only about yourself, looking after yourself, buying things for yourself, helping yourself etc.

Imagine that every single time you gave a gift to the person you loved it was always out in public so others could see - or every time you went out for dinner it was to a place you know they love you and think you're awesome because you deliberately tip big there. See what I'm saying? Sure you've done some nice things but really was your motive behind it pure or self-serving? Now imagine you buy a puppy. You buy it a bed and feed it every night at 6pm on the dot. You throw a new toy outside every 2 weeks but you never ever spend any real time with your dog. Then when visitors come over you bring the puppy inside let it sit on the lounge, cuddle it in your arms and show it off to all your friends. That would be pretty lame hey. I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad here today but I wanna say that God isn't a show piece, a trendy accessory, a cool reason to socially gather - or even a puppy that you bring close to your heart only when others are around. Jesus spoke to a woman that was foreigner in John chapter 4 and told her that there is coming a time when those that are the children of God will no longer worship God in the designated traditional places - but instead worship God in Spirit and in Truth. So what was Jesus saying? He was saying that God wants your heart. He wants a relationship with you that matters when no one is watching or listening but Him. He wants it to matter or He doesn't want it at all.

There's nothing wrong with church attendance, giving money, praying out loud, giving your time and serving others but if your heart isn't in it for God - then it's completely pointless. How do I know? Because I spent years and years of my life doing exactly that. Mindless religious repetition when in truth my heart was full of hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, greed and lust. I tried to find God but I tried to find Him my way doing the things I wanted to do that served my interests and all it got me was compounded pain and suffering. I memorised scripture, taughtsunday school classes, led youth groups, preached at church, sang songs, gave money, cleaned toilets, mowed lawns, prayed with the sick and dying - yet all of it was worthless because my heart didn't belong to God. I tried to find God and the peace I so desperately needed through religious duty but that's like trying to find your keys lost in the sand at the beach on your hands and knees using only a fork in your mouth to comb the sand. It's absurd, it looks ridiculous and just going about it completely the hard way. You wanna find those keys? Go get a metal detector - and He's called the Holy Spirit. Stop trying to fix a God shaped hole yourself. It's something only God can do and He can only do it when we stop doing things our way and surrender to His ways.

What God wanted from me was to give up. To stop doing things my way and 'Be still and know that He is God'. I thank God that He allowed my life to get to the point where nothing mattered anymore, where I considered ending it all because that was when I finally gave up and took Jesus hand and gave Him my heart in full. Because of Him now I'm a different man - now I have true purpose. Now I know I'm just a broken man thankful to God for His immense mercy, grace and love that I know I definitely don't deserve yet I so desperately need. I am the forgiven thief on the cross next to Jesus who if justice was served deserved all I had coming to me - yet Jesus said He would take it all for me. Now when I do what I do for God and it's because I truly love Him and want nothing in return or to be noticed or praised by anyone. God loves your heart. He knows who you really are. The real you. What's He's after is surrender. He won't force it on you because then it doesn't mean anything. He wants a willing, meaningful and fulfilling relationship with you - and that always starts with surrender. And when I say it always starts with surrender I mean it all started when the King of all Kings surrendered His throne to become a man and die for us in our place. He loves you desperately. Trust Him with your heart. It's the safest place it can be.

[ Luke 10:27 - And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." ]   

If you haven't had this happen to your phone yet consider yourself blessed. No one likes brokenness... well, almost no one... God loves you more than words and wants to help you in all areas of your life. Here's the thing about God's love... It's never pushy, it doesn't force anything and it always gives you a choice. You can see this type of love in 1 Corinthians 13. God obviously knows and wants the absolute very best for us as His creations on this planet but He never removes the choice from us. That's another way He loves us - He lets us choose. Many times in the bible this crossroad is pitched at us as "Choose life or death, choose peace or war, choose pleasure or promise" (Deuteronomy 30:19). God is a good God who loves to save and deliver us as many times as we call on Him - after all that's why Jesus is called our Saviour - because He saves us over and over. That said, there are a few things that can stop God working from in your life and bringing you the healing, restoration, peace and the provision you need and you might be surprised what they are. The average person would immediately think it's gotta be sin. It must be that if I'm a bad person and have done too many bad things then I've blown my chances with God and He's not interested in me anymore.


A lot of people think that God is counting up all the good and bad things you've done like Santa with a Christmas list and weighing up which of us is "better stock" from the human race and which ones need to be discarded. The truth is actually that none of us are any good, none of us measure up, none of us have any merit of our own even if we spent our entire life trying to be the best we can. Even more truth to add to that is that God has no problem pouring out His grace and love on us while we are in the middle of doing the wrong thing. Often it is His very grace when we don't deserve it that changes us the most. An amazing truth about God is that while God was speaking to Moses on the mountain giving Him the Ten Commandments for how we should live together and towards God, Aaron was down below on the plain led by the devil to create the idol of a golden calf and said to the people "Here, this is the god that rescued you out of Egypt...worship it". God sees and knows everything and could see exactly what Aaron was doing yet He was instructing Moses to put Aaron in charge of all the laws and the upkeep of God's ways. God's grace is that radical - it sees with eyes beyond who we are now and into who God sees us to be. He sees us for who we are as broken people that need help and wants to do exactly that as our loving Heavenly Father.


There are two things I've found that will stop God working in your life from my own personal experience and from what God showed me from the Bible. One is pride. God says in the bible "He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). The other is unbelief. The Bible also says "without faith it's impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus highlighted this when He said that He couldn't do many miracles in His own home town because they only chose to see Him as a Jewish carpenters son and not the Son of God. In the bible there is a very powerful story in Matthew 15 of a Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus pleading on His mercy that He helps her daughter who is terribly oppressed and tormented by a demon. This woman had no hope for a cure outside of Jesus and she wasn't planning on taking no for an answer. She knew that Jesus held the power to heal and save her daughter because she saw Jesus not as a man but as the King of all Kings and the Son of God. Jesus then tells this woman "I wasn't sent by God to foreigners, I was sent first to my people the Israelites..." But it's the woman's reply to what Jesus said that is truly mind blowing. She says "Yes...but all I need is a crumb from the Kings table... just a crumb and I know it will save my daughter!" She believed so much in who Jesus really was that even the smallest fragment from Him would change her and her daughters world forever. And she was right. 

The same happened with the woman that suffered with the blood disease for 12 years in Luke chapter 8. She said to herself "If I can only just touch the corner of Jesus cloak... just to brush my finger on the very corner of the Kings robe then I'll be healed." Both of these women got exactly what they needed from Jesus. Were these women perfect? No. But pride had died and faith was motivating them to move to Jesus. Jesus saw the brokenness of both these women and responded in love and mercy giving them the healing they needed. This is what God is looking for in us. Brokenness. He knows we are all just broken people, it's just us that need to get that revelation that we are broken and need God's help. Without adding to the Bible I wonder if there was a conversation in Heaven between God and the Angels... I wonder if He looked down and saw us on this planet dying, killing, stealing, hurting each other and said "Look at them, they are all so broken... someone needs to help them get back to what they're meant to be" I wonder if there were voices saying "But who will go? Who will help them...?"

I know who it was that would have been the reply. Jesus would have said "I'll go... I'll go and help them... After all I made them and I've never stopped loving them..." Other voices may have said "But they will kill you... they'll hurt you... they'll shame you... they'll betray you... they'll take everything from you and leave you..." Jesus would have replied "Yes... I know they will. They will do all those things because they're broken. But I'm still going. I'm going to help them because they're worth it. They're worth more than they know and I'm going to show them that... I'll go and die for them to save them" So if you need God to help youtoday, be broken before Him. He finds brokenness irresistible and loves to save all who call on His Name. Jesus became brokenness for you so that you can be whole. God loves you

[ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. - Psalm 51:17 ]

There are many stories of God's mercy in the Bible and most of them you've probably already heard before. I'll share a one that jumped out at me that I hadn't really seen before. God's mercy is another type of God's amazing love for us in that He doesn't deal out to us what we deserve. The words pity, compassion and grace also describe God's immense love for us in that He loves us for who we are - not what we do. The ultimate picture of God's mercy was Jesus - the Son of God - dying in our place bringing us the undeserved grace of God - but today I want to go back a lot further than that. Way, way back to Genesis. In Genesis 4 the very first humans to live on this earth Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. These two sons were very different as is the case in most families - Abel was great with animals and Cain was gifted with produce and growing things. God loves diversity and gives to each of us different skills and talents so we can all exist together and help each other with our different strengths. The problem was, Cain didn't see his brothers talents as something beneficial to him and became jealous of him. Abel was also a prophet of God who heard from God and spoke openly about God's ways which Cain also didn't like.

Because we all make mistakes, God called for both brothers to bring a sacrifice for the wrong they had done. God honored Abel's sacrifice but told Cain He wasn't happy with his sacrifice and to make it right. Cain became very upset that his sacrifice was rejected and rather than change his behaviour and simply bring what God had asked, He thought he'd fix the problem another way. A far more sinister way. Instead of listening to God, Cain listened to the poisonous whisper in his ear from the devil and decided it was time to take 'golden boy' Abel out of the picture - after all then there would be no more competition for God's favour. So Cain invited his brother Abel to come look at something in his field and when no one was watching he attacked him and killed him. Problem solved. No...not really. God sees everything and nothing is hidden from His gaze. So God called out to Cain and said "Where is Abel?" knowing full well where he was and saw the whole turn of events as it happened. Cain replied "I don't know, He's not my problem...". Now here's where it gets interesting. Abel was innocent, Cain was guilty. Cain had killed an innocent man so the simple solution was that Cain should die for his crime. Life for Life seemed only fair - after all Cain deserved it, he was a nasty, horrible murderer.


But God didn't kill Cain. He in His mercy said to Cain "Because of what you've done you now need to live somewhere else. It'll be better for you and everyone else if you start over in a new place". Cain realized that once other people find out that he was a murderer they would want to exact their own justice upon him and kill him. Cain pleaded with God "Once people see me they will kill me for what I've done to Abel". Again, God could have just let this be and let the ramifications of Cain's actions catch up with him - after all, Cain deserved everything that came to him after what he'd done. But God in His amazing mercy said "No Cain, no one will kill you or even touch you. I will put a mark on you so that if anyone even tries to kill you they will bring on themselves seven times the same fate".  So you see, that's God's mercy. We all make mistakes, there's not a single person on this earth that hasn't done something wrong. And if we all got what we deserved for what we did, then there wouldn't be any people left at all. The truth is humanity without God is utterly hopeless. You leave us be to our own devices for long enough and we turn on each other and kill and consume everything. It's happened throughout history over and over and over.


From ancient times where mankind conquered and killed to expand empires right up to the current World Wars and the ones that are still being fought and bled today over greed and power. So what's the answer for us all? How do you save a population that is hell bent on self destruction? You answer it with Mercy - and Jesus was that mercy embodied. He decided that rather than all of us die for our crimes - He would die once for us all. To end the killing - He would be killed. Jesus decided to show us the greatest picture of mercy ever. The cross is the very image of mercy. I know I don't deserve the mercy that God's given me for the things I've done in this life. I don't deserve to be forgiven and given another chance - but His mercy is far greater than my guilt and my shame. His forgiveness far outweighs my sins on the scales and trust me when I say I had my side of the scales stacked up pretty high. The simple truth is this - no matter what you've done, no matter where you've been or what you think you are - God's mercy for you is greater than all that stuff. God loves you and always has mercy for you. So if today you're feeling like the weight of what you've done is just too heavy, too much and too hard to bear - kneel before the King and drop it at Jesus feet and He will gladly take it from you. Jesus said "Come to me all you who are weary and have heavy burdens and I will give you rest". His mercy is always available and it's available to you. God loves you.

[ Psalm 103:10 - He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. ] 

Today I wanna share about one of my heroes. It's probably not going to be someone you'd expect or guess very easily. It's a woman from the bible who had amazing faith in God and truly powerful, humbling love for others. You're probably thinking its gotta be Mary the mother of Jesus... nope. Maybe Ruth... nope. Hmmm, Esther... again nope. Sarah...? No. This woman was very beautiful yet many did not see her true value, strength and character - they only saw her outer beauty. But this girl had so much more to her than what you saw with just your eyes. The inner strength and faith this woman had was enough to bring down an entire fortified city. Guessed who it is yet? Her name was Rahab. A true hero and inspiration to us all. Not only does her story get recorded in the book of Judges, she also gets a mention in the "Faith Hall of Fame" in Hebrews 11 along with huge names such as Abraham, Moses, Samson, Gideon, David and Samuel.

Rahab was a prostitute, something many looked down upon, judged and scorned - yet these same people would visit her in the dark hours of the night to fulfill the corruption of their hearts. I'll say this plainly, no girl wakes up on her 10th birthday and says "I think I'll be a prostitute when I grow up". Rahab was a slave to corruption. She didn't want to be a prostitute at all and I can prove it. She hated doing what she did but was forced into a horrible devaluing career path by circumstances beyond her control. You see the thing is this, God promised the land to His people as an inheritance and the city of Jericho was slap bang right in the way to them getting what God promised. Up until this point God had led His people with strong men of God like Moses, Aaron and Joshua but now it was time for a woman to take the stage. God spoke to the heart of this girl and told her what He was going to do, that the city would fall and that God's people would move in and take control of it. Rahab listened to God and trusted in Him and saw this as her ticket to freedom - not only for her, but for her whole household.

So when the spies came gather intel on the city - Rahab was ready, her heart was already prepared. She was ready to give up the life she had and take hold of freedom that came from trusting and putting her faith in God. The city falling meant she lost everything - her clients, her job and the few friends she had. But she was happy to let it all go. It was time for freedom and she knew it. She took in the spies, protected them from the city guards and helped them escape down the walls unnoticed. When the city fell and the soldiers moved in they were given strict orders to find and rescue this girl and her whole family. Because of her amazing faith, her entire family was saved and gained freedom. God spoke to me a few days ago with this phrase "I do not call the qualified, I qualify the called" then He asked me to speak about Rahab. Now I know what He meant. Jesus doesn'tlook on the outward appearance as we do, He looks on the heart. In this story Rahab was someone many would easily dismiss as dirty, lower class filth yet God saw amazing value and treasure in her that was used to bring salvation to all those she loved and God's people obtaining their promised land.

This girl was a true hero of love. Her love didn't just speak - it moved and acted. So don't you ever believe that lie that you're not good enough, that you've done too much andtheres no way God could ever forgive or use you for His Kingdom. God says "I use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise". Jesus will use anyone. Anyone who bows the knee before the King of all Kings is given full rights to His Kingdom. Complete and final adoption into the family of God and amazing purpose for your life. So today, just trust and believe in God - take His hand and He will lead you. He doesn't require you to jump through all the hoops of religion, He just says "drop what you're holding and come". He gives life and I can personally attest that it's a truly amazing life - far beyond your imagination and comprehension. Who knows, you might the catalyst to many others freedom around you... God loves you.  

The Bible talks many times about childlike faith, that God is our loving Heavenly Father, we are all brothers and sisters and that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to children. I always wondered why God had so many references to us behaving like children when it comes to faith and our role in God's Kingdom. I started praying and asking God to show me why this was and He opened my eyes to some interesting things. Pride is one of the biggest things that stops us being used for God, and God doing things in our lives. The bible says "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble". Lucifer fell from heaven and became the Devil when pride entered his heart. Pride is based on accomplishment, giftings, possessions and comparison to others. Pride is self reliance. God hates pride because its a deception. It's us believing that we are better than we know and thinking we are now good enough to do things on our own without giving any care to its effects on others. God can't and wont ever use pride. It's nothing but rocks in the clay that must only be broken.


Sadly pride is a common thread many times with the Kings of Israel in the bible where one King would love God, God would bless them, then the next King would get proud and forget God. Pride comes from the devil and is his clever tactic to build tall strong walls around your heart so that neither God or others can help you. Pride deceives us with a false sense of security saying "You're just fine the way you are, you have no need to change, no need to confess or repent, you're better than that..." Here's the interesting part... Little children under the age of 3 years old very rarely have pride. You see little children don't have a lot of accomplishments or experience because they haven't been around very long. They don't have a lot of possessions because it's only what their parents have given them. They can't really earn money or buy things nor do they have a job. They also don't have a lot of giftings that are evident because they havent developed yet. Little children of this age often don't compare how good they are with other 2 and 3 year olds - instead they'd much rather just play with them and have fun. And little children are extremely reliant on the parents or guardians in their lives for just about everything. Food, clothing, being cleaned up, reassurance, guidance, protection - the list goes on and on.

So what I believe Jesus was saying was that we are meant to view ourselves before God in the same way as humble little children that are reliant on Him for everything. For our guidance, our peace, our food, our protection, our clothing and our purpose in life. When you read the Lord's prayer from Matthew 6 with this in mind it makes sense. It's a prayer from a child's heart. I believe we're also meant to love others as children do. So just as little kids need hugs and encouragement, God knows we need to be reassured and loved too. And in the same way little children give love without expecting anything in return. They don't manipulate others using the name of 'love' to get things or gain public favour - they just love freely and purely out of natural need to be loved. This is why the verse says "we cry Abba Father!". It's not just a poetic phrase or a great illustration - it's how we are actually meant to behave towards God. Just like a defenseless baby cries out for food and reassurance so we are to cry out to God our Father who loves us for everything we need. And because of His enormous and radical love for us, He responds and gives to us in love. God loves you. I pray for you today that He blesses you and draws your heart to Him and His great love.

[ Romans 8:15 - So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." ]

It's time to stop being concerned about what "they" say and think of you - and instead focus on and start believing what "He" says about you (Galatians1:10). You know what I'm talking about, the faceless crowd of "they" that hold you back day by day. The ones that make you conservative, careful, quiet, timid and want you to live in their confines of their control. Jesus never made you to live as someone else's puppet, play thing or doormat. He came to bring you true freedom. He says "be careful for nothing" and "All things are possible to them that believe". He wants you to have freedom to think for yourself, see for yourself, understand for yourself with clarity and purpose given to you by God Himself (Acts 2:17). God wants to deal with you directly as an extremely valuable Son and Daughter of His Kingdom. He doesn't want to or need to go through a proxy to reach you. The veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died to give you direct access to the Father.


Now ANYONE can come. ALL are welcome and invited. He wants you to live without fear - of anyone or anything. He knows you inside and out and loves you deeply. You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). There is no respect of persons with God so why do we elevate and hold so much weight on the opinions of others? God loves you. Concern yourself with His truth about you. He says "I have great plans for you and I love you" (Jeremiah 29:11) So be you today - not someone else's version of you. And if you're not sure who or what that is - great news! God will reveal it to you if you seek and ask it of Him (James 1:5). If you've messed up, simply ask for forgiveness and Jesus promises to forgive completely and instantly every time ! (1 John 1:9). Then get back up on that horse and ride on in freedom and love. You're worth too much to stay a product of lies, envy and hatred. You are precious in your Heavenly Fathers eyes and full of amazing purpose, love life and potential. All He needs you to do is take His hand and follow Him, just like He did to the disciple He passed by in the marketplace. Just like the thief on the cross. Just like the woman at the well. He still seeks disciples of His Kingdom. He still sets captives free today. He wants you to be a bold, confident true and unafraid shining light of God's truth, hope, love and mercy. God is love. So today, instead of listening to the "they" - listen to Love. "They" are a cage but HE is the key to true freedom. God loves you.

[ Galatians 5:1 - So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. ]

This is something that's been on my heart for way too long. I understand why Jesus washed the feet of His disciples at the very last meal they shared together. It was the complete opposite of the type of kingdom that the Devil offered Jesus when he tempted Him in the wilderness saying "bow down before me and I'll give you all these kingdoms to rule". The Devil is a liar only cares and appeals to the temporary things we can see like money, fame, sex and possessions etc. He offered and wanted Jesus to be a king here on earth and to die a rich old ruler instead of the sacrificial Messiah in the prime of His life that would take away the sins of the world and make the way for us to be back with our Father in Heaven. The real reason Jesus washed their feet was to show His disciples and us what His Kingdom looked like. It wasn't majestic castles, vast processions or extravagant riches and wealth. It was caring, loving, praying for and helping one another. Jesus Kingdom isn't built with bricks, metal and precious stones. Instead it's built with blood, sweat and tears in His Name and lasts forever ever and ever. After all, when Jesus created this world from the very beginning He always wanted us to just coexist in peace and love with Him as our friend and God but sadly we proved pretty quick as humans that without God we turn on each other and become corrupted desperately needing a Saviour. The Kingdom of God is built in love, it moves in love, it speaks in love, acts in love and believes in love. God is love and there was no greater way for Him to show His love for us than the creator willingly laying down His precious life to save us - His creation. True love is to put others needs first. Jesus did that when He died for us. That is the Kingdom of God. Father your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. † 

Ever felt like you don't belong everywhere you go? Ever felt like everyone else seems to fit in except you? Ever felt like you're not enough like the rest of them? Like you stand out as the odd one out in a packed room? Like they all got some message to be a certain type of thing but it must have missed you? Yeah, you have haven't you. Don't lose heart. Some of the greatest heroes of the bible were outcasts. Noah - used greatly by God to rebuild the human race - was called a madman and an outcast of society. Moses - an incredible leader who was used by God to save God's people - was an outcast shepherd for 40 years. Rahab the prostitute - a humble girl with a heart for God was used to bring down the mighty walls of Jericho - an outcast. Elijah - a truly amazing prophet of God used powerfully to open the eyes of his people to their God - was an outcast, an exile, a mountain man.


Ruth - the great grandmother to King David was a Moabite girl surrounded by death in her family and an outcast in a foreign land. King David - one of the greatest Kings of mankind that lived - was hunted and unfairly blamed despite only doing right. Esther - a beautiful Jewish princess in a foreign land with danger and betrayal on every side - was an outcast. John the baptist - the forerunner for the Messiah and called 'greatest born among women' by Jesus Christ - was an outcast and a wild man living in the wilderness. Mary and Joseph were outcasts in a foreign land forced to flee to Egypt to protect the life of their child - the Christ. And finally, Jesus Christ "despised and rejected of men" - the outcast of all outcasts - unfairly murdered by His own creation when all He brought was love and truth to this world.


I believe there's a reason you don't belong. You were made for so much more than to just be another cookie cutter pop-out clone of the others. You were made to stand out. Stop trying to be like them, instead be like Jesus. He walks with the outcasts, He calls them and welcomes them to Him. Don't listen to the voices that pull you down, instead listen to Jesus and His voice that leads and builds. He says "I will NEVER leave you or abandon you". Check your bible - Jesus didn't hang out with the religious types, the rich or the popular - in truth it was them that killed Him.


True heroes and leaders don't care for the opinions and public acceptance of others - instead they care for the plight of others even at their own expense. God loves you and knows you, He has great plans for you. I too am an outcast, I know just how it feels to be scorned and hated by many. I spent most of my life as a chameleon trying to shape shift into acceptable forms for those around me. Yet all it did was erode my identity and pierce my soul. Thanks to Jesus, I now know for a certainty that I am loved by Him - for who I am. I know my identity - I belong to Jesus.  I pray today that you will know that love too. In heaven I plan to party in the room with the outcasts and I warn you if I've got anything to do with it - it's going to be packed and its going to be LOUD! God loves you.

[ James 2:5 - Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? ] 

When is the last time you stopped and just stared at the ocean and it's incredible vastness, complexity, diversity and amazing flurry of constant life and activity? When is the last time you gazed into the sky and let the sunshine warm your face while tracing the lines of the clouds and letting your eyes wander to the far edges of the horizon? When is the last time you went outside at night all alone just to see the stars shining as beacons and testaments of light and hope in the thick endless darkness? Yet in all the immenseness of this amazing world around us by comparison we live on a tiny little green planet floating in orbit in a universe which spans far outside our tiny intellect and understanding. In truth - we as humans are so, so small in the scheme of things yet the Creator of all we see and know seeks a deep, intimate and individual relationship with you - His creation. So much so that He knows you better than you know yourself and wants to reveal exactly that to you. To say you are priceless is the understatement of the century. Put simply and without question - YOU ARE LOVED. I pray for you today as you read this that God reveals even more of your unfathomable worth in His eyes so much so that it changes you day and your life. 

[ Psalm 8:4 - What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? ]