Hey, Can I share something with you that God showed me a few days ago? I was in my car driving and I have an audio Bible randomly mixed into my music play list so that every so often I'll get a different chapter come on. After jamming to some solid tunes John 21 came on through the speakers. Not sure if you'll know what I mean when I say this but there's times when the Bible comes on and of course it's always awesome and I learn stacks from it - then theres these 'other' times... It will come on and it's like my whole world slows down, everything else around fades and my focus becomes pinpoint and I'm hanging off every word said. I know it's God saying to me "I've got something really important for you so listen up". It doesn't happen all the time but when it does I value it so much. So here's the deal, John 21 came on and its the story of the disciples out fishing after Jesus had died. To give you a little bit of a back story, Jesus had been crucified and died and the disciples were all pretty sad and discouraged by it all.


They started to question whether any of this was worth it anymore now that Jesus wasn't here. They had feelings of grief, sadness, loneliness, loss, anger, regret and shame piled on them by their enemy the Devil. So the disciples decided it's probably best we go back to doing what we were good at before Jesus came along - fishing. At least they knew that fishing worked and they could make a humble living from doing it and just slide off into the shadows and live a quiet life. Sadly for them, the fish weren't on their side that night and were all having a big party on the other side of the lake. So the disciples of Jesus spent the whole night slaving away with heavy nets in the cold and the dark and caught absolutely nothing at all. Imagine for a second how these guys would have felt. Complete failures I'd say. Their Savior and friend was dead, they felt alone and abandoned and they couldn't even get the one thing they thought they were good at to work. OK, now here's the good bit. As they're nearing the shore they hear a voice call out "Friends, have you caught any fish?" The disciples answer despondently "No....". The voice calls out again "Throw your nets on the other side of the boat and you'll catch some!" The disciples grumble and think to themselves.. "who does this guy think He is? Were seasoned fishermen and we know what were doing..." But their curiosity and that still small voice saying "go on... give it a try... one more time on the other side..." gets the better of them.


They throw in the nets and little do they know the guy on the beach is the One who made every single fish this planet contains and they listen to His every command. Party relocation. Now the fish party is right there, on that side of the boat. The disciples first feel a few tugs in their net, then a surge and then it feels like they've caught Leviathan himself! They put every single ounce of strength into pulling up the nets into the boat but its simply impossible. The sheer number of fish just can't be brought up above the surface, the only answer is to tow the boat and the nets back to shore. Immediately they knew the signature of this handiwork, it could only be the Master. It could ONLY be Jesus. They were so discouraged and exhausted from working hard all night long and getting nothing yet now their boats lay on the sand with nets full of thousands of wriggling fish flapping in the gentle waves. Now here's the bit that brought tears to my eyes. They land on the beach, amazed and dumbfounded at how their morning had now worked out thanks to Jesus and this is what He greets them with. A warm glowing fire, some bread and fish already being cooked. Just stop for a second and think about that. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and every single living thing has just cooked you breakfast. Breakfast made by Jesus, the King of all Kings - the Lord of all Lords.


He knew exactly how the disciples would feel - tired, hungry, lonely, afraid and worried for their future. Jesus tells them to sit and eat and just relax. Enjoy His and each others company and rest. Seriously, How good is Jesus? What I wanna say is this. That same Jesus that was there for the disciples is there for you too. He cares about every single little detail of your life. Your struggles, your worries, your fears, your sickness, your pain and your loss. There's not a single thing about you and your life that Jesus doesn't have immense value and care for. He wants you to trust in Him despite not being able to see ahead because He holds your future in His strong nail pierced hands. You see faith is just that - trusting in what you don't know and can't see as Proverbs 3:5-6 says. If you had it all mapped out then it just isn't faith. Lastly I wanna share a verse written by a guy who really knew what he was talking about. He was one of the guys that night who felt lonely, sad, worried and discouraged yet the very next morning he shared what I'd say was the best breakfast he'd ever had in his life with the King of all Kings.


His name was Peter and later he wrote 1 Peter 5:7 "Throw all your cares on Jesus because He cares for you". Peter knew first hand how much Jesus cared for Him and Jesus cares in exactly that same way for you too. He wants to help you in everything you do. You are never a failure in His eyes. You are never too dirty. You are never too lost. You are never too far gone. You are never forgotten. You are only a perfect target for His amazing love, grace, mercy, restoration and redemption. Call out to Him and He will be with you and save you. He loves you deeply. 

While you may feel far off and that you're the only one around for miles - know the truth that God is near to all who call on His Name. He will hold you up with His strong arms. You are loved. (Psalm 34:18 - The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit) 

Hey I wanna share something that God did in my life that really changed me. As a matter of fact it's probably the single biggest thing God has ever done that changed me the most - and trust me when I say He's done a LOT in my life. He saved me and gave me a home in heaven when I was 8 years old, He's healed many of my diseases including Chron's disease and depression, He's healed loads of broken bones and kept me alive countless times on various motorbikes and other crazy vehicles, He's provided so many times and often when it came right down to the wire - but that's not what He wants me to talk about. Today God's asked me to share something very powerful that changed my relationship with Him forever. I hope, pray and believe that this will help others out there that were like me that wrestle with this too. What God has told me to say is simply this "You are worthy". This is quite a controversial topic with Christians and I've found it quite common to be a theme in a lot of songs and prayers to God saying "we are not worthy..."  and I have to say I completely disagree.

Before you dismiss me as a madman, stay with me and I'll explain why and the reasons may surprise you. Firstly, I came from a broken home. My Dad left when I was only four and my childhood is scattered with memories of financial stress, insecurity and constant hate fueled war between my parents. Even sadder was that their backgrounds weren't any better - they were much, much worse. Both sides held horrible secrets of abuse, neglect, depression and death. So my parents could hardly be held to blame - they suffered just like me and I was born into that very same cycle of hurt. As a result of the immense pain, rejection, shame and fear that came from that type of upbringing I developed an incredibly low sense of self worth. I was unable to give love or receive love. In my mind I somehow reasoned that if so much pain and suffering had happened to me - then logically I must be flawed and my worth must be very low. You see, I figured that if people hurt me, manipulated me, abused me and neglected me it has to be because they know my worthlessness and are responding to it. What I'm here to tell you today is this. I was wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong.

What I'm here also today to tell you is this... my life was set up like that for a reason. The reason was simple. My enemies job was to make sure I never woke up and knew the truth - because if I did they were in deep trouble and I might tell others. To explain this better God gave me an example but first I want to share a verse with you. It's one of the most common verses ever quoted. John 3:16. It says this "For God so loved the world that He gave..." Now think about those words. It says because of God's love it prompted an action from Him to give His son to save us. If you open your heart you'll see that its saying "I value this world and all it's people enough to save them. I see them as worthy to receive My love..." Think about it... If it's true that we aren't worthy then God wouldn't have bothered to expend His love to us. He certainly wouldn't have sent His only Son to die for us that's for sure. So that means He knows something we don't. He knew we were worth it. Worth dying for. The example God gave me is this. Picture on the ground a diamond - a BIG diamond that's a good inch by inch in size shining in the sun.

Now if you were walking along and saw this diamond sitting on the ground you would surely pick it up because you know it's worth. You wouldn't even have to be a jeweler to know that this thing sitting there is worth a stack of cash. Now imagine that for many years no one did spot the diamond and it got dirty, it got covered in mud and kicked about the place. It no longer gleamed in the sun like it was meant to... but the truth is it's still a diamond and it's still worth loads and loads if only it could be restored. What I want to say is this... we are those diamonds. Some of us have been to Jesus and have been restored, some are still yet to find Him and His grace. Here's the important bit though...the diamond cannot define it's own worth. It's simply impossible, it must be valued by a reliable external source. A diamond is simply a stone - albeit a precious stone - but no matter how hard it tries it can't call out and tell others it's worth. A diamond also cannot define the worth of other diamonds irregardless of whether they have been restored or are uncut with rough edged.

A diamond can truly only be valued by a master jeweler, someone who knows these precious stones extremely well inside and out. Someone who has the eyes to be able to refine, restore and polish an uncut stone into a precious and rare jewel to be displayed before all. What I want to say is this... it's impossible for you to define your worth. You simply don't have the eyes for it. It's impossible for us to make an accurate statement as to whether we are worthy or not based on our extremely limited life experience, knowledge or treatment from others. You absolutely must have a reliable external source and there is only one place that can give you an accurate, constant and unbiased scale of your worth. It's called the Word of God. In a nutshell it's what God says about you. So lets see what He says hey. Psalm 139:14 says "I am fearfully and wonderfully made". That's pretty clear to me and sounds like a lot of worth just got dumped on you! Romans 8:17 says "because we have believed in Jesus we are co-heirs with Christ". That makes us full royalty by adoption! John 1:12 says "If we believe in Jesus we become the children of God". That makes us family!

There's so many more I could quote but lastly Jeremiah 29:11 says "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and for good says God". If you look at the word "worthy" its easy to see it comes from the root word "worth" - so that means for something to be worthy means it has been deemed to have worth. Now I want to make this plain and simple because that's what God did for me. He met me and told me this "Mark, you've been wrong about a lot of things. I need to show you the truth". And He did. All my life I spoke words over myself having no idea how powerful self cursing can be saying horrible things like "you're a failure, you're a loser, you're ugly, you're worthless, you'll never be anything..." The voices echoed inside me every minute of every day and I was forced to speak them out. Well... I was wrong. Those words were lies. Jesus opened my eyes and now I know better than to get my worth from what I think, say or do. My worth comes from Him alone. It's because of what Jesus did for us that makes us worthy. And because of what He says I am worthy. Because I call on Him I am worthy of His help.

Because I seek Him I an worthy of His favour. Because I follow Him I and worthy to be called one of His own. Because I believe in Him I am worthy of His love. And it was His radical, unmatched, powerful and earth changing love that saved me just like in Psalm 18. Please be careful of the words you speak about yourself because they hold immense latent spiritual power - far more than we can ever understand while we live down here on Earth. The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21) - so speak wisely and be nice to yourself. The only thing that should come out of your mouth should be for building up (Ephesians 4:29) - and that includes words spoken about yourself. If you are like I was and you feel that your worth has been damaged by those around you that have treated you badly can I encourage you to seek the Master. Seek Him with every single part of who you are. I can't tell you how He will do it but I can promise you this... if you seek Him you will find Him and you will know the truth. And once you know the truth, you will be set free from the lies about your worth.

God loves you so, so much more than you'll ever know and I pray today that somehow these words find a way to break inside those high walls, deep into your heart and begin to unlock and awaken the truth of your immense and immeasurable worth in your Fathers eyes. The simple truth is this... You're worth loving, worth helping and worth saving. You are Worthy.

God loves you. His love for you is far greater, grander and more powerful than how you feel. Don't trust your heart because God knows and tells us that our hearts are faulty, unpredictable and unreliable - a much better place to put your trust is in the One who made all things including your heart. He cares deeply about how you feel yet His truth and promises remain as absolutes at all times - far, far above our feelings. This gives us peace knowing that His love and mercy is constant regardless of how we feel about ourselves because He is far greater. So no matter how you feel and what your heart tells you, know that you are always loved by God and that He wants to help you in your life. Trust in Him. You're worth more.

[ 1 John 3:20 - For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ]

God put something on my heart to talk about a few weeks back and has kept adding to it every few days with more from His heart. He made it clear to me that now's the time to share so here goes. In Hebrews 13:1 it says "Let brotherly love continue" - other translations say it like this "Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters." Here's the interesting part... It says the word "let" which means that the onus and responsibly is on us to make this happen. This also means that we have the ability to stop this from happening. You see, God is love and God is perfect so as far as love is concerned coming from Him - there's no problem there. So that means the problem has to by logic exist with us, with our selfishness, our greed, our ambition and our desire to be famous, rich and hold power over others. It's by our selfishness that love gets smothered and dies. It's also in our selflessness that love thrives, grows, expands, feeds, clothes and reaches others. What God put on my heart is simply this - when we believe in Jesus as our Saviour are all brothers and sisters - there is no position, no hierarchy, no top dogs and no one that's any better than any one else.


The Bible says very clearly in Romans 2:11 that "there is no respect of persons with God" - what this means is that He sees us all the same. So if that's how God sees us, why do we concern ourselves with seeing others as better or lesser than ourselves?  The way He sees us is that no one is any better and no one is any higher than anyone else - we are all simply just little children who cannot survive without the love of our Father in Heaven. Here's where I believe it all goes wrong... Like I said above, God's love and His view of us is perfect so it means that the error must and has to be in us as humans. To illustrate this God showed me a picture I want to share with you. There's 10 kids who play together in a playground. They are all about 5 years old and they love to run and play and eat together and are all friends. They all range in ages slightly because of their birth dates but they don't care at all - all they care about is sharing each others company and playing together. After all they're kids and that's what kids do. For these kids, life is great. They love to play, share and help each other. When one kid falls over and scrapes their knee the others help them up and give them the care they need. It truly is a great picture hey. Well, theres one kid who is older than all the rest by just a little bit.


This kid is faster at running, better at climbing, comes from a family that's pretty well off and is great at speaking and telling stories. Naturally this kid becomes the pseudo leader of the pack and the kids follow this kids lead in generally everything this kid says and does without questioning it at all. This pattern goes on for weeks, then weeks turn into months, and months turn into years. After a few years this kid has developed in his mind that because everyone follows me and does what I say then I MUST be better than them all - it's only logical and makes sense... right? It's subtle at first but this mind set creeps in slowly but surely. Soon, this kid can ask for parts of other kids lunch and they will surrender it to him. He can ask for kids to give him some of their money to do the things he decides and they do. He can decide selectively who he wants to play with and the kids fall into line and obey. He can even decide whether or not another kid should be helped or not when they fall over depending on his verdict of why they fell. By now the picture of innocency of kids just sharing and playing in a playground is long gone. It's now become about ambition, power, greed and control. Stay with me because it gets worse...


One day this kid that's decided he's better than all the rest finds a yellow plastic ring on the ground on the way to the playground. The little whisper in his head says "go on... try it on, I bet it fits your head like a crown...". By now the kids ego has grown so big that he doesn't even stop to think and just puts it on his head and struts into the playground. He announces his arrival and tells the kids "I'm your King, you will now only reference me as King or Your Majesty". Some of the kids cheer, others silently go along with it and a few protest under their breath but haven't got the heart to say or do anything because of the power the older kid holds after years and years of playing this game of control. Now... I'm wondering who here has worked out where this is going. I know the story sounds far fetched and ridiculous but this sort of thing is happening all over the world in the Name of God and God is greatly displeased and is most definitely NOT for this. Jesus taught us in Matthew 23 about how we are to view others and made it very clear that we are to call no one here on earth Father - because we have one Father which is in Heaven. He also said we are to call no one master or teacher because we have one master and teacher which is Jesus.


What Jesus did when He taught this was destroy all the useless and pointless hierarchy that we as mankind build and brought in the pattern of the Kingdom of God in its place. The pattern of love, unity and humility. As humans we naturally look for leadership and when someone stands up and says with a plastic crown on their head saying "I'm the king now" we often fall into line and obey without question. The truth is we should only obey, serve and have our allegiance to one King and His Name is Jesus. He is the only one to who our complete trust can be given because He is the one true, just and holy Son of God - all others are inferior copies.  He is the only one to whom our hearts can be trusted in full to be not be betrayed, hurt and manipulated. Now I know I'm going to make enemies by saying this but trust me when I say making enemies isn't something I'm not accustomed to at all. If anyone on this earth tells you to do anything against the teachings of Jesus, if they elevate themselves above you, segregate themselves to special areas assigned for the elite, make themselves out to be something more than you in God and use this to further their own plans and ambition - then they aren't of God.


Interestingly Jesus gave a compliment to a man in the bible and called him the greatest man born among women yet this man lived alone in the wilderness, wore camel skin and ate honey dipped locusts. What this man we know as John the Baptist did do was lead people into the Kingdom of Heaven and just like God he made no distinction for position. He welcomed all including the prostitutes, thieves, murderers, criminals and all the outcasts of society to a Kingdom of love, peace, truth and life through repentance in Jesus. He didn't have a special area for the pretty people or the well to do ones - everyone got baptised in the same river Jordan.  It was the religious leaders of the day that had the yellow plastic crowns on their head, the ones who's hands smelt of money from the constant dipping into the treasury of the temple that hated John and the ways of God he brought to people. They hated him because they held the power over people and they wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible. For that very reason, these same leaders also rejected and killed Jesus as He was the biggest threat to their manipulation. The Kingdom of Heaven brings balance, peace and love and levels out the false kingdoms built by man. From my experience and from the Word of God, find the money trail and you'll find it leads to control and evil in the hearts of men and women.


One of the single most significant things that happened when Jesus finally died that day on the cross was to do with the veil in the temple. Before that day only a high priest - someone with title and bloodline - could enter the innermost part of the temple to meet with God himself. When Jesus died - that curtain separating the most intimate area where God was met was torn from top to bottom. What God was saying was this "Now... all can come. I hold no distinction, all are welcome because of my Son and His sacrifice for you". God encourages us to seek Him, ask Him questions and to test all things. He isn't looking for mindless robots that do the same thing week after week on a structured routine - He clearly says "I seek people to worship me from their spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). He doesn't expect us to blindly believe what He says and He also doesn't expect you to blindly believe what others say either. He wants you to know and understand the truth and we know and understand that by having a direct, personal and meaningful relationship with God our Father through Jesus Christ and the by Holy Spirit's help. The Bible says in 1 John 4:1 to "Test the spirits because not all that say they are of God are actually from God and many false prophets have come into the world".


The heart of God is this - we are called to be simply brothers and sisters in Christ to love, serve and help one another. In Romans 12:10 "it says to be devoted to one another, preferring one another". Jesus also taught the principle that to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48). If someone is given a huge gift in music, speaking, business or anything else - then it was given to serve and help others and not for fame, greed or personal riches.  James 5:17 tells us that Elijah - the guy that prayed and called down fire and rain from Heaven - was a normal guy just like you and me. A normal guy that prayed and sought God and found Him. Jesus taught us in Matthew 18 that the greatest in the Kingdom of God is the one that serves - not the one who has many servants. Jesus himself was the example of this when He willingly laid down His crown as the King of all Glory to become a servant to us to help us, heal us and ultimately die for us. If you want to know who the true servants of God are - don't judge it by the car they drive, how big their church is or how big the crowd of followers they have - look for the selfless, caring, humble heart of Jesus in them and through them. Can I encourage you today that if you believe in God, make the one person you do have your absolute allegiance to, the one you learn from and obey, the one you seek for guidance and truth, and the one who's example you follow to be Jesus. Everyone else is simply just another little kid in the playground but He is the true King that loves us and is worth following, worth listening to and worthy of our love and devotion. I pray that God gives you peace, love and truth as you seek Him. God loves you deeply. 

Does God have emotions? Does He feel anything towards you?? Absolutely yes God has emotions! The Bible says many times about God feeling very sorrowful because of mankind hurting, killing and taking from each other. God also feels angry at injustice and oppression and tells us as followers of His ways not to hurt, rob and oppress one another but to help to stop oppression, greed, deception and abuse in this world. Love is exactly that, an action motivated by a higher cause and our higher cause is The Highest cause. God also has mercy for us and remembers that we are only made from just the dust of the ground. God doesn't have unrealistic expectations of you, He knows and loves you for who you are - the Real You. He is for you and wants to help you in every step of your life (Jeremiah 29:11). He is also our comforter in our tough times, our peace in our storms, our strength when we're weak, our fire in the battle and our hope when all the other lights fade.


The Bible says we are created in the 'image of God' which means we took on all that He is just in a lesser form. So just like us, He also has emotions and feels things too. He knows and cares about how you feel right now whether it's sadness, anger, loss, fear, happiness, peace or success and He wants to be with you in it and through it (1 Peter 5:7). He wants to carry your pain and celebrate your triumphs. Unlike us though, His emotions don't ever dictate His actions or change His character or behavior towards us - He is eternally love personified. That's why He's such an amazing Father because He truly is perfect all the time. So no matter how many times we fall and fail, He is always there faithful and just to forgive us when we come to Him and confess our sins (1 John 1:9). He is the Father in the story of the prodigal son just waiting for us to turn and come home (Luke 15). He doesn't treat us as we deserve or repay us for all our wrongs and for that I'm so thankful (Psalm 103:10). He really is such a good God to us. Have an awesome day because you are so loved by God.

[ Song of Solomon 8:6 - Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD.]

In the very beginning there was nothing but blackness. Endless, deep, thick, measureless blackness. Blackness like none of us know or will ever know. A place completely and totally devoid of light. A place where there was no change, no seasons, no sun, no moon, no stars, no shadow, no contrast, no sunrise, no sunset, no shade and no time. Then... there was a fateful conversation between The Three that changed everything. God said "Let's Create...". And so our home was born. This giant spherical rock we know as earth began as nothing but an uncharted water planet. A huge, deep, vast linking plane of water upon water. Out of the three that conversed it was the Son that chose to be the one to make this world. While the Father watched and the Spirit of God hovered over the lifeless dark waters, it was the Son that spoke the words that changed everything. In the total, supreme, majestic and unchallenged authority that He held - the words "Let there be Light" was uttered. And there was light. This is the first scene of our world. Out of all the planets in the universe ours is the only water planet.

We can search high and low using all our cleverness and invention yet to date we haven't found another planet suited to support life. All the others are simply giant floating rocks and spherical gas spheres made for one purpose... decoration in the dark, inky blackness of a universe that has no end. This place we call Earth is special because the Son made it special. He made it special because you are special. He fell in love with this place and all His creation the very moment He dreamed everything we see, know, touch and feel. He is the light bringer. But sadly, this place once again fell into darkness when we - the creation - sinned and chose to do things on our own. You see, without Him there was and is no light. Just turn on your TV and you'll see that darkness spreads across the globe like a cancer. Greed, Lust, Corruption,  Selfishness and Death. Like an unchecked plague of disease - darkness blinds, deceives, suffocates and kills all we know and see that is good. The One who made this place saw the darkness creeping across His masterpiece and He knew immediately who it was that needed to fix it. We couldn't and He knew that. The only way to defeat the darkness had to be one who was stronger than the darkness. So the Creator set down His rightful crown beside His Father to wear a very different crown...

A crown of sharp pain, shame, loneliness, rejection, sin and death. He chose to wear a crown made from the darkness, from all the worst that this place had become. He chose that path of darkness... for you. He could have just screwed up all that He made like an artist crumples up an unwanted sketch - but He didn't. Because of His immense love He said "I'll go. I'll fix this". And so the Creator came back as one of us to teach us, lead us, heal us - then ultimately to die and rise again for us to show us true love and real life. He came back to die for you to bring you into what He made and always intended... relationship in the light. He's actually never stopped bringing light. That's what He does and always will do. So if your life is darkness right now and the blackness is surrounding and suffocating you - call out to the One who made everything. Call out to the one who made the vast expanse of space, the One who breathed this planet we know into existence and the One who formed you and knew you long before your very conception. Call out to the God of water, fire, wind and earth. Call out to the One who brings light to the darkness. Call out to Him because He wants to save you. It's one of the best things He is... A Saviour. He has many names but we call Him JESUS. You are loved. 

Who said this light of mine has to be little? Jesus...this world is so dark and little lights just arent gonna cut it. So make me burn bright. Make me into a flaming beacon of hope, truth and love. Set me as a roaring bonfire on a hill thats impossible to miss. Burn up all of me that isn't of any use for your Kingdom. I will become nameless for you, a true soldier that needs no glory and no payment only identified by the armour given by my Commander. Purge me with your perfect flame. Make my eyes like yours, flames of fire that see in the darkness seeking the hurting, the lost and the fallen and bringing them into your hope. I do not fear the fear, I invite it. Drench me in your oil. The sacrifice is ready...so send your fire like you did in the days of old when the prophets called on your Name. I won't hold you back Lord. For I am only a spark, but with your untainted breath I can become the wildfire you always intended. So breathe your incomparable life into me and ignite the embers for your Kingdom! 

[ Luke 12:49 - "I (Jesus) came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!" ] 

Every so often God speaks to me and asks me to put up an offer to pray for people on here which I'm always more than happy to do so. I believe in prayer because for one I love God more than my own life and prayer is communicating with God - and two I've seen what prayer can and does do many times in my life both for me and for others.Today though God led me to do something a little different. Stay with me and I'll fill you in. In Matthew 18:19 there is a verse that Jesus gave us called the "prayer of agreement". It goes like this..."If two of you who believe in Jesus ask anything of their Father in Heaven in Jesus Name - that's His plan and purpose for this world - It will be done on earth". The reason I quote this verse is because there is power in the Word of God. There is power when brothers and sisters believe together in God. And most importantly there is power in the Name of Jesus. Why is there power in the Name of Jesus? I'll tell you why. Hebrews 11:3 tells us that everything we see is made from the things we can't see. What this means is that this physical world hinges on an unseen spiritual world. Here's where it gets real.

Both the spiritual world and the physical world were created by Jesus, He is the Lord of Creation of both all things spiritual and all things physical - both seen and unseen. He holds absolute authority over both worlds. So if you need something to happen in the physical world - then you need to pray for change in the spiritual world. And the only way you can have authority to change anything in the spiritual world is to appeal to God in the Name of the One who created that world... Jesus. So now that I've got that part out I'll tell you why I'm talking like this. Our world is at war, there are unseen forces that afflict and plague our people all across the globe. They don't care how young or old you are, your skin colour, your financial situation, your connections and anything you think that you are. It is at war with us simply because we are created in the image of God. Some of the powerful generals in the army that oppose us are Fear, Anxiety and Depression. They are powerful giants that hold people down, suffocating them and robbing them of the life and peace that God intended for them. Here's where we come in.

We are the children of light, we are the ones who have hope, we are the soldiers in the army of God, we are the ones who believe in Jesus that He is Lord and able to save all who call on Him. What I'm here today to ask for is that if you are being afflicted by Anxiety, Fear or Depression list your name and I will pray for you and so will my brothers and sisters that Jesus has mercy on you and breaks your unseen prison. If you also know of someone in your life that also suffers from these things, list their name for them and we will pray for them on their behalf. Jesus said that if two agree then it will be done, how much more so then if a hundred or a thousand agree? Let's pray for our fallen brothers and sisters in Jesus Name that the Holy Spirit will be given without measure like it was in the days of old when a teenage boy faced a war machine giant on the battlefield... and won! Lets raise the sword of prayer, faith and hope in defiance against the cruel oppressors that torment those we love. Lets stand up for those who have all but lost their strength. Lets appeal together in one voice to the Lord of all Lords, the King of all Kings, The Living God and the Ever Present Saviour of this World that He sends help from His sanctuary to break the prisons that hold our brothers and sisters all over the world.

Lets make Heaven ring and hear once again the cries of the race of men and women for redemption from slavery. It's time to raise your voice. It's time the army of God is known. It's time we fight for freedom and for our kind. The armour God gives His soldiers isn't just so you can cope and survive this world... It's given so you can run into battle, full of brilliant blinding light and take back territory from our enemy. Our God gives power freely to all who kneel before Him so let us pray and become what He intended us to be - soldiers of light who fight for the freedom of others in the Name of our King. Our battle is not with flesh and blood and what is seen, our war is fought in faith, prayer and obedience - yet the outcome is very much seen in this world. I was once a slave to Fear, Anxiety and Depression and was set free by my King Jesus - now I am sent to make war with those that held me for so long. God loves you for more than any words can describe and it's time our brothers and sisters who are in pain know that too. So who is with me? Who will run into battle for the fallen, the broken and the hurting? Who will kneel and become mighty for others? It's time they tasted freedom in Jesus Name!

[ Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior." - Joel 3:10 ]    

A few days ago I skated along the foreshore, blasted up and down the jetty a few times past unsuspecting tourists then cruised along the marina where all the big hotels and million dollar yachts are moored. I sat there at the end of the weir sitting on the breakers looking over the fancy boats, posh restaurants and towering apartments and thought to myself "I've got something that all this money can't buy... The Love of God" I spent a good percentage of my life chasing the dollar and did a fairly good job of it with a corporate management job, motorbikes, cars, and all the latest boys toys but the truth was none of it even came close to filling the deep gaping hole in me. Only when I completely gave up my ways and let go of all that so called "pursuit of success" and all its empty achievements - and chose to do things God's way did that hole finally get filled by the love of my Father in Heaven. Today I sit here in the warm sun with my skateboard, some good beats, a trillion dollar view of the sun lighting up the ocean that money can't even dream to buy and a cool breeze as my companion - and right now I have so, so much more than I ever did. I have freedom, peace, identity, purpose, love, mercy, relationship, grace and truth given to me by God himself. Those are the things I value the most in life now. The things that last forever and ever. And nothing anyone in existence says or does can separate or change the forever settled fact that God loves me. God loves you too 🐼br>

[ Romans 8:39 - Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. ]